She froze.
"You... you WHAT?" she asked in total shock at the words that had just left Harry Potter's mouth.
Harry couldn't move. All he could do was blink, and very rapidly. Try and blink the last few minutes away. Too bad it didn't work. He wanted more than anything to just leave, go far, far away and pretend this never happened. Not that it was supposed to happen. He wasn't supposed to talk about his feelings! He was going to do the healthy thing and keep it tightly bottled up inside.
He tried to force his legs to move, but they wouldn't budge an inch. To his immense relief, he heard a tapping on the frosted window. He swiveled around to see Hedwig, his snowy owl, tapping on the window with her beak and looking very impatient. Harry rushed over and quickly opened the window, whereupon the bird flew in and landed on his shoulder. He gently untied the letter from her leg. She nipped on his wrist affectionately and looked at him expectantly. He said, "Sorry Hedwig. I don't have any food for you. Next time, I promise." She let out a small hoot and flew haughtily out the window.
Harry quickly ripped the thin envelope open to find a messily scribbled note:
Harry ~
Please come to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom as soon as possible.
Professor Lupin
Harry let out a sigh, partly because of relief, and partly because of what was up that Lupin wanted him to come as soon as possible. He turned and walked toward Hermione. He stopped in front of her for a split second. Then, he was gone.
Hermione heaved a great sigh and slumped down on the armchair, utterly baffled and frustrated, on top of being in total shock.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"What's going on?" were Harry's first words as he entered the dingy classroom. Lupin looked up from his writing and stood up behind his desk.
"Sirius has some things to tell you," he answered simply as he approached the fireplace, where Sirius' head was waiting apprehensively.
"What's going on?" Harry repeated, this time directed towards Sirius.
"Well, Harry, I did some research. Seems Wormtail was, indeed, sent to Hogwarts by Voldemort. To spy on the activities going on there. Of course, Peter's never been the subtle one, so he got himself thrown out. But be careful, Harry: mice can get back into any building. Now, about the Hogsmeade attack, everything there IS repaired, but the mystery of the Dark Mark remains. Nott was, in fact, found at the scene near the Three Broomsticks, underneath all the debris from the attack, and without a wand. No one knows why. And one more thing: The 'Hagrid' you saw in his hut? It was Connor Davies, killed by Lucius Malfoy," Sirius finished somberly.
"MALFOY?" Harry echoed.
"And he was with Dominic Malfoy as well," Lupin added.
"Who's Dominic Malfoy?" Harry asked, bewildered.
"Lucius' brother," Sirius replied. "And fellow Death Eater."
"Wait... is he Robert Malfoy's father?" Harry asked, trying to piece this puzzle together.
"Yes. How did you know?" Sirius asked, taken aback.
"He goes to Hogwarts. Another Slytherin," Harry rolled his eyes.
"Figures. Well, they were both present at the little get-together in Hagrid's hut," Sirius informed.
"But I only saw one hooded figure there," Harry recalled.
"That's because the other was under an Invisibility Cloak," Sirius answered.
"Hang on. Connor Davies?" Harry exclaimed. "As in Roger Davies' father?"
"I'm afraid so, Harry," Lupin answered.
"But why Hagrid?" Harry wondered out loud. Lupin shrugged and Sirius merely tilted his head to one side.
"We don't know. Probably wanted to 'blend in' with their environment. Did a clumsy job, if you ask me," Sirius said with an edge. "Apparently, Lucius came there that day on Voldemort's orders. I don't exactly know what those orders were, but the reason was something along the lines of what Wormtail was trying to do, combined with something to do with his son."
"Did he threaten Hagrid?" Lupin asked sharply. Harry nodded.
Sirius and Lupin sighed in unison, a sigh more like letting out a pained breath.
"Harry, if Voldemort wants to get to you, I hate to say it, but he's closer than everyone
thinks."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Ron! What are you doing here?" Hermione asked, clearly startled.
"'Surprise! Happy Christmas Eve!" Ron greeted, beaming.
"Ron, your head! It's in the fireplace! Is your fireplace connected to the Floo Network?" Hermione asked, scowling.
"Mum took it off temporarily, but its back on again thanks to dad!" he explained. "So, how ARE you? What have you been up to?"
"Oh, I... I'm good. There's a lot of snow here. I've been doing homework. You know, the usual," she answered nervously. "You?"
"Helping mum go overboard with the sweets again this year," he chuckled. "'Mione, I miss you," he added softly. She smiled diminutively.
"I miss you too, Ron. Things have been sort of chaotic around here. I mean, yesterday, Wormtail was here in the Great Hall!" she said.
"Wormtail!? That filthy bugger? Are you OK? Did he hurt you?" he fired the questions at her like bullets. She laughed.
"I'm FINE, Ron. Don't be so overprotective," she reassured him.
"I have to be overprotective, 'Mione. You're my girlfriend!" he answered, smiling shyly. At this word, events with Harry popped into her mind again, causing her to redden.
"Harry! How are you, mate?" Ron called. Hermione immediately turned her head to see Harry walk down the
dorm stairs. She quickly turned back to the fireplace and looked at her feet.
"Ron!" Harry shouted, a bit alarmed that Ron was suddenly... visiting. "I've been... all right.
You?"
"I've been good. Miss you guys," he answered. "Haven't been doing anything with my girl, have you?" he asked, grinning jokingly. For some reason, Harry got flustered.
"No!" he answered rather loudly. "Why would you say that? Did you hear that somewhere?" he shot back.
"Calm DOWN, Harry! I was only joking!" Ron shook his head, laughing. Harry laughed along nervously, slightly embarrassed for going off.
"I know that, Ron! So was I!" Harry tried to conceal his outburst. He grinned widely.
"Excuse me for a minute," Hermione said and got up and went to get her books from the other side of the room. Ron started whispering, but she could still hear him.
"You won't believe this! Lavender Brown apparently lives near me in Ottery St. Catchpole, and she came over yesterday with her parents, and we ate dinner outside, and when we were done, me and her were the only ones outside, and she kissed me! She said she had wanted to do it under the stars for ages!" Ron said urgently. Hermione sauntered back over nonchalantly before Harry had a chance to react or reply.
"OK, mate. Happy Christmas Eve. Hermione told me Wormtail was here! Tell me about it!" Ron said in a concerned voice and with eyes like saucers.
"Well, we were at the Great Hall for lunch..." Harry started, but Ron interrupted with, "Hang on a minute. I'M COMING, MUM!"
"Sorry, guys. I've got to go. Mum's screeching at me again. Hope you like your presents!" he apologized.
"That's OK, Ron. Happy Christmas. Enjoy your present as well," Harry answered and smiled warmly at his best friend. He missed Ron. Everything that had gone on between the three of them so far this year set aside, he truly missed his right-hand man.
"Bye! Bye, 'Mione!" Ron turned to Hermione. She smiled and waved. He simpered.
"Bye," he said one final time and his head disappeared, thereby returning the flames to their usual shades. Harry and Hermione looked guiltily at each other. Then, Hermione rapidly jumped up and ran for the portrait hole before one word could be divulged.
Harry exhaled deeply, then headed for the portrait hole himself. Once outside, he turned and made his way toward the Great Hall. He needed some company right now. He didn't want to be alone. As he walked further on, he saw a head of bushy brown hair attached to a slender body walking a good ten feet ahead of him. Her robes swished behind her as she walked swiftly, heading in the same direction as Harry. Without a word or noise, he just walked behind her. As they approached the Hall, he picked up his pace significantly so he was almost right behind her. As all of his attention was directed toward Hermione, he didn't notice that she had stopped abruptly. He walked into her.
He looked over her head to see why she had stopped, and the Great Hall froze him in his tracks as well. It was more beautiful than it had been in the past four years. The twelve usual gigantic trees were situated as they always were, but glittering icicles were added to them as well as random places in the vast space of the Hall, giving it a gleaming quality. There were also golden bells every ten paces or so, chiming out carols. The floor was a sheet of ice, much like one sees in a Muggle ice rink. You could see your reflection as you walked on it, but it wasn't at all slippery. It felt the same as any other floor, just looked more beautiful.
Harry's mind suddenly played an image of him and Hermione, him in a formal suit and her in a beautiful soft pink flowing off-the-shoulders dress, dancing across the smooth floor, twirling around and around the Great Hall, no one or nothing but the two of them and soft music. They suddenly stopped in the middle of the Hall, and he bent down to kiss her deeply. She ran her fingers through his hair as she returned the kiss just as passionately. When they pulled back, they were both breathless before Hermione pushed her lips against his again, this time running her tongue along his bottom lip and making him shiver. He opened his mouth under hers, and they had a brief battle with their tongues, before his mouth moved down to the creamy skin on her neck. His hands traveled down further, down...
"Harry! Hermione! Since you two seem immobilized, I assume that you like the decorations?" came Dumbledore's kind voice from inside the Hall, where he was busy decorating along with Professors Flitwick and McGonagall. Suddenly, Harry came crashing back to Earth as he realized he was pressed against Hermione's back lightly. He inhaled, taking in the scent of her hair that smelled like roses mixed with sweet candy.
"Oh, sorry, Professor. The Hall just looks so gorgeous," Hermione broke their silence, smiling at Professor Dumbledore, who grinned back over the rims of his glasses.
"Now, since this IS a traditional Christmas, and you two ARE standing under what I like to call mistletoe..." Dumbledore trailed off, amusement in his voice. Harry's eyes opened wide in shock as he realized what Dumbledore was suggesting. He had seen Muggles do it many times before. He had even seen Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon do it to each other (which was not pleasant and, if he hadn't moved, could've scarred him for life). He looked down at Hermione, who had an expression of utter and complete embarrassment displayed on her face.
"Professor, you MUST be joking! Harry? And I? No way!" she protested heavily, her breathing shallower.
"It is tradition! In addition, it is CHRISTMAS! Why, when I got stuck under there with Severus, I..." Professor McGonagall began, a smile playing at her lips.
"OK, Professor! We can imagine," Harry interrupted her before she could go on any further. The others laughed while McGonagall turned to the tree nearest to her with a huff and began trimming it. Dumbledore was still looking at them, smiling widely.
Harry took a deep breath and turned to face Hermione, who did the same. They looked into each other's eyes.
"It's NOT quite the crisis situation you imagine," McGonagall said impatiently. Now, everyone in the Hall had turned their attention to the two students in the doorway, who were having breathing problems. Harry realized that whether he wanted to or not, he was going to have to make a move first. Here goes, he thought as he slowly leaned in. Hermione closed her eyes, heart thumping away a mile a minute, so loud she could hear the banging in her ears, and tilted her head slightly up to meet Harry's inviting lips. His lips are so soft, she thought, as she relaxed into the kiss.
"Isn't that precious, Albus?" McGonagall's voice sliced through their own little cloud nine,
planting their feet firmly on the ground. They slowly pulled away, and looked into each other's glazed eyes for a
second before turning away, identical looks of embarrassment clear on their faces (much to the teachers'
amusement).
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Harry stared at himself in the mirror. What is wrong with me? he thought, groaning as yet another yawn, followed by the Mistletoe Incident (as Harry had christened it), played over in his mind.
"You need to go to sleep, dear," the mirror said to him sleepily, causing him to jump slightly. He nodded,
more to himself than to the mirror, and made his way out of the bathroom to his bed. He pulled off his glasses, and
yawning again, slipped off into a haunting slumber.
The high, cackling voice resounded across the barren room.
"Bring me the specimen, Wormtail," the shrill voice ordered. A small man, slumped over, scuttled to the side of the high-backed armchair. From the side, a white hand with long, bony fingers reached out as the man named Wormtail handed him a squiggling bundle.
"Yes," the thing in the chair hissed. "Dominic's daughter will provide an excellent ingredient while I go after my real prize."
"Abscindo Legionis!" the piercing voice intoned. The bundle cried out as the blankets surrounding it became soaked with a rich red color. The chilling hand ripped the blankets away from the body, revealing a chubby but pale baby. Its tiny hands grasped around thin air as its body opened down the middle, the river of red increasing. It reached for safety, for reassurance that this wasn't happening. Nothing came. The seam along the middle of the body grew in length until there was a slit down the middle of the baby.
The fingers pointed to the baby's heart, and the voice cried, "Abrado!" As Harry watched from the
back of the room in growing horror, the tiny life's heart was neatly levitated out of its body and into the waiting
hand. The baby's cries stopped at once. The hand squeezed the still-pumping heart slightly, producing a thin
trickle of blood to run between the fingers. The hand disappeared behind the chair, and a few seconds later, slurping
sounds could be heard as the voice discordantly cackled into the night. Suddenly, the still child transformed into
Hermione, lying limp in Voldemort's hand, white as a sheet, with a slit down her middle and blood all
over.
Hermione sat up at the sudden sound. She leaned forward, trying to identify the noise that pierced the silent night. Her eyes grew wide as she placed a label on the sound: it was Harry screaming. She scrambled out of her bed and ran straight for the boys' dorm, bursting in and shutting the door behind her before hurrying over to Harry's bed. She opened the hangings to reveal Harry screaming and tossing back and forth rapidly.
"Harry! HARRY!" she shook him as she yelled his name. She sat down on the edge of the bed. "HARRY!"
He stopped screaming as abruptly as he had started and sat up, his eyes shooting open and his breathing raspy and shallow. "Hermione..." he gasped.
"Harry, is everything all right?" she asked, concern written all over her face and in her voice.
"I... I dreamt that... you..." he tried to talk between breaths, but it was too hard. He took deep breaths to calm himself down, his scar throbbing.
"What, Harry?" she gently prompted.
"Voldemort. He... he had this baby, and he said something about someone named Dominic's child being a proper ingredient. Then, he slit the baby open down the middle and started to drink its heart. And then, the baby turned into you! And... and...I was so scared. I thought..." he trailed off, too scared to say the words.
"Its OK, Harry. I'm safe," she whispered as she pulled him into a hug. He wrapped his arms around her waist and gathered her to him, trying to chase away the gruesome scenes of the nightmare. She rubbed his back gently, trying to calm him down. After a few minutes, she pulled back and looked in his eyes.
"Are you OK? You DO realize it was only a silly nightmare?" she sounded hopeful. He nodded and smiled slightly, letting her know everything was OK. She smiled back, saying, "All right. Good night, Harry", and stood up to leave. He caught her hand before she could move too far away.
"Can you stay with me tonight, Hermione? I just... I want to know you're safe," he asked her pleadingly. She looked at him, surprised, then relaxed and nodded, giving him a smile. She walked back over and lay down on the bed next to him, on her side. He wrapped his arm around her waist and hugged her tightly to him, both forgetting their inhibitions and limits. Hermione relaxed in his arms. Why does this feel... right? she thought to herself, but all thoughts flew out and she became drowsy.
"Good night, 'Mione," Harry whispered. She turned around in his arms so he was on his side and she was on her back looking up at him.
"Harry, your scar. It looks swollen," she commented softly, running a finger gently over it. He winced slightly.
"Sorry," she whispered, immediately pulling her hand back. He smiled.
"Its OK," he answered, taking her hand and kissing the palm. She placed her hand gently on his cheek, and he leaned in. she reached up and kissed him deeply.
Harry ran his hand under her pajama top onto her waist, tracing lazy circles. This reminded her of when she and Ron had kissed, and she almost shrank back. But then she remembered what Ron had said about kissing Lavender. For some reason, she wanted to keep on going and put Ron out of her mind for this one night. Just like he probably had when he had had dinner with the Browns. She kissed him back full force, pushing her hand under his shirt to feel his well-toned muscles. He moved off her lips and down to her neck, and she threw her head back to allow better access.
He moved back up and captured her lips in a soft kiss, which left her lips tingling.
"Feeling better?" she whispered.
"Much," he answered, grinning.