CHAPTER THREE: BAD DREAMS
~~~~~August 1st, 1996. Grimmauld Place.~~~~~
That night while Harry sat on his bed at Grimmauld sorting through his photos a light tapping on the door caught his attention. Who called for his late night visitor to enter and was pleasantly surprised when Hermione slipped through his door in her nightdress.
"Can I borrow Hedwig?" She asked as she made her way over to him.
"Of course. Who's the letter to?"
"Mum and Dad."
Hermione tied the letter to Hedwigs leg and gave her a pat before telling her where to go and opening the window. She then turned back to Harry and walked to the bed, sitting on the edge.
"Are these the pictures you found?"
"Yeah. I think Sirius went through them before he died and magically erased Pettigrew from them. Makes them look much better I guess. Help me out?"
Hermione smiled and moved further onto the bed. "Sure, what are you doing?"
"I bought a couple of photo albums today. I'm going through them to see which I want to keep and I'm going to give the rest to Remus."
"That's a nice thought, I'm sure Remus will appreciate it."
"I don't know how he does it." Harry said quietly.
Hermione looked at him, confused. "Does what?"
"He's lost his best friends. I don't know if I'd be able to handle it if I lost you and Ron."
Hermione reached out and took his hand. "I don't know either. It'd be hard. Why do you think I follow you on all your crazy adventures? So I can do what I can to make sure you come home safe. I imagine it's rather difficult for Remus, but you've given him a reason to live Harry."
"How so?"
"With your Mum and Dad and Sirius gone, I think Remus feels like he has to take care of you now, play the father."
"He doesn't have to, he shouldn't feel responsible for me."
"No, that's true he doesn't have to. But you didn't have to buy that book for me today, you wanted to. Just like Remus wants to be there for you, he loves you Harry."
"I know." Harry smiled. "And I love him too."
She squeezed his hand and then went back to flipping through the photos. Harry watched her with a smile for a minute longer then also went back to the pictures.
Hermione giggling made him look back up. He looked at her inquisitively and she responded through her giggles. "Can I keep this one?" She said turning the picture around to show a baby Harry naked in a tub with bubbles all over him, he had a big smile on his face as he played with the bubbles.
Harry turned red and whipped the photo out of her hands. "Oh, come on, Harry! Let me keep it, you were just too cute."
"I am, nor was I ever cute. This is just embarrassing." He leaned over and put the picture into his bedside drawer.
They went back to the photos and Harry started a light conversation. "So, how's your Mum and Dad?"
"They're fine. They've been busy at the dental surgery. Daddy didn't want me to come to Grimmauld so soon, he wanted me to stay at home and work in the office during the day but Mum and I talked him out of it."
"Why didn't you want to stay?"
"I would have liked to spend time with them, but working at the office in the surgery is just downright boring. And besides, I was worried about you and needed to make sure you were okay."
"You don't have to worry about me Hermione."
"I know, but it's part of what I do. I worry about you and Ron all the time, mainly you though since you always seem to get yourself hurt."
"And get those around me hurt." Harry murmured hoping she wouldn't hear.
She did. "Harry, I don't want you having thoughts like that."
"But Hermione, I got you hurt."
"Yeah, and I'd do it again without a second thought. Well, maybe I'd just stun Dolohov instead of silencing him, but what I'm saying is that I'd follow you to the Ministry again. And look, I'm alive and well."
"Did...did it scar?"
"Yeah, it did." Hermione said quietly as she unconsciously ran a hand over her chest. "But that doesn't matter. Look, Harry, we weren't ready for that fight, but we'll learn from our mistakes and we won't make them again."
Harry nodded and gave a smile. "Thanks Mione."
"Why do you only call me that when we're alone?"
"Call you what?"
"Mione."
"Do I? I'm sorry I didn't even realize I was doing it. I'll stop."
"No, I like it when you call me that."
"What if Ron called you that?" Harry asked with a bit of hope.
"Ron much prefers to call me Hermy. I hate it, it makes me sound like some kind of STD." Hermione shook her head.
Harry laughed. "Grawp also prefers to call you Hermy."
"Oh God, don't remind me of Grawp."
"Come on, he save our lives." Harry chuckled.
"And almost killed us himself in the process. I still have no idea what Hagrid was thinking."
Harry laughed then yawned. Hermione put the photos down, "It's getting late, I should go."
"Please don't." Harry said before he could stop himself. "Sorry, umm, go on, goodnight."
"Harry if you want me to stay then I will."
"No, it's okay. It's just.....never mind."
"Harry." Hermione said in a voice that told him he'd better tell her what was wrong.
"It's just the nightmares, they won't go away."
"Then I'll stay, but you need to get some sleep." She decided while putting the pictures away.
"You don't have to."
"Harry, I'm staying." She put the box of photos on the bedside table and stood up.
"Umm, I'll take the couch then."
"You'll do no such thing." Hermione frowned. "We're friends Harry, we can share a bed to help with each others nightmares without anything happening." She told him, not quite trusting the words herself.
Not wanting to let her in on his feelings he just nodded and prayed he'd be able to control himself. He watched as she slipped in between the sheets. Very slowly he did the same.
"You know you'll have a horrible night in here with me." He said, rolling over to look at her. "I wake up screaming and everything."
"That's alright, Harry. I'm just worried about what Mrs Weasley will say in the morning when I'm not in my room."
"Don't worry about it. It's my house and we can sleep where we want."
"Yeah, you can be the one to explain it to Mrs Weasley though, that we weren't doing anything except chasing away each others nightmares."
Both of them dozed off a few minutes later. Hermione awoke a few short hours after to Harrys movement and murmurings, "Hermione, wake up. Please, wake up Hermione. Come on, open your eyes."
She rolled over to see what he wanted when she noticed he was still asleep. She instinctively knew he was having a nightmare.
"Please don't let her be dead, please. Come on Hermione, wake up, don't do this to me."
Hermione leaned over him and started shaking him. "Harry. Harry! I'm right here, Harry, you need to wake up. Harry!"
His eyes flashed open quickly. Without his glasses and with it being dark he couldn't quite make her out. "Mione?"
"I'm right here Harry." She gently told him.
He reached up and touched her face to confirm that she actually was there. "You're alive." He almost cried, then wrapped his arms around her.
"Was it the Ministry?" She asked as she pulled away from him.
Harry reached over and put his glasses on and lit up a lamp. "Yeah. When Dolohov hit you with that curse. I'm sorry I woke you Hermione."
"It's alright Harry I was bound to wake on my own sooner or later."
"What do you mean?"
Realizing what she just said and not wanting to worry him anymore than he already was she said, "Nothing."
"No, it's something. You mentioned it before too, you said chasing away each others nightmares. Are you having them too?"
"I'm fine Harry."
"Hermione, please tell me. You've always been there for me, let me be here for you."
"Sometimes they're about the Ministry. On those nights I have trouble keeping the image of that purple flame coming towards me. Then there are others." She said, turning away from him.
"What are they about?" He asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"I don't know. I've been having them for years now. They're not quite nightmares, sometimes they're just dreams. I remember I used to have one or two a year and then when I got to Hogwarts it was more often. And just recently I'm having them at least once a week."
"What happens?"
"I'm not quite sure. When they are dreams it's all so peaceful and I get this feeling like it's just......I don't know, right. There's a man and a woman I see. But then in the nightmares I see the woman die. And then there's another with the man. He's looking down at me with tears streaming down his face. He looks so sad and I don't know why. But every time he says goodbye to me and I really don't want him to go. They're just so real, Harry that I don't know if they're actually dreams, or if they're memories of some sort. And then in the nightmares the woman dies and the man he...I don't know, seems broken."
"And you don't know who he is?"
"No, I've never seen him before except in the dreams. Or at least I can't remember seeing him."
He rubbed her shoulders, at a complete loss of what else to do. "Come on, why don't we see if we can get some more sleep?"
She nodded and they both laid down again. Before extinguishing the light Harry saw her wipe some tears away from her eyes and it broke his heart. When she rolled onto her side he moved behind her and wrapped his arms around her. She moved into his embrace, thankful that he was there for her.
Harry awoke first the next morning and just stayed still watching Hermione sleep. At some point during the night he'd rolled onto his back and she'd moved to rest her head on his shoulder.
She looks so peaceful when she's sleeping. He thought. And she fits into my arms so perfectly. I could stay like this forever, this moment is just right.
Very slowly Hermione stirred and her eyes fluttered open. She looked up to see Harry emerald eyes staring directly at her and a small smile on his face. He looked so content.
"Sleep well?" She asked.
"Yeah, only one nightmare. That's a new record for me. You?"
"I slept well too." She smiled and then rolled over to check the clock, seven a.m. "I should probably get back to my room."
He was sad to see her go, but he just smiled and nodded. Before getting up she kissed him on the cheek. "Thankyou, Harry."
"What for?"
"Chasing away my nightmares."
"Well, in that case, thankyou for chasing away mine."
Hermione reluctantly pulled herself out of the bed and after checking the hallway was clear, made her way to her and Ginnys room. She expected to find Ginny still asleep, but the younger girl was laying in her bed, perched up on an elbow with a smirk on her face.
"Well?" Ginny asked when Hermione came in.
"Well what?" Hermione played dumb.
"Last time I saw you you were off to see if you could borrow Hedwig from Harry. That was last night. I assume you never left Harrys room."
"You assume correctly, Ginny." Was all Hermione said as she crawled into her own bed.
"Come on tell me the details. You owe me!"
Hermione looked at her strangely, "How do I owe you?"
"Well since I'm not counting the fact that I was the one who made you realize you had much deeper feelings for Harry, I covered for you with Mum."
Hermiones eyes widened. Ginny smiled and explained, "She came in here about half an hour ago to wake us up and when she asked me where you were I said that you'd had trouble sleeping again so you'd gotten up early and were probably around somewhere, this house is so big she'd never know. I also told her that I'd heard Harry having trouble sleeping last night so it was probably best to let him sleep in."
Hermione released a sigh of relief, "Thankyou so much, Gin."
"See you owe me, now give me some details."
"There's nothing to tell Ginny. I went in, sent my letter with Hedwig and found Harry sorting through the
photos he found yesterday. I helped him and we talked for a bit. Then when I saw he was tired I was about to leave when
he asked me to stay. He's been having horrible nightmares and just needed someone to keep him company."
"He obviously wasn't the only one who needed company through the nightmares, how many times did you wake up screaming last night?" Ginny asked with genuine concern.
"None. He woke me up with one of his, but I didn't have any."
"Not one? Wow, Herms, you should sleep with Harry every night. You usually have four or five when you're in here. So that's all then? You guys didn't do anything that goes beyond that?"
"No, Gin." Hermione sighed.
"And you thought he wasn't interested in you."
"What do you mean? I just said we didn't do anything."
"Come on Hermione. Guys just don't let anyone hear their nightmares." When Hermione was still looking confused she went into greater detail. "They feel that having nightmares make them weak. They don't just let anyone know that they wake up screaming like a girl every night."
"That doesn't prove that he's interested, Ginny."
"No, it's not proof, but I'm right. He likes you just as much as you like him. Anyway, like I said the other day, just think about it a little, but be sure not to overthink it."
With that Ginny got out of her bed and left the room, leaving Hermione to her troubled thoughts.
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