A/N:Thanks a lot for the reviews, I'm glad you're liking this story. I trust you'll like this chapter, that is if you're a H/Hr fan *hint*.
This chapter was beta read by klutzyplutzy and lucky charms.
Chapter 6 - On the edge
When she woke up, Harry was gone. Under different circumstances, she wouldn't have been alarmed, but it was different now. What if they had been found during the night? But she would have woken up, wouldn't she? Besides, she was the muggle-born, not him... Maybe he had abandoned her, decided it wasn't worth risking his life for her.
"Hermione, are you alright?"
Harry had just entered the small room. It was obvious he had just taken a shower. He was carrying two plastic cups of coffee. Hermione realized she must look horrible, with messy hair, wrinkled clothes, and the dumbfounded look on her face that comes with having just woken up, not to mention waking up confused.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she answered, trying to arrange her hair as best she could.
"I have bad news," Harry said, sitting down on the edge of the bed, "We'll have to stay here until Friday."
Friday? It was only Tuesday! "Three days? Stuck here? But why?!"
"It's the snow," Harry replied, pointing the small window above the bed. Outside, the streets were white. "The road to Annecy, the place where we need to go, has been closed. They told me it will not be opening until Friday morning."
Hermione bit her lip. If they had their wands, they could just apparate. But hers had been lost long ago, and Harry's was waiting for him in Spain. He had sent it to a friend with his owl, Hedwig.
"That hairstyle suits you well," teased Harry, and Hermione hit him with a pillow.
* * *
"You don't talk much about yourself," Hermione commented to Harry, trying to sound casual and not to curious, which she was.
They were lying on the same bed that night. The day had been uneventful. Harry had suggested that Hermione stay in the house while he gathered some information. They had eaten some Chinese food he had brought and then had gone to bed. This time, they weren't as uncomfortable as the previous night. They were lying on their backs, staring at the rusty ceiling.
"What do you mean? I haven't done anything but talk," Harry said, surprised. It was true. He had spent the last half hour telling her about Godric Gryffindor and the activities the Resistance was doing to stop Slytherin.
"You know what I mean," she said. In the time she had known him, she had come to understand that Harry wasn't a very talkative person-the complete opposite of her. Hermione could spend hours talking about anything. So, in the two hours they had spent lying in bed, she had told him pretty much her whole life story. Her relationship with her parents, with Ginny, her time at school... She had even mentioned the fact that she had never had a boyfriend and that men tended to be somewhat afraid of her.
"I'm sorry," Harry said after a while, "You're right. I guess I'm not used to talking about myself. People usually think they know everything about me just because I defeated Voldemort."
"That must be annoying," Hermione commented.
Harry shrugged, "I guess the only people who really know me are the Weasleys and Sirius."
"Who's Sirius?" she asked.
"He was both my godfather and my father's best friend... I'm sure you've heard of him-- Sirius Black?"
Hermione tried to remember. Yes, the name was indeed familiar...
"You mean... The convict?"
Harry laughed softly. "Yes. Everyone knows him as 'the convict', even though he was innocent."
Hermione listened with great interest while Harry told her everything about his Sirius. She learned that half of Harry's fortune had been inherited from him. He had died a year ago during a special mission for Gryffindor.
"Do you miss him?" asked Hermione, feeling stupid for making such an obvious question.
"Yeah," Harry said, his green eyes fixed on the ceiling. He had removed his glasses and he looked somewhat younger without them. "He was the only father I've ever known."
Hermione felt sorry for him. She was about to say something when Harry suddenly stiffened.
"Wha-?" she started but Harry covered her mouth. He put his glasses on with his free hand and stared through the small window. Hermione followed his gaze. There was a group of people a few feet away, in the street, wearing robes and cloaks. They were shouting and started to run.
"What's going on?" asked Hermione moving only her lips.
"I don't know," replied Harry in the same movements.
"Stop him!" someone shouted outside.
It seemed they were following someone. A middle aged man suddenly stopped in the middle of the street, and Harry and Hermione were able to see his frightened face by looking out of the window.
"Please, don't..." he pleaded to the man who had been chasing him.
"Filthy mudblood," someone muttered with hate. "Avada Kedavra!"
Hermione screamed silently when she saw the man dropping dead in the cold street. Harry held her hand tightly. The wizards disapparated.
Hermione laid her head down, horrified. She felt Harry laying by her side. He didn't say anything, but didn't let go of her hand.
* * *
The trip to Annecy was faster than Hermione had expected. Friday had finally arrived, and now Harry and Hermione were starting their journey through the mountains. The worst part, if you asked her.
Harry had bought two warm cloaks. He had assured her it would be cold, and they would have to cover a lot of ground to reach the house where they were to sleep that night. Harry had a friend who lived up in the mountains and was going to help them.
It was foggy and the snow below their boots cracked as they walked. Hermione was sighing heavily while she tried to keep up with Harry's fast pace. He was a Quidditch player which meant he was of course in great physical condition; but she had never been good at sports. To make it worse, she was starting to feel dizzy.
Harry had barely talked at all that day. He was walking ahead of her, with his eyes fixed on the path. Hermione wished he would say something, but she didn't feel as uncomfortable as before with his silence. The days they had spent in Lyon had been enough to break the ice between them.
Half an hour later he stopped and turned around. He smiled when he saw how tired she looked.
"Are you OK?" he asked.
Hermione nodded. Her feet hurt. Badly.
"Are you cold?"
"No, I'm fine," she replied.
"Liar," he approached and embraced her. She started to feel warm immediately. They stayed like that for at least five minutes. "Better?" he asked at last and backed away.
"Thank you," she said, blushing. They started walking again. Hermione started singing an old British song her mother had taught her when she was 7. Harry started singing along and they ended up laughing at how bad they sounded.
Hours passed and night fell. The temperature dropped drastically and the fog became denser. Hermione didn't know how high they were, but she felt her lungs burning.
A dog's loud bark made them stop. Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and waited. More barks followed.
"Don't make a sound," whispered Harry in her ear, "There's a FOS base near."
"A FOS base?" Hermione panicked, "You never told me that."
"I'm telling you now," Harry said. Then his face softened, "Don't worry, I won't let anything happen to you." Somehow, those words calmed her. "Listen to me, Hermione. We are going to leave the path; we'll go through the forest."
He took her hand and led her though the snow, which reached her knees. Moving forward was really hard, but Harry didn't stop. The trees made everything darker and she found it terribly hard to try and not fall forward into the thick, white mass that was snow.
Fifteen minutes later they approached a cliff. Harry looked around; they were near the top of the mountain. They could see the lights of a city below and Hermione guessed it was Vizcaya, the Spain city where they were going. That gave her hope and strength.
"OK, we're almost there," he assured her.
"Stop right there!" a hard voice shouted.
Hermione turned around. There was no one there and she turned to Harry, scared. Without further notice, Harry started to run, not loosening the grip on her hand.
"I said stop!" Three wizards apparated in front of them. A group of dogs behind them were barking menacingly.
"Jesus," muttered Harry and he stood in front of Hermione, protecting her. "They had never used this side of the mountain," he said, not caring about the volume of his voice. "We'll have to surrender."
Hermione gasped. Harry was a spy for Godric Gryffindor. If the FOS caught him, they would kill him immediately.
"NO!" she said.
"What choice do we have?" he asked.
If it wasn't for her, he could have run away easily. He was an expert. He could have even used his magic. It was her fault. She had to do something.
"Enough talking," one of the wizards said. He lifted his wand.
Harry let the suitcase go and grabbed Hermione's waist, throwing her to the ground. A beam of green light passed over their heads. They scrambled to their feet and began to run without looking back. Finally Harry hid behind a huge oak, still holding Hermione. The FOS had followed them closely and they were going to find them any minute.
Once again, Harry grabbed Hermione's hand and started running. They heard one of the wizards shouting and the dogs barks. They reached the edge of the cliff. Harry threw a stone. If they fell, there was no chance of living through the fall.
"Follow me," Harry ordered. Hermione looked in awe as he started going down, with the help of the roots and stones. She didn't have a lot of time to think, she trusted him and she followed, even though she was scared to death.
The stones were sharp, and soon her hands were bleeding. They descended 60 feet or so and suddenly Harry ordered her to stop.
"Where are they?" she heard one of the wizards saying. He was at the edge of the cliff. If he looked down, he would spot them immediately.
"Where do you think, you idiot? They went down the cliff."
Harry approached Hermione and pushed her against the side of the cliff. A few beams of light passed next to them. Harry covered her body with his own. She could feel his breathing in her ear and she wondered if he was as frightened as she was. The air was colder on this side of the mountain and Hermione could hardly breathe.
"This is useless. They must have fallen already," another wizard said.
"I saw the girl fall," another assured, "But the man..."
Hermione felt Harry moving and she understood what he was doing. He let the bag he was carrying on his back fall.
"There he goes," the first wizard said and let out a dark laugh. "Let's go back," he said, and they disapparated.
They waited a couple of minutes and then, Harry helped Hermione to climb up.
"Are you alright?" he asked softly.
She nodded, but she couldn't speak. She tried to stand up, but her legs didn't respond. She was on her knees. Harry kneeled beside her.
"Let's go," he said.
"Just... a minute," she pleaded.
"We're almost there."
"I can't move." What was wrong with her? She was being weak.
"If you stay here, you'll freeze," Harry said. He then helped her to stand up.
They walked a few feet and Hermione saw a wooden house not very far away. The lights were on and there was smoke coming out of the chimney.
A bark made her jump. A huge black dog was running towards them. Hermione couldn't believe it. After all they had done, it was going to end like this??
"Fang, come here boy!" Harry said, and to Hermione's surprise, the dog sat next to them, while Harry scratched its head.
" 'Arry! I was starting to think ya wouldn't make it!"
A very large man was approaching. He had black hair, a beard, and was almost as tall as the trees around them.
"We had an encounter with the FOS," Harry explained. "This is Hermione Granger, Ginny Weasley's friend."
"I'm Hagrid, nice to meet ya," Hermione shook his big hand, "Come in ya guys, yer goin' ter freeze out 'ere."
* * *
Hermione was lying under a pile of blankets in Hagrid's barn. To avoid any trouble, Harry had refused to sleep in Hagrid's house and they had went to the barn instead. It was strangely warm inside.
Harry was asleep, three feet away from her. They had eaten with Hagrid and explained what had happened on their journey. Hagrid was a great man in Hermione's opinion, and she would be eternally thankful to him for helping both her and Harry.
She glanced over at Harry's sleeping form. He had some scratches on his face she hadn't noticed before. He must have acquired them when they were running through the forest. She wondered how many times Harry had risked his life to save another.
Then, the expression in his face changed. He looked disturbed. He started moving and panting. After spending three nights with him in the same bed, Hermione knew he didn't move when he was sleeping.
"Harry" she whispered. He didn't wake up, "Harry!" she said louder.
He was still breathing heavily. He obviously had a nightmare. Hermione got out of her 'bed' and approached his. She touched his shoulder slightly and he stopped moving immediately. Instead he grabbed her wrist so tightly that he hurt her.
"It's me, Harry," she whispered.
He stared at her eye-widened. Then, he calmed down and released her wrist. "I'm sorry... It's a bad habit of mine."
"I see you have good reflexes," Hermione commented, holding her wrist. "You were having a nightmare, weren't you?"
He sat down and rubbed his eyes. "I was on that cliff again," he said.
"That must've been lovely," she said sarcastically.
"A lot of people have died there, you know?" Harry said, staring at her, "People who knew this mountain way better than us."
Hermione swallowed hard. She knelt beside him.
"And you followed me without vacillation. I've never seen anyone as brave as you," he added.
"Brave? I'd say stupid. Besides, I didn't have a choice."
"Most people would've preferred to surrender to the FOS."
Hermione stayed silent for a while. Harry kept looking at her. It was the same piercing look he had given her when they had met at Ginny's house.
"I was thinking," she said "What about my parents? If they'd come they would probably..."
"I was thinking the same thing," Harry said, sadly, "If they had come they would've been caught... Or maybe even killed."
Hermione shuddered. "We're alive, Harry," she whispered.
"Barely." He covered his face with his hands. "I don't know what I was thinking."
"What do you mean?" she asked, confused.
"I risked your life. I promised you I would protect you."
"And you did!" she said, "Harry, if it hadn't been for you I wouldn't be here now."
He stared at her. His green eyes were so sad... and afraid. It was the first time since she had known him that he had showed weakness. He looked so helpless for that moment that Hermione felt the need to embrace him. She hugged him tightly, so that he'd understood she was there for him. He hugged her back as well.
They stayed like that for a long time. Finally, Harry let her go, but she didn't back away. Their eyes met. They were so close that their foreheads were together.
"Harry..." she muttered, but his mouth was already on hers.
It started as a soft kiss, but soon the passion got the best of them. Nobody had ever kissed her before. And certainly, she had never felt such a rush of emotions. Passion, joy, fear, satisfaction, relief... love. She threw her arms around his neck and she let herself go. She didn't stop to think about morals or anything else.
He was the only thing she needed.