Title: Trust and Betrayal
Author: Michelle
Rating: PG-13 (higher rating for abuse)
Disclaimer: I do not own anything except the plot. All characters are from the mind of JK Rowling. No money is being made from this and no copyright infringement is intended.
Summary: Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry will be one of trust and betrayal. Who should he trust? Who will betray him? Doing the easy thing and doing the right thing aren't as easy to choose between as one might think.
Chapter Two
Harry woke up not knowing what time it was. He felt a lot better than he did awhile ago. The room he was in was very dark indicating that it was still night. His eyes started to adjust to the darkness. He looked around. He assumed he was in a guest bedroom. He looked around the room some more - only just noticing Hermione sleeping in a wooden chair in the corner. Harry had considered carrying her to her bed but was forced not to when he couldn't sit up. He was no longer sweating though he still felt a little nauseous and it felt awfully warm in the room even with the window open. His muscles ached badly but he just couldn't sleep. Too many thoughts were racing through his head. He was still trying to process everything by the time the sun had come up.
The sun had now become bright enough that the room was very well lit. Harry looked over at Hermione who was still sleeping peacefully in the chair. He looked around the room which he now realized was painted a very light green. In fact the whole room was green. There was a bookshelf that took up almost a full wall. A desk scattered with papers, parchment and quills. He saw a copy of Hogwarts; a History on the desk and in the corner was a chest with the initials HG on them. This must be Hermione's room.
Harry was startled when Hermione stirred. She nearly fell off the chair when she awoke. Most likely not used to sleeping in a straight backed wooden chair. "Good Morning, `Mione." Harry said brightly even though he still felt nauseous. Hermione's eyes widened and she looked like she'd forgotten everything that had happened the previous night. "'Mione?" Harry asked again.
"Oh, Harry. Good Morning… Sorry, I thought I was dreaming or something…" Hermione said trailing off into thought. There was a slight pause. "'Mione?" She asked looking up at Harry. "Well, I'm tired and lazy - I have my faults." Harry replied with a grin. Hermione laughed. She looked up as if she was deep in thought.
"Actually, I kind of like it…" Hermione said. "Yeah, I really do." She smiled at him. Harry smiled back. This was nice. He still felt like crap, sure. But he'd never been at Hermione's house before. He'd been to The Burrow and Grimmauld Place. He wondered why the thought of coming here had never occurred to him before.
"I didn't know you liked the color green." Harry said looking around the room again. It was quite pretty. It had almost a sea feeling to it.
"Oh, I love green." Hermione said looking around the room as if she'd never seen it before.
They were just sitting there, staring at Hermione's sea-foam green colored walls when there was a knock at the door. "Come in." Hermione said standing up. The older man, who Harry now assumed was Mr. Granger, stepped in. He eyed Harry suspiciously. "Breakfast is ready." He said before leaving the room and not shutting the door. Hermione rolled her eyes at him as if she knew exactly what he was doing. Harry looked up to Hermione for an explanation but she just ignored it.
Hermione moved towards the door. "Can you move?" She asked.
Harry tried to sit up again. This time he succeeded. He was still quite sore but he thought he could manage.
"Yeah - I'll be right there." Harry said with a forced smile. Hermione shut the door as she left. Harry sighed. He threw the covers off of him expecting to see bandages. There were none. Come to think of it he thought he had cracked a rib. There were no bruises on him either. Puzzled by this Harry got up out of bed and stretched to loosen up some of his muscles.
Harry made his way downstairs stretching on the way. He noticed the smell of pancakes in the air and his stomach growled. He smiled and walked into the kitchen. He did a double-take when he saw not only Hermione and her parents, but also Snape. Why the hell was he here? Harry looked to Hermione for an explanation but she looked like she didn't mind that Snape was sitting in her kitchen. Snape was eating pancakes. He looked up at Harry. Harry half expected him to take points from Gryffindor for merely existing. Harry did his second double-take that morning when Snape smiled at him then went back to eating his pancakes.
Harry pondered what just happened as the Grangers and Snape merrily ate their pancakes. Harry was just confused by the whole situation. He poked Hermione and motioned for her to follow him. She got up muttering a quick `excuse me' before following Harry into the living room. "What?" She asked sitting down on the armchair in the corner. Harry sat on the couch and faced her with a confused look on his face.
"What's going on?" Harry asked.
Hermione looked at him. "He came last night when…" she trailed off. She shifted in her seat uncomfortably. "He came and made some potions that healed you. We still have no idea how your Uncle got that poison. Professor Snape said that it was a potion. He said that if I hadn't owled him that you…" Hermione trailed off again and sniffled.
Hermione stood up rubbing her now red eyes. Harry got up and walked over to her. He crushed her with a big bear hug that caused Hermione to giggle. Harry pulled away looking hurt. "Here I was trying to be nice and I get laughed at…" Harry said to himself. Hermione laughed.
"So, Snape came here and gave me a potion to heal me from whatever it was that Uncle Vernon gave me?" Harry asked making things a little clearer inside his head. Hermione nodded. "Okay then - so why is he still in you kitchen…eating pancakes?" Harry asked.
"My parents insisted that he stay and have breakfast. It was nearly five when he got here." Hermione said. "He'll be leaving anytime now." She stated looking up at the clock that read 9:17 am. Hermione smiled. "Want some pancakes?" She asked motioning at the door.
Harry started for the door. He stopped, suddenly very dizzy. Hermione turned towards him. "Harry, are you okay? You look pale…paler. Harry?" She asked worriedly.
"It's okay - I'm just tired." He replied before grabbing for the wall to keep himself from falling down. Harry fell to the floor. Before he passed out he heard Hermione screaming for help in the background.
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