Belong to Nowhere
And dance your final dance
This is your final chance
To hold the one you love
You know you've waited long enough
And make your final move
Don't be scared, she want you too
Yeah, it's hard, you must be brave
Don't let this moment slip away...
Now, believe
That magic works
Don't be afraid
Afraid of being hurt
Don't, don't let this magic dies
The answer's there
Oh, just look in her eyes
And don't believe that magic can die
No, no, no, this magic can't die
(Magic Works, by the Wierd Sisters- Patrick Doyle e Javis Cocker)
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
AN: This is a fast update, huh? I hope you like it.
Thanks as always to Acoustics1220. Without her I would never be able to update so soon!
Chapter 20: Magic and lies
"Yes, I saw them kissing. Better, I saw him kissing her. And that's why I know Dean Thomas isn't Hermione's boyfriend!"
"How can you be so sure?" Harry asked stubbornly. "He is her boyfriend!"
Sirius shook his head lightly. Merlin, he can be worse than James! "Harry, did you listen to what I said?"
"Yeah! You said that Dean kissed her! You saw them!"
"Exactly! I saw Dean kissing Hermione! And she didn't kiss him back! She said she didn't like him in that way!"
"Nah, you misunderstood. They are together! I saw him at Bill's apartment! I saw how his mum greeted Hermione at King's Cross!" Yeah, they are together. Ginny told him... Ginny told him...
"First, he was at Bill's apartment because of the drawing. You know that! It was Dean Thomas who drew the phoenix!" Sirius looked at Harry. The young wizard wore a pained expression. "And about his mother-"
"Yeah! His mother!" Harry held up his hands in mild triumph. "How could she know Hermione? Why she was so happy to see her?"
You know why, Potter. It's because her son dates the girl you like!
Sirius didn't answer right away. He knew why and how Mrs. Thomas was familiar with Hermione. However, he also knew that wasn't his secret to tell. Of course he was certain that Harry wouldn't tell a single soul about that but still...the old Animagus ran a hand through his hair and despite himself, he chuckled.
"Why are you laughing?!" Harry demanded, irritated.
Sirius sobered immediately. "S-Sorry!" he said. "It's just-It's just, I don't know, kind of ironic what we are doing here, now." Harry looked at his godfather like he had two heads.
"You know, since I returned or even before I...you know...the only subject, the issue was the war, Voldemort or whatever. Our main concern, my main concern was always that you don't get hurt or-" He sighed. "But now, right now, we are talking about your personal life, your love life! And it is exactly how it always should be! You're only seventeen, Harry!"
Harry stayed silent, not knowing what to do-or to say. Truth be told, that was the first time he had ever talked about those things with anyone else. And, somehow, he felt good. It was almost like a son-dad chat. Or, at least, the closest he could have.
"James would love to talk with you about girls and stuff," Sirius continued, smiling sadly.
"He would have said 'Forget this Thomas fellow and just snog the girl!'..." He closed his eyes briefly and then opened them shortly after, taking a deep breath. "Now, about Dean's mother," he spoke again, back to the main subject. "You have to promise me that you won't tell anyone about it. I shouldn't be telling you about it but...oh hell! Kingsley will have to forgive me!"
Harry stared quizzically at the man in front of him. Kingsley? Kingsley Shacklebolt? What the hell does Kingsley Shacklebolt have to do with anything?
"So, Harry do you promise me that you won't say anything about it to anyone? And that you won't be angry at Hermione for not telling you. I know you can be really stubborn about these secret matters."
"I am not stubborn!" Harry muttered glumly.
"Right, right. Of course you aren't." Sirius fought an urge to roll his eyes. "But do you promise me?"
"Yeah, yeah! I promise!"
And then Sirius told Harry everything about Kingsley Shacklebolt and his relation with Dean Thomas.
Harry listened to Sirius with profound interest.
So, Kingsley was Dean's uncle...Hermione had found out that. That's why Dean seemed so, let's say, grateful to Hermione. That's why his mum had hugged Hermione at King's Cross.
Hermione had only helped a friend.
But Ginny told him...why would she lie? Why would she lie about that?
Why?
It must have been a mistake.
"What does late mean?" Harry suddenly spoke, starling Sirius. The old man looked confused at him. "What does late mean?" Harry repeated.
"Er, the opposite of early?" Sirius said stupidly. Had Harry gone crazy?
Harry huffed, impatiently. "I know what the word late means! What I want to know is...when someone is late...what does that mean?"
Sirius' eyes grew wide. "Who's late? What have you been doing, Harry? Oh my fucking Merlin! You are only seventeen! This really isn't the best time to have this kind of problem!"
"Sirius, I don't understand...what the hell does late mean?!"
"When you say a girl, a woman is late it means she's pregnant. Or at least, there's a suspicion about it." Sirius shook his head nervously. "I'm not very good with this kind of stuff...er, maybe Remus can explain better the-the biologic aspect of it."
However Harry wasn't listening anymore; his mind was far away. His mind was remembering a dreadful evening in the Hospital Wing...
Flashback
Hospital Wing, Hogwarts
"What do you mean there is nothing to be done?!" Ron Weasley yelled at the school nurse, "There has to be something that can be done! You are the fucking Healer!"
"Mister Weasley!" cried Minerva McGonagall but Ron didn't seem to care.
"It wasn't supposed to be like this!" he continued his rant. "This is all wrong! I mean, of course Hermione isn't thinking about it right now but-" He sighed and looked at his female friend, who was sitting in the hospital bed, listening to him in poignant silence, her eyes red and swollen, her skin extremely pale. Harry was sitting in a chair near the bed, with a lost gaze. "We are supposed to live happily forever after. Harry will defeat You-know- Oh blast! V-Voldemort and everything is gonna be alright! We are supposed to be uncles Ron and Harry! We are supposed to be happy! To have a family! To have little know-it-all's! That's why we are fighting so hard! That's why!" He shook his head. "This is all wrong!"
"Ron," Hermione whispered in a small voice, "I-"
"You knew, didn't you?" Harry finally spoke, interrupting her. His voice was a little more than a painful whisper. "You knew what would happen if you killed Nagini."
All of them looked at her and Hermione nodded silently.
"Why? Why, Hermione?" Harry repeated, his gaze piercing her. "You said I couldn't...you said it had to be you! That wasn't the truth, was it? I could have killed the snake. Why, Hermione?"
With her head down, staring sorrowfully at her hands, Hermione replied, "I began doing my research. You know how I love to do researches...I wanted to know more...to know everything about a Hor...you know...in a living being. I found it. I found the spell, the incantation to destroy it but-" She lifted her head briefly and gazed at Harry before looking down at her hands. "But the spell had a contra-indication... a side effect..." She stopped as the tears began to fall from her brown eyes.
"Why you didn't let me cast the spell?" Harry asked again, his voice shaky, almost pleading.
She looked up at him, her eyes red and shining. "Because you deserve to be happy. You deserve to have a happy family, a happy life when all this comes to an end. I know that your greatest desire is to have a family. I couldn't..."
"And you, Hermione?" Harry cried, standing up from the chair. "Don't you deserve a happy life? A happy family?!"
"I did the right thing, Harry." She took a deep breath. "And we know that Nagini had to be killed."
"Yeah, we know...but, was it worth it?"
"You're worth it, Harry."
******End Flashback******
"Harry? Are you alright?" Sirius' voice brought him back to reality.
"Oh, no! They are stronger than ever! The problem is…er…it seems that she is late."
"She was lying."
"Who, Harry? Who was lying? You aren't making any sense!"
Why did she lie?
Harry abruptly stood up from the chair, startling Sirius. "I have to talk to Hermione," he said almost to himself. "I have to talk to her."
Harry didn't even wait for Sirius' reply; he simply walked out of the kitchen.
*~*~*~*
Hermione's bedroom
Hermione was standing near the window, stroking the blue phoenix's feathers absently. She seemed lost in her own world. So much had happened in so little time. Her world seemed to be upside down. Of course she was happy- well, content at least. Harry knew the truth- he had found out about Sirius.
Everything would be alright...so, why then was she feeling this way? The young witch closed her eyes, sighing deeply. She still could feel Harry's kisses against her skin. She still could remember his smell-his taste.
No one- ever- had kissed her like that before. No one had made her feel so vulnerable and desirable at the same time.
But she had almost lost control...and she was scared because of that. She opened her eyes and gazed at the bird.
"That shouldn't have happened," she whispered. "I-I shouldn't have kissed him back...it was a mistake."
To her surprise, the bird emitted a sound- a disapproving groan.
"You don't think it was a mistake?" she asked the bird, forgetting the absurdity of the situation. "You-you don't understand...Harry....deserves to be happy...he deserves someone who can give him a family- someone worthy." The bird groaned once more.
"And- besides- he is with Ginny. I-I couldn't do that to her..." She grinned. "He loves her..." At that the bird stared at Hermione, its eyes boring into hers...even without words she knew what it was saying.
"But he said he loved me...why would he lie? Why would he play with me like that?"
The bird continued to stare at her, like it was saying 'you know the answer'.
"Hermione?" Harry called her name in a low tone.
"Harry!" She turned around and looked at him in surprise. He was at the door, looking at her.
"I-I knocked but-" He tried to explain.
"That's okay, I was distracted. Do you need something?" She didn't want to sound rude or harsh but her heart was beating so fast that she was afraid to not be able to control herself.
He walked towards her and the bird, his hands stuffed nervously inside his pockets. "He is a beautiful bird," he commented and the phoenix let go an angry sound.
"It is a she, Harry," Hermione explained with a half giggle.
"Oh," he mumbled stupidly, "I'm sorry."
"I named her Vida."
"Vida?"
"It means life in Portuguese."
"It's a good name; a very good name." He began to pet the bird, smiling sadly.
"Harry?" Oh god, how she wanted to touch him!
"I want to ask you something, Hermione," Harry blurted. "And no matter what the answer is, I just want you to tell me the truth."
"Harry-"
"I won't judge or be angry or anything. I just want you to tell me the truth."
She nodded. "Okay, Harry."
He took a deep breath before asking, "Are you and Dean Thomas dating?"
Hermione's eyes opened wide, she stared at her friend like he was going crazy.
"Harry! Is this some kind of joke?"
"Are you dating Dean?" he repeated the question, his green eyes boring into her own, and she knew that he wasn't joking.
"Of course not! What kind of question is that?"
"Harry, dear, Hermione and Dean are dating."
"You aren't dating?"
"Harry, dear, Hermione and Dean are dating."
"No!"
"I saw Dean and Hermione snogging in an empty classroom!"
"Didn't you kiss, snog?"
"No! I mean, he kissed me in Hogsmeade but...it was just a misunderstanding. He's a really nice boy but...There's nothing going on between him and me."
"Harry, dear, Hermione and Dean are dating."
It was all a lie. How could he have been so stupid?
"Harry?" Hermione asked, concerned. He came near her and took her arms, gazing at her.
Ginny had lied to him. The whole thing about Dean and Hermione was a lie. Were there other lies? Another misunderstanding? He was furious with his ex-girlfriend. He simply couldn't believe or even understand why she had done something like that.
However he wanted to talk to her before he said anything about that to anyone else. He had made too many mistakes because of his bad mood. He wouldn't do that again.
He would give her the chance to explain herself.
And he only would do that because Ginny lied, willing or not, had made him realize something.
He was in love with Hermione Granger.
"Harry?" Hermione spoke again, biting her bottom lip nervously.
He let go of her arms and began to caress her face. "You are beautiful," Harry whispered, his eyes never letting go of hers.
Hermione looked down, shyly, as her cheeks started to blush. Harry smiled and put a hand under her chin, making her look up so they were eye to eye again.
"I love you," he said quietly, leaning toward her face, his eyes wandering between her eyes and her trembling lips. "I love you," he repeated and before she could say anything, he took her in his arms and captured her lips with his own.
The kiss was sweet and gently, filled with love. However, Hermione knew it was wrong. She couldn't do it. They couldn't do this.
"Harry," she whispered breathlessly as she broke the kiss. "We can't-" She knew she was being stupid. She wanted this more than anything in the world.
"Shh," he said putting a finger on her lips. "Let's forget about anything or anyone else, Hermione. Let's...at least once...be only you and me. Let me love you, Hermione."
She wanted to say no...she should say no.
The young witch closed her eyes, as tears began to drop. She knew it was wrong. She knew she couldn't do it. She knew she wasn't worth this. She knew Ginny was the right girl for him...
However...
Her body shivered as he started to kiss her face, her jaw line. She opened her eyes and gazed at him, her heart beating fast; 'I love you, Harry!' stuck in her throat.
"Let me love you," he said again, his voice husky.
Neither one of them noticed as Vida began to intone a beautiful melody...
Hermione closed her eyes one more time and wrapped her arms around his neck, bringing him close to her. "Love me, Harry," she moaned against his ear. "Love me."
Downstairs, in the kitchen
Remus Lupin entered the kitchen and saw Sirius standing at the counter, preparing a potion.
"What are you doing?"
"A potion," Sirius mumbled.
"Oh? Really?"
Sirius looked up at his friend and answered, "It's a Sleeping Draught."
"But why? Aren't you feeling-" Remus stopped and took a good look at Sirius. He noticed that the old Animagus was a little too flushed. "Where's Harry, Padfoot?"
"Upstairs, with Hermione. They are...talking."
Instead of laughing or even chuckling, Remus looked at his friend in wonder; the phoenix's melody echoing through the house. "This music..."
Sirius nodded. "The phoenix..."
"But a phoenix only sings in a-"
"In a ritual-yes." Sirius looked meaningfully at Remus.
"Oh."
"Tomorrow I will talk with Filius about, er, this. However, for now, I think that a good sleeping draught can resolve my situation."
"But Sirius-"
The old Animagus cut him off. "I'm only the friendly bond, Moony," he said with a smile. "It's time for a love bond to be fulfilled."
*************************
Oh! I know that it's Thanksgiving on Thursday...so,
I wish you all a very Happy Thanksgiving! :)