{Harry's room, Leaky Cauldron}
"Reparo~" Hermione's sweet voice was filled with confidence, an important component of magic, as the torn pieces of paper quickly reassembled into a complete page.
"Why did it stop there and not go back to the notebook?" Hermione asked, looking at the notebook in her hand.
"Did you imagine or intend for it to go back, and even if you did, if your magic doesn't target the book, will it go back even if you intended it to?" I asked and got a thoughtful look in return. That's how the session had gone. We had been playing around with different spells and had gotten past that initial awkwardness.
I also regained the affection point I had lost during this period, when she successfully cast the levitation charm on something heavier, like the book. As Hermione tore up the paper again and recast the repairing charm, I saw her wince in pain as she lifted her hand to massage her head.
'Right, I forgot to warn her about that.' I thought as the pieces of paper fluttered on the bed but didn't move much.
"Shit, I forgot to tell you to take it slow." I hurriedly stood up and walked over to her, her eyes closing automatically as she moaned in pain, tears gathering at the corners of her eyes.
"You used too much mana. I had that too the first night. You need to lie down. Come here." I offered her my hand, and she took it as she opened her eyes slightly. I helped her lie down as I positioned my pillow under her head. Embarrassed, she was using her hand to cover her eyes as she whimpered slightly in pain.
'It was a nasty headache followed by weakness all over my body, as I could feel my heart beating out of my chest.' I thought, remembering that feeling vividly, as I had experienced it many times. There is a reason that I was willing to go through this torturous experiment every few hours these past few days.
I pulled up my status menu and looked at my increased MP stat.
...
[Status]
[Name: Harry Potter]
[Level: 1 {80/100}]
[Traits: Boy-Who-Lived, Hidden Horcrux, Parseltongue, Dark Arts Prodigy, Transfiguration Inclination]
[MP: 21/195]
[SP: 20/20]
[LP: 14]
[Stats]
[STR: 2]
[AGI: 3]
[DEX: 5]
[END: 2]
[INT: 4]
[REF: 7]
...
'The feeling of weakness and exhaustion from mana exhaustion leads to either a one- to two-point increase in maximum MP every time.' It worked on the same principles as working out your muscles.
"Wait for a moment," I said to Hermione as I walked over to the other side of the bed and rang the bell. "Tom, can you bring me some ice, please?" I asked.
"What is happening, Harry?" Hermione whimpered as she finally opened her eyes. I looked into her honey-brown eyes as I sat closer to her head. I carefully nudged aside the hand covering her face and placed my fingers on either side of her head.
"I don't exactly know, but this happens when you use too much magic, and your reserves go empty. I have had this a few times, and although it is painful, I feel that I was able to use the levitation charm a couple of seconds longer every time I went through this." I explained as I slowly started to massage her forehead.
A fierce blush erupted on her face as she avoided my eyes, but she didn't move away. Soon, there was a knock at my door, and I whispered, "One second," to Hermione before I rushed to the door and grabbed the glass pitcher filled with ice. I grabbed a clean towel from my trunk and wrapped the ice cubes inside it.
"No, no, let me do it," I told Hermione, who nodded meekly as I placed the cold cloth on her forehead. She immediately hissed in relief as her distorted expression eased out somewhat.
"I don't know if it helps or if our magic is supposed to grow stronger naturally, but since this is a way to get stronger, I just grit my teeth and push through it," I said, using conversation to distract her.
"You should have searched for a book, the bookstore is right across from the Leaky Cauldron," Hermione said, looking at me blankly as I grinned sheepishly.
"Well, I don't think we will find something like this in the bookstore, but we can check it out after lunch?" I offered, and she nodded excitedly.
And so we stayed like this for a few minutes until Hermione moved. From my experience, I knew the piercing headache must be gone by now. It was the worst symptom of mana exhaustion.
"Alright, don't use mana for about 2 hours, and we should be good to try a few more spells," I said, calculating her mana in my head. From where I was sitting and the few spells she tried, she could not have more than 60-70 mana. I couldn't exactly pinpoint the exact number, but my guess should be in the correct ballpark.
"So what do we do now?" She asked, looking at her wand.
"Well, you can watch me get tortured next," I offered as I picked up my wand and did the inward spiral motion of the repairing charm.
"Reparo~" I cast, and the pieces of paper scattered around the bed slowly floated back into a full page. Even though I had thought about sending the page back to her notebook, it didn't move after it restored itself.
"Hmm, imagining it going back to the notebook didn't work, I'm guessing that I need to cast the charm at the pages and at the notebook at the same time," I clarified as Hermione nodded. She grabbed the page, tore it into pieces again, and placed the notebook where the page came from on the bed, close to the torn pieces.
"Try it now," She offered as I nodded, focusing on getting the book back as new. I repeated the motion and clearly repeated myself, "Reparo~"
The paper pieces and the notebook flew into the air as I felt a massive chunk of MP drain from me. The telltale signs of mana exhaustion arrived as I closed my eyes and slowly massaged my head. The spell broke before it could be completed, and I couldn't see its results.
I felt Hermione shift, and slowly her hand guided me down to the bed. "Here, my turn." She said in her sweet voice as I soon found myself lying on the bed, the same face towel now covering my forehead as Hermione massaged my head with ice cubes.
"Well, it certainly is better when a pretty girl is massaging me instead of fumbling with the ice on my own." I grinned at her as she blushed and looked away. Her hands, though, didn't stop as she continued.
"Why do you look away every time I call you pretty?" I asked as her eyes snapped back to me. There was a hint of vulnerability in her as she hesitated and then finally spoke, "Because I know I'm not. I'm the nerdy girl who boys only notice when they want notes or a study partner. No one wants to hang out with the know-it-all."
Seeing her vulnerable expression, I comforted her, "Well, you know, boys are stupid, myself included. But I think I'm better than them, I won't trade away spending time with you for anything else." I smiled at her, hoping to convey that I wasn't lying, which I wasn't.
'Hermione Granger is, after all, not just a cute, intelligent girl after all. Sure, there are more beautiful girls out there, but Hermione is different, special. One of the Golden Trio, which would absolutely not involve Ron this time around.' I thought, watching a small smile appear on Hermione's face as she looked into my eyes.
She hesitated for a few seconds as we held each other's gaze before her eyes dipped down, looking at my lips for a quick second. Getting permission, I followed. My eyes took in her full lips as her pink tongue peeked out and moistened them.
She was already blushing, so I couldn't read anything in her expression, but suddenly she closed her eyes, leaned down, and pressed her lips against mine.
It was so sudden that I froze, and as Hermione hesitated and started to pull back, I grabbed her face lightly and pulled her back.
'That went quicker than I was expecting...'
AN: First kiss with Hermione. I was hesitating about doing this so quickly, but then decided to go with a different backstory for Hermione, which would be explained later, and explain her impulsivness.
P.S: 24+ advanced chapters on P.atreon: p,atreon.com/AndreaHodges