Aftereffects
Ron felt fuzzy. Not warm and fuzzy, but confused; he couldn't straighten out the voices around him. Was he still on the field? What had happened? He could hear someone whispering his name, right into his ear and felt a shiver down his spine….bypassing the pain he felt in his shoulder. He felt something in his hand and for a moment thought he might have accidentally caught the snitch and just never gave it back. He squeezed it, trying to figure out what it was and it squeezed back. He heard the voices a little more clearly.
Ginny's with sobs: "If only I had seen it."
Fred, or George? angrily: "I'll kick that Slytherin's arse…."
Mum: "George!"
George mumbling: "Sorry mum."
Harry: "Ginny, don't be angry…"
Hermione: "He will be ok…remember all the times Harry was in here."
A hand squeeze again, curtains closing around him and people scurrying around.
"Ron, come on…wake up," whispered the voice, the one that gave him chills, good chills down his spine. A
pause, as he contemplated waking up or just laying in the soft bed, not moving.
"If you wake up, you might just get a very nice snog…," the voice tantalized him and Ron gave a small moan that was not heard beyond the curtains with all the people talking.
He could hear Madame Pomfrey talking about a dislocated shoulder, broken wrist, and a concussion. He figured she must be talking about him and forced his eyes open just a bit. Blinking slowly against the bright light, and how it hurt just to open them, he found himself staring at a pair of blurry brown eyes, very bloodshot. He blinked once more and she came into focus. Ron gave a small smile to Samantha and squeezed her hand, closing his eyes for a moment.
"Uh-uh…keep those eyes open." Samantha leaned in and placed a hand on his face.
"Wake up, doctor's orders. You need to take all sorts of strange looking medicine." She ran a thumb over the bruise on his cheek and his eyes fluttered open one more time, feeling a warm tingly line where her thumb had caressed him.
"Where's my kiss?" Ron asked hoarsely, keeping his eyes fixed on her face. She looked startled for a minute, then realized that he must have heard her.
"You---h-h-heard that?" she stammered, trying to take her hand out of his, but he gripped it even harder and gave her a small smile. She gave a small sigh then smiled back at him. "Well, Samantha Erin Granger never goes back on her word," and she leaned forward and pressed her lips to his, feeling that shock go thorough her like it did back in Harry's kitchen. He moved them slowly against hers, then started to reach up and touch the back of her head when they heard his mother's voice getting closer. Samantha jumped back, smiled at him then moved to open the curtain, letting them know he was awake.
Ron saw his sister come in first, obviously she had been crying and she proceeded to lay into him about how could he have left his post to make sure she was ok, how could he have put himself between her and that ball when he didn't need to…then she feel silent crying, again, as she realized what Ron had done for her. Ron glanced around and saw that Samantha was still standing next to his head and everyone else gathered around him.
"Did you get the snitch?" Ron asked his sister, his voice hoarse. She just nodded at him and wiped the tears from her eyes with the back of her Quidditch robes.
"Good." Ron answered and smiled at her, then felt a bit embarrassed by the look of gratitude on his mother's face and the open look of pride on his father's face. His parents had always witnessed him harassing Ginny, making fun of her, them arguing all the time and now they saw him display that close connection he had with his little sister, but always tried to hide. Ron squirmed a bit and met Harry's eyes.
"Fancy you being there and not me," Harry had his arm around Hermione who was looking at Ron with that piercing gaze, observing him as a future healer would.
"Yea…fancy that." Ron closed his eyes for a minute, feeling Samantha's hand resting on his good shoulder. Madame Pomfrey came in and began measuring out dosages of medicines that he needed to take.
"Drink it fast, mate." Harry advised and Ron did as he was told, choking down the liquid, then leaning back again, listening to Madame Pomfrey tell him about his shoulder, his wrist, his head and how lucky he was…on and on until Fred interrupted by saying that maybe Ron needed some rest.
"Yes, Mr. Weasley," Madame Pomfrey agreed in an annoyed voice. "But I need to check his shoulder one more time." She moved in front of Harry and grabbed Ron's arm, moving it around. Ron reared out of bed.
"Bloody Hell that hurts!" he yelled trying to move away.
"Ronald!" his mum scolded, but looking worried at the same time.
"Sorry mum," Ron said through clenched teeth.
"Your range of motion is much improved than it was hours ago. Just rest tonight. Miss Granger," she directed her gaze at Samantha, clearly taken aback by being called by her last name. "You may stay until he falls back asleep, then you need to leave." Samantha nodded. Ron's mother and sister gave him a kiss on the cheek, Hermione a pat on his good shoulder and the men gave a wave and a pat on the leg. Ron waved to them then laid back and closed his eyes again.
"What you did was phenomenal." Samantha carefully sat on the edge of the bed and Ron opened his eyes once again.
"No. Stupid's what it was. I left my position."
"You went to your sister!"
"She is tough, she could have…," Ron started but was silenced when her hand covered his mouth.
"You won't admit it, but you protected her. Just sod it and take a compliment." Samantha smiled and removed her hand, letting it lay on his chest. Automatically, Ron realized, his hand came up and took it as their eyes met. Ron wasn't sure if it was the medicine or the look she was giving him, but he was now feeling pretty warm all over and that chill was back down his spine. He noticed her red eyes again, they looked like she had been crying…hard for him to imagine.
"Were you crying?" Ron asked, his eyes searching over her face, not being able to picture her crying for any reason. She looked away for a minute and gave the tiniest shrug of her shoulders.
"Why?" he asked, with a note of wariness in his voice; not sure if he wanted to know or not. Samantha tried to pull her hand away, but Ron held tight again, as tight as his wrist would let him, trying to get her to open up a bit more to him.
"When I saw you fall, it scared the hell out of me. I have never seen this game before, I didn't know if that was normal or how badly you were hurt. Then, when you didn't move and your family went out onto the field, I knew it couldn't be good, and I was----worried, about you," she whispered the end and felt him tug her hand to get her attention. She turned to face him, and he tentatively held out his good arm, his left one, for her to lean into. She leaned forward and rested her forehead on his shoulder, feeling his hand touch her hair, and they sat like that for a few moments.
Outside the hospital wing, Ron could hear people going back and forth getting ready for dinner. He was feeling very sleepy and pushed Samantha back so she would look up at him.
"Thanks for coming today." His hand cupped the side of her face.
"Well sure, but I will be here awhile." Samantha answered, a bit of confusion in her voice.
"For what?" now they were both clearly confused. Ron thinking it was a Parent Weekend visit, Samantha assuming her cousin told him about the exchange program.
"Didn't Hermione tell you?" Samantha cocked her head to the side and saw him shake his head, then wince, removing his hand from her cheek and massaging his right shoulder.
"Well, I am here until Christmas for a Muggle-Magic Exchange Program that Professor Dumbledore ok'd." Samantha saw a look of surprise, elation and then surprise again, fall across his face and she felt her heart leap…that one look of total happiness was something she hadn't expected to see.
"You're what?" Ron straightened up a bit, feeling a rush of excitement move from his head to his toes.
"Yea, I am here to shadow Hermione and probably you and Harry to classes, take some notes on what they are like and write a paper for my O levels on everything I experienced. A girl named Lavender is heading to my school as we speak. Hermione helped me set it up with your headmaster."
"Hermione will so pay for not telling me," Ron said more to himself than Samantha. She smiled at him and before he could think, he placed his hand on the back of her neck and pulled her down, settling his lips on hers, increasing the pressure until she leaned fully against him and returned his demand, breathing in deeply as she felt him touch her lip with his tongue. 'Good lord', Samantha thought, feeling that now familiar electricity flow through her, 'this is so much better than any other guy'…she carefully removed her hand from his that was lying on his chest, carefully moving his bandaged wrist to the side, then ran her hand up his chest, feeling his muscles under her fingers to place her hand against his cheek. She heard him groan and she pulled away quickly, afraid she had hurt him.
"You ok?" she whispered, trying to regain some control. He nodded and gave her a sleepy smile.
"I am going to let you sleep." Samantha patted his chest and stood up, rearranging the blankets around him.
"Ok, see you later?" he questioned, eyes already closing.
"You bet." Samantha answered and quietly closed the curtains behind her, catching Hermione's eye who waited in a chair by the entrance.
---------------------------------------------------
An hour later all the parents and students were eating dinner in the Great Hall, the noise much louder than usual. Harry kept glancing at his aunt who refused to look at the head table. She was actually making somewhat pleasant conversation with Hermione's mother about flowers and plants. Dudley was making small talk with Hermione's father about drills and answering questions about what his father did, apparently Uncle Vernon was on a business trip to Germany and had no idea that his wife and son were even at Hogwarts.
Harry began a deep conversation with Hermione and Samantha, talking in hushed tones about what he had witnessed down in the dungeons. He gave an entertained smile as he saw identical frowns crease the Granger's faces; 'so alike yet so different' he thought. Neville was looking back and forth between them trying to figure out the story himself. He was sitting next to Harry and had remained quiet, pondering how they could have met.
"Harry, I think your aunt has things up her sleeve you probably don't want to know." Ginny had remarked, who was next to Neville. Neville glanced up at her, without really seeing her. Harry saw the thoughtful look on his friend's face and nudged Neville.
"You have any ideas?" Harry questioned Neville.
"Well," Neville poked at his meat and slid it around his plate. "You know how when we get to Kings Crossing and we see each other, before we go to 9 ¾?" Harry saw a look of understanding dawn on Hermione's face, but she practiced self restraint to let Neville continue. "Well, if your grandparents took your Aunt along with them to drop her off and pick her up, then she would have seen Professor in that time period." Neville said quietly.
"Makes so much sense! Good thinking Neville!" Ginny smiled at him and Neville smiled back and then bowed his head to his plate.
"How can I find this out though? She won't tell me!" Harry mumbled through a mouthful of potatoes. Then he paused and looked up, sensing Hermione's gaze on him. She was sitting right next to her father and couldn't say much, even if he wasn't really paying attention to the teens at the table. She narrowed her eyes and gave a jerk of her head towards the Head table. Harry's eyes flickered to the table and he saw Snape, gazing over towards him. Harry turned his eyes back at Hermione and stared at her for a minute. He nodded and winked at her and continued eating. Samantha leaned over and asked what was going on. Harry leaned across and mouthed "Legilimency" to her then nodded at his aunt and Hermione nodded, showing that he was right in understanding what he was saying.
"Now?" he barely whispered and Hermione shrugged.
"Up to you." She whispered back as Ginny leaned over and asked what was going on. Hermione leaned back and quickly told Samantha what Harry could try to do to understand how Petunia and Snape knew each other.
"Don't," Neville mumbled. "Snape is right up there, he might know what is going on. Do it when they leave tonight." Neville glanced quickly at Petunia who was finishing up her steak and potatoes. Ginny nodded in agreement; Hermione was still trying to make Samantha understand what was going on. A second later, Harry heard the clinking of a glass coming from the head table and the whole great room quieted down.
"Parents, students, relatives. I want to thank you for joining us at Hogwarts today for our first Parent's Weekend in the history of the school." Cheers and clapping followed that statement and continued until Dumbledore held up his hand. "Today's resounding success was due in part to the cooperation of all the houses involved, the Ministry of Magic for setting up numerous floo networks for people to use, if they wished, and mostly in part I think you will agree to Mister Harry Potter; if he had not defeated Voldemort, all the parents and relatives would not be sitting here today." Dumbledore nodded at Harry, his aunt and cousin stared at him as people began to clap and yell. Then, making Harry even more red in the face, his fellow students stood up for a standing ovation, followed by parents and relatives. Most of Slytherin were still seated but clapping, just because Dumbledore had made it a point to look in their direction.
"SPEECH! SPEECH!" was the cheer resounding around the room. Neville hauled Harry up by grabbing him under his arm and Harry shook his head, but the cheer went on and on. He glanced up at Dumbledore again, who gave him a nod as to go ahead and do it. Harry sighed, glanced at Hermione who was beaming at him and cleared his throat. He pointed his wand to his throat and said the Sonorous charm and began speaking.
"Thank you everyone," Harry said shyly, noticing Dudley falling backwards at the sound of Harry's loud voice. He was caught by his mother and Mr. Granger before he crashed to the floor. Harry couldn't help a smile that spread across his face as he saw that. Harry looked around the room and waited for everyone to find their seats again and quiet down.
"I really don't know what to say….ummm…I didn't defeat Voldemort all by myself. If it hadn't been for Professor McGonagall, Professor Snape," Harry saw his aunts head swivel towards the head table, "and our wonderful Headmaster, I don't think I would be standing here saying any of this." Harry stopped as he tried to search for the right words. You would be able to hear a knut drop with as quiet as it was in the great hall. It reminded him of OWL exam time, except without the scratching of the quills.
"I am just glad that after six long years, he is finally gone. It's my hope that this year everyone can have fun, can move about Hogsmeade and the Muggle World without fear." Harry paused and looked down at his plate, trying to think of something to say. He saw Hermione smiling up at him and Ginny watching him.
"I know that I would have never made it through any of this without my good friends: Ron, who is in the hospital wing and recovering nicely, his sister Ginny, Neville, Luna and also," Harry smiled at Hermione who was already turning pink, "Hermione." There were claps and some wolf whistles, but Harry forged on, eager to be done this impromptu speech.
"And, I am really going to miss this place." Harry turned around doing a slow 360 degree turn, looking at every house table and every professor in the room, "It has been my home for seven years and I wouldn't have been able to call it that if it weren't for everyone here who has helped me in one way or another. And, ummmmm, I guess, finally a thank you to my parents, who gave me this gift, the gift of love as I was told, to defeat the dark lord. Ummm...that's it I guess." Harry nodded to Dumbledore and sat down, to the sound of applause reverberating around the room.
Hermione reached over and touched his hand as Neville clapped him on the shoulder. Harry smiled down at his plate, still slightly embarrassed, not liking to talk in front of people he didn't know or associate with on a regular basis. He busied himself with the ice cream and apple pie that appeared in front of him, not looking up until he was finished.
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Harry walked quietly and a bit nervously down to the gates with his cousin and aunt. Dudley looked shell-shocked and kept glancing over at the lake after hearing about the giant squid that resided there. He hadn't said much this whole trip, every once in awhile he would smile at some Slytherin girl that would make eyes at him, but he kept his distance, clearly afraid of everyone and what they could do to him. Hagrid had seen Dudley at dinner and had waved to him, which made Dudley surreptitiously run his hands along his bum. But now, Harry was waiting to say goodbye, to see if he could "legilimens" his aunt, to see if he could figure out the whole Aunt Petunia/Snape relationship (he shuddered at that thought). Harry carefully steered his "family" around the groups of people at the gate and stepped onto the grass, away from the crowd. Aunt Petunia turned towards Harry and held out her hand. Harry took it and held it for a minute, meeting her eyes and calling up his knowledge of what Snape had taught him. He was suddenly flooded with images, thoughts, words and feelings that he hoped he could sort through later.
"Harry, good luck with the rest of your semester," Aunt Petunia said, still holding Harry's hand. The connection he had with her was broken and he nodded, then thanked her as he let go of her hand. Dudley just looked at him and shook his head. His mother nudged him as if to make him say something. Dudley glanced at the ground, clearly not wanting to speak to Harry. He hardly ever put two sentences together to carry on any conversation with his cousin.
"Have fun," Dudley muttered and walked a few feet away, glancing in the distance as the smoke stack from the Hogwart's Express started pumping steam into the air. Someone yelled that the carriages were here to take the parents back, that were leaving tonight (many parents were staying in Hogsmeade, but they were the Magic ones). Harry was duly impressed that his aunt and cousin even came to visit.
"Well, I guess we will see you at graduation. We plan on attending, or at least, I do." Aunt Petunia's voice had a sad note and Harry just nodded. She reached out and touched his arm, just above his elbow and Harry almost jumped in surprise at this sudden gesture. "Good bye," she whispered, turned away and pulled Dudley down the hill after her. Harry stood for a moment, watching their backs retreat. Harry then turned and walked towards the lake. He needed to find a quiet place where he could sort through the images that were racing through his head, and almost making him sick to his stomach.
Harry settled himself under a tree, looking out over the lake and noticing the reflection of the crescent moon. He knew that if Hermione couldn't find him after seeing off her parents she would make her way out here. He made a mental note to save time, before curfew, to go visit Ron again. Harry leaned back and closed his eyes and began rewinding the images that he had "received" from his aunt.
He saw his aunt walking behind what must be his mother, long red hair flowing down her back, dressed in a Muggle dress and a hair band in her hair. He could feel Petunia's anger at having to accompany her sister and a parent to what was obviously Kings Crossing. Through Petunia's eyes he saw the regular trains, people with pushcarts, a woman with a baby, a few other kids that looked their age that obviously, to Harry, were going to Platform 9 ¾….they had owl's with them, large trunks like Harry had. His mother and grandparents stopped and were talking to someone. Petunia looked around, doing a full circle then stopped, looking at a boy coming down the stairs. He was tall, thin, very pale and had shoulder length black hair…Harry recognized him as a very young Snape. This boy walked closer and closer to Petunia and she saw him so clearly. Suddenly, he stopped and looked right at Petunia, their eyes meeting. He looked maybe 11 or 12 years old, it was hard to tell and he could see that this young Snape still had the cold look in his eyes. He was by himself, pulling a trunk behind him. He nodded to Petunia, then flicked his eyes to Lily then proceeded down the platform, disappearing into the wall.
Next, Harry saw his aunt picking up his mother, this time he saw his mother's full face as she walked through the wall to meet her parents. She was young, and to Harry looked a bit like Ginny, except with green eyes. She was a bit taller than when she left and was talking animatedly to a friend next to her. He then saw Petunia take a few steps away from her parents, as if going to read the map but then she stopped when she saw Snape walking next to someone, coming up the platform. Again, their eyes met and it seemed for a minute that he was about to stop and talk to her, but the boy next to Snape grabbed his arm and pointed up the platform at someone.
This continued for the next few scenes…he could see his mother get older, could see his father get on and off and see how he would glance over at Lily, who wouldn't even give him the time of day, until that very last time they stepped off that train…
Harry almost fell over, literally, when he saw his mother and father walking up the platform, hand in hand like they had been in love all their lives. They were laughing and she was hugging his arm as they dragged their their trunks behind them. From Petunia's eyes, she had only glanced at them for a moment, before looking at the ground then back up and looking right at Snape. He was very tall and looked very similar to how he does now….
"Miss Evans," Snape drawled, exactly the way he did hours ago in the dungeons of Hogwarts.
"Hello, Severus… right?" Petunia's voice was quiet, with a hint of nervousness. Snape nodded, reached into his robes and pulled out a piece of parchment. He reached over, took her hand and pressed the paper into it. His eyes roamed over her face for a moment, before he let go, turned around and left. Petunia moved to shelter herself behind a wall as her parents met James behind her back. She unfolded the parchment….
Harry glanced up, losing his train of thought, as a shadow crossed his path and saw Hermione standing next to him. He didn't know how long he had been sitting there, but the moon was higher, it was quiet and very dark out.
"You ok?" Hermione sat down next to him, crossing her legs under her cloak. Harry shook his head and pressed his fingers to his eyes, under his glasses. He looked over at her.
"Yea, just processing. Still need to think about a few more things I saw, but you are a very lovely interruption." Harry smiled at her, loving how the moon reflected off her face casting an ivory glow about her. He reached out and ran his knuckles across her cheek, then let his hand fall back to the ground. He repeated everything he just saw from his aunt's memory, then fell silent sensing that Hermione was thinking everything over. She sighed and moved a bit closer, so their shoulders were touching.
"They sound like two very sad and depressed people. I bet if she was a witch, they would have been almost perfect for each other," she said, giving a slight shiver at the thought. Harry made a disgusting noise then shook his head.
"My family is so messed up. How did I turn out ok?" Harry felt Hermione move closer, then situate herself in his lap, straddling his legs.
"You are more than ok, and you had us at Hogwarts to direct you on the right path. Oh," she began as her fingers gently brushed through his hair, "I just saw Ron, he is sleeping and will be out tomorrow."
She leaned over and kissed him warmly on the mouth. Harry pulled her closer, wrapping his arms around her, mentally cursing anyone who interrupted them now. Not long after Harry's hand found its way under her cloak, under her shirt and onto her warm skin, did Hermione start gently rocking her hips against his. A flame moved up Harry's body and back down again as he felt her movements.
Harry laid down and pulled her on top of him, her black cloak billowing around them in the darkness, mostly hiding them from anyone who MIGHT be out and around. He opened his eyes and saw her looking down at him, breathing heavily. Her hands were working his robes, moving them out from under their bodies…then her hand found the button on his pants.
"Here?" Harry mumbled against her lips, pushing up against her as she pushed his pants down with some help. She just nodded and let out a moan as his hands hiked her skirt up under her cloak…she pulled him up to a sitting position, trying to get as close as possible to him. Hands were pushing clothing that covered any part of the lower body away. Hermione let out a soft, happy noise as his hands ran up her thighs and she quickly moved to her knees. Harry gasped as she took control, raised herself up and pushed herself down on him. For a moment she sat there and Harry couldn't move, totally entranced by the cold air on his face, and the warmth everywhere else. She seemed to be gathering herself, making sure nothing hurt until she started rocking against him. Harry couldn't wait, his hands moved around her, under her cloak, wrapped up her sides and grabbed her shoulders as he pushed up against her. She placed hungry kisses on his mouth, sighing as his tongue sought hers and she felt him move against her.
Harry totally forgot everything, where they were, what he had been doing just minutes before. He grabbed her hips, helping her move against him, kissing her neck as she tilted it back as if to look up at the stars. She gave him a gentle push and fell over on top of him moaning his name and grabbing the shoulders of his shirt, bunching the fabric in her hands. They moved frantically against each other, Harry's hands moved to her chest, hearing her make little humming noises and a then a loud gasp as his fingers trailed lightly against her bra. He could feel the heat from her slight frame covering him and the cool grass beneath his robe creating an erotic sensation that flowed from his body into hers.
She breathed his name and he moved his hands to her hips, fingers resting on the curve of her back, pulling her down as he pushed up. Hermoine started crying out his name, no regard for how loud she was and Harry saw and felt flashes of white as he pulled her down hard against him, feeling her push into the length of his body, feeling her fingers digging into his shoulders; he cried out her name, arching against her and felt her lips meet his to muffle both their noises. He felt her contract against him and he lost all of his senses, just feeling her was enough to drive him over the edge, grabbing her roughly and plunging as deep as he could before involuntarily arching up into her, calling her name over and over, until he was to breathless to say anything more.
The feeling of losing control slowly subsided as he felt her breathing heavily against his chest, her hair tickling his chin, He opened his eyes and she was looking at him, their mouths so close that if he flicked out his tongue, he could touch her lips.
"God Hermione, that was brilliant. What got into you?" he caressed her back. She was still breathing heavily, her face very flushed and radiating heat, but managed a smile.
"You." She gave a little evil grin and Harry's eyes widened at this unusual display of "word play" then he moved his head up a fraction and kissed her.
"You know what I mean….," he said against her lips, hearing her sigh softly.
"I think it's been building up all day, starting from when you gave me that kiss before breakfast this morning. You have no idea what you do to me, Harry." Hermione carefully removed herself from his chest and set about moving her wand and cleaning up their clothes, themselves….
"Wow," he sighed, completely happy. He saw her moving her wand in small movements and felt his pants zoom back up his legs, and was suddenly started from his "afterglow".
"But umm…this all happened so quickly, I-I didn't say any charms." Harry sat up and buttoned his pants, peering around the lake and grass, but everyone was clearly inside. Hermione froze in her movements and stared at him and he stared back, hands freezing on his zipper.
"Bloody hell," Hermione whispered her movements too were frozen. Harry could see that she was very scared and very concerned. He stood up, grabbed her hands and pulled her up with him, wrapping his arms around her.
"Don't worry, please don't," he kissed her cheek, her hair, he rubbed her back. He could feel Hermione struggling to control her emotions of what could possibly happen. "I love you. No matter what, I love you." He tilted her head back and saw tears in her eyes. She nodded at him.
"But, what if---," she began in a strangled whisper.
"If you get pregnant? Then you do and we have a baby accompanying us to graduation. If you don't, then you don't. Please don't worry, but I know you won't listen to me, just try not to worry…too much," he kissed her quickly on the lips and quietly guided her back to the castle, fully aware that curfew had come and gone.