Meetings in the Dark

Chapter 1

Hermione closed her amber eyes and exhaled softly. It was the last day of her sixth year at Hogwarts and for once, she didn't want to go home. Her eyes slid open as she watched all the commotion in the Great Hall from afar. There were first years, frantically trying to remember if they left anything, fourth years groaning when they realized that Hogsmeade would not be open to them in the summer, and seventh years crying and hugging as they said goodbye for the final time. Hermione was usually excited for summer, especially now that she would be at the Weasly's for the summer months. She laid her head back against the cool stone wall and chuckled as she remembered how nervous Ron had been when he asked her to spend the summer at his house. She had of course said yes, he was her best friend after all. Also, she sighed, at the beginning of the year, she had been madly infatuated with him. But now she abandoned those hopes and surprisingly found affection in an unlikely place. Could she say that she loved him? She wasn't sure, but she did know that her feelings were more than friendly, especially after she discovered how perfectly his lips molded with hers, or how her skin felt on fire when he touched her. She found herself blushing as she thought about it.

Hermione was pulled out of her not so innocent thoughts by Harry, who had recently announced that he would also be spending the summer with her and Ron.

"Ready to go 'Mione?" Harry asked, grinning wildly. He was ecstatic for the summer, which had been made even more spectacular by the fact that he would be spending it with his two best friends.

Hermione smiled up at him, "As ready as I'll ever be." They had decided to get onto the train early, in order to get good seats and a room to themselves. "Where's Ron?" she asked when she noticed that their ginger counterpart had not joined them.

Harry shrugged, "Who knows, let's get on and he can find us later." They made their way onto the practically empty train and found a room. Harry pushed open the door and flopped onto the seat. He closed his eyes, but then opened them again when he realized that Hermione had not sat down. "You ok?" he asked concerned.

Hermione nodded with a smile, "Yea, I'm fine. I've got to go say goodbye to a few other friends first. I'll be back soon." She wasn't quite lying. She did have to go say goodbye to someone, but she wouldn't call him just a friend. Harry grunted in response and continued to stretch out along the bench.

Hermione made her way out of the train and back into the Great Hall. Where could he be? She scanned the room and smiled when her eyes landed on a familiar blonde head. She started to call out to him, but then remembered that their "relationship", if you would call it that, was a secret. What would people think if they discovered that she had been snogging a Slytherin. What would Ron and Harry think, they hated him, and she did too until they met in the Room of Requirement and actually started to talk as human beings. She allowed herself to become lost as she remembered.

~Eight Months Earlier~

Hermione ran down one of Hogwarts's many empty halls with tears streaming down her face. Lavender had just humiliated her in front of the entire common room, and on top of that Ron hadn't done anything. Harry would have said something, but he was talking to Professor Dumbledore, so he wasn't there. As she weaved through the halls, not really caring where she was going, she came upon a pair of large doors. "The Room of Requirement..." she mumbled to no one in particular. She stared at it for a moment before walking over and opening the doors, it appeared as though it was empty, so she deemed it safe to enter. She slowly slunk into the room and threw herself down onto one of the couches offered. She started to sob uncontrollably, clutching onto the soft canvas of the cushion; it wasn't like anyone could hear her, right? As her sobs started to retreat she heard a voice above her.