Black Goat's Nest [DRAFT]

Re:Union

When Hermione walked into the hospital wing she was met with Harry sitting on his bed reading. Now this by itself wouldn't really be anything remarkable, no, what caught her off guard was how for a split second the entire scene looked like a painting.

The room was gently lit by the sunrise, the misty morning breeze tousling Harry's soft, white hair. Harry himself looked positively ethereal as he read his book, embodying a soft, delicate grace, but what added a layer of mystery to everything was the thick melancholy he was extruding.

Mind you, it wasn't like he was frowning or anything, in fact, a faint smile graced his face. Despite that though an air of elegant tragedy clung to him like a heavy smog. She tried to speak only to find her voice caught in her throat. Thankfully the sound of the door opening had been enough to get Harry's attention.

"Oh! Hermione?" Harry questioned. He hadn't seen his friends in so long that he wasn't quite sure what they looked like anymore. From the bushy brown hair though it wasn't too hard to take a guess.

The words caused Hermione to unfreeze and suddenly she processed the fact that she was standing in front of someone she thought she'd lost forever.

"Harry, is it really you?" she asked. The idea that he was here, in front of her, and not six feet under seemed too good to be true.

Kaneki couldn't get over the way his skin crawled when people called him Harry but he chose not to comment on it.

"Yeah, it is," he said with a soft smile.

"Merlin! I still can't believe it. I'm so glad you're back" Hermione said as she walked toward the bed.

"Yeah 'mione, I still can't believe I'm back," he admitted with a soft chuckle.

"Oh Harry! I have so much to tell you! I don't even know where to start!" She said as she transfigured an armchair out of a peach. The chair was still the same color as the peach which actually made it look cooler since the chair had a gradient from pink at the top to white at the bottom.

Harry chuckled "It seems no matter what's changed you're still great at magic," He remarked.

Hermione lightly blushed before she cleared her throat and tried to change the subject. "Anyway, what book are you reading?" She asked, unsure how to respond to the compliment.

"Ah this? It's one of my favorites, The Black Goat's Egg by Sen Takatsuki" He replied. He had managed to push all the pain associated with the book and read it after all.

"Oh! I've heard of her! Some of the muggle-born Ravenclaws have been talking about its recent English translation, I haven't gotten around to reading it though. What's it about?" Hermione said.

"The story centers around the relationship between a young man and his mother who's a brutal serial killer known as the "Black Goat". Though he is disgusted by his mother's cruel actions, he begins to discover the same depraved impulses exist within him as well. The writing is beautiful, and with how the book reads I wouldn't be surprised if Takatsuki-san actually lived the story. As for the English translation, honestly, I have to say I prefer the Japanese version, though I'm probably biased. I just felt like the English version lost some of the best quotes in translation," Harry said, jumping at the chance to gush over his favorite book.

"It sounds pretty goo-," Hermione started only to be cut off by the sound of the door opening.

......................

It was an understatement to say Ron was nervous. His best mate had come back from the dead, half-dead. He'd just disappeared off the face of the Earth sometime in the middle of summer and while he desperately wanted them to get along the way they had in first year he was terrified that maybe they'd changed too much to be friends.

He took a deep breath and carefully gathered his emotions before he pushed the door to the hospital ward open. His eyes were immediately met with two faces, the first one was Hermione's but the second one-. Even though he knew it was Harry he was caught off guard by how different he looked.

His cheeks were rounder, and his skin and hair were unnaturally pale. The bandages that wrapped around his torso almost blended in perfectly with his skin and his usual vivid green eyes were somehow a calm gray. Glass, he realized, he looked like glass.

It was Harry's laugh that broke him out of his musings. It wasn't a scathing laugh, quite the contrary. It was a warm, playful sound.

"Glass huh? That's a first," Harry said. It was the last thing most would've called the infamous Mukade (centipede) and he absolutely loved it.

Ron turned redder than his hair. Shit, he said that out loud!

"S-sorry" Ron stuttered out.

"No no! it's fine. How have things here been?" he said, gesturing for him to sit at the foot of the bed.

"Things were just as chaotic after you left," Ron said

"Yeah" Hermione seconded.

The pair then started informing Harry of their escapades from second year to the summer before fourth year.

......................

"You got turned to stone!?" Harry asked Hermione worriedly.

"yeah," Hermione said through a wince. Ok so maybe she should have been more careful.

"And you were targeted by someone you thought was a serial killer and you didn't tell anyone!?" Harry asked Ron next to hysterically.

"Well uh- yeah ok in hindsight that was a bad idea," Ron admitted.

Harry's brows furrowed in a way that clearly expressed his displeasure. He would protect them, make sure he wouldn't lose them like he lost his sun.

They'd fallen into small talk at this point, obviously trying to avoid the elephant in the room when the door opened again. This time it opened to reveal Snape, McGonagall, and Dumbledore.

......................

Hi guys, if you guys are wondering why Hermione and Ron didn't immediately ask questions it's because

-After a good night's rest, they calmed down a bit

-They're being polite, after all, this is the first time they've seen "Harry" in years

I'm also planning to have a teacher bring Kaneki to japan so he can get his wand and clothes. 

Oh and yes, Kaneki actually memorized the back of Black Goat's Nest because he read it so many times