A/N: Thank you for the reviews from the last part!
*
Harry woke up with his eyes too heavy to open, but otherwise warm and with a soft voice whispering into his ear.
"Ron is outside with Madame Pomfrey right now," Hermione was saying, tracing meaningless patterns on his arm as she lay next to him. "She's asked us a few questions... but we haven't said anything."
The rustle of curtains. Ron.
"How is he? Has he woken up yet?"
"No," Hermione replied, getting up. Harry missed her warmth immediately.
"What did she say?" her voice dropping.
"It's okay. She doesn't know. She didn't seem too happy though. Says that we should have brought him to St. Mungo's..."
"St. Mungo's wouldn't have taken him in without us answering questions we don't want to answer," Hermione said, the stress evident in her voice. "Thank God he's doing well, though. We owe her..."
"I hope he wakes up soon," Ron said after a silence.
"Me, too. We need to get out of here as soon as possible. No one should know that we're here."
"Weasley! Granger!" a sharp voice said. Harry's heart stopped beating momentarily as he recognized it as McGonagall's voice.
Harry heard Ron and Hermione leave his bedside. Madame Pomfrey immediately hurried in once they left.
"Oh, Mr. Potter," she said, clucking her tongue. Harry struggled to move or to just open his eyes, but his body was not cooperating. He felt his mouth being forced open. "This should do you some good."
He swallowed a foul, bitter substance, his world instantly going black.
*
He sat up quickly in bed, breathing hard. He tried to reach for his wand, but it wasn't found in its usual place. He was on the verge of panicking before Hermione's voice gently signaled her presence in the room.
"It's okay, Harry. Relax," she said. Harry turned his head to face her. She was sitting at a chair on his bedside, his wand and glasses on the small table next to her. His gaze floated over the rest of the room. He was surprised to see that they were back at Grimmauld Place.
"Wh-what happened?" he asked, his breath slowing.
Hermione pursed her lips. "I could be asking you the same question! Care to explain this?" She threw a wrapped up piece of cloth at his bed. It unraveled as it landed, revealing a wand that rolled slightly before resting at the edge of the cloth, somewhere near Harry's feet.
"How long was I out?" he asked, staring at the wand in wonder. Images from that night flashed in his head.
"Two days! We had to bring you to Hogwarts to see Madame Pomfrey right away! You had just collapsed at mine and Ron's feet with blood leaking out of you like a faucet! It was a good thing Madame Pomfrey didn't ask that many questions!"
"Where's Ron?" Harry quickly asked, hoping to steer Hermione away from a lecture.
It worked.
"He's asleep. He hasn't gotten much sleep the past two days..." Her voice trailed off. Harry looked away. There were dark circles underneath her eyes. She had obviously not gotten much sleep either.
"What about McGonagall?" Harry questioned, memories from his brief time awake in the infirmary at Hogwarts rushing back.
"H-how do you know?"
"What did you tell her?" Harry pressed on.
"We didn't tell her anything!" Hermione said defensively. She bit her lip. "She... she knows, Harry."
Harry's eyes bulged. "She knows?" Hermione nodded. "How?!"
"Dumbledore, Harry," Hermione explained. "He didn't leave her a letter or anything explicitly telling her, but McGonagall had found his diaries and she was able to crack the code in order to read past the various recipes for chocolate cake." Hermione inwardly cracked a smile. "Maybe he wanted her to know. Why else would it have been that easy for her?"
Harry nodded in thought.
"She... she didn't really say anything to us though. She just told us that she knew what we were up to and... she's willing to help in any way that she can." Harry looked up at her. "It's... it's kind of comforting, isn't it?"
It was when she said it that he felt it... relief like no other. He had no idea that this secret about the horcruxes had been eating away at him this much.
"Here," Hermione said, grabbing a hold of the wand and its cloth. She stared at it, mesmerized. Intricate designs and runes adorned the handle of the wand and although it must have been centuries old, its dark, almost-black wood shined with brilliance. Hermione could feel the magic radiating off of it. The back of her head warned her that that magic was probably Voldemort's soul encased within. She shuddered, wrapping the wand up and placing it in the pack that hung at the headboard of Harry's head. She felt for Hufflepuff's cup, too.
Two down.
"I really got it, didn't I," Harry said, his voice breaking her thoughts. Hermione turned around to look at him. He was staring at the pack in disbelief. "I could have died," he said without thinking, images of the horrors he went through that night flashing before his eyes.
Hermione immediately flew to his side on the bed. "Promise me you'll never do that again," she said desperately, placing her hands on either side of his face.
Don't leave me again.
He wordlessly turned his stare to her.
I can't.
"Promise me, Harry," Hermione repeated. The hands on the side of his face gently began to caress his cheeks. "Please?" she whispered.
Are you really here?
He stared into her eyes, seeing the concern and... love... swirling within them. Not thinking of what he was doing, ignoring the protests in his head, he leaned forward, his lips meeting hers.
His mind was immediately silenced when he felt Hermione respond to the kiss. She kissed him back fervently, their lips and tongues dancing with each other as she attempted to drink him in, to reassure herself that he was really there. A thrill went up Harry's spine as he tangled his hands in her hair and unknowingly brought her to lie on top of him.
"Her-Hermione?" Harry said breathlessly, struggling with himself as he stopped the kiss. The protests in his head were coming back, but they were hard to discern through all the haze. She was on top of him, her hands in his hair. His hands had found their way underneath the hem of her shirt, splayed across the small of her back.
What are we doing?
Hermione quieted his thoughts and the words at the tip of his tongue with one look. She gently shook her head, placing a finger over his lips. Her eyes communicated everything.
It's alright. I'm here.
Harry brought one of his hands up to brush the hair from the side of her face. Their lips met again in a softer kiss, lips brushing between whispers and touches leaving trails of fire in their wake.
Harry was amazed at the feeling of having Hermione in his arms in this way. It overwhelmed him in a pleasant way.
You're always here.
*
"Don't leave without telling us again," Hermione whispered, lying down beside him, staring at him intently. Harry was lying down on his side, facing her, his fingers dancing along her arm much like she had been doing to him in Hogwarts' hospital wing. "Harry, Ron and I are here to help you. Please, remember that!"
Harry steadily avoided her gaze, concentrating on the meaningless symbols he was tracing on her skin. "I had found something," he said.
Hermione remained silent. He was avoiding having to promise her anything, but she didn't want to interrupt his accounts on the night he left to say anything.
"But where?" asked Hermione. "I looked up everything, everywhere on Ravenclaw's wand!"
"Not everywhere," Harry said, finally raising his green eyes to look at her.
*
By the time she woke up, night had come, obscuring Harry's bedroom in darkness. Harry's rhythmic breathing and warmth against her told her that he was still sleeping. She smiled fondly as she caught a glimpse of Harry's face cast with silvery light as moonlight cascaded into the room from the window. She leaned over him, admiring the youth, innocence and vulnerability that radiated off his sleeping form. She placed a brief kiss on his temple. Harry squirmed slightly in his sleep, his arm draped over her waist tightening just a little bit as he held her closer.
Just then, the doors burst open and the lights blinked on, blinding Harry and Hermione as they sat up in alarm from the sudden noise.
Ron stood in the doorway, pale as a ghost and breathing shallow. In his hands he clutched a ripped piece of parchment containing hasty scribbles.
"I just got an owl..." he said, his voice cracking. "The Burrow... the Burrow's been attacked."
*
There was no time to think.
In a whirl, Harry, Ron and Hermione were at St. Mungo's rushing towards a group of people that consisted of Professor McGonagall, Remus, Kingsley, Mad-Eye Moody and Tonks. They all turned gravely towards them as the three teenagers skidded to a stop.
"Mum... Dad...?" Ron asked breathlessly, his freckles standing out starkly against his deathly pale skin.
Remus motioned towards the room they were standing outside of. "They're... they're unconscious right now," he said grimly. "But the Healers said that they're going to be fine." Harry and Hermione placed supportive hands on Ron's back as he swayed from relief on the spot. "Ginny, Fleur and your brothers are in there right now."
Ron nodded and immediately went inside. Harry and Hermione chose to remain outside, considering this a strictly Weasley affair. Remus looked down at them with sad, tired, but kind eyes. The full moon had just passed a couple of days earlier.
"How are you three doing?" he asked, whispering although there was no real need to whisper. He stared at them, his eyes probing. Harry and Hermione shuffled uncomfortably. It seemed that he knew they were up to something. Harry briefly looked up, making significant eye contact with Professor McGonagall. He saw her purse her lips and look away.
"We're doing fine," said Harry. Remus looked at him suspiciously for a moment, but nodded.
"Professor Lupin, what happened?" questioned Hermione, changing topics for the moment but also effectively getting to the bottom on the attack at the Burrow.
"Death Eaters," Remus said simply, much too preoccupied to correct Hermione like he usually would have. "They know where the Weasley's loyalties lie. They're some of the few purebloods that were entirely devoted to Dumbledore. And it's no secret to people at the Ministry how much Arthur loves Muggles."
The expression on Harry's face darkened. It was also no secret how close the Weasley's were to him.
"How's Mr. and Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione asked fearfully.
Remus shook his head. "They fought hard. They may appear like simple wizards, but Molly and Arthur are strong fighters. The Healers say that they should recover, but it's going to take some time."
"They called us just in time," Tonks said.
"There weren't any other Weasleys there, thank goodness. Bill, Charlie, Fred, George, Ginny and obviously Ron weren't hurt."
"Is Percy here?" Harry asked, the words falling out of his mouth before he could stop them.
The adults exchanged looks with one another.
"He got the message," Moody said plainly.
Harry clenched his jaw, a bitter taste in his mouth.
How could he?
He felt a hand on his shoulder. Remus looked at him in understanding and Harry felt a guilty squirm inside his stomach as he stared into the trusting eyes of one of his parents' best friends.
"Why don't you and Hermione sit over there?" he said, gesturing towards the waiting room area. "Moody and I will be staying here, but Tonks and Kingsley have to get back to the Ministry and Professor McGonagall needs to be at Hogwarts." A ghost of a smile, a comforting smile, formed itself on Remus' features. "You've been through a lot. Get some rest."
Harry and Hermione complied, trudging over to the seats as if lead weighed down their shoes. Everything was so overwhelming and Hermione felt herself feel very, very tired despite from having just woken up a few minutes ago. She and Harry sat, Harry hunching over to clasp his hands together in thought as he stared into an empty corner. For a second, Hermione thought of leaning her head on his shoulder or hugging him or something, but she instead chose not to. She did not know exactly what was going on between her and Harry now that they had kissed, and now seemed like an inappropriate time to show affection and possibly raise the topic.
Harry's eyes flickered momentarily in Hermione's direction, her hair choosing that moment to fall and shield her face from him.
It wasn't the right time, and so many other things were going on, but Harry couldn't help but feel a strange, twisting feeling in his stomach. He and Hermione had kissed. It felt like it came out of the blue, yet at the same time, like it had been building up for ages. Being alone with her brought these troubling and confusing questions glaringly to mind. He had even asked Hermione to spend the night with him so he could sleep peacefully, like always when with her, holding her.
Harry sighed. Hermione sighed. They both stared at the clock hanging on the wall in front of them.
For now, all of that had to be pushed to the side. There were much bigger things going on.
And it would do to remember that...
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