Harry Potter and the Galator
Chapter 21
Seeing and Binding
The night was cold and dark. The new moon had arrived and its natural light had been extinguished. The only people out tonight are those who are planning evil or who are evil. The anger in the man, if you could still call him that, was beyond anything human. His red slits one might call eyes were blazing with raw anger.
The man screamed in frustration. "I have only idiots working for me. It is almost the end of the term at Hogwarts and you only now found out that the galator is already in Harry Potters possession?!"
"M-m-master. I swear to you, the operative disguised as Black did not have any opportunity to determine if Potter indeed carried the galator with him."
"You incompetent fool!" He pointed his wand at the death eater who had been impersonating Sirius. "CRUCIO!"
The death eater screamed in agony and kicked and twitched until Voldemort removed the curse from him.
"Please, master, forgive my ineptness," the death eater let out in choppy breath and in between coughs.
"Master, if I may. I have an idea that may help."
"Ah, yes. Bella, so beautiful, so intelligent and so loyal, I knew you would come up with something. Do tell us."
"I will need both of these incompetent followers in order to succeed, but because they are both dispensable, they will do nicely," she told them as she sneered. She was the favorite death eater, cold hearted, loyal, no conscience and greedy, just the way Voldemort liked them. Although, she was related to Sirius, she was nothing like him. She didn't have his kindness and compassion.
She told them what their plans were and after she was done, Voldemort was laughing and quite excited to get the plan in place.
Although Harry felt the pain while he was at Fincayra with Merlin, he was able to ward off much of the pain had he not been prepared. The first emotion he felt was the anger and he prepared himself for the excruciating pain he was sure would follow, but only a trickle came. Again he prepared himself when he felt the joy he was sure was radiating from Voldemort himself, but was as prepared as the last time when he felt the anger and only felt a trickle of pain.
He was confused and asked Merlin if maybe the connection between he and Voldemort may be dissipating since he was able to cast off what would have been the searing pain in his scar to merely a trickle as if he was just scratch.
He told Harry that he didn't think the connection was going away. He told him that maybe because of his healing powers, his growing knowledge and control over his empath abilities in combination with occlumency, he was able to prepare his body for the onslaught and disengage himself before he felt the full power of the connection with Voldemort.
That concerned Harry a bit. If he was unable to differentiate whether or not was truly angry versus his everyday feeling, how would he know when Voldemort is near. Merlin told him that the pain was only being deflected because Voldemort was at a distance from Harry, but he were nearby, it would take Harry a lot more focus and power to separate the pain from the scar.
Harry took all the information from his meetings with Merlin and stored them safely in his head. Each time he had some free time, which was hardly any, he would practice the skills Merlin had taught him. He was still hesitant to try leaping, but was more apt to try changing. He knew he was able to change into a merlin, but he wanted to practice becoming a stag like his dad once had been and even Merlin at one point or another.
He stood in the private room he'd found when he hid from Hermione earlier in the beginning of the term. He closed his eyes and focused on the image of a stag running free in the woods. He started running around the room and felt his hands and feet turning into hooves, his face began to elongate and he could feel horns sprouting from his head. He'd completed the transformation into a stag. He was ecstatic. He was running around the room happily until he heard a scream.
"Dear Merlin," Hermione gasped as she was almost trampled over by the light brown stag running around the room.
Harry immediately transformed back to himself when he heard Hermione. "Sorry, 'Mione. I hope I didn't scare you too much."
"Oh, my. Harry, you were a stag," she told him as if he didn't know what he turned into.
"I know, isn't it great? I was practicing. I didn't know you were coming. I thought you had some tutoring to do?"
"Yes, we wrapped it up early. I was looking for you."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"I missed you." She told him and started walking towards him. She wrapped her arms around his neck and brought her lips to his in a tender kiss. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back. It occurred to him that he'd missed her too. It's been a while since they'd spend any time alone.
"I missed you too," he whispered on her lips when they parted and initiated a more passionate kiss that consumed them immediately. The heat radiating was not because of the flames that lit the wall and the fire from the fireplace, but from their bodies.
She'd gone limp and weak kneed. Her world was spinning and she knew the cause was because she's with the man she loved. Wait a minute, did she just think love. Aren't they too young yet for such strong emotions about the opposite sex? After all, they are both sixteen, but Harry will be seventeen soon. She wondered if he felt the same way.
She consumed him with desire. He didn't know ever feeling so much want and unconditional love before. He'd never experienced it from a woman. Sirius may have been the only person who'd showed his love for him unconditionally, but that was different. Had he meant love? He didn't know where that came from, but it was thought of. He knew deep in his heart that he loved the woman he was kissing. It occurred to him that he'd just learn a little more about seeing. He'd been able to see with his heart and had known that he loved Hermione.
The revelation scared him as much as knowing that he'd had a crush on his best friend. He was scared because he knew that Voldemort might just use her as a tool to get to him. He wouldn't put it pass him. Yet he knew that his new sets of skills can block those feelings when he wanted, but would he be able to block Hermione's feelings for him from Voldemort.
It also occurred to him at that moment just how much seeing with the heart meant and what being bound by the heart truly meant. He now knew that no matter what they would go through, they would withstand any obstacles because they were bound by the heart, which according to the lessons from Merlin is the strongest type of binding in the world.
They stopped but held each other and both still breathless from the kiss. Harry felt what Hermione was feeling and knew that she loved him with all her heart. She didn't know about his empath powers, but he'd mentioned the possibilities. He felt guilty now that he knew how she felt, but he hadn't told her what he felt for her.
"Hermione, you remember one of the powers I told you about? It's called empath." She nodded in response. Her heart was thudding loudly in her ears. Dear Merlin, did he know what she was feeling?
"Well, it's not fair that I can feel your feelings and you can't feel mine, so, I am going to tell you." She stared at him, she knew that he knew how she felt. Oh dear, he was going to tell her that he didn't feel the same isn't he? She felt fear, but then she'd remember the kiss just moments ago. No one would have kissed her that way and not feel anything for her.
"Look, I just wanted to tell you. I am scared, but I know that somehow being with you is my destiny. I love you, Hermione."
"Harry," she started. She couldn't finish her sentence. There was a large knot in her throat that had gone absolutely dry. She hugged him and kissed him as if he was her oxygen she needed to breath to stay alive. She pulled away from him a bit, "I love you too Harry, with all my heart."
"I know, and I you," He kissed her again. "We'd better get back to the common room before we do something we're both not prepared for." The desire in his eyes and his body had not yet dissipated and he knew that if they didn't leave the room he might just take Hermione then and there. But he also knew that neither of them was ready for the next step in their relationship no matter how sure they were of their feelings.
The next few weeks were spent in the same manner. They would study for the final exams and study for the NEWTs at Hermione's insistence while Ginny studied for her OWLs. They took the time to listen to Harry's latest adventure at Fincayra all the while wishing they could go with him.
He also wished he was able to successfully try the powers of leaping, but he was afraid and lacked the confidence. He hadn't even practiced once during his time with Merlin or while he was awake. The others gave him words of encouragement, but he didn't feel he was ready.
"Oh, come on mate," Ron started. "I'm sure you can do it. If it wasn't for the fact that I am not related to Merlin, I'd have tried."
"Would you be able to practice here?" Hermione asked concerned. "After all, there are anti-apparition wards set up aren't there?"
"Merlin said, it would not be like apparition per say. It is like what the house elves do, and as you can see they can go from one place to another in the blink of an eye." The other four gaped at Harry. They knew Harry was different from the rest of them, but everyday they spent listening to him tell them stories about his encounters with Merlin, the more they were in awe of just how different he actually was.
"Blimey Harry, do you know what that means?" asked Ron.
"It's obvious honey, Harry can leap anywhere he wants in Hogwarts," Lavender told him as if trying to explain to a toddler.
"I know that!" he answered her exasperated. "I just mean that he'll never be late for lessons again and he can go to the girl's dormitory without dealing with the sliding stairs!"
Harry looked at Hermione with a knowing smile. That just might be enough incentive to practice leaping at once. There wasn't a better incentive in the world than hormones, male one at that. He'd have to think more on that. In the meantime, Harry, Hermione and Ron let Lavender and Ginny in on the encounters with the Sirius impersonator. They were shocked as they should be for someone to play with Harry's emotions in such matter. They also related their plans of exposing him once he contacted Harry again, but until then, they would wait. Harry would practice his other skills. Next time the fake Sirius dared to show his face, they would be ready.
A/N: Again, thank you for your positively wonderful reviews. Hope you are enjoying this as much as I did when I wrote it.