~A/N> I know that it's been a long time since I last updated, but because of some things that have happened
and reviews I've been getting on my stories, I've found myself doubting my writing ability lately. It
doesn't matter how many good reviews you get on a story, it only takes a few bad ones to make you start doubting
yourself. I'm sorry I let it get to me so much, but I was inspired to finish this chapter last night and I know how
I want the rest of the chapters to go now. Big thanks to Poppywillow for encouraging me to continue, and thanks to
everyone that has reviewed this story so far. I really appreciate it. Oh, and I know there are similarities in the
Christmas gifts that H/Hr buy for one another, but it was done on purpose :) There is a method to my madness,
lol!
While the boys were shopping with Remus, Hermione and Luna were following Tonks into a little shop in the opposite
direction. After walking in, Hermione looked around, taking in the various items that were for sale. Most of the store
was clothes and trinkets, but she noticed a glass display case near the front of the store. Her curiousity piqued, she
excused herself and made her way toward it. As she walked up to it she noticed a lot of shiny objects such as crystals
and other trinkets, but the thing Hermione seemed most drawn to was the jewelry part of the case. Looking over the
pieces that were lined up inside, she perused each one and took in their details. When her eyes rested upon a gold ring
she stopped immediately. The ring was in the shape of what looked to be a Snitch, but that couldn't be right. They
were in Muggle London.
"Excuse me," she said, getting the attention of the young woman that was working behind the register. "May I see this ring?"
"Of course," the woman replied with a friendly smile. Walking over to the other side of where Hermione stood, she looked into the case and asked, "Which one?"
"This one please," Hermione replied, and watched her take it out. Taking it from the saleswoman, Hermione looked it over and saw that she had been right. The front of the ring was the ball of the snitch, and the wings curved around to make up the band.
Looking from the ring to the woman, confused, the woman smiled and asked, "I take it that Tonks didn't explain that this was a magical shop?"
"No she didn't," Hermione replied, turning around to give Tonks an annoyed look. Turning back, she smiled at the saleswoman and said, "I'd like to buy it please."
"Okay," the woman replied. "By the way, in case Tonks hasn't told you, my name is Willow. We've been friends since our years at Hogwarts."
"Nice to meet you, my name's Hermione," she replied.
"I kind of knew that from what she's told me," Willow said, troubled by the suspicious look Hermione was now giving her. "Not much really, just that she and Remus were looking after you."
"Oh, okay," Hermione answered, feeling a little less nervous. Nodding toward the ring in Willow's hand she asked, "So is there anything special about the ring then?"
"Actually, there is," Willow replied. "It works as a sort of tracking device. There's a spell that comes with it that activates it, and when you say it you'll immediately feel drawn to the wearer."
"Perfect, Harry will love it," Hermione blurted out, and then felt her cheeks warm with embarrassment at Willow's knowing look.
"Harry Potter? Is he your boyfriend?"
"Um, no...not really. We're just really good...friends," Hermione replied lamely.
"Right," Willow said slowly, with a wide grin. "Isn't that always how it starts?"
Too afraid to answer for fear of what she'd say next, Hermione just quietly paid for the ring and turning to Luna and Tonks said, "I'll just be waiting for you by the door."
~*~
After their shopping trip, they all met up once again in a little restaurant where they ate dinner. Returning to Grimmauld Place, the four exhausted teens went to their rooms and fell asleep almost immediately.
The next morning, they were awakened very early and rushed to get ready for their trip to the Burrow. As Harry, Hermione, and Ron moved slowly and grumled about Remus being mad for waking them so early, Luna bounced downstairs completely ready to go. Finally ready to go, they lined up and took turns using the floo, arriving in the kitchen of the Burrow where Molly Weasley stood waiting for them. "Hello dears," she greeted, giving each of them a huge hug.
"Mum," Ron whined as she hugged him the longest.
"Oh hush, Ronald," she admonished as she let him go. "I've missed you, it's been far too long. How is your training going?" At the looks of tiredness and lack of response, Molly said, "Oh well, it's Christmas, so no more talk of that business. Come sit down, I've made breakfast for you."
As Hermione sat down, she couldn't help but think that she'd never seen so much food in her entire life. Molly had covered what little free space there was with toast, porridge, various versions of eggs, and sausage. When Harry noticed her taking it all in he leaned in close to her and whispered, "It's like this at every meal here, so better get used to it."
"If I get used to it and eat my fill, training on Monday will be worse than ever," she whispered back, smiling.
"It's Christmas," he said. "You're allowed to overeat and enjoy the holiday a bit. I've learned that since I spent my first Christmas with the Weasley's last year."
He saw it then, a flicker of something in her eyes that he didn't recognize, and she became strangely quiet afterwards. After breakfast, Luna and Hermione were shown to the attic, where they would be sleeping the next two nights. It wasn't a very big room, but it was warm and had a cozy feel to it. That afternoon, Harry, Ron, and Luna were all downstairs relaxing when Harry realized he'd not seen Hermione since breakfast.
"Luna, do you know where Hermione is?" he asked.
"She's laying down in our room. She said she wasn't feeling well," Luna replied.
"Is she okay?" he asked, concerned.
"I think she's feeling a bit down about her first Christmas without her parents," Luna answered quietly. "She's been more quiet than usual since we've gotten here."
Looking around the room, Harry realized that neither Mr. or Mrs. Weasley was around, and he knew that Ginny was up in her room pouting because he hadn't paid any attention to her when she had come down the stairs after they had eaten breakfast. Standing up he said, "I'm just going to go up there for a tick to see if she's okay. I'll be right back down."
"Sure you will," quipped Ron, and Harry had to smile when it was followed by a sharp intake of breath by his best mate as he whined, "Owww! Luna, what'd you do that for?"
Ignoring his whining she replied, "We'll cover for you Harry. Take your time."
"Thanks," he said, smiling at her before climbing the stairs as quietly as he could. Reaching the door that led to the attic, Harry knocked quietly twice and before Hermione could answer he slowly pushed it open, peeking around to see if she was sleeping. Unable to see her clearly in the waning sunlight, he walked quietly up to her bed and knelt down. When he saw the tear tracks on her face, along with her red, swollen eyes, his heart constricted. Gently brushing away a few errant strands of hair that had fallen across her face he quietly asked, "Hermione? What's wrong?"
She opened her eyes, and he found himself staring into their sadness-filled cinnamon depths. Taking a deep, shaky breath she whispered, "I miss them so much Harry. My chest hurts when I think about them, and I long to feel my mum's arms around me again, giving me one of her wonderful hugs. It's just not Christmas without them."
Bending his head a bit, Harry smoothed the hair from her forehead and placed a gentle kiss there. "I know you miss them, and we've not known each other very long, but you mean a lot to me Hermione. And to Ron and Luna...think of us as your family now."
In the next instant, she was kneeling on the floor in front of him with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck, hugging him and sobbing into his shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her tightly, knowing that Hermione would never be 'just a friend' to him ever again. She was so very much more than that, and he wasn't going to tempt the fates by wasting any more time trying to convince himself otherwise.
~*~
Dinner that night was a very festive, very loud affair. Percy was the only Weasley not sitting at the table, and the family was celebrating being together again. Thankfully, due to the celebration, no one seemed to pay attention to how quiet Hermione was being or the concerned looks Harry kept giving her. Unfortunately, the merry revelry was quickly put to an end when the fireplace roared to life and Percy's head suddenly appeared.
"Percy, my boy! Have you decided to join us?" Arthur asked, a huge smile on his face. When he noticed the somber look on his son's face he asked, "What is it, son?"
Hearing his question and the sudden note of concern in his voice, everyone around the table became suddenly quiet and turned their attention to Percy.
"I'm sorry to interrupt," he replied, looking uneasily at everyone in the room, "but I'm afraid there's been an attack on Diagon Alley. The Minister said I was to contact you straightaway. You're to come to the Ministry now, and they'll brief you on what's happened."
Harry suddenly felt as if he couldn't breathe, and the next thing he knew a sudden flurry of images seemed to swarm into his vision, making him dizzy and nauseous. Clutching his head in his hands, he bent over and said, "It's him...it's Voldemort."
As Hermione knelt down next to him, she placed her hand on his arm and asked quietly, "Is it just him?"
"He's all I saw," Harry replied in a strained voice.
Hermione realized that the quiet that had decended when Percy had announced the attack was now a deathly silence in which everyone in the room seemed scared to breathe, all of them staring at Harry with fear evident in their eyes.
"I must go," Arthur said, standing. "Bill, Charlie, Fred, George...you lot go with your mother and round up the Order members." Looking to where Ron, Luna, Hermione, Harry and Ginny sat he said, "You five need to go with them, it's the safest place for you. Especially you, Harry."
"Right," Harry replied, a hard edge to his voice that didn't escape Hermione.
Arthur apparated away and the others started flooing to Grimmauld Place, Molly sending one at a time. When she motioned for them to join her, Harry said, "I just need to run upstairs quickly to get my wand."
As Harry quickly made his way into the sitting room, Hermione, Ron, and Luna followed closely behind. Ron reached out and grabbed Harry's upper arm, stopping him from taking another step, and asked, "Harry, you never go anywhere without your wand, so what are you up to?"
Harry cast a weary glance toward the kitchen where Mrs. Weasley was waiting for them and turning back to Ron he replied in an angry whisper, ""He's hurting people because of me...it's me he wants, and he'll do anything to get to me...including killing innocent people. I'm going, I don't care what your father said, Ron."
"What do you mean you're going?!" Hermione asked sharply in a lowered voice, glaring angrily at him. "You're not going anywhere, it's too dangerous Harry!"
"I don't care!" he replied angrily. "It's time to end this."
"No it's not," Hermione whispered angrily. "You're not anywhere near ready yet, and neither am I. You know damn well that if Voldemort is there, Damien can't be far behind. I'm not risking my life Harry, and I'll not let you either."
Harry and Hermione stood glaring at one another and breathing quite heavily as Ron and Luna looked on."Fuck this," Harry said, freeing his arm from Ron's grip. "I'm going."
"No you're not!" Hermione answered, taking hold of his hand tightly as the look in her eyes dared him to go against her.
"You're my Guardian, Hermione, not my mum."
When he noticed the flash of hurt and anger that twisted her features, Harry cursed himself for hurting her. Her next words would cut him to the very core...
"I thought I was more to you than that," she whispered, sadness replacing the anger in her eyes. "And if you're so hellbent on going, then I'm going with you."
"Me too," Ron and Luna said at the same time, the looks on their faces telling Harry he would be wasting precious time trying to talk them out of it.
Trying not to think about how much he cared for the three people now looking at him expectantly he snapped, "Fine. We'll apparate into the alley next to The Leaky Cauldron and go from there." Not waiting for their replies, he tightened his hold on Hermione's hand and the next thing she knew, Harry had apparated them out of the Burrow.
When they arrived in the alley, they had to wait a few seconds for Ron and Luna to join them. Once they were regrouped, Harry looked around to see if there were any Death Eaters on the muggle side of Tom's pub. Seeing that the street was deserted, he turned back to them and said, "We'll need to go through the pub to get to the entrance. Once inside Diagon Alley, we have no idea what we're going to be walking into. Whatever happens, stay together. If we get seperated...Ron, try to keep Luna with you at all times and I will look after Hermione." Ignoring Hermione's huff of indignation at his chauvinism, he looked at each of his three friends and said, "Please be safe, and if we happen to become seperated we'll meet up at Grimmauld Place." Seeing their nods of understanding he took a deep breath, steadying his nerves before saying, "Let's go."
They carefully made their way into The Leaky Cauldron, finding it deserted and in a state of disarray. Trying not to think about what may have happened, the quartet carefully maneuvered around overturned tables and destroyed chairs, coming to the wall that led into Diagon Alley. Due to the silencing spell on the wall, they were unable to hear any of what was taking place on the other side, so Harry quickly tapped the bricks in the right order and held his breath as the wall transformed before them.
What appeared before them looked like a scene straight out of hell itself. Buildings were burning as witches and wizards ran screaming from them, some of them on fire themselves. Death Eaters were running amok, firing spells at anyone that dared to run into their view, many falling dead from the killing curse. As their gazes took in the horrific sight, Hermione noticed a small form lying on the ground to the right of where they stood, a larger figure looming over it. Thinking that it was a Death Eater attacking a child, she ran over to them without thinking, and once she came upon the pair she stopped cold. On the ground lay a little girl that couldn't have been more than five years old, her mother crying hysterically while she cradled her daughter in her arms.
"What happened?" Hermoine asked, kneeling down next to the mum as Harry ran up behind her to see what she was doing.
"She was struck by a curse," the woman sobbed, rocking the child back and forth. "I can't get her to wake up."
"May I?" Hermione asked quietly, reaching out to take the little girl from the woman, a look of sadness and concern etched on her face.
The woman looked at Hermione as if she were daft, but when her gaze settled on Harry and she noticed his scar she said, "You're Harry Potter."
Looking uneasy Harry confirmed, "I am."
"You're here to stop them then?" she asked, a trace of hope in her voice as she looked to Ron and Luna, then back at Hermione.
"We're going to try," Hermione replied. "But first, I'd like to see if I can help you're daughter, if that's alright?"
The woman carefully lay the little girl on the ground and watched closely as Hermione felt for a pulse. Finding one, though very faint, she closed her eyes and slowly ran her hands above the little girl's body trying to find exactly where her injury was. Just as she found the injury in the girl's stomach, a red jet of light sailed just over Hermione's head, causing her to duck immediately and use her body to protect the little girl. Turning to Harry, Ron and Luna she said, "I need you to cover me while I heal her, if the process is interrupted she could die."
"Right," Harry replied, looking down at the pale girl, and then looking at Hermione. "We'll keep you safe, just do what you need to do."
The three of them formed a semicircle around Hermione, the girl and her mum, ready to fire at the first enemy that threatened. Hermione placed both of her hands over the girls wound and concentrated as hard as she could, sensing the amount of damage that had been done to her insides. She heard the mum gasp and knew that her hands had started to glow, but she couldn't think on that. She had to heal this little girl as quickly as possible so that Harry wasn't put in danger longer than he needed to be.
"Ron! Look out!" Harry shouted, seeing a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye. Turning quickly as Ron dropped to the ground, he pointed his wand and fired off a spell, only to have one fired right back. It hit his hand, causing him to drop his wand, leaving him defenseless. As the Death Eater fired off another curse, a blood red colored jet of light that was sailing right toward Harry's chest, Luna jumped in front of him. Taking the full force of the curse, she fell to the ground with a thud and lay there, motionless.
"Luna!" Ron shouted, his voice full of anger and fear. Seeing that Harry had bent down to check on her, he turned toward the Death Eater and started firing off hex after hex, not letting up until he had Voldemort's follower on the ground unconscious and bound with rope.
Hearing the commotion going on behind her, Hermione put every ounce of power she had into healing the little girl. Feeling that the wound was healed fully, she opened her eyes and watched as the glow left her hands, which were shaking from her efforts. After a few seconds the little girl's eyes fluttered open, causing her mother to start sobbing in relief. "Thank you so much for saving my Emma."
"You're welcome. You need to get her to safety, as quickly as possible," Hermione replied, exhaustion evident in her voice. Turning to see what had happened, she saw Luna laying on the ground with Ron and Harry crouched around her and she quickly ran to her friend's side. "What happened?" she asked.
"She stepped in front of me," Harry explained, angry at himself for his lack of concentration. "She was hit with a dark red jet of light...I've never seen anything like it before."
Without another thought, Hermione started running her hands over Luna as she had just done with Emma, searching for an injury. When her hands were over Luna's heart, Hermione gasped as she realized it wasn't beating at all. "No!" she cried, laying her hands over the area. Closing her eyes, she directed all of her energy into her hands, hellbent on bringing her friend back. When she realized it wasn't working, Hermione cast about her memory for a spell or something that would help Luna. Coming up with only one thing that would help her friend she looked from Harry to Ron and said, "I'm going to need you two to stand back. There's only one way that I can help her."
As the two boys stood slowly, looking concerned and confused all at once, Hermione placed one hand on Luna's forehead and the other in the center of her chest. Taking a deep breath, she summoned every ounce of courage she possessed, praying that what she was about to do worked. Muttering the words she had been studying so much the past few days, Harry and Ron watched as a soft purple glow started emanating from her hands and seemed to encompass her entire body. Unable to tear his eyes away from the sight, Harry stuck his right hand out and muttered, "Wand", summoning it to him in case what Hermione was doing happened to catch the interest of any nearby Death Eaters. As the glow around her intensified, the color started to pass through her hands into Luna, causing her forehead and chest to glow purple as well.
"Harry!" Ron shouted suddenly and then pointing his wand to their left he fired off a quick spell. Without a second thought Harry cast a shielding charm around Hermione and Luna, praying he could protect them long enough for Hermione to help their friend.
As Ron continued to fend off Death Eaters and Hermione concentrated on saving Luna, Harry focused as hard as he could on keeping the shield up. When he saw Ron get hit with a curse he felt something inside of him snap and the next thing he knew the shield was glowing blue, and a wave of strong magic left his body, knocking all the Death Eaters around them to the ground unconscious. Running over to Ron, he knelt down and asked, "Are you all right?"
"Caught it in the arm," Ron replied through gritted teeth. Letting Harry help him up, he looked to where the girls were and muttered, "Bloody hell." Harry looked as well and saw that the shield was sustaining itself, keeping them safe. "Did you do that?"
Harry looked back to Ron and without thinking replied, "I guess I did. Dunno how though..."
When the shield suddenly disappeared they both ran over to where Hermione still kneeled next to Luna. Sounding out of breath Hermione replied, "She's breathing again...she should be okay now..."
Kneeling down next to her, Ron ignored the blinding pain, put his arms under Luna's neck and knees and lifted her gently, cradling her body against his. "I'm going to take her to Grimmauld Place. Hopefully Madame Pomfrey will be able to look her over. Thank you, Hermione."
"Don't thank me yet," she replied, shakily getting to her feet. As Harry wrapped his arm around her waist to help her stand she added, "You need to get her examined quickly, in case what I did is only a temporary fix."
"Right," Ron answered. "I'll see you two in a minute," he said right before apparating away as he still held Luna carefully in his arms.
Turning to take her hand Harry said, "We should be going as well, before anymore Death Eaters attack us. There've been too many injuries already...you were right, I wasn't ready for this."
Just as he finished talking, Hermione's body seemed to simply crumple onto the ground like a ragdoll, pulling on his arm as he held fast to her hand. Letting go, he knelt down next to her and cradled her head in his arm. "Hermione? Can you hear me? What's wrong?"
"T-Tell Firenze I didn't have a choice," she whispered. "She would have died if I didn't do it..."
"Do what?" Harry asked, confused and worried. When her eyes closed and she didn't answer his fear for her well-being overtook him and he scooped her up in his arms. Trying his best to concentrate so he didn't splinch either or both of them, he focused on Grimmauld Place and apparated her away, hoping that she hadn't done something to put her life in danger yet again.
~A/N2> Sorry for the cliffhanger, but it will not be as much time between updates next time. This is only the beginning of the end, and the story is quickly coming to a close. I'd guess maybe 5 or 6 more chapters.