The Face in the Fire

I recently found this old story on my computer, which I have edited slightly and uploaded. I wrote it just after the publication of the Order of the Phoenix on 14-15th July 2003. Enjoy!

It was precisely 9 o'clock in the evening one Friday night when it happened the first time. It hadn't particularly helped that Seamus had been telling ghost stories for the last hour. As a result, not only was everyone jumping at the slightest noise, but no one wanted to go to the toilet alone.

Seamus had just finished telling a particularly eerie story about a mysterious face that always appeared in the Gryffindor fire on the 20th day of the month at 9pm. Of course, today being that day, the Gryffindor fifth years were huddled around the fire awaiting the appearance of the face.

Reactions to said event were typical; Ron looked sceptical, Lavender and Parvati were nearly hugging one another, Dean and Seamus were practically burning their noses off they were so close to the fire, and Hermione was trying not to look interested, scribbling away on some homework parchment. Also, as a rare occurrence, Harry seemed to be waiting for a problem as a pose to a problem finding him.

As 9pm grew nearer, Crookshanks began spitting, his hair standing on end. Hermione, as if waiting for approval from her cat, abandoned her homework and stared into the fire. And the face was there…

Ron swore and fell off the arm of the chair, Lavender and Parvati actually were hugging one another, Dean and Seamus vaulted to the other end of the room, Hermione froze, Harry stared and Neville, who wasn't even in the room, could be heard screaming in the dormitory above.

It was a ghostly blurred white face with a long prominent nose; it was trying to say something in a cold and eerie voice. But as suddenly as the face had appeared it was gone.

Ron was the first to break the silence.

'Bloody hell.'

Then the whole room erupted into talking. Everyone except Hermione backed away into the stairwell.

'Did you see it?' whispered Parvati.

'Oooh, it was dead scary! I couldn't make out any eyes, could you?' asked Lavender.

'That has to be the weirdest thing that's happened in this room,' said Harry, nodding.

'I don't know. What about the time Peeves turned up in the middle of the night and faked a load of bullet holes in the wall with someone's wand?' mused Dean.

'Yeah well that was a bit weird I have to admit...' Harry agreed, grinning.

'I just can't believe the story's true!' Seamus looked shocked.

'Well you told it.' Ron frowned at him.

'Yeah well you do, don't you? Doesn't mean it's real,' Seamus answered.

'I'm going to bed. That was too weird,' said Parvati, and the girls climbed the stairs.

Harry began to climb the stairs with Seamus and Dean, but Ron stopped. He was staring at Hermione with an incredulous expression. She was staying! And what was worse, alone!

'Hermione?' Ron said, walking back into the room. 'Don't tell me you're staying in here alone after that?'

'Why shouldn't I?' Hermione looked bemused.

'Hermione, you can't stay in here…' Ron mumbled.

'Don't be so ridiculous,' Hermione said. 'I've got a chapter to read for Snape's lesson tomorrow.'

'Yeah, okay,' Ron muttered, and walked back into the stairwell where Harry was waiting.

'Bloody mad that one,' he said with a gesture back towards the common room.

Harry grinned and they both climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitories. Ron changed into his pyjamas and climbed into bed, but he couldn't stop thinking about the face in the fire. There was something familiar about it…

After what felt like an hour of just lying in the dark, Ron heard something you don't particularly want to hear when you're lying in the pitch black of an old castle: a loud and eerie wailing noise.

Sitting bolt upright he knocked a mirror off the dresser in an attempt to reach his wand. Flinging back his bed covers, he realised something.

'Hermione!'

At two minutes to midnight, Hermione had decided to call it a day with the chapter she was reading. She didn't notice that Crookshanks' fur was on end, or that he was staring fixedly into the fire.

As she turned to leave the room, a ghostly wail erupted from the fireplace behind her.

Hermione froze in terror. Slowly, as if anticipating the worst and feeling the room grow cold, she turned her head to see the featureless, ghostly white face. She tried to scream but no sound came out. She heard soft footsteps on the stairs.

'Oh please no…'

She suddenly found her voice and started panicking as Crookshanks bolted up the stairs. As if running on automatic pilot, Hermione shouted. What came out of her mouth would make her question a lot of things the next day.

'RON!'

The footsteps on the stairs grew faster, but this time they were different… not echoing and ghostly, but loud and thumping as though a stampede had decided to descend on them.

Out of nowhere a large hand grabbed her arm from behind, and there was the very person in question, pale under his freckles, staring down at her with an anxious expression. Crookshanks had followed him back in, purring softly.

Without thinking, Hermione grabbed him and wrapped her arms around his middle.

They stood there for a minute, Ron not knowing what to do with his hands, and then he seemed to find his voice.

'You alright?' he asked, gruffly.

Hermione pulled back and wiped her eye with a finger.

'Yes.' She sniffed a little. 'I'm okay now… did… did you hear it?'

'Yeah... horrible racket. It woke Dean and Neville up as well.'

Hermione looked up at him and noticed that he was extremely red around the ears.

'I wonder why it happened again. It's only supposed to happen on a certain time and date isn't it?'

'Well that's what Seamus said, but then he didn't even know it was real.'

'But… I heard footsteps on the stairs…' Hermione said, puzzled.

'Oh that? Nah, Neville's wandering around in his fuzzy slippers. He was too scared to come down.' Ron looked amused.

'Well thank you anyway Ron.' Hermione felt shy, and blushed up at him, suddenly aware that he was in his pyjamas. 'I'm sorry I woke you up.'

'It's okay I was er...' he stuttered, 'I was still awake anyway.'

'Oh… see you in the morning then.'

She moved towards the girls' dormitories and Crookshanks followed after circling Ron's leg once. On hearing the dormitory door close, Ron sighed loudly and ran a hand through his hair. With one last curious look at the fireplace (the face was gone), Ron climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

The next morning, Ron awoke to a tapping sound on the dormitory window. Shaking his head as if to expel the sleepiness, he looked over to the window and there was a large, feathery, long-eared owl looking at him.

'What time do you call this?' he said loudly, causing everyone to wake up moaning.

Ignoring his friend's protests, Ron opened the window and the large owl gave him a stern look, letting him untie the letter from his leg. It immediately flew away, and Ron found himself staring at a letter with handwriting he didn't know. It was addressed to him and so he opened it. Ron read the letter, finished it, and then read it again, his eyebrows frowning more with every line.

'I don't believe this… what's he playing at?'

He strode up and down the dormitory room, handling things more roughly than usual and not explaining himself to his puzzled friends.

If Ron's mood had been bad following the letter, it was nothing to what it became following breakfast. Halfway through his toast and cornflakes, Hermione began smiling about something to herself.

'What are you smiling about?' Ron asked, irritably.

'Why, is it suddenly illegal to smile?' Hermione was buttering her toast.

'Have you got a new boyfriend Hermione?' Harry asked without thinking, and regretted it instantly.

Ron nearly spat out his orange juice.

'Wh… eh? What do you mean new boyfriend? You mean there was an old one?' he demanded of Harry.

Hermione glared at him.

'I thought there might have been, but now there isn't and that's why I'm happy.'

'Oh, don't start on about Vicky again,' Ron moaned.

'I don't want to talk about him,' Hermione said indignantly.

'Gone off him have you?' Ron looked up sharply.

'You could say that,' Hermione said mysteriously whilst averting the boys' eyes and nearly knocking over the milk jug.

'What's wrong Hermione?' Harry asked warily.

'I... nothing. Well it's just that he…'

'He what?' Ron cut in sharply, 'what's he done?'

'Oh, nothing. Just didn't want to keep in touch anymore. He was a bit… well, nasty. He accused me of liking someone else and called me a few names,' Hermione said quickly, as though hoping Ron wouldn't hear.

Ron went bright red and looked as if he would like to throw the fruit bowl in front of him across the Great Hall. Harry hastily placed his hands around it and Hermione continued.

'I put a spell on myself so that he couldn't contact me in any way. I don't want to keep in touch with someone like that.'

On hearing this extra news, Ron actually tried to wrestle the fruit bowl from Harry which resulted in oranges rolling all over the floor.

'I'll… I'll hex him into the middle of next week!' he suddenly exploded, ignoring Harry who was now picking all the oranges up and muttering.

'Ron… it's alright... really...' Hermione tried to reach his hand with hers across the table but he moved his hand away and looked so angry his eyes were darting everywhere.

'This isn't on… THIS ISN'T ON. I know what he's up to. I can't believe… I mean... I actually liked the bloke.'

'Are we on about Victor Krum?' asked Fred, who joined in after trying and failing to block out the scene when Harry was so clearly trying to fish an orange out of his cornflakes.

'Damn good Quidditch player,' said George, also joining in.

'I'll give him Quidditch. Next time I see him, I'll shove a broom…'

'Ron!' Hermione looked shocked.

'… In his face. You just wait, I'll have him.'

Ron jumped up seething, and ran to the common room. He didn't even notice he'd dropped the letter he'd received earlier that morning.

On her way back to the common room, Hermione came across the letter on the floor. She picked it up and realised it was for Ron. It read…

Dear Ronald,

It is Victor Krum. You may remember me from last year's Triwizard tournament or from my friendship with Hermione Granger. I was wondering if you could help me. Recently I have been unable to contact her and I do not know why. None of my letters are delivered; they are returned to me. I have also tried contacting her by Floo powder but the network is poor and I cannot get through. Please could you tell her that I have been attempting to contact her?

Yours sincerely,

Victor Krum.

Hermione's head shot up. Suddenly it all made sense.

Realising there was an extra part on the end of the letter she read:

P.S I shall try to contact her one last time at 09.30 GMT on the 21st. Please pass this message on.

Hermione pocketed the letter and ran for the common room. Ron was mad that Victor had not respected her wishes about being contacted and had frightened her. She had told Victor that she no longer wanted to speak to him after all. He was using poor Ron, who would have known nothing about the situation, and would have gone along with it. Ron was actually being a gentleman!

Hermione entered the common room just in time to see what happened next; Ron was standing in front of the fireplace with a mug of water.

The clock turned 9.30 and there it was: the face in the fire... the suddenly recognisable face of Victor Krum trying to say her name!

Ron muttered an expletive at the fire and chucked the mug of water in. The face shattered with an exclamation of shock and the fire was out. A slow hissing and wisps of smoke emitted from the damp logs.

'Serve you right, you git,' Ron muttered.

At that moment, it struck Hermione that she loved every inch of Ron and that she must have been feeling that way for a while; she had shouted his name last night.

Before she could do anything else, Ron turned around and realised she was there. He just stared at her warily, as though he thought she might tell him off. But Hermione didn't tell him off; she hugged him tightly instead.

'Hermione!' he said in a strangled voice, 'what's this for, I mean...'

She let go but she was very close and looking up at him. Ron's voice broke as he leaned irresistibly towards her.

'...I...'

Their lips met slowly; they were suddenly kissing gently... and then deeper...

As they pulled away from one another, they could only stare.

'Thank you for always defending me Ron.' Hermione smiled, thinking of the slugs three years ago and hugging him again.

'Er...' Ron smiled shakily, hugging her back this time. 'Well... I suppose you know I can't help it!'

Please review if you liked it :D