It Could Have Gone That Way; A Harmione Fanfiction

Chapter 28: Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

September 19th had come around quickly again. Harry grinned as he ran down to the Gryffindor common room before breakfast. Once he got there, Harry was relieved to see that it was empty. Checking his watch, he hid behind the wall separating the stairs from the rest off the room. The previous night, Harry had slipped a note into Hermione's Arithmancy textbook before he went up to bed. The anonymous note briefly instructed her to meet someone in the common room at 5:30 the next morning. Harry had tried very hard to make the writing look as unlike his own as he could, he just hoped it would be different enough.

As his watch struck 5:30, Harry heard the padding of bare feet coming down the stairs. He stood with bated breath until Hermione came into his view. Luckily, she didn't see him by the stairs, so she sat on the sofa and opened her book. Harry stepped out from behind the wall quietly and crept to the back of the sofa. Leaning on his hand, Harry read over Hermione's shoulder. Her Arithmancy textbook was open on her lap, Harry's note still wedged into the page crease.

"I'm sure that's Harry's writing..." Hermione whispered to herself. Harry held in a laugh,"...but surely he'd be here by now."

"Been here the whole time, actually."

Hermione jumped about ten feet in the air,"Harry James Potter, you're going to give me a heart attack one of these days!" She scolded.

"Well, then I'd be quite lonely, wouldn't I?" Harry tried to jump over the back of the sofa - just as he'd been practising successfully for a week - but hit his shin on the arm and fell on his face.

Hermione laughed,"Are you all right?"

Harry groaned and stood up,"No."

"I didn't think so."

Head in his hands, Harry sat down,"Happy Birthday."

"Thank you, Harry." Hermione beamed,"Why exactly did you think jumping over the sofa was a good idea?"

"Dunno." Harry grumbled, shivering.

It seemed Hermione shared his coldness, so she lit the fireplace with a swish of her wand. It also seemed that she could sense his great embarrassment, for she put her arm around him and said,"At least it was only me watching and not the entire school." She squeezed his shoulders and continued,"And I don't mind if you fall off of a sofa every now and again."

Finally, Harry was able to crack a grin,"Good to know." Digging around in his dressing gown pocket, Harry pulled out Hermione's presents,"Here you are!"

The first gift was a pocket foe-glass. Hermione was intrigued by it,"This is amazing, Harry!"

"Well, you see, I don't really know what it is...I was told it makes a really good gift, and it looked pretty interesting, so I got it."

"A Foe-Glass is a type of Dark Detector. It looks like a mirror, but instead of a reflection it shows the enemies of its possessor. The figures appear as shadows, but become clearer and more visible as the enemies get closer to the possessor." Hermione recited.

"Cool!"

"It is. Thank you!"

The second present was an old and dusty book called Magick Moste Evile. Harry had first seen this book in the Restricted Section of the Hogwarts library, but it had been at the back of a few shops in Diagon Alley.

"Harry, how on Earth did you get hold of this?" Hermione gaped at it in disbelief,"This is in the Restricted Section!"

Harry grinned slyly,"I know."

The third and final present was a little black beaded bag which was less of a bag and more of a pouch. Judging by the look on Hermione's face, she thought it was far too small to put anything in.