Harry woke fairly early, even though he and Hermione had finally fallen asleep at almost four in the morning. Though Harry had only gotten three hours of sleep he felt surprising refreshed and in very high spirits. He smiled as he recalled the events of only a few hours ago and opened his sleepy eyes to see…..the couch. Hermione wasn't with him. Harry quickly sat up and looked around, his breathing suddenly becoming shallow and rapid, dear god please don't let it have all been a torturous dream.
"Morning Harry" called Hermione's cheery voice from the kitchen.
Harry quickly rose to his feet and turned, starring desperately at her for a moment as he afraid she might disappear. He smiled after a moment and relaxed, walking lazily to the kitchen where Hermione had several strips of bacon sizzling in a pan on the stove, two plates on the counter, waiting to be filled. Hermione was sitting on the counter, occasionally glancing in the direction of the cooking bacon and giving a sniff to see if it was done yet. Harry grinned as he stood infront of her, his mind still in disbelief that he was finally with her once more, he leaned forward and placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Hermione grinned and giggled, reminding Harry of the younger Hermione he had gone to school with, she was in a rather joyous mood this morning.
Hermione placed a hand on Harry's chest and pushed him a little as she stood of from the counter and walked over to the bacon, glancing over her shoulder at him, her dull eyes seeming to sparkle for the briefest instant, and told him to take a seat back on the couch. Harry reluctantly a left the kitchen, Hermione vanishing from his line of sight as he sat back down on the couch. She quickly joined him, her wand out and two plates of bacon, eggs, and toast floating infront of her, as well as two glasses of pumpkin juice. She flicked her wand and one plate and glass sank to the table infront of the couch for Harry and the other for her as she took a seat next to him and handed him a fork for the eggs.
They ate in silence, though not feeling the least bit awkward about the lack of conversation. After they had finished they left their plates and glass's on the table and laid back on the couch, Harry resting his head against the left armrest and Hermione laying her head against he right armrest, giggling as Harry tickled her feet for a few minutes. Hermione wished desperately she could stare into his emerald green eyes once more, she sighed knowing she couldn't, but that fact didn't remove even the tiniest bit of her joy at having Harry back with her. After a moment she narrowed her eyes, remembering something from the previous night.
"Harry?" she asked in a somewhat confused tone that caught Harry's attention.
"Hmm?" Harry was eager to talk with Hermione and he didn't know where to begin so he took it as a blessing that she had started the conversation.
"I'm curious, how did get through my stealth alarm spells last night? They cover every inch of the house, even if you could see them you still couldn't move without touching one of the strings of magic". The question had flashed through her mind the previous night but she had pushed it to the back of her head, not thinking it very important at the moment.
Harry let out an amused chuckled and grinned, "What do think I've been doing for the past two years Hermione?" he said, answering her question with his own. "I've been in training Hermione, making myself stronger, better…..just like you".
Hermione smiled, Harry thought she had become stronger, and indeed she had. Hermione had over come an obstacle that most people would have been terrified to even try to live with. She flashed her famous Hermione grin and tilted her head to the side, starring at Harry and picturing what he must look like. Her grin faded after a moment still starring at Harry, though now it was as if he were a rather difficult puzzle that she couldn't solve.
"What kind of training?" she asked quietly, Hermione knew very well it took a very powerful bit of magic to detect a stealth alarm spell, and then to get through it. "The only spells I know that can get a person through my alarms are very powerful dark magic". She felt Harry becoming rather tense now as she said this.
It was several minutes before Harry finally decided to answer, "Well, its like I said. I've been in training." He said vaguely. Hermione didn't seem to be satisfied with his answer though, Harry knew she wouldn't, hoping she wouldn't try to get more answers out of him, he couldn't lie to her.
"What kind of training Harry, have…..have you been learning black magic?" Hermione asked in a worried tone. She could feel Harry's eyes starring at her for a moment before finally giving a defeated sigh.
"Dumbledore and Sirius have been training me for the past two years, and in all that time of training I haven't learned one spell or potion, or new ability that wasn't taught in a book about the dark arts." Harry's voice was dark and seemed to have taken on a distant tone, as if he was terrified of telling her what he had been up to.
Hermione grimaced at the thought of Harry learning so many power dark spells, it must have been a living hell for him to go through dark arts training with Dumbledore. She sniffed lightly as felt tears starting to form in her eyes, imagining the pain he must have gone through to learn some of the spells Dumbledore must have taught him. She took a deep breath and fought back the tears, another question still burning in her mind.
"Why didn't you ever come to find me Harry, and why'd you leave in the first place?" Hermione began to feel a little apprehensive to Harry as she waited for an answer.
"I'm sorry Hermione, I really am. I didn't want to leave the battle two years ago, Dumbledore just grabbed me and lifted the anti apparation spell and we were gone. Sirius showed up just a hour after we did, I overhead him an Dumbledore talking, they thought I was asleep. He told Dumbledore he'd run into Snape in hogsmead, Snape had said he'd seen you and another girl getting on a broom but that death eaters had fired tons of spells up at you, one of them had hit. He made it sound as though you had died." Harry shuddered at this memory, feeling Hermione doing the same.
"If I had known you were still alive I would have tried to find you, I really would have. After I got back I wanted to find out for sure what had happened to you, I met Parvati down in Hogsmead and she told that you had been headed for St. Mungo's. I got there a few days ago, none of the medi-witches knew were you had gone, all they knew was that you had gone. Since I was wearing auror's robes they let me look around where you'd been staying……" he had to stop as he was cut off by Hermione surprised voice.
"Auror's robes?! Oh my god Harry, are you an Auror now, is that what Dumbledore was training you for?" Hermione had a look of stunned disbelief on her face. She had always pictured Harry as choosing a career as an auror, she knew he'd love the danger and adventure. And after personal training with Dumbledore he had to be the best auror alive.
"Well……I suppose, depending on how you look at it guess. If the official ministry auror's were still around then no, I haven't gone through the same training as one of the old aurors. But, if you consider what auror's are nowadays…….well in that case I would be an auror. I kind of prefer to think of myself as an auror, makes it easier to use the dark spells I learned." Harry did indeed prefer to think of himself as an auror, even by the older standards, after all, personal training from Albus Dumbledore had to be ten times better than official auror's training.
"Anyway…" he said, continuing with he explanation about how he had found her. "When I was looking around on the fourth floor the girl in the bed next to your old one said she knew where you were. She was wearing auror robes too and after asking me why I wanted to know she told me you had come here…… I think she said her name was Alice." At this he heard Hermione gasp, Harry starred at the shocked, and hurt look on her face.
"Alice is still alive?" Hermione felt something like betrayal at finding out her best friend was still alive at back at St. Mungo's.
"She told me it was her that sent you here, she didn't like you being trapped in that hospital and she wanted you to at least be out in the world to live your life, she obviously knew you wouldn't leave her. I could tell she regreted sending you here, it sounded like you two had become best friends." Harry waited for a moment for her reaction, she still looked very shocked.
Hermione nodded after a few minutes, understanding the reasoning behind Alice's lie to her.
"After I left St. Mungo's it took me about a day to get back here, I went up to your room but you looked asleep so came back down stairs to wait." Hermione grinned at this, she had been lost in her fantasy land once more, and she had been imagining something similar to what had actually happened, having Harry show up at her door at the mansion.
"And what about you, what have you been up to for the past two years?" Harry asked curiously.
Hermione shrugged her shoulders unhelpfully, she didn't think there was much to tell. "Not much really, when I was at St. Mungo's Alice taught me some spells that could help me to live with my blindness, she was a big help. After about a year there she sent me here, and I've just been living here ever since with nothing to do." Hermione gave a rather cynical laugh, "I've actually gotten pretty disgusted with trying to read every book in the library". Harry had a look of genuine shook on his face, Hermione? Not wanting to read? It seemed impossible to even think it.
There was a long pause in which neither one seemed to want to speak, they knew they couldn't just sit there in that mansion forever, regardless of how much they wanted to. Harry sighed as he thought of what he must do, Dumbledore hadn't given him two long years of dark arts training for nothing.
"So what happens now?" Hermione asked in a timid voice, not sure she wanted to know the answer if it meant she would lose Harry again, "What are you going to do now that your back?"
"Dumbledore told me, just before I left, that I'd have to decide what to do when I returned." There was a long pause in which Harry thought deeply about what he should and what he wanted to do. "I'd love nothing more than to simply stay here with you Hermione….." Hermione blushed deeply at the thought, "But I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try to do something. Neither of us knows much about what voldemort has done, we haven't seen the horrible new world he's created. I have to help……..if only to avenge Ron."
Harry wished he hadn't mentioned Ron, Hermione was quick to begin crying after hearing her old friends name after so long, and Harry too felt tears stinging in his eyes. Harry wished he could take Hermione in his arms and cry with her, but if he did, he didn't think he'd ever be able to let go.
Harry hadn't gone through two years of absolute hell, filling his mind to the bursting point with dark spells, to come back and be conquered by his own emotions. Before this he had thought of Ron constantly, seeing his friends death as a motivation to learn faster and train harder so he could one day kill voldemort for all that he'd done. Harry pushed all thoughts of Ron out of his mind and rose from the couch, looking down at Hermione, his love for her would be a great problem if he wished to destroy voldemort, he couldn't use his dark spells to their full potential if such a pure and innocent emotion was within him.
"Before I left for St. Mungo's Parvati told me she was headed toward the headquarters of the resistance, that's where I'm headed." Harry's voice seemed a little cold in comparison to a moment ago.
"You know where the resistance is?" Hermione asked curiously. After all, Harry had only been back a few days, there's no way he had had the time to find the headquarters.
"No, but I think I know somebody who does." Harry had heard from Alice that the resistance was run by auror's both old and new. Though she hadn't told Harry, he was certain she knew where to find the resistance.
Hermione suddenly leaped to her feet, a small smile playing across her face as if she were amused by something, she turned and dashed off toward the stairs, yelling back at Harry, "Just give me a minute to get ready."
Harry blinked dumbly at this, "Ready? For what?". It took a few seconds for it to sink in with Harry, damn, he thought as he rushed up the stairs after her, barging into her room and seeing her already in a set of auror's robes.
"What the?! What are you doing with auror's robes?" Harry was very puzzled at why she would have them, he knew there was no way she was an auror.
"Alice gave them to me last year as a going away present, they fit pretty good, what do you think." Hermione gave him a dazzling smile as she moved her wand in a pulling motion, muttering to herself and Harry felt as though something had just gone rushing past him. "There" she said proudly, "I've got my alarm spells removed, when do we leave?".
Harry starred at her blankly for a few moments. "Who said anything about we?" He asked slightly confused, surly she didn't intend to come with him.
Hermione turned her gaze on Harry glaring defiantly at him, her eyes, which always looked cold since she had gone blind. "I'm going with you Harry, and don't think your going to talk me out of it." She said in her old, determined voice.
Harry crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head though the gesture went, obviously, unnoticed by Hermione. "Your not going Hermione, your gonna stay here and I'll be back in a few days to check on….."
But Hermione interrupted him angrily before he could finish, "Oh I see! You think I'll just slow you down is that it Harry?! You think you'll have to protect me because I'm blind, is that it?!". Harry was amazed at how angry she sounded, indeed he took a step back considered trying to sneak off right then.
"I, uh, well……." Harry hated to admit it but he had indeed been thinking along those lines, he thought it would be easier to get around if he were by himself, he was also underestimating Hermione's abilities to defend herself even with her loss of sight. Harry sighed, not seeing any point in trying to think up an excuse.
"You want the truth Hermione fine, here it is." Harry gulped and dropped all his emotions, if she wanted him to be brutally honest then that's what she would get. "No I don't want you with me, and for several reasons at that." Hermione was shocked at the sudden coldness in his voice. "For one I don't think you'd stand a chance against any dark wizard we meet, yes I think that because your blind now Hermione, you think that because you learned a few spells that help you to get around the house that you'll be able to survive out in the real world. I've already proven it possible that a skilled wizard can beat your stealth alarm spells, you think your little 'sonar' copy cat spell will do you any good?!"
It was Hermiones turn to take a step back now, this was not the Harry she knew and loved, it wasn't the Harry from two years ago, or even the Harry she had talked with only moments before. She had been right in thinking that dark arts training had changed Harry, this was the real Harry, cruel and cold, his emotions before had been nothing more than a mask to hide his true self from her.
"You are blinded Hermione, in more ways than one, it you can not see that the only ones who will prevail where I am headed are not those that fight with innocence and purity." Hermione shuddered as she heard Harry sneer the word. "No, the ones who will truly prevail, and be declared the victor's are those who fight with out emotion, with our remorse and with out pity." Harry's voice was now growing louder.
"And that is the true reason that I can not have you with me on my journey Hermione, as long as I am with you I can not ignore what my heart is telling me, as long as you are with me I can not allow my growing dark powers to reach their full strength, and I will not be able to kill that son of bitch riddle." Harry's voice had risen to a shouting level by the time he had finished his passionate speech, his face flushed with anger, his eyes blazing insanely.
Hermione could sense his anger practically pulsating within the room, it brought fresh tears to her eyes to think that her once innocent Harry had become what could only be described as ruthless and bloodthirsty. She had made up her mind though, she was going, no matter what Harry said or did. She quickly drew her wand and pointed it at him, the wand shaking slightly out of her own anger.
"You can say what you want Harry but I am going, maybe I just don't want to go with you though. I can make it perfectly fine on my own, I don't need you Harry, its you who needs me." Hermione's voice seemed slightly high pitched but nonetheless determined. She waited anxiously for his angered reaction, but it never came. Instead she gasped as she suddenly felt Harry's hand on her face, she hadnt heard him crossing the room at all, not one foot fall as been detected.
Harry sighed as he slowly moved his finger tips across her face, his mind racing, he knew he wouldn't be able to stop her from leaving, and he also knew she wouldn't survive more than a few days without her sight in the real world, in voldemorts world. He knew very well what he had to do in order to insure that she would be able to protect herself, even if she ended up with him for the whole journey, he would not be able to protect her every second of every day. He reached up with a quivering hand and Hermione gave a yelp of pain as he pulled out a single strand of her hair.
Hermione grimaced and rubbed her head lightly, giving Harry a push away from her, "And what was that for, you think your going to stop be by making me go bald?".
"Well, its like I said before Granger, I'm not having a blind girl tagging along with me, so were just going to have to fix that little problem." Hermione didn't like his tone, she wasn't sure what he meant by 'fixing the problem', did he mean that he would make it so she really couldn't come with him?
"W-what do you mean by fixing the problem, what the problem supposed to be? And how exactly are you gonna fix it?" Hermione was not feeling very trusting in Harry at the moment, she could hear the slight 'clink' of glass against glass and the sound of liquids being poured together. A potion, whats he need a potion for? She asked herself silently.
"Now say aw miss Granger." The way Harry spoke reminded Hermione of her parents when she used to watch them work as dentists. Hermione backed up against the wall, covering her mouth with her hand, shaking her head violently.
Harry chuckled at this gesture and reached up, pulling her hand away from her mouth with minor difficulty, though her lips remained firmly pressed together. Harry grinned at yet another fresh idea, he leaned forward, his lips gently brushing against hers, he felt her relax slightly at this.
"What? I cant even kiss the girl I love?" he asked like a little child who was being denied his favorite toy. Hermione couldn't help but grin as he relaxed, her lips slightly parted in anticipation of the kiss.
Instead of feeling Harry's lips against hers she felt the top of a glass vial being pushed into her open mouth and dumping a piercing hot liquid down her throat.
Harry pressed his hand against her mouth so she would be forced to swallow the potion rather than spit it out. Once satisfied that she had taken the potion he moved his hand away, Hermione immediately opening her mouth and letting out an ear splitting scream that made Harry fill he were standing next to a banshee. Harry stumbled back, his hands clamped tightly over his ears trying to muffle the high pitched shriek coming from Hermione. The noise suddenly stopped and Harry opened his eyes, removing his hands from his ears, he saw Hermione lying on the bed, seemingly passed out from the pain.
He sighed and picked up Hermione's wand, which had dropped to the floor, tucking it inside his own robes and starring down at Hermione for a moment.
"Sorry Hermione, but like I said before, I cant have a blind girl tagging alone with me." He grinned at his own cleverness and bent down, sliding his arms under her limp body and picking her up, she seemed as light as feather to him and he smiled at this, she had kept herself in excellent shape. "Well, I suppose we better get going aye?" he said, smiling down at her as though he expected her to answer. He shook his head and started to laugh, carrying her down the stairs, out the front door. Though it was still very early in the day, only about ten or so, Harry felt they had wasted to much time, he continued to walk with Hermione in his arms, never stopping, never slowing until nightfall.
He had finally stopped a few minutes after the sun had disappeared behind the horizon of trees, it would have been quicker to simply cast a spell on Hermione to connect with him and he could have simply apparated the both of them to the edge of the forest. But he had his reasons for traveling through the forest, Draco must have reached voldemort by now, he had felt a dull pain burning in his scar the whole day.
* * *
Hermione gave a low groan as she finally began to stir, her head swimming, she felt dizzy. She suddenly sat up but immediately laid back down, moving made her feel as though she were going to be sick. She could feel something soft beneath her and she moved her hands quickly over whatever it was. she felt the smooth sheets beneath her, a soft pillow under her head. She could tell she was in a bed but she didn't know where, surely it wasn't her own bed.
She sat up, very slowly this time and swung her feet over the side of the bed, making sure her feet were firmly on the ground before standing, she felt a hard linoleum floor beneath her bare feet. She reached up to feel her eyes, before she had passed out she had felt an indescribable pain, as if her eyes had been on fire. Instead of feeling her own skin beneath her fingers she felt a soft, medical cloth wrapped around her head and over her eyes.
She reached inside her robes but couldn't find her wand, her breathing suddenly growing rapid, she didn't know where she was, she couldn't sense Harry anywhere nearby, and she didn't have her wand. She begin to take slow deep breaths, trying to calm herself.
"It's ok Hermione, you don't need your wand, you know how to use your senses." She said, trying to reassure herself. She settled herself and focused her mind, she could feel a tiny breeze against her, she moved slowly toward the breeze, her outstretched hands suddenly colliding with a very soft wall. She moved her hands across the fabricy wall, finding a tiny crack she dug her fingers into the crack and pulled. She realized it was a tent flap.
A wizard tent, of course. She smiled, happy to have found an explanation for the bed. It also settled her mind as to whether Harry was still around, surely Harry had a wizard tent for his travels. She heard a fire crackling and she moved closer to it, the night exceptionally cold, after all it was the end of December.
She rubbed her hands against the bandages wrapped around her head, they were beginning to itch very badly, especially the area around her eyes. Frustrated she moved her fingers across the bandages and found the end, undoing the little knot and beginning to unwrap them. As she pulled the bandages fully off, tossing them aside, she opened her eyes.
Her scream was probably heard through out the entire, massive forest. She quickly shut her eyes, her hands clamped firmly over them, rolling on the forest floor screaming in pain. Slowly she felt the pain begin to dull, and a pair of hand grasping her and pulling her to her feet.
"And I thought you would have more sense than to actually remove the bandages, so much for your common sense." Harry's voice was right next to her, she wished she could look up at him, even with her blind eyes, but now she couldn't even stand to open her eyes, what had he done to her.
"Back in the tent Hermione, come on." She felt Harry's arm around her shoulder, stirring her inside the wizard tent once more. He sat her down on the bed and told her lie back as he went to get her a glass of water.
She gulped down the water greedily before handing back the glass to Harry. She was very quiet as he wrapped a fresh set of bandages around her head to cover her eyes once more.
"What the hell did you do me Harry?" she asked in a terrified whisper, "I cant even open my eyes now, what the hell did you do?" Her voice was very angry now as Harry began to tie a knot at the end of the bandage to make sure it wouldn't come off.
"Well, in light of the fact that I forgot to get you a christmas present I thought this would be a good substitute." His tone, unlike Hermione's, was upbeat and sounded as though he had done something she should be thanking him for. "Sirius must have known all along, Just in case, HA". Harry grinned remembering the day he had left the mountain valley, Sirius had slipped a small box with a vial of potion and a note with instruction on what to do. Sirius had known all along about Hermione it seemed.
"What are you talking about Harry, What the hell did you do to me?" Hermione still sounded very angry with him, but some of her anger had been replaced by curiosity.
Harry sighed and spoke as though explaining something complicated to somebody to young to understand, "Think about it Hermione, what did I say before? I told you specifically that I couldn't have a blind girl with me on this journey. And that I would simply have to fix the problem". Harry grinned at the puzzled expression on her face, he loved watching her work out a puzzle to which he already knew the answer.
Hermione suddenly gasped, it couldn't be, not what she was thinking. "Harry, did…..did you make……".
"Shhh, rest now Hermione, you'll understand in a few days. I had hoped the potion would have worked by tomorrow, apparantly the spell that blinded you was nasty one, you were bleeding out your eyes before I put that first set of bandages on". He kissed her on the forehead and told her to sleep.
And sleep she did, drifting off into uneasy dreams, her mind still racing at the though of what Harry had done, had possibly done. Was it possible that Harry hand done what the entire medi-witch staff of St. Mungo's was unable to do? Indeed it is possible.
A/N, Everybody who reads my fanfic please please PLEASE review ok? Reviews are the only reason I bother to keep my story going and I really want to hear whether you, the readers, liked my story or not. So anyway, REVIEW NOW, thank you