Author notes: Disclaimer can be found at the first chapter.
This is an edited and reposted chapter.
Some lines I took from a very meaningful song the "Warrior is a Child".
Title : Interludes
Chapter 2 - Need
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Harry, Ron and Hermione were left again alone at the Gryffindor common room finishing their homework. Ron put down his quill and looked exhausted, "I've had enough. If you guys what to stay some more, go ahead. My eyes are going to pop out." He grabbed his parchments and books and went straight to the boys' dormitories.
Hermione didn't even bother to look up from her reading. She and Harry are always the last ones left because of the extra Head Boy and Girl responsibilities they have to finish up before they can begin tackling their homework.
She closed her book and surveyed Harry when she no longer heard the sound of scratching quill on parchment. "What?" he asked.
"I was just wondering if we're - er - you are going up to the Astronomy tower tonight," she replied.
"So, you've been looking forward to our nightly escapades," Harry teased.
Hermione frowned and grabbed one of her Arithmancy books. "I was just wondering, 'cause I'm planning to revise my Potions essay." Prick.
Harry knew perfectly well that she was just bluffing. He saw her revised that essay for the fifth time. "OK, you can come with me, but we're not going to the Astronomy tower this time," he said still leering at her.
"Where?" she asked looking all worked up.
"Somewhere special," he stood up and helped her clean up their mess. "Get your jumper, it'll be cold."
She went up hurriedly. Harry waited by the portrait of the fat lady carrying the invisibility cloak for precaution.
"I'm ready. Take me anywhere," Hermione said almost jumping with glee.
He draped his arms on her shoulder and didn't hide his mirth for Hermione's enthusiasm. He led her outside the castle and they took a path they don't usually thread.
Something hit Hermione as she followed Harry's lead. She had a strange feeling that she knew where they are going. They had been here before, actually it was just last year, and she could still remember the reason that led them to discover this place. Has he been coming to this place ever since? Oh, that would have been painful.
Harry paused at the familiar part of this hidden cemetery at Hogwarts; he waited for Hermione to step next to him. He conjured a comfortable couch small enough to fit them both, as he knew it would be unpleasant to sit on the grassy knoll this time.
Hermione sat down beside him and faced the mound in front of her. "Do you come here often?" she asked the one thing that's been bothering her.
"No," he replied. "You've been with me enough to know that I don't mourn too much over my parents' death."
"So why are we here?" Hermione's sad eyes pierced through his soul so deeply that he almost stopped breathing.
"I don't know," he answered truthfully. "Maybe to introduce you to my parents," he half-joked; he almost chuckled at the thought but stopped himself. "You - you've been here before with me. Sorry."
Hermione could feel the pain emanating from Harry, something he's been trying to hold back, braving it out not show to anyone. She didn't know what it feels like; she still had both of her parents. But from Harry's eyes, his posture, his words, his actions, she could sense the suffering.
Harry held her hand and said, "Ever since I was a child I've been fighting, Hermione. I'm a marked man. I have only come to a greater understanding of it on my fifth year… after Sirius death… upon hearing the prophesy."
"I've been fighting battles, - left and right. People think of me as remarkable, sort of miraculous, that I am strong beyond my years. Even Dumbledore is proud of me, of having the courage to face something so powerful and knowing nothing that could help me defend myself and that I never choose retreat," Harry continued. Hermione merely listened and waited.
"But - no one, - knows," his voiced croaked, "no one knows that in the midst of battle, when I know that there was no escape, death is the option I choose." Harry didn't notice the tears that started flowing on Hermione's face as he was blinded by his own. "No one knows I am just hiding all the tears… the fear. That I - I don't have a home to come running to when I fall down."
She squeezed his hand to let him carry on. "Maybe people easily forget that this - this boy-who-lived, this champion… their warrior, deep inside is still a child. That I, too, am someone else's son."
Harry paused, probably too caught up with all the emotions rushing. "Hermione, -" he looked at her pleading, "you're the only one I trust who can understand me. You are my rock, the glue that holds me together. You're on my side when no one seems to listen. You are my voice of reason."
Hermione's face cringed in anguish. She couldn't utter a single word. Her brain had been clouded by his words. She pulled Harry to her and hugged him, so tight as if never letting him go.
"The day is near, Hermione. I can feel it," Harry whispered to her ear. "Promise me that you'll stay with me. I need you. I want you beside me. When that fateful day comes, just the thought that you'll be there for me, though you're not alongside me in battle, it will help me go on."
She nodded and smiled, "Harry, I'm here and always will be." She cupped his face, their foreheads touching, faces drenched in tears. "I promise, I'll be your hope, your strength and will to keep on. Always remember that I'm with you through all this."
"Thank you." And his arms went around her.
"You didn't have to ask for it, Harry. Even if you didn't want me to, I will still always be by your side."
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A/N: Do I need to repeat myself? Yes, please leave a review.
Thanks to Raven for the help in proofreading.