So here I am, on a new story journey. Huge thanks to my beta, Rylee.
Enjoy!
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Without You
Chapter 1: I'll Never Fall in Love Again
Mary Chapin Carpenter
What do you get when you fall in love?
A guy with a pin to burst your bubble
That's what you get for all your trouble.
I'll never fall in love again.
I'll never fall in love again.
What do you get when you kiss a guy?
You get enough germs to catch pneumonia.
After you do, he'll never phone you.
I'll never fall in love again.
I'll never fall in love again.
Don't tell me what is all about,
'Cause I've been there and I'm glad I'm out,
Out of those chains, those chains that bind you
That is why I'm here to remind you
What do you get when you fall in love?
You get enough tears to fill an ocean
That's what you get for your devotion.
I'll never fall in love again.
I'll never fall in love again.
What do you get when you fall in love?
You only get lies and pain and sorrow.
So, for at least until tomorrow,
I'll never fall in love again!
I'll never fall in love again!
(*)*(*)*(*)
"She won't return my letters, she's not answering her door, and every time I try to floo into her flat I get shocked and find myself in the basement underneath Flourish and Blotts…and she knows there are spiders down there…"
Harry nodded. "I know, the same thing happened to me." Hermione had been acting peculiar lately, ever since the break-up.
Ron let out a huff of air. "I tell you mate, if she had acted like this after she and I broke up, you'd be looking at a pile of dust in my place. I can't imagine what she's done to that idiotic bloke…"
Harry had to snigger. "I'm sure she turned him into a cat toy and fed him to Crookshanks for the way he treated her."
Ron snorted loudly. "Serves him right. I still can't believe he had the balls to sleep with the girl at Hermione's flat, let alone in her bed for Merlin's sake! Why couldn't he sleep with these slags at his own dump?"
"I guess the second girl told him who her roommate was, and he had slept with her and never called that girl back, so he didn't want to run into her at their apartment." Harry and Ron looked at one another with questioning glances.
"Hermione sure knows how to pick `em, eh?"
Harry smirked, "Yeah, she did a great job, especially with that whole two weeks you two went out…"
"Hey!"
"I'm just teasing you."
"No, you're right," Ron looked to the floor. "Hermione and I never would have worked out. I mean, I liked her for all these years, right?" Harry nodded. He knew; he'd seen them both fall for one another. "And it's this dream come true, of course, until I realize…It's Hermione. She's like a sister to me; she's like Ginny with brown hair and I think: this is just too weird. You know what I mean?"
"Yeah, except I've never had a sister." Ron went quiet for a moment and kicked a pole as they walked through Diagon Alley.
"Look mate, I-I didn't mean to…"
"Don't worry about it," Harry waved him off. "I just hope we find her here, and in one piece."
Harry and Ron ducked as they crawled through the back way of the bar that led them to the muggle London. Ron winced as their hair brushed the spider-infested ceiling.
"S-so what are we going to say to her? She obviously doesn't want to talk to anyone."
"She has to, though. One person can't keep all those feelings inside them or they'll burst." Ron grinned. "What?"
"I just remember Hermione saying something like that to you when we were younger."
"W-well, she was right," Harry opened the door to the chaotic street just outside. "There's no way I'd have gotten through all the times I've fought off Voldemort if it hadn't been for you two there to listen to my bitching about my feelings the entire way."
"You didn't bitch about your feelings, Harry."
"Don't even lie to me, Ron. I must have been hell to be around."
"We'd take a little of your bitching over Voldemort's any day mate." Harry smiled at those words, and the simple fact that his best friend could now say Voldemort's name so freely; without an ounce of anxiety or twitching of the muscles.
A glimpse of a black shawl caught Harry's attention across the street. He glanced over, and there was none other than Bellatrix Lestrange. Rage swept through Harry's veins and he turned to Ron.
"Ron, don't look, but Bellatrix Lestrange is here," he whispered.
"What-"
"Shhh, don't say anything." Bellatrix crossed the street and headed for the entrance to the library.
"Well, here it is."
"Bloody hell, Mate. No wonder Hermione loves this place." They were walking into one of the largest library in the whole of England: the British Library.
"Only Hermione." The two boys climbed the steps of the library two at a time to get ahead of Bellatrix, making sure to stay on the right side of the steps away from Bellatrix and between people entering the library.
"Is this where she spends all her time when she says she's researching?" Ron whispered as the two boys quickly showed their library card ID's to the security guard.
"Yeah." Harry remembered the many times Hermione had dragged him to this place, finding magic books of spells dispersed in the section of Wicca books. Any muggle would shrug off the books to be utter rubbish when they didn't work, but Hermione had come to recognize the real spell books.
Hermione had explained that in the early 1940's, when Dumbledore was fighting that Grindelwald bloke, that he had spent a lot of time here looking for spells, and hiding some within the muggle books by donating these books to the library. No dark wizard would be caught dead sifting through a muggle library, so it was a safe zone for unique spells that Dumbledore had invented, and even some sacred spells and charms that were not widely published. If Harry hadn't told Hermione before how she was brilliant she was, than he was an idiot. However, here was one of the darkest witches and follower of Voldemort that was chasing after them in a muggle library.
"Do you know where she is?"
"Yeah, it's on the second floor." The boys took two more sets of stairs, two at a time, running, weaving in and out of book shelves, passing what seemed like hundreds of people studying until finally, there she was. Hermione was in the darkest corner of the library with piles of books all around her. She stood up, looking positively livid.
"What do you two think you are-"
"There's no time to explain, Hermione. Grab all the books you can and apparate to my place, NOW!" Hermione frantically grabbed all the books she could, understanding the undertone of Harry's desperation.
"Are there any more on the shelves?"
"No, they're all here." She disappeared with a POP, and Harry and Ron followed there soon after.
Harry hated traveling by apparition. He hated the feeling that he was being sucked at high speed through a tube, and almost lost hold of the pile of books he was carrying. He held on with every muscle he had in his hands and soon found himself standing up inside of 12 Grimmauld Place.
Harry dropped the books at his feet and wasted no time in marching straight over to Hermione.
"What the hell were you doing there without telling one of us, Hermione!" She didn't look scared, not anymore. They'd been friends for too long for her to be scared of Harry. Her eyes pierced back with an even greater force than he was glaring at her.
"I was researching, just like you saw me!"
"We promised each other, Hermione!" Harry choked out. "The three of us, we promised we wouldn't go anywhere outside of our own homes alone!"
"You two weren't around."
"Because you bloody hell wouldn't let us into your flat, Hermione!" Ron flared in next to Harry. From the look in his eyes, Harry could tell he was just as outraged as Harry.
"I-I…"Hermione stammered. Harry let out a sigh, and with that a bit of his frustration.
"Bellatrix was there, Hermione." Her eyes went wide. "We saw her just as we were walking in."
"Did she see you?"
"I don't think so, but she was clearly looking for you," Ron said with a pain in his voice that all three of them clearly shared.
"I-I…" Hermione didn't even finish what she said. Instead she ran up to the first floor of Grimmauld place, while Harry and Ron watched her go.
They started picking up the books they had all dropped to the floor as Ron followed Harry into the home's library.
"Harry, you go talk to her," Ron said, placing the books on a desk near the entrance. "We both know I'm no good at talking about deep stuff. I'll finish putting the books away."
Harry nodded to Ron and walked out into the hall, climbing the stairs to the first level. He didn't stop there, however, and continued walking until he got to the attic. He knew she would be there.
The door was locked.
"Let me in, Hermione."
"Go away," he heard muffled through the wooden door. He had to smile at the irony of the situation; how she used to find him balled away in this room and coax him to come out.
He tried to unlock the door, and realized she had to have put a strong locking spell on the room.
"Hermione, I'm not afraid to blow down this door if you don't-" the lock turned, and Harry gingerly opened the door to Hermione, who was sitting there with Buckbeak, running her hands along his smooth feathers.
He saw a tear run down her cheek. "I'm sorry, Harry," she whispered hoarsely.
He started to cross the room and was taken aback when Buckbeak crowed loudly at him. He bowed and waited for him to bow back before sitting across from Hermione; watching the tears run down her face as she sat there stroking Buckbeak mindlessly.
"Hermione, what happened?"
She shook her head. "You know what happened."
"No, Hermione, I don't. All I heard was a bunch of squeaking over the phone and that your boyfriend-"
"He's not my boyfriend anymore," she snapped, and then turned back to Buckbeak.
"I-I know, Hermione. Look, I'm sorry that it happened, but Ron and I told you the guy was a tool…"
She sighed. "I know. I should have listened to you two. I just…I can't sleep in my bed anymore. I've been sleeping on the couch the past few nights…"
Harry's heart broke. He wanted to go find that muggle bloke and smash his face in…put a hole through his heart with his fist…knock his teeth out, anything to show him how badly he'd hurt Hermione. "You know, Hermione, Ron and I will go beat up that jerk the muggle way if you want."
She laughed and shook her head. "I appreciate it, but I just want to forget about him; forget about relationships." Harry nodded. "I just want to be on my own for a while, you know?"
Harry took her hand in his. She peered at him, her eyes filled to the brim. "You should move in here for a little while. No, let me finish…" he said when she started to protest. "I think it would be good for you, get your mind off of men, you can do your research here, and I'll take care of you during your little `penis embargo.'"*
She giggled and sniffed, wiping at her eyes. "I don't know what I'd do without you, Harry. I don't know what I'd do if I didn't have you and Ron to look after me."
He leaned over and took her sobbing form into his shoulder, shushing her and letting her cry everything out. Merlin knew she needed it.
After she had cried her eyes out, he sat back from her, still holding her head in his hands. "So it's settled then. Ron and I will help you move in here tomorrow." She smiled weakly and nodded, embracing him tightly.
"And we'll have a bonfire to destroy my old bed?" Harry laughed.
"Of course. Only for you, Hermione. We'd do anything for you."
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There's chapter one. Let me know what you think and I'll post more.
Thank you to Rylee for being my wonderful beta! Read her story: The Good, The Bad and the Drunk, because it is WONDERFUL!
*I can't take credit for this line because it comes from the show FRIENDS
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