The Tower

Hermione skipped lunch and went for a walk around the lake to clear her head.  Nothing made sense. 

Why had Dumbeldore sent her back an entire year?  Why had he sorted her into Slytherin?  What good was any of this to Harry, the Harry she left laying on top of the tower?  

She sat under a large maple tree, still green from the waning heat of summer.  The green would turn red, then the leaves would fall, then bud again, and then bloom soft white, covering the ground with petals.  And then the three bodies would fall, covering the stones with blood.  

And how could she stop it?  She still didn’t even know what had happened.  All she knew was the screams, her feet tearing up the stairs, Snape, cold, facedown, Malfoy, cold, a look of surprise on his face, staring up at her but not seeing her, but she kept moving until she reached his untied converse & cuffed jeans. 

His chest was warm when she threw herself over him, surely he would be fine, like all those times before, every year before…

Tears slipped down her face.  She left them there until the sun dried them off. 

She didn’t know anything, and for Hermione Granger, that was the worst feeling in the world.  But Dumbledore knew; he had been there, standing on the far side of the tower, he had taken her away, sent her here. 

There was nothing else to do but follow Dumbledore blindly.

In this moment she hated him.

Before she could think better of it she punched the trunk of the tree.  Unfortunately she had used the same hand which was already developing a nasty purple bruise across the knuckles, and she yelped, jumping around on one foot like an idiot.  

“You know, Granger, if you need to take your anger out on something, I recall that you quite enjoyed using me as your punching bag.” 

The voice came from above her and she screamed again.  Draco Malfoy was lounging in the top of the tree, a book in one hand, and a green apple in the other.    

Her anger found a new target. 

“You know, Malfoy, I still don’t understand why Moody turned you into a ferret when you’ve always shown such promise as a squirrel.” 

Malfoy was sliding down the tree now with a kind of gratefulness that should be impossible when one is dangling like a monkey.  He stopped just above the ground. 

“Is that what you would turn me into?” he asked, smirking down at her.  

“Given the chance.” she said, the ends of her hair bristling with hatred.  She couldn’t help the way her eyes darted to his left arm which was covered by his white shirt, while his right sleeve was rolled up.  

Something flashed in his icy blue eyes.  “Then give it your best shot.” 

He grinned, not a smirk, not a laugh, possibly a real smile, and then his feet hit the ground and he was sprinting across the grass. 

It was too tempting and she was too wound up; she chased after him. 

Her spells were nonverbal, aimed mostly at his feet, trying to trip him, but he was surprisingly light footed as he laughed and led their chase towards the quidditch pitch. 

His laughter sent a fresh wave of rage down her spine and she sped up, he was headed straight for the gates, then he was through them. 

Launching herself onto the field she saw the flashing white-blonde back of his head and aimed her spell, no longer bothering to cast silently.  “Incarcio!” 

Ropes lashed around his body and pulled him to the ground with a yelp. 

“Aha! Got you ferret!” she cried triumphantly.  

A tall figure stepped out of the shadow of the gate. 

“I thought I was a squirrel?  I guess I’m open to a different pet name if you have any suggestions?  No?  Theo?” he turned to the boy wrapped in ropes on the ground.  His blond hair was fading to brown and turning curly. 

Oh no.  Hermione’s face was flushed from the run but getting even redder with rage.  She rounded on Malfoy. 

“You slimy! Cheating! Foul! Loathsome!” She was punctuating each insult with a spell which Malfoy was narrowly deflecting.

Oh sod it all. 

She punched him square in the nose.  

It felt just as good as the first time.  

“Detention, Granger.” Snape’s drawl cut through her triumph like a bucket of ice water over her head. “Monday, 8:00, my office.” 

“But Professor!”  Theo was still struggling on the ground with the ropes when he spoke.  “It’s not her fault, it’s uh, it’s my fault, I made her do it.”  

Hermione and Malfoy turned to look at each other with matching faces of disbelief.  Before either of them could say a word, Snape had issued Theo the same detention and then swept back into the locker rooms, followed by a few straggling Slytherins. It dawned on her that she probably just interrupted Quidditch tryouts.  

“Theo!”  Hermione yelled, rushing over to him and releasing the ropes. 

“Theo I’m so sorry, I thought you were, I didn’t see, I’ll go sort this out with Snape, you don’t deserve detention-” 

Theo pushed himself up on his elbows and pulled her into his arms.  She felt all the air leave her lungs. 

“Don’t you dare!  I’m quite looking forward to it.”  He pulled back just to wink at her, and she scoffed and pushed him off.  These Slytherins would be the death of her.  

“Theo,” Malfoy spoke sharply from behind them but they both ignored him.  

“I’ll see you at dinner Theo, and I will not see you in detention.” Hermione said forcefully, getting to her feet and deciding to leave the pitch with whatever remained of her dignity. 

She didn’t give Malfoy even a passing glance as she walked by, though she did note happily that his nose seemed to be dripping blood onto his expensive dragon hide boots.  

“Theo what the hell was that?!”  Malfoy's voice exploded behind her.

“Oh, sorry, was that supposed to be your detention with Granger?  I’ve heard what you get up to in detention-” 

Hermione sprinted the rest of the way to the castle. 

____

She had never had girl-friends before and she was suddenly finding it quite nerve wracking. 

Hermione stood in the spacious marble bathroom holding up different tops, unsure what one was supposed to wear to a casual girls night.  In fact, what does one do at a girls night?

Again, she didn’t know.  The shirts got tossed to the floor.  She hated not knowing! 

Leaving the shirts on the floor she exited the bathroom in her regular gray tank top and flannel pajama bottoms and decided if she was going to give this a real try, then she would just dress like herself.  

Pansy had already left when Hermione emerged, but she was surprised to see that Millie was waiting for her. 

“I thought we could walk up together.” the blonde said softly, giving her a sweet smile.  Hermione couldn’t help but wonder how Millie ended up in Slytherin.    

It was just before midnight which meant they were definitely not supposed to be out of bed. 

Together she and Millie snuck through the castle silent as the grave.  Eventually they reached the bottom of a staircase. 

“This is where we meet.”  Millie whispered and threw her shiny hair over her shoulder before she slunk up the stairs.  

Hermione’s heart caught in her chest. 

They emerged onto an open circular platform, dotted with telescopes around the edges.  A group of girls sat in a circle around a small cluster of candles. 

As the two new girls approached, Hermione saw it was Luna, Ginny, Pansy, and Cho.  

They smiled and made room in their circle, squeezing Hermione in between Ginny and Pansy.  The firelight mixed with the moonlight created an eerie atmosphere. 

This is not what she had expected.  Luna was cheerily explaining something that Hermione was not paying attention to.  

“So who wants to go first?!” Luna’s wide eyes looked around excitedly.  She was wearing a star embroidered sweater with clashing striped pants.  Hermione smiled. 

“I’ll go.”  Pansy said bravely.  

Although what it is she was going first for Hermione had no clue. 

Luna conjured a deck of cards with her wand.  They were well worn and decorated with a moving pattern of stars on the back swirled in a circle. 

Deftly, Luna shuffled the cards, then placed them on the stone ground in front of her.  

Hermione couldn’t bring herself to look down at the stones.  She looked up at the real stars instead.

Luna’s voice was as airy as always.  “Your first card is death.” 

Her eyes snapped down to the cards. Tarot cards. This is what they did on their girls’ nights?  Divination? 

Hermione actually rolled her eyes. She didn’t need to predict the future.  She already knew it.  

“Your second card is the ace of wands, and your third is - oh! How lovely. The six of cups.” 

Luna looked up at Pansy happily as if everything was self explanatory.  

Ginny cleared her throat.  “Which, being interpreted-” she led, tapping her nails on the ground. 

“Death means the end of something, the ace of wands is a new beginning, and the six of cups is something unexpected and beautiful coming back from your past.”  At Luna’s explanation all the girls hummed in agreement or let out little whispers.  

Hermione had to forcefully resist another eyeroll.  What a ridiculous reading.  It was so vague it could apply to anyone on planet earth. Pansy’s elbow suddenly caught her ribs.  

“Hermione next!” she said, her bob tilting as she watched Hermione from the corner of her eye. 

Three cards were laid out and Luna dramatically flipped them one at a time.  

“The two of cups.” 

“The star.” 

“The tower.” 

Hermione’s dinner lurched towards her throat. 

The tower card had a beautiful moving illustration, a stone tower getting struck by lightning, and a figure falling off the edge, into the sea below.  The sky was filled with unmoving stars.