"Th-thank you…" Hermione mumbled shyly as she sat on one of the hospital beds. The other Slytherins had been told to wait outside by Madam Pomfrey, thus leaving the two teens alone while she fetched a few pain relief potions.
"You are welcome."
There was something in the way he looked at her that sent the young girl's heart fluttering. An intensity in his gaze that filled her mind with all sorts of images, more than a few of which were rather inappropriate.
"W-would you like to…"
"Thank you for staying with her Harry, I can take it from here though. Wouldn't want you to be late for your next class hm?"
The Potter heir nodded, before giving Hermione's hand one last comforting squeeze and departing, leaving the bookworm to mentally ponder exactly what she was going to ask the boy if they had not been interrupted.
"Word of advice dear," the older woman spoke up, interrupting the young Granger's thoughts and bringing her back to the situation at hand. "Life is far too short to spend it staring at someone as they walk away. Take a risk and tell him ."
"I… I don't know if I can… what if he…"
"There is always a risk, but the question is would you rather risk letting him go without a fight, or the off chance he might not be interested? From what I just saw he is interested…"
Hermione's blush returned full force, before she managed to hide it behind a potion vial as she gulped it down, earning a soft laugh from the matron.
...
Harry Potter found himself in a rather odd situation, he was utterly annoyed . That in and of itself wouldn't have been so bad, but the fact was that there was no specific reason for him to be as such, save for the fact that it was Halloween. His first year had been rather… eye opening at the ridiculous celebration of the anniversary of his parents' sacrifice, and while others may have denied it he knew that was the exact reason. No other Muggle Holiday, save for Christmas, was celebrated which meant that there had to be some ulterior reasoning behind it.
The previous year marked his first 'skipping' of the celebrations and allowed him to simply wander the halls to avoid murdering the next person who cheerfully greeted him, and then became upset when he did not seem as happy as everyone else. That evening had also marked his discovery of the first victim of the Basilisk, and eventually the start to a rather exciting relationship with Tonks.
Now, however, he was sitting in the Slytherin common room, his eyes glaring brightly at the fire that he had just lit in the fireplace, and systematically ignoring all the sympathetic or confused glances from his housemates. Perhaps he should remind them why he ruled and why they should mind their own bloody business when he didn't appear to be in a good mood.
"My Lord… is everything alright?"
His gaze shifted ever so slightly to Blaise and Nott who were standing a few feet away. "Tell me, what is today?"
"Uhm… October thirty-first my Lord."
"And what happened on this day… oh say twelve or so years ago?"
"Uhm, the Dark Lord was… oh…"
" Indeed, now that you and the rest of the Slytherins are aware, kindly bugger off before you irritate me any more than you already have."
"Y-yes of course, uhm sorry my Lord we were just… sorry."
The two promptly fled, along with a large portion of the others who had not already headed down towards the Great Hall for the feast. Neville, however, paused for just a moment at the entrance way. "I am sorry Harry, if you ever want to talk I would be happy to listen."
Emerald-eyes blinked in surprise, before a smile formed on the boy-who-lived's face and he gave a nod, before warmly shooing the boy off to the festivities. He would simply need to figure out some other way to occupy himself for the evening. Standing to leave the teen found a young blonde quickly running up to match his pace.
"Luna"
"Hello Harry"
"And what may I ask are you doing here rather than in the Main Hall?"
She smiled happily, "Spending time with you of course!"
"I see…" the two allowed a comfortable silence to fall between them for a few minutes as they roamed the corridors, until Luna quietly spoke up.
"I was nine years old when it happened."
"What did?"
"My mother… she was trying to create a new Spell and it ended up killing her. I was in the room at the time, I watched her die unable to do anything to stop it. After that my father fell into depression and… well he never truly recovered. He spent more and more time at work and less time with me. Eventually he stopped coming home during the summers and well…"
"I'm sorry." The statement almost caused the young girl to trip at the raw emotion contained in the boy's voice before nodding in gratitude and continuing with her Lord, "Would you want her back? If I could return her to you?"
Pausing the young girl's mind pondered the question, and the possibilities, "I would love to see her again but… I do not think it would be a good idea for her to be back. Who knows how my father would react and she might not want me spending time with you and the others. I would rather focus on my future than dwell on the past."
"I understand, probably better than anyone else, just remember that as long as you stay with me, you will never be alone."
...
"Hello class don't worry about sitting down, we will be having a 'hands on' demonstration today, one that will undoubtedly test your mental fortitude as well as reveal something about yourselves. Now before we begin can anyone tell me what a Boggart is?" Remus Lupin proclaimed as the teens quickly entered.
Immediately Hermione Granger, and a few others, raised their hands.
"Yes, Mr. Longbottom."
"It is a shapeshifter that chooses its form based upon the fears of whomever it faces."
"Correct, ten points to Gryffindor, now does anyone know the counter Charm?" The various hands fell, and Harry let out a silent groan before raising his own. Idly he wondered if Remus, who had been eyeing him anyway, would have called on him regardless.
"Yes Harry?"
Few missed the fact that virtually all professors called the boy by his first name, rather than anything formal by this point.
"Riddikulus, it forces the creature to shift against its will, thus corrupting the very nature of itself and the form it previously took. This often involves pushing the caster's own will into the Boggart, making it something change into something of humor rather than fear. I have heard that researchers are attempting to ascertain whether or not this causes any sort of pain, but regardless it allows for the beast's one true weakness to emerge, laughter."
"Very good! Thirty points to Slytherin, now then for this period you will all take turns stepping forward and using the Charm to face your own fears. Do not worry, Boggarts are not harmful by themselves, and I will be right here should any of you require assistance." The man promptly demonstrated the spell, before gesturing for the first student to step forward.
Naturally it was the Gryffindors, who prided themselves on such actions, that took to the front of the room. Ron Weasley, wanting to 'redeem himself' in the eyes of his peers seemed to have lead the charge.
"Bring it on, I wonder what will happen when someone steps forward who has no fear ?"
Draco Malfoy gave a not-so-silent snort from the back, "Yeah, well when Harry actually does take his turn we will find out…"
.....
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