Chapter Fourteen: Return of Nightmares
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
Harry turned as the loud sound interrupted the music he and Hermione were dancing to. Looking across the nearly empty dance floor, he watched as Remus and Tonks spun about to the same song. As they neared, Remus shouted "HARRY!"
Knock. Knock. Knock.
"Harry!" Remus' voice called from outside the door as, sleepily, Harry returned from a land of pleasant dreams. Starting to move, he found himself oddly restrained from sitting up and reaching for his glasses. He gave up for the moment until he was more awake.
Blinking to clear his eyes, he called out fuzzily, "Yes, Remus?"
"The most excitable house elf I have ever seen and another one called Winky are here with breakfast. But we can't find Hermione; she's not in her room or the library," the older man called from the other side of the door.
"Uhhh…" Then Harry's brain at least partly woke up and he sat up quickly enough and forcefully enough to push through whatever it was that was restraining him. He felt it slide down into his lap, peripherally, but his mind was elsewhere as he grabbed his glasses and roughly shoved them on his face, staring at the door. "Could the Death Eaters have gotten in, Remus? Could they have taken her again?"
"I don't see how. The wards are…"
That was all Harry heard of Lupin's response, though, as from the restraining weight on his body came a voice that brought the pieces shattering through the remaining fog of sleep that surrounded Harry's brain.
"Harry? What's going on?" came Hermione's very sleep fogged voice. "Why are you shouting?"
Oh. My. God. Did I sleep with her?
Well, obviously. Clearly celebrity prevents the most basic connections from forming in your brain. You woke up with her, therefore, you must have slept with her.
No, Voice-in-my head-that-sounds-too-much-like-Snape, I meant did I have sex with her? And what are you doing in my head anyways?
A very quick inventory showed that all clothing was securely in place, so the answer, while not forthcoming from the voice in his head, was most likely no.
Lupin finished speaking about this time, having detailed off the wards and their protections and how they were intact, though Harry had really heard none of it. "Remus, it's okay. I remember where she is now. I'll go get here and bring her down for breakfast," Harry announced firmly. "Brain not quite awake yet.
Feeling Hermione freeze in place as the voice that came back to him from the other side of the door sounded perfectly fine after the worry moments before, Harry smiled tightly. "Alright, I'll tell those elves to have the food on in ten minutes. I'll see you downstairs, Harry."
Harry's smile became a grin as he looked down at Hermione and saw her blushing. "I thought you were going to go back to your room after I fell asleep."
She sat up, the sheets sliding down her body and letting Harry really see her for the first time in her nightgown, which was far fancier and thinner than anything she had worn at school. He tried not to stare, and mostly succeeded, bringing his attention back to her when she spoke. "When I got up, you immediately started having the nightmares again. I figured it wouldn't hurt if I helped you sleep through the night."
"Thank you," Harry murmured softly, and much to Hermione's surprise, leaned forward and kissed her forehead. When she jerked back in shock from the touch of his lips, Harry's eyes dropped to the bed and he refused to look up. "Sorry, I shouldn't've…"
"Harry." She waited until he looked up. "It's okay. You surprised me, that's all. You never minded the occasional plutonic kisses I gave you in school. I don't mind either." She hugged him tightly, and Harry began really hoping she let go soon, because that nightgown was much too thin and her body was much too warm and…
She let go and moved out of the bed, and Harry noticed that the nightgown was much too short as well. As she passed in front of the window, the light streaming from outside let Harry realize just how thin the nightgown was, and the teenager in him reacted quite normally to the sight of exquisite curves outlined in the early morning sun.
After she put on her robe, Hermione turned to him and said, noticing him still in the bed, "Aren't you getting up?"
"Uh, um…" Harry stammered, quite unwilling to get out of bed in his current state with her in the room. "Not yet."
Hermione glared at him. "Harry James Potter, you told the Professor you were going to bring me down to breakfast, which means I can't go until you do. So get out of bed."
"Uh, turn around then."
She looked confused. "I've seen you in your pajamas loads of times, Harry."
Guiltily glancing down at his lap, Harry shook his head. "Not like this, you haven't," he muttered, not quite managing to keep it under his breath.
Hermione's eyes got really wide, and she spun around, her face growing even redder than earlier. Taking advantage of Harry's distraction, she watched him in the mirror as he stood up, his face falling as he realized his robe was next to her. She could not see anything really embarrassing to him from this angle, but the thought made her grin a naughty grin. She yelped softly, jumping in surprise as Harry summoned his robe to himself.
Turning around, Hermione tried to hide her confusion as she watched a robed Harry pull his wand out from under his pillow, which caused her to check to see if her new wand was still in her pocket. It was. "So, can we go see what Dobby and Winky have brought us now?"
At Harry's nod, they set off to breakfast.
* * * * *
Following the excellent elf provided breakfast, Harry, Hermione, and Lupin sat sipping tea across the table from the house elves, who were busily fidgeting and looking anywhere but their new employers' gazes.
Hermione finally broke off studying the two elves and looked up at Harry, who nodded fractionally. She turned back and spoke to the elves, whose attention finally focused on her. "Harry and I have discussed the matter," a lie, but they had known each other long enough it hardly mattered, "and we would like to pay you two Galleons a day and offer you weekends and three weekdays a month off."
Lupin barely managed to suppress his laughter at the expressions of horror on the two elves faces, turning it into an unconvincing cough at the last moment. Winky's face was particularly expressive. He had to cover his face at Hermione's next statement, though, a deliberate, he was sure, misinterpretation of the horror on the tiny faces. "Is that not enough? Did you want more days off or more money per day?" Winky looked positively fit to burst into tears and Dobby was not much better as Hermione looked back and forth between them.
"Dobby," Harry interrupted, "how much did Professor Dumbledore pay you before you came here?"
Dobby seemed to sniffle slightly before responding. "Dobby was being paid two Galleons a month, Harry Potter sir. And Professor Dumbledore had talked Winky into a knut a week. We was both having two days off a month."
It was Hermione's turn to look horrified. "But… but… house elves are worth so much more than human servants." That did manage to set both of them off, bawling in their hysterical house elf manner. "You should be paid as such," she finished meekly, know there was no way she could be heard. Unknowingly, Hermione had just made the two house elves willing to die for her.
Harry, meanwhile, was trying desperately to calm the elves so the discussion could continue. Eventually, he even succeeded. "Now, you two obviously think you're not worth how much Hermione and I think you are, but we refuse to pay you as little as Professor Dumbledore did."
Dobby interrupted him, surprisingly. Well, started talking when Harry paused for breath, anyways. "Begging your pardon, Harry Potter sir, but Professor Dumbledore is a great wizard, and very generous to his house elves. And there is not as much working to be done at Harry Potter's house."
"Alright, then, Dobby, with a lower bound of your Hogwarts pay and an upper bound of Hermione's offer, how much do you think you," his gaze took in both elves, "should be paid?" Harry questioned the elf.
The house elf looked surprised at the direct question, tennis ball eyes growing much larger. He was definitely thinking about it, though, which Harry took to be a good sign. Finally after looking back and forth between the two magical young people for a long while, noticing their equally set expressions, Dobby spoke. "Dobby thinks that Harry Potter sir should be paying him one Galleon a week and be paying Winky one sickle a month."
"And days off?" Hermione prompted eagerly, as if she sensed the elves about to cave. Harry was not so sure, though."
"Three days," Dobby said sharply. Hermione's objection was predictable, even if one had the Divination skills of a troll, but Harry spoke before she could.
"That's fine, Dobby." He smiled. "Now, both of you will be responsible for general cleaning and food preparation. Dobby, you will report to me and Lupin when we need something, and you, Winky, will take care of Hermione. Now, as to funding, whatever is reasonable, in your experience, for supplies and the like, will be acceptable." There was, after all, no danger of a house elf attempting to rip them off.
The two elves nodded. "May we get started now, Harry Potter sir?"
Harry nodded in return. "Of course." Both elves vanished from their chairs.
* * * * *
Once Harry and Hermione had dressed and prepared for the day, they filled Lupin in on the events of the day before, and he agreed to help them search the Black library that Harry had inherited from Sirius for information about the Death Exchange, as Dumbledore was allowing him to rest, and look after the two young adults.
By midafternoon, Hermione was the only one not tired of staring at book that had not helped them at all. Harry was getting obviously fidgety as he rapidly turned pages in his current tome, Seeking Immortality. Lupin had been staring blankly at the same page for about half an hour in a book Harry did not recognize.
Hermione, on the other hand, was flipping pages nearly as fast as Harry, but not idly, and the rapid movement of her eyes gave away that she was actually reading everything in a huge book entitled The Impermanance of Death. When it was closed, Harry estimated it would be close to three feet thick. The young witch was barely a few inches in.
Stopping reading, Harry watched, inappropriately fascinated, as Hermione bit her lower lip in thought as she flipped another page. After a moment, he turned his gaze on Lupin, whose blank stare was now directed up where a nearby bookcase met the ceiling of the library. "Hermione," Harry said softly.
Her failure to respond to his soft prompting birthed a certain louder action. He snapped his tome shut, the bang catching Lupin's attention, his head snapping down to look at Harry. Hermione's head rose more slowly and she regarded Harry curiously, question in her eyes.
"I can't take these books anymore. Researching has never been my best skill."
Hermione looked disappointed, briefly, before she nodded. "Go then. I'll find it myself." While the disappointment in her eyes was masked, the bitter beginnings of anger in her voice were not.
Harry and Lupin both recognized the tone, and Harry started to say something, to argue, but thought better of it. They both scattered from the dank, musty room, despite being one of the best lit in the house.
It was the wrong decision.
Hermione did not join them for dinner than night. Winky monitored her, and took her food in the library, and reported to the two men the next morning that Miss Hermione had not left the library all night, though she had slept for a few hours.
Harry was barely able to function as he consumed his breakfast, though, and absorbed the report. His nightmares had returned worse than ever after two nights of holding Hermione in his arms while he slept.
If Lupin had not known better, he would have expected the boy had not slept in a week, by the circles which surrounded his eyes. Harry seemed to be dipping into his depression again as Hermione continued to shun them for the next few days.
Finally, on the evening of the third day, once the summer sun had gone down, as Harry and Lupin were relaxing late after dinner with their eighth game of Exploding Snap, Hermione burst into the lounge. "I've found it! We've got to go to Hogwarts and get it right now!"
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