A/N: I just have one word for all the readers - WOW! You people are amazing! I got twenty three reviews on the last chapter. Compared to the three or four I was getting at the beginning of this story, I feel I've made great progress. A lot of suggestions from you all have been implemented in the story so it's unfair to call this my story. The story is our story. Any suggestions are welcome. Thanks once again for all the reviews and please continue the trend.
I'd like to share something personal with you all. I watched a movie two days back which resembles the Harry/Hermione situation tremendously (at least the way it's expected to be in the seventh book). In the end the lead pair gets together. I'd like to quote two lines of this (in terms of Harry and Hermione, of course). I hope these lines do get repeated in the seventh book. So here goes:-
"Harry we are best friends! We don't love each other," said Hermione.
"Which love are you talking about Hermione? What is love? Is it what you have with Ron and I have with Ginny? And today when we need them the most, where are they? If that is love then our friendship is far better than love. At least we are always there for each other and are faithful to our friendship," said Harry.
This chapter, as suggested by the title is dark. After reading your reviews I've decided not to keep Hermione under the spell for more than two chapters. I'm exploring new territory i.e. angst, in this chapter. Please be kind. A large portion of the chapter is narration. So some of you may not like it as much as the other chapters. Sorry for the long Author's Note and Happy reading!
Chapter 16: Darkness Everywhere
"Harry…," Hermione stopped again.
"What's the problem Hermione? You can tell me anything, you know that right!" said Harry trying to comfort her. Hermione again pushed his hand away as he tried to put his arms around her.
"You need to tell me Hermione! I'll help in any way I can," urged Harry, slightly worried now. Hermione's heart broke seeing the look on his face. They didn't deserve this. However the pain was increasing every moment. Soon it would be beyond tolerable limits. For a second she contemplated telling him everything, no matter how much pain it caused. But she remembered Cho's warning about the possible implications of not following her orders. She had to act now.
"HarryIthinkweshouldbreakup," she said very fast.
"What? I didn't get you," said Harry patiently. Hermione couldn't bear to say the whole thing again.
"Breakup," she said shortly. The pain reduced slightly. Harry looked as if he'd been slapped on the face. A million thoughts came into his mind. He didn't know what to say first.
"Why?" was all he could say. Hermione kept her tears in check.
"It isn't working Harry. Please don't ask many questions. It's for the best," she forced herself to say. Harry still had a disbelieving expression on his face.
"How can you say that? I wouldn't trade what I have with you for anything. No, this can't be happening. Tell me it's a joke Hermione. Tell me fast!" Harry almost shouted.
"It's not a joke Harry," replied Hermione. There was a knot in her throat now.
"So you say you are serious. Okay if that's what you want I won't come in your way. But you need to do something for me before that. Look into my eyes and say you don't love me," responded Harry. He was a hundred percent sure that Hermione wouldn't be able to do that. Hermione looked up to his eyes.
"I…," she started.
"I don't…," she couldn't complete it. Her tear ducts had finally given way and the tears were flowing freely. Before Harry could notice she turned around and ran. The sight of Harry's green eyes had snapped her. Even during the toughest of times his eyes had hope in them. But today the feelings of betrayal, mental trauma and extreme sadness were etched all over them.
"Hermione wait!" shouted Harry. To his disappointment Hermione had already disappeared. The fact that Hermione hadn't said what he had asked her to say, gave him hope. This wasn't Hermione. He needed to get the old Hermione back. He would do everything in his power to get her.
Hermione ran back to her bedroom. She put the strongest locking charm she knew on the door. Then her tears rolled down in buckets. She had just been the most heartless person in the world. She'd hurt the person who loved her beyond everything, where it hurt the most. She quickly cast a Silencing charm on the room and screamed out her frustration. She wanted to kill Cho that very moment. She and Harry had let her off after catching her following them. Yet she did this. How spiteful could someone be?
"Hermione, please open the door! We need to talk?" begged Harry knocking on the door. Hermione lifted the Silencing charm before replying.
"I want to be alone. Please don't knock again," said Hermione in a shrill voice. Harry knew it was useless to argue with her. He still couldn't figure out what had caused this. He'd give Hermione sometime to herself and then talk to her.
However Harry couldn't do what he had hoped for. Over the next few days Hermione completely avoided everyone. She didn't go for meals with the rest of the school. Instead she had asked Dobby to get some food to her room. She sat alone in classes. When one classes ended she rushed of to the next one or to her bedroom. She tried her best not to look at Harry. The constant hurt expressions in his face broke her apart.
One day while she was rushing off after a class somebody stopped her. It was Luna. She literally blocked her way.
"Like it or not Hermione, I want to talk to you. If you want we could go to a more private place," Luna said. Hermione nodded knowing Luna was determined. They walked into an empty classroom.
"Why are you behaving like this? Harry loves you. We all are your friends. Any trouble you have, you can discuss with us. Playing the cat and mouse game will not get you anywhere. If you don't want to tell everyone at least tell Harry. If it's a feminine problem tell me or Ginny. This can't go on," said Luna. Hermione knew that this moment would come sooner or later. The good thing was it was not with Harry.
"I realized our relationship was going nowhere. I have personal reasons. So I didn't want to linger on with it," replied Hermione without any expression.
"Your experience with the deformed Ron hasn't taught you anything. You say things weren't working with Harry. Then how would you describe 'things' with Ron?" asked Luna angrily.
"I don't know," replied Hermione blankly. Luna softened a bit.
"Okay for a minute I'm believing you. Even if you want to breakup with Harry, doesn't he deserve an explanation? After all you've been best friends for almost seven years. He's hurting like hell. It's like he's alive but not living," said Luna.
"It may hurt more if I try and speak to him," said Hermione.
"So obviously you are hurting over this too. I don't know what you are up to but just remember one thing. These are two lines from a very famous song - 'Love can touch us one time; And last for a lifetime; And never let go till we're gone.'" said Luna before leaving the room. Hermione sat there for a few minutes totally dazed. As she was walking back to the Head's quarters she heard voices in a nearby classroom. The voices belonged to Harry, Ron and Luna.
"She's not herself," said Luna. "Her answers are not to the point. She's being evasive. That's not what one associates with Hermione. She's hurting over the breakup but I can't imagine what caused it," she added.
"At least she spoke to you. Maybe you being a girl helped. She's avoiding Harry like anything and not talking to me either. I wonder if her parents had anything against the relationship," replied Ron.
"No, that can't be the case. I got to know Robert and Diana Granger quite well over the holidays. They aren't the type of people who'd snatch away their daughter's happiness. And anyway Hermione is old enough to make her own decisions," said Harry, wearily. He'd had very little sleep the night before.
"There is something we are missing here. Can you find out where Hermione had been before she broke up with you? That can be a clue," suggested Ron.
"Where she was has nothing to do with it. Her feelings are what matter. She took the decision to breakup reluctantly. In the morning she had been perfectly fine. So something must have happened in the afternoon which caused this state," said Luna.
"Shall I ask Ginny? She may know something we don't. Hermione could have told her," said Ron. Luna sighed irritably.
"Ron, when will you grow up? If Ginny knew anything wouldn't she have already told us? And I don't think there is anything Hermione would tell Ginny and not tell Harry," she said. Ron was about to protest.
"It's okay. I've already spoken to her. She knows nothing. Walked into her and Neville snogging," interjected Harry monotonously.
"What the bloody hell! How dare Neville…," Ron stopped catching Luna's glare. She was discretely pointing towards Harry. Ron understood. The last thing Harry needed was a discussion on snogging.
"I think I'm going to take a nap," said Harry getting up. Hermione panicked as she heard Harry's footsteps coming towards the door. She quickly hid into the nearby broom cupboard. Harry walked out and sniffed. The scent was familiar. He could recognize it anywhere. He looked towards the broom cupboard, hearing a slight noise inside it.
"Hermione I know you're in there. I couldn't mistake the scent of your shampoo, could I? Clearly you don't want to talk to me. Despite the fact that you've hurt me so much I'll respect your wishes because I love you so much. But I want an explanation later. You owe this much to me, don't you?" said Harry in a choked voice before making his way to his bedroom.
Hermione was again reduced to tears. The pain shot up as she was thinking about Harry but at the moment she didn't care. She thought about ways in this could end this misery. That made the pain intolerable. She had to abandon her thoughts. She was suffering from severe depression. Like Harry she decided to take a nap. Probably a dream would give her some idea.
"Hi Hermione, so finally you've decided to talk to me," said Harry, glaring at her.
"I can explain everything Harry. It wasn't me. I was forced into what I was doing. I would never hurt you deliberately. I wanted to tell you that I still love you as much as I did before. I really mean it Harry. You are the only person in my heart," replied Hermione, trying to convince him.
"Heart! What do you think my heart is? Do you think you can break it when you want and then try and fix it expecting everything to be as before? I waited for you enough but I moved on," said Harry harshly. Hermione looked at him disbelievingly.
"Harry I didn't want this. I was put under a horrible spell. I'll tell you more if you give me a chance. You couldn't have moved on in such a short time," said Hermione desperately. Harry was about to reply but a small boy of about three came and interrupted them.
"Daddy, Mummy calling you. We're getting late," he said to Harry. Hermione goggled at the boy. Harry saw her expression and smirked.
"Meet my son John Li Potter," he said shortly to Hermione. Hermione was even more confused.
"Harry you can't have a son. You're too young. Is he adopted?" asked Hermione.
"Which age are you living in Hermione? I'm twenty five years old and have been married for the past four years," said Harry. Hermione gaped at him.
"But Harry we broke up just a month ago," said Hermione confused. Harry was exasperated.
"Hey Sweetheart, can you come down and fix this. I'm sick and tired," shouted Harry.
"Coming darling!" replied a feminine voice. What Hermione saw next petrified her. Cho Chang was walking down the stairs with John in her arms. Harry went upstairs without even looking at Hermione. Cho sent John to his playroom.
"I hope you liked my house," said Cho smiling at her.
"What's going on Cho? You'd better tell me," urged Hermione.
"I put you under the Slavery spell eight years ago. You remained obedient till yesterday. Unfortunately you tried to tell the Ministry about it. The pain caused you to lose sense of time. I took off the spell after that. For your information you are twenty six," replied Cho shortly.
"I'm not twenty six! I'm eighteen!" shouted Hermione.
"It's useless talking to you. You've totally lost it. Its better you get going," said Cho calmly.
"I'm not going anywhere before telling Harry the truth," replied Hermione defiantly.
"I'm sorry but you have to," said Cho and dragged Hermione out. Since she was much stronger Hermione's protests didn't bother her. She shut the door on Hermione's face. Hermione was staring at the door blankly when it opened again to reveal Cho.
"I'd told you that I'd get Harry. Look where I am and where you are," said Cho grinning devilishly. She slammed the door back.
"NO!" screamed Hermione getting up suddenly. She sighed in relief realizing it had all been a dream.
That night after Harry was asleep Hermione crept out of her bed to visit Cho. She was hoping that Cho would be asleep but that wasn't the case.
"Come in Hermione. I hope you are doing well," said Cho in an evil voice. Hermione didn't answer initially. She had planned to talk to Cho one last time about taking off the spell.
"Cho please take the spell off. It's not helping anybody," she said lamely.
"You're wrong. It'll help me to get Harry," replied Cho.
"Harry is our common concern. If you've seen him lately you would have noticed how much he's hurting over this. If not for me, taking off the spell will help him a great deal. You can talk things over with us. As for me I promise not to tell about this to anybody. I'm willing to do that if it helps Harry," pleaded Hermione.
"I'm sorry but I can't trust you. Harry's current state of mind is just a passing phase. I'm just waiting for it to pass before I make my move. He'll forget about you very soon," said Cho.
"What do plan to achieve Cho? Harry will not see anything in you now or ever in the future! How do you plan to 'get' him," shouted Hermione.
"Don't shout like that Hermione. You are my slave after all. All I need to do with Harry is get him in bed. My abilities with males in bed are world famous. He wouldn't be able to resist me after that," said Cho. Hermione clenched her fist.
"You obnoxious bitch! I'm going to kill you," said Hermione, taking her wand out.
"Put that back Hermione. Killing me would be like killing yourself. Unless I take the spell off you remain like this. If I die you remain like this for the rest of your life. But thanks for warning me. As my next command I forbid you to perform any spell on me," said Cho calmly. Hermione huffed.
"How will you get Harry in bed?" she asked out of curiosity.
"Will try the normal way first and if it fails I'll look for a spell. You know its nice talking to someone about these things. Since you are under my control I know you won't tell this to anybody," replied Cho. Hermione felt sick. She took leave of Cho.
Another week passed. Though Harry had given Hermione plenty of time, she hadn't spoken to him. So Harry decided to take matters into his own hands. One morning he woke up early and waited in their common room. He was hoping to catch Hermione when she came out of her bedroom.
"Will you please give me a few minutes of your time?" asked Harry when Hermione walked out. Hermione nodded reluctantly. She didn't want to have this conversation with Harry but had no choice at the moment. They sat down on the sofa.
"Why are we acting like this towards each other? Why did I have to be so formal to get your attention? Forget about our relationship but we have seven years of friendship behind us. What crime did I commit to lose you?" Harry asked almost begging her to give a proper reply.
"You haven't done anything wrong Harry. This has nothing to do with you. Please trust me. It is best the way it is," replied Hermione.
"No it's not the best! I'm hurting like anything. I can't eat sleep. I can't eat. You are haunting me in my dreams. I can't do anything. I've become a bloody invalid! And if I'm right, the same holds for you," shouted Harry. Hermione could feel her tears in her eyes. Pain started to take her over. She couldn't cry in front of him.
"Excuse me, Harry," she said quickly and ran back to her bedroom.
Harry could not attend any classes that day. The sight of Hermione running away from him broke the last bit of resolve in him. He had given her everything. He had always stood by her. Even after she had ditched him he had given her time. Like any other guy in his position he could have shouted, screamed, abused etc. But his love for her had stopped him. He felt deeply that in her heart she still loved him. Then why was she behaving like this? It was the first time they had spoken properly after the breakup and everything had changed in that time. Hermione seemed to be a different person. Her self confidence was missing. The gleam in her eyes was not there. She spoke in short sentences instead of her usual explanatory self. Yet he couldn't stop loving her.
Harry spent the whole day locked in his room. The brief conversation with Hermione played again and again in his head. Sometimes he cried. He didn't think that he'd have to face such an emotional turmoil after Voldemort was gone. He was trying to figure out the cause for all this but his mind wouldn't work properly. He had spoken to many of the Gryffindor's about anything unusual that they had noticed about Hermione. None of them could say anything. His state was such that he couldn't face anybody. He ignored the owls sent by Ron and Luna, asking him to join them for tea. He hadn't eaten anything the whole day. He decided that after everyone was asleep he'd sneak to the kitchen for a bite.
Hermione's situation wasn't much better. She thought attending classes would keep her mind off Harry. She was wrong. She was so distracted that she got hauled up by Professor Longbottom and Professor Tonks. As soon as classes ended she rushed to her bedroom. All the bottled up emotions came out. She screamed aloud, shed tears and even threw articles around her room. Since she was thinking about Harry and how to resurrect their relationship, it was causing her a lot of pain. The pain was more than ever before. She was disobeying Cho. Soon it was beyond her limits and she passed out. It wasn't until late at night that she regained consciousness. The pain was not there as her thoughts were absent during unconsciousness. It was almost time for her to go to Cho.
Harry was under his invisibility cloak. He was quietly making his way to the kitchen. He heard noises in Hermione's room and was surprised that she was still awake. He debated whether to try again at getting something out of her but decided against it. Somebody was waiting for him in the kitchen.
"I knew you'd come here," said Ron.
"Hi Ron," said Harry weekly.
"I know your state but do you think staying locked up would help you?" asked Ron.
"You don't know what happened today. I finally spoke to her and she ran away in the middle. I couldn't take that," replied Harry.
"All this is very unlike Hermione. I can't imagine what has got into her. It's really sad. But please don't act like you did today. Me, Luna and Ginny were quite worried," said Ron.
"Thanks for the support Ron," said Harry with a small smile.
"That's okay. We'll always be there for you. If only we could figure out Hermione. I've already asked Kreacher to prepare food for you. It should be ready by now. Eat properly. You need your strength," said Ron before going away. Harry was glad that he had such good friends. He ate in silence.
When he got back after finishing his meal he saw Hermione's bedroom door was half ajar. This time he couldn't help his curiosity. He made his way to her room. To his amazement it was empty. He waited in the common room for her to get back. As he was under the invisibility cloak, she wouldn't see him. After fifteen minutes Hermione came back. Harry deduced that she may have gone for a night walk alone.
This incident kept ringing in Harry's head throughout the next day. In the night he couldn't sleep. At about the same time as the previous night he got out of bed. Again Hermione was not in her room. He waited till she came back but couldn't find the resolve to talk to her. This trend continued for three more days. Now Harry was getting slightly suspicious. Night walks usually didn't have a fixed time. For a moment he wondered if Hermione was seeing someone else. But knowing Hermione as well as he did he dismissed the thought.
On the sixth night when the same thing happened, Harry decided to investigate. He looked around the school for Hermione. He checked the grounds where Hermione usually walked. She wasn't there. He checked the astronomy tower without luck. Something fishy was going on. Hermione wasn't back when he returned to their common room. Today he was going to ask her. When Hermione came in she stared at Harry, who was sitting on the sofa.
"Care to sit down," Harry asked trying to sound casual. Hermione sat down opposite him.
"Where do you go every night?" questioned Harry coming straight to the point. Hermione almost smiled with joy. Harry knew something was on. He would do his best to get them back together. After a long time she felt happy. Bless Harry for figuring this out. Then a bright idea came to her head. All Harry needed to do to find the answer was to check his Marauderer's map. Seeing her with Cho every night would definitely put him on the right track. However because of the spell she couldn't tell him this. She hoped that the idea would strike him. It was their only way out.
"You didn't answer me," said Harry, breaking her flow of thoughts. She had to lie at the moment.
"I was out for a walk in the grounds," replied Hermione. Harry knew that she wasn't telling the truth. He had checked the grounds thoroughly. It hurt him tremendously to realize Hermione was lying to him. What could she be hiding? He couldn't take it anymore. He looked heavenwards.
"Dear God …"