~A/N> Hi everyone! Thanks so much for your wonderful Birthday wishes on the last chapter, they absolutely made
my day better. A big thanks goes out to Lisa for all of her help, without which my chapters would probably suck :p I
hope you enjoy this chapter, I think it may be the one that lots of you have been waiting for :D Happy
reading!
"Luna's awake?" Hermione asked, jumping up from the bed, full of excitement. "Is she okay? Does she
remember anything?"
"Woah," Sorcha exclaimed, holding up her hands to stop Hermione's barrage of questions. "Pack up your things . We're going back to Grimmauld Place and then flooing over with the others to St. Mungo's. It seems Luna was very adamant that she speak to you and Harry immediately."
Knowing of Luna's seer abilities, Hermione swallowed down the nervousness that seemed to rise within her and concentrated on the part of her that was happy at seeing Harry...and Luna...again. With a flick of her wand, everything was neatly packed inside of her trunk while she silently scolded herself for not thinking of Luna first. She put her shrunken trunk into her jeans pocket and made her way to the Headmistresses' office, the thought that Luna may not be herself fighting to the forefront of her mind.
Walking into the office, she saw Sorcha and McGonagall standing next to the fireplace. "All set to go?" Sorcha asked.
"Ready," she replied. Grabbing some floo powder she threw it in, walked into the green flames and stated, "Number 12 Grimmauld Place!" Seeming to take forever, the sickening ride was finally over, and she stumbled out into the sitting room at Grimmauld.
"Gotcha," came Harry's voice, as he wrapped his arms around her waist to steady her.
When she was able to straighten up, she looked to Harry's face and became entranced by his twinkling green eyes. "Hi," she said quietly, smiling at him, while her heart beat wildly in her chest at his nearness.
"Hi," he replied just as quietly as he continued to stare at her. He wanted to bend down and kiss her, showing her how much he'd missed her, but he was acutely aware that everyone else in the room was staring at them that very moment.
Feeling their emotions of approval and disapproval bouncing off of her, Hermione closed her eyes and said, "Everyone's watching us."
"Yeah, I know," he replied in a whisper. "We'll have to catch up properly later."
At his words, her heart rate increased tenfold, and feeling slightly faint at the promise she heard in his words she could only nod in agreement. Missing his warmth when he pulled away from her, she felt slightly better when he stayed next to her, their sides touching.
"Hey Hermione," Ron said as he walked up to the two of them. "Can you believe she's finally awake? Though, it is a little strange that she asked for you right away."
"I'm sure it's nothing Ron," Hermione assured him, not quite believing the words herself. If she read the expression on Harry's face correctly, he didn't believe it either.
"Right," Ron agreed. "I'm just glad she's awake."
Giving him a reassuring smile, Hermione turned to face Sorcha as she said, "Alright you lot, let's go."
Ron went first, followed by Hermione and then Harry. Sorcha was the last to go, and once they were all in St. Mungo's they followed Ron up to Luna's room on the fourth floor.
Walking into the room, the first thing Hermione noticed was Mr. Lovegood, who sat in a chair next to his daughter's bedside. After returning his friendly greeting, Hermione walked up to the bed and stood next to Ron, who stood holding Luna's hand. She was still very pale, but her eyes were alert and boring into Hermione at the moment, making her very nervous. "Hey Luna. It's nice to see you awake."
"Hello, Hermione," Luna replied, never taking her eyes off of her. Turning from Hermione to her father, Luna asked, "Daddy, would you please go get me something to drink? I'm really thirsty."
"Absolutely, kitten," her father replied, flashing a smile at them all before leaving the room.
After watching her father leave, Luna looked to Ron and asked, "Ronald, I really need to talk to Hermione. Could you and Harry just wait outside for a bit?"
Ron looked very confused. Looking to Hermione, who looked confused herself, Ron replied, "Sure. We'll just ah...wait outside."
Giving Luna a quick kiss on the cheek, Ron motioned for Harry to follow him out of the room. Harry, noting the strange look on Hermoine's face, walked up to her and kissed her cheek as well. "I'll just be outside," he said quietly. Looking to Luna, he smiled and said, "I'm glad you're better."
"Thanks," Luna replied with a smile. Once the two had left the room, Ron closed the door behind them and sat in the chair next to where Harry and Sorcha sat, which were right outside the door.
"What do you think that's all about?" Ron asked, looking to Harry.
"I have no idea," Harry replied. "But I don't have a good feeling about it."
~*~
With Ron and Harry now sitting outside the room, Luna turned her gaze on Hermoine and said, "Why don't you sit down? There's so much to tell you."
Very confused by her freind's behavior, Hermione moved the chair next to the bed and sat. Staring at Luna, she noticed her eyes dart to the door, and not paying any attention to it she missed the sound of the door locking. Smiling at her, Hermione replied, "We were all so worried about you. You've been unconscious for a while now. I was afraid that..."
When she remained silent Luna asked, "You were afraid that you'd done the spell wrong and I wouldn't wake up, or wouldn't be the same person I used to be?"
Stunned by her knowledge and bluntness, Hermione replied, "Well...yeah, I guess."
"Well, as you can see, I'm fine," Luna reassured.
Hermione stared at her uneasily, and something about Luna's eyes caught her attention. "You're not Luna!" She jumped up so quickly that the chair she had been sitting in tumbled over, causing quite a noise.
Alerted by the sound, Ron, Sorcha, and Harry got out of their chairs to see what was going on. What they saw made them stop cold. Luna still lay in her bed, looking at Hermione while keeping an iron grip on Hermione's wrist, and Hermione looked worriedly at them. "Help me!" she called to them. "This isn't Luna!"
"What?!" Ron asked, looking at Harry, dumbfounded. "Of course it's Luna."
Harry stood watching the scene, and looking to his friend he said, "I don't think Hermione would lie about something like that." Running to the door, he grabbed the knob and tried to open it, but to no avail. Bringing out his wand, he started casting unlocking spells to get the door open, but it wouldn't budge. "I can't get in!" he exclaimed, looking worriedly to Sorcha. "Help me!"
Meanwhile, Luna kept hold of Hermione, and while Hermione's attention was on Sorcha and the boys said, "You won't have to worry about them much longer."
This grabbed her attention immediately. "What do you mean?" she asked, turning once more to look at Luna.
"I mean that there should be an attack on this hospital any...time...now..."
Just as she finished her answer, a flurry of spells shot down the hallway, barely missing Ron, Harry, and Sorcha. "Hermione!" Harry called, dodging out of the way of a red jet of light that just missed his head.
"Harry!" she called, trying to wrench her wrist free from Luna's grasp. Looking at her friend's face she asked, "Who are you, really?"
"Dear Guardian, I thought you'd know," Luna replied. "Think really hard. I bet you can guess."
Hermone just stared at the girl in front of her. A picture flashed through her mind and she gasped. Feeling fear flood through her she whispered, "Damien?"
"That's right," came the reply. "Your friend here wasn't as protected as you are, especially after you used that silly spell to save her life, and it was quite easy to overtake her body." She watched in horror as Damien all but walked out of Luna's body, and not five seconds later was standing in front of her in full spectral form. Turning to look out the hospital room door's window he tutted and said, "That is the great Harry Potter that Voldemort is afraid of? How pathetic."
Damien let go of her then, and she fell ungracefully to the floor. Getting up quickly, she drew her wand and cast a few spells, which he easily deflected and shielded himself from. The fear inside her was growing with each missed spell, and when her wand suddenly flew from her hand, her mind went completely blank. Trying to think back on her recent training, she thought of a new Guardian spell Sorcha had taught her. Holding both hands palm-out toward him, she recited, "Obvallo ignesco!"
A wall of fire erupted in front of her, and as she pushed her hands forward, the flames moved closer to Damien. She put all of her concentration into the flames and they grew higher because of it. A small smile crept onto her face as she saw him take a few steps back, but it vanished immediately when he extinguished the flames with a wave of his hand. "Someone's been teaching you..."
With another slight wave of his hand, she tripped backwards and was now looking up at his imposing form. Scuttling back until she hit the wall, she cowered there as he advanced on her with a malicious glare. "You are the only thing standing between me taking over the wizarding world. I had it all planned out, chose Tom Riddle to be my pawn, and then that...that... boy got in my way. Things were finally starting to go the way I wanted them to, and YOU have to show up. I am tired of interruptions..."
She tried to think of another spell or guardian magic to use to keep him away, she tried to clear her mind so that she could think clearly, but she couldn't. The vision of Damien advancing on her, surrounded by a black shadow of evil, completely caused her brain to shut down. Not knowing of anything else to do, she took a deep breath and screamed, "HARRY!!"
~*~
Harry was in a fight for his life. He, Sorcha, and Ron had been surrounded by no less than twenty death eaters, and even though Harry had somehow had the frame of mind to send his Patronus to get the Order to help, he wasn't sure they'd get there in time to save them. Firing off all the spells and curses he could think of, he felt relief wash over him as he noticed some Order members come around the corner and start taking out the death eaters one by one. When he noticed Remus, a part of him actually thought that everything was going to be okay. Until he heard Hermione scream his name...
He turned toward Luna's room, hearing the fear and helplessness in her voice, and his breathing hitched when he noticed her backed up against a wall with Damien looming over her dangerously. "Hermione!" he called back, fighting his way back to the door. Trying once more to open it, his frustration grew tenfold when it wouldn't budge. She called out to him again and again, and Damien kept getting closer to her, and Harry felt raw fear for the first time in his life. He had made it through so many trials and tribulations...when he had battled the basilisk to save Ginny, making it through the three tasks of the Tri-Wizard tournament alive after confronting Voldemort who had returned to life...so many times he had faced fear and laughed at it. But this time was different...this was Hermione, he loved her, and if he lost her...
He had no idea what had happened next, but the door had come unlocked and he had quickly made his way into the room. Advancing on Damien with wand drawn, he felt his anger grow as Damien laughed at his 'heroic attempts' to save his Guardian.He looked to Hermione and felt his love for her grow when she looked deep into his eyes, her fear and love shining through, and that was all he needed to see. In the next instance Damien advanced on Hermione, she screamed, and a wave of magical energy so strong that it blew out the windows in the room left Harry. His breathing was ragged, his chest was killing him, and he felt as if his head was going to burst from the pain. When the last piece of glass fell to the floor and the dust in the room settled, Damien was gone. Looking around the room, he focused on Hermione and asked, "Do you think he's gone for good?"
He could see her taking in the devastation he had caused, and when her eyes met his he thought he saw a flicker of fear. Taking a deep breath she replied, "I don't. I'm sure we'll be seeing him again." Realizing that what she had done was not enough to protect herself, let alone Harry, she felt hot tears prickle her eyes. Exhausted, she welcomed them, wallowing in her failure.
Walking over to where she sat on the floor, sobbing violently, he knelt down in front of her and wrapped his arms around her. Holding her tightly, he urged her to stand and then held her as tight as he dared, his chest constricting at the thought of how close he had come to losing her. Kissing her forehead, he leaned back just enough to see her face and asked, "Are you alright?"
"I...I don't know..." she replied shakily, her grip on him tightening almost painfully.
The door opened and they both looked up to see a Healer walking toward Luna, with Ron and Remus following close behind. Ron was limping, and Remus had some cuts and bruises on his face, but otherwise they seemed to be okay. As the Healer checked Luna over, Remus made his way to where Harry and Hermione were. Looking the two over he asked, "Are you both okay?"
"Yeah," Harry replied, looking to Hermione who said the same.
"I'm glad," Remus said. "You two will need to get back to Grimmauld Place as soon as possible. It's not safe here anymore."
"I'll take her back," Harry answered. Remus gave the two of them a small smile and then made his way back to where Ron stood by Luna's bedside.
Turning his attention back to Hermione, he realized that she was now shaking violently while mumbling, "I failed...I was supposed to protect you and I failed..."
Closing his eyes against the wave of sympathy he felt for her, he whispered, "It's okay, Hermione. We're going to go home now." As he slowly led her out of the room, he heard the Healer say that Luna was going to make a full recovery and he thanked merlin that at least one of them was going to be okay.
~*~
She felt so cold. She was being led through the hospital, down to the floo connections, and the next thing she knew she was spinning off to Grimmauld Place. Harry had let her go first, and somehow she had managed to come out of the fireplace standing instead of stumbling. He had arrived just mere seconds after she had, and thankfully she had the sense to get out of the way.
As he was leading her up the stairs to her room, something in her finally snapped. Wrenching herself from his grasp, she turned on him and furiously asked, "Why do you always have to be the hero?" As she glared at him, daring him to answer, his expression went from hurt to angry, and then to nothing at all. The stony look he wore made her feel suddenly very cold and alone, and she knew she had gone too far.
Ashamed at her outburst, she turned and ran the rest of the way to her room, flinging herself onto her bed while leaving a hurt and confused Harry behind. She couldn't remember the last time she had cried so hard, maybe it had been when her parents died, but she couldn't recall at that moment. All she knew was that she longed to be a normal teenager again, living with her parents in their house. That thought caused her to cry even harder.
He walked in a few moments later, taking time to compose himself after what she had said. Deep down he knew she hadn't meant what she said, but it had still cut to the core of him. Finding her face down on her bed crying made all the hurt disappear as his focus turned to her. She needed him, whether she ever admitted it, and he needed her. Badly.
Walking up to the bed, he ran his hand over her hair soothingly, saying things that he hoped would calm her. They stayed like that for an unknown amount of time, she crying while he consoled and reassured. She quieted finally, trying to think of some way to gain her dignity back. As if knowing what she was thinking Harry softly said, "I don't think any less of you because of what happened today."
"How could you not?" she asked in reply, turning her red and puffy eyes toward him. "I completely froze, Harry. I'm supposed to protect you, and when I was faced with my enemy I couldn't do anything but cower in fear!"
"None of us expected what happened tonight," he answered. "How could you know what to do in that situation?"
"I've been training my arse off for three days," she said, her voice full of anger and disgust. "Three days of hell on earth, and for what? I didn't do anyone any good today."
Too tired to fight with her, Harry stood quietly staring at her. With only the wane light from the hallway lighting the room, she could almost feel his tiredness as she noticed it on his face. Deciding to put off asking him what it was that had happened with him that night, she sighed and quietly asked, "Would you stay with me tonight? I don't want to be alone."
Surprised by her question, Harry was quiet for a minute and then replied, "Sure."
Moving so that she was closest to the wall, she got comfortable as he removed his shoes and lay down next to her. Turning to face her, he held his arms out and she scooted closer to him so that he could hold her while her head rested on his shoulder. Feeling safe, she felt herself finally relax and drift off to sleep, the events of the night catching up to her.
Harry stayed awake and noticed the fireworks going off outside, set off by the neighbors. Looking at his watch, he bent down, kissed the top of her head and whispered, "Happy New Year, Hermione."
~*~
She had been having nightmares since the moment she succumbed to sleep. So many horrible scenarios of the way the night could've gone played out in her mind, and each one took it's toll on her. When her eyes popped open after the most horrific scene of Harry dying at the hands of Damien, she realized that he still held onto her tightly, even in sleep. Bringing her hand up slowly, she gently ran her fingers over his cheek as she remembered the way he had saved her, and whispered, "I love you."
He opened his eyes and stared at her, the intensity of his gaze burning into her. "Y-You're awake."
"Mmm-hmm," he replied, his voice a low rumble in his throat. Before either of them could think what they were doing, they leaned in and their lips touched.
The kiss became intense, the feelings they had been hiding making themselves known as tongues met and hands roamed. Her breath caught for a split second when she felt his hand moving down her side, and then he was reaching underneath her shirt, his fingertips hot on her skin. Breaking the kiss, his lips blazed a trail across her jawbone and down her throat, coming to rest in the hollow of her neck. She felt like she was on fire, and his touch only fed the flames of desire that were coursing through her. Tilting her head back to give him better access, her hands sought out the hem of his t-shirt and pulling on it, he broke away from her just long enough for her to take it off. When his lips returned to her neck, kissing his way to her shoulder, she gently pushed him away from her. Seeing the questioning look in his eyes, and a touch of doubt, she sat up so that she could remove her shirt as well and lay back down beside him.
His hands continued to explore her skin, making her feel on fire as he kissed her again. This time his kiss was slow and gentle, and when his hand explored her bra covered breast she moaned, wanting to feel more. Reaching behind her, she unclasped the bra and slid it off slowly. His movements stilled as he lay there looking at her, his eyes taking in the newly unveiled parts of her. When he continued the kiss but not his exploration, she kissed him back and took his hand in hers, placing it on her breast. She squeezed his hand with hers, which caused him to squeeze her breast and she couldn't believe the wonderful feelings it incited within her. As he clumsily continued to lavish attention on one breast and then the other, she brought her hands up and buried them in his hair, relishing in the way he made her feel.
Kissing his way back up her body, he captured her lips again in a searing kiss and when he pulled away, she could see the need in his eyes. "I want you, Hermione."
She shivered at the way he said it, both from excitement and fear. They had done things like this before, but always with the barrier of clothes between them. Swallowing down the fear, she looked into his eyes and replied, "I want you too, Harry."
A small smile graced his lips for a second, and the next thing she knew he was moving away from her. When he returned, he was wearing only a pair of boxers. "I-um...cast a locking spell on the door."
His embarrassment endeared him to her, and she smiled at his thoughtfulness. Keeping her gaze locked with his, she reached down and unbuttoned her jeans, slowly pulling them down her legs. The cold air hit her bare legs and she shivered again. Noticing this, he reclaimed his place next to her in the bed and took her in his arms, content to just hold her for a while. Her heart pounded in her chest as the bare skin of his chest came into contact with hers, and her grip on him tightened. That's when she felt it, his hardness pressing against her leg, and the fear and excitement came rushing back once again at what they were doing...and planned to do.
She realized that he had been watching her reactions and she blushed. Bringing his hand up to her face, he gently caressed her cheek with his thumb and whispered, "I love you, too."
The feeling of being loved overwhelmed her, and she didn't hesitate when he rolled them so that he was above her, or when he carefully removed her panties and then his boxers. Going on pure instinct and memories of late night talks with his other mates in the Gryffindor dorm, he positioned himself carefully between her legs and pushed into her slowly. He could feel her stiffen and worried that he was hurting her, he stopped from going further, his teeth clamped together as he tried to keep his control.
She looked up at him, wondering why he had stopped, and she noticed that he wore an expression of sheer determination. "Harry?"
"I don't want to hurt you," he replied.
"It's going to hurt no matter what," she answered, caressing his face as she marveled at the extent of his thoughtfulness. "It won't be your fault, I promise."
After only a second's more hesitation, he continued to enter her at a painfully slow pace. As her tightness surrounded him, he had to do everything in his power to hold back so that things weren't over before they had even started. He came to her barrier and realizing that what he was going to do was really going to hurt her, he captured her lips in a passionate kiss as he thrust once more, breaking through the last vestiges of her innocence.
She broke their kiss and whimpered at the burning pain she felt, and he pressed his forehead to hers as he said, "I'm so sorry."
She kept quiet, fighting off the tears that threatened to fall, and as one escaped to snake down her face she whispered, "I'm okay." She could feel that he didn't believe her and she didn't blame him, but she encouraged him to move again, hoping the pain would decrease. He slowly built up a rhythm, and with each thrust she realized that the pain was not so intense anymore and that a feeling of pleasure was taking it's place.
Just as the pain had all but disappeared, she felt Harry push deeply into her one last time and then he stiffened a bit and shuddered. His arms, weakend by his climax, refused to keep him above her any longer and he dropped down on top of her feeling sated and exhausted all at once. Carefully pulling out of her, he rolled off of her so that he lay right next to her on his side. When they were face-to-face once more, he wrapped his left arm around her and buried his right into her hair while giving her a kiss that was full of love and promises. "I love you."
"I love you, too," she replied, smiling at him.
She snuggled up against him while he covered them both with the sheet. Content in each others arms, they both gave in to sleep, too exhausted from everything that had happened to them that day to fight it any longer.