~A/N> Thank you so much for the great reviews on the last chapter! I'm flattered by the response to this
story! I have recently started a Live Journal, if you'd like to check it out you can find it here: http://www.livejournal.com/~miscard/ And many, many thanks to Spaz141 for
all the help with this chapter; it took a couple of hours, but you finally got it good enough to post!!! Thank You!!!!!
:)
I stared at Harry in shock; Voldemort had killed the last of his blood relatives. Just as I went to say something, he stood up abruptly and said, "I'm going to go find Dumbledore." As he stalked off, I looked towards the Head Table and noticed for the first time that the Headmaster wasn't there.
"Why is he so upset that those bastard relatives of his are dead?" Ron asked rather tactlessly; I glared at him while Ginny smacked him in the back of the head.
"I'm going after him" I said quickly, "I don't want him demolishing Dumbledore's office." Ginny nodded at me while giving me a small smile and Ron muttered, "good luck."
I ran all the way to the gargoyle and said, "Fizzing Whizzbees. Thankfully it opened and I bolted up the stairs; I was afraid Dumbledore might have changed the password already. I stood in front of the door to the office and I could hear Harry's raised voice coming from inside.
"Why didn't you tell me they had been killed?!" he shouted, and I immediately opened the door and walked inside.
"Hello Miss Granger" greeted Dumbledore calmly, "it is nice to see you again." I looked at him, wondering why it was he seemed so serene. He seemed to know what I was thinking as he said, "I figured I would let Harry vent his anger before attempting to offer my version of the event."
I looked over at Harry and noticed he had the good sense to look embarrassed by his outburst. He went over and sat heavily in the chair that was in front of Dumbledore's desk, and I decided it would be best to do the same; I wanted to know Dumbledore's reason for keeping this from Harry too.
"First, I would like to apologize for the way you found out Harry; when I heard that your Aunt and Uncle's house had been attacked, I sent Professor Snape to verify the report was correct. From the initial report, it seemed that there was a chance your relatives were not home at the time of the attack; unfortunately, Professor Snape has informed me that they were indeed home, and that they are, for certain, dead." I sat staring at Harry, wondering what his reaction would be. He had closed his eyes during Dumbledore's explanation, and he just continued to sit there quietly, unmoving.
"Harry?" I asked, gently placing my hand over his. I was shocked when he roughly yanked his hand away, and then opened his eyes to give me a piercing look.
He turned his gaze from me to Dumbledore and said, "Thank you for telling me the truth Sir". I watched, hurt and confused, as he abruptly stood up and made his way out of the office. I sat there, staring after him long after he had gone, and was startled when Dumbledore spoke up.
"I believe you must go after him Miss Granger; he is very angry at the minute, but alas I do not know the reason. Perhaps it would be good for him to talk about it with someone who will understand..." he stated with a small smile. I just nodded my head slightly and made my way out of his office, trying to figure out where Harry may have gone.
After checking in the Common Room and asking Dean to check the dorm, I made my way to the Room of Requirement. If he wasn't there, the only other place I could fathom he'd go would be the Quidditch Pitch. Thankfully the door to the room was visible; hopefully it was Harry in the room and not some other student or teacher. I opened the door and saw an exact replica of the Gryffindor common room; Harry was pacing in front of the fireplace, which was the only source of light in the room.
I walked in and sat on the couch, watching as he paced back and forth, obviously deep in thought. "Harry?" I asked, "Are you okay?"
"Why did you follow me?" he asked, not bothering to stop and look at me. "Did you ever stop to think I might want to be left alone?"
Trying to mask the hurt his last comment had caused, I replied, "you didn't leave me alone when I was upset, no matter how much I asked or demanded that you get away from me; why should I just give up on you?"
"Because I don't want you here?!" he said, his voice full of anger and contempt. I couldn't help the small gasp that escaped me when he said it, just as I couldn't stop the tears that were forming in my eyes. This was twice now in two days that he had been hurtful and mean; maybe it was time for me to leave him alone.
"You bastard!" I yelled, noting with sick satisfaction that he was shocked, "first you go off and leave me yesterday so that you and Malfoy could walk into harms way and bring back some insignificant parchments, and then after I was nice enough to let my feelings of hurt and anger towards you go, you act like this?! You want to be alone so that you can wallow in your anger and self-pity? Fine! Far be it from me to interrupt your pity party!!"
I shot up from the couch and marched to the door, trying to quell the flow of tears until I was out of his line of vision, hell bent on making it back to my dorm so that I could fling myself onto my bed and have a good cry. As soon as the door to the Room of Requirement closed behind me, I heard it bang open again and whirled around to see a very enraged Harry stalking towards me. Before I could decide how to react to his violent demeanor, he had grabbed me by the upper arms and pushed me back against the wall. I knew this was Harry, my Harry, but a little part of me was really scared by the way he was acting. As he stood there holding me against the wall and glaring at me, I was trying really hard to be brave; I hated feeling scared and weak, and Harry sure as hell wasn't my Father.
"Do you actually think I'm upset that the Dursley's are dead?" he yelled, inches from my face. "The only thing that troubles me about their deaths is that the last of my Mother's family is gone; so don't go accusing me of self-pity. I am upset because Voldemort is slowly getting rid of everyone associated with me; it doesn't matter if it's someone I love or someone I despise, if there's any kind of connection to me, he's killing them. I would rather walk away from you willingly than have you taken from me because of his vindictiveness, don't you understand that?"
As he spoke, his grip on my arms had become painful and I couldn't help but wince. Thankfully he noticed and loosened his hold on me slightly, but he didn't let go completely. I felt my patience slowly start to fade as I thought over the words he had just said; this martyr act was really starting to get old. "I think it's you that doesn't understand" I said angrily, "Voldemort is going to come after me no matter what. I'm a Muggleborn Harry; to him I'm one of the foulest things on this Earth. It won't matter if I'm your friend, girlfriend or worst enemy, he will still try to kill me. And what about Ron? Are you going to tell him you can't be best mates with him anymore because Voldemort might go after him too? You have to stop being so selfish Harry; Ron and I love you, we're your best friends and no matter what we're going to stand by you. So instead of making yourself sick with worry and cutting yourself off from your friends, why don't you just resign yourself to the fact that we're not going anywhere? I'M not going anywhere..."
Before I could finish my sentence, Harry's lips had crashed down onto mine and his tongue pried them open, giving him access to my mouth. He kissed me so forcefully that the back of my head hurt where it was pressing against the wall. His body was now flush against mine, not one inch of space anywhere between us, and his hands were roaming everywhere. I could feel the anger and need in his kiss; this was his way of dealing with his turmoil of emotions, and I reciprocated in kind.
"Oh, bloody hell!" someone exclaimed, and we broke apart quickly, both of us panting for breath. I looked up and noticed Ron standing a little ways away from us, a disgusted and annoyed look on his face. "I was just coming to check on you, but obviously the two of you are just fine."
I looked at him and then at Harry, registering everything that had just happened between us. This 'relationship', or whatever it was we had, was becoming very dysfunctional and a little scary. I looked back at Ron and said, "No Ron, things are NOT fine between us" and before Harry could say anything or stop me, I ran down the corridor to the common room; it was time for me to think everything through and have that cry.
~*~
"Sod it all!" I yelled, punching the wall and then grimacing in pain. Hermione had just run away from me; that was something she had never done before, and I knew I might have blown it for good this time.
"What just happened?" Ron asked, looking completely bewildered.
"I may have just fucked up the best thing in my life" I replied, running my good hand through my hair in frustration.
"I'm not going to ask for details mate; I've seen way too much already" Ron said cheekily.
"Sod off!" I said, trying to suppress the anger that was building inside of me. 'Why did she just walk away like that?' I asked myself, going over everything that was said while I paced back and forth.
"And you kiss Hermione with that mouth?" he quipped, and I wheeled around to face him, ready to take my anger out on him. A part of me knew he was only trying to make me feel better, the other part of me really didn't care at the moment. "Calm down Harry, I'm just trying to lighten things up a little; we both know that once Hermione gets herself into a huff, it'll take a while for her to calm down."
I stared at him for a moment, realizing what a prat I was being. "You're right; sorry I acted like such a git. Let's go see if she'll talk to me" I said, slapping him lightly on the back. Thank Merlin for Ron, otherwise I might have done something really stupid in the mood I was in. We made our way to the Common Room and I noticed that it was completely deserted.
"Looks like you're out of luck for now mate" said Ron sympathetically. I just nodded my head and sighed; maybe I had blown it this time. I stood there staring at the empty couch, feeling sorry for myself when Ron said, "There's always tomorrow Harry, but for now, how about a game of Wizards Chess?"
We played a couple of games and it helped to take my mind off of Hermione for a little while. About an hour later, my body finally seemed to remember that I hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours, and I made my way up to bed; the second my head hit my pillow, I was asleep.
I woke up around seven the next morning, feeling better than I had before I went to sleep; unfortunately, the first thought in my mind was how I had treated Hermione the day before. I made my way to the washroom so I could take a nice, hot shower and when I went to grab some clean clothes, I almost cried out at the pain that shot through my hand. When I looked down at it, I noticed that it was now twice the size it should be and a very ugly purple color. 'Looks like another trip to see Pomfrey' I thought resignedly, 'after I take a long shower.'
After visiting Madam Pomfrey, I made my way down to the Great Hall for some breakfast. Thankfully it was a Saturday, so I didn't have to hurriedly eat and dash off to classes. I walked in and noticed that Hermione was sitting next to Ron; I decided the best course of action would be to sit across from the two of them. As I reached out to grab a plate of eggs, Hermione noticed my bandaged hand and quickly took hold of it. I grimaced as she turned it around to look at it and asked, "what did you do now?"
I Iooked over at Ron and noticed that he was slightly shaking his head to let me know he hadn't mentioned my injury to her. "I uh...well, you see...bloody hell, I did something stupid, okay? Can we just leave it at that?"
She sat there and stared at me for a moment, and then said, "sure Harry, we can leave it at that." She stood up to leave and I noticed the unhappy look on her face.
"Hermione..." I started, but she interrupted me.
"I'll see you two later; I have some work to do in the library and then I told Madam Pomfrey I'd help her out again today." She slowly walked away and I was so confused at the minute, I didn't know what to think. Ron and I sat there for a while after she left, talking about whatever came to mind as long as it didn't involve the attacks or my stupid behavior the night before. As we were walking up the stairs, making our way to the common room, I turned to Ron and said, "thanks again for not telling Hermione that I punched a wall last night."
"You're wel..." Ron started to say when suddenly a shriek of, "You WHAT?!!" came from behind us. I turned around quickly, and to my dismay, found Hermione standing right behind us glaring at me with her hands on her hips.
"Something stupid indeed" she said, walking up to me. "Why did you punch a wall?"
"I was mad after you left last night" I admitted, unable to meet her eyes.
"When are you going to grow up?" she asked, obviously annoyed. I just stood there, studying my feet as she stood awaiting my answer. When I stayed quiet she huffed and said, "I was coming to find you and Ron; Professor Dumbledore wants to see us in his office, now." She quickly turned away from us and made her way towards the Headmaster's office without looking back once.
"You've done it now mate" said Ron. I looked up and glared at him; I understood quite well how much I had just angered Hermione.
"Let's go," I said, ignoring him and making my way to the office also. I had hoped this would be a better day; obviously I had been very wrong.
Once we were all seated in Dumbledore's office, he looked at all three of us and said, "I have been thinking
over what happened two nights ago and I believe the three of you need to start training; you need to be able to protect
yourselves in case there is an attack that you are involved in." He looked directly at me after he said that and I
knew he was referring to the prophecy in such a way as not to tip off Ron or Hermione; I had not told Ron yet what it
had said, but Hermione already knew. "Remus Lupin and Kingsley Shacklebolt will be your instructors and your
training shall start today."
I think Ron and Hermione were as shocked as I was; the three of us just sat there, staring at our instructors as they walked in from the outer room of the office. "Hello Harry,,,Ron...Hermione" said Remus. I gave a small wave as Ron and Hermione mumbled their hellos.
After Kingsley had exchanged pleasantries with us, Dumbledore stood up and said, "I believe the Room of Requirement would be the more appropriate location for your lessons."
"Shall we go then? We don't want to waste a minute of study time," said Remus, motioning towards the door of the office. The three of us stood up and followed them out of the office and up to the Room of Requirement; Remus paced in front of where the door would be three times, and when it appeared he opened the door for us and motioned us inside. When I walked in, my mouth fell open in astonishment.
In one corner of the room there was a duelling area set up and in another corner there were all sorts of parchments stuck on the wall, each showing the different wand movements for different spells; the rest of the room was empty. "This should do for now" stated Lupin, examining what the room had come up with. "Harry and Hermione, you two will be duelling each other in that corner; Ron, you'll go with Kingsley and practice defensive spells and curses." Ron nodded his head and followed Kingsley; I looked over at Hermione and noticed that she still wore an angry expression on her face. I followed her and Lupin over to the duelling corner and went to stand on one of the marks, my back facing her. I felt her back come in contact with mine for a moment and then Lupin said, "I believe you've went over the rules of duelling once before in Defense class; are you both ready to begin?"
I nodded my head and I was sure Hermione did the same. Lupin said, "right then, here we go; mark out your steps." I took five steps forward and turned; the first thing I noticed was the unfamiliar look on Hermione's face. I had a bad feeling about this...
"Okay, on the count of three, cast your spells; one...two...three..." Before I could even react I heard Hermione call out, "Engorgio!". My left hand was swelling up to twice its' normal size, and before I could retaliate with a spell of my own I heard her call out again, "Confundo!" All of a sudden I couldn't remember what it was I was supposed to be doing, all I knew was that my hand hurt really badly. "Expelliarmus!" Hermione shouted, and next thing I knew I was flying backwards, my wand flying out of my right hand as my butt bounced off of the ground. I could hear the guys snickering, and once I was able to get my wits about me, I realized that Hermione had just beaten me with three quick spells. I watched as Lupin walked towards me, trying to suppress his laughter, and then said, "Finite Incantatum!" I sighed in relief once my hand was back to normal size and my thoughts weren't so jumbled anymore.
Ron walked over and held his hand out for me, pulling me off of the ground as he had a good laugh at my expense. "Harry...mate, I told you not to make her angry" he said, obviously trying to suppress his laughter, "Hermione just kicked your arse."
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