A/N: Wow, this has been a long wait for the second chapter. I apologize profusely for that. I had a lot going on-you can't imagine! Well, you could if you read LPB, or CC-which YES I am TRYING to update. I get it guys, you're ancy, but I'm back in school, cheerleading, tons of homework and my mum is not letting me on the computer as much! So hang in, I'm trying!!
merci beaucoup to all those who stuck around to hear the rest of the tale!!
Ps. I may have a friend or two that are Irish, but that does not mean I can WRITE Irish accents. Get an imagination and pretend with Seamus please-thank you!
PPS. The chapters won't be very long I must warn you, don't expect anything more.
~*~
I'm just a normal boy
That sank when I fell overboard
My ship would leave the country
But I'd rather swim ashore
Without a life vest I'd be stuck again
Wish I was much more masculine
Maybe then I could learn to swim
Like 'fourteen miles away'
Now floating up and down
I spin, colliding into sound
Like whales beneath me diving down
I'm sinking to the bottom of my
Everything that freaks me out
The lighthouse beam has just run out
I'm cold as cold as cold can be
be
I want to swim away but don't know how
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
Let the waves up take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion... yeah
Let the rain of what I feel right now...come down
Let the rain come down
Where is the coastguard
I keep looking each direction
For a spotlight, give me something
I need something for protection
Maybe flotsam junk will do just fine
the jetsam sunk, I'm left behind
I'm treading for my life believe me
Not knowing how to think
I scream aloud, begin to sink
My legs and arms are broken down
With envy for the solid ground
I'm reaching for the life within me
How can one man stop his ending
I thought of just your face
Relaxed, and floated into space
I want to swim away but don't know how
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
Let the waves up take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion... yeah
Let the rain of what I feel right now...come down
Let the rain come down
Let the rain come down
Now waking to the sun
I calculate what I had done
Like jumping from the bow (yeah)
Just to prove I knew how (yeah)
It's midnight's late reminder of
The loss of her, the one I love
My will to quickly end it all
Set front row in my need to fall
Into the ocean, end it all
Into the ocean, end it all
Into the ocean, end it all
into the ocean...end it all
I want to swim away but don't know how
Sometimes it feels just like I'm falling in the ocean
Let the waves up take me down
Let the hurricane set in motion (yeah)
Let the rain of what I feel right now...come down
Let the rain come down
~*~
The sun came over the horizon quite early at Hogwarts; however, none were there to greet it.
The Weasley's were scattered in different parts of the castle, Ron and Ginny upstairs asleep in Ron's bed; the other students lay casually amongst their families or towers, and Harry and Hermione still lie with each other on the old common room couch.
It wasn't until the late hours of the morning that Ron and Ginny found themselves heading down the dormitory stairs, dressed in casual clothing, circles under their eyes; showing the lack of sleep both suffered the night before. You could easily tell that Ginny, though, had attempted to cover it up with various eye makeup from mascara to eyeliner, even a little foundation, but this was something that even magic wouldn't help. Both brother and sister came with their heads down, and the first to notice their best friends on the couch was Ginny. She abruptly stopped, causing Ron to knock into her. When he looked at her with question, she put the back of her hand to his shoulder and pointedly looked in their direction.
It seemed they both froze for a moment, not quite sure how to react. Both were sprung with jealously, but wondered what the other was going to do. "Should we...wake them?"
"Maybe..." Ginny answered.
"I mean, they've got to be hungry..." Ron said.
"Right," Ginny nodded.
"But they're also probably exhausted..." Ron reasoned.
"Right," Ginny nodded again.
"Maybe we should wake them," Ron finished.
"Okay," Ginny finally decided.
`Well don't they look quite cozy,' Ron thought as they moved around to face the couch. "How should we..."
"You could...try to wake Hermione up?" Ginny went for the safe choice.
"I guess," Ron said, still distracted by his envious feelings. His hand cautiously rose to Hermione's forehead, where he gently stroked the side of her head. "Hermione?" In her sleep, a smile painted itself upon Hermione's lips as she snuggled closer to Harry and sighed in contentment.
"Let them sleep," Ron hissed, walking away from the scene, out the portrait and stopping down the hallway.
Ginny shook her head and glared at Hermione. She was her best friend. Friends like Harry and Hermione are not supposed to get this close; especially when they both were in a relationship. Ginny had let the small, light touches go, the hugs she pushed to the back of her mind, but Ginny was an extremely jealous and keen person. This pushed her over the edge.
This was not over.
~*~
Lavender Brown had awoken a bit later than the Weasley siblings, and she too had attempted to hide behind the glory of make up and magic that could only go so far this morning. Her tired body forced itself down the stairs and into the common room on her way to the Great Hall.
An interesting sight met her eyes though, as she descended upon into the common room. There were two figures asleep together on the couch, looking quite comfortable she might add. Curiosity always got the best of Lavender, so she made her way to the other end, eyes narrowing in her pursuit to discover the figures' identities.
Harry Potter and Hermione Granger.
Just the image made a tiny sly smirk touch her lips, of how cute they looked lying there together. She figured Ron and Ginny Weasley had not seen them, for there would be raging hell in the common room if they had. So even though this kind of sleeping together may not have been a good idea, they still looked much better and much more comfortable together than either of them had ever been with a Weasley.
The next question was: To wake, or not to wake?
They were probably tired from the night before, especially with all the hell Harry went through, and no doubt they would have tons of people asking them questions over the next few days; ragging them on the details of their adventurous quest and defeat of Voldemort. However, she didnt know how long breakfast would last and both were probably hungry. If she were in this position though-she would just want to sleep.
Lavender's titled head examined them as she tried to figure out what to do when a voice startled her. "Lavender?"
Her head struck up to see none other than Seamus Finnegan coming down the stairs. "Sh!" She put her finger to her lips to silent him.
When his questioning gaze hit her, she motioned for him to come closer. Seamus nodded and walked to where she was sitting. "Oh, should we wake them?"
Lavender shrugged. "Oh, I dunno! Maybe...before Ginny and Ron..."
"Yeah, Potter here is probably the one that got a decent sleep last night, cuddled up next to his best mates girlfriend," Seamus commented.
Both found themselves laughing before they realized that shouldn't be. Now they felt guilty; now was not a time for laughter. Lavender cleared her throat. "Um," She deliberated, thinking about the two. They looked terribly adorable together. They always had. Lavender had never been best friends with either of them, she had even ticked Hermione off greatly in sixth year by snogging bloody Ron Weasley all over the bloody castle. `Ew,' she thought. `Why did I ever go there?' But she and Hermione had been roommates all their years, and she would like to think of the relationship she shared with each of them to be friendly. Occasionally she would play a small role in whatever vicious quest they had for that year.
But today, friendship, nor hatred didnt matter. Today was the day after the final battle. The day where many would grieve those they lost, and embrace those that were saved. Today, everyone was your friend, regardless of what happened in the years before. The Slytherins, yes, weren't on her top `To Care for Today' list, but today, the whole Wizardry World was mourning the loss of students, parents, young kids, the elderly and great leaders.
Today it didnt matter who you were best friends with, everyone was your best friend today.
Lavender made a mental note to help it stay that way.
"I think we should wake them up," Seamus decided, pulling her out of her thoughts, much the same as the ones he was having.
"Probably," Lavender nodded, reaching her hand out to her friend. "Harry?" She called her from her dream world.
"Mmm..." Harry tightened her hold on Hermione. Seamus snickered in the background and Lavender nudged him in the stomach to shut up playfully. They realized they were joking too much again.
"Hermione?" Lavender called her roommate, shaking her.
"Lavender?" Hermione's eyes suddenly sprang open, making both Seamus and Lavender jump in surprise.
Lavender took a breath. "Yes, um, we just wanted to...uh, wake you up...its morning. Well, late morning, about ten o'clock I believe. Everyone's at breakfast...I'm sorry..."
"No, no, thank you," Hermione smiled genuinely. "Thank you Seamus."
Seamus saluted her with a smile and as he and Lavender said an awkward goodbye to her, Seamus got in one last sarcastic comment. "Sleep well?" He said before the door closed. She could hear, however, the slightest laughter coming from the corridor.
Hermione's upraised head fell down into Harry's neck again and she sighed, breathing in the scent that was Harry. He wasn't still dirty, for he had taken a shower, like everyone else, and he smelled the way Hermione was used to him smelling. You don't realize how powerful a scent is until you lose that scent. It had been awhile, besides Godric's Hollow, since she had been this close to Harry. And in some terribly wrong way, she enjoyed every second of it.
The person occupying her mind at the moment shifted a bit next to her, pulling her out of her thoughts. She sighed and decided that she should wake him up. "Harry?" She shook him gently. "Harry, its time to get up..."
He let out a breath and shifted, slowly opening his eyes and taking in his surroundings until his eyes landed on his best friend. "Hermione. What time is it?"
"Late. I dunno most likely 10 or so. Lavender and Seamus awoke me, figured we wanted something to eat," Hermione informed him.
"I don't feel like eating," Harry said, casting his eyes downward and shrugging away from Hermione a little.
Hermione sighed. "Harry...you need to eat."
"I can't...I can't even speak close my eyes without seeing some other helpless person that died yesterday. Someone trying to help me `save the world'," He paused and Hermione let her head fall slightly sideways, listening to him. "There's Colin with his camera, asking me for a picture...there's Fred, playing with one of his extendable ears...and Tonks...she's holding her baby and Lupin's watching over..."
"Harry," She breathed, watching the boy turned man she had fallen in love with.
"All memories of what should have been for all these people," The boy-who-lived admitted, staring deeply into the wall, as if it was interesting him. "They should have gone on with their happy lives and lived...with their children...their brothers..."
"Harry, I hate to tell you, but no one's life was that wonderful during any part of the war...even if they weren't directly involved."
"I know, I know," Harry let his hands go to his head as he stood. "I know...but I still feel like this wasn't fate...this wasn't the way it was supposed to go. The exchange of all their lives for mine...no, that's not right..."
"I think we all knew what we were getting into when we signed up for this little adventure. But, Harry, yes, we risked out lives for you because we believed in you and we knew that you would win...but we risked them for everyone else in this world that deserve a chance too. And if Voldemort was in power you know their chances would've been damned. We fought for you, yes, but we also fought for everyone. But I would've given my life for you any day, Harry, I would've last night, and I would today," Hermione told him, gently getting up to try to reach out to him, in need of some way to care for him, so way to show her he cared.
"No," He pulled away from her. "Don't say that." Harry shook his head, a rather dark look coming into his features. "Don't you dare tell me that...don't you dare ever say that to me again." He loved her far too damn much to let her die for him.
"Harry," Hermione shook her head, looking at him in awe and alarm.
"You think you know, Hermione, you think you know what it's like to be me, but you DON'T! You think you
know how to cure everything and you think that telling me these things, that `sacrificing' yourself for me will
help but it won't! I'm just glad the fucking war is over so I don't have to worry about watching you all
the bloody time to make sure you don't get killed!" Harry yelled, pointing a finger at her. The portrait door
opened and closed without them noticing.
"No one ever said you had to watch me!" Hermione screamed at him, swatting his finger away.
"Are you kidding? Of course I had to watch you, you were on top of the Death Eater's fucking To Kill list-maybe you still are- and letting you out of me sight would've just invited them to come on over and do it all ready! Do you think I wanted to lose you, Hermione? Do you think I was thinking of ways to get you out of my hair! You know that I was terrified that you would be taken away or hurt or killed and you're telling me I didn't have to watch you! Taking my eyes off you for ten seconds would've been the end!" Harry roared back, feeling every emotion roll out of him.
Both of them stopped, breathing heavily as their chests fell up and down, their eyes looking at each other and wondering how such a peaceful moment had turned into utter hell.
A lone person cleared their throat. Both Harry and Hermione's heads snapped in the direction it came from and found Ron and Ginny standing side by side, looking rather alarmed. No one said a word. Neither Ginny nor Ron could find the words to say as both were rendered speechless by the rather terrifying display of emotions between their twins.
"Um...we thought you'd still be a-asleep... so we came to wake you...um, well...sorry, we didnt know-" Ginny started.
"Yeah, we didn't mean to interrupt, you're...powerful...display of emotions," Ron added intelligently.
"Um, no problem, Good Morning," Hermione gently said, looking them over politely, but seeing no reason to fake a smile.
"Um, Hermione, breakfast is...in the Great Hall...maybe you two should..." Ron said.
"Right behind you," Hermione sighed, shooting Harry one last warning look before following Ron out the door. Ron left with one last gaze toward his sister and hoped that things would cool down. Today was going to be like this; tempers would flare, emotions would fly, but it was something they needed to deal with.
"You can go on to breakfast without me Ginny, I'm not very hungry," Harry told her, sitting on the couch and cradling his head in his hands. What had just happened?
"Oh, but Harry you must eat. You've had a long few days...few months really, and you need to be taking care of yourself," She came over and rested a hand on his shoulder, suddenly sounding very much like her mother.
Normally, Harry would've found her comfort endearing and would have welcomed it, but today he didnt feel like receiving any comfort from her. He just wanted her to leave him alone. "Thanks mum, but I think I'll do what I want."
Ginny removed her hand quickly, as if she'd been burned. "That's really no way to talk to me Harry, no matter what's going on with you right now."
"What's going on with me? You do know I just ended a war yesterday!" Harry exclaimed.
"Yes, I'm afraid I'm very aware of the final battle...I lost my brother in it!" Ginny cried, tears springing to her eyes again.
Harry felt his anger soften but found himself little affected by her tears today. He sprung up quickly. "Just please leave me alone."
"That's not what you told Hermione earlier!" Ginny shouted at him as the portrait door quickly shut behind him.
He didnt listen. Harry ignored the calls he heard coming from the tower. He just walked, as fast as he could, as far as he could. His heart was beating, his head was aching and his temper was on fire. He needed to get away, he decided.
Running down the hallways he passed teary-eyed families and lone persons probably with no one left after last night roaming the corridors looking for or going to god knows what. He passed portraits that grieved. And every eye was on him. As he passed them all, everyone stopped and watched as he ran out of the building and got as far away from the castle as he could manage, not worrying about scaring the hell out of everyone else.
~*~
A/N: Wow, was that as good as I hope? Maybe not, I'm so under confident! Lol, you guys are the best though and I hope that I gave you some of what you wanted. THERE IS SO MUCH MORE TO COME!!! This chapter was a bit rough; all the characters are on edge. You see, I found JKR's ending a bit OOC for both Harry and the other 2/3 of the trio, as well as everyone in the castle, so I'm adding a bit more tension. I understand, it went from kinda fluffy/angst to mostly angst and for that I do not apologise cause this story will not be without angst.
Sorry for the wait, anyways and I will have another chapter out MUCH sooner! Thanks!!
Some things you will find out next chapter:
**What happened to Ron and Ginny between the time they saw Harry and Hermione first till they came back through the door? (I know some of you are wondering why they left all jealous and came back willing to talk)
Where did Harry go to? (It's nowhere too far, I'll tell
you)
What's going on at breakfast? In the Great Hall?
This probably didnt live up to your expectations. For that I am sorry.
~Fin
-->