Harry Potter and the Full-Blood Prince
By Ftmble 1
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Spoilers: Books 1-5
A/N: Hello everyone, and Happy New Year! I am now posting as soon as I finish a chapter and these chapters tend to take longer over the holidays I'm afraid (especially when one has to watch all her new Christmas DVDs - Return of the King (Viggo Rocks), & Star Wars Trilogy (lets thank our stars that JKR doesn't have H and Hr be the hidden, unknown to each other twins of Voldemort!)). Thanks to everyone who asked after my Dad, he's doing just great and I'm now back home. After many fluff filled chapters, this one has less fluff and more plot. Thanks for all your reviews, they keep me going!
Chapter 9
They ran to the stables and quickly found themselves amidst horse trainers and stable hands rushing to calm the animals.
"Quick - over here" Harry pulled Hermione with him to a toolshed in the back of the barn which had a door. He opened it, pulled Hermione in with him and they shut it. The eaves were drawn together to keep the rain out but the wind continued to blow.
They were both soaked and Hermione was shivering. Her blouse was pasted to her skin, and Harry was more than a little aroused to see the outline of her nipples peaking through.
Hermione caught his eyes, glared at him through her sopping bangs and pulled her wand out of her bag. Within seconds she had cast a drying spell on both of them.
"Hermione…" Harry began.
"Listen here Harry Potter." Hermione interrupted. "I am only here right now because we both know that that is no ordinary storm and I promised to help you on your case. You have no right to be upset at me about going to William's party last night. And what you did this morning…" she stumbled at her words "well, I… I never thought that you would ever treat me that way."
Harry could see that she was just getting started and he knew he needed to stop this before the storm inside the toolshed raged worse than the storm outside. "Hermione, you're right. I'm sorry. I was a complete arse this morning, and I should have never treated you with such disrespect."
Hermione was not expecting this and she was rendered speechless for a moment. However she quickly recovered. "Then what was that scene this morning!?!?"
"Me thinking with the wrong head?" Harry smiled weakly
Hermione blushed crimson. "Harry!"
"Hermione." He took her hands in his, they were ice cold. "Hey, you're still shivering. Come here." And he took her into his arms. At first she resisted him, standing as still as a statue.
"Hermione, I'm really sorry. You're the last person I ever want to hurt. Just the opposite - I want to protect you. Keep you safe." He ran his arms up and down her back to warm her up. "To be by your side as much as possible."
He felt her sigh and relax against his body. It felt great. "That's better. Now let's concentrate a moment on getting you warmed up." He backed away for a moment, and took both of her hands in his. He brought her right hand to his lips and kissed each finger gently - watching her face intently as he did so. His emerald eyes got darker as he brought her left hand to his lips.
Hermione's gaze matched his, and he dipped in, kissing her oh so softly on the lips. He left her mouth and started to place kisses on her cheekbone. His mouth trailed down and he stopped at the small of her neck.
Hermione sharply inhaled.
"Better?" Harry mumbled against her skin. "I want to make sure we get you nice and toasty." He hoped that his voice didn't betray the effect she was having on him. It was taking quite a bit of restraint on his part not to move faster, but he knew that he needed to regain her trust.
"It's, um, quite nice." Hermione sighed and her hands recklessly went into Harry's hair. "Very, OH, very nice."
Harry's hands rubbed her backside and again he knew he had to show some restraint. "You smell amazing Hermione. It's driving me mad."
Hermione squirmed against him and Harry thought he wouldn't pull it off, but slowly, reluctantly, he put some distance between them. He knew that he needed to play by Hermione's rules for her to trust him.
A look of disappointment crossed Hermione's face as Harry stepped away. She straightened her clothes and fussed at her hair a bit.
"You look gorgeous." Harry simply watched.
Hermione blushed. "Thank you."
"I really am sorry about this morning."
Hermione bit her lip as she regarded him. "You gave me quite a scare."
Harry's stomach plummeted. "Hermione, I … I know there's nothing I can say to change this morning. I guess I got my hopes up on Thursday, and then last night they came crashing down. "
"Harry…" Hermione sighed. "I can't even believe this is all happening at once. You know that you are my best friend, and believe me, I'm not trying to play with your emotions. I am definitely attracted to you. But what if this is just pent up hormones that we didn't get out of the way back at Hogwarts? What if you find yourself attracted to someone else in a few weeks? Then what?"
Harry was at a loss for words. Leave it to Hermione to dissect their relationship and anticipate the worst. All he knew was that he wanted her to himself.
Hermione continued on. "I don't know how this is all going to turn out, but I don't want to be continually thinking "what if." So, as much as I am attracted to you, and as much as I have considered you my closest friend, I want to continue to date William - if he's still interested."
Harry felt punched in the stomach. "I thought you said you weren't playing with my emotions?"
Hermione's eyes welled up with tears. "I'm trying to be honest with you," she pleaded with frustration. "I need to know for sure. Do you really want us to date exclusively just to find out it's not right for either of us and then have our friendship ruined? We're not kids anymore Harry - you know we wouldn't be having just a few kisses here and there."
Harry started to lean in at the suggestion, it was so tempting to kiss away the tears, but he settled for taking her hands. "I really think it's the right thing for us Hermione, but I can't guarantee the future."
"I know. That's why I want to take things slow. And… I want to date William right now as well."
Harry sighed. "Do I have a choice?"
"I hope that you choose to understand and give this some time." Hermione faced him bravely, but her voice trembled.
"What if you get serious with William?"
"I don't know. What if you fall for someone else?"
"Seriously unlikely."
"Maybe. We don't know do we?" Hermione looked out the window. "The storm seems to be lessening." She turned back to Harry. "Harry - I need time, I need to be sure and I'm being honest to save us both potential heartache."
Harry couldn't imagine what potential heartache he was supposedly being saved from, but he knew that he was on very thin ice thanks to this morning's escapade. "Hermione, I'm never going to tell you I like it, but I respect your wishes. I'll try my best okay?"
Hermione nodded her head. "Now back to business. You and I both know that was no ordinary storm. What do we know about Rhys Palladin? I could have sworn I saw blond hair over by where Coach Hallett appeared."
"Why don't we go back to my flat and floo Kinglsey to find out what they've been able to track on him?"
Harry led Hermione out of the toolshed. Silently they made their way back to his apartment, while occasionally Harry would glance over at Hermione. She kept her eyes on the ground.
* * * * *
As they walked back to Harry's apartment, Hermione replayed the day's events in her head. She wondered if the whole idea of "dating William" was moot given he had been whisked away while she stayed with Harry in the stands. She knew that she needed to come up with credentials to fill the education questions -- she would owl Professor McGonagall tonight, if Harry would let her borrow Hedwig.
Harry. How she continued to rely on him. It was so easy, too easy, and she felt she needed to be independent. Just to prove, at least that she could be.
* * * * *
"Hermione. I hoped I would see you here after Harry told me of your involvement. Though I hope he told you of my hesitation to involve you." Kingsley Shacklebolt's bass voice spoke out of the flames.
Hermione frowned as she glanced over at Harry. He had said no such thing. She hadn't considered how much heat he would get from his superiors about allowing her to work on a case.
Harry brushed over Kingsley's remark and reported on what had taken place that morning. As he ended the story, he told Kingsley, "I saw a man with blond hair running away from where the smoke was. Hermione mentioned that Rhys was with the group of people that Hallett left with last night. What news of Palladin?"
"Well it's interesting that you ask, because we finally got to the sources in Botswana."
"And?"
"And there's no doubt their memories were modified. Rhys is definitely not who he appears to be."
"Do we know who he is?"
"Well, I'm not sure you're going to like it."
Harry was taken aback. "When has whether or not I'm going to like it make any difference?"
"He's Beatrix Lestrange's nephew."
"Nephew?!?" Hermione exclaimed "How is that possible - I don't remember Palladin on the tapestry that Sirius had up at Grimauld Place?"
Harry whitened at the reference to his Godfather. Hermione noticed and squeezed his hand briefly to reassure him.
"I can't comment on that, but there's no doubt. He's linked to Lestrange."
"And if he's linked to Lestrange, then that means he's linked to Malfoy. The blond hair is a sure bet." Harry said wryly. "But why here? And what do they want with the Prince."
Kingsley sighed. "Still no clue. Creating havoc in the muggle world doesn't seem to be a strong enough reason." He paused. "Hermione. Since you are involved, this is an area that we could use your excellent research skills."
"I've already started." Hermione stated proudly.
"And?"
"Well, I don't think it has anything to do with the monks or the Culdees. But I don't think that the Royal connection is mere coincidence. William mentioned that he's a descendent of Lord Darnley and Mary Queen of Scots."
"Is he really? Well that may be something, wouldn't it?"
Harry felt like he was back at Hogwarts, when Hermione would understand right away the subtext of what was taking place and he and Ron would accept things at face value. "Um, hello? Want to clue me in here?"
"Harry, there was a huge power struggle surrounding the Queen's reign, and at the same time, there was a large backlash against alleged witches at the time. I don't know all the details, but I was planning on doing further research Monday in Edinburgh before I meet Ron."
"That would be most helpful. But be careful, Rhys must know who you both are if he's associated with Lestrange. You have to make sure he doesn't think you suspect anything out of the ordinary about him."
Harry felt it was naïve to think Rhys would think that he and Hermione didn't suspect after what happened that day, but chose not to comment. He simply nodded his head.
"Hermione, owl me with whatever you find out. Send it from Edinburgh so it's not detected from St. Andrews."
Hermione nodded. As she opened her mouth to ask Harry interjected "yes, you can borrow Hedwig."
"Thanks." She smiled.
"And one more thing," Kingsley continued. "As much as I was against this before, I am now resigned to the fact that we are going to need Hermione near the Prince. Pardon me for being so frank Hermione, but is this still something that is possible?"
Hermione blushed. "I think so, though I'm not sure after this afternoon's storm."
"Reach out to him so he knows your okay." Kingsley counseled. "Between Harry being on patrol and your dating the Prince, this will help us with coverage."
Harry felt his mouth go dry and didn't say anything. Hermione just looked down.
If Kingsley noticed the change in attitude between the two of them he said nothing. "Okay, until Monday then." And with that he was gone.
Harry and Hermione just looked at each other. Harry spoke first "welcome on board. I guess you're clear on your assignment. Let's get you home."
Without another word, Harry opened the door for Hermione and escorted her out and home. They both said nothing on the short walk home, both lost in their thoughts.
When they got to Hermione's place, she invited him "Would you care for tea?"
Harry looked at his best friend, his heart all a jumble with emotions. When did this get so complicated. "No, Hermione, not today thanks. I need to get back to the squad and report in on my so-called investigation."
"Oh, okay." Hermione then remembered that she needed to contact McGonagall. "Harry, could I borrow Hedwig tonight - I need to owl McGonagall."
"Sure thing. A research question?"
"Sort of. More a muggle relations question actually."
"Oh." Harry didn't really want to know the details, given the type of muggle relations Hermione had been recently involved in. "Why not Arthur?"
"It's a question about how to explain my educational background to muggles."
Again, more information than I really wanted to know. Uggh how am I going to do this? Harry thought to himself. The frown on his face gave him away.
Hermione bit her lip. "Harry. This is what I was hoping to avoid. Awkwardness, stepping around each other."
"No, hey, it's okay." Harry gave her a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
Hermione sighed. "I guess I'll have to accept that for now."
Harry gave in and gathered her in his arms. He kissed the top of her head. "Really, I do have to work. I promise, I'm not avoiding you." Harry knew that he had just lied, but he needed to give her space. And honestly, he was ready for some as well, given Kingsley's orders.
As he released her he said, "I'll see you at dinner in Edinburgh okay?"
Hermione gave him a small smile. "I'm glad you're coming out with us."
"Be careful okay?"
"You too."
Harry squeezed her hand and then watched her go inside. Once the door was locked, he turned, stuffed his hands in his pockets and trudged home, feeling confused and more than a little lonely.