Chapter Four: The Code
She looked under the bed, all over the floor, the ceiling, in her notes, her bag, EVERYWHERE! She couldn't remember AT ALL where she put the letter. The clock was ticking...2 minutes left. THINK HERMIONE, THINK!!! She pulled her hair with both hands frustratedly. Isn't THAT typical...the only ONE chance that I get to find out my secret admirer, the letter just VANISHES!
A light bulb popped up in Hermione's brain. Well DUH... She grabbed one of the old letters that were sticking out of her dresser. I become more and more thickheaded each day...She held her wand over the letter...
"Decouverte, de-me o codigo," She began, "Decouverte, de-me o codigo..." 5 seconds left, "DECOUVERTE, DE-ME O-" She swished her wand to the left, "CODIGO!!!" She yelled.
Nothing happened.
She waited five minutes. Still nothing.
Damn. I knew it was too good to be true...
She stared down at the letter clutched in her hands. Was it just her, or was the letter getting a little...hot? She dropped the letter to the floor as it started glowing orange. It shook violently and rose slowly up into the air, where it burst into big, green flames. The letter was still visible and remarkably wasn't burning up. She gasped as something shot up to the ceiling like lightning. Another shot went up. Zhhipp. Three more went up. Hermione slowly met her eyes to the ceiling that was now glowing bright with green flames...she squinted and she could make out 5 tiny letters in the middle of the green chaos.
It said: Dhe Ehm
In a zap, everything disappeared, the flames vanished and the letter was floating down to the ground, swaying from side to side like a feather.
Dhe Ehm? What could that possibly mean? Was it scrambled? Hermione took a piece of parchment and a small quill out of her bag, attempting to unscramble the letters.
"Hmmm...Hed Hem? No...Deh Emh? I doubt it...Ehd Mhe? Ugh..." She stopped attempting. This wasn't going to work. What kind of code was this? She stared at the words and shook her head. Dhe...Dhe...hmmm...it sounded like Dee, Dee...Ehm..em..em...hmmmm.. She almost gave up, but something clicked in her head as she kept on repeating the words over and over.
"Dee Em. Dee Em. Dee Em. Dee Em. Wait a minute...D...M?" She thought for a long time and it suddenly came to her. "Could they be...initials?"
"D.M." For some reason, Hermione couldn't think of anyone with those initials...maybe she'd go down and ask Ron and Harry.
She walked diligently to the common room, where Harry and Ron were thankfully not playing any more chess. Instead they had their backs to her, staring at a parchment, their eyes wide with shock.
"What is that?" Hermione asked as she walked towards them, "Ron's first A?" She joked. They jumped and turned around. Harry's eyes were glowing strangely and Ron's face was red as hot cheetos. Their shocked faces suddenly turned confused.
"I don't know what this is," Harry started, shaking the parchment in his hands, "I was wondering if you knew..."
Hermione's heart stopped when she recognized the neat, spiky handwriting in green ink. She had accidentally left the letter on the armchair before storming out. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh fucking no...they're not supposed to know about the letters!
"Well...?" Harry asked calmly.
"Ehhh ermmm...THEY'RE LETTERS FROM MY SECRET ADMIRER, DAMNIT, STOP GOING THROUGH PERSONAL STUFF WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION!" She snatched the letter from Harry's hands accidentally tearing off part of the corner.
Ron looked up at Hermione strangely, "But, 'Mione...how were we 'posed to know? They were RIGHT th-"
"OH BE QUIET, YOU LITTLE...YOU LITTLE........" Hermione's voice was drowned out by Harry and Ron's laughter.
"Bloody hell, 'Mione...what's wrong with you? They're just LETTERS, we thought they were something else...like..." Ron looked sheepishly at Harry.
"LIKE WHAT?" Hermione asked.
"L-like..." Harry stuttered, "Uh..." He mumbled something under his breath.
"What was that?" asked Hermione.
"Never mind...so you have a secret admirer "Mione?" Harry tried desperately to change the subject. For some reason, it worked.
Hermione blushed, "Well...yeah, I guess you could say so, but I still don't know who it is!" She suddenly remembered the real reason why she was here. "D. M....do you know anyone with those anyone with those initials?"
Ron grinned, "Donald McDonald!"
Harry snorted.
"NO RON," Hermione said exasperatedly, "Someone that actually goes to Hogwarts."
"Hmm..." Harry looked thoughtful, then his face turned livid, "Could it be...Malfoy? Those are his initials...why do you need to know?"
The color drained out of Hermione's face. Malfoy? No...it can't be. There MUST be someone else with those initials. She thought hard but no names came to mind. What if it was Malfoy? "Uhm...I just remembered something I forgot to do, seeya!" She ran to the girls dormitory and started thinking. Dhe Ehm...it HAS to mean something else... She started trying to decode the words. She tried everything...turning the letters into numbers and back to letters...she even tried to turn the letters into shapes. It was no use. Hermione walked over to her bed to where the book was, but she didn't see where she was going and tripped over one of Parvati's slippers. Hermione fell and hit her head on the hard floor, blacking out.
"LET GO OF HER DADDY!" A little boy with blonde hair screamed, tears falling from his silver-blue eyes. He tried to take the girl off of his dad's hands, but failed.
"SHUT UP, YOU DAMN BOY! YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THAT TO BEFRIEND A MUDBLOOD!" A tall man with dangerous gray eyes and silvery hair yelled as he raised his wand at the girl.
The girl screamed and bit the man's hand, but he still didn't let go. She kept on screaming.
"OBLIVIATE!" The wand blasted something purple into the girl's head and she stopped screaming as she fell to the ground unconscious.
"NOOOOO!!!! YOU KILLED HER!! YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND!!" The boy screamed his father.
The man only chuckled, "No boy, I did a strong memory charm that will knock her out for a few hours. When she's conscious again, she won't remember a thing. She will have no childhood. It'll be as if she'd never met you," he pointed at his son evilly. "Now, for YOUR punishment!"
"N-no! Dad, please don't! P-please!" the boy sobbed desperately.
"Crucio!"
The piercing scream could be heard miles away.
"Now, you promise never to come close to that mudblood again, Draco?" His father said. The boy was still screaming.
"N-NO!" he screamed.
"Well then..." His father continued the punishment. "SAY YOU'LL NEVER COME CLOSE TO HER AGAIN, OR I WILL ERASE YOUR MEMORY ALSO!"
The boy gave up, "Y-Yes sir."
The man stopped the curse and walked away.
Draco walked over to where the girl was, kneeled down and hugged her tightly. "Sorry..." he cried into her shoulder, "goodbye...Hermione..." He kissed her cheek softly and walked away.
Hermione woke up screaming. There was someone pounding on the door, and she could hear Harry and Ron's voices yelling her name.
"HERMIONE, WHAT'S WRONG? OPEN THE DOOR!" Ron yelled.
There was more pounding, but Hermione didn't seem to hear. What she dreamt...it felt so real...
Suddenly, the door blasted off and splinters sprayed everywhere.
"HERMIONE!" The boys yelled at the same time as they ran to her, "We heard you screaming! What happened?"
Hermione just stared straight ahead, not blinking. That dream...she thought silently, A little boy with blonde hair...the screaming...
"Is she in some sort of...trance?" Ron asked as he waved his hands in front of her face.
Hermione blinked suddenly noticing the presence of her two best friends, "Oh, hey guys. What's up?"
They stared at her.
"What?" She asked.
"I think she's gone crazy..." Ron nudged Harry quietly.
Harry ignored him, "'Mione, why were you screaming? And why is your face all white? It looks like you just saw a ghost or something?" Something glistened in Hermione's eyes. Was she crying?
"Oh...uh never mind about that, that was just...that was just...I have to go." She ran out of the door...or what was left of it.
The boys just stared after her stupidly.
> AN: That was KIND OF a longer chapter! ;) I'm really sorry...I started school on Monday, and I'm already getting projects, tests and speeches! It's crazy! I wish I could spend more time on each chapter, but the school work gets in the way! Well, all I can promise (for now) is that there will be a new chapter at least every other day! :)
[Mystical Witch, Yeah, hopefully I could get some long ones one here :D I gave a few hints on this chapter, yup I know who it is! :) it's probably really obvious now...] [Spaced Out Space Cadet, LOL. You'll know for sure, really really really soon...:D...if you don't already ;P] [Mel62, Your so sweet, thankyou!] [Pandora The Vampire, Yay! So happy you did :D Yeah, I asked my brother to help me with that part ;) so it's all his fault! BAHAHAHA!] [xangel-luvx, Hahaha! xD Thankyou :)] [Bex the Bold, Yay! Thx!] [Heretic Edge, Thankyou, and...the number 413 does have to do something with it! :D it's on twice ;) something to do with the alphabet...] [dracosgurl_chrissy, Yeah I know! Isn't it crazy? :D] [Super star19, Thanks :) Yeah, the years of BC ^_^] [Meg, Nope, very not good! lol but she did find a compromise *cough* xD] [Yammas, thx 4 reviewing :)] [RebelRikki, The 27 minutes thing was a time limit, she had to get the whole charm done in 27 minutes - you can only do the charm once. Whenever someone reads the last sentence Hermione read, a spell on the book makes it so that there's a limit for how long you take on the charm...yup. lol...and thankyou! :D] Thanks for the wonderful reviews *hugs everyone to death*. If you weren't on here, you'll be on the next update!
I have go and prepare for my speech now, nyuooooooooo! :(
She looked under the bed, all over the floor, the ceiling, in her notes, her bag, EVERYWHERE! She couldn't remember AT ALL where she put the letter. The clock was ticking...2 minutes left. THINK HERMIONE, THINK!!! She pulled her hair with both hands frustratedly. Isn't THAT typical...the only ONE chance that I get to find out my secret admirer, the letter just VANISHES!
A light bulb popped up in Hermione's brain. Well DUH... She grabbed one of the old letters that were sticking out of her dresser. I become more and more thickheaded each day...She held her wand over the letter...
"Decouverte, de-me o codigo," She began, "Decouverte, de-me o codigo..." 5 seconds left, "DECOUVERTE, DE-ME O-" She swished her wand to the left, "CODIGO!!!" She yelled.
Nothing happened.
She waited five minutes. Still nothing.
Damn. I knew it was too good to be true...
She stared down at the letter clutched in her hands. Was it just her, or was the letter getting a little...hot? She dropped the letter to the floor as it started glowing orange. It shook violently and rose slowly up into the air, where it burst into big, green flames. The letter was still visible and remarkably wasn't burning up. She gasped as something shot up to the ceiling like lightning. Another shot went up. Zhhipp. Three more went up. Hermione slowly met her eyes to the ceiling that was now glowing bright with green flames...she squinted and she could make out 5 tiny letters in the middle of the green chaos.
It said: Dhe Ehm
In a zap, everything disappeared, the flames vanished and the letter was floating down to the ground, swaying from side to side like a feather.
Dhe Ehm? What could that possibly mean? Was it scrambled? Hermione took a piece of parchment and a small quill out of her bag, attempting to unscramble the letters.
"Hmmm...Hed Hem? No...Deh Emh? I doubt it...Ehd Mhe? Ugh..." She stopped attempting. This wasn't going to work. What kind of code was this? She stared at the words and shook her head. Dhe...Dhe...hmmm...it sounded like Dee, Dee...Ehm..em..em...hmmmm.. She almost gave up, but something clicked in her head as she kept on repeating the words over and over.
"Dee Em. Dee Em. Dee Em. Dee Em. Wait a minute...D...M?" She thought for a long time and it suddenly came to her. "Could they be...initials?"
"D.M." For some reason, Hermione couldn't think of anyone with those initials...maybe she'd go down and ask Ron and Harry.
She walked diligently to the common room, where Harry and Ron were thankfully not playing any more chess. Instead they had their backs to her, staring at a parchment, their eyes wide with shock.
"What is that?" Hermione asked as she walked towards them, "Ron's first A?" She joked. They jumped and turned around. Harry's eyes were glowing strangely and Ron's face was red as hot cheetos. Their shocked faces suddenly turned confused.
"I don't know what this is," Harry started, shaking the parchment in his hands, "I was wondering if you knew..."
Hermione's heart stopped when she recognized the neat, spiky handwriting in green ink. She had accidentally left the letter on the armchair before storming out. Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh fucking no...they're not supposed to know about the letters!
"Well...?" Harry asked calmly.
"Ehhh ermmm...THEY'RE LETTERS FROM MY SECRET ADMIRER, DAMNIT, STOP GOING THROUGH PERSONAL STUFF WITHOUT ASKING PERMISSION!" She snatched the letter from Harry's hands accidentally tearing off part of the corner.
Ron looked up at Hermione strangely, "But, 'Mione...how were we 'posed to know? They were RIGHT th-"
"OH BE QUIET, YOU LITTLE...YOU LITTLE........" Hermione's voice was drowned out by Harry and Ron's laughter.
"Bloody hell, 'Mione...what's wrong with you? They're just LETTERS, we thought they were something else...like..." Ron looked sheepishly at Harry.
"LIKE WHAT?" Hermione asked.
"L-like..." Harry stuttered, "Uh..." He mumbled something under his breath.
"What was that?" asked Hermione.
"Never mind...so you have a secret admirer "Mione?" Harry tried desperately to change the subject. For some reason, it worked.
Hermione blushed, "Well...yeah, I guess you could say so, but I still don't know who it is!" She suddenly remembered the real reason why she was here. "D. M....do you know anyone with those anyone with those initials?"
Ron grinned, "Donald McDonald!"
Harry snorted.
"NO RON," Hermione said exasperatedly, "Someone that actually goes to Hogwarts."
"Hmm..." Harry looked thoughtful, then his face turned livid, "Could it be...Malfoy? Those are his initials...why do you need to know?"
The color drained out of Hermione's face. Malfoy? No...it can't be. There MUST be someone else with those initials. She thought hard but no names came to mind. What if it was Malfoy? "Uhm...I just remembered something I forgot to do, seeya!" She ran to the girls dormitory and started thinking. Dhe Ehm...it HAS to mean something else... She started trying to decode the words. She tried everything...turning the letters into numbers and back to letters...she even tried to turn the letters into shapes. It was no use. Hermione walked over to her bed to where the book was, but she didn't see where she was going and tripped over one of Parvati's slippers. Hermione fell and hit her head on the hard floor, blacking out.
"LET GO OF HER DADDY!" A little boy with blonde hair screamed, tears falling from his silver-blue eyes. He tried to take the girl off of his dad's hands, but failed.
"SHUT UP, YOU DAMN BOY! YOU SHOULD KNOW BETTER THAN THAT TO BEFRIEND A MUDBLOOD!" A tall man with dangerous gray eyes and silvery hair yelled as he raised his wand at the girl.
The girl screamed and bit the man's hand, but he still didn't let go. She kept on screaming.
"OBLIVIATE!" The wand blasted something purple into the girl's head and she stopped screaming as she fell to the ground unconscious.
"NOOOOO!!!! YOU KILLED HER!! YOU KILLED MY BEST FRIEND!!" The boy screamed his father.
The man only chuckled, "No boy, I did a strong memory charm that will knock her out for a few hours. When she's conscious again, she won't remember a thing. She will have no childhood. It'll be as if she'd never met you," he pointed at his son evilly. "Now, for YOUR punishment!"
"N-no! Dad, please don't! P-please!" the boy sobbed desperately.
"Crucio!"
The piercing scream could be heard miles away.
"Now, you promise never to come close to that mudblood again, Draco?" His father said. The boy was still screaming.
"N-NO!" he screamed.
"Well then..." His father continued the punishment. "SAY YOU'LL NEVER COME CLOSE TO HER AGAIN, OR I WILL ERASE YOUR MEMORY ALSO!"
The boy gave up, "Y-Yes sir."
The man stopped the curse and walked away.
Draco walked over to where the girl was, kneeled down and hugged her tightly. "Sorry..." he cried into her shoulder, "goodbye...Hermione..." He kissed her cheek softly and walked away.
Hermione woke up screaming. There was someone pounding on the door, and she could hear Harry and Ron's voices yelling her name.
"HERMIONE, WHAT'S WRONG? OPEN THE DOOR!" Ron yelled.
There was more pounding, but Hermione didn't seem to hear. What she dreamt...it felt so real...
Suddenly, the door blasted off and splinters sprayed everywhere.
"HERMIONE!" The boys yelled at the same time as they ran to her, "We heard you screaming! What happened?"
Hermione just stared straight ahead, not blinking. That dream...she thought silently, A little boy with blonde hair...the screaming...
"Is she in some sort of...trance?" Ron asked as he waved his hands in front of her face.
Hermione blinked suddenly noticing the presence of her two best friends, "Oh, hey guys. What's up?"
They stared at her.
"What?" She asked.
"I think she's gone crazy..." Ron nudged Harry quietly.
Harry ignored him, "'Mione, why were you screaming? And why is your face all white? It looks like you just saw a ghost or something?" Something glistened in Hermione's eyes. Was she crying?
"Oh...uh never mind about that, that was just...that was just...I have to go." She ran out of the door...or what was left of it.
The boys just stared after her stupidly.
> AN: That was KIND OF a longer chapter! ;) I'm really sorry...I started school on Monday, and I'm already getting projects, tests and speeches! It's crazy! I wish I could spend more time on each chapter, but the school work gets in the way! Well, all I can promise (for now) is that there will be a new chapter at least every other day! :)
[Mystical Witch, Yeah, hopefully I could get some long ones one here :D I gave a few hints on this chapter, yup I know who it is! :) it's probably really obvious now...] [Spaced Out Space Cadet, LOL. You'll know for sure, really really really soon...:D...if you don't already ;P] [Mel62, Your so sweet, thankyou!] [Pandora The Vampire, Yay! So happy you did :D Yeah, I asked my brother to help me with that part ;) so it's all his fault! BAHAHAHA!] [xangel-luvx, Hahaha! xD Thankyou :)] [Bex the Bold, Yay! Thx!] [Heretic Edge, Thankyou, and...the number 413 does have to do something with it! :D it's on twice ;) something to do with the alphabet...] [dracosgurl_chrissy, Yeah I know! Isn't it crazy? :D] [Super star19, Thanks :) Yeah, the years of BC ^_^] [Meg, Nope, very not good! lol but she did find a compromise *cough* xD] [Yammas, thx 4 reviewing :)] [RebelRikki, The 27 minutes thing was a time limit, she had to get the whole charm done in 27 minutes - you can only do the charm once. Whenever someone reads the last sentence Hermione read, a spell on the book makes it so that there's a limit for how long you take on the charm...yup. lol...and thankyou! :D] Thanks for the wonderful reviews *hugs everyone to death*. If you weren't on here, you'll be on the next update!
I have go and prepare for my speech now, nyuooooooooo! :(