Unofficial Portkey Archive

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document.write(''); chapter eight: Surprise

By the time Hermione had finally regained the use of her limbs, Ron, Ginny, and Draco were long gone, and she and Harry had been dumped rather unceremoniously in the little secret chamber under the Weeping Willow.

And yet, somehow Hermione wasn't upset about being hexed or trapped. She wasn't even upset about being kidnapped. What bothered her was the fact that Harry was rather determinedly refusing to look at her. He was using all of his might to try and break free from the pit, as though being locked up with her was the worst fate imaginable.

" Try the back passage," he directed without bothering to glance back.

Wordlessly, Hermione moved to the back and began working on the door. She tried physical force and spells, then a combination of the two, but to no avail. It seemed that Ron, Ginny, and Draco had pooled together their various skills to make certain that Harry and Hermione couldn't escape.

" It's no good," Hermione said finally with a sigh, " we're trapped."

Harry pounded his fist on the door. " This can't be happening."

Hermione felt her heart tighten painfully. " I know that this is hard for you, Harry, and I'm sorry, but at least we can try to make the best of things as long as we're trapped down here."

Harry remained silent and still refused to meet her gaze.

And suddenly, it was too much to bear. " Honestly, Harry," Hermione snapped, "I didn't ask for this, either. And I know that it must be torture for you to be around me, but the least you could do is look at me."

Slowly, tentatively, Harry raised his gaze. Hermione braced herself to see anger in his eyes, revulsion even. But to her complete and utter shock, there was hunger there, complete and unmasked desire.

" I've been trying not to," Harry said, his voice pained, " Merlin, Hermione, you're...beautiful."

She stared at him, dumbfounded. " It's the dress," she said finally, self-consciously, " I think it must be enchanted, or something--"

Harry shook his head. " No...it's always. You're always beautiful."

It was such a sweet and lovely comment that Hermione didn't know how to respond. Harry mistook her silence for disapproval and sighed, reaching to run a hand through his messy dark hair. " Listen, I know you're in love with Draco, and I can't change that. But do you think you could ever...?"

Her heart was pounding now, hammering in her chest so painfully that she could scarcely breathe. " What, Harry?"

" Do you think you could ever love me?"

His eyes were so wide and vulnerable, and she saw suddenly not Harry the accomplished adult, but Harry the child, tucked away in the cupboard of the Dursley's home, never experiencing love or real kindness until his twelfth birthday, still uncertain of it when it came his way.

A few tears tricked down her eyes and spilled, unnoticed, down her cheeks. "Oh, Harry, how can you even ask me that?" she inquired softly.

He looked away, once again misinterpreting her. Wordlessly, she moved to his side and took his face in her hands, cradling it. Every other time she'd been this close to Harry, she'd felt strange and nervous and awkward, but suddenly it just felt *right*. Hary looked at her questioningly, still uncertain.

The tears continued to run down her face. " I'm in love with you," Hermione informed him, " I was too stupid to realize it, but I have been for years, and now...Harry, I know you love Kimmy, but if you love me at all or think you ever could, please don't marry her today. Please, don't--"

But she never finished the sentence. In a matter of moments, Harry's face had gone from crushed to astounded, and suddenly his lips were upon hers. Her soul breathed a little sigh of joy, and she was so happy that she was laughing, and Harry was laughing, and they were kissing and laughing and crying all in one, and it was messy but beautiful and she never wanted it to end.

The sound of a throat clearing shattered the blissful reverie. Harry and Hermione looked up to see Kimmy standing in the now-open doorway, an oddly hollow look in her eyes.

" Well, well, well," she said, the bubbly exuberance gone from her voice, " I had heard theories that the only cure for the imperius curse was true love, but I suppose the two of you have just verified it for certain. Congratulations."

Hermione looked at her in shock. " Imperius curse? You mean...?"

Kimmy smiled nastily. " Yes, dear, stupid Hermione. Since the moment I met Harry, I've been manipulating him into loving me so that he would marry me. And it would have worked, if you hadn't butted in."

Harry looked equally stunned. " What? But...why?"

" It wasn't for fame or power or anything like that, if that's what you're thinking," Kimmy informed him evenly. " It was to keep you from marrying her." She looked pointedly at Hermione.

Hermione was growing progressively more and more confused. " You went through this elaborate scheme and used an illegal curse just to keep Harry from marrying me? Do you really hate me that much?"

"Yes," Kimmy returned unblinkingly, " but not because I'm jealous or catty or anything like that. Suffice it to say, Harry, that the prophecy that linked you with Voldemort was not the only prophecy ever made about you."

Seeing that she had their full attention now, Kimmy continued. "My great-grandmother was the great seer Cassandra Trelawney, and Sibyll Trelawney is my aunt. A few years ago, at what was about your fourth year of Hogwarts, my aunt made one final prediction about the great Harry Potter. Only, this one was witnessed only by Dumbledore, and he managed to keep it from reaching the rest of the wizarding world.

" In the prophecy, it said that Harry would find his soulmate in his closest and most trusted friend, a talented muggle born witch, and that she would make him happier than any other person ever could."

At this, she turned her gaze coldly to Hermione. " But there was another part of the prophecy, one not quite so pleasant. Harry would love this woman, yes, but that love would eventually destroy him and everyone he loved, and it would eventually pave the way for the end of the wizarding world."

She paused, letting the words sink in before adding, " Dumbledore knew that he couldn't let this happen, but as he watched the two of you grow closer and closer over the years, he knew that it was inevitable that you would fall in love and fulfill the prophecy... unless he took matters into his own hands."

" So he let you drug my mind," Harry said hollowly, " he let you manipulate me into thinking I was in love with you. Heck, he even provided the grounds for our wedding."

" That was a particularly nice touch, I thought," Kimmy said, but not unkindly.

" But the plan backfired on him," Harry continued, his voice numb, " because it set into motion the whole chain of events that made Hermione and I realize that we're in love with each other."

Kimmy shrugged. "I suppose it does have a nice sort of melodramatic flair about it."

There was silence for a moment, and then Harry and Hermione looked at one another, their gazes clearly pained. " What do you think about all of this?" Harry inquired finally.

" I'm not sure what to think," Hermione admitted. " If it's true..."

But it couldn't be true. She couldn't even bear to think of what that might mean.

There was only one answer, really. They had to speak to Dumbledore.

***

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A/N: Whoa...if you think you're surprised, imagine my own shock at the turn of events. I thought this was going to be one of the last chapters and that I'd wrap things up nice and tidy, but...What do you think? Should I go off on this, or should I rewrite the chapter and end it as a romantic comedy like it started? Oh, the quandary...