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

32 | i miss you in the morning and in the evening rain

xxxii.

i miss you in the morning and in the evening rain

(If I Can't Have You by Sara Bareilles)

__________

October 1, 1978

Hermione was awake before seven am on that bright, Sunday morning. Since she was studying often with her Ravenclaw classmates, Hermione thought it would be more convenient to sleep at the Ravenclaw Tower, stealing brief moments of silence tucked against the mahogany desks in their Common Room.

She could tell her roommates were still sleeping, after a quick scan around her dormitory. With Hermione's rigorous studying last night, her other Ravenclaw friends had had no choice but to keep up with her, especially if they didn't want to get left behind on their strict schedule.

"You're bloody insane," Alex had told her last night as she kicked off her shoes haphazardly and plopped down on her bed without bothering to change her clothes. Not even a few minutes had passed by and Alex was already lightly snoring on her bed.

"Tell me if I'm being too laborious," she'd said with a sheepish smile at Dorothy and Michelle.

The two exchanged amused glances. "You've always been laborious, Hermione, dear," Dorothy said as she pulled Hermione into a quick hug. "And we don't want you to ever change."

"Good night," Michelle chirpily said, smiling brightly at Hermione as she disappeared behind the door to the loo.

The brunette smiled sheepishly at the slumbering forms of her housemates as she got ready for the day. She knew she'd been extra rigid this year for their NEWTs. Hermione had gone through six years at Hogwarts twice, so she already had an idea as to what to expect during her lessons. But Hermione had never been a seventh-year student before, so all her lessons were quite new, and she had to work extra hard this year just to maintain her grades. With her added Head Girl duties that demanded too much time from her – now, she understood Lily's lamentations – Hermione couldn't afford to slack off.

But despite all the academic and student leader duties, Hermione never strayed away from her true priority this year – to hunt for the horcruxes. Regulus had contacted her at a minimum this year, no doubt too engrossed with his own NEWTs and perhaps even his own Death Eater duties. It frustrated her immensely how he had no other choice but to wait until Christmas to retrieve Riddle's diary. The only good side was that he constantly reassured her she didn't have to get herself involved and that she just had to continue being the prim and proper, responsible Head Girl she was.

Their plan to start practicing their duelling skills had been their lowest priority in the first month, as they tried to adjust to their last year at Hogwarts. It was only last night when Regulus had owled her, asking if today would be a good day for them to start their duelling lessons. Since Hermione had nothing else to do, she agreed almost immediately.

As Hermione donned some fresh, breezy Muggle clothes that could help her move freely, she chanced a glance at the shimmery Invisibility Cloak inside her trunk. She planned on turning into her Animagus form today, but hesitated when she saw the Cloak.

A small, fond smile flittered over her face as she lifted it from her trunk and started to smooth down invisible creases. She remembered scurrying away from a dangerous three-headed dog and angry caretakers with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley. She remembered all the adventures she had gone through with this Cloak blanketing them safely from harm. She still thought it wasn't wise for James to let her have his Cloak for this school-year, but she didn't bother insisting on returning it anymore, knowing James would be stupidly stubborn about it.