A/N: I have written and rewritten several drafts only to find that I am left without a beta temporarily (Hello…it's summer!). And I would much appreciate it if someone is willing to step in and do a better job . I hope you enjoy it, because I've enjoyed writing it.
Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Harry popped back into Godric's Hollow the next morning with a wand box in his hands. He half expected for Hermione to pummel him commanding that he present her with his wand. Even he had to admit that producing a wand in this manner was the best test of patience.
He looked around the entire house in an attempt to find her, but he could not. The library was his second choice after she was not in her bedroom. He checked his mother's room, and even the kitchen, but she was nowhere to be found. Harry just about gave up his search when he thought to look in the backyard.
Even he didn't care to venture out here too much. No one did. It needed a proper caring, everything else around the house had a well cared for sense except for this area. The areas where there were flowers were surrounded by weeds, but all the same he had found her.
Hermione sat on the oversized wooden swing. Harry walked towards the swing and found himself a seat beside her. At first he thought that she was still sleeping, but she was just out of it in some kind of daze.
"What happened?" he asked.
Hermione's hands trembled as she took something from her pocket and dumped it into Harry's hands. He was surprised that she would so carelessly put something into his hands that she seemed to care so deeply about. And then he felt the necklace, at least the gem part of it burn in his hands.
He hissed in pain at the heat and let it drop into the sand. Harry didn't understand much about it, but in all the times he had felt a stone it had never been that hot. Actually it had been relatively cool.
"It started early this morning," she began, clenching her eyes shut. "It woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep. It started from the stone, and now it's not only there. Someone's pulling it all apart, Harry, and they're doing it in the masses…"
Harry knew he was probably aiding an addict, but it was something serious. He passed her the wand box, but she merely slapped it away. He didn't know if he should be offended, or worry about her more than he already was.
"It's too late."
Hermione backed further into the corner of the wooden swing, still not looking at him. And so he too looked away so he could take the time to think. It took a while before he decided to look at the necklace once again. He bent down and picked it up careful not to touch the stone again. It was hot like…fire.
In his mind, though he hadn't admitted it, he thought that this was something that the Ministry had cooked up against Ambrosia. But as he looked at the stone, and then stole a glance at Hermione he realized that there was no way that it was the Ministry. It was a bit too calculated for his taste.
Taking off his jacket, he wrapped the necklace in it, and then set to the task at hand. Hermione wasn't going to move herself, and so he decided that he was going to move her. As usual she fought him as much as she could, but that was not much of a challenge.
Before he knew it she was in his arms, and his subconscious reaction was to take her to Grimmauld Place.
He was home, but that didn't make him feel that much better. Hermione was in one of her worst moods, he soon discovered, and this time it had everything to do with her pride and how she didn't want to admit that she was in pain.
Harry had become skilled at linking things together for himself. After all that was what he was paid to do. And he'd figured out soon enough that logically all of this was stemming from one source.
"Please," she asked. "I'm begging you…don't touch it."
Harry honestly didn't plan to touch it. He would most likely end up doing more harm than good, but he needed to see for himself what he was dealing with. She was already on her back from when he first laid her on the bed, and she hadn't moved an inch. Lifting her shirt he knew exactly what he was looking for, and he did find it, but not as he expected.
Harry grimaced at the look of it. It was definitely not supposed to look like this. He had always teased her about the markings that she had on her back. They had once resembled any tattoo that a person might get just because of want, but now it was horrible.
Surely she couldn't have done this to herself. It looked awfully red, and in some parts he could see where something had cut through the flesh. Even with his moderate skills in healing he could tell that it was extremely painful, and that if he didn't do something she would probably get infected.
"I'm going to have to, Hermione," he concluded.
In a short while Harry returned with half the potions cabinet, gauze and a basin full of hot water. Dipping the cloth in and wringing most of the sterilized liquid out, he began to administer to her wounds. And it seemed that he was causing more pain, that he was actually helping.
By the time he was ready wrap the gauze around the area though, he found Hermione to be sleeping. He couldn't help but smile, knowing that she was feeling better. He wrapped it around her back and across her torso once more covering the last of the gash, and tying it off.
Harry too had retired for a quick nap, before he headed downstairs with a mission. He was armed with his jacket, and a potions book courtesy of the Grimmauld Place library. A quick trip to the Apothecary later, and he was more than ready to make a potion.
Unfortunately for him, he didn't have a cauldron on hand. So he had to substitute it with a heavy pot on the stove. He had just thrown the last ingredient in, and turned the stove down to low so that it could all simmer together. Another quick look at the directions and he knew that the potion was near completion.
Hermione turned the corner into the kitchen with a slow, but ambitious walk about her. Harry hadn't expected her to rise from the bed so suddenly, or that he had done such a good job. With a little trouble she managed to get herself onto the stool, a smile on her face.
"I don't know what I can say to thank you," she said. "I mean not only for the miracle that you worked on my back, but also for the wand. I probably wasn't that hospitable towards you this morning considering the situation."
Harry raised an eyebrow.
"Someone decided to take down Ambrosia before you had the chance to. Am I right?" he asked. "And not only did they find a way to undermine your authority, but they also found a way to make you vulnerable. And whether you'd like to admit it or not you're screwed."
There was a silence in the kitchen that told Harry he was right. He shook his head in disbelief before he opened the pot and began skimming the yellow liquid off of the top, and dumping it into a bowl, before he continued.
"So I'm thinking that you have the master stone that's linked to all the ones that you hand out to all of your Ambrosians. And that the master stone is in turn linked to the tattoo. In the end I really don't think that's the smartest thing to do, because it puts you in the situation that you're in, now."
"How was I supposed to know that all this was going to happen?" asked Hermione. "Things have been fine for years in the system, and its worked for us all. And now that I've taken it over no one seems to believe that I have what takes to do what's necessary. And so everyone is jumping overboard. And if you think that I haven't tried to destroy that necklace, you'd be wrong. It's not as easy as it seems."
Harry took his jacket off the counter and shook the ball of material loose until he got what he was looking for…the necklace. He picked it up by the chain and showed it to Hermione, ready to prove her wrong. Dipping the spoon into the pot once more, he removed another layer of the yellow liquid.
Harry swirled it around for another minute, before he decided it was time to put Hermione's necklace into it. At first it didn't appear to work, and then whatever was in the chemical that Harry had produced from the potion immediately went to work. He in fact wasn't surprised when the yellow substance began eating away at the stone. Smoke rose from the clear glass dish, as the stone became no more.
He pulled the stone from the chain from the liquid and wiped it on a paper towel. Harry laid it before Hermione on the countertop just so she could see it. The powersource for Ambrosia was gone, and from all standpoints Harry saw no reason why Ambrosia was still in existence. One look at Hermione had he could tell that some of the pain had been relieved.
"Let's be honest about this," he observed. "It's not that it's hard to destroy, but that it's hard for you to trust me enough. Because I know that if you'd have actually let me into that part of your life, things would be a lot easier."
"Harry…"
"I think your things are still packed in the attic."
**
"You did what, Harry?" asked Luna.
Her mouth was agape, and she paused in stirring sugar into her lukewarm tea. They had decided to meet up for lunch, but it turned out that neither had paid much attention to the meal and instead chose to sit around and talk with one another about their day.
However Harry couldn't seem to get the guilt out of his mind. And he had blurted out the events of the day including how he had basically told Hermione that he wished to have nothing to do with her any longer.
"I kicked her out," repeated Harry. "It's not as if she actually lived there anyway. I just told her to collect her belongings and take them over to Godric's Hollow. She's living at my mum's place anyway, so I don't really see the problem."
"You don't see the problem?" asked Luna.
"I'd really appreciate if you didn't look at me that way, and then respond to everything I say with a question. Yes, I kicked her out, and yes, I hope that she takes all her stuff with her to my mum's house. She can't open herself up to me when I've always been an open book for her."
"She's been through a lot, Harry," said Luna. "And I think more than anything if everything that her life's centered around suddenly disappears she's going to be in shock more than anything. And I don't think telling her to take everything she owns out of the house is going to help matters any."
"Well," said Harry. "You and I are obviously on opposite sides of the fence. Hermione's obviously entrusted you with everything, and I don't think it's too much for me to ask her to do the same for me."
"Are you jealous of me?" asked Luna.
Her tone held a slight humor, that verged on curiosity.
Harry thought about the question for a second as weird as it sounded. No, he decided. He was not jealous of Luna persee, but he knew that Luna had this special bond with Hermione that he didn't have. And yes, he was jealous of that.
Luna pushed aside her plate and leaned across the table to grasp at Harry's hands. It was a firm squeeze that finally got her to look at him.
"It's one thing to express that it's hurting your relationship when there are secrets, Harry. And then there's another to just lash out and use it against someone. I'm not saying that she shouldn't tell you what's going on, but there are some things that you'd rather not talk about either. Am I right?"
"There's a difference, though," he explained.
"Exactly," smiled Luna. "I remember exactly when she told me. I think it was down by the lake at Hogwarts. And I can honestly say that she gave me the version that would be worthy of a textbook. On the otherhand I think that there's a lot more underneath that."
"I'll talk to her when I go home. That is if she's still there."
"I think she knows you didn't mean it," advised Luna. "I should also add that her clothes aren't in the attic. When I was working on the house I moved everything into the master bedroom…sorry."
Harry raised his eyebrows at the thought, he too had forgotten about the move. He hadn't entered the room in so long. In fact as he recalled it, he had sealed the room off with a spell. At that precise moment his watch went off informing him that he needed to head back to the office.
Harry dug in his pocket searching for a few coins to pay for the lunch. Luna looked off at the clock in the restaurant and couldn't help but remind herself of an appointment at the Quibbler.
"Will you be at dinner tomorrow night?" she asked. "I hear Molly's inviting everyone over for this one, even Lily."
It had indeed been a while since he had attended one of those affairs. Harry didn't promise Luna that he would come, but that he would try his best to attend. In his mind he told himself that he would be there if he was still alive.
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