A/N: Greetings all! I'm back with the next chapter! I am SO sorry it took so long. It's just been CRAZY these past couple of weeks. I've been really busy with...other stuff, and am working on a collaboration with H_HrFan, called The Scrapbook by (H_HrFan and GreenEyeSparkle16).
Well, in any case, I'm sorry this took so long to get finished. I blame a computer company that I won't umm D...mention...E....here...L...on Portkey...L! I had to write most of this chapter out by hand and then put it into the computer. It's just been a mess. Anyway...I hope you like what I've given you. This chapter was intended to be quite a bit longer...but I wanted to give you something, so I split it into two parts.
Quick thanks to Terri for reading over this so late...I'm pooped...what about you? Thanks doing that for me...and if I hadn't of gotten my ACA...thanks for agreeing to post! You rock!
Well, here it is:
They Need To Talk
Liz and Ron flew back to the castle on Harry's Firebolt. When they reached the entrance, they hurried up to the Hospital Wing and peeked in through the doors. Harry was sitting in a chair beside Hermione, who was lying unconscious in a hospital bed.
Ron started to close the door to give Harry some privacy with Hermione, but before he could, Madam Pomfrey poked her head out to see who was there. Realizing who it was, she stepped out of the infirmary into the hall to speak with Liz and Ron.
"Is she okay?" Ron asked anxiously.
"She's unconscious at the moment." Madam Pomfrey said, her voice trembling slightly. "She has a slight concussion. Her injuries aren't too serious, but they've done enough damage. What she needs is medicine and time. She should wake soon."
Ron let out a sigh of relief. Liz looked as is she was going to cry.
"Madam Pomfrey," Liz said, "where's Professor Dumbledore?"
"He and Professor Snape have taken the culprit to the dungeon for questioning. They should return soon."
Both Liz and Ron could see that Madam Pomfrey was still shaken up from the ordeal that had taken place earlier. For her face paled at the mention of Bellatrix, and her hands began to quiver. "Professor McGonagall was here a few moments ago," she continued. "It appears that all of the students have been told to stay put in the Great Hall until the Headmaster addresses them."
"You mean they still don't know anything?" Ron asked incredulously. It wasn't like Dumbledore to keep people waiting, especially the students.
Madam Pomfrey shook her head wearily. "I'm afraid not Mr. Weasley. Frankly, I don't know what the Headmaster will tell them. The truth perhaps, to a certain extent..."
Ron let out a breath of air and leaned back against the wall while Liz stood still and seemed to be lost in thought.
"Well, I'll be in my office;" said Madam Pomfrey. "I think it would be best to give Mr. Potter and Miss Granger some time alone before you go in."
Ron and Liz nodded as Madam Pomfrey went back into the infirmary to her office.
Ron looked over at Liz and then down at his shoes. "Are you going to talk to him?" he asked casually.
Liz looked up at him, clearly unsure by the face she made, if Ron had asked her something. "Huh?" she said blankly. "Did you say something?"
"Yeah." Ron said looking up at her. "I asked if you were going to talk to Harry."
"Oh, right, Harry. I don't know." Liz said worriedly. "Things just went so...wrong. I don't think he really wants to talk to me right now. I mean, I'd be really angry. How did he react when he found out about Sirius?" Liz asked.
"Well, he was pretty ruthless at first. He wanted to kill him." Ron said pensively. Liz looked horrified. "But it was only `cause he thought Sirius had betrayed his - your - your guys' parents." Ron added, noticing Liz's expression. When he found out the truth though, he was really happy. But...er...your situation is well...a lot different. A lot more complicated."
Liz grumbled and slid down against the wall until she was sitting on the cold ground.
"I know it's different." she said softly. "I know, everything just went horribly...bad."
"You didn't See this coming?" Ron asked sarcastically as he looked down at Liz.
"No!" Liz shot back. There was a long pause before either of them spoke again.
Ron soon decided to relieve the tension he had caused. "Are you planning on telling Ginny that, you know, we're all...erm...family now?"
Liz smiled at Ron and chuckled.
"What?" Ron asked bemused.
"Ron, um...Ginny-already-knows." Liz said swiftly.
"WHAT?"
"Er...you see, she um...she found out from Fred and George."
"Wha-when?" Ron stammered, and then gaped at Liz.
"During Christmas." Liz said easily. "You know Fred and George. They were talking amongst themselves, about Charlie and I, and well...Ginny overheard the whole thing. We had to have a talk with her of course."
"You couldn't just use a memory charm or something?" Ron asked, still thoroughly shocked.
"No," said Liz. "It was fine, really. She's kept the secret pretty well. If she did say anything , we would have to use a memory charm on her though. But I don't See that happening." she added sarcastically.
"So, none of you ever thought of just letting me in on it as well?" Ron asked in a hurt voice.
"My family didn't know." said Liz. "And he was really the only person who was supposed to know."
Ron didn't know what to say to this.
"Oh, Ron, what would you have done if you found out?"
"Id've gone and told Harry." Ron answered stupidly.
"See, and that's why you couldn't know." Liz said, crossing her arms and smiling at him. Ron walked over to her and sat down beside her. "So," he said. "I'm the last to find out? Gee, even by mistake Harry found out before me...and Hermione knows? You never did tell me why you told her."
"Again, first of all," Liz said turning toward him. "again, no one should've known before Harry, and secondly, you aren't the last person to know - "
"Yeah, I know...loads of people don't know about you - " Ron said throwing his hands up in the air and rolling his eyes at Liz.
"No, I'm talking Weasley family-wise...Percy still doesn't know."
"Oh, Percy doesn't count!" Ron spat. "He can't be trusted with anything...or were you afraid you'd get a lecture? `Cause - "
"Anyway," Liz pushed on, interrupting Ron. "I told Hermione because Dumbledore told me to."
"So, why did Dumbledore want you to tell her?" Ron asked suspiciously.
"I don't know."
"Yes you do."
"Honest, I don't!"
"You're lying." Ron accused, grinning.
"I am not lying." Liz said firmly.
"Peh! You are too!" Ron said, rolling his eyes at her once more. "There's something more, but don't worry, I'll be the last to know about that too, won't I?"
"You know what I think?" Liz said.
"What?"
"I think you are being entirely too dramatic about the whole thing." That ended their conversation.
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Meanwhile, inside the Hospital Wing, Harry was talking to Hermione, who was still unconscious. Harry watched as she lie in the bed, completely still. Her body looked frail, and even though her eyes were closed, they seemed tired. Harry simply couldn't bare the fact that he'd failed Hermione in keeping his promise to her. He couldn't bare the fact that Voldemort had tortured her because of him - to get to him. It had been one of Harry's biggest fears for quite sometime. The nightmare had happened.
What had he done to her, Voldemort? How much pain had he put her through? Harry looked at Hermione's face. It was bruised and full of scars. Her lip had been split open and was still trickling with blood. Harry reached out a hand to wipe it away. As he did, a wave of hatred, bigger than he'd ever felt in his life, rushed through him. Right then, he decided that whatever pain Voldemort, Malfoy, Bellatrix, or whoever had inflicted on Hermione, they would suffer a thousand times greater at Harry's hand.
Harry took Hermione's hand in both of his, despite the pain from the burning portkey, and kissed it softly. "Hermione," he said quietly. "Hermione, please wake up." he pleaded. "Please...I'm so, so sorry Hermione. This is all my fault. I shouldn't have yelled at you...then you wouldn't have been walking around alone." Harry scooted himself closer to her and rested his head in the crook of her neck and began to sob. "I promised you." he whispered. "I promised you he'd never harm you. I'm so sorry. I didn't keep my promise." He continued to cry, letting the tears flow down his cheeks. Just then, he felt Hermione stir under him.
"Harry..." he heard her whisper. Harry's head shot up to look at her.
"Hermione!" he breathed, falling out of his chair and onto his knees, placed a hand on Hermione's cheek. "You're awake!"
Hermione managed to give him a weak smile. "Hi." she said.
Harry's tears trailed down his face, faster as Hermione reached up and ran her hand through his hair. Harry saw the tears welling up in her tired eyes. They soon escaped and ran down her bruised cheek. "I'm so sorry Harry," she cried. "For keeping that secret from you...I - "
Harry pressed a finger gently to her lips, and wiped away the tears from her cheeks.
"No, love. Don't worry about that now." he said shaking his head at her, and caressing her cheeks. "It doesn't matter right now. I'm just glad that you're okay."
Hermione closed her eyes and leaned into Harry's hand. More tears fell down her face as she cried. She put her hand up to his and held him there, just crying.
Harry stared at Hermione for a moment, scrunching up his face to try and suppress his tears. The salt from her tears was killing his hand, but seeing Hermione hurt was more pain than he had ever gone through, and he'd been through his share of pain. "Hermione," he said quietly. "What...what did he do to you?"
He felt Hermione squeeze his hand (it hurt like hell, but he ignored the pain) as she began to cry more fiercely. Horrified at what he'd done, and upset with himself for bringing this up now, Harry tried to apologize.
But before he could even get the words out, Hermione was crying fiercely.
"It was horrible!" she gasped. "H - He was in my mind Harry! He saw everything...he knows the whole prophecy!"
Harry hid his fear very well. Who cared if Voldemort now knew what must happen. Hermione was safe and alive. "It's okay." Harry said as he put his arm around her and buried his face in her neck. "It's okay." he repeated.
"No, it's not okay!" Hermione cried, pulling away from Harry. Her face was stained with tears and her cheeks flushed, even though the bruises. "He showed me these things after he found out. He put these images in my head! I saw you...when he was torturing you during the Triwizard Tournament...and Cedric! Then, he - he showed me..." she paused for a moment, attempting to find her words. "...when you were a baby." she said finally. "I saw you...and - and you're parents and...Liz."
Harry's mind froze for a split second as he thought of Liz. His thoughts were ready to race into a million different directions, when he forgot about them quickly and returned his attention to Hermione. She was what was important now. Only her. Harry could feel her trembling; he could see her face was white with terror.
"He kept telling me that he was going to kill you and make me watch while he tortured you first." Hermione said. "Then, h-he grabbed me around the neck and something happened, and then he used the Cruciatis Curse on me!"
Harry pulled her to him once more. He immediately felt a surge of hate rush through him like he'd never felt before. Even greater than moments ago. He WAS going to kill Voldemort, no matter what. Harry stood up from the floor and sat down on Hermione's bed. He leaned down to reach for her and pulled her up into his arms. He held her tightly to him, never wanting to let go of her again. He rubbed her back gently and let himself cry as she did the same.
"Hermione, I'm so sorry!" he sobbed, holding her tighter still. I'm sorry...I let you down, I - you got hurt...I said I'd never let that happen." And if possible, Harry began to cry even harder.
Hermione pulled away from him slowly to look into his eyes. Placing both hands on his cheeks, she pulled him to her so that their foreheads were touching. "I'm here because of you Harry. I'm here because you saved me."
Harry began to protest, but Hermione shook her head at him.
"No Harry! Don't you blame yourself for this." Hermione said firmly.
Harry looked into her eyes and let out a sigh.
"If anything Harry, you should be angry with me." Hermione said in a quivering voice, taking her hands off of Harry's face, and pulling away slightly. She looked down and saw his burnt hand. "What happened to your hand?" she asked anxiously.
"Nothing." Harry replied.
"Harry why hasn't Madam Pomfrey healed that yet?"
Harry didn't know actually. He'd been in such a rush to get Hermione to safety, the pain just wasn't on his mind. Who cared about his blasted hand? His Hermione was okay now. "It's fine, Hermione. She can look at it later."
Hermione stared at him with her tear filled eyes.
"Hermione," he said, pulling her back to him. "I'm not angry with you, and I'm so, so sorry I yelled at you this morning. Yes, I was upset, but it doesn't matter right now. I love you Hermione, and I'm just so glad that you're okay." He looked into her eyes and brought a hand up to her cheek. "You're my world Hermione. Just let me hold you , love."
Hermione buried her face into Harry's chest and hugged him to her. He felt so warm and wonderful against her. Despite what Harry thought, this was where Hermione felt the safest, in his arms.
"I love you, Hermione." Harry whispered.
"I know you do." Hermione said softly. "I love you too."
Some while after, they both fell asleep in Hermione's bed, something that was familiar to both of them.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry awoke shortly after falling asleep. He sat up to look at Hermione, who was still sleeping. He leaned his head down to hers and kissed her sweetly on the cheek. "I love you," he whispered. He hadn't noticed that Ron had just walked in the room.
"Hi." Ron said quietly as he walked slowly over to Harry, who was sitting back down in the chair next to Hermione's bed.
Harry turned to see Ron. "Hi," he said.
"How is she?" Ron asked as he reached the foot of Hermione's bed.
"She's sleeping now." Harry said, placing his gaze back on Hermione.
Ron let out a sigh of relief. "So she's already woken up?"
Harry nodded.
"That's good," said Ron. He was watching Harry, whose eyes were permanently fixed on Hermione's sleeping form.
"Harry," Ron began. "I'm - "
"Don't." Harry said quickly, as he slowly pulled his eyes away from Hermione to look at Ron. "Ron, I'm sorry...about yelling. I didn't mean to snap when you said you wanted to come with me to bring Hermione back." Harry sighed and turned his full attention to Ron. "I know you care about her too, I just...I was so scared, I just needed to get to her. Plus, I was...what had just happened...with, you know..."
"I know." Ron said patting Harry on the shoulder. "You - erm - you should talk to her Harry."
"I don't think I'm ready to talk to her just yet. Anyway, I'm not going to leave Hermione."
"If you're not ready to talk to her, then you should at least change and rest or something." Ron said.
"But - " Harry began, motioning toward Hermione.
"I'll be here with her Harry. You can trust her with me. I promise, nothing will happen to her." Ron said reassuringly.
"I promised her that too." Harry said so quietly that Ron almost didn't hear him. Harry stood up and sat down on Hermione's bed so that he was next to her. "I told her...I promised her. I said I would never let him hurt her." he whispered.
"Harry, that wasn't your fault." Ron said firmly.
"I yelled at her Ron." Harry said, staring at Hermione's closed eyes and down to her cheeks. There were still tears there.
"I told her...I told her I didn't even want to look at her...because of some stupid secret!"
Ron came to sit down next to him in the now empty chair beside the bed.
"Harry," Ron said. "Look mate, there was no way you could have know that was going to happen. I'm sure Hermione doesn't blame you. Harry, she trusts you, she loves you and she's not mad at you. It wasn't your fault."
Harry said nothing.
"Harry, go and get some sleep." Ron said in a rather orderly tone. "Go and rest. Hermione will be fine, I promise."
It took a long time to finally persuade Harry to leave Hermione's side, but in the end, Harry walked out of the Infirmary, having no intentions of sleeping. He was going for a walk around the castle. He needed to think.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as Harry got up to leave the Hospital Wing, Hermione's eyes fluttered open. She watched Harry as the doors closed behind him, and then saw Ron turn to her.
"Hermione!" he said cheerfully, now seeing that she was okay. "You just missed Harry. I'll go and get - "
"No!" Hermione said quickly. "No, Ron, it's okay. He needs time to himself...after all that he's been through.
Ron watched as Hermione fell apart in tears. Instantly, he moved next to her and pulled her into a hug. "Shh..." he said consolingly. "It's okay Hermione." But Hermione continued to sob.
"He knows whose fault it is! It's Voldemort's fault." Ron said angrily. He'd gotten used to saying Voldemort's name after hearing about the Prophecy. "Harry's just upset seeing you hurt. You know him, he - "
"He blames himself Ron." Hermione said between sniffles as she continued to cry on Ron's shoulder. "He thinks it's all his fault because he yelled at me! And because I was walking alone, and he wasn't with me when it happened, and he's blaming himself because he promised me..." Hermione was speaking very fast and crying at the same time. Ron held her close to him and patted her on the back, rocking her back and forth gently, as she cried. "Ron," Hermione continued. "He's being so nice to me, holding me and kissing me when I don't deserve it, when he should be mad at me and - "
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." Ron said, quickly and pulling away from Hermione to look at her. "Why would Harry be mad at you?"
"Nothing." Hermione said, turning away from him.
"I know about Liz." Ron said quietly, and Hermione's head whipped around. "You do?" she asked, perplexed. How could Ron know?
"Yeah, I do." Ron said. "I found out when you were...erm...well, Liz and Harry were having a row in Dumbledore's office, and then Harry left"
"They didn't try and stop him?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"No. Well, they did." Ron explained. "But Harry was really persistent. You know him, he'd die for you Hermione." Ron hung his head. "He wouldn't even let me come with him to get you."
"I appreciate that you wanted to come after me." Hermione said, smiling weakly at Ron, and a grin crossed his face.
"So, they just let him go?" Hermione asked seriously. "All by himself?"
"Yeah," said Ron. "And after that, they just told me to stay for a talk. I didn't have a clue about what was going on." Ron suddenly looked very pensive as he paused for a moment.
"I remember Dumbledore and Liz were whispering something though," he said. It was something like they knew there was nothing they could do to make him stay...like they knew what was going to happen."
"Liz isn't telling us something." Hermione said a few moments later. "You know she's a Seer, she told me something when I first found out."
"What was that?"
"She told me she had a Vision of Harry." Hermione said quietly.
"Of Harry?" Ron asked. Hermione nodded. "Well what did she tell you?"
"She said," Hermione hesitated. "She said that she Saw the end."
"The end?"
"The end of the war. When Harry and Voldemort are face to face."
"Well, then she knows who wins!" Ron said excitedly. But his feeling of hope was drowned when Hermione shook her head "no".
"What do you mean no?" Ron asked indignantly.
Hermione sighed and continued on. "Liz said that she Saw Harry and Voldemort facing each other, and then she Saw a bright flash of light - a white, hot, blinding light."
"And then?" Ron asked anxiously.
"And then, Hermione said slowly. "The Vision ends."
"The Vision ends?!" Ron said, outraged. "What's the point of her being a Seer if she can't See anything helpful?"
"I don't know." Hermione said quietly. "I suppose we'll know...in time."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry wandered up and down the corridors of the castle, thinking. He was sure he wasn't supposed to be wandering around alone. "Who cares!" Harry said aloud. He certainly didn't. "Maybe Voldemort'll come out and get me so I can kill him and be done with it." Harry said irritably to no one. Harry wondered what Hermione would think if thoughts of killing someone (even Voldemort) were coming so naturally. Harry didn't want to be a killer, but in his mind, Voldemort had no soul and didn't deserve to live after everything he'd done - after all the pain he'd caused.
Why should Harry care what anyone thought though? They certainly hadn't thought about him. He'd been misled his entire life, believing that he had no family at all. The Dursley's didn't count of course. They'd never really been his family.
Now, suddenly 16 years later, Harry had a sister. He had a big sister. How was that possible? How was it that she wasn't in any of the pictures Harry had of his family?
Right. Of course.
Harry'd received all of those pictures from people who secretly knew about Liz and weren't supposed to say anything. Harry wondered briefly what the picture he had of he and his parents would look like with a small Liz beside them.
The image quickly faded when Harry's negative thoughts returned. "What kind of sister is she anyway?" Harry muttered to himself. "What sister stays away from her only family for 16 years?" As he continued to walk the questions just kept on piling up in his mind. The more he thought about it, the more he wanted to scream.
But then, something crossed his mind. Ron seemed to think Liz was okay. He'd even said that he should talk with Liz - to hear her out. Harry still hadn't spoken to Hermione about the situation...thoroughly anyway. What did she think? Well, she seemed to be pretty close to her...
Harry wondered just how long Hermione had known. He'd have to find out.
Dumbledore was another issue. He'd more than likely been the one to keep this a secret. He was good at that. As far as Harry could tell, Dumbledore, Hermione, and Ron were the only ones to know about Liz. What about -
A thought struck in Harry's head, quick as lightning.
"Sirius knew." Harry muttered to himself. "He...he was her godfather too...he never told me." Harry's thoughts were racing. "And Remus has to know too!"
This was almost too much for Harry to think about. Now, more than feeling hurt and betrayed, Harry was downright angry. He wanted answers...now.
But before Harry could get answers, he first had to determine to whom he would direct the questions. There were only two possible choices at the moment: Professor Dumbledore, or Liz.
Harry thought about this for a moment. If he talked to Dumbledore first, his questions were more likely to be answered carefully and more than likely they wouldn't contain the entire truth. He wasn't even sure how he would act around him. This would make this twice in one lifetime that information had been deliberately held from him because of Professor Dumbledore. Why was he so keen to keep Harry in the dark anyway?
That left Liz. Oh sure. Harry thought. Easier said than done. If Harry talked to Liz, he'd more than likely have control over the conversation. After all, she was the one who'd wanted to talk in the first place. Yes, Harry decided. He would go talk to Liz even if he didn't feel like it. He just wanted some damn answers.
So, where exactly was Liz? Harry had managed to wander so far into the castle, that he was nearing the dungeons. The dungeons. Harry thought. That's where Lestrange is being held. Harry let himself wander just a little bit further, until he heard voices.
"Severus, how could you? HOW COULD YOU BETRAY THE DARK LORD?" Harry heard Bellatrix roar from a room down the corridor. Harry moved closer until he was near the dungeon door he was sure Bellatrix and Snape were behind. He pressed his ear to it, and heard Bellatrix yell again. "HOW COULD YOU TURN YOUR BACK ON HIM? HOW COULD YOU DISRESPECT - "
"SHUT UP BELLA!" Snape bellowed. "SHUT UP!"
Harry heard a rustling noise from behind the door. He cracked it open slightly to see what was going on. Snape had just pulled out his wand and pointed it point-blank at Bellatrix. And then...Bellatrix was...snoring?
Snape had put a sleeping spell on her.
Harry watched as Snape pulled a vile out of his pocket, and walked over to Bellatrix. Snape opened the vile and poured its contents down Bellatrix's throat.
"Veritaserum." Harry whispered to himself.
After Snape had administered the potion, he woke Bellatrix. Harry waited, and then Snape asked the first question.
"What is Dark Lord's plan?"
A/N: I know, I know...after all that time, and that's all I gave you? Yep...sorry! I will be putting the rest of what was supposed to be in this chapter into my computer soon. So, hopefully I'll get it up here! Thanks for being so patient with me!
Hope you liked this! There's more to come. I think I can safely say that there will be at least 3 more chapters...maybe more. Don't know...
Anyway! Thanks for reading! I'd love to hear what you think!!
Green_Eye_Sparkle16
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