| Harry awoke that morning to the sound of birds chirping outside of his window. He reached over to his nightstand, picked up his glasses, and put them crookedly on his face. He rubbed his eyes, wondering what time it was. I just had the most wonderful dream, he thought to himself. Smiling, he got out of bed and changed into his clothes for the day, trying to remember what he had dreamt about. He had gone to the Yule Ball with Hermione, and they had shared the best kiss Harry had ever experienced � even though it was the only one he had ever had. Still smiling to himself, he left the boy�s dormitory. He tried to remember what Hermione had been wearing� a beautiful golden dress that sparkled when it moved; her hair was done in long, flowing curls. He had never seen her look so gorgeous. That was the best dream I�ve ever had, he thought, it seemed so real. When he entered the Gryffindor commons room, he saw Hermione sitting on the couch, reading a book. As he walked over to her, she looked up at him, smiling sheepishly. Harry sat down next to her. �Morning,� he said. �Good morning,� she replied. He yawned and scratched his ear, looking at the book Hermione was reading. It was called �Preparing for your OWLs.� �Harry?� Hermione said suddenly. �Yea?� Harry responded. �I just wanted to let you know that last night was the best night I�ve ever had, and I don�t want things to get weird between us because of it,� she said, her cheeks turning a bit pink. Harry raised an eyebrow. �Sorry?� he asked. �You know, what we did last night? You remember don�t you?� she questioned, sounding a bit hurt. Harry furrowed his brow and gave her a confused look. �What are you talking about?� he inquired. �Harry, how could you have forgotten already? We kiss for the first time in our lives and you don�t even remember that we did the next day!� she exclaimed. Harry�s eyes grew wide and his mouth dropped open a little. �That really happened?� Harry asked. �I thought I had been dreaming!� Hermione giggled, and Harry�s face grew red from embarrassment. �A dream was it? I didn�t realize that you thought it was that good!� she said. �Well, I just don�t want our friendship to get ruined because of it.� �Oh,� Harry said, �Of course not!� The two stared at each other awkwardly for a minute, before Hermione stood up. �Well, don�t want to be late for breakfast now, do we?� she said cheerfully. Harry stood up and followed her as she walked out the door of the Gryffindor commons room. They walked down the empty corridor silently. Harry wondered to himself if Hermione actually liked him or if she was just caught up in the moment of the previous night. He didn�t know whether or not she actually wanted to be his girlfriend, but he was afraid to ask. What if she said no? He knew it would totally mess up their friendship if he asked her out and she declined. Suddenly, Harry noticed that he was in the Great Hall. He sensed the aroma of waffles and syrup, and his stomach began to rumble. He excitedly sat down next to Hermione and started eating the delicious food. The Great Hall, usually echoing with loud talking and laughing by the students, was calm. Harry looked around the table. There were only eight students sitting at the Gryffindor table. Most were first years that didn�t want to leave for winter holiday. Harry looked out the window and saw that it had snowed over the night, and the Hogwarts grounds were covered in snow. He nudged Hermione. �Hey, Hermione, want to go outside after breakfast? It�s snowing,� he asked. �That�s a great idea!� she exclaimed. �I�ll go get dressed a little warmer, I�ll meet you in the commons room.� She hopped out of her seat and walked out of the Great Hall. Harry sat at the table finishing his breakfast for another five minutes, and then went to go change. He walked quickly to the Gryffindor commons room and up into the boy�s dormitories. After putting on a black, hooded sweatshirt, he descended the stairs into the commons room. Hermione was wearing a lavender sweater and a white, wool hat. �You ready to go?� she asked, smiling. �Yep,� he answered. The two headed out onto the Hogwarts Grounds. It was snowing lightly and the snow on the ground came up to their shins. Harry looked over to the Quidditch field. Only two weeks until we can start playing again, he thought. Suddenly, he felt something very cold and wet hit his neck and slide down his back. He spun around and faced Hermione, who was grinning wildly. Harry bent down and grabbed a handful of snow. When he came back up, she had already started to run, so he chased her. When he caught up to her, he grabbed the back of her sweater and shoved the snow down it. She screamed and started shaking her shirt out. �Oh, you asked for it now!� She said, smiling. She ran at him and tackled him. They both fell into the snow and started throwing snow at each other, laughing. They began wrestling each other, rolling around in the now flattened snow. |
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| Chapter 17 Winter Holiday |