Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter. They are the property of J. K. Rowling.
Hermione sat in the Gryffindor common room trying to finish her Arithmacy homework, but she just couldn't focus.
"One month…I can't believe it's already been one month." She felt a tightening in her chest, and her eyes dampened.
'I miss you, Harry.' She said to herself.
After he'd left, Hermione had withdrawn into herself. She wasn't a complete hermit, but she rarely talked to anyone outside of Ron, Lavender, Pavarati, and Hagrid.
Ron was afraid that she would become chronically depressed if this kept up, but he could understand how she felt. Hogwarts wasn't the same without Harry Potter.
Everything was different now. The Gryffindors weren't even close to winning the House Cup, and their quidditch team wasn't fairing much better. Hagrid had lost some his enthusiasm in teaching about exotic creatures, and he never got into trouble anymore. Even Malfoy was quiet; his favorite target was now gone. He had no one that he wanted to annoy around anymore.
The hardest day had been Valentine's Day. Hermione had been miserable the whole day until she got a special delivery during dinner.
Both she and Ron had sent Harry several letters, and he'd replied without delay. His letters were one of the reasons why Hermione wasn't totally reclusive.
Just as the feast began, a familiar screech could be heard from the rafters. Hermione smiled brightly as she saw Hedwig swooped down towards the Gryffindor table. The snowy, white owl dropped a box into her arms, and Hermione nearly shredded the brown wrapping.
"See Herm, I told you Harry wouldn't forget what day it was," Lavender quipped. Her friend blushed slightly and continued opening her package.
"Come on, I wanna see what he sent!" Pavarati said enthusiastically.
Hermione unwrapped the package to find a heart-shaped box of chocolates, a card, and a long, slender, black, velvet case. She opened the box of candy to see that it was divided into three sections - strawberry, caramel, and truffles.
"How sweet, he even remembered my favorites," Hermione sighed dreamily.
"Well, what's the card say?" Lavender prodded.
Hermione opened the envelope and drew out the card. On the front was a picture of beautiful, red rose, and it had been enchanted to bloom over and over again. She opened the card and recognized Harry's handwriting inside:
To my sweet Hermione,
Roses are red
Violets are blue
But nothing shall ever be
As beautiful as you
Yours Forever,
Harry
Hermione couldn't help it as tears welled up in her eyes. She picked up the velvet case and realized that it was in fact a jewelry case. Her fingers were trembling as she opened it. Inside, she found a heart-shaped necklace and a small note.
Hermione,
I want you to have this because wherever you go my heart goes with you. We will be together soon, sweetheart, but until then, wear this as a temporary replacement. I love you, now and always.
Harry
The tears fell freely, but they were tears of joy. Hermione took out the gold necklace and placed it around her neck. She clutched the locket in her hand and could almost feel his heart beating in her hand.
'I love you too, Harry,' she said silently.
Unlike Hermione, Harry's Valentine's Day wasn't quite that peachy. He jumped and rolled out of the way as a circle of fire exploded around where he previously stood.
"Well done, Harry, now keep going," Lupin urged him. Harry ducked and dodged as his three trainers tried to hit him with various spells. He jumped out of the way of a thunder attack thrown by Moody and just barely missed being petrified by Sirius.
"Remus, Moody," Sirius shouted. Harry knew what they were doing; they were going to try and attack him all at once. He'd been training for this; he just hoped that he could pull it off.
"Now!"
"Petrificas!" Sirius shouted.
"Infernas!" Lupin added.
"Aquas torenche!" Moody finished. Harry had less than a second.
"Barrias erecte!" he shouted. A magical barrier came up around him, and it blocked the three curses.
"Good Harry, now maintain it!" Moody ordered. The three men increased the power of the attacks, and Harry felt as if he was in bubble that was slowing shrinking.
His wand began shaking, and his forearm was vibrating as the barrier absorbed the magic spells. Harry knew that he couldn't hold this much longer, but he had too. He had to!
"Come on, Harry, concentrate!" Lupin instructed. His expression fell as he saw the young wizard go down to one knee. Harry's teeth were clenched tight as he tried to maintain his spell.
"Dammit Harry, how do you expect to win? How do expect to protect Hermione?" Sirius shouted at him.
At the mention of his girlfriend's name, Harry's eyes snapped open. He kept seeing the same vision in his mind. Voldomort standing over Hermione; his wand pointed at her just waiting to kill her.
"I WILL!!!" he shouted. The barrier around him expanded and flung the three men off their feet. They landed no less than twenty feet away. Harry looked at his three trainers; he couldn't believe what he'd done.
"I'm sorry, are you all right?" he asked, hoping that they weren't hurt. To his surprise, they all smiled and started laughing.
"Well boy, you're just full of surprises," Moody snickered.
"Yes Harry, you do have great power within you," Lupin added. Sirius walked up to his godson and put his hand on the young man's shoulder.
"That was excellent, Harry, but you need to learn to control your power. It seems that you are strongest when your emotions are focused on the ones you care about. You need to try and stay focused on them when you fight. Think about them and use your feelings as a tool. Emotions can be a strong ally with magical power."
"Sirius is right, young Potter. A wizard's emotions can amplify or weaken his power. Think of Voldomort, he is filled with nothing but hatred and bitterness; that produces an enormous amount of negative power. You must counter that with your own power; you must use the love and friendship of the ones you care about. Only then, can you stand a chance," Moody explained.
"I'll try…really I will. It's just that…" Harry closed his eyes and turned his head away.
"You miss her," Sirius said matter-of-factly.
"What?"
"You miss Hermione don't you? You miss her, Ron, and everyone at Hogwarts."
"Yes…yes, I do, but I keep reminding myself that I need to be ready when Voldomort returns. I can't be distracted right now, or they could all end up dead."
"Harry…" Lupin said softly, "…it is good that you are focused on your objective, but don't shut yourself off from your friends. Balance your feelings and your duty; it is difficult to do; but I know that you can do it."
"Why don't you go see them?" Sirius stated with a wide smile.
"But…but I can't enter Hogwarts."
"Here Potter, I thought you might want this back someday." Moody tossed him a piece of rolled up parchment. Upon opening it, Harry nearly jumped. It was the Marauder's Map that George and Fred Weasley had given him back in his second year.
"Professor Moody, I thought you destroyed this," Harry gasped.
"Well, you never used it to really 'break the rules' so I decided that you should have it back." The old man's magical eye glinted, and Harry grinned at him.
"I'm sure you brought your Invisibility Cloak didn't you, Harry?" Lupin quipped.
"Thank you, all of you, but I can't accept this, not yet. I will use it soon, but I want to keep working."
"I'm surprised at you Harry; I'd have thought you'd go as soon as possible," Sirius replied.
"Well, I'd like to, but I'd rather go in a few weeks. It would mean a lot more to Hermione then if I went now."
"Why do you say that?" Remus asked him. Harry's smile only widened.
"Her birthday is in a few weeks that's why." The three men roared with laughter, and Harry couldn't help but join them.
"Well, shall we continue?" Sirius prodded.
"Yes, I'm ready," Harry stated and raised his wand.