The Confectionary Chronicles || HP/SPN

Sweets and Studies- Ch3

CHAPTER THREE:

With butterflies in her stomach and her arm still linked with Neville's to prevent them being pulled apart, Hermione joined the other students in making their way off the train, and out onto a small platform. It was dark outside, the low hanging half-moon barely providing enough light to see by.

A very large man with a big, hairy face holding a large lamp was calling for the first years, and Hermione and Neville made their way over to him, careful not to slip or trip in the crowded, dimly lit space. They had to follow the large man along a steep, narrow path, surrounded on either side by tall, thick trees, and Hermione honestly thought she was probably going to have bruises on her arm from Neville's tight grip, as she seemed to be the only thing keeping him upright as he slipped and stumbled along the path.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," the large man called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here. "

There was a loud "Oooooh!" as they rounded the bend and Hermione felt her heart leap in her chest.

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake, and perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a familiar castle.

Hogwarts.

Tears sprang to her eyes, and Hermione had to surreptitiously wipe them away with her spare hand, still clutching tight to Neville with her other. Beside her, Neville looked emotional too.

"I wasn't sure I'd ever get to come here," he whispered so quietly that Hermione wasn't sure the words were even meant for her ears. She squeezed his hand in acknowledgement anyway, feeling as if her heart was overflowing with emotion.

"No more'n four to a boat!" the large man called out, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore.

Hermione looked around for some familiar faces to share the boat ride with. Kevin, Dean, Fay, and Sally-Anne were all sharing a boat already, but she spotted Ron Weasley and Harry Potter climbing into one of the boats together, and she hurried over to them with Neville before anyone else could climb in after them.

"Everyone in?" shouted the large man, who had a boat to himself. "Right then– FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once and they glided together across the lake, the surface of which remained smooth as glass until the fleet reached about halfway across to the cliff upon which Hogwarts stood.

The previously silent first years, who'd been staring captivated up at the castle, started to shout and scream as the surface rippled with movement, and Hermione gasped as large tentacles emerged from the lake, wrapping around the boat she, Neville, Harry and Ron were in, bringing the boat to a halt. At the large man's hasty shout of "STOP!" the rest of the fleet was similarly brought to an abrupt stop. Hermione barely paid attention to that, however– her focus was elsewhere.

"Bertramus?" She breathed, incredulous, as a great, unblinking eye rose from the depths. Ignoring how Neville, Ron, and Harry all seemed to be pressed as far back away from the giant squid as possible in the small boat, Hermione crawled forwards, reaching out with a trembling hand to stroke the slimy tentacle, tears welling up in her eyes as she recalled the times she'd spent with Helena and Sylvianne playing with Bertramus, throwing him fish, playing fetch with by levitating logs, splashing in the shallows of the lake and getting tangled in his tentacles... "I missed you too," she whispered, too quiet for the boys to overhear. "We'll speak later, okay?"

Bertramus gently nudged her with one of his tentacles before unwinding from the boat and sinking back beneath the surface of the lake, disappearing as suddenly as he'd appeared.