Bonds Begin to form
Chapter Five: Bonds Forged in Secrets
The days after the demon attack passed in a blur of tension and whispered conversations. The castle felt different now—its ancient corridors no longer just a home but a place hiding secrets that seemed to call to the Charmed Ones. For Hermione, Ginny, and Pansy, every step seemed heavier with the weight of their new reality, and their powers, while exciting, made their lives far more complicated than they’d imagined.
Their relationships with Harry, Ron, and Draco were also shifting in ways none of them could have anticipated. Bonds were forming—or reforming—and secrets that once felt impossible to share now seemed like they might need to come to light.
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The library was Hermione’s sanctuary, but tonight, it wasn’t solitude she sought. Instead, it was Draco Malfoy who sat across from her, lounging in his usual casual arrogance, though his sharp gaze betrayed a curiosity he couldn’t quite mask.
“You’ve been staring at that same page for five minutes,” Draco drawled, resting his chin on his hand. “Should I be worried? Is the great Hermione Granger finally stumped?”
Hermione sighed, rubbing her temples. “For your information, I’m thinking. Something you might not understand.”
Draco smirked. “Oh, I understand. Thinking about me?”
“Hardly,” she shot back, though the faintest flush crept up her neck.
Draco leaned forward, his smirk softening into something almost genuine. “What’s on your mind, then? You’re not exactly subtle when you’re stressed, Granger.”
She hesitated, caught off guard by the sincerity in his voice. “I’ve been having dreams,” she admitted finally. “Visions, really. About an ancient power connected to Hogwarts. Something that feels… tied to us being the Charmed Ones.”
Draco’s brows furrowed. “Hogwarts has always been full of secrets, but an ancient power? What does that even mean?”
“I don’t know yet,” Hermione said, her frustration evident. “That’s the problem. I hate not knowing.”
Draco chuckled. “Classic Granger. You’ll drive yourself mad trying to solve it all at once.”
“Well, someone has to,” she retorted, though her lips twitched in a reluctant smile.
Draco tilted his head, studying her. “You know, you don’t always have to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. It’s okay to let someone else help once in a while.”
Hermione looked at him, startled by the quiet intensity in his gaze. “Since when are you so… insightful?”
“Don’t get used to it,” he said with a wink, leaning back in his chair.
Despite herself, Hermione laughed, the sound easing some of the tension in her chest.
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In the Gryffindor common room, Ron paced nervously, his gaze flickering to the portrait hole every few seconds. When Pansy finally appeared, her usual air of cool detachment was offset by a hint of curiosity in her expression.
“You look like a Blast-Ended Skrewt in a tea shop,” she remarked, smirking as she crossed her arms.
Ron scowled. “And you look like you came here to pick a fight.”
“Maybe I did,” she shot back, though her smirk softened into something closer to amusement. “What do you want, Weasley?”
Ron hesitated, his ears turning red. “I just… wanted to see how you’re doing. After everything.”
Pansy raised an eyebrow. “Are you trying to have an actual conversation with me? Merlin help us all.”
“Do you always have to be so difficult?” Ron snapped, though there was no real heat in his words.
“Do you always have to be so predictable?” she countered, but her smile was more playful than sharp.
They stared at each other for a moment before Ron sighed, raking a hand through his hair. “Look, I’m just trying to be nice. Is that so hard to believe?”
Pansy’s expression softened, and she stepped closer. “I suppose not. But you make it far too easy to tease you.”
“Well, you’re bloody impossible,” Ron muttered, though his lips twitched into a reluctant grin.
Pansy laughed, a sound Ron realized he didn’t hear nearly enough.
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Out by the Black Lake, Harry and Ginny sat side by side on the grassy shore, their hands intertwined. The cool breeze ruffled Ginny’s hair, and Harry found himself distracted by the way the setting sun turned it into a fiery halo.
“You’re staring,” Ginny teased, though her tone was warm.
“Can you blame me?” Harry replied, squeezing her hand.
Ginny smiled, leaning her head against his shoulder. “Do you think we’ll ever have a moment where we’re not fighting something?”
Harry sighed. “Probably not. But we’ve faced worse, haven’t we?”
“True,” she said, tilting her head to look at him. “You have a habit of surviving impossible odds.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Harry said dryly, though he couldn’t help but smile.
Ginny nudged him with her elbow. “Just don’t get any ideas about running off without me. Again.”
“I wouldn’t dare,” he said, his tone earnest.
“You’d better not,” she said, her smile softening. “Because you’re stuck with me, Potter.”
“Good,” Harry said, leaning in to kiss her.
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That evening, Hermione, Ginny, and Pansy gathered in Hermione’s room. The Book of Shadows sat on the table between them, but it was Hermione’s strained expression that held their attention.
“What’s going on?” Ginny asked, frowning.
Hermione hesitated before taking a deep breath. “I’ve been having visions. Dreams, really. About an ancient power connected to Hogwarts. It feels… tied to us being the Charmed Ones.”
Ginny’s eyes widened. “What kind of visions?”
“Fragments,” Hermione admitted. “An image of the castle, but different—older. Symbols I don’t recognize. And a voice, faint but insistent, calling to us.”
Pansy frowned. “Us? As in the Charmed Ones?”
Hermione nodded. “I think so. But I don’t know what it means yet.”
“So what do we do?” Ginny asked, her brow furrowed.
“We could start by telling the boys,” Hermione said cautiously.
Pansy snorted. “Oh yes, let’s just give them one more reason to act overprotective.”
Ginny smirked. “Ron would probably try to duel the ancient power on sight.”
“And Harry would want to lead the charge,” Hermione added with a sigh.
The three girls exchanged a glance before bursting into laughter, the tension between them easing for the first time in days.
Pansy shook her head. “We’ll figure this out, Granger. Ancient power or not, we’ve handled worse.”
Hermione smiled, grateful for their support. “Thank you. Both of you.”
“Don’t get all sappy on us,” Pansy teased, though her smile was genuine.
Ginny grinned. “Yeah, we’ll save the hugs for when we actually solve this thing.”
After a long pause between the girls Hermione side loudly. Pansy looked over at her trying to determine where her head was at. “What is it Granger?”
“We have to talk to Snape, we need more answers then the vague ones he’s been providing up until now.” she said, standing up dramatically pacing around the room. “ first and foremost, I need to tell him about these dreams and see if they’re connected to anything that he or the elders know about. Secondly, I think he knows the reason that us three were chosen to be the next ones and I wanna know what that reason is!”
Ginny and Pansy shared a look before looking back at Hermione. “ well if we are going to go along with this ridiculous plan of telling the boys,” She said with a smirk directed towards Pansy “ then we might as well have all of the information first. let’s go to the room of requirement and summon ourselves a white lighter!”
The three girls nodded at each other before standing up and making their way out of the eighth year common room quietly. Curfew no longer seem to matter to any of them when bigger things were at stake.