Aureate- Part 1 How many times had she gone over this? Hermione sighed heavily as she slammed the heavy text onto her bed. Here it was, three in the morning, and she was still studying. It was plainly ridiculous that she of all people would be up... "What's keeping me awake?" she sighed aloud, "I've studied far more then anyone else." She stood up and walked to the window. The moon streamed through the panes, casting its sheen of silver over the room. She shivered as she ran one finger over the glass. "I'm sure I'll do brilliantly on all my exams if I stay up all night," she muttered, still staring out the window. Autumn had come and gone quickly, and everything outside was already covered with a thin sheet of frost. It looked like the ground was coated in crystals and gems, all agleam and nitid against the black night. "How lovely..." Hermione whispered dreamily. "Hermione, go back to sleep!" sighed Lavender groggily, stirring awake. "What are you doing up at this hour?" Her eyes darted over the books on Hermione's bed. "Oh, studying again, are you?" she rolled her eyes and turned over. "You should be," Hermione replied hastily, "really, if I don't get a lot of OWLs, I don't know what I'll do!" "If you don't get to sleep you'll be too tired to take the exams," Lavender groaned, covering her head with the pillow. "I just can't sleep," Hermione scowled. Lavender didn't respond, probably because she'd already fallen asleep again. Hermione grimaced, turning around sharply and climbing back into her bed. Melting into its warmth, she found out that was indeed tired. Actually, she was exhausted. All of those nights without rest rushed into her body at once, and she found herself asleep before she could close the rest of her books. "You really need to get some sleep, Hermione," said Harry as she trudged out of her dorm an hour late. "Yeah, y'know I reckon you might have missed a couple of exams..." sighed Ron. "I did?!" Hermione gasped, racing for her wand and books. "Yeah, and they've given you zero OWLs, as you failed to show up" Ron chuckled, as her supplies all clattered to the floor, spilling in all directions. "Oh really witty, Ron. Hilarious," she growled, carefully piling up all of her books and balancing them in her arms. "I thought so," he replied, grinning widely. "Don't you two care about your futures?" she snapped, as Harry clasped his hand to his mouth to stop himself from laughing. ""Course we do," Harry said quickly, "but we don't really need to worry about them yet." Hermione glared at him, brandishing her wand threateningly. She opened her mouth as if to argue, but then spun on her heals and strode out of sight. "She really needs some rest," Harry sighed. "Well, that wasn't as horrible as I thought," whispered Ron, "don't know if that's saying much though. Mind you, I didn't get nearly as many OWLs as Percy did..." "Potter! Weasley! Are you two listening to this discussion?" Professor McGonagall barked. "Yes, right, of course," Harry and Ron both muttered at once, making a harried grab for their notebooks. "The worst was potions, but I bet Snape made it especially hard for us, 'cause he hates us," Ron continued. Harry nodded fervently, doing a double take on Ron's quill. It was scrolling across the parchment all on its own, and jotting down every word Professor McGonagall was saying. Harry noticed that it's newest sentence read: "That's it, you two! Five points from Gryfinndor, and if I catch you talking again it will be twenty!" "Damn it, stupid quill writes down absolutely everything," Ron said, "Of course it's really quite helpful. I'll never have to pay attention again." "Did you hear me?" asked Professor McGonagall severely. "Sure did," Ron said quickly. "Why don't you pay attention?" Hermione mouthed silently. "Why don't you mind your own business?" Ron mouthed back. Hermione made to reply, but seemed to think better of it and turned away. Something was still bothering her, which made no sense as the OWLs were over with, and she was sure she'd gotten at least a fair amount. She shifted in her seat and continued taking notes. For some reason she wasn't in the mood to sit still. "Miss Granger?" Professor McGonagall's sharp voice cut across her thoughts. "Ahhh...yes?" Hermione gulped. "Really, what is with everyone today? Stop dozing off!" "Sorry," Hermione mumbled, blushing furiously. She really wasn't herself today. "Don't you dare!" Hermione rolled to the ground as a snowball whizzed right over her. "Quit it, Ron! You too, Harry!" Winter had finally arrived, and with it had come snow. It left everyone feeling absent minded and carefree, and classes were last in one's mind. Hermione gathered up a handful of snow and set it on the ground. She took out her wand and touched it lightly, murmuring "chasius" under her breath. It shot into the air and tore straight for Ron's head. He ducked quickly as it narrowly avoided him. The snowball doubled over and zoomed right back, hitting him square in the back. "Useful charm, isn't it?" Hermione murmured innocently. Harry bit his lip to stop himself from laughing. He didn't want to experience what Ron just did... "What's that?" Harry asked, pointing at the ground. A small mound of snow was squirming in all directions, and an arc of colored light was shimmering above it. Every few seconds a puff of silver and golden dust would come from the snow, and it would be still again. "I've read about this somewhere," said Hermione, reaching for her stack of books that were scattered over the ground. "Haven't you read about everything somewhere?" said Ron. Hermione chose to ignore him as she skimmed the pages of Magical or Mythical: Rare Creatures and Their Lives. It was an ancient looking volume, covered in dust and grime. "Wait, I think I've found it. Here we are," her finger paused at the top of a likely page. The Pegasus is one of the most magnificent magical creatures in existence. Though many are born every year, few actually live past birth. Pegasus are born in the clouds, and drop from the sky at the age of one month. They bury into the ground when they land, and do not come out again until the first snow. When ready to leave the ground, they issue a rainbow above their burrow, and send off sparks and rainbows. If they are not dug from the ground in a day's time, they become still, issue a jet of silver from their burrow, and then become a cloud. Because many don't know of the Pegasus, only 100 are born each year. To dig a Pegasus from the ground, simply move the mound of snow that it's under, and then light a fire over it's burrow. The Pegasus will hatch in less then an hour. "How sad!" Hermione sighed, "we have to hatch this one. Go on, Harry, move the snow." "Hang on. Exactly what is a Pegasus?" Harry asked. He was quite used to finding out that real magical creatures were nothing like the fairy tale ones. Hermione glanced down at the page and continued reading. When it first rises from the ground, the Pegasus is coated in a sheen of black. After bathing in snow and honey, the black will melt away into a brilliant array of pastel colors. The wings then sprout from its sides and hooves. If not bathed, they sprout claws rather then wings, and become deadly to all who touch them. A Pegasus is fully grown after one year's time, and is born about the size of a teacup. "How lovely!" gushed Hermione as she hastily began to scrape away the snow. "How stupid," said Ron, "no wonder there's so few of them. How many people actually read this dumb book? There must be loads of evil ones running around and killing people." "If anyone bothered to read up on them, there wouldn't be," replied Hermione sniffily. Harry thought that it sounded far too difficult, and he didn't care to think what might happen if the Pegasus didn't get its bath in time. He shuddered. Hermione lit a small azure fire in her hands, and placed it on top of the snow. It crackled softly, warming them under its gentle light. For three quarters of an hour they all sat in the snow. There was a cold breeze, and Harry could feel himself shivering as it whipped around him. Suddenly, the ground before them began to tremble, and a stream of gold shot from it. Harry could vaguely make out the outline of a tiny creature, silhouetted against the gold, just floating in the air. A high pitched melody echoed all about them, and the jet of light flickered off, leaving what they all assumed was the Pegasus, lying still on the ground. "Look how little it is," Hermione cooed, scooping it up in the folds of her jacket. "What rubbish! What are we supposed to do with that thing?" Ron fumed, backing away from Hermione. "We're supposed to give it a bath in..." "Spare us, Hermione." They all got up, and trudged up to the castle. Ron kept skidding to a halt in order to keep enough space between him and the Pegasus. He seemed to think that it would touch him at any moment, and he'd keel over dead. "Let's hurry. I don't know how legal it is to have a..." Harry stopped abruptly. Right, this was all they needed... "What are you three doing wandering the halls?" Snape asked, his eyes darting over them. "What's that your carrying, Granger?" Hermione looked absolutely petrified, but she did her best to keep her voice level, "my coat. I got overheated and took it off." "Really?" he sneered, "And why is it moving?" They all frantically glanced at Hermione's coat, which was shifting in every direction. A soft purr began to come from within it. "Ahh...well, I don't rightly know. Someone must've put a hex on it," Hermione stammered quickly. "I doubt that. Give me that coat," Snape edged closer. "It's her coat! Why does she have to give it to you?" Ron said hurriedly. "Not the way to talk to me, Weasley. Five points from Gryffindor," Snape smirked at them, satisfied that they all were seething, and then turned around, "Better hurry back to your rooms," he added silkily. "I really hate him. Y'know, I really hate him," spat Ron angrily. "At least he didn't look in my coat. C'mon, we'd better hurry," Hermione ushered them up the steps and into the common room. It was empty, as everyone was outside taking advantage of the fresh snowfall. Harry dragged a large basin over to the corner, and filled it with hot water from the tap. "Alright, where do we find honey?" he asked. "Isn't that obvious? We can go ask those house elves, they'll give us loads of it!" Ron grinned, picturing all the other stuff they'd give as well. "We shouldn't take advantage of them, Ron," Hermione began. "Yeah, maybe you shouldn't come. You got them really angry last time," said Ron. "Oh, really nice," sniffed Hermione. "Would you two be quiet?" Harry sighed, "someone has to stay here. I don't mind doing it, but we have to hurry up!" He cast a nervous glance at Hermione's jacket. "I'll stay. Harry, I don't care," Hermione offered. "It's okay, I'll stay," said Ron quickly. "You can both stay. I'll go. Be back in a minute!" He grabbed his cloak and hurried down the steps, mumbling under his breath. "What is his problem?" said Hermione, shaking her head. Moments later, Harry bounded up the steps, clutching several jars of Honey, as well as many other sweets. "They insisted," he said, catching the look on Hermione's face and winking at Ron. They emptied two jars into the water, and slowly unwrapped the Pegasus. It was actually quite cute, and had large sapphire eyes that seemed to look straight into one. Harry turned away, finding it a bit creepy. Hermione was already fussing over it, and she placed it into the water with utmost care. After sneezing a few times, it sunk to the bottom and began to purr again. "It's gonna drown," said Ron. "It will not," said Hermione rather nervously. After a tense minute, it floated back to the surface. Hermione let out a squeal as she gently stroked its head. Its coat had dissolved into a shimmering regalia of colors, and pure white wings had sprouted out. It made a soft giggle and then flew clumsily from the basin, smacking into Harry and then tumbling into Ron in its effort to land. Hermione looked as though she might burst because it was so adorable. "Awww...." she whispered, as it toppled into her lap. Ron and Harry rolled their eyes. "You're just lovely," she whispered, tapping it on its nose. "Hermione, we're going to have an awful lot of trouble covering this up," said Harry. "I'll do it myself then," she replied. "Nah, we'll help you," said Ron, "won't we, Harry? She can't do that alone?" "Oh..." Harry said skeptically, "of course not." Hermione patted its head and then put it on her bed. Everything was so right. The exams were over, she had a Pegasus and yet, something was still missing... She shook her head and took out the text again. What was she to feed this... "Harry! Ron! Get over here..." Hermione shoved the book into their faces. Due to the Harpy, a malicious creature found only in the deepest forests, the Pegasus has recently become endangered. It is rumored that Harpies feast on Pegasus, and when ever one is born a Harpy can sense it. They then swoop down and steal the Pegasus. No one knows where the Pegasus are taken, but it is believed that the Harpies take them into their lairs and keep them their until they eat them. There is a single flock of Harpies in each area of the magical world, and each flock shares a forest. "That's horrible," sighed Hermione, slamming shut the book, "we have to do something." "No way," said Harry. "Don't be cruel. All those Pegasus, trapped away, about to be eaten by those horrible..." "Of course we'll do something," said Ron, interrupting her. "Oh, thanks, Ron," she said, throwing her arms around him. Ron blushed a deep crimson from both Hermione, and Harry, who was snickering uncontrollably.. "C'mon we have to get to the library. We have loads of research to do." She gathered the Pegasus into her arms, and they all headed down the steps. A/N Well, there it is. Please let me know what you think! Btw, there will be more romance soon, just not yet...