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

40 | we were amateurs at war - part ii

xxxx.

we were amateurs at war – part ii

(Mars by Sleeping at Last)

__________

March 5, 1979

Being Head Girl had its perks and Hermione Pettigrew had put them to good use.

Hermione, as usual, had cooped herself in the library to study for the NEWTs. Her Ravenclaw classmates had opted to ditch her today, bemoaning their exhaustion, and Hermione merely gave them an apologetic smile, knowing full well she'd started becoming crazy obsessed with studying again.

And, as usual, Hermione had lost track of time and when she glanced at her wristwatch, it was already past curfew.

She took her precious time fixing her things and sauntering out of the library. Filch wouldn't dare give her detention because she could always use the excuse that she was Patrolling. The professors would of course commend her for her dedication in catching any rule breakers at night. She was slightly abusing her powers and she knew it. She could already imagine the Marauders mercilessly teasing her for using her badge as an excuse to spend more time in the library. But, with Dumbledore forbidding her from meddling with Order business, Hermione really didn't have any other choice but to study just to distract herself from the chaos outside Hogwarts.

She truly was enjoying studying, but Hermione honestly wished for the school-year to end. She had other important things to focus on, such as her horcrux hunt and the war. The Daily Prophet still boasted increasing attacks from the Death Eaters. Peter had kept his promise and religiously wrote to her about things happening outside the school, but even he had been quite vague, apologising that some things were too confidential and risky to write on parchment. But he'd reassured her they were all fine, that they were trying their best to fight for their cause, and had begged her not to put herself in harm's way just to put their minds at ease.

Her trek towards the Head's Dormitory had been filled with these thoughts. She distractedly searched different alcoves, too, just to catch any lurking students around, but blessedly, she hadn't caught any rule breakers at all.

But such relief was short-lived when the hairs on her neck prickled. Someone was watching her and with her war-heightened senses, Hermione tightly clutched her wand and whipped around in search of a person. She warily eyed the portraits, trying to see if the sensation of being watched was their doing, but all the portraits in that corridor were already asleep.

Suspiciously asleep, if she were being honest with herself.

Still, she couldn't dispel the ominous feeling. Alarm bells went off in her head, a tiny voice urging her to run back to the safety confines of her dormitory.

'It's just a student playing a prank on you,' she firmly told herself just to lessen the nervousness.

Hermione's eyes swept throughout the corridor one last time. Convinced that she was just conjuring things in her mind after a very tiring day, she took a deep breath and continued her journey back to the Head's Dormitory.

But then, a soft shriek slipped out of her mouth when she saw a student standing on the opposite side of the corridor. His tongue flicked across his lips as a small smirk grew on his face, undoubtedly amused at how she'd almost jumped an inch or two in fright.

"Crouch," she growled. "You're out of bed. It's already past curfew. Twenty points from Slytherin."

He wasn't even bothered by her punishment, eyes painstakingly travelling from her head to toe, an indecipherable look on his face.