~A/N> So here's another chapter. Thank you for the wonderful response to the last chapter, and I'm glad
you liked the bit of history that I included on the Duvall family. The Notebook will be showing up more in the future
with more information. As for this chapter, it's my favorite so far :) It was so much fun to write (because I love
writing teen angst and the hormones, so much fun when you've already gone through it :p) and there is a
lot of H/Hr interaction. And something else, which I'm sure the chapter title says it all :) I
hope you enjoy it, and happy reading! Oh, and if you are one of the few viewers of HTV (harmony television video
podcast) I'll be posting episode three on harmonytv.libsyn.com and on iTunes as well today. Also, if you get a
chance, please visit my website: www.harmonypodcast.com
The next day, after successfully making her way to all of her classes, Hermione sat at dinner with her fellow
Gryffindors. Listening to the conversation around her, she loved how easily everyone spoke to one another. She found
herself sitting across from Ron who introduced her to Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, and Seamus Finnigan, the last of
which was being a terrible flirt. Feeling her cheeks burn from the obvious attention he was paying her, she felt
someone sit down next to her and ask, "Finnigan, please tell me you're not using those tired old pickup lines
on Hermione?"
"Well, we're not all the 'Boy-Who-Lived' now, are we? We can't just smile at a girl we fancy and have them throw their knickers at us," Seamus joked, winking at Hermione as he teased Harry.
"That only happened once, and I was ever the gentleman I'll have you know. I gave the girl her knickers back and explained that even though they were quite lovely, I wasn't the thong wearing type," Harry replied, laughing along with everyone else about the occurrence that had happened last year. He hadn't mentioned to the girl that he had been seeing Ginny at the time, and for good reason. When Ginny had found out about what the fourth year Hufflepuff had done, she had practically hexed the girl's clothes off in retaliation, but thankfully Harry had stopped her in time. As if thinking of her made her appear out of thin air, the redhead sat next to him, sandwiching Harry between her and Hermione. With Hermione fully ensconced in a conversation with Seamus and Dean (one that seemed hilarious by the way she was laughing) he had no choice but to turn to her and say, "Hullo, Ginny."
"Hello, Harry," Ginny replied sweetly.
Harry looked to Ron to see the same puzzled look on his face that he probably wore at that moment. An angry Ginny they could deal with, but a nice, seemingly calm Ginny was something to be afraid of. "Have a good day Gin?" Ron asked, testing the waters.
"Oh yes, just wonderful," she said, her voice sounding flat and laced with anger that only those that knew her well would have picked up on. Turning on Harry, her brown eyes gleaming with anger, she asked, "Didn't take you long to find a replacement for me, did it?"
"What do you mean?" Harry asked slowly, watching her wand hand carefully.
"All I heard about today, in every bloody class, was how you've been chatting up that new girl, Hermione," Ginny accused, glaring at him. Hearing her name mentioned, Hermione turned toward Ginny and found the redhead looking at her with a look that would kill if it were possible. "Speak of the devil," Ginny practically sneered, causing Hermione to look to Ron and then Harry, confused.
"I'm sorry, have I done something to upset you?" Hermione asked as kindly as she could while still keeping her anger in check. Firenze had told her that the key to keeping her magic under control was to keep control of her emotions.
"Depends on if you're referring to Harry," Ginny replied, watching as the brunette's cinnamon colored eyes grew wide with the innuendo while Seamus and Dean started laughing behind her.
"How dare you!" Hermione said, feeling a dull throbbing start in the middle of her forehead.
"Ginny, that's enough!" Harry growled, giving her a look that said that she had better watch herself. "I didn't break up with you for anyone else. I broke things off because I don't have feelings for you anymore. If you don't like it, why don't you go find Michael, or maybe Dean will help you feel better."
"You bloody bastard," Ginny said, quickly drawing her wand. Before anyone really knew what was happening, Hermione had instinctively reached out and grabbed Harry's wrist, closing her eyes as the throbbing in her head grew more painful. As Ginny fired off her famous Bat Bogey Hex, a circular shield of blue went up around Harry, causing the hex to bounce off of it harmlessly, hitting some poor innocent Ravenclaw first year who started to cry. The shield slowly evaporated once Hermione removed her hand and then she slumped over onto Harry's shoulder, out cold.
"Hermione?" Harry asked, concerned about her and confused at the same time.
At that moment, Headmistress McGonagall came hurrying toward them. Looking at Ginny she said, "Five points from Gryffindor for that little stunt Miss Weasley. Mr. Potter, take Miss Granger to your Common room right now and wait there for me."
Standing up awkwardly with her arm around the back of his neck and his around her waist, Harry was glad to see Ron walk up to them and take hold of her the same way. As the two of them walked to the Head Boy and Girl's dorm, Ron looked at Harry and asked, "What was that back there mate? Something new Lupin's taught you?"
"That wasn't me," Harry said, lowering his gaze from Ron's face to look at Hermione. "I think she's the one that did it....I just don't know why or what the hell is going on."
~*~
Hermione opened her eyes slowly, her head still throbbing, the pain having spread behind her eyes. Bringing her hands up to rub her temples, she heard a deep male voice say, "It's about time you woke up."
Opening her eyes all the way, she looked up to see that Harry was above her, his intense green eyes gazing down at her. Furrowing her brow as her thoughts cleared a bit, she realized that her head was laying on his lap and she tried to get up. "Don't move," he said, placing a gentle, stilling hand on her head. "Headmistress McGonagall told us to bring you here and wait for her to arrive. You've been out for about twenty minutes now."
"Out for twenty minutes?" she repeated, confused, and then flashes of what had happened in the Great Hall came rushing back. She groaned as her head throbbed even more and put her fingertips on her temples, rubbing in circles to try to ease some of the pain.
"Pretty wicked display you put on down there," Ron said, causing Harry to give him a look of warning.
"I wouldn't use the word 'display' to describe it," Harry replied, pushing her hands out of the way as he started to rub her temples for her. "Headache?"
"Yeah," she said quietly, enjoying the feel of his hands on her head. His touch was soothing and relaxing, making her forget about the pain she had been feeling.
All three of them looked toward the door when it opened and in walked McGonagall, Remus, and Madam Pomfrey. The three adults stopped as they took in how comfortable Hermione looked with her head cushioned on Harry's lap, and Remus's eyes sought out Harry's, who quickly looked away. "Mr. Weasley, we need to speak to Miss Granger and Mr. Potter alone," McGonagall stated.
" 'K," Ron said, making his way to the door. "See you later Harry. Feel better Hermione."
After saying their good-byes, Madam Pomfrey made her way to Hermione's side and started to wave her wand over her. Just as the first time, as the nurse's wand moved over her heart, a blue light spread throughout Hermione's body, engulfing everyone in the room. The warmth and love that spread through everyone as the light surrounded them made them all stare in awe at her.
"You did it again," Harry said quietly as he looked down at her.
"Did what again?" Remus asked.
"I believe Miss Granger's body has the ability to heal itself," Madam Pomfrey replied. "It just takes a little bit of magic to trigger it, and it seems that it doesn't just stay within her body. It radiates out, trying to heal anyone else that may be hurt as well. With the proper training, she may learn to control it and be able to trigger the healing power at will, healing herself or even others."
"Another neat trick that you can do," Harry said smirking at her, causing a light, fluttery feeling in her stomach, like it was suddenly full of butterflies.
"Another neat trick...are you referring to what happened in the Great Hall during dinner?" Remus asked, looking from Harry to Hermione.
"She's fine," Madam Pomfrey stated, moving to stand next to Professor McGonagall.
"Hermione?" Remus asked again. Hermione sighed and sat up slowly. Remus caught the brief look of disappointment that crossed Harry's face as she moved to sit next to him and tried not to smile.
"I really don't know what happened," she replied, looking at him. "I was sitting at the Gryffindor table, talking to Seamus Finnegan, and I overheard someone say my name."
Filing away into his memory the dark look that crossed Harry's face at the mention of Seamus to ponder on later, he looked at Hermione and said encouragingly, "Please go on."
"Well, when I turned to see who it was that had spoken my name, I found Ginny Weasley sitting there glaring at me. Next thing I knew, Harry said something and Ginny was drawing her wand." Taking a deep breath she continued, "This is going to sound strange, but I heard this voice in my head telling me to grab onto Harry's wrist because he was in danger, so I did. Next thing I know, he's surrounded by this blue circle of light, and once the spell Ginny had cast had bounced harmlessly off of it I let go of him, feeling weak and tired, and then everything went black. I woke up here, er...laying on Harry's lap, wondering what had happened. After a few moments it all came back to me and then you arrived."
"I'm going to go inform Firenze of what has happened," McGonagall said, making her way out of the room with Madam Pomfrey trailing after her.
Watching their departure, Remus turned to Hermione and asked, "How are you feeling now?"
"Confused, but alright," she replied honestly.
"Good, because I think it's time for you to start your Defense Against the Dark Arts lessons." Looking at Harry with a hint of his Marauder smile touching his lips and a mischievous glint in his eyes, making Harry very wary all of a sudden, he said, "And you're going to help her out by being her dueling partner."
Shrugging nonchalantly while he got up and helped Hermione up as well, Harry replied, "Okay. She's new to magic, so what harm can she do when I've had seven years of training?"
Remus just smiled at him, remembering back to a time when James possessed the same cockiness that Harry was exhibiting at the moment. Waving his wand so that the furniture in the room moved against the walls, giving them room to stand apart so that Hermione could practice the spells, Remus replied, "You know, I distinctly remember your father saying something to that effect once, and if I recall correctly your mother showed him just how much harm she could cause."
"Yeah, but Mum had studied as long as he had," Harry answered without missing a beat. Without saying another word, Remus walked up to Hermione and said, "First, lets work on the disarming spell."
~*~
Harry had been a magical practicing dummy for Hermione now for over an hour and he was starting to get increasingly angry as each minute ticked by. What made it worse was that Remus had to start at the beginning, teaching charms and spells to her. Even though she seemed to pick up on them quickly, he was still bored out of his mind since all he had to do was wave his wand and say "Protego" every once in a while to deflect a curse or spell. When he heard Remus mention dueling for real, he perked up and said, "Why don't we duel? You can teach her the correct way to do it and I can actually do something other than stand here and get embarrassed as I let myself be used for practice."
Hermione stifled a laugh at the look of sheer boredom mixed with exasperation on Harry's face and Remus said, "Alright then, we'll practice dueling." Showing Hermione the correct way to hold her wand and explaining the rules and proper techniques, she became distracted as she watched Harry assume the dueling position. He had such an intense look in his eyes and she actually felt a twinge of fear. "Don't let him intimidate you," Remus said, as if reading her mind. "The first rule of dueling is to never show your opponent that you fear them, no matter how deep rooted that fear is. Just remember, Harry's a pussycat and that tough guy exterior is just an act. Stick with the basic spells you just learned and you'll do fine."
"Right," Hermione said, taking her eyes off of Harry and turning her attention to Remus. "Stick to the basics and I'll be fine."
"That's right, and don't forget, the shielding charm is 'Protego'."
"Protego," she whispered, picturing the wand movement in her head as she said it.
As she assumed the dueling stance as well, she waited as Remus counted down and then the duel began. Harry fired a few 'rictusempra's her way, along with a 'stupefy', and each time Hermione successfully dodged them or shielded herself from them. Seeing how lackadaisical he was being about it all, Hermione pointed her wand at him and yelled, "Expelliarmus!"
Surprised as his wand went flying from his hand, Harry held his hand out, palm up and quickly said, "Accio wand." Once it was back in his hand he narrowed his eyes at Hermione and said, "Tarantallegra."
When the spell hit her, her legs started moving every which way, causing her to barely stay standing. Pointing her wand at her legs she said, "Finite." and took a breath once they stilled. Getting angry when she saw the satisfied little smirk on his face, she looked at him with a serious expression on her face and fired off, "Expelliarmus! Incarcerous!" As his wand went flying, ropes suddenly appeared and bound his hands and ankles together, making him lose his balance. Just as he was falling toward the floor he was shocked when he heard Hermione say, "Wingardium Leviosa!" In disbelief, Harry felt himself rising off of the floor and couldn't believe it! He had never heard of the levitating charm being used on a human before, and things were made worse when he heard Remus laughing at him. Feeling something welling up inside of him, something other than embarrassment at being bested by a witch who was considered a first year, he felt the wave of strange emotion grow from what felt like his very core. Suddenly a burst of blinding white light surrounded him and the next thing he knew, his bum was hitting the floor, hard. Shaking his head, he looked around to see that Remus was sitting up against one wall while Hermione looked dazed, as if she had been thrown back against the one behind her. Looking around at the crooked portraits in the common room, each person/being residing in them hiding behind one thing or another, Harry wondered what the hell had just happened.
"What was that?!" Hermione asked angrily as she stood up and wiped off her bottom.
"Wouldn't know," Harry replied, standing up as well. "You're the one that's been doing all the wonky magic lately, why don't you tell me?"
"Wouldn't know," Hermione mimicked Harry. With a smirk of satisfaction on her face, she held out her hand and said, "Oh, but you might want your wand back." Still staring at Harry as he swiped it angrily out of her hand she asked, "I successfully disarmed him, so I won the duel, right?"
"Right," Remus replied.
The two of them stood there glaring at each other and Remus stood off to the side, watching. It was such a quick change in behavior between them, one he had been witness to once before, but he knew better than to say anything. Clearing his throat, which caused the two teens to look at him, he said, "I believe that's enough for tonight. I'll see you again Thursday night Hermione, unless something else unusual occurs between now and then."
Scoffing, Harry said, "Then if I were you, I'd count on seeing her sooner."
Giving him her most deadly glare, Hermione mumbled, "Sore loser," and then turned toward Remus. With a faint smile she said, "I will see you Thursday night Remus. Thank you for all of your help tonight," and without another word, she turned and made her way out of the room, practically slamming the portrait behind her as she left. When Remus looked to Harry with a questioning look, Harry said, "Not now Remus, please. I don't want to talk about it. I'm tired and I just want to get some sleep."
"Okay," Remus replied, deciding to let the incident pass without comment for the moment. "I'll see you around Harry."
Feeling bad about the way he was treating Remus and the way he had acted toward Hermione, Harry watched as Remus walked up to him and placed his hand on Harry's shoulder. "You know I'm here if you ever need to talk," he said quietly, and with that he walked out as well, leaving Harry feeling dreadfully alone all of a sudden in his quarters.
~*~
Thankfully the remainder of the week went by uneventfully, but the tension that started between Harry and Hermione Tuesday night after their 'friendly' duel had continued to build. It was getting so that everyone around them could almost feel the tension coming off of them in waves, making the gossip mill run rampant with rumours. The two seemed oblivious since they were hellbent on ignoring each other as much as possible. Harry had escorted Hermione back from her lessons with Firenze Wednesday night and except for a curt, "Goodnight," she hadn't spoken to him since. It didn't help his mood any that Seamus kept sitting by her and talking to her every chance he got. Harry didn't know why it bothered him, but all he knew was that Seamus was not the guy for her.
The night before, Remus had held his DADA lesson with Hermione in one of the classrooms, per her request according to Remus. He had admitted to himself in the middle of the night as he still lay awake in bed that he had been hoping she'd want him there again, but in the end he realized it was probably for the better. He had broken up with Ginny to not only keep her safe, but to concentrate more on his training to defeat Voldemort, and here he was finding himself drawn to another witch that would only cause him more trouble, not to mention had a lot of troubles of her own.
Thanks to losing all that sleep the night before, Harry was not in the best of moods when he met Hermione in Firenze's classroom Friday night. Walking in, he was shocked to find Firenze with his arms wrapped around a weeping Hermione, her arms around the Centaur's neck tightly as her head rested on his shoulder. Looking away, he cleared his throat quietly to get their attention and could see them seperate out of the corner of his eye. While they whispered to each other, Harry watched as she picked up the familiar notebook from one of the tables and clutched it to her chest protectively, saying her goodbye to Firenze.
As she breezed by him out the door, he closed it and quickly caught up with her. Looking down at her he asked, "Is everything okay?"
"Everything is just fine," she answered clinically, making his dark mood even darker. Deciding to leave it at that, he made sure she got into the Gryffindor common room and went on his way to finish his rounds for the night. An hour later, during his final pass through the castle, he walked into the Gryffindor Common Room and found her sitting on the sofa, staring at the flames in the fireplace. He was going to ignore her and make his way to the portrait that led to his Head Boy's room, but he noticed the wet tracks of tears that shone on her cheeks as he walked by. Ignoring all the warning bells that were going off inside of his head, he turned back and sat down next to her.
Resting his forearms on his knees while clasping his hands together, staring into the fire in the same way she was, he quietly asked, "So is everything still okay?"
"No," she answered in a shaky voice, surprising him with the rapidity of her answer. Looking over at her, her face cast in shadow by the firelight as she looked down at something she held in her hands, he noticed that the Notebook she always carried lay in her lap. She reached out a finger and traced something in what looked to be a picture and said, "It isn't fair that she was killed because of me."
Harry furrowed his brow, wondering what she meant by that. Slowly reaching out, he took hold of the picture and she released it so that he could look at it. It was a muggle photograph with a beautiful woman that looked a lot like Hermione, sitting in a chair. Hermione, who was standing directly behind the chair resting a hand on her Mother's shoulder, was smiling happily at the camera. Harry fingered the jagged edge of the picture where it had been torn and he asked, "Who else was in this picture?"
"My father," she replied with spite in her voice. Harry looked into her eyes and saw that they were filled with tears. "He..." she started to say, and then swallowed a sob. Covering her face with her hands, she started to cry, her body shaking with the strength of her pain and loss. Setting the picture down onto the table, he reached over and gathered her into his arms, holding her as she finally grieved for the family she had lost just a week before. Thinking of his own mom and dad, Harry closed his eyes and felt the long buried pain of his loss surface just a bit as well, empathizing with the way she was feeling at the moment. When she finally calmed down, she pulled back from his embrace and wiped at her tears with the sleeves of her shirt. "I'm sorry," she said, looking away, embarassed.
"You don't have to apologize," he replied. "I lost my parents too, you were just lucky enough to get to share eighteen years with yours, while I only got one."
Harry looked down at a thread on his robe that he had been worrying while talking, wishing he hadn't said that. "You're right," she said, surprising him since he was expecting her to be angry with him. "It is unfair that I got to share all those years with my parents when you weren't even old enough to remember yours." They sat silent for a little while, both lost in memories and thoughts, and Hermione said, "Like I started to say before...I uh-I tore my father out of the picture. My mom, she was so special. She always encouraged me in anything I ever wanted to try and she let me know everyday how much she loved me, even if we were upset with each other. But my dad, he never accepted me for who I was. He felt that I was abnormal because of the gift I possess, other than being a witch, and he even used the word 'freak' to describe me once." Harry stared wordlessly at her and when she looked at him and saw the look on his face she said, "It's true. I overheard him and my mother arguing about me and he actually said that he couldn't accept me as his daughter because I was a freak. I was just an embarassment to him, something he put up with. He knew I was a witch for seven years and never told me, he chose to ignore it instead because it was just another abnormaIity he couldn't accept about me."
"The relatives that raised me after my parents were killed treated me the same way, except there were three of them," Harry said.
"I know, I finally got to read the book that Headmistress McGonagall gave me about you. You've had some life," she said quietly, watching him closely.
"I have, and it's frightening to think that it really hasn't even started yet," he found himself admitting. "I probably won't even make it to the age of twenty."
"Of course you will!" she stated, reaching over to grab both of his hands in hers in a reassuring gesture. Scooting closer to him on the sofa, she looked him right in the eyes and said, "You've made it through so much already and you've seen horrors that most adults wouldn't have been able to witness with their sanity still intact. You're still here for a reason; you have a destiny to fulfill."
"For all I know dying at the hands of Voldemort is my destiny," he said without thinking, and he could feel her grip on his hands get much tighter as waves of magic started to roll off of her.
She closed her eyes, struggling to keep her magic under control after he had said that infernal name yet again, and the next thing she knew his lips were on hers. Desperate to feel and forget, lost in the way his lips felt so soft and rough at the same time on hers, she kissed him back. When his tongue ran along the seam of her lips she parted them, allowing him access and he drank in the taste of her.
Harry had only kissed two girls in his entire life- Cho Chang and Ginny Weasley-and it had never felt this way with either of them. Hermione's lips were so soft and supple, and when he had his first taste of her mouth, he felt like a man that had just tasted Ambrosia for the first time and couldn't get enough. This wasn't just an ordinary kiss, there was something else there. It felt like the magic within his body was going haywire, a warmth started to grow within his chest and before he could even begin to comprehend what might be going on, Hermione broke the kiss. Both of them were breathing heavily as their heads swam with thoughts and their bodies thrummed with magic and hormones, and Harry felt like an ass for what he had just done. Hermione was so vulnerable right now, but when she had been talking about her father and it sounded like his relatives, he had felt such a connection...and she had looked so sad and upset. "Hermione, I..."
She reached up and placed two fingers on the lips that had just given her very first kiss, a mind-blowing one at that, and said, "Please, if you're going to apologize, don't. It was nice...t-to feel something other than sadness, I mean, if only for a little while."
Grabbing her picture from the table and abruptly standing up with her notebook in hand, she said, "I should really try to get some sleep. Tomorrow is my first trip to Hogsmeade and it wouldn't be very much fun if I was too exhausted to enjoy it."
As she walked by him, he sat desperately trying to think of something to say to her, to keep her with him for just a little longer. When she mentioned Hogsmeade he stood up and said, "Hermione, wait." When she stopped at the base of the staircase he walked up to her and asked, "About Hogsmeade tomorrow...would you like to go with me?"
"Oh," she said, slightly surprised by his question. "I-I would love to, but I already told Seamus that I would go with him. He volunteered to be my tour guide."
He could see regret in her eyes, hopefully because she had said yes to Finnegan, and taking some solace from that he said, "Right then. Well, maybe next time. I'm sure I'll see you around town tomorrow since Susan and I have to go to make sure the students behave themselves."
As an awkward silence descended upon them, Hermione stepped up onto the first stair and stopped. Turning to Harry, she stared into his eyes for a moment, as if trying to see if she could see any hidden truths in their depths that would unlock the mystery of Harry Potter. Leaning toward him slightly, she placed her lips on his cheek, letting them linger there a little longer than usual for just a friendly kiss. Standing upright again, she gave him a slight smile and softly said, "Good night Harry."
"Good night," he replied quietly, resisting the urge to put his hand on the spot where her lips had just been. His cheek still tingled from her kiss as did his lips, and he marveled at how incredible it had felt to kiss her, intentional or not. Trying not to dwell on the fact that she'd be spending the day with Seamus tomorrow instead of him as she made her way to her room, Harry made his way to his Head Boy dorm for what was probably going to be yet another restless, sleepless night.