Unofficial Portkey Archive

The only characters/things I own are Wendy Kitanya, the bubble sprites, the Soul Crystal, the flamingo seeds, the razorum spell, the twindoma spell, the Magical Artifacts Throughout History book, the Soul Beast, the argot, the bright spots, Ardian and Rachel Tigerlilly. Please do not use them in a story without asking me first.

Hermione turned to the next page in the giant book she was reading. Her expression was one of great concentration. Her hair was somewhat disheveled and there were the beginnings of little bags under her eyes. A cup of coffee next to her sent off little wisps of steam into the air. She turned another page and her hand went to her quill to jot down some notes. All the books in the enormous stack next to her were about learning wandless magic. She had kept insisting to everyone that if she had studied this topic sooner she would not have needed rescuing.

Harry watched Hermione sadly from the other side of the common room. She had been like this all night. He walked over to her and tapped her on the shoulder. "Mione?"

Hermione yawned and willed her eyes to have the power to meet Harry's. "Yes, Harry?"

"You should go to bed. You're so tired," he said softly.

Hermione gave Harry a warm smile. "You go ahead. I'll be fine."

Harry sighed. "Don't be up too much later, okay?" he said as he touched her cheek.

Harry headed up the steps to the boys' dorm. "Why couldn't I have gotten there sooner?" Harry thought angrily as he ran a hand through his raven black hair. He suddenly shuddered at what might have happened had Wendy not stopped him. "I really wanted to kill him" he thought. Even though he hated Draco with every fiber of his being, the thought of himself in such a blind rage terrified him. He never wanted to be like that again.

About a half hour later Hermione closed her book and trudged up the stairs to her dorm with her mini library in her arms. Wendy was waiting for her in the doorway. "Do you really need to do all that?"

Hermione simply looked at her. "I have to be prepared in case something like this happens again. I don't want to need protecting."

Wendy shook her head. "Mione. No one can go it alone all the time. That's why God gave us friends."

Hermione smiled. "I suppose you're right."

Wendy crawled into bed and rolled onto her side. "Night, Mione."

"Goodnight, Wendy." Hermione said as she sat down on her bed. She stayed on there for about a minute before she grabbed one of the books from her stack and sat in the window sill with it. The moonlight shown down on Hermione's pretty face as a single tear rolled down her cheek. Hermione Granger had never felt so weak in her entire life.

The next morning the sun was just rising as Harry sat on the ground next to the lake. He had his hand held out. A small flame was dancing in it, just above the skin's surface. "What the bloody hell!??" came Hermione's voice from behind him. Hermione stood aghast as she watched the flame. Harry was stunned at hearing those words come out of his sweet Hermione's mouth. She never swore. At least, not that he had heard. Her cheeks turn a bright shade of pink. "Oh. I'm sorry. That was rude of me."

Harry smiled and shook his head. "Don't worry about it. Compared to me and Ron, your mouth's as clean as an angel," he said with a bit too much admiration in his voice. Hermione blushed again and sat down next to him. "Are you alright?"

"I'll be fine. Studying and keeping myself busy is how I deal with things." Hermione glanced at the flame. "How long have you been able to do this?"

Harry stared at the flame. "About a week now."

"I'm a little hurt that you didn't say anything," Hermione said as she bit her lower lip.

"I'm sorry, Mione. I just thought after everything that happened you didn't need more problems on your plate." Harry looked down.

"Harry," Hermione said as she took his hand in hers, "I'm never so involved my own problems that I wouldn't want to help you with yours." She smiled lovingly and looked at the flame again. "Besides. This isn't a problem. It's a wonderful thing. Wizards our age are never able to do wandless magic."

"It's just that I feel guilty having this power when you don't. Especially since you've been studying it so hard." Harry stared at the rippling surface of the lake.

Hermione laughed lightly. "Harry, you've always had an amazing talent with any kind of magic. Sure I know a lot of spells and I cast them very well, but the magic you have seems to come from inside you somewhere. It's always there when you need it most. I've always been a little jealous of that. But even so, you should never feel guilty over things you can't control."

Harry smiled. "Thanks, Mione. Will you help me learn about it?"

"Of course," Hermione replied with a smile.

Harry hugged Hermione tightly. "Oh! I almost forgot to tell you," he said as her broke the hug. His eyes were shining with excitement.

"What is it?" Hermione said with anticipation and a smile.

"Ron found a book with information on the Soul Crystal!" Harry nearly shouted.

Hermione's eyes opened wide and her smile fell from her features. For an instant time stopped as Harry's words rang in her ears. The wind that blew off the lake seemed colder somehow and her hair stung her face as the wind whipped it around. "What should I do? I can't let him go." she thought.

"Hermione? Mione, what's wrong?" Concern clouded Harry's handsome face.

Hermione broke out of her trance. "You can't go! It's too dangerous!" she blurted out.

"Mione, I'll be fine. I'm just going to find a little crystal. We've survived the forest before," he said as he held her shoulders.

Hermione's eyes became desperate. "You can't go! I won't let you!"

"Hermione, what do you know about this?" Harry said as his eyes narrowed with suspicion.

Hermione looked down and chewed her lower lip for a moment before answering. "Dumbledore told me all about it...weeks ago. He told me not to say anything to you. He told me to keep you away from it."

Harry was suddenly furious. "You knew this whole time?! You knew it could bring my parents back and you didn't tell me!?"

Hermione's head snapped upward, she stared him in the eyes and her hands balled up into fists. "You can't bring them back! Dumbledore told me it's not possible!"

"I'll find a way!" Harry yelled and stood up to leave.

Hermione grabbed his hand and yanked him around to face her. "Harry you can't! There's a monster guarding that thing!" she cried. Tears began to fall from her eyes.

Harry stopped for a second. "What?"

"Professor Dumbledore told me there's a monster guarding it. I think it's the one from your dream!"

Harry's body felt cold at the thought of that horrible beast, but his resolve came back quickly. "I don't care! You don't know what it's like. You're parents are ALIVE!" he yelled as he began to walk away.

Hermione recoiled a bit from this. She had to say something. Something to make him stay. "Harry, I love you!!" she yelled. She instantly wished she hadn't said it. She made a little gasp as her hands flew to her face and covered her mouth.

Now it was Harry's turn to freeze in time. "Did she just say what I think she said?" His robes fluttered in the wind. He just stood there, stunned, not knowing what to say. Hi argument about the Soul Crystal forgotten.

Hermione began to get nervous. "Harry?........Harry say something."

Harry continued to look down. His hair covered any expression his face might have. "I can't. The only appropriate response....would be a lie."

Hermione's eyes squeezed tightly shut. Tears flowed freely from the corners.

Harry stood in front of Hermione. "Mione, I'm sorry. I do have feelings for you. I'm just not in love with you." He picked up her chin in his hand. "Please understand. I don't want to hurt you for anything in the world."

Hermione wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "Let me know if your feelings change?" she said as she looked up at him with wishful eyes.

Harry gave Hermione a small kiss on the cheek. "You'll be the first to know. Would you mind just being my girlfriend for now?"

Hermione's mouth made a small smile. "I'd like that."

Harry put his arm around her and the two made their way back to the castle through the cool morning mist.

.........TO BE CONTINUED