Invisible Trail

Chapter One: You Know . . . Letters

Hermione Granger was pacing her room for the fifth time that day. When she had woken up that morning she had been nervous, right now saying she was nervous didn't seem enough. She was waiting for two very important letters: one from Professor McGonagall and the other from Ron.

Her seventh and final year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry was just a few weeks away and she was quite anxious to know whether she had been named Head Girl or not. She kind of suspected and hoped the honour would be hers this year, but she was not sure about it. Professor Dumbledore perfectly knew that Harry, Ron, and she always tried to solve all of the mysteries that ran around the school and in every single occasion succeeded by breaking as many school rules as they could. She knew that if she was to be chosen as Head Girl she would have to stop all that. On one hand, she had dreamt about being Head Girl since Percy Weasley had been appointed during her third year, but on the other hand she always enjoyed their little adventures. But there was something that troubled her even more than just being named Head Girl; she had been brooding about it for . . .

A tap on the window broke through her thoughts and then she realized a large barn owl was outside her window waiting for her to open it up. Hermione did and the owl flew in and stood on her bed. She grabbed the letter that it had tied to its leg and gave the owl some treats that she kept around in case Hedwig or Pig dropped by. She read the letter:

Dear Ms. Granger:

We are very pleased to inform you that you have been named Head Girl for the year to come. As you should know, this title requires some more work and plenty of responsibility. Please consider your answer and let us know it as soon as possible.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall

Deputy Headmistress

Hermione approached her desk and took out some parchment and quill. Quickly, she wrote a response saying she accepted the offer and thanking them for choosing her. She tied the letter to the owl and watched it flying away until she could not see it any longer. The night was cold and dark, there were no stars in the sky and the moon did not seem to be shining at all. She sat on the edge of the window frame for a few moments and right then it hit her: Professor McGonagall had not mentioned who the Head Boy was going to be. 'I guess I'll have to wait until the term starts to find out,' she thought.

A loud knock on her door caught her by surprise and send her to the floor. She turned her head to see who it was and realized it was . . .

"Unless you want to kill me of a fright, you should stop doing that, Mum", Hermione told her.

"I have no plan whatsoever," her Mum assured her, "but it seems like you are trying to die of hunger! You have not eaten in all day."

"Mum, "Hermione responded, "I'm not hungry." A sudden growl was heard at that moment.

"Well, it seems like your stomach doesn't agree with you about that," she managed to point out before starting to laugh.

"Ok, I might be a little hungry," Hermione admitted.

"Come, I'll fix you a snack," offered her Mum.

Hermione followed her into the kitchen and sat down. She didn't like this, be sitting with nothing to do, it made her mind to start doing what it had during . . . She looked at the calendar, she couldn't believe it. 'Time is playing with my mind: it has been eternal for me, but it happened just a couple of weeks ago.'

"Hermione, Hermione!" someone shouted.

"What?" Hermione started confused. "Sorry, Mum" she quickly apologised after realizing her mind had been wandering.

"The letters have not arrived yet?" her Mum asked seeing the worried look on her daughter's face.

"The one from Hogwarts has," Hermione replied.

"And?" her Mum asked while placing a plate in front of Hermione.

Hermione looked at the plate that sat in front of her; her Mum had fixed her a tuna sandwich. She liked her Mum's cooking, but sometimes she missed the food at Hogwarts: those feasts they used to have 4 or 5 times a year with the extraordinarily delicious plates and desserts. She had to admit the house elves were amazing cookers. Hermione began eating the sandwich with enormous bites, she had not realized how hungry she was. After a while the conversation continued:

"Yes," Hermione answered, "they chose me."

"Well, that's great! You have always wanted to be named Head Girl," her Mum said with a proud note in her voice.

"I know," she responded with a fake smile, "but I can't stop thinking about. . ." Her voice broke and tears began to form in her eyes.

"You have nothing to worry about," her Mum assured her. "You have always told me how smart and brave he is, he'll be just fine." She stood up and put her arms around Hermione, while she started crying freely.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, while Hermione continued eating her sandwich. When she finished eating, she had stopped crying. She stood up and thanked her Mum for the snack and the hug. She headed upstairs, leaving her Mum alone in the kitchen. Hermione had told her everything about the dark events that had been taking place since her fourth year and she knew how much it meant to Hermione being named Head Girl, but with all the others things that didn't seem important to her anymore. She could see the pain in her eyes and was willing to do anything to take it away.

Hermione got to her room and saw that letter from Professor McGonagall was still on her desk. She took it, pulled one of the drawers in her desk open, and placed it inside.

Soon she started pacing her room once again. That letter had been the least of her worries.