AN: This is the updated chapter from my wonderful beta Cori. I would like to thank all of my readers for their great reviews and hope that you'll ride this story out to the end. It should be finished in two or three more chapters. Well enough talk on with the chapter.
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Chapter-7
~ purr ~ purr ~meow ~ purr ~
Hermione didn't open her eyes, only pulled the covers a little higher over her head. It must be 7:00 am and it was time for Crookshanks' breakfast. Ever since she moved into the Head Girl's room, he seemed to be at home. Around 6:55 to 6:59, Dobby would bring her morning copy of the Daily Prophet, one steaming cup of Breakfast tea, two pieces of lightly browned and buttered toast, and a small saucer of tuna from the kitchens. Crookshanks would clean his plate nicely then spring up onto her 'four poster' bed and wake her up for class. Obviously, Crookshanks didn't realize that her last class was yesterday, but she still had a lot to do today.
With some more nuzzling and a head but, Hermione was awake. She ran through the standard morning routine munching on her toast as she pulled out her nicest school uniform. It wasn't much different then the others she owned, but this one was a little less worn.
She retreated to the drawing room to read her paper and flipped through her appointment book. By the time she reached Saturday, there was a light rapping on the door.
Lavender and Pavarti ducked their heads in. "Hermione are you awake yet?"
"Yeah, I'm in here. Come in."
They quickly navigated to the drawing room and pulled up some chairs. Lavender started the volley, "So? . . . What happened you never got back to us?"
"Yeah what did he say? Did he yell? He looked so mad?" Pavarti added.
"No, I told you she went to see him last night too, they snogged when she saw him Tuesday. She told me already."
Hermione returned quickly, "We didn't snogg-we-just kissed that's all."
Both laughed and Pavarti said, "Oh Hermione don't give me that, I saw you come sneaking back in, you looked like you had just run around the lake. You're hair was all..." she made an exploding motion around her hair and they all laughed.
"Ok so it got a little interesting but it wasn't…"
She was cut off by Lavender suddenly, "Ok, ok old news. What happened last night? Liz Benedict said she saw you and Harry in a deep 'Passionate embrace' by the charms classroom."
"Oh . . . well yeah we were, but nothing really happened."
Both girls squealed and bounced around, "So is he a good kisser?"
"How far did you guys go?"
"Did he tell you he loved you?"
"Oh they are in love! Look at her face! Spill, come on tell us."
Hermione stumbled for a place to start, but it came out all mixed up, "No . . . What . . .Yes, I mean sort of."
"What? Wait. Stop. Start from the beginning."
Seeing no way to escape Hermione relented and scooped up Crookshanks from her feet, placing him on her lap like a shield and told them everything. Well not everything, only the more juicy bits to be examined. They sorted and a deciphered all of Harry's mixed signals for the next quarter of an hour. They ended on one thing of note…
"He never said, 'I Love you' during that time?"
"No, . . .not once."
"But he gave you a Cottage."
"Yes."
"And he said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with you?"
"Yes, and have children too."
They all sunk into deep thoughts for a moment or two. Then Lavender gave her verdict as, "I think he's just scared to say it. All of them are. Its like their afraid it'll mean he's a Mary if they show they have a heart."
Pavarti countered with, "No, he is scared, but that's not the reason. He's just afraid to let her get close to him. He's lost people that are close to him before." Lavender nodded in agreement.
Hermione eyed Pavarti bristling a bit, "Hang on a second. How do you know about those people? And come to think of it, what or who where you doing on Tuesday night that you saw me come back?"
Pavarti looked only a little shocked at how fast Hermione saw through her comment, "Umm-well-you see its like. . . Ron! It's Ron's fault he told me, and I was with him on Tuesday night. That's how I saw you come back in."
Lavender's eyes grew wide, "You little Tart! I can't believe you, I'm not even out of the picture for a week and you're all ready in there to mend his broken heart."
Pavarti was quick to reply, "Tart! Look who's talking, you've been messing around with him and like three other guys at the same time. So don't blame me. He's cute, and the Quidditch captain, too. So why shouldn't I have a go at him?"
"The only reason we never got serious is because he never wanted to be tied down! That was fine for awhile, but then he started messing around with that Ravenclaw girl!"
"Luna? Wait a minute he's still seeing her?" Pavarti asked looking a bit hurt.
"Yes, and that's why we split up. He was always talking to her and meeting her for help with his homework, or oh yeah the secret D.A. training in the Room of Requirement. That's why I'm not with him anymore. What does she have that I don't? I mean honestly she was wearing cherries for earrings the other day! Cherries! For the love of Merlin, the girl has no style at all."
Hermione felt it necessary to come to Ron's aid here, although this was all his fault. "I think that's one of the things he likes about her. There's no rules or guidelines to follow or proper ways to act. He can be just as quirky and silly as he wants to be and it'll never faze her in the least. I'm happy for him actually." Both girls threw her a nasty look. "Oh, but maybe he has taken this whole playboy thing a bit too far, of course."
The three of them sat in silence for a few minutes until Hermione folded up her paper and stood up. "Well I have to get ready and see Harry before the game today." This seemed to bring the girls around.
"Well now that's just the reason we came here in the first place isn't it, Pavarti dear?" Lavender stated with a bit of a smile.
"Oh yes of course, we've come to get you ready for the big game." Pavarti said as she swung her over sized bag on to her lap.
Hermione watched as they dumped the contents on the table. Spilling out various cosmetics and few articles of clothing, "Oh boy."
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After close to an hour had passed, Hermione was free of Lavender and Parvarti's primping and prepping. The trip to the hospital wing was a sea of colors; half red and half green. The school was divided; Hufflepuff had sided with Gryffindor, but Ravenclaw had taken Slytherin's side. After Ron's crushing victory over Ravenclaw last month Gryffindor had made more then a few enemies over in their house. He had no intention, of course, of hurting the team's pride, but Malfoy had placed a very large wager on the fact that Ron would crumble under the superior skills of the Ravenclaw chasers. So Ron made it his mission not to let a single goal through, and he did just that. He really was brilliant that day. She only hoped that today he could give a repeat performance. Because Gryffindor needed it dearly.
The hospital wing was very quiet when she arrived and she thought for a moment that Harry may have left already. That was, until she heard his grumbling behind the curtained walls around his bed. "Harry? Is everything all right? Can I come in?" There was the sound of quick shuffling then something hit the floor with a soft thump. The curtains opened a little to reveal a half dressed, but beaming Harry.
"Hermione, you made it. I was about to give. . ." he stopped mid-sentence and just gazed at her. He was already in his Quidditch tights and socks, but still hadn't managed to get his jumper on. His eyes flicked up and down her body seemingly lost in her presence.
"You look-beautiful-Hermione. What did you do?" he attention was finally broken by Dobby trying to hand him his jumper. She blushed a little and took the sweater from Dobby, "Well it was Lavender and Parvarti's idea. I think they just like playing dress-up with me really. So they did my hair and gave me this wonderful shirt and a few other things." She said moving around Harry with smile and a little twirl.
He reached out a clasped her hand pulling her into his curtained sleeping area, "Well I think you look stunning, of course you always look that way to me." The sun was shinning through the tall windows and illuminated everything giving it a fresh spring feeling. Raising her palms through the bottom of his jumper to the neck hole readying it to be put on she gave him a seductive little grin, "May I?"
He smiled, removed his glasses and lowered his head, "Please. . ." She slipped the jumper over his head to his neck then circled around behind him. She froze in her tracks at first glance of his back. It still wasn't completely healed. There still where tiny scabbed holes up and down his back along his spine. The rest looked as if they'd been healed, now only faint little ringed scares where left as a reminder. She gently ran her fingers over his shoulder blades and sighed deeply. Sensing her distress Harry turned slowly to face her.
"Don't worry luv, it doesn't hurt anymore. And it should be healed completely in a day or so."
She ran her palms across his bare chest down to his abdomen. He was very warm. It was like touching a hot car seat in the summer time; at first you're scared to touch it, to feel the heat, but once you do everything else is cold in comparison. His skin was hard, but tender to the touch like so many of her favorite books whose covers of aged leather, worn through years of rubbing and pressing in her bag, where comforting to her.
Harry made no attempt to stop her inner musings, but became lost in the wonderful smell of her hair. It had the fragrance of peaches and shined wonderfully in the sunlight. She had only the hint of make-up on and it suited her nicely. A touch of gloss on the lips, and maybe a bit of blush, he thought, because her cheek bones showed off the most gentle of curves down to her lips. With a tender caress of her elbow he caught her attention again, "We could continue this, which would please me very much. Or I could see to your demands of last night," he said in a low voice as he gently rubbed her forearms. "What do you think. . .hmm?"
Hermione was finding it very hard to concentrate while he was doing that. There was something in his touch. The feeling of his flesh and hers, the gentle friction and heat of it would go straight to her mind and click off the logical side of her brain. It was wonderful. She deeply desired to continue, thinking just how easy it would be to simply remove what little he did have on and explore her wildest fantasies locked away in the 'Forbidden' section of her mind. It only took a few seconds of thought before she placed a slow wet kiss just above his heart stopping only for a instant to nip his skin with her teeth before pulling his jumper down around him, "We'll pick this up after the game tonight, if you win of course."
"If we win? Do you think I would let us lose with this…" he slipped his hands down her ribs to her hips gently slipping his fingers into the waistband of her skirt, "hanging in the balance?"
She gave him a twisted grin and pulled his hands in front of her. "I should hope not. There are still a few things Lavender gave me you haven't-seen-yet."
"Really? Well let us move on to the training portion of your visit, Ms. Granger. So I can dash off and finally crush what little hope Ferret boy has of ever besting me at Quidditch."
He adjusted his collar a bit and guided her to the window seat, "You want to know how I can apparate with in school grounds. Yes?"
"Yes, among many other of your tricks, but yes we can start there," she said, adjusting the folds in her skirt.
Harry watched her for a moment and took her hand. "I'm sure your waiting hear an enchantment or some addition to the manner in which we normally would apparate, but there isn't really. It's still the same spell as all 6th years learn."
Hermione looked confused by this, "But how can this be? The ward's around the school prevent just such a thing from happening. If it was the same why didn't Voldemort just pop in here and get you?"
Harry held a finger aloft, "Ah yes, Voldemort, now we get to the reason why I learned to do this."
"Did Dumbledore teach you this?"
"No not really, but it did come about through my training in Occlumency. You see I was always trying to clear my mind, to shut out all the extra noise in my head so I could sleep." Taking her hand he sat back down. "That's when, one night, I heard a her voice."
"Her voice? Whose voice?"
"Well it wasn't so much a person's voice, but kind of like a presence all around me." She continued to look confused. "Merlin this is hard to explain. Maybe it would be better if I just showed you."
"OK. How do we do that?"
Harry placed his fingers on her temples and said, "Now it's very important that you just relax, but most important is that you try and clear your mind. Just trust in me. Let me into your thoughts so I can guide you. Can you do that?" Hermione was scared, but only for a second. She knew in her heart he would never let any harm come to her.
"Yes of course."
He smiled at her and closed his eyes for a second. His face tightened in concentration and she could feel him probing into her conscious thoughts. It was a gentle sensation kind of like stepping into a hot shower. There was a feeling of warmth and comfort washing over her. Then suddenly his eyes snapped open, the pupils inside where as wide as dinner plates, and she could feel herself being lifted out from her body.
'Oh my god! What's happening?' she thought feeling very scared all of the sudden.
Until she heard Harry's calm soothing voice in her head, 'It's ok Hermione I'm right here with you. Nothing is going to happen, trust me. Now try and look around.' When she did finally open her eyes again, she was no longer looking into Harry's eyes anymore, but from the ceiling down at the both of them sitting near the window. It was like looking through a fishbowl. Everything was warped and stretched except for the things right in front of you.
'Where are we? Are we still inside of our bodies?'
'Yes'
'Then how is this possible?'
'We are now seeing what the school sees.'
'Pardon, what was that? The school can see us?'
'Yes, it's always watching, changing, moving to protect all of us. It's part of who it is.'
'You mean that Hogwarts is-alive?'
'Let me show you.' He said as the scenery changed and they were in the main stairwell watching as the stairs moved and the landings raised and lowered.
'The best I can figure is that through all the years the school has functioned, and all of the different witches and wizards that have enchanted the school to act as it does, has left a mark on it.'
'Sort of like a magical footprint on the school itself. Interesting.' Although she couldn't see Harry she could feel him near her. 'So how did you find out you could apparate?'
The scenery changed again and now they where looking from the South tower toward the lake, 'Hang on a minute. I'm getting to that. Now you see, there is something here, not a single person, but an energy with in the castle like a shield. Do you feel it?'
'Yes it's just on the fringe of my senses, like a perimeter charm.'
'Exactly, that's the ward blocking us from apparating. Come, we have to get back to the hospital wing.'
'Oh not yet, this is incredible. I want to see more.'
'Look down there by the row at the far end of tents. Do you see her?' As she focused her view on that point there was Madam Pomfrey walking back towards the castle with a small medical bag in hand. 'She's on her way back and I have to get out of there before she returns.' Slowly the view of the lake receded and the hospital wing came back into view. Once again she was back in her own body, sitting in the window seat with Harry.
He massaged his temples and asked, "Are you ok?"
She didn't feel any different, but did have a slow headache. "I'm fine and you?"
He quickly stood up and started to gather his things. "Yes, just hurts if I do that too long. So now how do we apparate, you ask?" Hermione nodded to this. "Well, when I needed to get to your house on New Years Eve, I kept trying and trying to apparate, but couldn't. I screamed and cursed this school for holding me back from saving you. I remember asking if it really wanted you to die too. Then I heard the voice it asked me who? Who did I want to save, and why?" Harry stopped and dropped to his knees in front of her and rested his head on her lap. She could see that this must have been a terrible time for him.
"So I answered back, 'Hermione Granger, she's my best friend in the world . . . I love her. . . Please just let me go to her. Please?' Then it was gone. The wards where lowered, and I could go to you."
Hermione didn't speak, she only combed her fingers threw his hair.
"I think you know what happened after that. So when I saw what was happing in the greenhouse that day I just did what I had to do to save you. I didn't even think that I couldn't, some how I knew I could."
"And last night?"
"How could I let you walk away like that? I think I would die inside if you hated me. I had to go after you."
"So can you do it anytime now?"
"No, I've tried and can't. Only when it involves you in some way."
"Strange, I wonder why?"
Before Harry had a chance to answer the doors the Hospital wing opened. They both stood up quickly and grabbed their bags. "Ready?" he said. Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek, "Let's go."
Crack
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Crack
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Stay tuned! The next chapter begins the Quidditch Cup Final.