(A/N: I thank you all for your very kind reviews and I'm going to answer to them separately. I bet that at the end of last chapter, my female readers wished to fly to Hogwarts and help our poor, sweet Harry, isn't it? I'm sure you'll like the next chapter…)
Chapter 27. TOGETHER AGAIN
...
By now
Between us
Just a step...
I'd like to, no I won't like to
But if you want to...
...
"I'd like to, no I won't like to, but if you want to..." by Lucio Battisti
Night had just fallen over the city of London and throughout the streets, a thick fog was beginning to rise.
Mark Evans was silently walking down a deserted alley, feeling weird as though he was being followed. He hurried along nervously when suddenly he found himself trapped in a dead end.
He turned to face a hooded figure who had just apparated to his side.
"Look at what we have here! My old friend Mark Evans!"
"I'm done with all of you now. Let me go!"
"I'm sorry to contradict you Mark, but with the Dark Lord, it isn't possible to just be done with him. You'll come with me. You don't have any other choice."
Mark took out his wand and pointed it at his enemy.
"STUPEFY!" he shouted, but the Death Eater was faster than him and disapparated with a resounding CRACK.
Mark didn't waste any time and ran away. He had just reached the main street when a ray of red light hit him in the back and he fell down, unconscious.
***O***
Harry didn't regain consciousness until the following morning. The previous day, Ron had dragged him up to their dormitory.
When Harry opened his eyes, he was still feeling extremely weak, even though he had slept through the previous afternoon and night.
He slowly raised a hand to his head, and then searched for his glasses on the bed table and put them on. Under his glasses was a short note from Ron.
"Finally you're up! I'm going to spend the day with Luna. I promised her, you know! I didn't want to wake you up. After all you went through yesterday, you deserved a bit of rest. I'll see you later, Ron."
Harry smiled slightly; he was grateful to his best friend for all his help. Harry stood up, still feeling a bit disoriented and he got ready as quickly as he could. Then he walked out of his room and headed to the Great Hall for a late Sunday breakfast.
When he sat at the Gryffindor table, which was half empty, he noticed a light weight in his jeans' back pocket. He put a hand inside and took out the booklet he had taken the day before from the Room of Requirement.
Harry skimmed through it and decided to start reading it after breakfast. He absolutely had to learn everything about the Veil's ceremony, as it was the only chance he had to meet Sirius for one last time and set him free.
After a quiet meal, Harry exited the Great Hall while skimming the book, not really paying attention to where he was going. Then he suddenly ran into someone and his book fell on the floor.
"I-I'm sorry!"
"Oh no! Where is my mind today?" said a female voice.
Harry was staring at Cho Chang, quite surprised, as she bent down to pick up the book. He noticed that his ex-girlfriend looked really pretty that day, with her long black hair left loose down her back and her oriental-shaped black eyes brighter than usual.
"Well, don't worry... it-it's nothing, really." Harry replied, embarrassed.
"How are you? It's been ages since we've talked!" she said simply, giving him back the book.
Harry didn't know what to think. Cho had been ignoring him the entire year and now, she wanted to start up a conversation with him, pretending that everything was normal between them!
"I'm fine, and you?" he asked uncertainly.
"Fine, thanks! I'm glad you've decided to remain at school. My parents are really afraid about this war and after Hogsmeade's attack, they absolutely wanted me to leave the school. But I didn't want to! After all, Dumbledore will do everything he can to protect us and then," Cho paused shortly, staring deeply into his eyes, "you're here as well."
Harry was starting to feel uncomfortable and had the sudden desire to end the conversation there and just leave.
"Well... I'm sorry, but I have to go."
He was already climbing the stairs when Cho spoke again in a tone of voice that suggested she wanted to see how he would react.
"I know that you had a fight with Hermione Granger!"
Harry stood motionless for a few seconds, deeply surprised by that statement. He then turned slowly to face her, frowning.
"I never liked that girl. It's good that you've broken up with her."
"I haven't broken up with her!" replied Harry, thoroughly annoyed.
"So, you haven't?" Cho seemed really disappointed by his answer.
"Oh, in that case, it's a pity, you know? I thought we could start going out together again but..." She paused briefly, looking at Harry with a sad look in her eyes, and then added, "Well, I'll see you around then!"
Cho Chang rushed away, leaving him still standing on the stairs, quite astonished.
***O***
"Since the beginning of ages, the mystery of death has interested entire generations of wizards. The main question has always been the following: what is there beyond?"
Harry was sitting in the library by himself, absorbed in reading the booklet The Eternal Quest.
"Of the mysterious items in the world, the Veil of Death is the most mysterious. Nobody exactly knows what is hidden behind it, but those who have studied the matter deeply have come to the same conclusion: the Veil is a place of transition, where the souls who have left their bodies remain, waiting to proceed on their path to the destination assigned to them."
Harry skimmed a few other pages anxiously; he didn't have much time left and he still hadn't found anything useful. He suddenly stopped on a chapter entitled "How to contact a soul who has been trapped behind the Veil of Death."
"Only a true Seer would be able to communicate with souls trapped behind the Veil and, through an ancient ceremony, succeed in setting them free. Once beyond the Veil, those souls may decide to follow one of two paths: those who were afraid of death while still alive will be destined to remain in this world as ghosts, while those who, during their lifetime, understood and accepted the meaning of death will be able to go on toward the endless light."
At that very moment, Harry raised his head and realized that someone had just entered the library.
"Hermione!"
She was standing by the door, evidently surprised by Harry's presence; after hesitating briefly, she stepped backwards and rushed away, heading into the corridor.
Harry didn't waste any time. He slipped the book back into his pocket and followed her as fast as he could.
"HERMIONE, PLEASE WAIT!"
Although he was calling her repeatedly, Hermione didn't seem to want to stop.
The corridors were mostly deserted, except for small groups of students here and there who were chatting, but Harry could clearly hear Hermione's footsteps heading downstairs.
With a catlike jump, Harry reached his friend and stood in front of her, blocking the way.
"Please, stop! I just want to talk," he begged and Hermione silently looked up at him, ready to listen.
"Are you still angry with me?" he asked anxiously.
"No, not anymore" she replied, smiling slightly.
"I shouldn't have said all those horrible things to you the other day. I'm really sorry about that."
"I'm sure you are," said Hermione sincerely.
An embarrassing silence fell over them and both looked down at the floor.
Hermione broke the silence first. "Ron told me about yesterday. You used your Seer powers, right?"
"Yeah... but it didn't go very well," he commented nervously.
"Well, if you want my opinion, you've been absolutely irresponsible! For all I know, you could have killed yourself!" she scolded, folding her arms across her chest with a stern look in her eyes.
Despite her words, Harry couldn't keep from smiling. He was feeling a strange warmth in his heart, knowing that after everything, she still cared about him.
"I'm sure that with enough time and practice, things'll improve," she added in tone of voice not unlike Professor McGonagall's.
"Yeah, I know." Harry was trying to choose every word carefully so as to not upset her again.
After a few more seconds of silence, Hermione sighed deeply and then spoke again.
"I really think we should talk, about what happened on Valentine's Day, I mean. Maybe we could find a quieter place," she suggested, trying as best she could to hide her embarrassment. "What do you think?"
"Sure!"
They walked downstairs together and quickly reached the gardens. While walking across the grounds, Harry looked at her out of the corner of his eye. That day Hermione was wearing a pretty little woolen dress with pink and black squares that went down to her knees, and her hair was pulled back in a cute ponytail.
Off in the distance, most of the students were walking along the lake, enjoying the first sunny day of the season.
Harry and Hermione entered Greenhouse 3, which was completely deserted. The glass walls were covered by strange climbing plants with blue and red leaves.
Hermione was slowly pacing the greenhouse with her back to Harry, while he stood motionless at the entrance, looking at her.
"You have to understand: I've always put my responsibilities before anything else, I mean my studies and the fight against the Dark Arts." Hermione was nervously fussing with her sleeves.
"I've always believed that friendship was more important than love. Every time my roommates talked about boys and dating, I didn't want to listen to them, stubbornly turning to my books. I was sure that you were of the same opinion, that in your life, there wasn't any place for a girlfriend or for romance."
Then she turned to face Harry, looking deep into his eyes.
"Then, the other day when you talked to me like that, I suddenly felt so disoriented! Everything I was so sure of, all of my certainties were completely gone."
"Why did you kiss me then?" Harry asked confused.
"I don't know! Maybe in that moment I thought: if I kiss him, then I would know that I didn't feel anything for him and..." she briefly paused, sighing deeply, and then finished her sentence, "and it would've been easier to push you away from me. On the contrary..."
"On the contrary?" Harry felt a weak hope rising in his heart and started to move closer to her.
"Well, when we kissed, I felt as if... as if..."
"As if an electrical current was going through you!" Harry cut her off, a stronger emotion already beginning to take control over him. His heart started to beat faster and his cheeks were burning.
Harry moved even closer, losing himself in her deep brown eyes. Oddly, he had never felt surer about his feelings than he did at that moment.
"Do you think that we could still be friends, then?" he asked, taking her hand gently and squeezing it. It was soft like silk.
"We already are friends!" she affirmed, without showing any resistance.
"Do you think that we could spend more time together now?" Harry was completely oblivious to where he was. In that moment, only the two of them existed in the entire world... just him and the girl he loved more than himself.
By now, there were only a few centimeters between them and their lips were almost touching.
"Why not!" Hermione seemed completely hypnotized by those bright green eyes, which were staring at her intensely.
Without even realizing it, Harry reached out with his other hand and gently brushed her cheek.
"Could we... always talk about anything? Even about what scares us the most?" he whispered.
"I-I think so..."
They were so close that Harry could feel the warmth of her breath on his skin and could see the confusion in her eyes.
"You are so beautiful!" he said, barely moving his lips, not taking his eyes off her.
Hermione closed her eyes and Harry felt an uncontrollable impulse possessing his entire being. He closed his eyes also and let this impulse flow through him.
Their lips finally touched and as they kissed, both were swept away by feelings of complete bliss.
A mixture of emotions burst into Harry's heart: love, fear, joy, sadness, terror. It was as if all the feelings of the world were concentrated inside of him.
He hugged her tightly in his arms, wishing that this incredible moment would never end.
***O***
Harry and Hermione spent the whole afternoon together, walking in the gardens hand in hand, carefree like two happy children.
They talked about anything that came into their minds; they were in perfect harmony and, even when in silence, could easily perceive each other's feelings.
At dinner, they couldn't keep from staring at each other, smiling as if they were hypnotized. Harry felt elated and incredibly happy.
When Ron reached them at the Gryffindor table, he immediately realized the sudden change of atmosphere between the two of them.
"Hey, it's about time! Luna and I were starting to lose hope!"
That evening, the new couple remained in the common room until late, seated in front of the fireplace in each other's arms.
Harry kept staring at her, truly amazed, unable to believe that it wasn't just a wonderful dream. After some time, Hermione moved away from the embrace and turned to face Harry, looking directly into his eyes.
"I've made up my mind! Tomorrow we'll start our secret training again!" she said firmly, pulling Harry back down to earth.
"Why are you talking about our secret training?" he asked, annoyed by the interruption.
"Because it's important!" Hermione chided him. "I'll tell you more later! It's time to go to bed!" she added standing up abruptly, folding her arms across her chest.
"All right, all right, but..." Harry didn't want to leave.
"But what?" Hermione asked, forcing herself to remain serious.
Harry stared at her astonished, but at that moment, she couldn't keep from laughing.
"I'm just worried about you, that's all!" she explained in a sweeter voice, stretching out her arm to him.
Harry grabbed her hand smiling and stood up, obediently.
"I know, I know. I'll never be able to thank you enough for worrying about me."
Hand in hand, they reached the stairs and stopped there for a few seconds.
"Good night, Hermione."
"Good night, Harry and sleep well."
Hermione stood on her toes and gave him a little peck on the cheek before running upstairs.
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