dismantle me down, (repair) you dismantle me, you dismantle me,
give me time to prove
to prove I want the rest of yours (prelude)
call this a prelude to a lifetime of you,
it's not that I hang on every word,
I hang myself on what you mean,
its not that I keep hanging on,
I'm never letting go
Dismantle Repair by Anberlin
&---&---&---&---&
Arithmancy class was quiet that day. There had been a test earlier and afterwards, none of the students really felt up to talking all that much. To say it was hard could be an understatement.
So, because of that, it wasn't hard to hear the door to the classroom open and then hushed tones of their professor and another. The door closed quietly and Hermione felt a hand on her arm. She looked up at the face of Professor Vector.
"Yes, Professor," Hermione said quietly, as to not disturbed the rest of the students although she knew all eyes were on them.
"Madame Pomfrey wants you in the Hospital Wing," Vector said gently. Hermione frowned slightly as her heart jumped into her throat. Harry…
She quickly packed up her things and thanked the Professor as she walked quickly from the classroom. She cursed whoever decided to put the Hospital Wing on the fourth floor when the Arithmancy classroom was on the sixth. That was a long bloody way to go at the rate the staircases moved. And believe me, if they move today there won't be one left Hermione thought as she practically bounded down the stairs.
She finally reached the doors to the infirmary and opened them. Pomfrey was standing by Harry's bedside with. If Ron had been notified, he had yet to come.
"Miss. Granger," Madame Pomfrey said pleasantly. "I think you'd be happy to come and see this." Hermione made her way to the nurse and her best friend. Bright emerald green eyes were staring at her and they only seemed to intensify their twinkle as she looked at them.
"Hi Hermione," Harry said. Hermione blinked, and then blinked again before her mind fully registered that Harry was awake.
"Harry!" she said. She rushed to the side of his bed and pulled him into a hug. His arms were stiff as he raised them, but eventually he was able to hug her back. Being in a bed for six straight days hadn't done good things for him.
Madame Pomfrey slipped away once Miss. Granger had rushed to Harry. The two friends probably wanted to be left alone. She wasn't going to interfere.
"I missed you," Hermione said, pulling back. Tears were swimming in her eyes. Harry smiled slightly.
"I know. I missed you too," Harry said softly. He wiped away the few tears that had gotten loose.
"What were you up too while I was…unconscious?" Harry asked. Hermione shook her head.
"Worrying about you," Hermione said. "I wasn't able to find anything on the cup or on Ravenclaw."
"Well, I know how to get the cup," Harry said. At Hermione's inquisitive glance, he shook his head. "I'll tell you later. But for now, I know something is up with you. What's wrong?" Hermione sighed.
"I was just really worried about you Harry," she said. "At first no one knew if you were going to live or not. And I couldn't sleep, not with you in here and the whole thing with Ginny and Ron. My appetite just wasn't there so I barely ate anything and I could hardly pay attention in class." Harry sighed.
"Well, Madame Pomfrey said I could be out of here either later tonight or tomorrow morning," Harry said. "She ran tests on me and stuff and I'm completely fine now. So, when I'm out of here, the first thing we're doing is getting you something to eat and then we're going to talk about everything, and that includes whatever happened with Ron and Ginny."
"Okay," Hermione agreed softly. "Is Ron coming?" Harry shook his head.
"No, I just wanted to see you first before anyone else came," Harry said. "If I get out tonight, I'll go see him." Hermione sighed and looked at Harry, who was lying comfortably against his pillow. A flood of confusing emotions ran through her at a high speed; worry, relief, exhaustion, happiness, and love were just to name a few.
What a sodding second here. Love? I do not love Harry. Well, I do, but I'm not in love with him Hermione thought. But as she thought she didn't stop her hand from gently taking Harry's into hers and idly running her thumb over his palm. A soft sigh was heard from her friend. He looked over and ran his eyes over Hermione, who seemed to be lost in her own little world. His eyes dropped down to their hands. It was fascinating watching the way her thumb ran over his skin. This softness of her skin ran over the roughness of his gently. On impulse, he picked her hand up and kissed it. Hermione blushed and refocused on him.
"What are you thinking about?" Harry asked her. Hermione stopped for a second, as if to see if she really wanted to tell him.
"You," she said.
"What about me?" he asked. Hermione shrugged.
"A lot of stuff," was his reply.
"Hmmm," was all he said. "Can you help me stretch?" Hermione nodded and held out both of her hands to steady him. Harry slowly but surely swung his legs over the side of the bed.
"You got it?" Hermione said to Harry. He nodded and withdrew his hands from her. He steadied himself and pushed up. Hermione grabbed his arm once he stood; his legs were slightly shaky.
They walked around the room and gradually, Harry gain some strength back in his legs. The two of them reached his bed again and Harry dropped tiredly onto his bed.
"Walking takes a lot out of you," he said. Hermione smiled as she covered him back up so he wouldn't be cold.
"Well when you haven't moved in six days I'm sure it would," she replied. Harry flopped back against his pillow. His eyes gradually drooped until they were completely closed. His hand found hers right before he fell asleep.
Night came sooner than Hermione thought. She hadn't returned to her classes that afternoon, nor had she gone down to dinner. Harry was still sleeping by the time she woke from her daze.
She had to get to bed. There hadn't been a night where she got more than three hours of sleep for the past week, and that was on a good night. Hermione put her hands on either one of his cheeks and leaned down to kiss his forehead.
"I'll see you tomorrow," she whispered.
&---&---&---&---&
The next few days passed quickly. Harry was gaining strength each passing day, and it turned out Madame Pomfrey hadn't let him out of the Hospital Wing until two days after he woke up. The work he had missed was strenuous to complete along side the work he had normally and with Head duties and Quidditch, his schedule was jam packed.
"Harry?" Hermione said groggily as she came down the stairs from her room. Harry looked up from his Transfiguration.
"What are you still doing up?" she asked him as she neared.
"Homework," he replied. "This is the last essay I have for my makeup work." Hermione sighed.
"How much more do you have to do?" she asked.
"Two pages," he replied as he continued to work. His quill moved swiftly across his parchment as he worked. Suddenly, Hermione's hand was on his wrist.
"Harry," she said gently. "You're overworking yourself. This isn't helping you to recover at all. The teachers have given you an entire week to finish off what you missed, and it's only been three days. You still have four left. Sleep is important, especially because of tomorrow. You're playing the opener."
"I know I just…I want to get this done with. If I get this done with, then I won't have so much stress. I can concentrate on my classes and duties now, instead of being tired and unfocused because of the extra work," Harry said, looking up at her.
"Harry, please go to bed," Hermione said.
"But-," he started.
"Harry, go to bed!" Hermione said firmly, but gently. Harry sighed and did as he was told. She watched him go up the stairs and down the small corridor until he was out of sight. Looking down at the paper in front of her, she took his quill in hand and got busy.
The next morning, Harry bounded down the stairs, intent on getting his essay done before breakfast so he could be done. But as he went to pick up his quill, he frowned. He hadn't remembered being so far with it. Then, that was when he noticed the small note off to the side.
You can stop stressing now. It's done. Focus.
Good luck at the game today. I'll be rooting for you as always.
Love, Hermione
Harry smiled as he set the note down. Hermione was a life saver. Looking at his watch, he had an hour and a half before the game and a half an hour before breakfast. That was enough time…
Hermione opened her eyes slowly and adjusted them to the sunlight that was pouring in from her window. She took a deep breath and sat up, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. Stretching as she got out of bed, she noticed something out of her peripheral vision.
Three red roses her lying on her side table with a note attached to them. She walked over to them.
Hermione-
Thank you for finishing my essay. I appreciate what you did for me. You have no idea how much it helped.
I'll win this game for you.
Love, Harry
She smiled as she read the note. Checking the time, she knew the Quidditch team and most likely most of the school had already gone down to the pitch, but she still had a few minutes to grab an apple for breakfast and head down to the game.
After dressing in comfortable, faded jeans, a shirt and Harry's Quidditch sweatshirt, she headed down to the Great Hall.
The stands were almost all the way full by the time she got down to the pitch, but she managed to snag a seat next to Neville.
"Good morning Hermione," Neville said.
"Morning Neville," Hermione replied.
"How have you been?" he asked. "We haven't really been able to talk much this year."
"I've been okay. How have you been?" she asked.
"I'm all right. Gran is putting a little extra pressure on me this year since it's my last one and all, but it's going well so far," Neville replied.
"I'm glad," Hermione said. The announcer cut off any other chance of a conversation as he announced the players joining the pitch.
"And we're off!" said Denis Creevy. "Gryffindor got the Quaffle right off the bat. Weasley down to pitch, passes to Robins. She shoots…SHE SCORES! Gryffindor ahead 10-nil in the first minute of the game." Hermione, along with the rest of the Gryffindor house, roared with applause.
"Ravenclaw's keeper, Smith, passes the ball to Jacobs. Jacobs takes it down a field a ways, passes off to Nicholson…Intercepted by Ginny Weasley! Weasley takes it down the field. She winds up and...OH! Did you see that spin move? Weasley passes it to Thomas. He shoots…he scores! Gryffindor 20-nil."
The game continued much like that, with Ravenclaw only scoring two goals. Toward the second hour of the game, with Gryffindor ahead 350-20, Harry caught the snitch, making the final score 500-20.
Harry and the rest of the team entered the Gryffindor Common Room and were immediately deafened with the cheers from their fellow housemates. His eyes searched the crowd for one specific person and as soon as he saw her, his smile grew to a grin. He rushed towards Hermione and wrapped her up into a bear hug, spinning her around.
"Thank you," he whispered to her.
"You're welcome," she replied. He bent down and kissed the tip of her nose before letting her go.
"I'm going to change and then I'll be right back," he said, taking one of her hands in his. She nodded and he smiled at her before going out of the portrait and to the Heads Dorm.
The rest of the day followed smoothly, with Harry celebrating the win with all the Gryffindors for a little while before retreating back to his quiet dorm he shared with Hermione.
"We haven't exactly got to talk for the last few days," Harry said to Hermione as he plopped himself down on the couch, taking her with him.
"I know," Hermione murmured as she molded into his side and wrapped an arm around his waist, laying her head against his chest.
"You wanted to talk to me about Ron and Ginny," Harry said. He felt her sigh before speaking.
"While you were in your coma, Ginny and I had another little spat, although this time Ron was involved. I figured out why I was acting like a complete and total scarlet woman last year, and it was because she was giving me Amortentia too, to make me go after Ron. Well, I sort of outed her in front of Ron, Remus and Tonks one day while we were all visiting you and she had the nerve to come and see you." Hermione felt Harry tense.
"But its okay," she said gently. "Because Ron and I talked about some things and we're okay. In fact, we're great. He and I understand each other better."
"He took it okay? That you only went for him because of a potion?" Harry asked. Hermione nodded.
"Surprisingly yes. It was a little awkward for a few days, but we finally talked and well…he understands. In fact, he's already got another crush," Hermione said. Harry chuckled.
"So he told me," Harry said. "Luna, huh?" Hermione laughed.
"Yeah," she said.
"Well who would've thought," Harry said.
"Not me," Hermione replied.
"Me either, but I guess we should always expect the unexpected," he said. A comfortable silence fell between the two before Hermione spoke again.
"What about you? You said you knew how to get rid of the Horcrux," she said.
"When I was in the coma, I was in sort of a…dream state; I guess you could call it. I spoke with my parents, Sirius and Dumbledore. They helped me figure out how to get rid of the cup."
"My mum explained something to me. She said that when you split your soul into more than one piece, especially seven, you've got to have some down time in between each of them. Well, even if it's just a small bit, a witch or wizard gains power every passing day. Obviously, Voldemort gained power between the first and last Horcrux, so each one is going to have a little more difficulty. It will be stronger than the others made before it," he said.
"The cup must have been one of the last ones to have been made, so it would be one of the stronger Horcruxes, hence why none of our previous ways have worked on it. They aren't strong enough. Then I got to thinking, and I realized that we had only used light techniques, so to speak. Well, even if we're fighting the Dark Arts, sometimes you've got to use them to fight them, right? I thought of a spell from the Dark Arts that absolutely obliterates anything it hits."
"Mm, what is it?" Hermione said, analyzing the information given to her.
"Pulverizum," Harry said.
"What is that?" Hermione asked.
"It was a spell created in 1652 by a wizard by the name of Orlock Zoolander. He was one of the leading men in constructing wizarding villages when we were settling around the world. He created the spell for easy destruction of the surrounding area, like trees and whatnot. Well, over the years, the spell lost its original use and was eventually classified as a Dark Art after how many deaths it caused," Harry said.
"Wow," Hermione murmured. "So we're just going to hit the cup with this spell and see if it works? That's a little haphazard, don't you think?" Harry shrugged.
"Yeah, it is. But hasn't everything else been also? I mean, I hit one with a hammer and I had no idea what that would do," Harry said.
"True," Hermione said. "We should think this over more with Ron and see what happens. But I think it's a good idea."
"Okay, that's settled then," Harry said. As the silence took over, Hermione listened to the rhythmic beat of Harry's heart. The evenness of his breathing mixed with the steady `thump' of his heart began to make her sleepy.
"I'm glad you're okay Harry," Hermione muttered before she fell asleep. Harry looked down at his best friend and ran his hand down her arm.
"I could never leave you," he said. "Never."
&---&---&---&
Oh holy hell. Put the pitchforks down guys. I'm sorry.
It has been since I last updated. If you have an account at ff.net, and you read my story there, then you know what happened. For those who don't…it's explained. About two weeks after I got the last chapter up, I broke my left wrist, separated my right shoulder and cracked both my right elbow and wrist in a four wheeling accident. It's safe to say I was in a lot of pain for a little while.
I got my cast and whatnot off on 9-11 (sort of freaky, I know) and went to the doctor's for an annual check-up. There, they found I had a pilonidal cyst. For those of you who don't know what that is, look it up. You might understand why I haven't updated in a while. It was up in the air on whether or not I had to have surgery. Thank God, I don't. This has happened to me before, actually, just last summer so I wasn't too pleased to have another one, especially since I had to have the surgery last time.
On top of this, I was at school. I have taken the PLAN and PSAT tests on top of my ginortic (yes, I just made that up) amounts of homework along side of my soccer season. I am now going into indoor soccer season, which I am playing two teams for. Then, it's indoor track and then track season.
I have a very busy schedule coming up ahead of me. This is my year to get my academic letter on top of my varsity one, so I will be working my ass off in school. I need to keep my grades up if I ever want to reach my goal of being a Pediatrician.
I promise all of you guys, any ounce of free time I have, I will spend on this story. I love it to much to abandon it, and I will finish it since I don't really believe there was ever really a book 7 written. Even if it takes me all the way up until I graduate, this will get done.
Thanks to those who have reviewed on my down time and to those who have stuck with this story. It's greatly appreciated and I send my sincere thanks to all of you.
Okay, wrapping this chapter up now. But one last thing. What did you guys think of JK having Dumbledore as a gay guy? Betcha didn't see that one coming. I know I didn't.
Thanks! LemonDropAnyone, 10 pages.
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