Never Too Young To Die

Until Next Year

~HERMIONE~

The feast was amazing (as usual), Gryffindor won the house cup, and Hazeline was staying with me this summer! I didn't think the day could get any better. Ron was going to Egypt, lucky him. And, Harry, unfortunately, was staying with his aunt and uncle again. If I could invite him to my house I would, but I can't.

It was him or Hazel, and she would've had nowhere to stay if I didn't step in. Those foul Malfoys. They were the reason Hazeline got sick in the first place. Hazel told us that her uncle, Lucius, swapped her diary for Tom Riddle's, and that's how she came across it in the first place.

"Okay, Hazel," I said once we were off the train, pushing our way through the crowd to my parents. "Go say goodbye to Harry and Ron and then meet us here."

"Wait, don't you need to say bye?" She asked.

"I did before."

Hazeline nodded and walked over to the brick gate, where Ron was standing with his family. I watched intently as she said goodbye, waiting to see what he would do. He just gave her a simple hug, but for Ron, it probably took some effort. Then Hazel strolled over to Harry, who was isolated from everyone, waiting for the Dursleys.

She walked up to him and said goodbye. I waited, quite impatiently I might add, for him to do something. But he didn't. She started walking back to me, and I could see she was quite disappointed, but her eyes brightened when Harry changed his mind. He grabbed her wrist and quickly kissed her cheek.

I let out a high-pitched squeal as Hazeline walked over, her cheeks on fire. She blushed more when she saw me. Sighing, she asked, "did you just see everything?"

I nodded. "Don't worry, hopefully next time it won't be on the cheek."

"Hermione!" Hazel exclaimed, whacking my arm playfully.

"Sorry, it's just that I totally ship Harreline."

Hazel looked at me as if I had just spoken in a foreign language. "What?"

I laughed at her confused expression. "I'll have to give you lessons on the muggle art of fangirling."
_________________________________________________________

Hazeline and I had an awesome summer. We did everything I would expect best friends to do, but the highlight of the whole holiday was Hazeline admitting that she did indeed have a crush on Harry. I haven't stopped bugging her for ages since she told me.

We were now staying with Ron and his family and Harry at the Leaky Cauldron. Harry must've had an awful summer, because he ended up almost getting expelled after he blew up his Aunt Marge. Ron and Hazeline had congratulated him when he told us, but I scowled him. He could've caused himself an expulsion!

"Hermione, keep that bloody cat of yours away from Scabbers!"

Oh, I forgot to mention that I also got a cat, when I went to buy my new things for school in diagonal alley. Ron hates Crookshanks because he's convinced she's trying to eat his pet rat, Scabbers. But it wasn't just my pet. Hazeline's owl, Victoria, didn't seem to like Scabbers either because she started squawking and freaking out around him.

"It's not my fault your rat looks like a shoe brush!" I pointed out, stalking away from him and over to Harry and Hazel, who were feeding their owls outside.

I didn't want to interrupt Harry and Hazel, as they were both laughing together, but I had to get some help in this argument. I cleared my throat when I got to them, clutching Crookshanks to my chest.

"Ronald is convinced that Crookshanks is trying to eat his rat," I announced, flipping my hair off my shoulder.

Harry and Hazeline shared a confused look. I groaned and sat down next to them as a Ron came stomping over to us, holding his rat in the palm of his hands.

"That foul hairy pig is trying to kill Scabbers!" He yelled.

Harry and Hazeline clearly had no idea what to do, because they just went back to talking about their owls. I groaned again, glaring at the red-headed boy next to me, who simply looked away snootily.

I sighed, saying, "look, Ron, let's make an agreement. I'll try to keep Crookshanks away from your rat and you try to keep your rat away from my cat."

I held out my hand hopefully. "Fine," he said, shaking my hand.

Harry and Hazel took their birds inside, Ron and I following them silently. The two love birds (and their owls) went upstairs to take their pets to their cages. Ron and I sat at the long black table in the Leaky Cauldron, trying to ignore Mr and Mrs Weasley's heated argument.

I prayed that Harry and Hazel wouldn't come down to quickly when I heard them mention their names. And then Sirius Black's... What did Sirius Black want from Hazeline and Harry? What could two third years have possibly done? I tried to look busy by twirling my spoon around in my soul as Harry emerged from the staircase, followed by Hazel.

Ron didn't seem to notice anything unusual, he was too busy scarfing down his dinner. He did resemble a pig. Only then did I notice Mr Weasley talking to my two best friends in hushed voices. Hazeline immediately paled, as she always did when she was afraid, or when she knew something.... What did Hazel know about Sirius Black?
_______________________________________________________

Hazeline and I were packing our trunks for Hogwarts, and I couldn't help but notice that she was acting weird. It was like she knew something, and when she knew something, she wouldn't talk. At all.

"Hazeline?" I asked her. She looked up at me. "What do you know about Sirius Black?"

She tensed, shrugging stiffly and going back to packing her clothes. This was the one thing about Hazeline that made me slightly nervous sometimes. She wouldn't tell you some things, and then she'd pretend she didn't know anything. She was just so confusing sometimes.

"So..." I said, trying to change the touchy subject. "What happened between you and Harry today?"

As I noticed Hazeline's blush, I arched one eyebrow. "No much. We just talked about Hogwarts and stuff."

See? Lies again!

"Really?" I asked. "Did Harry mention the G-word?"

Confused, Hazeline asked, "what?"

"You know, girlfriend."

She was now beet red, and she clearly didn't trust her voice, because she just shook her head awkwardly. I laughed, throwing more of her clothes at her for her to pack. She picked up a book with a brown-leather cover, examining it with a frown on her face. As she opened the inside cover revealing a page that read: this dairy belongs to Hazeline Lestrange, I realised what she was doing. She was clearly still anxious about last year.

"Hey," I said, taking the diary from her and placing it in her trunk. "Don't worry about last year, okay? It's over. Nobody judges you, Hazel. In fact, people think you're brave."

She nodded, probably hoping I wouldn't notice the tears on her cheeks. I smiled at her, pulling her into a hug. She was a few inches shorter than me, but she was a lot prettier. She pulled away and smiled at me gratefully, turning back to finish putting her clothes away.

"So," I whispered. "When are you going to become Harry's girlfriend?"

"Hermione!" Hazel yelled, hiding her embarrassment by cupping her hands over her face.

"What?" I questioned. "It's going to happen at some point, isn't it?"

Hazeline shrugged, blushing the deepest red I'd ever seen.

A/N: Hi, guys! OMG 2.02k! That's amazing! Thank you so much! Who's ready for The Prisoner Of Azkaban?
~Annabel. Xx

(Also guys I'd like to make a shoutout to Siena2015 You should go check out her stories! They're amazing! Thanks again, guys.)