Popular Monster | Tomione

Chapter 01: Popular Monster

It obliterates me
disintegrates me
annihilates me
~ Falling in Reverse ~

~Hogwarts, 23rd November 1996, Saturday~

It was cold, so cold in the tower painted red and gold on that dreadful Saturday night.

No one expected that winter would creep upon Hogwarts this early in the year, not even Professor Trelawny saw what was coming that night. Students were running around with thick scarfs and hats even in the hallways, as the out dated windows did not protect them from the early freezing fingers of the winter. The ghosts, mainly Nearly Headless Nick, were starting to complain about their stiff necks from that cold weather, earning deadly stares from a professor here and there. Even the Whooping Willow shook down her very last leaf, leaving hills upon hills of freshly fallen golden leafs underneath her naked rust branches, tempting younger students to jump right in. But the magical willow should be waiting in vain.

Between all those hectic students, grumbling ghosts and running noses, a small, invisible girl was curled into a little mess in the Gryffindor common room and enjoyed a bit of light reading while her cat, the fiercest ginger in the whole castle, lied on her lap. Here and there, when the girl stumbled upon knowledge she didn't possess earlier, her hand would stop caressing the soft fur of her little tiger, and Crookshanks demanded to be pet and be treated accordingly as a God by softly nibbling at her fingers.

Hermione enjoyed the silence, as silence was hard to find lately.

Just in this moment, a tapping against the window was heard. Looking around the common room to find out the source of the tapping, she saw Ginny grinning from one ear to another and motioned her hands to ask her to open the window.

With a few steps, Hermione reached for the handle and Ginny flew into the room with her broom.

"Merlin, how I've missed Quidditch! Can't wait for our first match, and it's against the Slytherins!", she rambled as she threw herself onto the liggest sofa, leaving Hermione standing at the open window alone. "And you won't guess what happened after training! Harry asked me out in front of everyone!"

Ginny squeaked and hid her face behind her hands while her feet were stomping on the ground.

"And when I said yes, he just pulled me against his lean body and then he - ah! He kissed me, Hermione! He kissed me right on the lips! I can't believe it! I'm the luckiest girl in the world! And do you know what was the best of all? Harry -"

Ginny went on and on, babbling happily and didn't notice Hermione's foul mood. And Hermione tried to be happy for her friend, she really was, but it was hard to be happy for someone else when she wasn't happy herself.

"Gin, hey Gin!", she said and smiled at her friend. "Wouldn't you like to take a shower first? Your muscles must be screaming for a hot shower."

Ginny stopped and looked up at her friend, who had closed the windows.

"You're right, Mione, that's just what I need right now!"

And with a few large steps up the stairs, silence began to fill the room again.

Hermione managed to read a chapter before Harry stormed into the common room and paid no attention to Hermione, even when he passed her so close that she had pulled her legs out of the way.

"Harry, what's wrong?", she asked and tried to remain calm. He was just so aggressive and silent lately towards everyone. Well, everyone except Ginny.

"Not right now Mione, Dumbledore needs me."

"Needs you for what, Harry?", she screamed the last sentence as he vanished into the boys dorm and she heard stuff being pushed aside from searching something.