Hermione's eyes fluttered open to the bright sunlight that was streaming through an open window in a room she did not recognize. She looked around in a state of panic but visibly relaxed when she saw the slumbering form of Ron Weasley in an overstuffed chair in the corner.
As she regained her calm, analytical mind, she surveyed the room with an intense, investigative eye. A small table was firmly against one wall. It held a few rolls of parchment, a pitcher, and a glass. The bed she was in was comfortable, but not overly so and adorned in white linens. She glanced at her arm and realized for the first time that she had a potion drip attached to her.
I'm not in the hospital wing. She thought critically. It must be St. Mungo's.
As if on cue, the door to her room opened and a very anxious looking Robert Granger stepped quietly inside. His eyes immediately landed on her fully aware face and a wide smile of relief washed the worry from his features.
"Hermione, my sweet Hermione, you're awake!" He rushed to her side and pulled her into a gentle hug. "How are you, sweetie?" He asked with an overabundance of fatherly concern.
Hermione hugged her father back with her good arm and felt tears escape her closed eyes. "I'm fine, Dad, a little tired, but I'm ok."
He pulled back and smiled even more broadly at his daughter. "Don't move, I'm going to get your mother, we've been worried sick!" He dashed from the room noisily, startling Ron from his nap.
"Wassit? Is Hermione ok? What's wrong?" He looked around frantically and finally stopped on the rolling eyes of his best friend. "Don't roll your eyes at me! We didn't think you'd make it!" Ron said in a huff but he couldn't hide the smile that quickly grew on his face.
"How's Ginny?" Hermione asked as her expression immediately became serious.
"She's fine." Ron said with a wave of his hand. "She's feeling much better after she was enervated."
"Did they remove that brain from her chest?" She asked.
Ron opened his mouth but before a word could come out, the door swung open and Hermione's mother was standing in the doorway. She let out a sob and rushed to her daughter's side and pulled her into yet another hug.
"Oh, Hermione, we thought we'd lost you!" Elizabeth Granger gasped between sobs. "I've never seen you in such a state!"
Hermione hugged her mother back with as much strength as she could muster from her one arm. "I'm fine, Mum." She said reassuringly. "If it hadn't been for Harry ..." Hermione looked at her mother. "Where's Harry?" She asked quietly.
Elizabeth glanced at Ron and her husband before looking determinedly back to Hermione. She let out a soft sigh and looked to the covers. "He's with Ginny." She said quietly.
Hermione felt the tears well in her eyes before she could summon the strength to stop them. "I-I see ..." She said quietly as she blinked back the tears. "So, Ginny is alright?"
Ron cleared his throat. "She's fine, Hermione."
She looked at her red-headed friend quizzically. "I-Is she here at St. Mungo's?"
Ron shook his head. "We're not at St. Mungo's." He admitted, looking to the floor. He sighed heavily. "I-I'll go get Harry and tell him you're awake." Without looking back at Hermione, Ron stood and left the room.
"Where are we if we're not at St. Mungo's?" Hermione asked her mother. "We can't be in the hospital wing of Hogwarts ..."
Her mother shook her head. "No, we're not at Hogwarts either." She glanced back at her husband who looked at her pointedly as if he were giving her a warning.
"Mum ... Dad ... You're both starting to scare me. Where are we?" Hermione said shakily. She felt her heart start to flutter and felt constricted under the sheets and started to breathe rapidly. I don't feel so well ...
A moment later, Harry stepped into the room. He looked at her with concern and walked quickly to her side. "Hermione, are you ok?" He felt her forehead and cheek with the back of his hand. "She's getting colder." He said absently.
"H-Harry? Where are we?" She gasped and looked pleadingly into his green eyes. They'd lost their sparkle and his face had a deep look of concern written across it.
"She's not getting enough air." He said to her parents. Robert Granger nodded and opened the window. Immediately the smell of salty sea air assailed her senses.
"How did we get by the ocean?" She asked curiously. To her amazement, the smell of the salt air helped her breathe better and she calmed somewhat. "Harry, please answer me ..."
Harry sighed and pulled up a chair before he took her hand and smiled softly. "I thought you were lost for a minute there." He admitted quietly.
"Everyone keeps telling me that, obviously I'm awake and fine!" Hermione huffed as the frustration started to build within her. "You've been with Ginny?"
Harry nodded.
"Well? How is she?"
Harry smiled. "She's none the worse for wear." He said with a slight chuckle. "To think that she had let the secret out ... but everything's going to be fine, Hermione."
"What secret? Harry, WHERE ARE WE?!" She tried to move her legs and arms but for some reason she didn't have control over them.
Yes ... The emotion ... I ... Crave ... The ... EMOTION!
Hermione's eyes went wide. Those aren't my thoughts!
Panic ... Hate ... Anger ... LOVE! OH THE LOVE! The foreign thoughts assailed her mind again.
Hermione tried to move but couldn't and in desperation she looked at Harry pleading with her eyes when her mouth failed to move as well.
HARRY! HELP ME! She screamed silently at his smiling face.
Harry seemed to sense her panic and leaned forward. He reached out to her and slowly hooked his finger on the sheet just above her breasts and pulled it down. She screamed silently in horror at the sight of the gray mass that was throbbing in the center of her chest, firmly nestled in the valley that had recently developed over the summer holiday.
TERROR ... OH, THE TERROR! The brain seemed to throb with each word and she felt the tentacles of thought that wrapped around her abdomen shiver in ecstasy.
Hermione's horrified gaze shot to Harry who was now looking lovingly at the alien creature that was slowly merging with her own body.
'Don't worry, Hermione, you'll be one of us soon ...' She heard him speak in her head but his lips didn't move.
'That's right, sweetie.' Her father added. 'Don't fight it, we want you with us.'
'Only a little longer, honey.' Her mother stepped forward and put a loving arm around her father.
No! I don't want this! I don't like this! Hermione screamed in her mind but her body was paralyzed and she could only cry in response.
'Now you know how I felt at the Department of Mysteries, Hermione.' Ron's voice echoed in her head. He stepped into the room and smiled appreciatively at her. 'Soon you'll want to be with me and Ginny can continue to repopulate our race with Harry.'
Harry smiled reassuringly at her as he rose from his chair and placed his hands on her shoulders. 'Don't fight it, Hermione. You'll like it with us ...'
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!
"NOOOOOOOOO!" Hermione found herself sitting bolt upright in bed frantically trying to shake off the person trying to hold her down. "Get off! GET OFF! I don't want that! NO! GET AWAY!" With a panic born of desperation, she began punching and kicking her assailant. "GET AWAY HARRY! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"
Harry struggled to keep his panicked friend from knocking him out. With as much strength as he could muster he shoved her back into the bed but she kept kicking and punching him.
"HERMIONE! CALM DOWN!" He shouted at her.
Hermione caught him in a right cross and sent his glasses flying across the room. He grabbed both of her wrists and in one motion crossed them in front of her and forced her back into the bed.
"I'm sorry, Hermione." He said quietly to the woman who was struggling madly under his weight. Tears fell from his cheeks as he lifted his hand and brought it down with frightening speed.
Despite her desperate attempt to get away, Hermione flinched at his swing and closed her eyes. When she didn't feel an impact she turned and looked at the man above her. His hand had stopped mid-swing and tears were silently falling from his bowed head.
"Ha-Harry?" She asked nervously. He looked into her eyes and she saw the anguish he was feeling reflected in his glistening emerald gaze. He instantly dropped his hand and pulled her into a bone-crushing embrace that brought tears to her eyes. "Harry! I'm sorry!" She cried in his arms as she returned the embrace with every ounce of strength she had.
"You're ok." He whispered into her hair. "You're ok, thank God, you're ok!" He wept unabashedly as he buried his face in her hair.
She choked back the sobs that were wracking her body. "I'm here, Harry." She whispered to him and pulled back to look into his eyes once more. She caught sight of the look in his face and the tears began to roll down her cheeks again. "What happene-"
Her question was cut off with by the sudden press of his lips against hers. Her stomach knotted up and her heart leapt to her throat. The dream she'd just had and every question she was about to ask were suddenly whisked from her mind and an intense heat began to spread through her body. She had only dreamed of how soft his lips would be or of how sweet his taste. Her skin was on fire everywhere he was in contact with her and she felt giddy with dizziness. Massive flashes of light exploded behind her closed eyelids and she felt as if she were literally melting in his strong arms.
He pulled away from her too soon and she found herself lying limp in his arms with her mouth slightly open and her eyes tightly closed. Realizing that he was no longer kissing her, she slowly opened her eyes to see his tear stained and worry filled face studying every feature of hers.
"H-Harry ..." She gasped after she realized she hadn't been breathing.
"Hermione, I thought ..." He gulped and closed his eyes to fight back the tears that were threatening him again. "I didn't think I got you here in time ..." He sat on the side of the bed and released a deep, shuddering breath before he pulled her into another tight hug. "I didn't think you were going to make it, we cut it so close ... I was such a fool!"
Hermione pushed him away gently. "What happened? I-I remember you telling me to stay awake ..."
He sighed heavily and his shoulders bowed as if a tremendous weight was suddenly set on his too thin frame. "It was Ginny." He said quietly.
Hermione felt the anger begin to build within her at the youngest Weasley's name. "What was wrong with her, Harry?" She asked a little too harshly. He flinched and looked to the floor. "Was that one of the brains from the Department of Mysteries on her chest?"
Harry buried his face in his hand and nodded after a shuddering breath left him. "Yes." He said simply. "It seems the mediwizards concentrated on her ankle and didn't bother to give her a full examination after the battle."
Hermione's eyes widened in horror. "What ... What happened to her?" Harry let out another fit of sobs and Hermione's anger disappeared. "Harry, I-I'm so sorry ..." She said as the realization that Ginny didn't make it sank in. Tears began to fall from her eyes and she pulled Harry into a comforting hug. "Oh, Harry, I'm sorry she's gone." She whispered to him through her own sobs.
Harry cleared his throat. "She-she's not gone." He said quietly.
"WHAT?" Hermione pulled back. "She's ok?" Harry nodded quietly. "What's wrong then?" She asked suspiciously.
"Can you forgive me?" He asked quietly. "I was such a fool, Hermione."
"Forgive you for what?" She asked as she felt a sickness rush over her.
Please, don't tell me you slept with her, please ... She shook her head in disbelief at the implications.
"I let her come between us, Hermione. Whatever that brain was that attached itself to her tried to use me to ..." He choked back a sob and turned from her. "It tried to use me to make more ..."
"Harry ... Don't tell me ..." Hermione brought a hand to her mouth to try and hold in the dread that threatened to spill from her.
Harry's head fell and his shoulders slumped as a deep shuddering sigh left his lungs.
I don't believe it ... He ... He actually had sex with her ... Hermione's eyes grew wide in shock and she involuntarily pulled farther from him.
Harry shook his head. "I fought against her, Hermione." He admitted. "We were down by the lake and she took me to a place that I hadn't noticed before. There ... There was a saltwater pool back in the trees and she started pulling at my pants ... I tried to stop her but she got angry and pushed me to the ground, I didn't think she was that strong."
Hermione shook her head in horror and felt the bile rise in her throat but she was so shocked she couldn't move.
"I felt her enter my head and she started to sound so compelling ... I watched as she pulled my pants off but then ..." Harry turned to her and smiled softly. "But then I heard your voice in my mind and I went into an Occlumency trance." He looked down and placed a trembling hand on hers and squeezed it reassuringly. "After that, I found I could act on my own and I pulled away from her before she could get any farther. Before I knew what was happening, she'd pushed me to the edge of the pool ..."
Hermione couldn't stop the tears of relief from spilling from her eyes. She took Harry's hand in hers and he pulled her into a hug.
"There were others in the pool and one tried to drag me in, but I fought it off ..." He pulled back from her and took a deep breath. "When I got far enough away I saw that she was going back to the castle. Somehow I knew she heard your voice too and I had to stop her. I couldn't let her do anything to you ..." Tears began to flow down his cheeks again and he looked up at the ceiling in an attempt to control them. "I didn't think I got there in time and when I saw the bloody welts on your face and neck, I nearly lost it."
"That's when you stunned her?" Hermione asked quietly.
Harry nodded. "But the creature that had bonded with her had modified her fingernails so they secreted poison ..." He choked back another sob. "I tried to keep you awake but you kept slipping from me ..."
Hermione cried harder. She buried her face in her hands and Harry pulled her into another hug. "I was so sleepy and all I wanted to do was take a nap ... I just wanted to sleep ... I heard you shouting to stay awake, Harry ..."
"Luckily, Harry got you to the hospital wing in time." Dumbledore said seriously from an opening in the curtains. The couple looked at him in surprise and the old wizard smiled comfortingly at them. "It's good to see you awake again, Hermione." He said with a twinkle in his eyes.
"How's Ginny?" She asked quietly as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.
"She'll be fine. She's resting in St. Mungo's as we speak." He smiled softly at her. "You gave us quite the scare. Luckily for you, the Ministry has the antidote to the poison you were subjected to."
Hermione smiled softly. "What are those things, Professor?"
The headmaster's smile faded. "They are a race of ancient beings that have lurked in the deepest parts of the Saint Marianas Trench." He explained softly. "They live by attaching themselves to a host and feeding on the emotions their prey emit. Some years before I became a professor here, a few venturous wizards discovered them and brought a few specimens back for study." He cleared his throat. "Unfortunately, we lost the lives of a hundred people, both muggle and magical in five months.
"We don't know the name of the species, but we do know that they use their host's body as a means of reproduction. One sexual encounter with someone afflicted can spawn upwards of fifty or more new creatures that are ready to feed on new hosts in a matter of days."
"Oh, no ... How bad is Ginny?" Hermione gasped with wide worry filled eyes.
"She'll survive." Dumbledore said sadly. "But she'll have nightmares for years ..." His eyes took on a glazed look as if he were remembering what it was like. "Those tendrils that they have are actually the memories of previous victims. If it hadn't been for the quick thinking of Neville Longbottom, your friend Ron would have suffered the same fate as his sister. Undoubtedly, he suffers from nightmares from his brief contact, but Ginny may live with them for the rest of her life. If we hadn't gotten her to St. Mungo's she would have lived for another few months or until she successfully bred."
Harry blanched and reached for something to hold on to. Hermione quickly helped support him. "Harry? Are you ok?"
"It seems he's gone into shock." Dumbledore said quietly. "Harry, sit here, that's it." The old wizard guided Harry into the chair at the side of the bed and pulled out his wand. "ENERVATE" he said quietly and the color returned to Harry's face.
"What j-just happened?" He panted. Harry gripped the armrest with such force that his knuckles went white.
Dumbledore sighed and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. "The empathic control that ... Ginny had on you is leaving your system." He explained quietly. "Though, there wasn't much to control when your heart so firmly belonged to another." He finished with a smile. "Don't stay awake too long, Hermione. And Harry, you should return to your bed and let your body right itself."
Harry nodded absently at the orders and looked directly at Hermione. "Goodnight, Professor Dumbledore." He said quietly, not letting his gaze leave hers.
Hermione wished the headmaster a good night as well but neither had noticed that he'd already left.
"So ..." They said simultaneously.
Harry laughed nervously and cleared his throat. "Please." He said simply and motioned for Hermione to start.
She looked into his deepening green eyes and opened her mouth to say something but was cut off by another kiss. She welcomed the interruption and pulled him into a deeper embrace.
"I want you to know that I love you, Hermione." Harry whispered softly in her ear. "You've been my strength and you've always been there for me, I'm sorry I've taken you for granted and let Ginny get between-"
Hermione placed a finger over his lips. "I love you too, Harry, and we'll work this out when we're out of here." She whispered back. "Just promise me that when I wake up, you'll be here."
Harry nodded. "I won't leave you again." He whispered back as she pulled him into a passionate kiss.
A/N: This chapter was itching to go out earlier but I couldn't muster the strength to write until later this evening ... I think I work better when I'm up in the wee hours of the night. I hope you've enjoyed this little surreal trip of jealousy and realize that Harry has loved Hermione since the beginning ... There are some things that can threaten a relationship, but with a love as strong as these two share, it's difficult to truly destroy it ... Have fun and thanks for reading! There may be one more chapter in the works ... You'll have to wait and see for now (other stories need my attention)...