Disclaimer: JKR owns Potter and everything Potter related. I have no life outside of working six days a week and writing fiction is my stress reliever. I make no money from this, else I would not be up at 5 every morning and working every day except Sunday. No, I'm not bitter. I swear.
A/N: Here you go, the fight everyone's been hoping for. :D
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Harry woke up to find Hermione smiling at him. "You're okay!" he exclaimed.
She nodded. "Healer Danby came by while you were sleeping. I've had some Pepper Up Potion and I feel pretty good now."
Harry stood up and leaned over the bed to hug her. "Are you… alright, though?"
"You mean mentally?" she asked.
"Well, yeah. I mean, you didn't exactly have the greatest time earlier." He looked into her eyes, seeing her pain.
"It was scary," Hermione said. "I didn't know whether or not you'd find me in time, and Draco… Harry, he was going to kill me."
"Hermione, I need you to do something very important for me. I need you to tell me what Draco said to you, and then we'll never talk about it again. Okay?"
She nodded, gripping his hand tighter. "He said that Voldemort wanted to talk to me. Wanted me to become a Death Eater. I don't know why, but apparently he did. And if I wouldn't take the Mark willingly they would kill me. But then Draco said he was going to teach me a lesson for punching him a couple years ago, and he started to-" Tears began to fall from her eyes.
"It's okay, 'Mione," Harry soothed, pulling her into a hug. "That's when I got there. I just needed to know what he said so that I can tell the Order later."
"The Order? They found us?" Hermione was confused.
Harry sighed. "When you sent Pig back to the Weasleys' he snuck a chocolate and kept the wrapper. Mr. Weasley recognized the hotel logo on the wrapper and they headed out right after."
Hermione made a mental note to never leave treats out around Pigwidgeon again. "So now what do we do?"
"I don't know," he admitted. "Once you're discharged there'll be a huge Order meeting. Everyone is coming. I'm not sure if I should tell them about the Horcruxes or not. We can't even stay in Muggle London without putting you in danger, destroying the Horcruxes isn't going to be much safer. I don't want to risk you getting hurt. If we tell the Order they can help," he shrugged.
"Whatever your decision is, Harry, I'll be right next to you the entire time. I promise." She said, leaning over to kiss him on the cheek.
"Well, aren't you two the cutest thing I've seen all day!" Healer Danby grinned, entering the room. "Mr. Potter, could I have a word with you in the hallway for a moment?" she asked, winking at Hermione.
Harry got up to join her, closing the door after him.
"From what I understand, you are the one who saved her, is that correct?" she asked. Harry nodded. "Well, good job. You got there just in time. From what we were able to see from her memories, a few moments later and it may have been too late."
"Her memories?" Harry asked.
Healer Danby nodded. "Yes, Harry. While you were sleeping, Miss Granger withdrew her memory of the event and placed it in a Pensieve for us to view. The Minister for Magic and several members of the Wizengamot came by. They were prepared to try you for the assault and in Mr. Malfoy's case, permanent disfigurement, of Miss Granger's attackers until they saw her memory. Instead, they are taking actions against the estates of the young men, fining each one several hundred thousand Galleons. I wanted to mention this to you without upsetting Miss Granger again. When the Ministry officials were reviewing her memory, we had to give her a bit of Dreamless Sleep Potion to keep her from having an anxiety attack."
Harry smiled grimly. "I was expecting to be tried by the full court for my actions, considering they've done that before for much less, but this is definitely better than that. I appreciate your help, Healer Danby."
"Oh, we're not through yet, Mr. Potter." She withdrew a small, deep purple vial from her robes' pocket. "I would like you to bring this home with you. It's more Dreamless Sleep Potion. Typically, the victim of this type of crime suffers from nightmares for quite some time after the attack. It is quite likely that Miss Granger will relive the events several times over the next two weeks in her sleep. If this occurs, please give her just a teaspoon of this potion. It will relax her and she will be able to-"
"Not to be rude, Healer Danby, but I myself have had quite the experience with Dreamless Sleep Potion. I'll save you the trouble of explaining and assure you that I know what I'm doing."
"Of course you do," she smiled. "Miss Granger is free to leave whenever she likes. I'd suggest you help her downstairs, as there is quite the crowd waiting for you two."
Harry turned to open the door when Healer Danby spoke again.
"Oh, and Mr. Potter? Good luck. You two are a fine match. And thanks for the donation year before last."
Harry flushed, and entered the room.
"What was that all about?" Hermione asked, seeing Healer Danby headed down the hallway.
"Nothing," he said, helping her up. "Just wanted to say that we make a cute couple, that's all."
Hermione grinned. "So, we're a couple now?"
Harry looked at her in an attempt to be stern. "What part of 'I love you' don't you understand, woman?"
Giggling, Hermione kissed him. "I love you too, Harry." She wrapped her arms around him in a hug, and they left the room hand in hand.
Downstairs in the hospital lobby, Harry and Hermione were greeted by the Order. Lupin, Tonks, Moody, McGonagall, the Weasleys, and Hagrid were waiting. Before either one of them had a chance to say anything, two figures came running out from behind Hagrid. The blurs of red hair were impossible to mistake.
"HolyMerlinHarryI'msogladthatyou'realright!" Ginny squealed in one breath. Ron gripped Hermione in a bone-crushing hug.
The young couple just stood there for a second before releasing each other's hands in embarassment.
"Hermione, I'm sorry," Ron said sadly. "I really am. I was being a complete dolt, and I can't blame you for leaving."
Hermione looked uncomfortable. Ron had a hopeful expression on his face. Apparently Mrs. Weasley hadn't told her children anything she'd seen between Harry and Hermione earlier that day.
Ginny was busy attempting to kiss every square inch of Harry's face. "We were so worried! When Pig came back without any replies I thought for sure that something was terribly wrong!"
"Ginny, stop it."
She looked at Harry, confused.
He shrugged. "I didn't say it."
Hermione was standing with her hands on her hips, glaring at Ginny. Ron, as confused as Ginny, was staring at Hermione with his mouth agape.
"Excuse me?" Ginny asked, confused as to why Hermione was telling her to back off. "He's my boyfriend, why can't I kiss him?"
Now it was Harry's turn to look uncomfortable. "I'm not your boyfriend, Gin. We went over this when term ended, remember?"
Ginny was lost. "But after my letter, I thought that-"
"You thought wrong, Ginny." Hermione glared.
"That letter was for Harry, not for you to read!" she said furiously, stepping forward so that she was eye to eye with Hermione. The boys sensed trouble coming and backed away.
In the few moments that Harry and Ron had to talk while the girls stared each other down, Harry managed to say "Sorry, mate."
Ron looked at him funny. "For what?"
"Hermione and I…" Harry said.
Ron looked from Hermione to Harry, and suddenly understood. "Oh." His face fell. "Should've known."
Before Harry could say anything more to his friend, his attention was brought back to the girls by a loud crack.
Ginny had just smacked Hermione.
While the boys were talking amongst themselves the Order members had chosen to back off. Arthur was again restraining Molly from meddling, as she was desperate to prevent her children from getting hurt.
"Uh… we'll just wait outside for you lot," Tonks said quickly, rushing everyone out of the lobby.
"You little bint!" Hermione exclaimed, rubbing her now-red cheek. "How dare you!"
"How dare I? How dare you! You knew perfectly well that I've been in love with Harry forever, and you even tried to help me get his attention, and then you go and steal him from behind my back?"
"I didn't steal him!" Hermione glared. "He broke up with you, and when he needed friends the most, you abandoned him! You chose to stay at the Burrow with Ron while I was the only one who had the stones to come after him! He kissed me! He told me he loves me, not you! You don't love him, Ginny, you worship him! You fooled around with other guys to get Harry's attention, you plotted to make him fall for you!"
"Worship him?!" she screeched. "Oh please, Hermione. If it weren't for my brothers' Permanent Sleekeazy potion he never would've noticed you! You've always been Bookworm Hermione, and you always will be!"
Though she had always prided herself on her ability to use words as weapons in a fight rather than her fists, Ginny's words incensed the brunette witch to a point where words just weren't effective anymore. This time it was Hermione's turn to smack Ginny.
Harry stupidly chose this moment to interrupt. "Uh, Ginny? I noticed Hermione was attractive in fourth year. And I did break up-"
"Not now, Harry," Hermione said, her voice low. "This is between me and her. She's the one who just can't seem to let go, so it looks like I'm going to have to make her."
"Sure, Hermione. Make me. Go ahead. I dare you," Ginny threatened.
"Ginny, maybe you don't understand what's going on here," Hermione sighed, aware of how stubborn the younger girl was going to be. "No matter the outcome of this fight, Harry's going to be with me. We love each other. It may have taken him nearly six years to realize that, but that's all water under the proverbial bridge now. I love him for who he is and how he makes me feel, not because he's Harry Potter, the Chosen One and the Boy-Who-Lived."
Ginny shook her head. "You think you do, but you're wrong! I bet it's all because of that stupid diamond you're wearing. Mum told me about it, said that he'd given you his mum's old engagement ring. I bet that you two think you love each other because that ring is cursed!"
"It's not cursed, Ginny, otherwise Lily would've never worn it. Because of this ring, Harry and I can hear each other's thoughts. And it's because of this ring that I'm alive right now. If Harry hadn't heard me calling for him to help me through the rings, I would've been dead before he even knew I was gone."
Ginny was stunned. Molly had told her and Ron that they'd found Harry and Hermione, they'd gotten into a fight with Draco in London, and Hermione was a bit scraped up and in St. Mungo's. "Dead?" she asked, her voice a whisper.
Hermione nodded grimly. "Dead." She repeated. "When Harry rescued me this morning, Draco Malfoy was about to…" she trailed off for a moment. "Well, let's just say that he wanted to have a go at me before Crabbe and Goyle got the chance, but not without what he'd considered a healthy dose of the Cruciatus. Harry showed up just before anything could happen, and fought them off."
I nearly killed them, 'Mione.
You didn't mean to, and that's all that matters to me.
Ginny hung her head in shame. "I'm sorry… Mum told me that you had gotten into a fight is all. She never said anything about that."
"She was probably thanking Merlin that it wasn't you, Ginny. It could have been if you were still with Harry."
Ginny swallowed, realizing her friend was right. "I never thought of it that way. I thought when you said that I would be in danger you meant that the Death Eaters might put me under the Imperius and have me try to kill you or something," she said to Harry, "I never imagined anything like this."
Hermione looked at the younger girl. "So are we clear now? I'm with Harry. Honestly, Gin, I've loved him for years and I'd given up just like you, but the last few days have turned all that around." She reached for Harry's hand, taking it in her own.
Harry slipped his arm around her waist, pulling Hermione closer. The two of them began to glow again.
"What's with the human light bulb thing?" Ginny asked.
"Side effect of the diamond," Harry replied. Hermione looked at him questioningly. "Figured it out while I was sleeping. It seems like whenever we're sharing a powerful emotional connection, we light up."
"Love," Hermione whispered. "This must be what Dumbledore meant."
Harry agreed with her.
"Are you lot done screaming at each other now? I think the Mediwitches are getting a tad annoyed with you." Tonks had poked her head back into the lobby.
The four teens looked around the room to see several Mediwitches, Healers, and patients all glaring at them.
"Sorry," Harry apologized, and the four of them left as quickly as they could.
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"It's done." Severus Snape bowed.
Voldemort let out a hiss of pleasure. "Fantastic. Let Amycus' mistake be an example to everyone else. I will not tolerate mistakes."
Snape nodded. "We have also spotted Potter and several Order members leaving St. Mungo's. They headed directly into the Ministry of Magic from there. Bellatrix thought it would be wise to wait for another time to ambush them."
"Very wise," Voldemort agreed. "Attacking them directly in front of the Ministry would end the same way the battle in the Department of Mysteries did. No, we will fight them on our own terms, and in our own territory. Any news on when my servants will be released from St. Mungo's?"
Shaking his head, Snape prepared to make an excuse. "From what I've been able to learn, young Malfoy and his cronies will be released to their parents as soon as their conditions are stable. I suggest you take it up with their fathers." With no retaliation from Voldemort, Snape continued. "The potion you asked for is ready, my Lord." He held out a small bottle containing a deep scarlet liquid.
"Excellent," the Dark Lord held his hands in front of him as he leaned back in his chair, folding his fingers into a steeple. "Something tells me we will be much more successful in this venture than I expected.