A/N: Thanks for all the fantastic reviews!! This chapter ended up being something completely different than what I had envisioned. So there is a tiny bit of fluff, a little bit of mystery and a dash of action. Not a lot in the plot development department, sorry, the next chapter should have a bit more of that.
The trio arrived at the inn hungry and in the case of Ron and Hermione tired and worn out. Two long distance apparations in one day had taken their toll.
Harry noticed immediately that Hermione had kept a tight grip on his robes for a long minute to steady herself and that Ron had dropped into the nearest chair.
"You two look a bit knackered." He observed and caught the slightly disgusted look Ron threw his direction.
"So sorry. We can't all be insanely powerful wizards, capable of apparating across oceans like they were mere puddles in a road." Ron retorted, but without a trace of malice in his voice.
Hermione rolled her eyes at both of them and crossed to the dressing table to remove her robes and deposit the potions she had received from Madame Pomfrey. "You'll need to take another dose of this tonight." She reminded Ron, who pulled a face at the thought of having to drink that again.
"I know, I know. But I don't have to like it." He replied and then made his way towards the adjoining door. "I'm going to clean up a bit and then maybe we can get something to eat."
"Sure Ron sounds good." Harry said and then came up behind Hermione so that they were both reflected in the mirror. He wrapped his arms around her waist and rested his chin on her head, feeling her relax back against him. Harry watched as her eyes fluttered shut and she let out a contented sigh, her hands coming up to cover his.
"Hey, you feeling alright?" he whispered into her hair.
"Of course. Just a bit of a headache is all." she tightened her grip on his hands as they automatically went to move up to her head. "Probably from the apparating, but I'll take some more potion tonight anyways." She finished, opening her eyes to meet his gaze in the mirror.
"I'm just worried about you `Mione. None of this is adding up."
She nodded her head silently, allowing him to see the concern she had as well. "We're going to work this out, I know we will."
He pulled her tighter to him and dropped his head so that it rested against the side of hers. For a moment Hermione observed their reflection, only able to see the dark thatch of Harry's hair and her own pale, tired face next to it, the rest of them falling into the shadows of the room. She knew that to most, Harry Potter was an enigma. But he had never been that to her, he had always been, just Harry, her Harry.
Two glittering green eyes raised high enough to peer at her over the rim of his glasses, their eyes locking before a devious twinkle lit them up and his head lowered once again. A hand reached up and swept brown curls off her shoulder before warm lips met skin and her head fell to the side and he felt a shudder go through her.
Harry was enjoying this aspect of their new relationship. Hermione had always been the brains of their operation. Always the one who did the hard research, always deciding what would happen next and how it would happen. Harry had the power, and she had the control. But now, he had the control. One brief instant of contact and she willingly gave up her position to him.
He gently tugged the collar of her shirt, exposing more skin and her head rolled back onto his shoulder. He began at the junction of fabric and collarbone and placed agonizingly slow kisses across taut skin until he reached just behind her ear, grinning as he felt her sink a few inches against him.
"Harry" she finally got out, slightly breathless " you really don't play fair do you?"
"Not when it comes to you." He replied and smiled down at her as she turned in his arms to face him. He wondered if she knew that if he had the control now, she certainly had all the power.
Hermione dropped her head to his chest and wrapped her arms around him, wishing that they could just block out the world and lose themselves in each other. "Ron's going to be back soon isn't he?" she asked, her voice slightly muffled.
"Yeah luv, he is." Bussing a kiss atop burnished brown locks before stepping back "How about I run out and grab something, I don't think you and Ron are up to going out to eat."
"I think that sounds like a lovely idea. I'm going to take a bath and my potion and will be clean and headache free and starving when you return." She said with a smile
"Alright, I'll stick my head in and tell Ron and then head out. Any requests?"
"No, you know what I like." She immediately regretted her words, a look of warning was directed to Harry but he chose to ignore it.
"Not yet, but I plan on finding out." And then before she could reply he was heading through the door to Ron's room, leaving her sputtering in his wake.
"Just you wait Harry Potter, you're not going to know what hit you." She declared to the empty room before heading towards the bathroom.
The inn provided a small, but adequate supply of toiletries and Hermione found herself humming softly as she looked through the complimentary basket trying to decide which one to use. Her decision made she began the water and made her way back over to the small vanity table in the corner. Removing the clip that held her mostly unruly curls off her face she started brushing out her hair when a noise from the main room caught her attention. She paused, but the rush of the water was drowning out any other noise, and she knew that if Harry had come back in he would have called out to her. Hermione resumed brushing and then turned suddenly when she realized that bubbles were beginning to spill over onto the floor. Just as she stepped towards the tub the mirror she had just been standing in front of exploded into millions of slivers.
She had felt the curse singe her hair as it had gone by and quicker than she could think her auror training kicked in. She dove for cover behind the counter that held the sink and pulled her wand out at the same time, firing a silent Reducto curse over her shoulder as she did and quickly put up a shield charm as soon as she came to a halt. From where she was she couldn't see into the main room and the water filling the tub was keeping her from hearing as well. A quick wave of her wand shut off the taps and she could hear Ron's frantic voice calling her from his room.
"Hermione!! What the bloody hell is going on! Let me in!" more pounding came from the door and she could hear him trying various counter spells and ways to unlock the door, but nothing seemed to be working.
Hermione hoped he would figure a way in, but she had to turn her attention back to whoever was attacking her.
More spell fire founds its way to her. The shield held, but she knew she couldn't sit there and wait. Immediately following a blasting curse she dropped her shield and sent one of her own into the other room, purposely blowing a large sconce on the wall. With no time to wait she moved fast and stayed low, able to now put herself between the bed and the wall and closer to the door into Ron's room. She couldn't chance looking at her attacker, she could only hope they hadn't seen her rush into the room.
Another blast was shot into the bathroom and she knew her decoy had worked. The next time her attacker fired she raised up over the bed just far enough to spot them and sent a stunner at them. The wizard hadn't completely fallen to the ground when Ron finally stopped being polite and blasted the door out of its frame.
"All clear!" Hermione called out and saw Ron slowly emerge from the dust, wand drawn.
"Hermione! Who the hell is that?"
She pulled up to her knees and rested her arms on the bed, but kept her wand trained on the supine form of their mystery man.
"I wish I knew."
Ron rushed over to her and knelt by her side "Are you Ok? Did you get hit?"
"I'm fine Ron. Really, I'm alright." She assured him "Getting right tetchy about who ever is trying to kill me, but…." trailing off as she swiped hair out of her face with a shaky hand.
"Merlin `Mione! This has got to stop! Harry is going to be downright homicidal when he gets back."
Hermione ignored the comment about Harry's response and pulled herself to her feet.
"Come on, lets secure our friend here and see what he can tell us."
Ron conjured ropes to tie up the intruder and then stood back next to Hermione. "You ready?"
"Lets do it." She responded and woke up the stranger.
The man came out of the stunner quickly and for a moment Ron was afraid the ropes wouldn't hold, but after a few minutes of struggling and a look of resigned disgust on his face he lay quietly.
Neither Ron nor Hermione recognized him. He wasn't a missing Death Eater or some other known criminal, which was in a way scarier. He was an unknown.
"Alright mate, we can do this the hard way, or the hard way. Which would you prefer." Ron growled softly, falling immediately into auror mode.
"I will tell you nothing." The man spat out
"I would recommend you change your mind."
"I will tell you nothing." He repeated
Ron drew a hand over his face and sighed, he hated when the criminals tried to play tough. Just as he was about to change his tactics Harry suddenly appeared in the mangled former doorway of Ron's room.
They had expected an explosion, but the silence was more frightening. Harry took in the scene, the holes blasted in the walls, the broken glass, the scorch marks on multiple surfaces and then finally his gaze settled on Hermione and he saw the small scratches on her cheeks from the flying mirror and her slightly frenzied appearance.
Without making a sound he turned to the attacker on the floor, and thrust his hand out. In an instant the man was pinned to the far wall and an invisible hand held his throat in a vice. Harry walked slowly towards him. "Tell me why you are here." He commanded
For the first time they saw a flicker of fear cross the man's face but he remained silent.
Harry took another step and repeated his question, this time the man struggled more and began to turn an alarming shade of purple as the pressure around his neck increased. He tried to speak, but was only able to sputter until the tension let up slightly. "I will never tell you." He rasped out and then a strangely delighted expression crossed his face. "My master is waiting for me." And then in a flash he was gone.
The room echoed for a moment and then was silent. Harry's arm was still raised, frozen in place. Ron and Hermione hadn't moved since he had entered the room, too shocked by his powerful display of wandless magic.
Hermione was the first to regain her senses, flying across the room to Harry. She gently pushed his arm down and then clasped his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her. "Harry! It's alright!"
His eyes were unfocused at first and then his breathing became ragged and he grasped desperately at Hermione, pulling her towards him and burying his face in her neck.
Finally, he raised his head and ran a hand over her cheek, careful to avoid the small cuts. "Are you really ok?"
"Yes. I am. I promise."
His eyes slid shut for a second and when he opened them they flashed dangerously. "What the hell happened here."
Hermione took a step back and realized that his question hadn't been directed at her, but rather to Ron.
"Don't know for sure mate. I was in my room going over some notes and all of a sudden there were crashes over here. I tried to get through the door but it had been sealed. I called for Hermione but got no answer. Finally I just blew it off the hinges." He stopped and threw an admiring grin to Hermione. "She had it all taken care of when I got in here. The guy was less than cooperative answering questions and then you know the rest."
Harry's look hadn't changed while Ron filled him in, in fact if anything he looked more upset. "She shouldn't have had to take care of anything Ron! Bloody hell! You should have blown the door off immediately! You know someone is trying to kill her, as soon as you heard anything, you should have been in here, I don't care what it took! You're a damned Auror! She's…"
"Don't you dare finish that sentence!" Hermione shouted "Don't you dare imply that I am incapable of fighting, or was that not me right by your side five years ago! And don't you dare blame Ron for this, it is no one's fault."
She chanced a look at Ron, and saw he had his fists clenched at his side and the famed Weasley flush quickly coloring his face. "I know you got in here as quick as you could." She said to him, and saw him nod stiffly but didn't look away from Harry.
"This is not the last time they come for me Harry and you know it. So you need to trust in me and trust in Ron. What I don't understand is how he got in here and why I didn't know before the first curse was thrown."
Harry knew that Ron had done everything he could, but it still scared him more than he could admit that Hermione had been in danger again. "I'm sorry mate, I just…" and then his voice trailed off and his face went white "Oh Gods. Oh Gods! It's my fault, I'm so sorry `Mione. It's all my fault." He shook her hand off his arm and took a few stumbling steps to the window.
"Harry! What are you talking about! We've been over this, this is not your fault. We don't know who is behind this but.."
"No! You don't understand. The wards! I didn't reset the wards to this room. I left through Ron's room and forgot to reset the wards. That's how he got in. That's why you didn't know someone was in here." He stopped and leaned heavily against the window "So, it is my fault."
"Oh Harry. It was an accident. I know you'd never do anything to put me in danger."
"But I still did. My stupid mistake could have gotten you killed."
"Well, luckily for you I'm one tough witch. I don't understand how you, both of you actually," including Ron in her lecture "that you keep conveniently forgetting that I have the same training that you do. I also find it hard to believe that if it was Tonks here instead of me, that there would be so much macho posturing going on." With a quick whip of her head she turned on Harry and he had the good sense to look worried. "I am going to tell you this for the last time Harry, I love you and I know you are scared, and I know you are trying to keep me safe, but I need you to stop treating me like I'm going to break. Please, trust in me and trust in us, all of us. We have faced worse and won and I have no doubt that we will do so again."
Harry's head hung down as if his shoes had suddenly become incredibly fascinating. "'Mione, I…I will try, that's all I can promise you. I know you're tough, I know you know more spells than Ron and I combined, but I'm still going to worry about you and I'm still going to want you safe."
"I guess I can live with that."
Harry turned back into the room and looked at Ron, who seemed to have cooled down. "I'm sorry mate, really. I just…" but Ron waved him off
"No worries. We're good." Ron replied
"So uh, she really kicked that guys arse good huh?" Harry inquired in a stage whisper
"Yeah, she did. He was out cold and she has barely a scratch on her."
"Oh you!" Hermione admonished "Honestly! Do you have to be such…such boys all the time?!"
"Sorry `Mione." Harry replied as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and used his wand to summon the bag of food he had dropped upon entering the room. "Come on, how about we eat and we can work out our game plan."
"Well, I never got that bath, so I think I will go do that and join you when I'm done." She said with a smile, disappeared into the bathroom, and shut the door behind her.
As Ron and Harry walked into the adjoining room they could hear Hermione repairing the mirror and vanishing the now cold bath water.
Harry raised the bag and sighed at its appearance. "I'm afraid it's not warm any more mate," and then opened the bag to peek inside "or in one piece either."
Ron just rolled his eyes, snatched the bag out of Harry's hand, and began muttering under his breath. "Most powerful wizard in the world and he still forgets that he can do magic." With a flick of his wand the contents regained their shape and steam slowly made its way out of the bag.
Harry grabbed the food back and made his way to the table "Showoff."
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