A/N: Thanks for all of the wonderful reviews. Here's your next chapter, sorry it took me so long.
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Chapter 3: Silence
The few hours at Hogwarts had not been good to the Wizarding Worlds Hero. He tossed and turned as he lay silently in the oh-so-familiar four-poster bed. For at least thirty minutes he had been unsuccessful in finding a comfortable spot on the mattress that his body was no longer used to.
After rolling over so much his muscles ached, he laid still, forcing his muscles into relaxation. As soon as he fell asleep a feeling of calmness washed over him for all of seven minutes…until the nightmares came.
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Harry awoke to the sounds of his own hair-raising screams. The blood pounded in his ears as his heart beat against his chest causing Harry's body to shake more than he already had been. He took in a breath of frigid air to calm himself as he wiped the sweat off of his forehead in self-disgust.
The boy felt like crying. It took most of his strength just to hold back more screaming, let alone the tears of anger and frustration that had been building inside him ever since these nightmares started. Usually they were the same, tamer and much less violent (which wasn't saying much). After awhile Harry's shock lessened and he could control his raging emotions a lot easier when they were the same dream…but this one was different, very different.
If only he could remember it.
He looked around, and for a moment he couldn't tell where he was. He sat wondering if he had screamed loud enough to wake the other boys. He figured he had since it was all in an enclosed space and a pin drop could be heard clearly throughout the quiet room.. But if so, why weren't they crowded around his bed, hating is guts for disturbing their teenage-girl filled sleeps? Harry slipped on his glasses, expecting to find four boys sitting up, staring at his bed in wonder, but all he saw were three of his roommates sound asleep, and one empty bed.
Ron's bed.
`Where would he be off to?' he asked himself quietly, knowing that surely Ron wouldn't miss a day of sleep for anything. His stomach gave a violent lurch and he cringed in discomfort. Oh how he wished he had eaten the food at the feast hours earlier. He had suspected that he wasn't hungry, so he hadn't touched anything, but apparently his stomach was lashing out at him for passing up such a great face-stuffing opportunity, one that he hadn't had in awhile. So, there was only one thing to do. Go to the kitchens.
Harry pulled himself out of bed and stretched his tired limbs, he had gone to sleep in his cousins jeans and one of his shirts, both of which more than covered all of his body, consuming him in the threads of doom which were useful to hide all the self-affliction that had been done.
He walked barefoot over to the door of the dormitory and opened it, not looking back at the bed where the nightmare had just taken place.
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Harry had almost reached the seventh step of the stairs leading into the common room when he stopped. He heard people talking in the Common Room. He listened quietly for a moment, not wanting to interrupt their conversation. He almost decided to go back up the stairs, when another low growl of his stomach reminded him why he was out of bed in the first place.
He stood there, listening to the voices that were barely above a whisper. He couldn't tell what they were saying, but one voice sounded frightened, and maybe even a bit angry. An uncounted amount of time passed before he heard the portrait hole opening and closing. He let out a sigh of relief and pressed on down the stairs and into the common room.
The sight of Hermione sitting on the couch, knitting what happened to be a small pointed hat, greeted Harry when he hit the bottom step. She was staring into the fire, looking as if she was deep in thought. The deep orange blaze cast a glow over her features, making her look more serious than Harry doubted she was.
"Still knitting for those elves are you?" he said in a small voice, his mouth dry from sleep.
Hermione jumped a little, her head snapping up to look at him as if she had been caught doing something she was not supposed to. "Oh…hello…Harry." She rubbed her eyes and grinned tiredly, patting the space on the couch right beside her. "Come sit."
Harry obeyed quietly moving over to the two-seater couch she was currently occupying. He sat down next to her, watching her face out of the corner of his eye. "What are you doing up so late?" she asked him.
"Didn't know it was late…" he replied with a sleepy voice, licking his dry lips. He was going to say something else when his stomach gave another growl. He tried not to crack a smile, but the look of bewilderment on Hermione's face was just too much. He snickered; giving her the first real sign of happiness she had seen the whole day.
Harry heard her whisper something under her breath that he couldn't quite catch, but he heard his name. "I'm sorry?" he asked. "Um…I asked were you hungry? I went down to the kitchens earlier and got some snacks…" Harry raised an eyebrow and smirked at her as he scooted closer.
"I paid them!" Hermione defended herself smiling as well as she turned away for a moment, and back again with finger sandwiches, crisps and a goblet of water. "You can have the rest. I already had some."
Harry looked from her to the food which looked as if it hadn't been touched, and he could swear he could hear a faint growling of a stomach that was not his own. "How about we share?"
Hermione nodded without question and began eating with him. She took a bite of her food and swallowed before talking. "So, why are you down here Harry? Up awfully late…something wrong?" Something in her voice held that accusatory tone mixed with worry and confusion that made Harry come right out with it. "Couldn't sleep…" he replied heavily. "Had a bad dream." Harry watched for her reaction and in the glow of the firelight came that same inquisitive look that he saw when he first came down the stairs.
He gave a sigh of relief when she didn't ask him to elaborate on his thoughts, he had no intention of trying to think about what he had been dreaming before he screamed himself awake. "So, Hermione, how was your summer?" he asked as he started eating again. "Oh it was…interesting…nothing to talk about really….I…missed you though." She spoke quietly, looking at the floor. Something about what she said made his heart beat erratically, and he could feel himself smiling. "I missed you too. Very much." He replied and began talking to her about light-hearted stuff that made no sense.
They talked until all of the food was gone, and the goblets of water ran dry, and they slept on the couch together that night, Hermione cuddled at Harry's chest, and Harry with a smile on his face.
It was the first time that he had felt comfortable with himself and one of the only times that his mind was completely silent.
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A/N: Read and Review pleaseth.
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