Well... I want to thank you all for replying! ;) It really means a lot to me and I appreciate your comments and suggestions.
This chapter is your official introduction to my beta, Jennza's, fluff. It's quite good and quite... Well... You know, fluffy. So enjoy and review! (you know... if you want...) ;)
And I still don't own anything.
Chapter Three
Crash
"You've got your ball
You've got your chain
Tied to me tight
Tie me up again
Who's got their claws in you, my friend?
Into your heart I'll beat again
Sweet like candy to my soul
Sweet you rock
And sweet you roll
Lost for you
I'm so lost for you
You come crash into me
And I'll come into you
I come into you"
'Crash'-by The Dave Matthews Band
I am never, ever, ever, ever drinking again. For one, I have no alcohol tolerance at all. Ron says that I'm the only person he knows that can get drunk on champagne. Well, he doesn't have to worry about that anymore. I hate being hungover... It's the worst feeling in the world. Then there's the fact that when I'm drunk, I hallucinate. And when I hallucinate, I see Harry. No... Correction, I hit Harry. But... Wait a minute, I hallucinated Ginny hitting him first, so this time it was different.
I open my right eye and see the pale yellow walls of my bedroom spinning around me. Okay, not a really good idea. "Hermione..." The mattress sags in the middle as Ron sits beside me and puts a hand on my back. "'Mione... Wake up."
I mumble something completely incoherent (even I'm not completely sure what I said).
"Oh, good you're conscious."
I wince as he turns on the light. (A lot of people ask me why, as a witch, I have electricity. All those candles in Snape's dungeon really creep me out. I'll take the, as dear Mr. Weasley says, 'eckeltricity' any day, thank you very much... Well, and Ron likes to play with the switches.) I sit up cautiously. "Merlin... How much did you let me drink last night?" I open my eyes and, slowly, everything comes into focus.
"Erm... Nothing. You had club soda last night, remember, Hermione?" He looks incredibly guilty.
"No..." I lick my lips. Must... Brush... Teeth... "But it feels like Buckbeak ran wild in my mouth last night."
"Oh!" Ron hands me a glass of water and some Pepper-Up! Potion. "Yeah... Well, you know, you might have had a glass of champagne or so..." He shrugs and watches me drink the Pepper-Up! Potion, followed quickly by a gulp of water.
Hmm... That's strange... It usually takes me two and a half glasses to get completely sloshed. "Well, if I didn't get drunk then why did I feel so gross this morning? You know, other than the fact that I haven't had a shower, brushed my hair or my teeth, or changed clothes."
He looks at the carpet. "Well... Don't get mad, love, but... erm... I, uh... I gave-you-a-potion-for-a-dreamless-sleep." He says it quickly and chews on his thumb.
"You did what?" I ask sweetly.
I see him relax. He thinks he's off the hook. "I gave you a potion for a dreamless sleep."
I smile and nod. "Oh, so what you mean is that YOU BLOODY LACED MY DRINK AND THOUGHT THAT I WOULD JUST ROLL OVER AND TAKE IT!" I pick up a pillow and hit him with every word. "Well-you-have-another-thing-coming-Ronald-Weasley! I-can't- believe-that-you-sodding-did-that!"
"Ow! Merlin, 'Mione, stop!"
I am in a fury. My hair is wild around my head and my arms flail.
"STOP!" He grabs my shoulders and holds me still.
"Anyway," I gasp, trying to catch my breath. "It didn't work, because I dreamed about Harry. I dreamed that he came back... and..."
He is staring at the carpet and chewing on his thumb. "Err... Well, dear, erm... Harry is back."
"What? He's back? Now? After all this time?"
Ron nods. "Um... yeah. That would be about right."
"But he can't be!" I grab the pillow back and start hitting Ron again, this time wordlessly. I just want to take out every feeling that I had in the last eight years on something. Soon, I abandon the pillow and start using my fists, blindly hitting anything and hope it hurts.
"Hermione! Stop! Stop it!" Ron pins my arms to my sides. "Stop! Calm down! Just relax!" He brushes the hair out of my eyes and kisses me. "Relax... Shh, love, just calm down..." His arms are around me now and I collapse sobbing into his arms. He rocks me back and forth, murmuring softly into my hair.
"Did... I, uh... Did I talk to him?" I ask after a minute, wiping away the tears that I've quelled.
I see him look over to the clock. "Look, 'Mione... Can't we talk about this later? You need time to think... Well, and so do I." He hugs me, kisses me softly, and stands. "I'm going to lunch. Will you be okay?"
I nod. "Yeah... I'm going over to the Burrow." He grabs his cloak out of our closet. "Ron, you weren't... You weren't planning on going to meet Harry were you?"
He looks at me. "Do you really want to know the answer to that question?" He nods. "Didn't think so. See you later."
I slump back into the pillows and sigh.
* * *
"Mum!" I call as I enter the Burrow. "Molly?"
Ginny walks in and smiles at me. "Hello, Hermione. Mum had to run off, so Aunt Ginny is babysitting."
I bite my lip. "Oh, am I terribly late?"
She pulls me into a hug. "No one blames you, dear. How are you feeling this morning?"
I shrug. "A bit hungover. You?"
"Well," Ginny sighs. "Morning sickness is a killer, huh?"
My jaw drops. "Ginny Weasley... And you were throwing back shots last night at The Snitch!"
"Shots of carbonated water!" she says hurriedly. "I can pretend it's Firewhiskey."
I laugh. "What does Draco think about this?"
"He couldn't be happier! He's all set for a girl, but I don't know... I kind of want a little Draco to love." She winks at me. "Wouldn't Ron and Harry love that? Remember how they used to fight? Somehow the words 'Draco Malfoy the Amazing Bouncing Ferret' come to mind here," she laughs.
I scoff and shake my head. "Speaking of which... Gin... Can you tell me what happened last night? I can't remember a thing."
"What did Ron say?" she asks.
"He wants to talk about it later," I sigh and pick at a stain in the tablecloth. "He gave me a stupid potion that only resulted in the erasing of my memory... I dreamed that I hit Harry... But you hit him first. It was quite entertaining."
She laughs. "Hermione, dear! I did hit him... And so did you, darling! I must say, you do have an excellent right hook!"
I nod. "Good... He deserved it. I'd do it again if I had the chance."
"Well," she leans in towards me and drops her voice down to a whisper. "What about-"
"Mummy!" There is a mess of red hair in my face suddenly and I find myself looking into the beautiful blue eyes of my son.
"James!" I hug him. "Did you have a good time?"
He nods excitedly. "Yes, Mummy! Uncle Fred and Uncle George want to take me flying! Can't I go, Mummy! Please, please, please! Please let me go! I'll go straight home and clean my room! Please, Mummy!"
The twins enter and nod to me. "Hullo, Hermione," they say together.
"Good morning, Gred, Forge." I wink to them and they grin.
"Is it all right if we take James flying for a little while?" Fred asks me.
"I... don't know..." I sigh. I've never really enjoyed flying and it makes me nervous to think of my child hovering in the air.
"Come on, Herms!" George says. "We won't go very fast."
James looks up at me with those eyes. I sigh. "All right, but don't go very fast. And don't go too far. We have to be getting home soon."
James throws his arms around my neck and kisses my cheek. "Thanks, Mummy! I'll be really careful." He follows Fred and George outside and Ginny looks at me sympathetically.
"Oh, Gin... What am I going to do?"
* * *
"Harry..." I reach over and take his hand. "Come with me... Let's go to the astronomy tower." There are only a few other people in the common room, but right now I need him all to myself.
I see him hesitate, start to object. After all, he plans to leave early in the morning and knows he needs his sleep. Then he looks into my eyes and whatever he sees there changes his mind.
"Let me get my cloak." He kisses my hand and lays it on my lap, then runs up the stairs to the dormitory.
When Harry returns, we slip out the portrait hole and, huddled together under the invisibility cloak, make our way to the tower. As we step out into the night, Harry drops the cloak at our feet and I cross over to the parapet. I tilt my head back to look up at the night sky. Gauzy clouds drift across the sky, obscuring the moon. It feels like it might rain soon. "Must you leave?"
"Hermione..." Harry sighs, coming up behind me to slide his arms around my waist. "We've been over this, love. You know I have to go."
"But why you? and why now?" I lean back against him, feel him rest his cheek on my hair. I could stay like this forever, safe and loved in his arms.
"Hermione," he says softly. "I need to tell you something."
I turn slowly in his arms so that I can look into his beautiful eyes. My breath catches in my throat. How long will it be until I can be with him again like this?
"Do you remember the prophecy that Voldemort was trying to get in the Department of Mysteries?"
"Of course." I nod, burying my head in his chest.
"The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches.... Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies... And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not... And either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives.... The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh months dies....'"
I stand quietly for a moment, letting the words dance around in my head. "Oh, Harry..." I breathe, as the meaning becomes clear to me.
"It has to be me, 'Mione," he says finally. "It's been my destiny since the night Voldemort killed my parents. Until he's gone, none of us are safe. Until he's gone, we can't have a life together."
He's holding me tighter now, so tightly I can barely breathe, but I don't care. I don't need breath, or food, or water, or sleep. All I need is Harry, alive, with me.
"Promise me you'll come back to me," I say.
"'Mione," he says softly. "You know I can't do that."
"Promise me! I need to hear you say the words."
He holds me away from him so he can look into my eyes. "I promise that I will come back to you if there's a way. I would never stay away by choice. If I don't come back, it's because I can't."
I can't let myself think of that possibility, it hurts too much. I have to focus on the here and now, my last moments with Harry before the battle. "Dance with me," I say suddenly, pulling him away from the parapet.
"What-here?" Apparently this wasn't what he expected to hear. "There's no music."
"We don't need music. We have each other."
As we begin to sway together slowly, the words of a muggle song run through my head.
'You've got your ball
You've got your chain
Tied to me tight
Tie me up again
Who's got their claws
In you my friend?
Into your heart I'll beat again'
Oh, Harry... You're so young to have so many people depending on you. We should be planning our future...
'Sweet like candy to my soul
Sweet you rock
And sweet you roll
Lost for you
I'm so lost for you
You come crash into me
And I come into you'
I look up into his eyes and I am lost in their emerald depths. My whole world is there. I see everything I need in Harry's soul.
'Touch your lips just so I know
In your eyes, love, it glows so
I'm bare boned and crazy for you
When you come crash
Into me, baby
And I come into you'
My hand is on the back of his neck. I lift my face to him and pull his head down until I can capture his lips with mine. He hesitates for a split second, then deepens the kiss, his hands running up my back.
'If I've gone overboard
Then I'm begging you
To forgive me
In my haste
When I'm holding you so
Close to me
Oh, and you come crash
Into me, baby
And I come into you'
Harry breaks the kiss and rests his chin on my head. "Enough, 'Mione. I'm getting... ideas here."
We've always taken the physical aspect of our relationship slowly. I've always secretly seen it as a sign of maturity that we don't need to rush things. But now...
"Harry, make love to me."
"Do... What?" He's stuttering. Great, just the effect I wanted.
"Harry, I want you to make love to me... Now... Tonight."
"Not that I'm objecting, but... Are you sure?" he grins down at me and I can see surprise and- is that hope in his eyes? I grin back. He may be facing Voldemort tomorrow, but tonight he's just a seventeen-year-old boy.
"You're leaving in the morning. I want our last hours together to be special. This is what I want."
He's looking at me seriously now, and I can see the debate going on in his head. "If you're sure," he says finally. "I can't think of anything I'd rather do my last night here."
I pull him down to the stone floor of the tower, then lean in to kiss him. "I have never been so sure of anything in my life."
'Hike up your skirt a little more
And show the world to me
Hike up your skirt a little more
And show your world to me
In a boy's dream... In a boy's dream
Oh, I watch you there
Through the window
And I stare at you
You wear nothing but you
Wear it so well
Tied up and twisted
The way I'd like to be
For you, for me,
Come crash into me...'
And the warm rain begins to fall.