AN: Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and for giving this story a go. There was on person who didn't like the first chapter and that is fine. I did get a beta to look over the first chapter and I have already re-uploaded it. Hopefully all mistakes etc are gone. If you see any mistakes or spelling/grammar errors then please let me know and I will fix them up.
Hope you like this chapter I stayed up until 3am last night writing away so it could get done. Please read and review :)
- This story was a challenge on the PK forums in the H/Hr section. http://talk.portkey.org/index.php?showtopic=26459
- Please read and review. Tell me what I need to change, whether you liked it or you think I am writing the characters wrong.
- This story is AU. If you don't like anything like that then please be warned now.
Thanks to my beta Digitallace, you are the best!
Disclaimer: Nothing I have written here is owned by me.
Of Nightmares and Fainting Ex's:
It had been three days since Hermione was captured and the Order was still no closer in finding out where Voldemort was hiding. In those three days, they only managed to find out how much of a vulgar mouth Hermione had; with Harry and Lupin bearing mainly the mass of those foul words.
Harry walked out of the room, away from Hermione and sighed loudly. Behind him, he heard Lupin close the door and perform the locking charm. Unlike most of the other prisoners, the Order voted that this particular case should be handled with care. She not only carried valuable information that they needed but she was also only a year older than Harry. She was still young and may not be that much of a threat to them. Of course, there were instances in their interrogation where they were forced to bind her due to her constant attempts to attack them.
As he and Lupin began walking up the stairs, Harry thought about the most recent interrogation. The only thing they had gotten out of her, amidst the insults and threats, was the fact that Voldemort was going to kill Harry and the Order for taking her.
"Just like theprevious interrogations," Harry sighed tiredly. It was really frustrating that they had gotten nowhere with her while the world out there was fighting a war. She had been a very adamant and loyal supporter so far.
"Voldemort should be proud of her," he mused. He remembered one instance where it was Neville's turn to interrogate her. He walked out of the room not five minutes later, literally shaking and looking pale as if he had seen a ghost. Harry chuckled at the idea.
"What you laughing at?" Lupin asked from behind him.
"Oh nothing much," he shrugged. "Just wondering how long it will take for her to crack. She is a lot tougher than I expected. She's lasted far longer compared to the others and I don't think she will crack anytime soon."
Lupin nodded in agreement as they continued walking up the stairs to the room he shared with Tonks. He gave Harry a quick hug before bidding him goodnight and disappeared into the room.
Harry trudged tiredly into his room. He hated this part of the day. Nighttime; it was during this time that nightmares came up and they are not exactly his favorite things. They had been rather constant lately, giving him a lot of sleepless nights. Ever since facing Voldemort again during his fourth year in Hogwarts, he had a constant stream of nightmares every now and then. But with the war going on and deaths a daily headline, they are an everyday occurrence. Or every night that is.
He dropped onto his bed and sighed. It had been a long day. He closed his eyes as he recalled the day's events starting off with a death eater attack in one of the small villages in North England. Two wizards and three Muggles were killed, with many properties damaged. They were too late. By the time they have arrived at the scene, houses were on fire, the Muggles' bodies were contorted in the air and two wizards, belonging to the Ministry's Department of Misuse of Muggle Artifacts, lay dead at their feet. While some of them scattered and searched for survivors, Harry and Lupin led most of the team in searching for lingering death eaters. As Harry forced his way into a room in a charred house, he found a small innocent boy crouched in a corner, trying to hide his frail body. Fear was in his eyes and he trembled like mad when he saw Harry.
He squeezed his eyes in anger. How could Voldemort go on with his war against the wizarding world when there are innocent people being orphaned because of his greed and ambitions? What kind of a human being is he? Or is he even human at all?
Harry released a long sigh. He hadn't even noticed that he was holding his breath in anger. He sat up and sighed again. Guess there isn't much sleeping time again tonight he thought. He got up and walked out of his room.
The house was quiet now as it was already late into the night. He and Lupin spent four hours interrogating Hermione after dinner and the other occupants in the house had already gone to bed by the time they were done. He walked down the flight of stairs leading into the kitchen where he got himself a glass of milk. He sat on one of the chairs and tried to reflect on their upcoming actions against Voldemort. He didn't know how long he sat there but a crying voice drew him out of his reverie.
He sat straight, straining his ears for the crying sound. There it goes again he thought as he turned his body towards the sound. He stood up and went out of the kitchen, following the sound with blind steps. When he found the source of the sound, he found himself standing in front of the room holding Hermione.
Harry debated whether or not to go in but a pained cry made up his mind. He quickly lifted the locking charm and immediately opened the door stopping at the sight he saw. Hermione was on her bed, curled into a ball like an infant, trembling and crying profusely. He felt his heart squeeze at the sight of her so vulnerable. He approached cautiously and when he was near her, he could hear her faint voice crying out to her parents.
Harry stopped. He looked at her, shock and understanding running throughout his system at the same time. He never imagined this happening to her, this pain and anguish she had inside of her. She seemed an impenetrable person on the outside but deep down she was just like him, an innocent soul that was dragged into the war.
Harry was jolted for a second as that thought registered into him. Where did that come from? He thought. When did I feel pity for a Death Eater, let alone this Death Eater? He tried to be disgusted with himself but as he looked at Hermione's crying form, he couldn't help but feel sorry for her and a strong sense of wanting to protect her came over him.
He rushed to her side, cradling her into his chest while he tried to wake her, at the same time whispering comforting words in her ear.
"Hermione, wake up, Hermione" he whispered gently into her ear while shaking her shoulders gently. "It's just a nightmare, please wake up. It's going to be alright." She was deep into the nightmare for it took a couple of seconds before her eyes snapped opened. Her eyes spoke volumes and showed the helplessness inside of her. This is the weak, powerless, frightened and innocent Hermione Granger. She looked up to him with such naivety that Harry felt his heart being wrenched out. She gave him a small, faint smile before falling back to sleep.
Harry stared at her blankly. "What the hell happened there?"
Ten minutes on, he was still staring at her. He gently moved and placed her back on the bed, covering her softly with the blanket.
Looking at her, sleeping peacefully now, Harry Potter knew she had struck something in him that no one had done before. But she is a Death Eater! He argued. She killed innocent people, she destroyed lives, she caused people fear and pain, just like that child earlier!
A few moments later, he turned his back and sat down on the couch to settle his mind. But the day was catching up to him and he decided to lie on the couch to get some much needed sleep. As he closed his eyes, something told him that he was not going to win this particular battle. Harry Potter was completely won over by the thoughts of a certain Death Eater named Hermione Granger.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A ray of sunlight broke through the curtains in the room which contained two sleeping individuals. One lay on a rather comfortable bed, while the other slept awkwardly on the edge of a rather small couch.
It was that sunlight that woke Harry from his restful sleep. Opening his eyes slowly, it took him a minute to realize where he was. He silently got up from the couch and made his way over to the bed, making sure Hermione was still asleep before walking to the bedroom door, opening it slowly then sneaked out as silently as he could. Shutting the door quietly and redoing the locking charms, he turned around ready to go up the stairs and to his room for a few more hours of shut-eye when he came face to face with a very angry looking Ginny, dressed and ready for the day.
"Uh…Morning Ginny" he stammered. He knew by the look on her face that she was less than impressed that he had spent the night in Hermione's room. Ever since he had met Ginny that day at Kings Cross, he knew she had a crush on him. Ron, her older brother, confirmed it when they sat on the train to Hogwarts for the first time.
Then came second year when he had saved her from the Chamber of Secrets and that just seemed to magnify her crush on him. Harry knew of course that she didn't see him as Harry Potter, ordinary boy. She saw him as Harry Potter: the boy-who-lived, hero of the wizarding world.
He thought that as they grew up, she would get over that notion of him, and it seemed she did. She started dating other guys at school, and interacted with him like one of her brothers. It didn't take long for Harry to like her. He practically grew up with her and she was a beautiful girl. They went out for a couple of dates but alas, once a fangirl, always a fangirl. It wasn't long into their relationship that she turned back into a fangirl, not to mention an overbearing mother breathing down his neck. He ended it before he could be shackled to her side.
Ginny's voice brought him back from his reverie.
"Don't you `morning Ginny' me" she whispered harshly, obviously making sure she didn't wake anyone up. Knowing any reply he would give would end up with an argument with the angry witch; he stepped past her and walked up the stairs, into his room, closing the door with a slam. Anyone who was asleep before surely wasn't now. He walked over to his bed and sat down with a long sigh. He should probably go and get a shower before getting ready for the day. But after seeing Ginny's face this morning, he knew he would get an earful from not only her but Mrs. Weasley as well.
Getting up from his bed, Harry walked over to the shower and immediately turned on the water the moment he had his clothes off. His mind and body started to relax as he felt the hot water cascading down his body. Once he was done, he walked towards his closet and grabbed out a pair of faded jeans and a navy blue shirt. He got dressed before sitting down on his bed and putting his shoes on. His mind drifted to the girl in the room a few floors below him. I wonder if Hermione is awake, he thought to himself before quickly banishing it with a shake of his head. He didn't need to be thinking about her. She was on the enemy side and she wasn't worth his thoughts or sympathy.
Walking down the stairs, he stopped briefly to listen for any noise coming from the room Hermione was in. Hearing none, he guessed she was still asleep. Even if she was awake there wasn't much she could do in there anyway. The first day she was there, she banged on the door and screamed bloody murder until she lost her voice.
Content that she was ok, Harry walked down the rest of the stairs and into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley was over by the stove fixing some bacon and eggs while Ginny sat at the table closest to her mother. It was obvious they had been discussing something before he had entered.
"Morning Mrs. Weasley" he said, pulling up a chair and sitting the furthest possible he could from Ginny. Just as his bum hit the chair, Mrs. Weasley swung around with a stern look on her face.
"What do you think you were doing in that girl's bedroom last night?" she snapped. For a few seconds Harry felt like he was back at the Dursley's. He was always getting yelled at for the most inconvenient things. Although Mrs. Weasley was far scarier than his Uncle Vernon ever was. Shaking the thought of his Uncle out of his mind, Harry focused back on the steely glares he was getting from Ginny and her mother.
"What?" he questioned. He wasn't sure if they were waiting for him to answer the previous question or whether they had asked him a number of questions which he hadn't heard.
"Oh come on Harry, why did you spend the night with that Death Eater" Ginny spat. It was obvious that she wasn't impressed. Of course she isn't impressed, Harry thought. She has been trying to get back with you since you broke up. What makes you think she is going to change now. He looked at the table and then back at the two angry women facing him.
"I was only in there because she had a nightmare" he spoke softly. For some reason, he thought that if he told them calmly why he was in there, they wouldn't berate him for his actions. Only seconds later he knew his efforts were in vain.
"She had a bad dream?" Ginny screamed. "She had a bad dream?" she repeated again, as if she didn't believe what he had said. Harry just nodded knowing if he said anything it would only end up far worse.
"She's a Death Eater Harry" Mrs. Weasley spoke calmly. "She deserves to have bad dreams. All those wizards, witches and Muggles she had probably killed…" she drifted off at the end shaking her head.
"I know she has probably killed a lot of innocent people" he retorted. "But she looked so vulnerable and scared. She was screaming for her parents" That was probably the worst thing Harry could have said. At the mention that her dream consisted of her parents, both Mrs. Weasley and Ginny's heads snapped up, eyes ablaze with anger.
"She probably killed her parents" Ginny growled. Just as he was about to reply Tonks and Lupin walked through the kitchen door.
"Wotcher Harry" Tonks smiled, oblivious to what was happening between the three occupants before she came in. Saved by the werewolf, Harry thought, putting a false smile on his face.
"Morning Tonks" he nodded. "Hope you had a wonderful sleep?" he asked before piling his plate full of food. He was surprised that Ron and the rest of the Weasley boys weren't already up and eating their breakfast. Ron was never one to be late to a meal.
"I had a pleasant sleep" Tonks replied after swallowing a mouth full of her food. "Remus told me about your interrogation last night" she stopped to take a sip of her orange juice before continuing. "She seems to be a tough one to crack." Harry just nodded.
Everyone continued to eat in silence. Harry looked up every so often towards Ginny who sat there glaring at him between mouthfuls of her breakfast. You would think she realizes I don't fancy her by now He thought.
"I actually have an idea on how we could get her to talk" Remus said suddenly. Everyone stopped eating and looked at him waiting for him to continue. "Although I don't think many would approve. I flooed Minerva and Albus this morning and they have agreed for this to go ahead" he stated. It was obviously something drastic for him to talk to both Professors before talking to them about it.
"Well get on with it then" Mrs. Weasley said impatiently. The pause was obviously getting to her.
"Harry is going to seduce Hermione" Lupin said quickly. The next thing anyone heard was a thump which would have been Ginny Weasley fainting, falling from her chair and onto the floor.
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