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Author's Note: Thanks again for the reviews. Tonight's chapter borrows from Chapter 37 of Book Five…and I also get the title from one of my favorite Michelle Branch songs….please read and review.
Chapter Seven
"Something to Sleep To"
"In my mind
Everything we did was right
Open your eyes, I'll still be by your side
How could I ever have been so blind?
You give me something to sleep to at night"
"You give me something to sleep to
And all I know is
You give me something to dream to when I'm all alone and blue"
Michelle Branch
"Something to Sleep To"
(Hermione)
"Harry, is it really you?" I asked, still hugging him tightly. I didn't dare let him go, for fear that I would wake up and find that this was all a dream.
"It is," he said. "Hermione, you're kinda cutting off my oxygen supply."
Only then, did I let go of him.
"Sorry," I said, wiping a tear away from my cheek.
We sat there, on my bed, just looking at each other. Looking down at my arm, I gave myself a quick pinch. I winced.
"Why'd you do that for?" Harry asked, bemused.
"Making sure that I'm not dreaming," I said. "Harry! How on earth did you get here?"
"Well, I was in the neighborhood," he whispered.
"Harry!" I said. "Seriously, how did you get here?"
"Well, you didn't let me finish," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. "It took me an excruciating trip on the Floo Network to get in the neighborhood, but here I am."
"The Floo Network," I said. "But how?"
"Tonks," he said. "She helped me out. She helped me with the phone call, too."
Tonks! I should have known. I suddenly remembered the conversations she, Ginny and I had last summer at 12 Grimmauld Place before Harry had arrived. Tonks had picked up on the fact that my feelings for Harry ran a little deeper than friendship. I'd tried to deny it, but she'd seen right through me. She'd called me on it right in front of Ginny, who I'd never told about this mainly due to Ginny's own unrequited crush on Harry. Ginny, though, had just smiled knowingly at me. That conversation had been interesting to say the least.
The three of us had been talking in the kitchen, late one night after one of the Order's meetings. We were sitting there drinking tea and eating cookies when Tonks started in on me.
"So what's this I hear about you and some Bulgarian Quidditch player?" Tonks had asked me.
"Nothing," I had responded. "Viktor and I are just friends. We've been writing back and forth to each other."
Tonks had nodded at me. "So if it isn't this Viktor, who can it be?"
"No one," I had said, hoping she would drop this.
"I don't believe that for a second," Tonks had said. "A girl always has her eye on someone. Who is it, Hermione?"
"Well, there is someone," I had said, looking down at the floor.
"I knew it," Tonks had said proudly. She looked at Ginny. "Who is it?"
"I can't really say," I had said blushing. I shot a worried glance at Ginny.
Tonks had picked up on this. "So Miss Ginny here knows who it is, then?"
"No, no one knows, actually," I had said. "I've never told anyone."
"Not even Harry or Ron?" Tonks had said. "With the two of them being your best mates, I wouldn't see why you wouldn't tell them at least."
I didn't respond.
"Unless it's one of them," Tonks said, shooting a conspiratorial look at Ginny. "A-ha! It is one of them!"
"It is not," I lied.
"Yes it is," Tonks said. "If I were a betting woman, I'd say it was Harry."
"What?" I asked, surprised that she would think that immediately. I also gave a look to a silent Ginny, who was hanging on Tonks' every word. Yes, Ginny had told me that she no longer fancied Harry like that, but still. Ginny gave me that knowing smile.
"Why would you say it was Harry?" I asked.
"Well, I have never met Harry, but I do feel like I know him from how everyone here talks about him, and unlike everyone else, you get this gleam in your eye when you talk about him. It's quite sweet actually. I kind of pegged you on that from the first time I heard you talk about him."
"I don't get a gleam in my eye when I talk about Harry!"
"Hermione, you kind of do," Ginny said smiling at me. "You light up like a firefly whenever you hear his name or when you talk about him."
"Do I?" I had asked worried. "You don't think he-"
"No," Tonks said, patting me on the arm. "He's a boy, isn't he? They're usually clueless about stuff like that. You about have to hit them over the head for them to get it."
"So when did you know?" Ginny asked.
"Well, I can't really remember a time when I didn't," I said. "I think it was more a point of me finally admitting it to myself."
Looking back on that conversation now, I made a mental note that if I ever got the chance to see Tonks again, I would thank her immensely for this. This was a gift.
"Harry," I said. "You shouldn't have come. You've taken a big chance just doing this. What if you get caught? This could be very bad."
He smiled at me, just like he'd always smiled at me whenever I tried to reprimand him and Ron for doing something they both knew they shouldn't have.
"Well, if you want me to go," he said, getting up from the bed. "I'll go."
"Don't you dare!" I said, grabbing his arm. I hugged him again. This felt right. If this was a dream, I didn't want to wake up for it.
"So how have you been?" I said, when I finally let him go again.
"I'm fine," he said, a stoic expression crossing over his face.
"Harry," I said. "Be honest with me. I've been worried sick about you. The hardest part about all of this is that I haven't been able to be there for you. I'm afraid I haven't been the greatest friend to you when you really needed me to be."
I looked down at my bed to avoid his piercing green eyes.
"Are you mad?" He asked me. He took my hand. "Hermione, you've been the best friend I could ever ask for! Come on, you have to know that's true. You are the only person who's never let me down, not once. You've always been there for me, and I don't think I've ever thanked you for that. I don't even know where to begin to thank you for that."
The tears welled up in my eyes again at his words.
"Well, that's what friends do," I said shyly. "You'd do the same for me! You have. Not too many people would do what you did for me tonight."
He smiled at me and we looked into each other's eyes. I could get lost in those eyes.
"So, um, how's Ron?" I asked. "Is he okay?"
"He's fine," Harry said. "We both miss you like mad."
"Anything with V-voldemort?" I asked.
"No," he replied. "That worries me, though."
I nodded. "Me, too. I mean, you have to figure he's plotting something. You know what I think he's doing is trying to lull us all into a false sense of security before he makes his move."
He beamed at me. "See! That's exactly what I was thinking."
I could feel my cheeks turning red.
"You and I always seem to be on the same wavelength about stuff like that," he said. He looked down and saw that our hands were still touching. For some reason, a pained expression came over his face. He moved his hand away from mine. I tried to hide my disappointment.
"So what else is going on?" I asked.
"Well, Dumbledore's rehired Lupin for Defense Against the Dark Arts," he said. "The few lessons we've had have been great. Oh, and Hagrid's doing well. He's still trying to care for Gwarp."
I couldn't help laughing. "Has Gwarp asked where 'Hermy' is?"
Harry laughed too. "You should have seen the look on your face when Hagrid asked if it'd be okay if he called you that. It was priceless."
"Well, the only person who has ever called me 'Hermy' other than Gwarp was my cousin Jeffrey and I used to pour tea all over him whenever he did that."
Harry laughed again. "I'll remember not to ever cal you that."
"Good idea," I said.
We were quiet again.
"Harry, you know if you want to tell me about Sirius, I'll listen. I mean, I can't say that I know what you're going through. I've never had anyone really close to me die, except for my great-grandparents and that happened when I was little, so I don't remember that, but I will listen," I said earnestly.
"Well, actually there is something that I found out, but I haven't told anyone about just yet," he said. "I didn't even tell Ron."
I nodded at him, willing him to go on.
"It was the night Sirius died," he continued. "I was so angry, you know? Dumbledore brought me up to his office and said he had something to tell me. He said it was something he should have told me ages ago, but he felt that I should hear it now."
"What was it?" I asked him.
"It involves Trelawney," he said. I fought the urge to roll my eyes at the mention of that old fraud.
"What does she have to do with any of this?"
"Well, Dumbledore told me about how, 16 years ago, he'd been looking for a new Divination teacher. He was interviewing her, and said that he hadn't been very impressed with her. Apparently, he's never held Divination in much credence, but she said something that made him change his mind. She gave him a prophecy."
"What did she say?" I asked, still skeptical about anything Trelawney said.
Harry then related for me what the prophecy said.
"THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD APPROACHES…BORN TO THOSE WHO HAVE THRICE DEFIED HIM, BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES…AND THE DARK LORD WILL MARK HIM AS HIS EQUAL, BUT HE WILL HAVE POWER THE DARK LORD KNOWS NOT…AND EITHER MUST DIE AT THE HAND OF THE OTHER FOR NEITHER CAN LIVE WHILE THE OTHER SURVIVES…THE ONE WITH THE POWER TO VANQUISH THE DARK LORD WILL BE BORN AS THE SEVENTH MONTH DIES…"
When he'd finished, I cupped my hand over my mouth.
"Harry," I whispered. "That's you."
"Well, yes and no," he said.
"What do you mean?" I asked, totally confused. "You were born at the end of July to parents who three times defied V-voldemort."
"I wasn't the only wizard born at the end of July who's parents defied Voldemort."
"Who else could there be?"
"Neville," he said simply.
"Neville?" I asked. "That's right! His parents were in the Order, too! I completely forgot about that."
"Dumbledore thinks it's me, though. He said he had no doubt that it was me."
"Of course," I said. "The part of it that said that he would mark you as his equal---your scar."
Harry nodded and turned away from me.
"So this means that either you have to die or Voldemort," I whispered. "Oh, Harry! How could you have kept all of this inside for so long?"
"Well, you weren't there to tell it to," he said, turning back around to face me.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"No, you don't have to be," he said quickly. "It's not your fault, Hermione."
"I still can't believe this is happening," I said. "I can't believe I'm here when I should be there with you. I don't belong here."
"Is it that bad?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "Don't tell Ron this, but I hate that school. I spend all day thinking about other things and not paying attention in the classes."
"Whoa," Harry said. "Who are you and what have you done with my best friend?"
"I know," I said weakly. "My parents aren't much help, either. They keep telling me that someday I'll realize that this was all for the best and that they are just trying to keep me safe. I've got that speech memorized."
"It's my fault that you're here," he said. "If you weren't my friend, you'd still be at Hogwarts, happily engrossed in some book."
"And miserable just the same," I said. "Harry, if I could do it all again, I wouldn't change a thing. Do you remember what I told you first year when we were trying to get to the Sorcerer's Stone? I told you that there were more important things than books and cleverness. You taught me that. I don't even want to know what life would have been like if I hadn't been your friend."
"Thanks," he said. He stared into my eyes again and I felt like I would melt on the spot.
"Oh, I almost forgot," he said. "I know this is a bit late, but better late than never, right?"
"What?" I asked, watching as he pulled a box from his pocket.
"Happy Belated Birthday, Hermione," he said handing me the box.
"Oh, Harry," I said.
I opened the box and gasped when I saw what was inside. It was an exquisite silver chain with a silver heart pendant.
"I know it's not a book, but the moment I saw it in Hogsmeade, I thought you should have it," he said, smiling at me.
"It's beautiful," I said softly. "It's the best gift I've ever received. Thank you."
"You're welcome," he said warmly. I didn't know what else to say so I gave him another hug. When I let go of him, our faces were inches apart. The ability to think clearly went right out the door for me and I instinctively leaned in and kissed him, quickly, on the lips.
I couldn't tell you who was more surprised by what I had done, him or me. He gave me a slight smile and looked down at his watch uncomfortably.
"I, um, had better go back," he said. "Classes will be starting soon."
I nodded. "I'll walk you downstairs."
"Okay."
We got up from the bed and I opened my door up gingerly and looked out into the hall to make sure my parents weren't awake. When I was able to tell the coast was clear, I turned and nodded to Harry. We descended the stairs quickly and walked into the living room.
"Harry," I said. "Thank you. I'm not just talking about the necklace, but thank you for tonight. You have no idea how much I needed to see a friendly face."
"You have no idea how badly I needed to see your face," he said. He took my hand and smiled at me. "We'll find a way out of this for you, I promise."
"Goodbye," I said.
"Not goodbye," he said. "Just good night."
"Right," I said. "Good night. And Harry?"
He stopped before entering the fireplace. "Yeah?"
"Be careful," I whispered.
"Always," he said with a grin.
I watched as he disappeared into the flames.
"Good night, Harry," I whispered. For the first time in a long time, I felt happy. "Thank you."