~ Love in Blindness ~ Part 1
"Its over, Voldemort. You're finished!"
17 year old Harry Potter stood over his archenemy, his green eyes blazing. The Dark Lord glared at Harry and pulled himself up to his feet. Around them, the snow-covered Forbidden Forest was silent, not a single creature intruding on the duel. Near by, a trembling Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley silently watched the scene, sole witnesses to the final battle between the Dark Lord and the Boy who lived.
"I'm not the one who's finished!" Voldemort hissed. He raised his wand in an attempt to fire the killing curse, but before he had the chance, Harry fired a powerful burst of magic that slammed into Voldemort's body. The Dark Lord was flung back some thirty feet and crashed into an old oak tree with a sickening crack. With a hideous twitch, Voldemort's body fell limp.
Exhausted yet triumphant, Harry turned around to face his two best friends. The look of sheer terror and worry on Hermione's face had been replaced with a small smile. Before Harry could say anything however, Hermione's face suddenly took on an expression of alarm.
"Harry look out!" Without a single thought of hesitation, Hermione shoved Harry out of the way. In the process, a final curse fired by Voldemort slammed into her face.
With a cry of pure rage, Harry blasted Voldemort away, finally finishing the Dark Lord once and for all.
* * *
The days that followed were a time of celebration for the wizarding world. The Boy Who Lived had finally defeated Lord Voldemort, whom had been terrorizing the world for decades. Wizards and Witches all over Britain went out and celebrated in public and major magical corporations let all their employees have paid vacations to enjoy the celebrations. Minister of Magic Cornelius Fudge declared January 23rd, the day of the final defeat of the Dark Lord, a holiday and even Hogwarts cancelled classes for a week.
However, there were two people that did not join in the celebrations. Harry Potter and Ron Weasley were worried sick about Hermione who was in a coma in the Hospital Wing. Ron was very upset, spending his time either raving around the Gryffindor Common Room or the hallways whenever Madame Pomfrey kicked him out of the Hospital Wing. He even lost his appetite.
Harry however was outright hysterical. He spent the next few days sitting next to the comatose Hermione holding her hand tightly neither eating nor sleeping. In fact, if it weren't for his breathing people might have mistaken him for some king of statue or have thought he was petrified. After many failed attempts at trying to get Harry to move, Madame Pomfrey had given up and simply allowed him to stay in his chair.
For the longest time, Harry simply sat as if he himself was comatose. Eventually, after about three days, Ron finally came to his senses and tried to convince Harry to move, with encouragement from the other Gryffindors.
"Come on Harry, you've got to eat something," Ron said. Harry didn't move let alone acknowledge Ron's presence. He simply continued staring at Hermione still as a statue.
Ron turned to the people in the doorway, namely the other seventh year Gryffindors Dean Thomas, Lavender Brown, Neville Longbottom, Parvati Patil, and Seamus Finnigan. They shrugged and urged Ron to continue.
"Come on Harry," Ron urged. "You can't waste your life like this, especially now that You-Know-Who's gone. What would Hermione say about you wasting away like this?"
Harry still remained completely still. Ron sighed sadly and was about to leave when Harry suddenly spoke.
"She shoved me out of the way."
Relieved to finally get a reaction out of Harry, Ron turned back to his best friend and said, "Yeah, I know. I was there."
"She shoved me out of the way," Harry said. "It should've been me who took the effect of that curse. I'm supposed to be the one lying on the bed here, not her! Its my fault she's like this!" By this point he was practically yelling.
"Mate, if it weren't for you..."
"If it weren't for me Ron," Harry chocked back a sob. "Hermione would be up and well nagging you about not studying for the N.E.W.T.s or something like that! Not lying here. Not lying here..." Slowly, Harry became quiet and resumed his previous statue like state.
"Harry," Ron was about to say something when he felt a hand on his shoulder. Turning around, Ron was startled to find Albus Dumbledore standing behind him.
"Let him be," Dumbledore said. "He will come out of it when he is ready. Until then, we should just leave him alone."
* * *
Days passed and still Hermione did not wake up nor did Harry move. Finally, the day came that marked a full week from the final defeat of Voldemort. A full week of staying awake finally catching up to him, Harry was dozing with his head on Hermione's pillow when he felt movement next to him.
Harry's head snapped up to see Hermione stirring, soft moans escaping from her lips. Her bushy brown hair started to shift, giving it a golden glow like a halo in the sunlight and her eyelashes started to flutter.
Ecstatic, Harry smiled his first genuine smile in a week as sprang from his chair. He considered calling Madame Pomfrey but decided against it; for some reason he didn't understand why, he wanted to make sure that his face was the first face Hermione saw when she woke up.
"Hermione?" he whispered.
"Harry?" Hermione moaned. Her eyes were still closed. "Is that you?"
"Yes, its me."
"Oh Harry," Hermione sat up and threw her arms around Harry. Though her eyes were still closed, she was able to tell where he was by the sound of his voice and the feeling of his presence. "Oh Harry, I was so scared," she gushed, tears leaking out of her closed eyelids. "Are you OK? Did he harm you in some way?"
"I'm OK," Harry said. "You're OK, we're all OK, Voldemort's gone. He can't harm any of us anymore. Everything's going to be all right from now on."
Hermione smiled through her tears and opened her eyes. Her smile was soon replaced with a frown and she said, "Um, Harry, is it night? Could you turn the light on, I can't see anything."
Hermione felt Harry tense. "Hermione, its one in the afternoon. The sun's out."
Hermione started shaking, as if she was suddenly frightened of something. Feeling a chill creep up his spine, Harry pulled back and looked into her eyes for the first time.
Her usually bright chocolate brown eyes, were dull as if there was no sign of life in them. Harry was shocked as Hermione started to tremble, tears leaking out of her dulled eyes.
"Harry? What's wrong with me?" But she already knew the answer. Both of them did, the fear and shock hanging over them like an omen.
Hermione was blind.
To be continued...