Thank-you for the great reviews! I'm glad you like it so far. I just want to remind you that my story does not follow canon, and say that some people may not agree with the end of this chapter. All I can say is, please give it a chance as it's important to the rest of the story. Thanks!
The next three weeks seemed to fly by for Harry and Hermione. They practiced Occlumency and Legilimency while Harry
practiced his fire magic. They studied up on some defensive spells also, just in case Hermione ever needed to protect
herself. They hadn't heard anything from Ron the whole time they were at Grimmauld Place. They had seen Mr. and
Mrs. Weasley when there had been Order meetings held at the house. They treated Harry and Hermione the same, but
didn't go out of their way to seek them out and say hello. It didn't bother them much, they were too wrapped up
in each other and settling into their relationship. Finally, August 31 was upon them and they were trying to make sure
they had packed everything they needed. That night Remus had a meeting with Dumbledore in his office at Hogwarts, and
Harry and Hermione wound up in Harry's bed once again. It couldn't be called sex because there were so many
feelings involved. Harry treated her like she would break if he was too rough, and she looked at him like he was the
only guy in the world. They went slowly and thoroughly enjoyed themselves (both of them this time!) When Remus came
home and checked on them, they were both asleep in their own beds and both had a grin on their face that made him
wonder what they had been up to. The next morning came quickly, and the house was bustling with activity. Dobby had
made a wonderful breakfast, but they had all woke up late so they were rushing around. They grabbed some toast on the
way out the door to the car that the Ministry had provided to take them to platform 9 3/4. They ran through the station
and Harry waited as Hermione ran through the barrier first. He ran through as soon as he saw her disappear and looked
up to see the Hogwarts express. The platform was packed with parents and students alike. Harry started rolling his
trolley over towards the train to stow his trunk when Ron stepped in front of him.
"Well, well if it isn't the boy wonder? What'cha been up to fire-boy?" he sneered in a very Malfoy-like way.
"Shove off Ron!" said Harry while glaring at him "Why don't you go find someone else to trail after like a lost puppy? I have better things to do than deal with a jealous prat like you!!"
By this time Hermione had loaded her trunk onto the train and started making her way over to the arguing boys. "What's going on Harry?" she asked while taking hold of his arm. She had never seen him look so angry in the entire time she had known him.
"Ronnie here decided he is going to be an ass, as usual" replied Harry with a snarl in his voice.
Ron looked from Harry to Hermione and laughed. It was an eerie laugh; it held no humor behind it. "Oh, isn't this cute? A couple now, are we? I guess I should have seen this coming. Once again the great Harry Potter gets what he wants!"
CRACK!! Hermione watched as Harry's fist connected with Ron's nose and heard the sickening sound as it broke. Ron stood there holding his nose and looking at Harry with a stunned look on his face. "You wanker! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"I'm tired of you Ron. If you want to be a jealous little boy, that's fine. But don't you dare come near me again! I don't want some infantile egomaniac that's only around me for my fame as a friend. Fuck off!!!" Harry had started out in an even tone, but had all but shouted his last two words. He looked around and noticed everyone looking at him with disbelieving looks on their faces.
"My, my could it be that the golden trio has broken up? Tut, tut!" said Malfoy as he walked past them.
"Fuck off Malfoy" said Harry taking a step towards him. Malfoys eyes grew wide and he hurriedly walked away.
Ron shot him a dirty look while stalking away and Hermione walked over to him, wrapped him in her arms and just hugged him. "Are you alright Harry?" she asked while a single tear trailed down her cheek.
"I'm fine" he said and looked up as he heard someone clear their throat. Remus stood a little ways away from them with Hermione's parents standing next to him.
"Hermione, you're parents are here to say goodbye" said Harry as he pointed out where they were. Hermione ran over and hugged them both immediately.
Harry smiled as he watched Hermione talking animatedly with her mum and dad. She looked so happy to see them that it made Harry feel a little guilty for keeping her away from them most of the summer. Just as he was about to walk over to say hello to Mr. and Mrs. Granger, a huge explosion rocked the platform. Harry looked over to the barrier to see that it had been blown away. Where it once was stood a group of ten death eaters dressed in their black garb. Everyone started screaming and many of the parents were shielding their children as best as they could. As Harry watched in horror, the group of Voldemort's minions all pointed their wands at the ceiling and said a spell that he had never heard before. Jets of yellow light shot out of their wand tips and hit the ceiling. Next thing Harry knew, the ceiling was quickly falling down on all the people on the platform. He looked over to where he last saw Hermione, and realized a huge piece of the ceiling was going to fall on her. Before he could even think, he ran and tackled her to the ground shielding her with his body. The ceiling collapsed onto them, trapping them against the ground.
As Harry lay on top of her, Hermione could hear all the screams echoing around the platform. She wasn't really sure what happened, she only knew that Harry had made a flying tackle to save her from the falling ceiling. Harry! She couldn't feel him moving at all. She tried to turn herself around so she was facing him, but they were trapped under a huge piece of the roof. And what about her parents! She couldn't remember if they ran or not, they could be pinned under the ceiling also. She had to find out if they were ok.
"Harry? Harry, are you ok?" Hermione asked, hoping he wasn't hurt too badly. "Harry, can you hear me?"
He wasn't responding and Hermione was getting worried. What if he was seriously injured? The screaming had stopped, but she couldn't hear any other noise. Was everyone else buried as they were? If so, who was going to help them, and what about Harry? She tried to move her right arm to see if she could shake him a little, but a searing pain traveled down her arm and made her cry out. 'Great' she thought 'it's probably broken.'
As she was laying there trying to figure out what to do, she heard Harry softly moan. She tried to wiggle a little and turn again, but it was no use. She was laying face down on the ground with Harry face down on her back. There wasn't much room to breath, let alone move.
"Harry?" she said, trying once again to get him to talk "are you ok?"
"Hermione?" he replied, much to her relief "what happened?"
"Last thing I remember was watching as part of the ceiling was falling towards me. I couldn't move I just froze. Next thing I knew, you tackled me. Are you ok?" she asked. She felt Harry move around a little, and then she heard him moan again.
"My back" he said "it hurts really badly and I can't seem to move my left leg. How about you, are you injured?"
"I can't move my right arm" she replied "I think it's broken but it's tolerable. Harry, I haven't heard any noise since right after the attack. I'm afraid to think what's happened to everyone else. Did you see what happened?"
"I was coming over to say hello to your parents when I saw a group of death eaters break through the barrier. They pointed their wands at the ceiling and said a spell I have never heard before. I looked over and saw you standing there and I just kicked into survival mode. I'm just glad you're ok. There's not much we can do right now except wait and hope for someone to find us soon." Harry moved his eyes around, and realized the situation he was in. His head was resting on Hermione's back and the rest of his body was flush against her backside. 'This would be enjoyable in any other situation' he thought, then quickly admonished himself for thinking that way. 'This is not the time to be dirty minded' he thought to himself. Then he remembered something that made his stomach turn.
"Hermione, what happened to your parents after the Death Eaters attacked?" Harry asked.
"I don't know. Everything went so quickly, I didn't see if anything fell on them or if they made a run for safety. I hope they're ok." she said, her voice breaking.
"Me too" said Harry. They continued to lay there waiting for someone to find them. As they waited, they were both thinking about Hermione's parents and hoping for the best.
They laid under the rubble from the ceiling for an unknown amount of time. They talked about anything they could think of to pass the time and take their minds off of their injuries. Finally, they heard footsteps coming towards them and felt the huge piece of ceiling start to move. It lifted off of them, and out of their peripheral vision they saw Dumbledore there levitating it off of them.
"Harry! Hermione! I'm so glad I found you!" said Dumbledore with a relieved look on his face. "The other teachers and I have been looking for you. Sorry it took so long, but there are many parents and students that are hurt. Try not to move too much, I don't want you to injure yourselves any more than you already are. There are medi-wizards here checking everyone out. They are taking those who are seriously wounded to St. Mungo's for treatment. The ones that aren't too bad are being portkeyed back to Hogwarts so Madam Pomfrey can take care of them. How are the two of you doing?"
"My back and left leg are hurting really badly, and Hermione thinks her right arm might be broken." Harry replied.
"Sir?" Hermione asked "Do you know if my parents are ok?"
The twinkle that was almost always present in Dumbledore's eyes was not there at that moment. "We found your parents a little while ago. Your Mum was seriously hurt and was taken to St. Mungo's. Your Dad sustained some cuts and bruises, but otherwise he is fine and with your mother. I will let you know any new information I get as soon as it is given to me. When you are checked out and released, we will make arrangements for you to see them. Make sure to stay still until someone comes to check you out. I need to check on some of the other injured students."
Soon after Dumbledore had left, a medi-wizard finally came to examine them. He put a body bind on Harry to make sure he didn't move any more than necessary and possibly hurt his back more. They checked Hermione's arm and said that it was indeed broken. Since neither was too serious, he gave Hermione a portkey to Hogwarts. She took it in her good hand and made sure Harry's body was in contact with it too. Suddenly she felt the familiar tug in her stomach, and next thing she knew she was in the middle of the infirmary at Hogwarts.
Madame Pomfrey had bustled over and levitated Harry to a bed. She removed the body bind and started looking him over. He had broken his leg in two places, which she quickly healed, and had severely bruised his back. He would have to stay overnight in the hospital ward just to make sure his back was ok since there was really nothing she could do for the bruising. Suddenly more students arrived in the ward, and the nurse told Hermione she would have to have a seat next to Harry's bed until she could get to her arm. Hermione sat quietly in a chair that suddenly appeared next to the bed and grabbed Harry's hand while cradling her hurt arm against her body.
"Hermione, are you ok?" Harry asked gently while squeezing her hand.
"I'm alright, I'm just worried about my Mum" she replied with tears in her eyes.
"Harry!" someone yelled from across the ward. He looked up and saw Dean Thomas walking over to his bed. "Harry, did you hear about Ron?"
"What about Ron?" Harry asked with disdain in his voice. "What's he done now?"
"He hasn't done anything Harry. He was badly hurt in the attack at the platform. He's in St. Mungo's right now and they don't know if he'll even make it through the night. He pushed Ginny out of the way of a huge piece of the ceiling, and it ended up hitting him right on the head."
Harry looked at Hermione and saw a shocked look on her face. "Ron might die?" she asked timidly, trying to digest the information. "Harry, we have to go see him."
"Why?" Harry asked shortly. "Do you think he'd really want to see us while he's quite possibly on his death bed?"
Hermione looked at Harry with disbelief in her eyes. "Harry you can't mean that! I'm going to go talk to Madame Pomfrey and see if she'll let us go visit him tonight." With that she turned her back and walked away.
"What was that all about Harry?" Dean asked, surprised by Harry's behavior.
"Ron and I aren't on the best of terms right now. I'm sorry for acting the way I am, but a lot has happened over the summer and there's not really a friendship left between us anymore." Harry explained.
"Well Harry, even though I don't really know what's going on, I still think you should go see Ron. This may be the only time that you will get to say good-bye. How would you feel if he actually died tonight and you never talked to him?"
"I'd feel guilty" Harry said, instantly thinking of Sirius. "You're right Dean. Thanks for showing me what an ass I was being."
"No problem" said Dean with a small smile on his face. "Maybe I'll see you at St. Mungo's later. A bunch of us are going to visit him."
"Alright. Thanks again" said Harry while he watched Dean walk away. Hermione walked up and sat back down in her chair.
"Madame Pomfrey said that she will check me out soon, and then re-check you. If she thinks we'll be alright to floo to St. Mungo's then she'll release us to go see Ron and my parents. You are going, right?" she asked with an angry demeanor that told Harry that he had better go.
"Yes, I'm going. Dean made me realize that I have a chance with Ron that I didn't have with Sirius." he said while a single tear slid down his cheek.
Hermione reached out and wiped the tear away, then bent down and gave Harry a kiss. "I knew you'd do the right thing." Just then Madame Pomfrey came over to Harry's bed.
"Hermione, I have time to check you over now. Why don't we go over to the curtained bed over there?" Pomfrey said pointing to a bed at the far end of the room.
"Alright" said Hermione as she gave Harry's hand a squeeze. "I'll be right back" she said and turned to follow the nurse to the bed she had pointed out.
Harry watched Hermione leave and lay back onto his pillow. The events of the day finally caught up to him and he fell asleep. After what seemed like only a few minutes to Harry, he woke up to find Hermione back in her seat next to his bed. She looked like she was in a trance; her eyes were wide open and her face was very pale.
"Hermione? What's wrong? Is it your Mum? Ron?" he asked hurriedly, getting more concerned as Hermione looked at him with a frightened look in her eyes.
"Harry, Madame Pomfrey examined me, she healed my arm..." Hermione trailed off, not seeming able to complete the sentence.
"Hermione?" Harry said, really concerned at her behavior "What is it? What's wrong? You know you can tell me anything, right?"
"Harry" she said looking him in the eyes while tears ran down her face "I'm pregnant!"