Hero of the Story || James Potter x Hermione Granger Fanfiction

32 | i miss you in the morning and in the evening rain

Having decided to use the Invisibility Cloak instead, Hermione donned it over her body. In the mirror, she saw how her body instantly disappeared.

The Cloak smelled faintly of James, which made her heart flutter a bit. She would be lying if she said she hadn't thought of him during her first month at Hogwarts. James still constantly wrote to her about his Auror training and his friends. He sometimes hinted about Order stuff, but had been vague about it, as writing such information through letters would be dangerous.

Hogwarts really wasn't the same without him and his friends. There were no sudden boisterous noises over at the Gryffindor table or pranksters with mischief in their eyes being chased away by Filch. In fact, the happiest of them all was perhaps Filch, who'd been loudly proclaiming his relief that James Potter and his friends had graduated from Hogwarts.

With her heart a tad forlorn, Hermione finally tiptoed out of her dormitory, passed through the students who woke up early, and into the corridors of a silent Hogwarts.

Hermione took her time to admire Hogwarts on this quiet, Sunday morning, letting herself pass through secret passages and dark alcoves only a true prankster would know. By the time she reached the seventh-floor corridor, her legs were slightly sore and her nerves already awake.

"I knew you'd be early," she called out upon seeing Regulus keenly observing the prancing Barnabas the Barmy, his lips curled in disdain.

The Slytherin whipped around in the direction of her voice, but then knitted his eyebrows. "Pettigrew?" he called, grey eyes scanning the whole corridor.

Realising she was still hidden underneath the Invisibility Cloak, Hermione pulled it away and grinned when Regulus softly yelped in surprise. "Hi," she greeted.

He warily eyed the Invisibility Cloak clutched in her hands. "You own an Invisibility Cloak?" he asked, striding towards Hermione to brush a finger against the rich material of the cloak. He knitted his eyebrows. "It doesn't look like an ordinary Invisibility Cloak."

"It's James', actually," she corrected. "A family heirloom."

"Family heirloom?" he asked, his eyebrows now shot up to his hairline. "Normal Invisibility Cloaks only last for fifteen years at most. After that, its magical properties will fade. Think of a botched-up Disillusionment Charm."

"Like I said, family heirloom," the brunette said with a shrug. "The Potters are famous inventors. I don't doubt James' ancestors may have invented an Invisibility Cloak that would last a lifetime."

Regulus brushed his finger once more against the cloak, this time with interest in his eyes. "And he lent you this treasure?" he asked, surprised.

"Yes."

The Slytherin snorted. "So, Potter may actually be in love with you. Look at that," he said as a petulant frown tugged the corners of his lips downward.

"He's not in love with me," Hermione hotly interjected, her cheeks now flaming red. Regulus quirked an eyebrow. "I mean— never mind that. I thought we were supposed to be practicing our duelling skills, not discussing my relationship with James."

Regulus rolled his eyes and gestured at the bare wall. "By all means," he drawled.

Hermione lightly glared at him and walked towards the wall. 'We need a place to practice our spells,' she mentally thought as she walked thrice in front of the bare wall. The familiar wooden door of the Room of Requirement materialised and wordlessly, Hermione pulled the door open and walked inside.

A huge beam immediately appeared on her face. The Room provided a familiar set-up to when Dumbledore's Army frequented it. The floors were spelled with a Cushioning Charm and the whole room was devoid of furniture. The ceiling was as high as the one in the Great Hall, enough to send a person spiralling up without hitting him against the roof. There were also practice dummies scattered around. There were a few bookshelves pushed against the walls too, with brimming books about Defence Against the Dark Arts, Charms, Transfiguration, and even Duelling itself.