Take Care of You, Love

Disclaimer: Unfortunately the wonderful world of Harry Potter and all the characters in it belong to JK Rowling. I will, however, take credit for all the delusional bits as she certainly wouldn't have written them.

Chapter 1: I'll Take Care of You

Harry Potter had just finished quidditch practice and taken a shower. It was a Friday night and Hermione was off doing rounds so he was left alone in the Head common room, relaxing by the fire. Sighing from boredom, he picked up his charms essay from the coffee table and decided he'd finish it now so that he could enjoy himself at Hogsmeade tomorrow.

Tomorrow is Halloween, a day that represents so many emotions to Harry. Halloween was a sad day because it was the anniversary of his parents' death. Halloween was a happy day because it was the day that he became friends with Hermione. Halloween held adventure and fear, excitement, thrill. Halloween held mystery. But this year, Halloween would not be the day he would remember.

Slam! The portrait had swung open and closed so fast Harry was surprised it was still hanging. “Hermione! Why did you…” Harry's voice caught in his throat as he took in her appearance. She was crying. She was crying and her face was red and puffy and her clothes were sticking to her body from the light rivulets of sweat she had accumulated from running back. She was still running, running to her room, running away, running from him and not looking back. Harry reached out as she passed and caught her arm, hindering her forward progress.

“Let me go!” she shouted with a violated, raspy voice. She yanked and tugged away from him. In her frustration, she turned and started violently pounding at his chest. He did not let go.

“Hermione, what's wrong? Who did this to you? Are you alright?”

Her hands did not stop their attack. Her crying was only multiplying, her breathing was worse with each sob. Her emotions were beyond her control. All she could feel was pain. Harry ignored her blows and wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her to him. She kept hitting him until her exhaustion took over and she fell into his embrace, hugging and clutching him for dear life. Her tears did not stop.

“What's wrong love?” he whispered into her hair, “Tell me what's wrong.”

“They're dead Harry! They're dead! Voldemort killed my parents! They're dead! THEY'RE DEAD!”

Harry sucked in a breath at the realization of the reasoning behind the tears that plagued her beautiful face. All his life he had dealt with the countless and untimely deaths of his loved ones. He had always feared that one day he would wake up and Hermione or Ron would no longer be breathing. If that day should come, he knew he would die too. He needed both Ron and Hermione more than he needed oxygen. It was awful growing up without parents. It was bad when Sirius had fallen through the veil. He had cried several long times when Dumbledore had been murdered but never, never had he contemplated the horrid thought of one of his beloved friends going through the same pain that he had been forced to endure time and time again. The knowledge that Hermione had just bestowed upon him brought two overpowering thoughts to his mind. He was going to kill Voldemort. He got pissed off when Voldemort caused him pain but, so help him, Voldemort had gone too far and Harry would not relax until his bones were disintigrated and buried deep in the earth, while the rest of him burned for all eternity in the fiery pits of Hell. The second thought ran deeper. Sure, he would kill Voldemort, but right now Voldemort would have to wait because there was nothing else in the world more important than the girl…woman that was currently in his arms. He had an overpowering urge to hold her in his arms forever, to protect her from all that was evil in the world. He was an orphan and now his best friend was an orphan and he would take care of her if he had to go to hell and back to do it.

“Oh baby…I'm so sorry. Everything's going to be okay, I promise. I'm not ever gonna let anything happen to you. I promise.” Harry soothingly rubbed circles across her back, hoping to calm her, though he knew it was futile. “Let it out. Just let it all out.” And she did, she cried in his arms, each second she died a little more in her heart. Each minute she lost more control of her emotions, of her once cool resolve.

She was losing every ounce of energy, partly from her insistant crying, partly from the enormity of the situation. She began to slouch against him and her crying grew more ragged, drier. It was as if her eyes had emptied out all of their tears; there was nothing left but red, scorching, tired eyes. He bent down and picked her up, cradling her head like he might do for the brittle innocence of an infant. He wordlessly walked her to her room and set her gently on her bed. He went to her dresser and found a nightgown for her so that she would be comfortable for the long rejuvenating sleep that she so desperately needed. He only hoped that her sleep was not infected with nightmares. Coming back to the bed and sitting next to her, he placed the nightgown in her lap and bent down to whisper into her ear. “I'm going to leave for a few minutes so that you can get changed. I'll come right back when you're done, okay?”

She wordlessly nodded her understanding but she really didn't want him to leave. Thoughts of him seeing her didn't matter right now. She just didn't want to be alone. She changed as quickly as she could. The sudden lack of Harry's soothing voice and calming presence awakened a fear in her that she hadn't felt since she was a very young child, a fear of being alone. She now felt a sudden need to be taken care of. She couldn't recall ever feeling so weak and helpless before in her whole life. When she had thrown the nightgown on haphazardly, she called for Harry in a screaming and desperate way. He almost broke the door off its hinges in his haste to return to her side.

When he came in, he made to come toward her but stopped as his eyes fell directly upon hers. Those beautiful brown eyes were missing their usual spark but somehow he could still read into her wounded soul. Her eyes held so much meaning, so much emotion. It was at that moment that he knew his words had been correct before. He would protect her before the world. He would take a curse, a bullet, a flame for her. To say she was more important than the world would be false. She was the world and he would save her.

“Harry…” She spoke his name like he expected she would, had it been the last word to leave her lips. In a way it was. It was the last word in her previous life. That life was dead and she would have to start over. But she would not do it alone.

Harry walked over and gently put his hand on her lower back, leading her to her bed. He pulled the covers down for her and tucked her in. His fingers traced lightly over her face and moved the stray hairs to the side.

“Close your eyes,” he whispered softly. She acquiesced, still feeling the calming medicine of his fingertips as they ran gently through her hair. “Good night love.”

Harry stayed awake long after her breathing softened in sleep. He sat in a chair next to her bed, watching over her. He was her guardian angel. He got a sick feeling in his stomach whenever he thought about the immense pain that she had just gone through and that he knew she would feel again. He knew in that moment that he loved her, more than he thought was possible to love another person, until now. He leaned over her, kissing her cheek before resting his head on the bed in front of him. He would be there when she woke up. Comfort be damned, she was worth it.

Harry woke to the sound of a blood-curdling scream. He shot up and quickly realized the source of the disturbing sound. Hermione was screaming in her sleep right in front of him. Jumping to action he called out to her and shook her lightly by the shoulders.

“Hermione wake up! Please wake up!”

Harry watched as the young woman in front of him deeply inhaled and then shot off her bed as if a piece of rope had been attached to her and had yanked her forcefully upward. She looked around, gasping for air as sweat dripped down her now-soaking body. When she saw Harry she jumped into his arms, tackling him down onto the bed by the force of her desperation-filled move.

Harry did all he could to soothe her as she laid on top of him. He hugged her to him, rubbing gentle circles around her lower back. His heart broke with every long second that passed as tears poured down her sweaty face.

“Shh…calm down baby. I'm here. Harry's here. Calm down.” He whispered softly into her ear.

“Oh Harry, it was horrible! He was there…he was there Harry and I tried to tell them Harry, I tried. But they couldn't see me or hear me or…it was horrible!”

“I know love, I know. There was nothing you could have done, understand? It's not your fault.”

“Yes it is! I should've been there, Harry. I could have protected them. And now they're gone and it's all my fault.” That was about all Harry could take. He had been down the same road before, blaming himself for everything that happened. He had finally realized that it was not his fault and he was determined to make her understand the same thing. He rolled them so that they were on their sides, facing each other and then reached down for her chin and lifted it until her eyes were forced to meet his.

“Listen to me, Hermione. It is no one's fault but Voldemort's. He did this, not you. If you spend your time thinking about it being your fault, you're only letting him win. Voldemort kills people's hearts, feasting on every ounce of pain that he can give you. He was able to get to me for a little while but I managed to put it past me. I was blind to what he was doing to me but I will not allow him to do that to you. You are too good to be beaten down like that. He's a crazy bastard Hermione and your name doesn't belong on his evil lips.” She had calmed down a bit and her whole being was now focused on Harry, encouraging him to finish saying what he had started. He knew that she needed to hear this now, before it was too late.

“Hermione, I really have no idea how much it hurts to be you right now. My parents were taken from me before I was really old enough to remember. I never knew them, not really. But you grew up with your Mum and Dad and I feel absolutely horrible for you right now. Now, I never really properly met your parents more then just a hello at the train station but I know you better than anyone else and that tells me that they must have been wonderful people because you're…perfect. You've become a beautiful young woman who is incredibly intelligent, hard-working, and dedicated. You have given me love and friendship even when I probably didn't deserve it. You've supported and cared for me. You've saved my life in every way possible and I swear that I'll do everything in my power to return all of that to you now, in your time of need. To become the person that you've become, I know that they must have loved you very much and I also know that, because they loved you, they would want you to be happy. The reason that I know that is because that's what I want for you and…I love you.”

Hermione lay facing Harry, slightly slack-jawed at all that he had just said to her. She wouldn't have come up with it on her own but now that he said it she knew it was true. They didn't want her to spend her life dying. They wanted her to live. She thought over the whole thing for a few moments and then remembered the last part, feeling a warm tingle run through her chest.

“You…You love me?” She spoke very timidly, as if she was scared of his answer. What if she had just imagined him saying it or…what if he didn't mean to say it?

The doubt in her features broke his heart once again and he tentatively moved his hand from her chin to her cheek. “I love you, more than anything. As I said, I swear I'll do anything you need, anything to protect you.”

“Anything?” she asked in a whisper so soft, he barely heard her.

“Anything,” he replied with more confidence and sincerity than he had ever felt about anything his whole life.

“Will you kiss me?” Harry inhaled a breath of shock from her request. It was spoken softly with an unwavering innocence and for a moment he couldn't breathe but he had told her he would do anything and he would not draw back from his promise. In all honesty, he couldn't think of anything he wanted to do more right now than to kiss her.

He slowly leaned forward, his eyes glued to hers until they fluttered shut. Once her eyes were closed, his gaze moved to her soft, pink lips. They were slightly parted and he could tell that her breath was quickening in anticipation. He moved his hand from her cheek to the back of her neck, gently guiding her into him. When their lips finally met, it was in a gentle, loving kiss as sparks went off between them but it was over just as it begun, as short as it was sweet. Their gaze met again and after a moment passed Hermione whispered, “I love you, too.”

Harry smiled at her as her words sunk in and she smiled back. He pulled her in until she was as close as she could be to him without touching and then wrapped his arm around her as she tucked her head under his chin and after a few minutes they fell asleep in each other's arms.

Author's Note: Well, there you have it. This is the first thing I've written in quite a while so I hope you enjoyed it. Please write to me and tell me what you think.

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