Hermione's Riddle

The First 'Real' Date

Hermione woke up to unusual silence. Ever since she and Tom started seeing each other romantically, Tom had taken it upon himself to wake her up. He loved sneaking into her room and scaring her awake. Waking up on her own terms sent the groggy Hermione into high alert. Tom was planning something.

She threw the covers off of her. After quickly changing into a pair of Tom's slacks, they were ridiculously long on her but she didn't feel like fixing them to fit her, and a long sleeve shirt, she opened the door and peeked out. No sign of Tom in the living room. She was on her way to his room when a slip of paper on the coffee table caught her attention.

Say 'Inveniet' while thinking of me.

Hermione was torn between scoffing and smiling. She had never heard of this spell which made her want to smile when she thought that Tom may have come up with it. She also wanted to smirk at his flirty words.

Hermione didn't even question why Tom would have left her the note. She quickly grabbed her wand. Images of the times when Tom would pounce on her sleeping form flashed through her mind, bringing a smile to her lips. She also thought about the comfortable silence that would fall between them when they were studying or just simply walking to class. "Inveniet." A blue orb shot out of the tip of her wand. It wobbled in the air before floating through the portrait. Hermione tucked her wand into the pocket of Tom's slacks and quickly rolled them up around her ankles before darting out into the hall after the ball of blueish-white light.

Even without having Tom, the morning person that he was, wake her up, she still managed to get out of bed well before breakfast would even be served. The hallway was relatively empty. Only the occasional ghost wandered the halls.

The ball of light disappeared around a corner ahead of her. Hermione clutched her hands into fists and picked up the pace. She had to admit that this was pretty exciting. Different scenarios of what Tom might have planned played in her head. Her heart raced with excitement and longing.

Hermione clutched the balled-up pant legs in her fists as she chased the ball of light down staircase after staircase. Soon, the light led her out of the castle. She was planning on it stopping somewhere right outside the castle, but the little ball of light kept on going. It led her down the slopes, past what would someday become Hagrid's hut, and toward the Forbidden forest. The light disappeared into the thickly packed trees. Hermione cast a glance over her shoulder to make sure no one saw her before slipping into the woods.

The light from the spell helped her to see any hidden dangers, mainly roots. She knew she didn't have to worry about any spiders. There were still a few more years before anyone would have to worry about those.

After what seemed like hours, the light finally slowed down. It was still moving but Hermione no longer had to rush to keep up with it. The trees around her became less dense and light from the sun shone through the intricately woven branches of the tree tops. Hermione's brows furrowed together as she began to recognize this part of the forest.

The trees broke apart and Hermione found herself in a clearing. Not just any clearing. It was the same one where she visited the Thestrals.

Tom stood in the center of the clearing wearing a pressed, black suit. Plastered all over his face was a wolfish grin. When she looked into his eyes, she saw them lit with humor as they took in her appearance.

. . . .

Tom fidgeted from foot to foot, half tempted to sit down in the mud. Where was she? Was she unable to perform the spell?

The bluish light of a spell broke through the densely packed trees easing his mind. He would recognize that spell anywhere. It was the same one he used to find Hermione on days she would disappear, though he would never tell her that.