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Silence and Stillness by Natalie
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Silence and Stillness

Natalie

Part II

And with that single sound, he ceased to breath. He loosened his arms around her and pulled his head back to look down at her, his heart swelling with hope. Her cinnamon eyes, bright and aware, were looking back at him.

"Hermione . . ." he sighed, bringing a hand up to brush her hair away from her face, not caring that more tears were cascading down his face. She looked at him, confusion crossing her face.

Why is he crying? She wondered. And smiling?

"Harry, I . . ." she stammered, and tentatively reached up to brush away a tear from his cheek. As her fingertip brushed his skin through the tears, her own tears began to fall as she suddenly understood

"I remember . . ." she says, breathing in sharply. He nodded and smiled at her as his vision is completely blurred by tears. "I'm okay . . ." she said, as if she were trying to make herself believe it as well. "I'm okay," she whispered again as he pulled her close and they held each other tightly.

"I should go get Madame Pomfrey," he said sometime later, pulling away from their embrace.

"Harry, wait!" she said, reaching out and putting her arms around his neck again.

"Yeah?" he asked, putting his arms around her.

"Thank you for being here . . . when I woke up."

"You're welcome," he said, smiling at her before leaving her bed and venturing down the hall to find Madame Pomfrey. Once at her door he knocked quietly, and it was opened almost immediately by a very annoyed Madame Pomfrey.

"Yes, Potter?" she asked.

"I though you ought to know Hermione's awake," Harry told her, a huge grin across his face. Madame Pomfrey's smirk melted away as she pulled her door open the whole way and motioned for Harry to follow her inside. She went to a shelf with a large assortment of potions and began plucking bottles off the shelves and handing them to Harry.

"Basic healing, damage reversal, revitalizing, dreamless sleep potion . . ." she listed off.

"You're putting her back to sleep?" Harry asked, confused.

"Yes Potter. She has a lot of healing to do before she's out of the woods. I can't believe that bastard would cast such a spell on so young a girl. Even more of a shock that she's alive."

With that she turned and walked back to Hermione's bedside with Harry at her heels. He placed all the potions on her beside table before resuming his spot on the edge of the mattress, next to Hermione.

Through the myriad of potions, he sat by her side, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. As he watched over her, a thought suddenly struck him.

She doesn't remember a thing I said to her, he thought, feeling his heart sink. Nothing at all . . .

"Madame Pomfrey, before you give her that, can I have a minute with her?" he asked as she was starting to measure a dose of the sleeping potion.

"I suppose Potter, but only while I go get you a sleeping potion, you look horrible," she said, putting the potion down on the table as she returned to her office. Harry turned to face Hermione, who was looking up at him questioningly.

She's so beautiful . . .

"Hermione?"

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking . . . while you were asleep . . ."

"Yes?"

"Do you think, or could you ever think . . . " he trailed off, looking into her eyes. She raised her eyebrows slightly, urging him to go on.

"Would it be okay if I called you Mione?" he uttered quickly.

She hesitated before smiling. "Of course. I'd like that."

He returned the smile while cursing himself. Damn my nerves . . .

"Potter!!" Madame Pomfrey's head appeared from around the corner of her office, her voice making both of them jump in surprise. "Make her drink that and let her sleep!"

Harry picked up a small blue vial and held it up to the nurse, and she nodded and disappeared around the corner. He turned back to Hermione and waved it at her, a goofy smile spreading across his face. She laughed quietly with him and sat up, reaching out her hand and taking the vial.

"Reminds me of second year," he said quietly.

"Yet another adventure with Harry that landed me in the hospital," she replied. They looked at each other for a moment before grins spread over their faces and they both erupted into giggles.

"NOW Potter!" Madame Pomfrey's voice came echoing down the hall.

"I guess you should take it and get some sleep," he told Hermione, looking back down to the vial in her hand.

"Yeah, I guess," she sighed, also looking down the potion. She swirled it around in the glass, her brow furrowed as if she were contemplating something.

"What are you thinking?" he whispered to her.

"Just something I dreamed while I was asleep," she replied.

"What was it?"

She shook her head as a small smile spread across her face. "It was nothing. Just . . . wishful thinking, I guess," she told him, her eyes suddenly sparkling with tears as she looked up at him.

And in that second he saw something in her eyes that was unmistakable.

She heard me . . .

Neither of them knew who made the first move. Neither knew if he had lowered his mouth to hers or if she had pulled him to her. All they knew in the moments that followed was silence and stillness and bliss and perfection and fear and love and a sense of finding something they had unknowingly been searching for all their lives.

Down the hall, Poppy poked her head out of her office and opened her mouth to insist that Hermione take the potion, before spotting them. She smiled, and returned to her office.

After a moment, they both pulled back from each other, their eyes flying open to study each other for reactions. They both smiled at each other before Harry pulled her close to him.

"Go ahead and go to sleep now and we'll talk when you wake up," he whispered quietly in her ear. "There's so much I want to tell you "

She smiled at him at this. "Me too."

"C'mon you two!!" They suddenly heard Poppy warn from down the hall.

"Alright!" Harry called back to her. Hermione nodded and lifted the vial to her lips and took the potion in one gulp. She leaned over to place the bottle back on the table when she was suddenly overcome by fatigue, and Harry reached out and caught her as she became unable to hold herself up.

"Harry?" she called out, suddenly unable to keep her eyes open.

"I'm right here," he replied as he set her onto the pillows. "And I'll be here when you wake up."

"I love you Harry," she sighed quietly as sleep overtook her. His heart swelled suddenly, and managed to whisper over the lump in his throat, "I love you too."

He watched as her breathing became deep and regular, and he stood up from her bed and moved to his. As soon as he sat on the mattress, Poppy came out to his bed with two potions in her hands.

"Alright Potter, here's a sleeping potion . . . I think I'll be keeping all three of you here for a few days. I also brought you this," she said, holding up a bottle that was only as big as her thumb.

"It's a memory potion. It will help you forget what happened over the past day. Not completely forget, but just make things fuzzy, and easier to deal with. You should take it before you go to sleep becau-"

"No," he interrupted sternly. His gaze moved from her and over to Hermione, sound asleep in the bed next to him. "Absolutely not."

Poppy smiled before slipping the potion into her pocket and handing Harry the sleeping potion. He swallowed it quickly and returned to her the vial.

"Night Potter," she said quickly before turning on her heel and returning to her office. Harry's gaze fell on Hermione again, a soft smile on her peaceful face. He smiled slightly before collapsing against his pillows, looking at her as his eyes fell closed and he surrendered to sleep.

And then there was only silence and stillness.