Hero of the Story || James Potter x Hermione Granger Fanfiction

25 | fall in love in a single touch

xxv.

fall in love in a single touch

(Touch by Sleeping at Last)

__________

November 9, 1977

She was the first one to arrive at the Astronomy Tower this time.

Hermione transformed back into her human form and silently strode towards the railing. Blessedly, it was dark, for Hermione could not see the ground clearly from where she stood. Normally, she would have balked at the thought of staring down at such a great height, but darkness protectively blanketed the grounds, giving Hermione a sense of safety.

Her blue eyes drifted towards the inky, night sky, the crescent moon hanging peacefully amongst the twinkling stars. She quirked a small smile upon spying the constellation Cassiopeia, her hand unwittingly touching the freckles on her face that shared the same image. Peter used to connect her freckles into ridiculous shapes using markers when they were younger, which always got him into trouble. He loved to draw Cassiopeia though - told her it suited her pale face, and Hermione would release a small bit of her accidental magic, just to get back at her brother.

"Pettigrew."

She quickly swivelled around and saw Regulus coolly standing near the threshold of the Tower. Hermione silently observed him, noting that compared to the last time they had spoken here, Regulus looked calmer and more relaxed today.

"Hello," she said, pushing herself off the railing to saunter towards the Slytherin.

"Let's cut the pleasantries and get on with the matter at hand," he lightly snapped, striding towards Hermione to shorten the distance between them.

Hermione looked at him bemusedly, surprised at his sudden energy.

"What do you mean by five horcruxes," he harshly asked.

"No 'Hello, Hermione. How was your day'?"

Regulus made a face and pulled out his wand. "I said no pleasantries," he reiterated as he absentmindedly transfigured two armchairs for them to sit on. "So. Five horcruxes."

Hermione sighed and plopped down on one of the chairs. She pulled out her wand and shot a series of spells towards the door, just in case they needed to be alerted to approaching professors or caretakers. The Marauder's Map was hidden inside her pockets too, but so far, no authorities were venturing towards the Tower.

"So, like I said, Voldemort made five horcruxes," she then said, rummaging inside her pocket to pull out a parchment, an ink well, and her turkey quill.

"How much can you fit in your pockets?" Regulus asked with wide, amused eyes.

"Enough," Hermione distractedly said. She then proceeded to jot down notes on her parchment, aware that Regulus was hovering near her, trying to make out the words she was writing.

Once she was done, she pushed the parchment in his direction and pointed at the list. "These are the possible horcruxes he's already made to keep himself immortal. There's Ravenclaw's Diadem" – "What? But that's been lost for like ages?" – "his diary" – "The Dark Lord kept a diary?" – "Hufflepuff's Cup and Slytherin's Locket" – "Well now he's just desecrating treasures" – "And lastly a ring, a family heirloom. And, Merlin, can you keep the side comments to a minimum!"

Regulus blinked at Hermione in surprise, before quirking an eyebrow in amusement. "Right, of course. Apologies," he haughtily said.

Hermione sighed and gestured at the parchment. "If we want to destroy Voldemort, we have to collect all of these before he starts making more," she insisted.