Harry Potter 1. Default Chapter

The Power of Books 

Disclaimer:

I do not own Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. They're J.K. Rowling's and J.R.R. Tolkien's. 

Summary:

Thirst for knowledge can lead to dangerous roads, especially when books are not what they seem. In her seventh year, Hermione discovers that not all myths are based upon reality, and not all fiction is based upon the fantasy of the author's mind. When chance offers power beyond anything imaginable, how can she refuse?

Author's Notice:

This story contains elements of Lord of the Rings. Characters may be very OOC, but it is my intent if they are. I'm just borrowing them and this story is not a seventh-year story that is supposed to fit into the canon. The story starts off a bit slowly, so please bear with me. The plot will become more evident in the later chapters.

Chapter 1 

It was September the First, 10:00 a.m., and Kings Cross Station in London was full of people who were hurrying to their respective platforms. But one platform was the fullest, and the loudest. This was platform 9 and ¾. 

The lower years were running around, squeaking and laughing, and trying to tell their friends who were, of course, right at the other end of the platform, what they had done in the summer holidays. The older pupils were trying to look more dignified and adult, but that also was with only limited success, as their chatting and laughter could be heard almost as loudly as the squeaking and screaming of the younger children. 

Also, of course, younger siblings were running around, squeaking and screaming even louder than all pupils of Hogwarts together. 

And over all that noise, parents were trying to have a conversation, giving their children more or less good advice for the coming year, asking whether they had forgotten anything, or looking for a missing member of the family.

In all this chaos, a single figure stood unperturbed in the middle of the platform. She was reading a book, and totally oblivious as to her surroundings. This was, of course, Hermione Granger, top students of Hogwarts, Head Girl. 

Her parents had dropped her off in London quite some time ago, and she had already reserved a compartment for herself and her friends. However, they had agreed to meet on the platform, and so there she was, reading and waiting for them to show up. 

Finally, when the noise had calmed down, and the platform was beginning to look empty, a red-haired boy came bursting through the barrier, followed closely by a red-haired girl and a black-haired boy. After them came hurrying Mr and Mrs Weasley, and finally the twins, Fred and George, came through. 

"Hermione!" Harry panted, hugging her shortly. "We thought you'd be already inside the train! Hurry, it will be leaving any time now!"

"Bye Mum, bye Dad, see you Fred and George!" Ron yelled, waving wildly. Ginny was mirroring his movements, and then they all hopped into the train. 

They were just on time, because, when they had shut the door, the whistle blew and Hogwarts Express started moving. 

Ron flopped down on the floor, panting madly. "I thought we were never going to make it," he said. "The car broke down half-way, and of course it was a Muggle part that was causing the trouble. It took Dad ages to get it fixed, but when he finally got it, he couldn't stop talking about how clever he was with Muggle things, right Harry?" He grinned and winked at Hermione. "Of course it was Harry and George who fixed it, but never mind that."

Hermione eyed Ron curiously. "Why are you sitting on the floor, anyway?" she asked. "Our compartment isn't _that_ far away, you know, and you are sitting on mud."

"Oh," Ron said, getting up and turning to look at the spot he had been sitting on. Apparently somebody had had very dirty shoes, and there was a large blob of mud, now evenly distributed by Ron's weight. "Great," he muttered. 

Ginny, who had been standing behind him, burst out in fits of hysterical laughter, pointing at Ron's backside. 

"Stop it, Ginny!" Ron growled, flicking his wand at himself. "Let's go."

They reached their compartment, Ginny still laughing at Ron, who was by this time getting very mad at her. Hermione smiled at Ginny, but buried herself in the book once more as soon as she had sat down. 

The other three did not notice at first, because they were too busy talking about the journey to King's Cross. 

When finally, half an hour later, the witch with the trolley entered their compartment, Harry bought half the lot. "Care about a chocolate frog, Hermione?" he asked. No reply. 

"Hermione?" he tried a bit louder. 

Ron grinned. "She's reading, Harry," he said. "Chocolate can't distract her."

"Let _me_ talk to her," Ginny said. "This requires feminine intellect." Harry and Ron snorted, and Ginny leaned close to Hermione. "Miss Granger," she said, mimicking Professor McGonnagals voice. "You will be late for class!"

Hermione's head snapped up. "What? Sorry, Professor!" she exclaimed, dropping her book and getting up, before she realised that she was still on the train. 

Harry, Ron and Ginny collapsed in giggles. "Oh, Hermione," Ginny gasped. "How can you be studying _now_? The year hasn't even started!"

Hermione looked annoyed. She picked up her book from the floor and smoothed the creases from where it had landed, and then held it up for everybody to see. 

"Lord – of – the – Rings," Ron read aloud slowly, furrowing his brow in confusion. "What subject is that for, 'Mione?" 

Hermione looked at him impatiently. "It's not a textbook Ron, it's muggle literature," she said. "I _do_ read books because I like reading, you know. And I like this book." She buried herself again, obviously unwilling to take part in any conversation. 

"Yeah, that'd be just like her," Ron muttered. "Look at the size of this book, it must be at least 1000 pages!"

Hermione looked up swiftly. "1178," she said. "I'm reading it for the second time."

Ron rolled his eyes and turned back to Harry and Ginny. "Anyone care for a game of exploding snap?" he asked. 

But Harry and Ginny's attention had been roused. Hermione had never, ever, read a book that was not about school as long as they could remember. And now she was reading fiction, not even wizarding but muggle fiction, and she was reading it for the second time. What was wrong with her? "Hermione?" Ginny asked cautiously. "Are you feeling all right?"

Hermione looked up again, very obviously annoyed by now. "Of course I am," she snapped. "Why can I not read my book in peace?"

"Um… sorry, I think," Ginny said. "But, Hermione – you're not reading a textbook, and nothing even closely related to study, and, that's just so very, umm, strange for you?"

"Look, Ginny," Hermione snapped. "As I said before, and maybe you didn't hear, I read books because I like reading, and I like books, and it doesn't make a difference whether they are muggle, or wizard, or whether they are textbooks or fictional, as long as they are _interesting_." She glared at Ginny, and then picked the book up again. 

Ron, Ginny and Harry exchanged worried looks. "What's wrong with her?" Ron whispered. "She's _never_ overreacted like this since first year!" "Maybe she had a hard summer?" Harry guessed, thinking back of his own with a shudder. 

"Or, maybe, she just wants to be left alone and in peace to be able to read her book," Hermione said over Harry's shoulder. She gave all of them an angry and hurt look, and then, gathering up her belongings, left their compartment. 

Truth be told, she had no idea where she would go. She was not that angry with her friends, maybe she should have been a little nicer to them, but nonetheless she really wanted to read this book. It had something compelling about the way it was written, absorbing the reader into the story and making it seem as though he was in the adventure as well. 

She threw a quick glance into the compartment next door, and it seemed to be empty. With a sigh, she flopped onto one of the cushioned seats and started reading again. 

She had not even finished her first sentence when a voice startled her out of the book again. 

"My, my, Hermione, why would you ever prefer my company to the company of your little friends?" Draco Malfoy drawled. 

She looked up and smiled a tight smile. She and Draco had made a truce during fifth year, because they both were prefects and did not want to loose their houses any points over petty squabbles. It had held, although at times they had been close to put on a full-fledged fight. She had told Harry and Ron then that it was necessary for the above reason, but as the year progressed, she had found studying with Draco much more challenging than it was with Ron or Harry. 

And so they had agreed to help each other with their studies, secretly of course. It would have done no good to either of their positions if this had been found out. Their "study team" had continued into sixth year as well, and in the summer they had been owling each other. She had even been to Malfoy Manor once, where Draco had introduced her to his parents. 

Against the common opinion, Lucius Malfoy was not a Death Eater in his heart anymore, but he did not dare to say so, not after having seen what had happened to Igor Karkaroff. It had made the headlines of various newspapers for weeks when Voldemort had had his revenge on him. 

And now, Hermione and Draco were Head Boy and Head Girl, and over the summer, they had been brooding over various tasks assigned by their teachers. They also had worried about the reactions of their respective houses, and their other friends, when they would show friendship openly. They had not yet reached a solution, but they had, for the time being, agreed to take it easy in the beginning, so people could adjust to the change in situation. 

"Hermione? You all right?" Draco asked, looking at her strangely. Hermione had been staring into space for over five minutes now, and he had decided that this was not normal for her. She blinked her eyes, as if just awakened from a dream. "Huh?" she asked. "Oh, hi Draco, I haven't seen you when I came in…"

"Yes, evidently not," Draco muttered. 

Hermione had heard him and looked reprimanding. "You could have said that in nicer words," she scoffed. 

"Yes, and you could have looked a bit more closely at whom you were going to sit with," Draco retorted. "It could have been Pansy, you know."

Hermione grinned. "I think I would have noticed if she had been in here," she said. "It is quite hard to not notice her."

At this, Draco smiled as well. "What are you reading, anyway? It could not be the book about Goblin kings that Professor Binns gave us on his assignment, could it?"

Hermione gave a squeal of mock terror. "What are you thinking? Oh, sorry, let me rephrase that: why were you not thinking? Of course I wouldn't read that book." She shuddered at the thought of it. During her time at his house, they had painfully gone through the different Goblin family trees. It had been the most boring thing she had ever done. 

She held up the book in the same fashion, as she had done with Harry, Ron and Ginny before, so Draco could read the title. He looked mildly interested. "A muggle book?" he asked. Hermione nodded. 

"Well, well, well," he drawled. "Looks like you finally found your way around to reading fiction, Hermione. What is it like then?"

Hermione smiled. "It's really good. Simply … fascinating. It seems so real, you know…" And she launched into a summary. 

When she was finally finished, it was getting dark. Both of them looked up in surprise, and Draco looked at his expensive Rolex. 

"We should be there pretty soon," he said. "My, my, I wouldn't have thought that muggle fiction could sound that interesting. I believe that you'll have to lend me this book sometime."

"Yeah…" Hermione nodded reluctantly. For some reason that she could herself not discern, she wanted to keep the book. But that was, of course, ridiculous. And she was almost finished anyway, she only had one chapter and the appendices left. 

"We should go get changed," she said, trying to change the topic. 

Draco nodded at her. "See you later," he said. 

Both left the compartment, and when they returned in their school robes, both with the shiny Head Girl/Boy badge pinned on quite visibly, the train was pulling to a stop. Draco took a deep breath. "This is it then," he said. "Our last year starts as soon as we leave the train…"

He was voicing the exact same thoughts of Hermione. After this year, they would be leaving Hogwarts as qualified wizards and witches, and, most likely, their paths would divide. Hermione shook her head slightly, as if to drive away these thoughts. It was no good thinking about this, because it would happen anyway. All she could do was to try and make it her best year at Hogwarts. 

"Come on, Draco," she said. "It will be a fantastic year." She opened the door, and took a deep breath, then stepped outside. "I have to go and see Harry, Ron and Ginny," she said apologetically. "See you later."

Draco looked after her. _A fantastic year_, he repeated to himself. Slowly, he stepped onto the platform as well and went to the nearest carriage that would bring him to Hogwarts. 

But when he sat down at the Slytherin table, he suddenly had the feeling that this year would not be fantastic at all. He tried to push it away, repeating Hermione's words over and over again, but the feeling did not leave, and Draco went to bed with a heavy heart and a sense of foreboding.


	2. 

**The Power of Books**

Disclaimer:

I do not own Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings. They're J.K. Rowling's and J.R.R. Tolkien's. 

Summary:

Thirst for knowledge can lead to dangerous roads, especially when books are not what they seem. In her seventh year, Hermione discovers that not all myths are based upon reality, and not all fiction is based upon the fantasy of the author's mind. When chance offers power beyond anything imaginable, how can she refuse?

Author's Notice:

This story contains elements of Lord of the Rings. Characters may be very OOC, but it is my intent if they are. I'm just borrowing them and this story is not a seventh-year story that is supposed to fit into the canon. 

Chapter 2 

 The next morning, Hermione woke up feeling like she had been drinking far too much the night before, which was, of course, ridiculous. There were no alcoholic drinks allowed in Hogwarts, and Hermione would never get drunk anyway. She had been once, and had decided that it was enough to last for a lifetime. She had hated how she had not been in control of her voice, words, thoughts and movements. Fortunately, she had been with her family when it had happened, and so no bad blood had been aroused by her thoughtless babblings. 

Slowly, she pulled back the curtains of her four-poster. Blindingly white light streamed in and she immediately regretted her actions. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to block out the sunlight and thus reduce the immense headache that was pounding inside her head. Part of her wanted to pull the curtains shot again and just sleep through the morning lessons, but most part was aching to get back to lessons. 

Very reluctantly, Hermione opened her eyes again and pulled herself to a sitting position. The light was not hurting her eyes as badly this time, and she decided to progress with dressing.

When she finally went over to have a look in the mirror, she gasped with shock. Not only did she feel like she had a hangover, she also did look the part. What the hell had happened? She could not remember anything abnormal about last night, and so far she had always slept peacefully without any nightmares in Hogwarts. 

Determined that she would let no one else see her bleary eyes and bluish rings under them, she applied a simple make-up charm that would cover most of the bad-looking parts. For once, Hermione was very glad to have her own room as Head Girl. Had she been in the dormitory with the other seventh-year Gryffindor girls, everybody would have bombarded her with questions about the night before. 

As she went downstairs to the Great Hall, the pounding in her head started to subside and Hermione shrugged it off as nervousness about her first day as Head Girl. 

Apparently she was early, as there were only a few students scattered across the various tables. The prefects, and Head Girl and Boy, had a separate table that was close to the teacher's table. The last two years this had been an awkward arrangement for Hermione, but this year she felt glad that she could have some time without her friends from Gryffindor being around. 

Draco Malfoy was already there, poking his bacon with a bored expression. She hesitated, but then went to sit with him. What the heck, they _were_ Head Girl and Head Boy after all. People had to adjust to them being friendly to each other. 

"Morning," she said, not really feeling in the mood for a conversation, but she did not want to sit in silence either. It was her usual morning dilemma; Hermione was not a morning person by any standards. 

"Morning," Draco replied, still looking bored. He was not a morning person, either, which was a thing Hermione was incredibly thankful for. Harry and Ron were almost insufferable in the morning, they jumped and joked and poked and did everything which Hermione would have found funny, but _not_ in the morning. They had so far ignored her pleas to stop it at least when she was near, in fact this rather made them do even more annoying things. 

Draco looked up from his bacon. He looked slightly more interested than before. "I have talked to Snape yesterday," he said. Hermione made a face. Draco looked exasperated. "Anyway," he said. "He was telling me that final-year students are allowed in the restricted section."

Hermione raised an eyebrow in Draco's manner. "Oh?" she drawled, using his usual bored tone. 

Draco mimicked her, raising his eyebrow as well. "Oh," he said. "Honestly, Hermione, I would have thought you'd be more excited, seeing how often you had to sneak out using Potter's cloak!"

Hermione smirked. "At least that gave it an air of excitement. After all, not _everybody_ has an invisibility cloak, or have they? Now it will be all common people, including you, roaming the restricted section," she finished with a mock-sad look. 

Draco smiled down on her. "Of course, that is something I have forgotten," he drawled. "Snape said that only students who'd be showing enough _academic_ interest are allowed into the restricted section. " 

"That rules you out, then?" Hermione quipped.

"In fact, Snape –--" Draco paused, looking at someone behind Hermione.

Not Snape? Hermione thought, turning around as well. Normally Snape left the Slytherins, especially Draco, alone, but seeing that she was sitting with him…

It was, in fact, Dumbledore. He looked at both of them with a twinkle in his eye, although Hermione thought that she could percept some other emotion as well, which normally did not show in the Headmaster's face. "Good morning, Headmaster," both she and Draco chorused. 

The twinkle in Dumbledore's eyes deepened. "Good morning, Miss Granger, Mister Malfoy," he said, smiling. "Congratulations for being the Head people this year, I trust you both will do your job excellently." Something flickered briefly across his features. "Good luck," he said, and turned to sit at the staff table.

Hermione and Draco looked at each other, then Draco shrugged. "He probably meant that we're Slytherin and Gryffindor, you know, House rivalry and all that."

"Hmm," Hermione nodded, staring at Dumbledore who was now talking to Professor Flitwick. "He probably meant that. But did you see his expression? As if he was – I don't know, very worried or something…"

"Don't know," Draco said lazily. "Look, the others are coming in. Seems like Potty and Weasel are the first ones." He smirked. "They were probably wondering why you weren't waiting for them, like a good lapdog should do."

At Draco's words, Hermione first snorted with laughter, but then shut up, guiltily thinking that they _were_ her friends and she should not be laughing at them. Also, she remembered that what Draco had said was quite true – she _had_ promised to wait for them. Ouups…

Draco laughed even harder at her guilty face. "True, was it?" Hermione nodded guiltily, noticing that at this point both Harry and Ron were staring at her, wearing a look that clearly said, 'Why are you talking to Malfoy, Hermione?' 

"Shush," she told him. "We wanted to take it easy, remember? This isn't helping."

Astonishingly enough, Draco did shut up, looking guilty himself now. "Well," he said quietly, "seems like we missed the opportunity to introduce everyone slowly to, ahem, the situation. Look, the whole of Gryffindor and Slytherin are staring!"

He was right. As all the students filed in, they threw confused glances at the Prefect's table. Thankfully, they seemed to ignore them once they were seated. That is, apart from Harry and Ron, who were still staring at the table, wearing the same look that they had had when they entered the hall. 

"Heck," Draco said. "You can't just ignore them, Hermione. Go to them and say something about Head Girl business. It is only making it worse if you sit here and continue to talk to me as if you hadn't seen them!"

Of course, he was right! Hermione wanted to smack herself in the head, but instead she nodded and got up to meet Harry and Ron, smiling brightly at them. "Morning," she said.

Harry wore a deeply suspicious frown. "Why were you talking to Malfoy, Hermione?" he asked. 

"Head Girl business," Hermione told him smoothly, pointing to her badge. "He's Head Boy, you know." 

Harry and Ron looked dumbfounded for a moment, but soon this changed into a look of outrage. 

"He _can't _be Head Boy!" Ron exclaimed. "Do you believe that, Harry? Ferret Boy turned Head Boy? I bet he bought his way in," he added bitterly. 

"Oh, _come on_!" Hermione snapped. "You can't buy a position in Hogwarts, it's –"

"- in Hogwarts, a History," Harry and Ron finished, still looking outraged. Hermione stiffened. "No, I was going to say it's impossible."

Harry looked disappointed. "Still, it would have been much better if one of us could have been Head Boy. Just think of how many points he'll take from us!"

"Hermione will take just as many from Slytherin," Ron said, trying in vain to sound cheerful. It was clear that he, too, had hoped to be in this particular position. Hermione fought the urge to roll her eyes and tell both of them off. They had not even been Prefects, for God's sake! How could they expect to be made Head Boy?

But wisely, she didn't say anything and pointed instead to Ginny, who had just arrived, late as always. "She'll be Head Girl next year," she comforted Ron. 

"Who'll be Head Girl?" Ginny asked curiously, not having heard that part of the conversation. 

"You," Ron answered promptly, looking much more cheerful at that prospect. He adored his little sister, although he didn't show it. "Can you believe Malfoy's Head Boy?" he asked indignantly. "'Mione just told us!"

"Well," Ginny said slowly, frowning a little. "He does have the second best grades in your year…"

Now it was Ron's turn to frown. "That little git has better grades than, say, Harry?" he asked, outraged. It was no secret that his grades were not the best ones, but Harry had not too bad grades. 

Ginny snorted. "Harry's _way_ down. Most of the Ravenclaws occupy the space in between." She was the best in her year, and although she had not had as many O.W.L.s as Hermione, it had been quite a record. 

Harry looked deeply unsatisfied. Apparently he, too, had thought of himself being second or third place. Ginny giggled. "We have to go," she said, taking Hermione's arm and pulling her back to the Prefects' table. "See you later!"

On their way, Ginny looked slyly at Hermione. "So," she said, "When are you going to tell them that you and Malfoy are no longer sworn enemies?"

Hermione choked. "What? How…"

Ginny looked very superior. "Not everyone has their heads filled with only Quidditch, like these two morons. Almost half the school has noticed by now that you seem to get along quite well," she smirked. "I'm really surprised that nobody has told them so far, but then, considering that at least one of them would go off into a major temper tantrum, I suppose it is not that surprising."

Hermione was still staring open-mouthed at Ginny by the time they reached the Prefects' table. Draco looked at her quizzically, but did not dare to ask because of Ginny. 

She must have noticed because she turned to smirk at him. "Seems like your secret isn't as secret as you thought, Ferret Boy."

Draco looked even more confused, and did not even register the insult. "Huh?" he asked. 

Ginny's smirk grew even wider, and she pushed Hermione back into the chair next to Draco, then flopped in the chair next to Hermione. "And there I was thinking that Slytherins were supposed to be the cunning, scheming ones. Oh well, I suppose one can always be wrong. You see, what I meant was that I was just telling Hermione that half the school is aware that you seem to be getting on with each other quite well, and apparently she was surprised."

"Oh," Draco said weakly. "Half the school meaning whom?"

Ginny looked delighted. "Meaning everybody up from forth year, apart from Harry, Ron, your two cronies, and maybe one or two other people who would be too stupid to notice."

Draco looked faintly amused. "You know," he said. "_I_ always thought that we Slytherins were cunning and scheming as well, but apparently this does not account for sheer blindness. But say – I hear you say the names of Potty and, umm, your brother, in the same breath as Goyle and Crabbe? Whatever happened?"

Ginny grinned nastily. "They _are_ quite similar. Well, maybe Harry and Ron have the better grades, and, by the way, you can say Weasel if you really want to, I don't mind a lot."

Draco replied something on the same lines, and so the two went on bickering, totally ignoring Hermione who sat in their midst, feeling a bit forlorn. What had happened to the old Ginny who was blushing all the time when she saw Harry Potter? When did this new Ginny turn up, the sarcastic, witty Ginny who did not seem to care at all about Harry?

She was confused. She had been friends with Ginny since fifth year, because by then Ginny had been going out with another boy from Ravenclaw, and had started to show a lot more interest in study. They had been studying together quite a lot, apart from the times when Hermione was studying with Draco, of course. But Ginny had still retained some of her old characteristics – she had been far more… well, Gryffindorish. Her sarcasm was rather disturbing, not that Gryffindors weren't sarcastic, but it was in a different way. Ginny's sarcasm blended perfectly in with Draco's. 

Hermione felt the eyes of Ron and Harry on them, again. They had the same look as before, and were heatedly discussing something. She smiled faintly. They probably couldn't believe that Ginny was talking to Draco. But then Minerva McGonnagal, who was going around and handing out timetables to the students, distracted them, and they instead bent down to examine their timetables. 

Hermione looked at hers. She felt a slight twinge of guilt when she struggled to remember what subjects Harry and Ron had taken. She could not believe that they were carrying on with Divination. Harry, of course, was taking Defence against the Dark Arts, and Ron, not knowing and not really caring about his subjects, had joined him. This was the one of the two subjects that Hermione had together with them. 

Harry and Ron had the exact same four subjects for their N.E.W.Ts, which were Divination, Defence against the Dark Arts, Care of Magical Creatures (why they had chosen to take that particular one, Hermione would never understand) and Charms, the other subject in which they would join with Hermione. 

Hermione, being Hermione, had taken up far more than the mandatory four subjects. Her timetable was almost fuller than it had been in her second year, but somehow, she felt very confident that this time, she would be able to handle all of it quite easily. Apart from Defence against the Dark Arts and Charms, she was doing Transfigurations, Ancient Runes, Arithmancy, History of Magic (she still could not believe that she was actually carrying on this subject, but some of it was quite interesting, despite Professor Binns' boring voice) and, although she could not stand the teacher, Potions. 

She smiled fondly as she remembered the heated discussion she had had with Professor McGonnagal at the end of her fifth year. It had been hard to convince her Head of House that she really would be able to cope with the extra three subjects. Some of the Ravenclaws and other, more studious people, were taking five, but Hermione was an exception with her seven. 

Draco was taking all her classes as well, that is, apart from the two that Harry and Ron were taking. He had declared that he did not need DADA and Charms, having learnt enough already at home. 

Hermione sighed as she examined her timetable. Double Potions first… well, at least she did not have to talk to Harry and Ron so soon, then. She could already see the discussion coming up. They had clearly not been satisfied with Draco being Head Boy, and she did not want to join in their ranting against him. 

"Double Potions first," Draco said from beside her, looking pleased. Potions was his best subject; over the years he had developed more knowledge than Hermione, much to her chagrin. They were constantly competing for being the best in this subject. 

"Let's go then, shall we?" she sighed, and they gathered up their books and bags and filed out with all the other students to start their first day back at Hogwarts.


End file.

Harry Potter, Drama