Never Let You Go
Chapter Four- Will the Real Harry Potter Please Stand Up
Ginny looked away, her eyes tightly shut and her hands over her ears, this was one of those times when she would give
anything to be anywhere else. There Harry stood, revealed to someone new for the first time in a long time. And of all
people, the one he left, the one he loved. The one who was carrying his child, but he had just found that out. He was
ill, and weak, which affected his balance, but not his concentration. His emerald eyes locked on hers of amber. For
seconds unknown, she stared back, her gaze growing cold as though her heart stopped. It felt like it did. Suddenly, she
nearly burst with anger.
" What is this? Some kind of a joke!" she screamed.
Ginny faced her in tears, " I'm sorry Hermione! After you left, I couldn't leave him like that!" she was speaking of the night he supposedly died.
" Who is it? Ron with the polyjuice potion? How sick can you get!".
Ginny froze. Hermione didn't think he really was Harry, who could hardly budge. " No, Hermione, it-it's really...".
" Stop it!" she snarled at Harry, or to her Ron. " You called yourself and supportive and sympathetic friend when the cruelest thing you could have done! You know how much I miss him, you know how much this hurts!".
Before Harry could say a word, Ron burst into the room. " What's with all the- oh shit!".
" I'm sorry, he just wanted to- she wasn't suppose to see him!".
Hermione's eyes darted between the real Harry and the real Ron. " Oh god" she gasped.
Ron stood near Ginny as Harry and Hermione took baby steps closer to one another, like approaching a dangerous animal that Hagrid owned. Their arms extended and their fingertips brushed. At the same time, the two collapsed, Hermione from pure shock and Harry a combination of being weak and ill.
" That went well" Ginny muttered.
Ron lifted Hermione into his arms, " stay with him, I'll be right back".
Madame Promfey pushed to beds together for her newest, and luckily only, patients. Word got around that Hermione as
there, and like she had black fur on her face again, curtains were set up for their sake. She was bathing
Hermione's forehead in a cold cloth when she woke, dazed. Glaring around the room for a minute, she thought she was
back where it all began. The night of a so called death when she was there to be treated for shock.
" Your baby is fine" the words, as comforting as they were, brought on thoughts of horror and harsh reality.
When Promfey left her, Hermione went to place a hand on her stomach, but there was already one there. Next to her, he was peacefully sleeping. His arm around her as thought afraid she may leave before he could see her again. She watched him take a few breaths, just to make sure. He was alive, she thought he was dead when he never was.
Hermione traced her fingertip along his cheek, he twitched a little. It wasn't like a dream when her hand would go through and then he'd disappear. Making sure he was still asleep, she lifted his shirt from the bottom, to his newest scar. But this one wasn't from some dark wizard, it was from Ginny, when he told her that he wanted to die. It was still fresh, the second she touched it-
" Ouch".
She pulled her hand back and looked at his face where his eyes were staring back. Hermione never thought she'd ever see that amazing color again, despite the glasses.
" Hi" she whispered, it was all she could think of to say.
" Hi" it was as simple as her.
" Are you alright?" she knew he was ill, just by looking at him it was easy to tell.
He nodded, " I'll love".
" You're good at that" Hermione gently held his hand in hers, " you've been alive this entire time" that wasn't a question.
" I'm sorry" there was so much to be sorry for.
She gave a weak smile, " it's okay. I think it'd be worse for Ron, he thought you were dead twice".
" I didn't miss Ron, not as much as I missed you. Even thought you were right there, whenever I was, you only thought it was a dream".
That's when it became clear, when she thought she was going insane, " you were really there? At night, with me?".
Harry gazed at their hands, " just laying next to you, it made all the pain go away".
She could feel a tear beginning to sting her left eye, " why didn't you just come out? Why couldn't you tell me that you were alive?".
" I was scared. I'm not sure what about, maybe about you being mad, or thinking that my attempted death was only a joke" if so, it was one hell of a scene.
Hermione shook her head, " no, of course not, no, never. I felt you die Harry, it was so real".
" Maybe for awhile it was" he still looked scared, " I wasn't conscious at the time, but Ginny said that she dragged me here, and Madame Promfey found a pulse (A/N- in the Chamber of Secrets, it is mentioned that Madame Promfey never asked too many questions about her patients). I was hidden from you, I woke up the day you left, so Dumbledore kept you out of here until the term was over. Then, Ron and Dumbledore were told that I was too sick to live, and died again. But when Pig was suppose to bring a letter from Sirius to say that was wrong to Ron. But, it's Pig, Ginny got it instead, and she took care of me".
Some of it was still confusing, it didn't make sense, but it didn't matter. None of it did, not even the deaths he committed only months before. Obviously, it wasn't an issue to most people. Most people.
Harry replaced their intertwined hands on Hermione's lower stomach, " what you said to Ginny earlier, did you...".
She nodded, " I'm pregnant, my biggest scare was that my child, our child, wouldn't ever know his father".
" Don't worry" he softly kissed her shoulder, " you can count on me. I'm not going
anywhere".
Authors Note- That very last line, it's a lie. Harry doesn't know that, but I do.