Hiding in Fiction

If not for the fact that she had been actually looking for one, Hilary would have never known that the Hogwarts library even had a fiction section. She found it rather funny, especially considering how much time she seemed to spend in the library. She figured that she had just never had the need to look for one before, since she usually was in here looking for reference books.

It didn't have a great selection, but it was better than nothing. She browsed the shelves, managing to find a few that seemed interesting. Books in hand, she headed over to a table near the window.

She dropped her bag on the floor beside her and collapsed into a chair. Her headache from the day before still hadn't completely gone away, and she was looking forward to some quiet.

Opening one of the books, she began to read, hoping to be lost in the story for a while.

Harmony wandered into the library, hoping to find some better books. Herbology was what she craved at the moment. She headed toward the back, when she tripped over a bag that was near a table. She cursed under her breath, blaming her sudden bout of clumsiness.

"I'm sorry," she said, rising from the floor quickly. "I didn't mean to trip over your bag. It was entirely my fault. I hope I didn't break anything."

Hilary jumped in surprise when she heard someone trip nearby. The book she had been reading had been pretty good, and she hadn't really been paying attention to what was going on in the library around her.

"Don't worry about it," she said, with a wave of her hand. "I don't think there's anything in there that could break. Are you okay, though?"

Harmony nodded vehemently.

"I assure you I am fine," she said softly. "I'm using to falling some of the time, so it's nothing new for me. I was worried that I might've broken something. I'm a bit of a space case today."

She peered curiously at the book the girl was holding. She knew this girl...if she wasn't mistaken, it was Hilary of her own beloved Ravenclaw house.

"What are you reading?" She asked. "If you don't mind me being rather nosy."

Hilary held up the book, her finger holding her page.

"The Wizard's First Rule," she said. "It's not the best, but not too bad. I just needed to read something that wasn't a textbook or school-related. I'll probably regret leaving all the researching and homework until the last minute, but I'll worry about that later."

Harmony stared at the book curiously. She hadn't heard of that book, which came as a shock to her. She imagined Rae-Rae looking at her in shock at the fact that she hadn't read all the books in the library already. She made her mind up to hit him for something he didn't do later.

"What's it about?" She asked. "I don't think I've really heard of that one before. If you say it isn't too bad, I might read it after you do."

Hilary glanced down at the cover of the book. She wasn't sure what was really going on yet, and the summary on the dust jacket really hadn't given her anything to go off of.

"I'm not completely sure so far," she admitted. "So far, the guy was bitten by a vine and somehow managed to fight off four guys to save a girl. And that's as far as I got."

She paused for a second. "I take it you read a lot?"

Harmony grinned sheepishly.

"I do read a lot," she admitted. "I'm the Ravenclaw stereotype, I'm afraid. I love to learn new things and reading is my favorite past time."

She laughed slightly. "It's of no bother to me. Books are how I...get away, if only for a while."

Hilary couldn't help but smile. She had never really met anyone else who shared the same feelings about books as she did. And yet, Harmony seemed to describe how she felt perfectly.

"I know what you mean," she said, earnestly. "Sometimes it makes things easier to deal with, if you can escape into a book for a while and just forget."

After the words had left her mouth, she couldn't help but wonder if she sounded stupid.

Harmony nodded happily. Other than Will, and possibly even Jen, nobody had truly come close to sharing the same love of books as Harmony. In fact, the only other one was Mozart, but..that was a lost cause. She was glad she found that Hilary loved books as much as she did.

"Books are a bit like my sanctuary," she said, smiling. "It helps to get lost in a fantasy world for a bit. It even helps to read a little more Herbology as well."

Hilary nodded in agreement. She felt the exact same way. Except maybe the part about Herbology, since she had never taken the class and tended to kill any plants she touched.

"Okay, I have a question for you then," she said, with a smile. "What are your top three favourite books?"

Harmony laughed. Oh, this was a tricky question indeed! She just didn't know how to answer it.

"It's so hard to choose," she admitted finally, grinning slightly. "I'd have to say Quidditch Through the Ages, One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi, and Wanderings With Werewolves. What about you? What would your three be?"

Hilary paused to think. This was a difficult question, especially to anyone who read a lot. That was exactly why she had asked Harmony. And asking that question had always given her a new books to look up.

"Well, back in the muggle world, my favourites were Ella Enchanted, Eragon and Stargirl," she said. "I'm not sure about my favourite books in the magical world. I liked A History of Magic and Tales of Beedle the Bard."

Harmony nodded. She didn't really know any Muggle books since she was a Pureblood, and her Aunt frowned upon it. She grimaced, thinking of Aunt Marie once more.

"I own a copy of that. The Tales of Beedle the Bard. It's an interesting read. The first two I like are self-explanatory. Quidditch and Herbology. The third one I bought on Ex-Professor Hunt's recommendation."

She snapped her fingers. "I forgot. Will got me a book too. It's a rather large tome too. A Thousand Counter-Hexes and the Lives Save from It. It was nice of him to give it to me." She grinned. "It's an excellent read too."

"The stories are a bit strange," she said, thinking of The Tales of Beedle the Bard. "But I may just think that because I grew up with Cinderella and Hansel and Gretel and stories like that. They're good though."

Hilary couldn't help but raise her eyebrows when Harmony mentioned that Will had got her a book. She hadn't really considered Will to be one who was interested in books. Though, she had to admit, she didn't know him all that well.

Harmony tilted her head slightly at such fashionable names. Cinderella? Hansel and Gretel.

"Are those...Muggle stories?" She asked, curious as always. "The only Muggle stories I know are...well, hm."

She couldn't remember any of the Muggle stories at the moment. Jen had always come over with new books for Harmony to read when they were younger. Since Jen was half-blood, she had all sorts of books that Harmony devoured right and left.

"I'm afraid I don't know most of those stories," she said quietly. "My Aunt is very...adamant that I have no contact with the Muggle world."

Hilary nodded. Despite having spent nearly a year in the magical world, it sometimes still surprised her how little some people knew about the muggle world.

"I actually have a book of muggle fairy tales up in my trunk," she said. "If you like, next time we're up there, I could lend it to you. Just if you wanted to read them."

She didn't usually lend out her books, as she tended to be very protective of them. But Harmony seemed like she loved books as much as Hilary did, so she was sure that the other girl wouldn't destroy the book.

"Faeries?" She asked happily.

Now that was one thing Harmony absolutely loved. She'd been hearing about Vampires and Werewolves too long. It was time for the faeries to make an entrance.

"I'd like that," she said, nodding. "Thank you. I could lend you something in return, if you wanted. So if anything ever happened to your book while it was in my possession, you could keep mine for compensation."

"Well, not all of them are about fairies," she said, smiling. "It's more a name for the type of story. But, some do have fairies in them. I'll grab it for you when I go back up to the dorms."

Hilary nodded. It seemed like a fair deal. "That would be cool," she said. "I'm not sure what type of books you have, but I'm sure you'll be able to suggest something interesting."

Harmony grinned sheepishly and rubbed the back of her head. She should have known that.

"I'm sorry. I happen to like faeries a lot. It's second to my plants. So, they are called Fairy Tales, and then...are they make-believe stories then?" She questioned.

Tapping her chin, Harmony thought of the books she had. "Well, what's a book you've been wanting to read? It has to be from the Wizarding world though since I don't have any Muggle books."

"Yep, make-believe. I'm not sure why they're called that. But they're usually really unbelievable, and contain creatures like fairies, unicorns, goblins and things like that," she explained. She paused, then added, "Basically, creatures that you'd find in the wizarding world... Maybe they aren't so unbelievable after all."

Hilary tried to think of a book that she wanted to read, but she was having a hard time coming up with anything.

"Do you have anything about recent history?" she asked. "Something that talks about more modern events than our History of Magic textbook does?"

"Ooh...sounds like a good read," she said, grinning. Bugger on her Aunt Marie. When Harmony got home, she was going shopping in the Muggle world! Maybe she could have someone take her along.

"Recent history? I have a few things on the latest Wizarding world with Harry Potter, as well as a few of Hermione Weasley's biographies about their adventures." She offered.

"They're kid's stories, but they're still really good. I think you'll like them," Hilary said, with a smile.

She didn't know a whole lot about Harry Potter. She had heard a fair bit about him in classes, and knew the general gist of what had happened. She had actually meant to look for something more about him. This had actually worked out well.

"That sounds interesting. The biographies," she said. "Hermione Weasley... She was Harry Potter's best friend, right?"

Harmony grinned. More reading material. She was very excited about that now.

"I think I might like them, as you say," Harmony said, nodding to herself. "That's right. She's Hermione Weasley nee Granger. One of the Golden Trio as they were called. She has a few biographies that my dad had. He got them for free since we're the Lupin family, and the Lupin's and Potter's along with the Weasley's get along rather well."

Since she had first entered this strange, new world, Hilary had found the connections between pure- and half-blood families to be very interesting. In particular, the pureblood ones. Everyone seemed to be connected somehow.

"So, are you related to the Potters and Weasleys?" she asked. She quickly added, a bit apologetically, "You don't have to answer if that's too personal. I'm just curious."