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Se Chapter 1 for Disclaimer.
A week had passed for Harry and Hermione in the hospital wing. They both recovered slowly, in beds next to each other. They passed the time talking and playing Exploding Snap and Wizard's Chess, a game at which Hermione was getting very apt at winning. They were also kept busy in their own interests. Ron kept Harry going on a constant flow of miniature Quidditch games, all of which, to Harry's pleasure, were against Slytherin. Ginny kept Hermione from going stir-crazy by bringing her all of the books she requested from the library, except for her schoolbooks. Madame Pomfrey did not want Hermione to hinder her own recover by doing too much, too soon, and had forbidden her from doing schoolwork, much to Hermione's discontent. After the fist few days, Madame Pomfrey had stanched the near-constant flow of visitors, so Hermione and Harry were alone most days.
Harry sat on his bed, eyes closed, with his wand in his hand. He swayed back and forth, occasionally plummeting into what was obviously a dive for the Snitch. Hermione was curled up in her own bed, reading a book titled "Protective Spells: The Best Gift". Harry, thoroughly involved in his Quidditch game, did not notice Hermione's sudden interest at what she was reading.
'Chapter 16 and a half: Post-Protection Scars'
She skimmed down the page, looking for the protection charm that Lily had used. Finally, she found it, and settled in to read the paragraph. She'd read it years before, but now it would make sense.
"Protection spells always leave scars, and this one is no different. This charm, however, leaves two scars. One scar is left on the one protected, and the other, a smaller one, is left marking the one who will eventually complete the protection. Often, the two people will be linked by blood, but this is not always the case. Sometimes links will be to someone who cares very much about the protected, someone bound to them by love. In very rare cases, they will link two people who do not know each other at the time of binding, but the two people are destined to be close. In such cases, the caster of the spell will not necessarily know who the person to whom the other scar will go. The spell caster is notified immediately after death of to whom the other end went."
"This spell has a very distinctively shaped scar. It produces a scar shaped like a bolt of lightning. The scar on the protected individual will be blatantly visible, and in a place not normally covered by clothing. It will warn the individual of when danger is coming by causing pain. The other person's scar, however, will be much less noticeable. It will be smaller, it will not be painful at all. It may or may not be covered with clothing."
"One characteristic of protection scars is their similarity. All scars obtained from this spell will be shaped like lightning bolts. However, all will be different. The two bolts in a pair, the protected and the second protector, will be very similar, but have some obviously different qualities."
Hermione skimmed the next page. It was all pictures of pairs of lightning bolt scars. Each pair had the same general shape, but had imperfections. Figure A had one bolt facing left and one facing right. Figure B had one more direction change on the first bolt than the second. Figure C had one bolt with a tiny hump on one size, and the other without. They all looked similar, yet different. 'Funny,' she thought. 'It seemed like mine and Harry's were identical.' She uncovered her ankle, to inspect the bolt. She pulled out a picture of her, Harry, and Ron, and muttered a spell to keep them all from moving while she was looking at the picture. She held it next to her ankle, and inspected Harry's scar next to her own. Over and over, she looked at the two scars together. Every turn, every little mark, identical. 'Strange,' she thought. She turned her attention back to the book. At the bottom of the page appeared a small message.
"If this spell has been cast on you, and both you and the other person affected in the spell have identical scars, read this message. This is a very rare occurrence, and it is a condition that is not common knowledge. We will be willing to explain this phenomenon to you, but we want to do it on a case-by-case basis. To verify your identity and reason to know, touch your fingertip to the space at the bottom of this page."
Hermione looked around her, as if to see whether anyone was watching her. She tentatively reached out a finger and touched the bottom of the page. A new message appeared.
"Thank you. Your identity has been verified. Turn the page to find out the cause of your identical scars."
She turned the page.
"At this point, we would like to warn you that the information you are about to discover could change your life forever. You may not want to know. If you still wish to continue at your own risk, turn the page now. We cannot be held responsible for anything that occurs because of your knowledge."
Hermione rolled her eyes. She had never seen a book with a disclaimer, but she was sure that whatever this one had to tell her wasn't going to kill her. Honestly, she thought, if that curse hadn't, nothing could. She reached over and turned the page.
Her eyes scanned over the page and went wide with shock. She shook her head in disbelief. She closed her eyes. It had to all be her imagination. Slowly, she opened her eyes again and skimmed over the page again. It couldn't be. She must have been wrong. Determinedly, she swung her legs over the side of the bed and got up, not caring that she was barefooted on the cold tile floor or that she only wore a chemise. She had to know. In an instant, she was over at Harry's bed. Still playing his game, he was completely oblivious to her presence. That was the way she wanted to keep it, at least for the moment. She quietly sat down next to him on the bed. She studied her own ankle, and then took a deep breath and looked at his scar. She could only see parts of it, peeking out from under his hair. What she could see was completely identical. She reached out a shaking hand to his forehead to move his hair. She had completely forgotten that he was playing the game. She was studying his scar, eyes wide, when he suddenly jolted out of his game. First, he glared wide-eyed at Hermione. After what he'd been through, he had good cause to be afraid of intruders. Then, when he saw it was her, his look softened. He opened his mouth to speak, but then he closed it again. He couldn't tear his eyes away. There, sitting next to him, was his best friend of seven years. Her eyes, her chocolate eyes, were wide open, windows to her soul. Her hair was in a disheveled braid, almost halo-like. She sat before him in a white chemise, and barefooted. She was beautiful. Her hand was on his forehead, and they were surrounded by an indescribable aura. One of happiness. Peace.
Love.
Whatever Hermione was so intent about was fading from her face. Peace enveloped them both, at least for the second. An unbelievable magnetism took over them both. Harry, still transfixed, put his wand down and placed once hand on her scarred ankle, and the other on her waist. The aura intensified the second Harry touched Hermione's scar. They just sat, basking in the glow. Neither knew what had come over them. The feeling was amazing. The room was warm, and a slight breeze seemed to surround them. Harry looked deeper into Hermione's eyes, and noticed all of the previous urgency gone from them. She seemed to be completely lost for words, not something that normally happened to her. Something pulled them closer. Neither knew what was happening, but they knew that whatever was happening, was right. Slowly, painstakingly, they leaned closer into each other. The moment felt perfect. An unknown force was gently pushing them together. It felt like an eternity to them. They broke their eye contact to close their eyes. Slowly, sweetly, softly, their lips touched. A heat radiated through both of them, and aura flashed brighter. It only lasted a split second, but that split second felt as though the heavens were singing. It felt perfect. They separated just as slowly, and Harry was the first to open his eyes. The power of the moment was too much for him to speak.
Hermione opened her eyes slowly. She exhaled blissfully, and she, too, could not speak.