~A/N> A big thanks to DeliverMeFromEve for writing her story, "Angelica", which inspired me to want to
write again and to Lisa, who is always a wonderful friend and inspiration :)
Chapter 29 Flashback
"Petrificus totalis!"
"Protego! Engorgio!"
"Immobulus!"
"Protego! Stupefy!"
"Fuck me! Can either of you get one spell on target? It's no wonder you got your arses kicked last night!" Sorcha yelled angrily, glaring from first Hermione then Harry, who were out of breath and glaring back.
"Happy Christmas to you too," Hermione mumbled.
"Christmas, indeed. Your friend...what's her name? Lucy? She's not having a very Happy Christmas now, is she? Laying unconscious in St. Mungo's with lingering memories of her mum swimming through her subconscious mind. Happy, indeed," Sorcha fired back, angrily pacing back and forth now.
"It's Luna, and back off!" Harry yelled, still angry at Hermione but he'd be damned if he'd let her get verbally attacked like that.
"Back off, you say? That's certainly what you did last night, isn't it Potter? What would you have done had Voldemort decided to confront you last night? Wet yourself and run away like a little girl, hoping that Granger here would take care of the big, evil baddy?"
"Fuck off!" Harry spat, breathing even more heavily now.
"Great comeback, Potter. But what should I expect when that's the way you duel as well, saying the first thing that comes to mind instead of taking a moment to think it through?" Sorcha asked, turning her back on him.
It all happened so fast that none of the three would really remember exactly how it happened. From Hermione's view (which was most important) Harry raised his wand just as Sorcha had turned her back and the moment the spell left his lips Sorcha had turned, pointed her wand, and fired one right back at him. Hermione, on pure instinct alone, flung one hand toward Sorcha and another toward Harry. When all movement had stopped, Sorcha was pinned against the wall directly behind her, Harry was surrounded in a blue ball of light, and the two spells met between them in a shower of sparks. Looking angrily from Sorcha to Harry, Hermione lowered both of her hands, causing Harry to stumble back a few steps while Sorcha fell to the floor, landing directly on her bum. Turning on her heel, Hermione quickly made her way out of the training room, swearing to herself that she'd never train with Sorcha or Harry ever again.
Chapter 30
Hermione had spent the rest of Christmas day in her room, refusing to come out when Molly had come knocking several
times to beg her to come down for dinner. When Harry had tried to get her to let him in, she'd added more wards and
locking spells to the door to insure he wouldn't get in. She didn't want to talk to anyone...she was just so
tired and emotionally worn out, and right now her future was looking very dark and foreboding.
Waking early the next morning, she made her way down to the kitchen and was disappointed to find she wasn't the first one up.
"Mornin'," Harry mumbled, not bothering to look up from the story he was reading in The Quibbler.
"Mornin'," she replied softly. Gathering everything she would need to cook breakfast, she proceeded to make a big meal for everyone while ignoring the way Harry was staring at her, and thirty minutes later all house occupants were seated around the kitchen table.
"Thish ish great, Hermony," Ron said through a mouth full of food.
"Thanks," she replied, crinkling her nose in disgust as food flew from his mouth while he spoke.
Five minutes later, Remus walked into the quiet kitchen and said, "Training will start in one hour, in the training room."
Feeling a huge wave of disappointment slam into her from Ron and Harry, she felt her anger and frustration grow and none-too-nicely threw her plates into the sink. She knew that she had gone a bit overboard the day before, but did they have to make it so well known that they dreaded training with her? It didn't even occur to her that maybe their disappointment was because they just didn't want to train again that morning. Her emotions were raw at the moment, and it didn't take much to trigger her anger lately.
As she stormed from the room, Ron looked to Harry and asked, "What's with her?"
"I wish I knew," he replied with a sigh, watching after her as she left the kitchen and then went back to reading the paper. He had spent enough of his night worrying about her, and at that moment he was too tired and cranky to dwell on it. He'd wait until she was ready to talk; until then, he planned to steer well clear of her if possible.
~*~
"Potter! Get your arse in there and fight!" Sorcha ordered.
"Steer clear of her...great plan, Harry," he mumbled to himself as he watched Hermione practically tackle Ron and then hex him. Cringing at the howl of pain that Ron let out, he slowly walked onto the duelling mat and faced her, hopefully looking more menacing then he felt.
"I can feel your trepidation," Hermione taunted, still angry with his reaction at breakfast. "It's pathetic that you're giving pause when faced with someone you know."
"We both know that you are no ordinary girl," he growled, steeling himself for whatever she may throw at him.
With a smirk on her face, Hermione pointed her wand at him, casting a spell that shot just past his ear. Thinking quickly, he pointed his wand at her and yelled, "Stupify!"
Hermione's eyes grew wide when she felt the magical power that he had put into the spell, and thinking quickly she dodged to the right, falling to the floor as she tripped in her hast. When she saw him cast again, she watched the spell sail toward her and closing her eyes, envisioned her shield. When she opened them, she was happily surprised to see the glowing gold orb surrounding her. When she turned her smug expression at Harry, she noticed that he was staring unblinkingly at her, concentrating so hard that she could see a vein in his forehead throbbing. As she noticed that his scar was turning a more pink color, she gasped as her shield disappeared. With a wicked smile of his own, Harry raised his wand, pointed it at her, and said, "Expelliarmus!"
Her wand went flying from her hand, and she stood with her mouth open in shock. "How did you do that?"
"I practiced," he replied cockily. He went to say something else, but the next thing they knew, Harry fell to his knees and grabbing his head with his hands, started screaming in agony.
"Oh my god...Harry? Harry, what is it?" Hermione asked as she ran up to him, forgetting that she was supposed to be angry with him.
Dropping down in front of him, she pried his hands from his head so that she could get a better look and couldn't believe what she saw. "Your scar...it's bleeding."
"It...hurts...like... hell!" he exlaimed.
Looking to Remus, then Firenze, then Sorcha, who formed a circle around them she asked, "Please, help him!"
"It's not up to us to help him, that's your job," Sorcha replied quietly.
Sorcha's response made her grit her teeth in anger. A sudden all-encompassing fear overcame her, and she wondered what would happen if she failed him. Taking a deep, calming breath, she looked back to Harry, lifted his face and said, "Open your eyes." When he didn't do as she asked her fear doubled and she demanded, "Open your eyes, damn it!" When he finally opened them, she looked into their green depths and felt herself being pulled into his subconscious. When she got to the door that she was supposed to make sure was sealed every night, she saw that it was open. 'Of course it was open, you twit, you forgot to do your exercises with him last night. You were too busy sulking in your room.' 'Walking' up to it, she looked inside and wasn't really surprised to see Voldemort there. "Thought it might be you," she said, her voice echoing around her.
"Yess, it's me," Voldemort replied tauntingly.
"No wonder I felt a surge of evil in him as he cast the last spell", she said, She reached into her pocket to retrieve her wand, but the moment she pointed it at him, it flew from her grip and out of reach. Feeling panic flood through her, she took a deep, calming breath and said, "You're not supposed to be able to do magic here."
"And you're not suppossssed to let me enter Harry'sss mind," Voldemort mocked nastily, his evil sounding laugh surrounding her as he noticed her angry glare. "What kind of Guardian letsss the enemy of her charge enter into his mind? I thought you were suppossssed to protect him?" His laughter just continued after that as he insulted her time and time again.
"I didn't let you in," Hermione shot back, angry that everything he had said so far was true.
"Didn't you?"
Those two words slammed into her with an almost physical force, and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. Putting a hand to her chest, she tried to take a deep breath and calm herself. She was letting this evil man get to her, and that wasn't going to help her save Harry any faster. Knowing that there was probably no way to get her wand back, Hermione drew upon all of her Guardian magic and guided it toward Voldemort, hoping to expel him from Harry's mind. But Voldemort fought back, and suddenly it was her spell fighting his, gold against red, and she realized that if she lost she might lose Harry to this evil forever. That was not an option for her.
Drawing upon the wonderful memories she and Harry had shared since they had met, she noticed the color of her spell grew brighter, and she knew she had found the answer. Thinking about the kisses they had shared, the touches and desire they had tried to keep secret, she felt the magic within her surge from her hands and then, Voldemort was gone.
Carefully sealing the 'door' and withdrawing from Harry's mind, she felt utterly drained of energy and exhausted. She watched as Harry's dilated eyes returned to normal, and when he focused in on her pallid face he became worried. "Hermione, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, her voice weak. "I just need to rest for a bit."
After Harry helped her up from the floor, he guided her up to her room and lay her down gently on her bed. Noticing that her eyes were already drooping, threatening to give in to sleep, he brushed her hair from where it had fallen across her face and whispered, "Thank you."
"You're welcome," she muttered, and then drifted off into a very deep sleep.
In the doorway, Sorcha and Remus watched what was happening between the teens. Pursing her lips, Sorcha turned to Remus and said, "Her powers are growing faster than we expected. I don't think she'll be able to handle the power she's going to recieve so soon after starting her training."
"She'll have to," Remus replied. "Or else Harry will have to fight you-know-who with a Guardian who can't control her magic. That's practically a death sentence for them both."
~*~
After sleeping for a few hours and dinner that night, Hermione made her way to the Library to get some studying done, even though she still felt drained from her face-off with Voldemort. She was trying to learn all the defensive Guardian spells so that she could work on magical defensive spells next. Firenze had told her that she would have to demonstrate her knowledge the next couple of days, and she wanted to show them all that she was worthy of being Harry's Guardian.
As she sat on the sofa, deep in thought, the pillow next to her sank under someone's weight. Figuring that it would be Harry sitting next to her, she said, "I have a lot of studying to do. I'd rather not be disturbed."
"I'm sorry Hermione," Remus said quietly in reply. "I just need to speak to you for a moment. It's important."
Lowering the book onto her lap, she looked at him and said, "I'm sorry Remus, I thought you were...someone else."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about," he replied. Taking a deep breath, he gave her a wan smile and said, "Everyone has noticed how distant you and Harry seem to be lately. Did something happen?" When she remained quiet he added, "I don't mean to pry, but this is something too important to just let go unmentioned."
"I know," she replied in a soft voice. "I'm just not really sure what happened myself. Yesterday, when we were training, I saw a side of Harry that scared me. He pointed his wand at Sorcha's back, and from what I was getting from him empathically, he had every intention of firing a spell at her. He was filled with such a darkness, and I had no idea what to do to help him."
"And today...it was you-know-who in his mind?" Remus asked slowly.
"Yes, and it's all my fault. I was so upset with myself last night that I forgot to do the excercise to close off his mind to Voldemort's influence." Seeing the older man flinch she added, "I'm sorry, I forget that most witches and wizards are uncomfortable with his name."
"It's easy to forget when you didn't have to live through all the evil things he did the first time," Remus replied quietly. Sighing, he gently placed his hand over hers, where it lay on the couch, and asked, "Just try to reconnect with Harry, soon. You and I are all he has...well, not counting the Weasleys...and we need to work together to protect him. And you need to be very careful as well. Damien and you-know-you will use any weaknesses you and he may have to their advantage."
"I will try."
"That's all I ask." Patting her hand one more time, Remus slowly got up and made his way out of the Library, praying that something he said had gotten through to Hermione. She was their only hope.
After mulling over the things Remus had said for a bit, she returned to her book and began to be engrossed in it's knowledge once more. This time, when she felt the cushion sag, she never took her eyes from the book and said, "I told you before Remus, I'll think on what you said."
"And what did he say?" Harry asked, a hint of accusation in his voice. "I suppose you two were talking about me?"
"Harry. I didn't know it was you, sorry," she said quickly, trying to divert the subject away from the earlier conversation. "How are you feeling?"
"Why don't you tell me?" he challenged, his green eyes boring into hers. He had been scared by what had happened to her before, but a small part of him was angry because she had not done the exercise the way she was supposed to the night before. She had been hiding from everyone, including him, and it hurt him more than he cared to admit.
As his feelings slammed into her, unwanted, she closed her eyes as she realized that his loneliness was overwhelming, and that the rest of his emotions were all balled up together. His fear and anger seemed to be warring with one another, each growing to become the prevalent feeling. And underneath all of that turmoil he was feeling hurt, at what she couldn't guess. Feeling nauseous at the onslaught, she felt a single tear escape her eye as she whispered, "Please stop, Harry. Please..."
Her plea caused his emotions to spike, and she stood up suddenly, running quickly to the loo. Bending over the toilet, she was more sick than she'd been the last time this had happened, and she begged the Gods to make it stop. Feeling as if she were dying, she lay down weakly on the cold floor and closed her eyes, exhausted.
"Hermione?!" Harry yelled, finally unlocking the bathroom door. She didn't know it, but her magic was becoming much stronger lately and the locking charm she had quickly cast was about three times as strong as a normal one.
Rushing inside, he knelt down next to where she lay and gently pressed his hand to her forehead. "You're burning up," he said, his concern evident in his voice. Making a quick decision he asked, "Do you feel like your going to be sick again?"
With a slight motion of her head, she told him no, and he gently lifted her off of the floor. Cradling her limp body against him, he carried her to her room and lay her down on her bed. "I'm going to go get Sorcha and Remus, I'll be right back."
"O-Okay," she replied, shivering with a sudden case of the chills. Burrowing under her blanket, she pulled it up to her chin and closed her eyes, feeling exhausted. What seemed like hours later, but was really only minutes, she could hear the sound of muffled voices and watched as three out-of-focus figures walked into the room.
"It was all my fault," Harry was saying, his voice riddled with guilt. "I did something stupid...I..."
"You what?" Sorcha asked, her voice holding a more caring note than she'd ever heard before.
"I challenged her to tell me what I was feeling, and that's why she got sick."
"I highly doubt that," Sorcha replied. "But what you did was foolish, none-the-less."
Remus walked up to the bed and slowly knelt down in front of her, his aged bones protesting the movement. He looked at her for a moment and then pressed his palm to her forehead. "She's feverish. We need to contact Firenze and Madame Pomfrey and have them come tend to her."
"Firenze will be able to do more for her," Sorcha replied, looking pointedly at Remus while ignoring Harry's confused and angry glare.
"And how do you know that?" Remus asked.
"Her powers are increasing," Sorcha answered knowingly. "The training she went through today, the way she was picking up on everyone's emotions lately, it's everything that happened to me right before I went through it. It's a terrible process, but one that she has to endure. It's a good thing for all of us, but it will not be easy on her"
"So what do we do?" Harry asked, wanting to do something to ease her discomfort. Sorcha's answer was not the one he was expecting.
"We wait."
~*~
It had been twenty-four hours since Hermione's fever had set in, and Harry sat in a chair next to her bedside that entire time. Everytime someone tried to get him to sleep, or leave the room to go to the kitchen to eat, he would vehemently refuse. He was blaming himself for what was happening to Hermione, and nothing that anyone said could make him think it wasn't his fault.
During that time, Hermione had lain in her bed, covered in a sheen of sweat and mumbling incoherently. Harry could pick out some of what she said. She spoke of her Mum and Dad, and even mumbled Harry's name a few times. Each time she said his name his grip on her hand would tighten and his guilt would increase even more.
Firenze walked into Hermione's room to find Harry sleeping restlessly in his chair, and he gently shook the teenager to wake him. When Harry looked up at him through bleary eyes he said, "You must go to the Library with Sorcha. She will do the protection exercise tonight since Miss Granger is in no shape to do it." When he noticed that Harry was about to protest he quickly added, "We have already risked much by not doing it last night. We do not want you-know-who and Damien to know of Miss Granger's condition."
The last part was enough to get Harry to cooperate, and Firenze promised that he would sit with Hermione until he returned. Having Sorcha do the exercise was not the same, as it seemed Hermione was gentler when she did it. Sorcha seemed to just tear into his mind and barge her way through it, sealing the part of his mind that Voldemort entered through, and then quickly exited, which left him with quite a headache.
Cursing at her under his breath the entire way back to Hermione's room, Harry entered to see Firenze pour some water into her mouth. Walking up to his side he asked, "Should I keep doing that?"
Not mentioning his assumption, Firenze replied, "Yes, at least once every hour. We don't want her waking dehydrated."
As Firenze vacated his spot, Harry reclaimed it and checked his watch so he would know when to give her more and set an alarm just in case he fell asleep. Not hearing Firenze leave, Harry once more took her hand in his and said, "Please get better Hermione. I need you." Watching her sleeping form as he caressed her hand with his thumb, he longed to have more contact with her. Not caring what the others would think, he took off his shoes and climbed into bed behind her, wrapping his arm around her waist. Feeling as if the space between them was a chasm, he carefully moved closer to her so that no space seperated them. Feeling her warmth seep into him, he thought about what had happened the day before and cursed Voldemort for trying to tear them apart. Tightening his hold on her, he felt his eyelids droop as sleep overtook him and he mumbled, "I'll never leave you Hermione, I promise."
~A/N2> If you want to read DeliverMeFromEve's story that I mentioned above you can find it here: http://fanfiction.portkey.org/story/7056_