Just Leave Me Alone

Disclamier: Own nothing

Rating:PG

By: trippinwithcats

Note: There is a chapter before this one. (I am noting this just in case the last chapter gets lost or something.) Flashbacks to last chapter not included.

Chapter 01

Hermione sat in silence in the Hogwarts library, absorbed in a thick book. That is, until she heard scraping sounds coming from the Restricted Section. Right then and there, she decided to get out of the libary--her book could wait! Well, not really, but she convinced herself that it could. Amidst her worry, an annoyance sprung up. Would she ever have any peace and quiet? Apparently, no.

As she hurriedly stuffed the book inside her bag, she heard slow footsteps getting nearer and nearer. A man appeared from the hallway of the Restricted Section. His large, unblinking eyes bored into her as he slowly made his way toward her. Hermione thought something looked odd about him. Was it his black eyes? Or his dragging walk that startled her most? Then she saw that the man was not alone--another man just as odd-looking was right behind him. They seemed to be moving closer and closer to where she stood. She was utterly transfixed.

Hermione stood up and turned toward the library entrance, only to see a man by the door. And he moved just as slowly as the others toward her. She suddenly realized that all of the exits were blocked. Instinctively, she stepped backwards against a wall completely covered by shelves of books. More men appeared from behind bookshelves and her heart, pounding madly, was rising to her throat when...

"Hermione, are you okay? What's wrong? What do you see?" Hermione turned toward the owner of that voice. It was Ron! He grabbed her and pulled her out of the library to the safety of the hall.

Hermione, waves of relief washing over her, hugged Ron tightly. "Thank you! Thank you so much."

Ron gave a shy smile and awkwardly patted her back as she loosened her grip. "Anything to help."

Hermione looked down the hallway toward the library. The men hadn't followed her because no one was there. Well, except for Harry, who stood right next to Ron. Where did he come from? Hermione thought irritably, and why does he always have to go wherever Ron goes? It had been very difficult for Hermione to deal with Harry's Rejection, and as every excruciating moment in his presence passed, she couldn't help but wonder if she really could handle seeing him again. Naturally, she put forth her best face in spite of her pain, but she didn't know how long she could put up the front. It was very difficult to act as though she didn't care.

She remembered her hysterics that night, when she swore to herself, "If Harry will not date me, I will date no man. I am turning lesbian." That had been dramatic, and her compulsion still shocked her. There was really only one small problem with her emotional declaration: she was still attracted to men. However, she figured that, in keeping with her inner promise, she had to be attracted to at least some women. Granted, she never looked at women as potential dates before. But, being as stubborn as she was, Hermione resolved to at least think about it.

Determined not to get depressed, her thoughts wandered to the statue in front of Professor McGonagall's classroom. This fascinated her to no end because she seemed to be the only person who could see it. She kept insisting that surely someone else could, because if no one else could then maybe it didn't exist. But how could that statue not exist? It usually just sat there, though it did on occasion shift the book it carried from one arm to the other. This also happened with the torch it held in its hand.

And then a new thought came to her out of nowhere. 'Did Malfoy ask if she was going to the liberty? How did he know? Why did she not pick up on that? Is he seeing the same then I am? Is he avoiding them?' Maybe she needed some rest. She had a new problem. If Malfoy saw this statue, could others see it, too.

Hermione gave the warmest smile she could muster to Ron, effectively ignoring Harry. "Could you walk me back to the common room?"

Both Harry and Ron obliged, and they began to wind their way back to Gryffindor Tower. Hermione tried to keep a quick, steady pace but apparently she did not walk fast enough. Out of the corner of her eye she spied two men approaching her and her friends. They looked like government spies in their immaculate black suits and black wrap-around Rayban sunglasses. They stopped her and informed her they were the Men in Black and needed her assistance. They showed her a photo of a non-descript man and asked if she had seen him. Having no idea who the man in the picture was, she silently shook her head no. She dared not speak lest Harry and Ron think she was going nutters, since she was pretty well aware that, much like the men in the library and the statue in front of the Transfiguration classroom, they would not be able to see these men either.

As the Men in Black retreated down an empty corridor, Hermione sighed with relief. At least it was not another leprechaun. The sneaky devils hid in the shadows and stole from her anything she happened to drop on the floor. The good thing was that she had not dropped anything recently, so they simply remained crouching in the darkness, waiting to make a mad dash for her things. She silently cursed her grandfather for destroying a piece of their gold a long, long time ago. Her family had been cursed ever since to be followed this way until the age of nineteen. And what was stranger still was her parents' occasional trips with the freaky creatures, just to prove to the race of leprechauns that they were not like their ancestor and would not hurt their gold and were good people. It occurred to her that maybe the leprechauns had something to do with these phantoms she kept seeing that no one else could. She wondered if they too saw the Men in Black. And then an idea popped into her head to possibly bypass the last few years of her curse--maybe if she befriended the leprechauns they'd ease up on her a bit. But could she be friend with a leprechaun? She had no idea, and her mind hurt just thinking about it.

The sun was setting and the last of its yellow rays filtered through the Cathedral-style windows of the Hogwarts hall. Hermione saw this and knew it was getting late. Her thoughts suddenly drifted to earlier in the day, and she began to wonder why Malfoy even bothered to strike up a conversation with her in the first place. It was all very odd and totally contradictory to his usual demeanor. But she would sort this all out tomorrow, she told herself. Right now all she wanted to do was sleep. Ron and Harry parted ways with her at the bottom of the staircase to the girls' dormitories, and she absent-mindedly waved them off. Before she knew it, she was in her room, changed into her jammies, and in bed.

As soon as her head lay on her pillow, she fell asleep. Finally, she could have some peace and quiet.

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Sorry this story took so long. My modem was not working. Also, I had way too many errors for my story to be taken seriously.