Disclaimer: None of the characters or anything in the Potterverse belongs to me. That said, it's definitely time for another warning: This is, in terms of the two main characters, the worst and darkest chapter of this story. Everything - their friendship, what they thought they knew about each other, their trust in each other - falls apart in the space of one night. It's part of the story, it's necessary, and more importantly, it's temporary. This story will end well, in every sense of the word. But if you're the slightest bit uncomfortable with anything mentioned in the first warning (see Prologue), please turn back now. PK is teeming with other, probably better, and certainly sweeter stories. This is not one of them. This story is about how cold, evil, manipulative men attempt to destroy everything important to Harry and Hermione, and how they can survive it, and perhaps love each other after.
CHAPTER FIVE: BETRAYAL
There was something wrong with their friend. That was Hermione's foremost concern. If it turned out that the icepick was tainted with some slow-acting poison or some brew that would harm the boy Voldemort had marked as his enemy, she needed to be there to stop it. That, as much as compassion for Harry's situation, convinced the girl to forego the reception and the dance with Ron she had been looking forward to. This seemed to be a more immediate need.
Even Ron was starting to worry. He'd promised to floo in by noon the next day at the latest. Together, they would watch Harry's back, as they had done quite a few times before. Not for a second did the Head Girl think she was in danger from one of her best friends.
It was only when she stepped through the huge fireplace at Grimmauld, brushing the soot from her clothes, that she felt a frisson of uncertainty.
The Harry that stood to meet her as she stepped from the fireplace was nothing like the boy she was used to. For one, he wasn't wearing his glasses. For another, he was dressed as formally, and in some cases even more finely, than any guest at the wedding she had just left. Midnight black dress robes swirled around his lean figure, relieved only by the stark creamy whiteness of a pure silk shirt. And the way he strode towards her. At that moment, Harry seemed taller, purposeful.
Dangerous.
Then he smiled, obviously pleased to see her, and that melted away.
He took her bag and led her to a nearby table. "I hope you're hungry. Since I took you away from the reception, I got us some dinner."
Hermione's eyes widened as she saw the table. It was laid out with fine china, silverware and heavy silver candlesticks. "If I'd known you were going to this much trouble, I wouldn't have changed out of my dress." Suddenly she felt self-conscious in her casual knit cotton blouse and jeans.
He smiled at her again. "What you have on is fine. I just felt like dressing up. I bought these clothes for the wedding and I didn't want them to go to waste."
It sounded so reasonable that she accepted it. "Where are your glasses?" she asked curiously, as he pulled a chair for her.
"I'm trying out a new spell. Seems to work on my eyesight for short periods of time." He sat across from her. "Eat up. If you want more, just tell me. I made enough for three. I was half-expecting Ron to show," he explained truthfully. Actually, there was still a small part of Harry that would've been relieved to see the redhead. It would've saved him from having to choose between going ahead with this or not.
"You made all of this?" Hermione was amazed. The food was succulent, at par with anything she'd ever had in a restaurant. It made her realize just how hungry she was. "It's good," she said appreciatively.
"When you're the unofficial orphan maid, it helps to know how to cook," Harry half-joked. It earned him a sympathetic look. Everyone knew how miserable he was whenever he had to live with the Dursleys.
When they were about halfway through dinner, Harry excused himself and came back bringing a bottle of currant wine. "Thought it would make a nice change from pumpkin juice," he grinned. "You're of age, after all, and I nearly am."
It wasn't hard to convince his companion to try some, specially since alcohol wasn't officially allowed at Hogwarts. As Head Girl, Hermione had to keep that rule at school, but she wasn't such a stickler when she was just with her friends. She had actually told Harry once that she was starting to develop an appreciation for wine, both the muggle and wizard varieties.
They sipped wine all throughout dinner and after, when Harry removed his outer robes and lit a fire. He seemed a little more relaxed now, but he was still more formal than usual in his dark vest, silk shirt and black trousers.
Hermione noticed the miniature Gryffindor lion gleaming from his vest. She recognized it as the pin that the shopkeeper had practically foisted on Harry after the attack. Funny, she had never seen her friend wear jewelry.
She was about to ask him about it when the boy moved a couch in front of the fireplace with a flick of his wand. They ended up sitting next to each other, the half-empty bottle of currant wine nestled between them.
"I don't think I can get anything done tonight," Hermione admitted as he poured her another glass. She was feeling pleasantly tipsy from the food and the wine. She was sitting sideways on the couch, facing Harry, her legs partially tucked under her. She tilted her head so that it was resting against the back of the couch. "You're going to make some woman really happy one day, my friend."
Except for that last part, it was almost what Harry wanted to hear. "Was this okay, then?"
"Are you daft? A strapping, good-looking guy who cooks and sets up a fancy dinner at a moment's notice? Not to mention Quidditch team captain and all that," she teased. "Who can resist?" Hermione was only half-joking. She thought whoever Harry ended up with would be lucky indeed. It was too bad that he and Ginny hadn't worked out. She liked Ginny.
He swirled the wine in his glass self-consciously. "Am I ... good-looking?"
She nearly laughed at how serious he was. "You're kidding, right?" she asked, reaching over to ruffle his hair, which was neater than usual tonight. "After half the girls at Hogwarts tried to slip you love potions last term, don't you know?"
If she hadn't been drowsy from the wine, Hermione would've caught the way Harry's eyes lit up as her fingers brushed against his hair, and the strange expression on his face. She only had time to wonder why he was starting to lean over like that, when Harry kissed her.
Hermione was too surprised to pull away. It wasn't unpleasant, really, Harry's lips sliding against hers, just unexpected and ... at this point, totally unwanted. She and Ron were finally, tentatively starting to work things out. For this to happen now was, well, complicated and absolutely awful.
When he drew away, Hermione's eyes were wide with shock. "I - what did you ... why?" she stammered.
Harry brushed a finger against her cheek. "I've wanted to do that for awhile now," he admitted.
She said the first thing that came to mind. "Harry, Ron and I ..."
"Don't." She was surprised at how hard he sounded. "I know this is sudden. I - I want a chance, that's all."
For one of the few times in her life, Hermione was absolutely speechless. Harry was sweet, and he had had a hard life. The last thing she wanted to do was to hurt him. But she'd be lying if she even let him think that she could choose him now, not when she'd just promised Ron that she'd give this thing that had been brewing between them a chance. She licked her lips nervously. "What brought this on? I thought you and Ginny - and before that there was Cho ..."
Harry shook his head. He had liked those girls; he still liked Ginny. But when he thought about them now it was as if they were a faraway memory. Even with Ginny he'd accepted that their time together was finished. "Do you remember the Yule Ball during the tournament? That day you came down the stairs, all dressed up like we'd never seen, I remember staring. For a moment I couldn't think, couldn't breathe. And then later I noticed Ron, and the way he was looking at you with his mouth hanging open."
He ran his hands through his hair, turning it unruly again. "Honestly, I tried. I didn't want to come between you because you're my closest friends. But I can't pretend anymore. Maybe it's everything that's happened recently, but I just can't hide what I feel."
Harry took her hand, the one that wasn't holding a wine glass, like he had a dozen times before. Only this time he turned it upwards so he could graze her palm with his lips. "I dream about you every time I fall asleep," he murmured. "When I'm awake all I can think about is you. I love you, Hermione."
The appalled object of his declaration tried to pull her hand away, but Harry's hold was too firm. Again, it wasn't unpleasant, what he was doing. Rather the opposite, actually. Her palm seemed to become increasingly sensitive as he began to press kisses on it. Then, to her shock, she felt the tip of his tongue peek out to taste her skin. She opened her mouth to protest. "Har-!"
Harry was a seeker, had once been Hogwarts' youngest seeker, in fact. The instant he saw his chance, he seized it. Before the girl could complete his name he was kissing her again, with more force this time. He slipped his tongue into her open mouth. He leaned into her until she was trapped between the armrest of the couch and his body.
Hermione could feel how literally hot he was - his lips, and the hands that that came up to grasp her arms almost burned through her clothes. Any doubts she had about the seriousness of his declaration was quickly dispelled by his hungry mouth plundering hers. Any attempts she made to talk, to reason with him, only brought her tongue flashing against his. The sounds she made in protest sounded like whimpers.
Then it clicked. Harry in his strange, formal clothes. A dinner carefully prepared. Wine and a fire. And before it all, a skillfully executed scheme that had gotten her here. Alone.
Suddenly, Hermione felt lost. This was her best friend. She had practically grown up with him. They had saved each other countless times, and he had planned this. This night had never been about the horcruxes. This was a ... seduction.
She pushed him away, and was surprised when he let her go. She was confused when she got up and he made no move to stop her. Maybe she had it wrong? Maybe Harry just wanted to tell me how he felt? He only watched as she took one step towards the fireplace.
Of course she would have to put out the fire, Hermione thought, before she tottered.
Then, as her legs turned to jelly, she understood. She looked at the boy who had been her friend as the shock of betrayal coursed through her. He had gotten up when she started to sway and now he was standing next to her. He caught her as she fell.
"Harry," she called. And whether she called out to him in a misguided plea for help, or whether his name was a curse on her lips not even Hermione could say as she spiraled into unconsciousness.
======= Last chance to stop. See warning above. =======
"You shouldn't have come. I was hoping you wouldn't." There was an expression of regret on the young wizard's face as he looked down at her. Then he turned his head briefly towards the door and raised his wand. "Colloportus."
Those were the first words Hermione heard when she came to. For the first time, Harry saw only confusion in her usually knowing brown eyes. She couldn't even speak.
It was the drug he had used to spike her food, he knew. It had been far more potent than he'd expected, or maybe it was the combination with the wine. He had actually begun to worry when she finally woke.
Harry carefully placed his wand on the night table, making sure it was out of her reach. He unbuttoned his vest and shirt but left them on. Somehow, he had the illogical idea that leaving his clothes on might make her panic less.
"I know about you and Ron," he whispered as he got into the bed next to her. He grasped her wrists when she tried to raise her hands between them. "You want to know something, Hermione? I'd trade anything for what Ron's got. Parents and a family that love him, watch over him, and now he's got you. What do I have?" he asked bitterly. "An empty house that'd suit the darkest of wizards and galleons in a vault. But everyone who cares about me is dead."
Hermione found herself weakly protesting, "That's not true. You have the Order ... friends ... Ron ... me." Some part of her was hoping that he would remember that she was his friend and that she could talk him out of this.
His emerald stare bored into her. "You say that, but the two of you are involved now. Soon I'll just be the pesky bloke who gets in the way." He felt wetness forming in his eyes, but forced it back. "Hermione, what I have right now? I'd give it all up for you. Tell me to leave this fight and run away with you, and I'll do it. Or ask me to hurl myself at Voldemort and his Death Eaters tomorrow. Be with me, and I'll do anything you say."
"You can't mean that," she said desperately. It was hard to think. Just stringing the words together required a lot of effort.
It didn't help that she was barely finished speaking when Harry moved in to kiss her deeply. As his tongue twined around hers, his fingers ghosted over her neck and jaw, making her shiver. Then his lips were there, moistly following the path laid out by his fingers.
"I do," he whispered against her skin. "I'll do anything. Just stay with me tonight."
A whimper inadvertently escaped Hermione as his lips found a sensitive point on her neck and gave it particular attention. She found herself tilting her head in response to the pressure, and he took advantage of it, sucking and nipping at the tender skin so tightly both of them knew it would bruise.
Hermione shut her eyes. A part of her was practically screaming at these events, but the rest of her felt like it was floating. It was almost as if she was watching Harry do these things to her instead of experiencing it.
Some of it, she thought groggily, was probably denial. And the drugs. Oh Merlin, Harry drugged me. My best friend is planning to ... NO! He'd never do that, not Harry ... Dammit, Granger, face facts! You're supposed to be smart. What do you think is happening here? If this were any other boy, you wouldn't even be anywhere near this situation. Focus!
While the girl was striving to steel her mind awake, Harry moved so that he was on top of her, straddling her thighs. He captured her lips feverishly as his hands began to run down the buttons of her blouse. I have to see her! He wanted to know how much of his dreams were true.
Hermione's eyes snapped open the moment she felt the cool air hit her bare skin. The detachment she had been feeling up to this point began to give way to mounting panic as the dark-haired boy popped the last of the buttons.
Harry leaned back, keeping his eyes on the girl's face as he started pulling her blouse open. Only when he felt the material bunch at her sides did he finally dare to look down. The sight of her breasts straining through a thin satin bra exceeded anything he had ever imagined simply because they were real.
"Brilliant," he said admiringly. "So beautiful," he rasped as he cupped the almost bare mounds through her bra, feeling their weight for the first time.
"Harry, please don't."
He closed his eyes. He had never heard her voice sound so small before. He almost gave in. There was a part of him that was actually screaming, 'What the bloody hell are you doing? You heard her. Get your sodding hands off her, you bastard!'
But there was also that other voice, scaly, serpentine, the creature that had shown up when Ron and Hermione were snogging. `And then what?' it asked dryly. 'Stand aside for the redhead, like a good little boy?' In almost parseltongue smoothness, it crooned, 'After all you've been through, don't you deserve at least one night with the woman you love?'
"Why, so you can go to Ron?" he responded angrily. Then he softened and gazed at her imploringly as he lowered his body over hers. "Why not me, Hermione? Give me a chance, I only want to please you. I promise I'll make it good."
The jolt he felt as his bare skin finally made contact with hers for the first time made Harry almost roll his eyes in pleasure. His trouser-clad erection was digging into her thigh now. He couldn't help rubbing it against her a little.
If she could've, Hermione would've shot off the bed. Fully awake now, she began struggling in earnest as Harry slipped a rough hand inside the cup of her bra and lifted one coral-tipped breast free.
"Harry, no!" she shouted as she felt a strange hand freely palming her bare breast.
But he was lost to her. The second he felt the unique smoothness of her nipple pushing against his fingers, all the young wizard could think of was seeing and feeling more of her. Harry slipped an arm under the struggling girl and held her tightly against his body as his other hand snaked up to push the blouse off of her shoulders. He yanked the offending cloth down from the back and left it bunched halfway down her arms, trapping them.
"No!" Hermione cried out again, as she felt him slide the straps of her bra as far down as they would go. Soon both her breasts were freed, and the cups that were now under them were pushing them up, offering them for the boy's inspection.
For a moment Harry gazed at her half-nakedness in stunned awe. He had never seen anything so perfect. Unable to resist, he began planting kisses on them frantically. His left hand reached for the nearest breast and cupped it. He found the nipple and began rolling it gently between two fingers. Then he lowered his mouth over the other rose-darkened tip.
The girl under him jerked as Harry swirled his tongue experimentally around the nipple in his mouth. She had never let anyone get this far, and although she had touched herself in curiosity a few times there was absolutely no comparison between her awkward fingers and the sensation of Harry's hot mouth engulfing the sensitive tips of her breasts.
It didn't change the fact that this was the last thing she wanted, and that she didn't want to go where this was going. But Hermione wasn't in the habit of deluding herself. This was pleasure spiking from her breasts to a warm place low in her belly.
Only it was so bloody wrong! She bit her lip hard to stop a whimper from escaping. She would not let her body betray her. She would not give him the satisfaction or the encouragement.
But Harry had already sensed something amiss. She had gone silent and stopped moving. He lifted his head and looked at her, and there was a familiar expression of concern on his face. "Hermione?"
The girl could feel tears prickling behind her eyes because for a second it was as if her friend was back, the boy she'd grown up with. She appealed to that boy now. "Harry, stop this. Please. I ... I don't want to. I don't want my best friend to - to ..." She couldn't continue. To be raped was always one of a girl's worst fears. But for it to be done by someone she trusted and truly loved as a friend - the mere thought of it sent her tears spilling.
Her words seemed to strike some chord in him. "Oh `Mione, don't cry." He lifted himself up a little and brushed a knuckle across her cheek to wipe some of the tears away. "I'm sorry, I - I don't know ..."
But whatever else Harry meant to say was lost as a sudden blow sounded against the door. It was so loud that it reverberated throughout the room.
"Harry! Hermione!"
Both teenagers' gazes whipped towards the door. The voice was one they recognized instantly. Lupin.
"Tonks," they heard him say, "together!" Again, the door shook under their combined blows but did not open.
The noise galvanized Harry into action. He rolled off the bed, grabbed his wand and pointed it at the door. "No, you're not taking her from me!" he yelled defiantly. "Colloportus maxima!" A blue point of light flew from his wand and shimmered around the door.
While he was distracted, Hermione sat up and quickly fixed her clothes. Her eyes frantically roamed the room. Where had Harry placed her wand?
"Harry!" It was Lupin again. "Do not do anything rash, do you understand? You're under a spell. It's making you do things you would never ordinarily do. It will try to make you hurt Hermione."
"I would never hurt her!" the young wizard denied hotly. "I love her! You're lying, you just want her too! Leave us alone!"
There was a second's pause, and then it was Tonks who answered in an oddly calm, methodical voice. "Harry, listen to me. No one is trying to take Hermione from you. We're only trying to help. We just want to know if she's okay."
At the mention of her name, the girl got to her feet, carefully keeping the bed between her and Harry. "I'm alright!" she called out. As she feared, her voice brought her tormentor whirling around to face her.
Sounding relieved, Tonks addressed the witch directly. "Hermione, listen! Is there anything you see on Harry that's new? Some object you've never seen before?"
The girl's eyes instantly flicked to the Gryffindor miniature still pinned to Harry's open vest. "Yes."
"He has to take it off," Tonks said urgently. "It's part of what's making him act this way."
Hermione lifted her gaze to the young wizard's face.
His expression was wary, full of distrust. "No."
"What would be the harm?" she asked, trying to reason with him.
"No."
Think, girl, think! "Then you'll have to forgive me if I don't believe you," Hermione said in as cool a voice as she could manage.
He looked confused. "What?"
"You say you love me, but what if it's just this spell talking? I mean, what are you afraid of? Tonks and Lupin are outside. The door's barred. What difference does it make if you take the pin off or not?"
She thought she had him. If his mind was as addled as it seemed ...
Then Harry chuckled. "Clever, Hermione. I've always liked that about you," he continued, smiling. "Alright, I'll do it. On one condition."
"Yes?"
"Come here."
Oh no way. No way in hell.
"Fair trade," he said reasonably. "You want the pin? You can have it.
All I want in return is a kiss."
"No," she whispered.
The half-smile fell and Harry turned serious. "I'm not a fool, `Mione. I know Lupin and Tonks are about to break down that door. I just want one willing kiss from you, one kiss from the woman I love that I don't have to take. That's all."
Hermione stared at him in disbelief. "You know that's not possible. Not after what you tried to do."
The young wizard actually hung his head. "Yeah." Slowly, he turned so that he was facing the door again. He raised his wand. "I guess this is it then."
"What're you doing?" she exclaimed in alarm.
Harry quirked a brief, dead grin. "I'm going to fight, Hermione. Till Lupin and Tonks have no choice but to kill me. You see, I gambled everything that mattered to me tonight. I lost. You and Ron will hate me now. So none of it matters anymore, does it?"
"You're mad!"
Again that humorless smile. "Probably." He took a deep breath. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry I hurt you. I just wanted ..."
"I think I can guess what you wanted!" she retorted sharply.
"No, `Mione," he said in the gentlest voice. "All I wanted was to love you for one night. In my dreams, you always gave me a chance," he mused wistfully.
Stark, barking mad. Either that or ... Suddenly the girl's mind latched onto something. What had Lupin said? A spell? There were entire philosophies built around the question of how much you could hold a person under a spell responsible for his or her actions. Hermione knew because she had studied every one of them. Real life had also provided plenty of examples. Madam Rosmerta was the most recent one, struck by an Imperius Curse, and way before that, a young Ginny, an unwilling victim to the ghost of an unclean memory.
Which meant she had a choice to make. She could let Harry fight it out. After his betrayal, she could stand seeing him get hurt. Surely Lupin and Tonks would be able to take him down without killing him. But then anything could go wrong. What if Harry managed to hurt them in the process?
"Put the wand down." Her voice shook as she took a tiny step forward. Even though she had faced so many dangers before, she had never been so frightened in her life.
Harry glanced at her and, without a single word, laid his wand down on the night table. He didn't take his eyes off her even when the door shook again, harder this time.
His hands clenched at his sides as the girl stopped inches away from him. He fought off the urge to grab her, and as he did for a second his mind cleared. You're under a spell. It will try to make you hurt Hermione ... No way would I do that. NO way ... Oh Merlin, what am I doing?!
"Take it," he told her through gritted teeth. Sweat stood out on his forehead.
"What?"
Harry shut his eyes. "I can't do it. Just thinking about trying makes me ... just take it off, Hermione!"
She didn't have to be told twice. Hermione grabbed the pin from his vest and wrenched it away.
And was instantly assaulted by feelings so strong that it literally took her breath away. She gazed in disbelief at the tiny piece of jewelry in her hand. The ruby eye of the miniature lion seemed to wink at her.
Godric's blood, this is what Harry's been feeling?! It was as if every nerve in her body was switched on. It felt almost exactly like that day in the woods with Ron, but a dozen times worse.
Except that it wasn't Ron her body was singing for now. It was the tall, lean, raven-haired wizard standing in front of her who had her complete attention. Had she never really noticed how attractive he was?
"Harry."
His eyes flew open at the new note in her voice, and at the touch of Hermione's fingers tugging his head down and gently winding through his hair. "Hermione." He breathed her name for an instant before his lips found hers.
It was the sweetest and longest kiss he had shared with her all evening. With a muffled cry of joy, Harry enfolded her in his arms.
When the door finally gave way, that was how Lupin and Tonks found them. It took a lot of convincing (and in Harry's case, a lot of tugging, swearing and finally a knockout spell) to pull them apart.
Hermione watched as Harry was safely bound and levitated back to his bed. Lupin took the pin from her with a gloved hand and carefully tucked it away in a box.
Then Tonks gently placed a blanket over the shoulders of the shivering girl. "Are you alright, Hermione?" she asked gently. Lupin hovered nearby, but he had the sense to keep his distance from the distraught young witch.
"No." With that one softly spoken word, Hermione's control dissolved. She clung weakly to the sympathetic Auror and wept brokenly for the friendship she had lost tonight. Whatever else happened, she knew she would never trust Harry, or anyone else, the same way again.
Author's note: I know the outcome looks even worse now than in the past chapters, but believe it or not this was planned to be an HHr story from the start. It just needs some time to get there. Reviews appreciated. Flames will be incinerated. `Nuff said.