Wow....................................................................
* * *
2 WEEKS LATER.............
Dear Diary,
Things with Harry are still not going well. Its odd the way things worked out. I mean, we are speaking now, but..... Its hard to say whether we will stay together. It even was a silly thing that we quarreled over, but niether of us are trying to fix it exactly. I dont know what to think. And I feel guilty. For, ever since that night in Fluffy's room, Ron and I have secretly been meeting after hours. In fact, thats where I just returned from. I cant beleive that after all these years, I never looked at him the way I do now. It just never even connected in my mind to see him that way, and now that it has...........? It just feels so right. So right. I feel as though I have never been happier. Well, I must get some rest now. It will be another late night tomarrow. Good night.
Hermione
Hermione's clock read 12:01. She rolled over, her fingers breifly touching the crimson charm on her necklace. And she slept.
Walking slowly through the darkened corridor, Hermione's candle flickered. She glanced over her shoulder uneasy. At the end of the hallway, a light shown. She ran toward it, faster, and faster, filled with an urgency that she did not understand. Suddenly the world spun, and she was flung into a swirling vortex, filled with shining, shimmering jewels. But something was wrong. Sounds of crying and despair filled her mind, and the jewels kept on glowing,as if mocking her. She tried to cry out, but her voice was lost in the pounding of her own heart. And all at once it stopped. She found herself sitting in a room, lit by candles with stone walls. And in the corner there was Harry, huddled into a ball. She ran towards him, but found she could not reach him. For her way was blocked off, and Harry was bound with golden chains. He did not move, and did not speak, but sat there, clutched in his hand a knife stained with blood, and shivering, slumped against the dungeon walls. A high pitched cackling filled her head, and she was flung away again. She fould herself walking, yet again, across a high planked bridge. She did not look down, couldn't look down, for what she would find there would fill her with terror. Stop, she screamed, Stop! but the her feet would not stop walking, or was it the bridge moving? she could not tell. She could hear someone coming behind her, screaming her name.. Then the bridge disapeered, and she fell into darkness once more, bells clanging in the back of her mind. Suddenly, she was back in Fluffy's room. She looked around, and saw Ron in the back of the room. She moved towards him. He was standing with open arms, smiling, grinning. She walked faster, and faster, but it was like the ground was shifting beneath her, and she could not reach him. She looked at his face in terror, but he kept smiling. Hermione! he called, Hermione, Im here! Arent you coming with me? She tried to speak, tried to answer him, Ron, the one she loved, but she couldnt. The words would not come. She tried desperatly to return his smile, but tears rolled down her face, falling, splashing onto the stone floor. Finally, she reached out her arm to touch his face, and felt smooth glass. She was looking into a huge mirror, studded with jewels like she had never seen before. Or, had she........? She tried to recall, tried to remember, but she could not collect her thoughts. She spun around searching for Ron, but he had gone. The mirror instead was glimmering with a soft, crimson glow, and it seemed to catch the light.It tried to suck her in, tear at her heart, pulling her in. No!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! She screamed, NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Slamming her hand into the mirror, the glass shattered, and millions of slivers of crimson glass flung high into the air, raining down like a storm of ice and fire, and everything went black.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!" Hermione woke up, screaming. Instantly, the entire dorm was awake.
"Hermione, was that you?" asked Lavender sleepily.
"Whats wrong," said Parvati urgently, jumping out of bed. Hermione was breathing hard, trying to collect herself. She looked around at all the concerned faces of her friends. She blinked.
"Im allright," Hermione said slowly. "Just a night mare, thats all." Lavander started to ask what about, but Parvati shushed her. Hermione smiled at her gratefully.
"Really, Im fine," she said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Everyone should just go back to bed!" At this, most of the girls started snuggling back into their beds, and blowing out the lamps. Hermione gave a sort of wounded smile at the few who stayed still, and finally the room was dark again, the soft sounds of sleep allready fillling the room. But Hermione could not sleep. She was too scared. Scared of what exactly she didnt' know, but it was there, gnawing at her. Suddenly it occured to her that she aout to unclench her fists, which she had kept under the covers when the lights were on. There, in the palm of her hand, was her necklace. Hermione stared at it. She must have ripped it off her neck in her dream. But why? She must have simplly knocked it off she told herself firmlly. There was no reason why she would try to take it off. Of course not. A silly idea , she thought, setting it back on her nightstand carefully. Then she leaned back and closed her eyes, suddenly exhausted. Curling up into a tight ball, Hermione fell into a restless, dreamless sleep, the image of the crimson glowl still in the back of her mind.
