~A/N>alright, here's the final chapter of their summer and they finally get to Hogwarts by the end of it. I
know it's taken three chapters for one summer, but a lot had to happen. There's even more coming next, and this
chapter was needed to set up the next one. So, next chapter will be their sixth year (finally!) Thanks for all of the
wonderful reviews (again!) The response this story is getting is phenominal, it just blows me away. They are very
inspirational, I've written three chapters in one week. It also helps that I love writing this story! Ok, enough of
my gabbing, on with the story!!!!
After that blissful night, hearing Hermione profess her love for me, I was hoping everything would fall into place for us. Granted, I wasn't supposed to hear her, and I knew she hadn't heard me, but I had hoped that we would somehow get the courage to voice our feelings. Unfortunately, Voldemort once again got in the way.
Four days before we were to go back to Hogwarts, Voldemort's Death Eaters attacked three families; they were muggle families whose children went to school with us. So far Mr. and Mrs. Thomas, Dean Thomas's parents and Mr. and Mrs. Creevey, the parents of Colin and Dennis, had been brutally murdered. The other muggle family belonged to a third year Gryffindor that I didn't know. Somehow Dean, Colin and Dennis hadn't been home at the time of the attacks, and were now at Grimmauld Place with us.
We were all sitting in the study with Dumbledore, and I sat watching Dean out of the corner of my eye. He seemed almost catatonic; he just sat on the couch, staring into space and rocking slightly. Dennis was sitting on the floor with his arms wrapped around his legs and his head lying on his knees, crying. Seeing as Colin just sat on the couch with Dean and didn't try to comfort his little brother at all, Hermione had went over to sit with Dennis and tried to comfort him.
Dumbledore had been talking quietly with Remus near the study door, and as I approached, I heard him say "are you sure that is what it said?"
Just as Remus was about to answer, he noticed me walking up and said "did you need something Harry?"
"What's going on?" I asked, looking from him to Dumbledore and back again. When neither of them said anything, I felt my anger start to rise. "Look, if this has something to do with Voldemort, then I think I have the right to know."
Remus opened his mouth to say something, but Dumbledore put his hand up and stopped him. "He is right, Remus; he has a right to know." Dumbledore put his hand on my shoulder and motioned for me to go out into the hall. Once there, Remus closed the study door, presumably so that we wouldn't be overheard. "Harry, Voldemort has left a message at the Creevey's house." I looked at Dumbledore, surprised. Since when did Voldemort leave messages?
"It was a message for you, written on the wall of their sitting room; it said 'Tell Potter she's next'." I looked at him, running the message through my head a couple of times. He couldn't mean...
"We're pretty sure he is referring to Ms. Granger" said Remus, confirming my worst fears. "Um, we've noticed how close the two of you have become."
I looked up at him, and then to Dumbledore; I tried to talk, but I couldn't. Fear was coursing through my body along with anger; he took my parents, he took Sirius, and now he was going to try and take Hermione away? I'd be damned if he was going to take away the one person I just realized I loved more than life itself.
~*~
I sat with my arm around Dennis, trying to comfort him a little, as I watched Harry go out into the hall with Lupin and Dumbledore. "Why did they have to kill my parents?" Dennis whispered, pulling me from my thoughts.
"I don't know why Dennis" I said. "I know how you feel, my Mum just died a few months ago."
He looked up at me then, his eyes full of tears, and asked "how did you get over it?"
"I haven't" I answered. "I've had my two best friends around me, and they've been a wonderful help, but nothing will ever make the pain of losing your Mum and Dad go away."
He just nodded his head slowly, and he looked so sad, that I wrapped my arms around him and gave him a hug. I wished I could take his pain away, but for now, this would have to do. Just then, the study door opened and Harry walked in, looking pale and if I didn't know any better, scared. "I'll be back in a minute" I whispered to Dennis, and walked over to where Harry sat. "What's going on Harry?" I asked, worried about how he was acting.
"Nothing" he said shortly, not looking me in the eye. He knew I could read his emotions just by looking into those emerald depths and he was concealing that from me. I went to put my hand on his arm for comfort and he pulled away from me.
"Harry, what..." I started to ask, but he cut me off, saying "I don't want to talk about it right now Hermione, O.K.?"
"Oh...O.K." I whispered, trying to push away the tears. If he wanted to act like an arse, then I would just let him be. For now...
That night, Ginny and I went to bed, and it felt strange being in my own bed. It was upsetting, knowing that I
couldn't sneak into the boys' room that night. Harry had kept away from everyone the rest of the night. He had
excused himself and had gone to his room about three hours ago; Ron tried to talk to him, but he got the same treatment
I had gotten.
I heard Ginny snoring lightly, and as I lay there trying to figure out Harry's sudden mood change, I heard the door to our room squeak open. " 'Mione?" I heard Harry whisper, and I sat up in bed, my heart beating a little faster.
"Yes?" I asked quietly, not wanting to wake Ginny. I watched as the door closed and saw the faint outline of Harry walking towards my bed. "What are you doing in here?" I asked, curious.
He was quiet for a moment before he asked "do you want me to leave?"
"No" I said, a little too quickly. He pulled the blanket back and slid into bed next to me, laying on his side so that he was facing me. He reached out and took a strand of hair into his hand, running it through his fingers, and I just watched him. I heard him sigh, and I reached up to still his hand. "Harry..."
" 'Mione, I'm sorry" he said, interrupting me. He looked up and stared into my eyes, and I could see them glistening with unshed tears; he was really starting to worry me.
"Will you please tell me what's wrong?" I asked, wishing he would just come out with it. It'd been a long day already, the better part of it spent with Dennis Creevey crying into my shoulder as I tried to comfort him. I was emotionally exhausted, and wasn't in the mood for games.
"It's just...can I stay in here with you tonight?" he asked. "Dennis and Colin are in our room, and Dennis keeps crying while Colin yells at him to 'shut it'."
"Sure" I answered, noticing that he had steered the subject away from my question again. I decided to let it go for the time being, and enjoy his company. I moved closer to him and wrapped my arm around his waist; I wanted him close to me, so that I could feel his body heat. I leaned over and placed my lips on his, kissing him lightly, letting him know that I was still there for him. He responded swiftly, crushing himself against me, like a drowning man grasping at a buoy. I was a little confused by his behavior, but that was gone in an instant as his hands started to meander down my body. He was kissing me with a need that he'd never expressed before, and it only served to increase my worry. When he almost tore my nightgown in his haste to push it up, I stilled his hands and pulled back from his kiss.
We were both panting, trying to catch our breath from our intoxicating kiss, and I asked "what's gotten into you?" He looked away from me and I felt my anger swell; this avoidance thing was really starting to make me mad. "What happened to taking things slow?"
He looked back at me, and I almost drew back from the look in his eyes. They almost glowed from the amount of anger that was in them, and it seemed to be directed at me. "Maybe we don't have the luxury of taking things slow."
'Whoa, what the hell is he talking about?' I thought to myself. "Tell me what happened today out in the hall" I demanded, past the breaking point.
He stared at me for a moment, and then went to get out of bed. I grabbed at his wrist, but he wrenched it out of my hand. I hurriedly followed after him, setting my nightgown right as I went, as he went down to the study. He had practically slammed into the room, and I cringed, thinking that Mrs. Weasley would come in hollering at any minute. He started pacing in front of the still-lit fireplace, not once looking up at me, and I made my way over to the sofa. He continued his back and forth journey, and I sat silently watching him. I could see the myriad of emotions warring on his handsome face; fear, anger, helplessness and...love?
"He's going to kill you" he said, startling me out of my thoughts.
"What? Who's going to kill me?" I asked, really confused now.
"Voldemort" he hissed, and my blood ran cold.
"Why do you think V-Voldemort is going to kill me?" I asked, not really wanting to hear the answer.
He came over and plopped down on the couch next to me. He took both of my hands in his and looked me square in the eyes. "There was a message left on one of the walls in the Creevey house" he said hurriedly. "It said 'Tell him she's next', and Dumbledore is pretty sure it's for me; he's also pretty sure it means you."
I froze; the most evil Dark Lord was after me? "Why?" I asked, "why me?"
"You're muggle born" he explained "a-and somehow he knows...how important you are to me."
"So what? Ron's your best friend too, so why wouldn't he threaten the both of us?" I could feel the fear starting to overtake me, and I hated that feeling. It's how I had felt every time I had been home with my Father, never knowing when he was going to come after me again.
Harry squeezed my hands, hard, and whispered "because...I-I...love you."
I just stared at him; he had just said the three words I had been praying for him to say, but not like this. Not under such dire circumstances. "I...I love you too" I whispered, wishing the words brought me the joy they had the other night, when I had whispered them to him while he was sleeping.
"And just because you mean so much to me, Voldemort wants to take you away, to try and break me." He sounded absolutely heartbroken, and I wished at that moment that he could just have a normal life for once, that both of us could. This was supposed to be the happiest moment in our lives; we had just admitted our love for each other, and Voldemort had ruined it for us. Harry leaned over and covered my lips with his, while wrapping his arms around me. It felt so wonderful, but something about it...I felt like he was saying goodbye.
"I think it's best if you just stay away from me; you and Ron both" he said quietly.
"No!" I cried "I have already lost my parents, you're all I have left." I was amazed that I wasn't crying; I was in an angry state of sadness, and I felt like decking him. He was letting Voldemort win by pushing everyone away and being completely on his own.
"No" he whispered "I'll only get you killed." With that, he stood up and walked out of the room, leaving me sitting there, dumbstruck.
~*~
I spent the next couple of days holed up in my room, feeling angry and sorry for myself. I had pushed away the one person in my life that I truly loved and she probably hated me now. She hadn't even tried to come into my room to sleep, and it had resulted in the two worst nights of sleep I had ever had. I missed having her body pressed against me; I missed the smell of her hair, and ended up burying my face into the pillow she always slept on. I felt like a walking zombie and having Dean, Colin and Dennis around didn't help either; all three of them were deep in mourning and even gloomier than I was.
Finally it was time to go back to Hogwarts. Mr. Weasley had once again gotten Ministry cars for us to use; with Dolores Umbridge gone and Fudge finally admitting that Voldemort had in fact returned, things had gone back to normal at the Ministry.
Once we were on the platform, I hurriedly got onto the train and tried to find an empty compartment. I knew Ron and Hermione would have to go to the Prefect's car, so I was hoping that no one else would come in and bother me. As usual, I was wrong; Luna and Neville walked in shortly after I had gotten settled.
"Hi Harry" said Neville, sitting across from me. I just nodded at him and went back to looking out the window.
A few minutes later, as the train finally started to move, Luna moved from her seat next to Neville and sat next to me; "what's wrong with Hermione?" she asked.
I felt worried that maybe something else had happened and asked, "what do you mean?"
"Well, I went to find Ronald to try to talk to him, and when I found him in the Prefects compartment, he was holding Hermione and trying to calm her down" she explained.
'I should be the one comforting her' I thought, and then realized if it weren't for me, she wouldn't need comforting.
"Did she and Ron get together over the summer?" asked Neville.
"No!" I replied quickly, and then berated myself. Neville and Luna now had small smirks on their faces like they knew a big secret that I didn't know, but I knew; I had come to terms with my feelings for Hermione, I just couldn't do anything about it, thanks to Voldemort. I could feel the anger welling up once again, and excused myself to go to the loo.
Halfway down the corridor, I heard a commotion coming from the compartment up ahead and walked up to the door. What I saw made my blood boil; Ron was sprawled unconscious on the floor with Crabbe and Goyle looming over him. And there on the seat was Malfoy, on top of Hermione, who was fighting him off the best she could.
Before I could do anything, Hermione screamed and Malfoy slapped her in the face. Feeling the anger course through my veins, I completely forgot about my wand, and with a slight movement of my hand, ripped the door off of the compartment. Crabbe and Goyle started to charge towards me, but with a flick of my wrist, they were slammed up against the wall. Satisfied as they slid unconscious to the floor, I turned my anger on Malfoy. I repeated my earlier actions and slammed him back into the wall, but this time I held him there. He started to say something, but I squeezed my hand into a fist, and he grabbed at his throat like he couldn't breathe. I heard him choking and felt satisfaction, until Hermione grabbed my arm and screamed "Harry, NO!"
I snapped out of the semi-trance I was in and dropped my hand. Malfoy immediately dropped to the floor, gasping for air, and I turned to look at her. Her shirt had been ripped open, and it looked like Malfoy had used a severing charm to cut her bra between the cups. She followed my gaze and wrapped her shirt around herself, covering herself the best she could. I reached my hand up and gently ran my thumb over the handprint Malfoy had left on her cheek. Her eyes welled with tears and as they started falling down her cheeks, her body started to shake uncontrollably. I grabbed her as she started to fall, and walked her over to the seat. I held her while she cried, angry with myself for not being there to protect her. I had promised her Mum I would take care of her, and I had abandoned her. Once she had calmed a little, I asked "what did they do to Ron?"
"They stunned him, after Crabbe and Goyle beat him up" she answered.
I waved my hand towards Ron and said "Ennervate". Ron's eyes opened slowly, and then they grew wide as he shot up off of the floor. He looked around at the three unconscious bodies on the floor and then turned his gaze towards me.
"You do this?" he asked. I nodded and a small smile formed on his face. "Good job mate" he said.
"Sorry I wasn't here sooner" I replied, feeling a huge wave of guilt wash over me.
He nodded and said "I'll leave you to it". I watched as he stepped over Malfoy and made his way down the corridor, in the direction I had just come.
I looked at Hermione and asked "are you ok? Did he hurt you?" She looked down at her shirt and then looked back up, not really meeting my eyes.
"H-He t-touched me" she said, and I felt sick to my stomach. "H-He touched my b-breast and k-kept telling me w-what h-he was going to d-do to me." She completely broke down and I turned towards the three wankers lying on the ground. With a wave of my hand I had them bunched together in the middle of the room and bound with rope. Hermione, who had watched with her mouth agape, asked "Harry, w-where's your wand?"
"In my pocket" I replied, not realizing the implications of my answer. I had just done wandless magic without even realizing it. An awed expression dawned on her face, and she stared at me, her tears slowing. Before she could say anything, I helped her up and said "let's go back to my compartment."
We made our way back to the compartment and found Ron in there with Luna and Neville. Luna was healing some of the cuts on his face and hands while Ron explained what had happened. Luna looked up when we walked in and stood up immediately. "I have a shirt you can wear until we get to Hogwarts" she said, handing Hermione a t-shirt.
"Thank you" said Hermione. She sat down as Ron, Neville and I stood in front of the compartment door with our back to her, so that she could change. When she said she was done I immediately made my way to her side. I explained to Ron that I had tied them up and he said that when we got to Hogwarts he would tell Hagrid what had happened. Maybe Dumbledore would expel them; this was the second time that Malfoy had attacked Hermione and this time it was up to him to decide punishment.
I watched Ron, Luna and Neville share a look and then all three of them stood up. "We're going to go make sure those three are still tied up" explained Ron. I knew he was giving me time alone with Hermione and mouthed 'thank you' to him as he left. He just smiled and followed Luna out the door, closing it behind him.
"I'm so sorry Hermione" I said, stroking her hair, trying to give her some sort of comfort. "I've been an arse; I never should have tried to push you away."
"No you shouldn't have" she said, sounding very angry with me. I pulled back, worried that I had pushed her too far this time, and she had the tiniest ghost of a smile on her lips. "Just don't do it again, ok? You're all I have left."
"I promise" I said, hoping she believed me. I wrapped my arms around her and held her the rest of the trip; 'To hell with Voldemort' I thought. We could be together, I would just have to make sure she was safe; I had to keep my promise to her Mum. Once we were off of the train, Hagrid walked up with Ron next to him and asked if she was okay. She assured him she was fine and they walked onto the train. Ron showed Hagrid where Malfoy and his lackey's were and he carried them off of the train, still unconscious. Professor McGonagall was there for some reason, and when she heard what had happened, she promised to take care of them. The last thing we saw before getting into the carriage was McGonagall levitating them into her carriage and immediately heading towards the school.