Again

Normal 2 6 2003-08-06T04:10:00Z 2003-08-06T04:10:00Z 1 2168 12362 103 29 14501 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

The last revision I promise to this story! As always, these characters aren’t mine, they belong to the great J.K. Rowling. The title of this story is inspired by one of my favorite songs by Lenny Kravitz “Again”. Each chapter will have the title of a song that fits in with the story…hope you enjoy. Thanks to all who have been patient with me and my work in progress….

Goodbye to You

Of all the things I’ve believed in,
I just want to get it over with,
Tears form behind my eyes,
But I do not cry,
Counting the days that pass me by.

-Michelle Branch “Goodbye to You”

Decisions. Choices. They can be as mundane as what you are going to wear or what toppings you might want on a pizza. They can be as monumental as who you are going to marry or what college you want to attend. The thing about them, though, is that you never know going into it, if you’ve made the right decision. You just take a chance and pray for the best.

I’ve always been an excellent decision maker. It’s probably one of my best qualities, as my friends and family would tell you. My dad likes to tell people that his daughter has a “good head on her shoulders”. I’ve always liked that compliment. I took pride in that. To me, it meant that my parents trusted me enough to let me make my own decisions.

This, however, was taken away from me, the summer before I was to begin my sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. I’m getting too far ahead, though.

To paraphrase Charles Dickens, it was the best of times and it was the worst of times. For one thing, the wizarding world was on alert with the knowledge that Lord Voldemort was back. No one knew when or how he would next attack. We were also still mourning the loss of my best friend Harry’s godfather, Sirius Black.

This brings me to the problem at hand--Harry. Thoughts of him had consumed me from the end of our fifth year to the first couple of weeks of summer. What ate at me was the fact that during one of the most difficult times in his life, he was forced to live with those awful people he had to call family, the Dursleys. No doubt, they were of no comfort to Harry. I’d tried writing to him a couple of times, but hadn’t gotten a response.

There was a sinking suspicion inside of me that there was something else bothering Harry. We’d been friends for so long; I could always tell when he was holding something back. There was something else going on, I felt, that he hadn’t divulged to either Ron or me. One of the most infuriating things about Harry was that sometimes he felt he had to hold everything in and shoulder the burden by himself.

Whether he wanted to admit to himself or not, he needed to talk about this. It wasn’t healthy to just keep things bottled up inside.

As you can imagine with my best friend going through such a terrible ordeal, the last thing I had wanted to do was go on holiday with my parents.

That was exactly where I was, though. We’d left London a couple of days ago to go on our annual Granger family summer vacation. We had done this every year that I could remember since I was a little girl. The fun thing was that we never went to the same place twice. We would always go somewhere different each summer. One year, we went to Paris and the next we’d go to Greece.

Under normal circumstances, I loved it. Most of my peers would tell you they’d rather run a mile than spend any extra time with their parents, but not me. I’ve always gotten along with them and they’ve always treated me very well. One of the hardest things about going away to school was that I missed them. I would try and write them at least once a week to let them know what was going on with school. As they were Muggles, they didn’t always understand what was going on, but they seemed to enjoy hearing about all the extraordinary things that happened in the wizarding world.

You can imagine with all that was going on with Harry and Hogwarts and Voldemort, the last thing I wanted to do was go on summer holiday. It was with much trepidation that I finally agreed to go along. Well, it wasn’t so much that I agreed as I felt I had to go. My parents had been pretty adamant about it, really.

“This isn’t up for debate, Hermione,” my dad had said, when I’d questioned the logic of going on vacation with so much going on. “We go on holiday every summer. That isn’t going to change now.”

“But, Dad, this isn’t really the best time,” I’d argued. “What if I’m needed?”

“Hermione, I’m sure that if Harry or Ron needs you, they’ll get in touch with you. I don’t think either of them will fall off the face of the earth because you decide to go on holiday with your Mum and Dad, right?” he questioned me with a laugh. “Besides, it’s only for three weeks.”

My mother chimed in with, “It’s America, sweetheart. You’ve never been there before and you’ve always told us how you’d love the chance to go.”

“Well, yes,” I stammered, “but I just don’t think this is the best time to go anywhere.”

They were steadfast in their decision that we were going on holiday. For every argument I had, they shot it down swiftly. There was really no other choice, but to go along with them, albeit reluctantly.

The plan was for them to spend a week in Atlanta, Georgia, for some international conference for dentists. They would then wrap up the remaining two weeks in Boston and New York City.

Truth by told, when we’d arrived in Atlanta, I was actually glad that we’d come. The city was bustling with excitement. While my parents were in their conferences and meetings, I was able to explore some of the city’s sites. I visited some museums and the zoo where I got to see the giant pandas. I took loads of pictures as I wanted to share all that I saw with Ron and Harry. I had to stifle a giggle when I pictured Ron looking at the photos and wondering why there wasn’t any movement in the pictures.

When I wasn’t doing that, I spent some time by the hotel pool. This was a great way to cool off from the Atlanta heat which was pretty much stifling. Within a couple of days, I had developed a nice little tan.

I’d even seen my first glimpse of America’s pastime---professional baseball. On the evenings my parents had free, we attended a couple of baseball games. Although I’m the first to let you know I’m not a huge sports fan, I will say that I quite enjoyed the game. I couldn’t help thinking that I wished Ron and Harry could see me now. The two Quidditch kings would no doubt be surprised and awestruck to see their bookworm friend enjoying a baseball game. As Ron had grown up entirely in the wizarding community, I knew he wouldn’t have never even seen a baseball, much less know what to do with one. Harry, who’d grown up with Muggles like me, would no doubt get a kick out of hearing about double plays, grand slams and inside-the-park homeruns. Before leaving the stadium, I made sure to purchase two Atlanta Braves t-shirts for my two best mates from a couple of vendors.

On our last day in Atlanta, however, something happened. I was busily packing my suitcase in my bedroom of the hotel suite. Actually, I was wondering how I was going to get all my clothes plus the extra stuff I’d bought into the one suitcase. Once again, I cursed the rule that we couldn’t do magic outside of school.

As I was busily packing, I heard a faint knock at my door. I glanced up quickly when I heard the door open and saw my parents standing in the doorway.

“I’m almost finished,” I said swiftly. “With all this extra stuff I’ve bought for Harry and Ron and Ginny, I’m going to need to get another suitcase just to lug it all home!”

From the doorway, my mother gave out a hollow laugh.

“Sweetheart,” my dad said, coming into the room. “Could we have a word?”

“Of course,” I said. “But won’t be late? I mean, what time does our flight leave?”

My dad took a seat on the edge of the bed and looked at me. “It doesn’t actually.”

I gave him a quizzical look. “What? I’m afraid I don’t understand.”

“Why don’t you have a seat, Hermione?” my dad said, pushing my overflowing suitcase further back onto the bed, thereby clearing a space beside him.

“It’s been my experience,” I began, still standing beside the bed. “That nothing good ever follows the question, ‘Why don’t you have a seat, Hermione?’ Dad.”

Nevertheless, I took a seat beside him.

“Well, I know that you probably won’t think this is a good thing when you first hear it, but I hope that in time you’ll come to see that this will be for the best,” my dad said, looking to my mother for encouragement. She finally came all the way into the room and stood beside my dad with her hand on his shoulder. This all made me feel very uneasy.

“I don’t understand,” I said, looking back and forth between them. “Can you please just tell me what is going on?”

“Alright,” my dad began. “This wasn’t an easy decision for us to make, I hope you understand that. We know how much you’ve enjoyed attending Hogwarts and we’ve been very proud of the progress you’ve made.”

I nodded solemnly and he continued.

“Over the past couple of years, though, we’ve become increasingly concerned about your safety when you’re at that school.”

“What do you mean?” I asked defensively. “Hogwarts is perfectly safe!”

“How can you say that, Hermione?” my dad retorted back at me. “Need I remind you that in your second year, you spent the better part of the year petrified? Then, in your third year, you were attacked by dementia-“

“Dementors, Dad!” I corrected. “Dementors, not dementia.”

“Well, regardless, you were attacked. Then, in your fourth year, that boy was killed. Your best friend was nearly killed in the process. Not to mention, the fact that you were nearly killed a couple of months ago yourself,” my father said.

“Okay,” I said, trying to remain calm. “Those things all happened, but I’m fine. You know that Dumbledore wouldn’t let anything intentionally happen to me or anyone else at school.”

“I know that,” my father said. “But, they can’t guarantee your safety, either. With this Voldemort person back, I think it’s going to get worse before it will get better. I’m afraid that if we send you back, we would be endangering you, Hermione. That’s not a risk I or your mother want to take.”

“I know that, Dad,” I said. “What are you trying to say, exactly?”

“What I’m trying to say,” he said, taking my hand, “is that you will not be returning to that school in September.”

“WHAT!!!” I exclaimed, letting go of his hand and standing up from the bed. I looked pleadingly at both of my parents. “You can’t be serious!”

“I assure you that we’re very serious about this, Hermione,” he said firmly. “Your mum and I have talked about this for quite some time now. As I told you before, this wasn’t an easy decision to come to. It was very hard.”

“Oh, well, I’m so sorry that your decision on my life was so gut-wrenching for you,” I retorted sarcastically.

“It was, sweetheart,” my mother said, trying to pat my shoulder. I shrugged her off. “We know how much that school means to you.”

“Do you?” I argued. “Do you really? Because I think if you really knew how much that school meant to me, the last thing you would ever do is take me out of it. I belong at Hogwarts, Mum.”

“Hermione, “my mother began, but I interrupted her.

“How can you ask me to leave now? Just when things are in such a mess? You want me to leave when my friends are going to need me now more than ever? For heavens sake! Harry just lost Sirius! I can’t leave!”

I could feel the tears welling up in my eyes. This couldn’t be happening. This wasn’t real. My parents weren’t actually going to do this.

“We’ve talked this over with Dumbledore and he agreed to help us anyway that he could,” my dad said.

“You discussed my future with Dumbledore without me present? Surely, he didn’t go along with this!”

“Well, he wasn’t in favor of you leaving,” my mother said. “But, he listened to our concerns and said that if we thought this was best he’d do what he could to help us. He’s set us up with a relocation program with your Ministry of Magic. We’ll be able to start all over again. You’ll be able to go to a regular school taking regular subjects.”

I sat there listening to them, tears streaming down my face. Ever since I was a little girl, I’d felt I could count on them. I never doubted in them, not once. Listening to them talk now, they seemed like strangers. I felt like I was watching it all unfold and I was an inactive participant.

“Will I at least be able to say a proper goodbye to Harry and Ron,” I said. I couldn’t believe those words were coming out of my mouth. I wasn’t actually going to go along with this, was I?

My father and mother exchanged another look. “Actually, we won’t be going back to London, sweetheart. We’ve had a moving company pack up our belongings at the house. We’ve found a house here in the area and were going to take you to look at it today. It’s really a nice place. You’ll see, it’ll be a new start and a new home.”

“I don’t want a new start! I don’t want a new home!” I managed to choke out. “My home is in London. My friends are in London.”

“Hermione, I know this is hard on you,” my father said. “I didn’t expect you to take this well, but I hope you understand that we are doing this because we love you. You are our only daughter. If something happened to you, I don’t know what we’d do.”

“I know that you love me,” I said. “All I ask is that if you love me, you’d want me to be happy. I won’t be happy here. You can put me in a new house and make me start a new school, but it will not make me happy!”

My father got up from the bed and started to walk out of the room, followed by my mother. When he reached the door, he turned to me, and I could see tears in his own eyes, as he said, “I love you, Hermione. We both love you so much. All we want is for you to be safe.”

They walked out of the room and I was alone on the bed. How had all of this happened? This was the last thing in the world I ever suspected! What would Harry and Ron say when they found out? How would they get through school without me? There’s no telling where either of them would be if I hadn’t been the one urging them to finish their homework or checking behind them for mistakes.

It wasn’t just that, though. They were my best friends. They were the two people who’d taught me that there were more important things than books and cleverness.

I wasn’t only worried about how they’d do without me, however. How would I be without them?

Normal 2 412 2003-06-29T02:00:00Z 2003-08-08T04:05:00Z 2003-08-08T04:05:00Z 1 2477 14123 117 33 16567 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Authors’ Note: Updates should come fairly quickly on this one….hope you enjoy

Chapter One

“Safe & Sound”

“Maybe this is forever
Forever fades away
Like a rocket ascending into space
Could you not be sad
Could you not break down
After all I won't let go”

Sheryl Crow

“Safe & Sound”

For once I was happy to be ignored. Ever since I’d returned to the Dursleys for the summer holidays, I had been pretty much on my own. Neither my Aunt Petunia nor my Uncle Vernon spoke to me unless it was absolutely necessary. My cousin, Dudley had been sent to a camp for Overweight Teenagers. My aunt and uncle thought they were helping him. Personally, I believed that they were just setting him loose on unsuspecting prey on which he could bully, taunt and tease at will.

This summer, my Uncle Vernon had procured a job for me mowing lawns at the garden club. I had to give him the majority of my salary, but I didn’t care. Muggle money wasn’t all that useful in the wizarding world. If it kept them off my back and gave me the chance to be out of that awful house, I would do almost anything.

By keeping myself busy, I was able to forget about Sirius. Well, that wasn’t exactly true. He was always on my mind, but by keeping busy, I was able to think about something else, if only for a little while. Ron and The Weasleys had been sending me care packages since summer began. To my surprise, Aunt Petunia allowed me to keep them. They were full of candies and goodies and Ron even managed to send copies of Quidditch Illustrated, a new magazine devoted entirely to Quidditch.

While Hermione had written a few times at the beginning of the summer, I hadn’t heard from her in a few weeks. According to Ron’s letters, neither had he.

This wasn’t like her. After all that happened, this was beginning to trouble me. With Voldemort’s return, we really didn’t know how far he would go. I prayed that he hadn’t done something to Hermione or her family. Too many people had already sacrificed so much over this battle. I didn’t want to be the cause of any more pain or problems for the people I cared about so much---namely the Weasley family and Hermione. They were my family now. They and the Order were all that I had left. If I had to die to protect them I would. I just knew that I couldn’t stand to lose another person.

Mrs. Weasley liked to point out that we were never given more than what we were able to handle. Somehow, I didn’t know if that was true. Someone up there must think that I can handle a lot, then. When I wasn’t thinking of Sirius, I sometimes liked to think of what a normal life would be like. Correction, I liked to think about what a normal wizarding life would be like. Maybe I’d be working up the courage to ask a girl to the Yule Ball or I’d been working on my Herbology homework. Instead, I was supposed to somehow juggle all of that at the same time. Oh, and he was also supposed to think of someway to defeat The Dark Lord and restore peace to his world. All in a day’s work, right? Wrong.

On the morning of my 16^th birthday, I awoke early. This was the day that The Weasleys were going to pick me up and take me home with them for an extended summer visit. I got the impression from their letters that we’d be spending the time at The Burrow instead of at Headquarters. The Order had felt that being there might rub salt in my fresh wound, so to speak. Meetings were still held there, but it would not be used to house us this summer. I was a little relieved at this news. I knew that if I got within two feet of Kreacher or that awful portrait of Sirius’ mum, I was apt to take scissors to both of them. I didn’t think I’d be able to turn the other cheek as they both hurled insults at Sirius and everyone else.

To my surprise, there was no mention of Hermione joining them. This was very strange. It wasn’t like her to stay out of contact for so long. I’d even started to tell myself that maybe Dobby was hiding her letters like he’d done that summer before second year when he’d hoped to prevent me from going back to school. If that was the case, though, Ron’s letters would have gone missing, too, but they’d arrived. Something was definitely up and I couldn’t wait to see Ron and get to the bottom of this.

I quickly showered and dressed and packed up my trunk. When I finally went downstairs, I found the house quiet and empty.

“Happy Birthday to me,” I whispered, looking past the kitchen into the sitting room. The entire house was a Dursley-free zone. The house might not have been so bad if I’d had more free time like this. I noticed the folded piece of paper on the counter that was addressed to me. It was a note from Aunt Petunia.

Harry,

Your uncle and I have left early to attend a summer picnic that his company holds each year. I trust you will leave your room as you found it and make sure that those people do not wreck our home.

Aunt Petunia

I crumpled up the paper in my hands and quickly threw it into the waste basket. Catching sight of the grandfather clock in the living room, I noticed it was just past nine. Mr. Weasley was to arrive at 9:30 to pick me up. I toyed with the idea of grabbing a sandwich or something, but I knew that Mrs. Weasley would have a feast waiting. So, instead, I poured myself a glass of orange juice and set about waiting for their arrival.

You never knew how they would arrive. I wondered if Mr. Weasley would risk using another flying car or if he’d come by Floo. He couldn’t apparate as I wasn’t permitted to do so until I was of age.

Shortly after 9:30, I heard a rumble in the sitting room and sure enough, Ron and Mr. Weasley stood, covered in soot, right in front of the fire place.

“Happy Birthday, Harry!” Ron exclaimed.

“Thanks,” I said, watching as he dusted himself off as best he could.

“Happy Birthday, Harry,” Mr. Weasley said. He looked around the room. “Where are your aunt and uncle?”

“Out and about,” I said, grabbing my trunk and Hedwig’s cage. “Thanks for coming to get me.”

Mr. Weasley smiled. “It’s tradition after all. It wouldn’t be summer without you, Harry. Have you been alright?”

I had known that question was coming. I expected I’d hear it for awhile.

“Yes,” I said, looking down. I wanted to change the subject. “Well, I’m all set.”

“Right,” Mr. Weasley said. “Why don’t you and Ron go on ahead and I’ll make sure this place is spotless after we leave. Here’s some Floo powder, Harry.”

I took a handful from his pouch and waited as Ron went first and I soon followed. Within a few seconds, I was back at The Burrow. Mrs. Weasley and Ginny hurried into the living room when they heard us arrive. Mr. Weasley arrived soon after. Both mother and daughter looked as if they hadn’t been awake for very long, as they both were still wearing their dressing gowns. They both wished me a happy birthday. Ginny gave me a hug and rustled my already messy hair. I couldn’t help laughing.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, looking around.

“Oh, Harry,” Mrs. Weasley said, enveloping me in a bear hug that left me almost unable to breathe. “We’re almost an empty nest around here! Those boys of mine, Fred & George, have gone out to scout territory for their joke shop and Bill and Charlie are away on business.”
“What about Percy?” I asked, still catching my breath from the massive hug she’d given me.

“Well, it’s a work in progress,” Mrs. Weasley said. “Things are getting better between us every day. It’s still hard, but at least we’re all talking. So are you doing okay?”

I nodded. I knew she was just concerned, but I wasn’t really ready to discuss this with anyone right now. She didn’t push me any further on this, thankfully. She told her husband to bring my trunk upstairs to Ron’s room and then come back down for a spot of breakfast. I protested and said that I could do it, but Mr. Weasley insisted so I thanked him and followed Mrs. Weasley and Ginny and Ron into the kitchen.

“So when is Hermione getting here?” I asked, after we’d all sat down at the table. Ron, Ginny, and I both watched as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley exchanged a look.

Mrs. Weasley looked down at her plate and said softly, “Well, I don’t think she’s coming this year.”

“Why isn’t she?” I asked confused. “I mean, she comes here every summer just like I do. I can’t imagine she’s break from tradition without telling us.” “Yeah,” Ron said. “Come on. Tell us what’s going on. I know something is wrong, because every time I mention her name, the two of you get that look on your face and change the subject. Harry and I have a right to know what’s going on with Hermione. She’s our best mate.”

“It’s really not-,” Mrs. Weasley began, but her husband interrupted her.

“I think it’s time that the boys knew, Molly,” he said solemnly.

I didn’t like the look on his face. In all the years that I had known Mr. Weasley, I’d known him to be one of the most cheerful, optimistic people I’d ever known. On the rare occasions when I’d seen him upset or wearing a stern expression, it really stood out. His expression conveyed one message to me. That message was that Hermione wasn’t coming and the reason for it wasn’t good news. Truth be told, I’d had enough bad news in the past couple of months to last me a good while. Part of me didn’t want to hear the explanation for this very reason.

“Ginny,” Mrs. Weasley said, looking at her only daughter. “Maybe you should go upstairs.”

Ginny protested immediately. “Hermione’s my friend, too. I have every right to hear what’s going on. I’m not six years old anymore, after all!”

“Alright,” Mr. Weasley said, taking a sip from his coffee cup before continuing. “Dumbledore had hoped to tell you himself and I imagine he’ll still have something to tell you about this, but you are right, boys, you have a right to know what’s going on.”

Ron and I both dropped our forks and sat on pins and needles waiting to hear what he would say.

“Hermione’s parents, as you know, took her on a summer holiday,” he continued. “According to Dumbledore, her parents have expressed concern about her safety many times in the past couple of years. With all that has been going on, their concerns were heightened, and understandably so.”

I didn’t like the sound of this. I could feel a pit rising in my stomach with every word Mr. Weasley said.

“They decided to withdraw her from Hogwarts,” he said.

“WHAT?” Ron and I both said in unison.

“They can’t do that! Can they, Daddy?” Ginny asked.

“I’m afraid so,” Mr. Weasley said. “They are her parents. They have every right in deciding where their daughter---their only child, I might add---goes to school and where she lives.”

“What do you mean ‘where she lives’? She’s not going to live in London?” Ron asked perplexed.

“Her parents feel that it would be best for her to start over in a new place from what Dumbledore said,” Mr. Weasley continued. “They were going on vacation, but it is my understanding that they are going to move straightaway.”

“Well, surely they’ll be coming back to pack their things up, right?” I asked. “I mean, she has to come back at least to say a proper goodbye.”

“From the way Dumbledore talks, they’ve had their belongings shipped to America. They won’t be returning anytime soon, as far as I can tell,” Mr. Weasley said. “From what I’ve heard, her parents have been planning this for some time. They’ve been really concerned about her. I don’t blame her parents, though. Being Muggles and all, they really don’t know or understand what’s been going on. They must have been worried sick about her.”

“How could you take their side?” Ron asked, incredulously. “Her parents have taken her away from her friends, from her school. She won’t stand for this, you know!”

“Ron,” Mr. Weasley said. “I know you’re upset, but try to see this from their perspective. They are looking out for the best interest of their daughter. They don’t want to see any harm come to her. They’re trying to protect her. Now, we might not agree with the extent to which they’d decided to do to achieve that, but we have to respect their decision.”

Ron sunk lower in his chair.

I suddenly felt like I needed to get out of there. I quietly excused myself, and walked out of the house and through the backyard toward the field. I didn’t look back, I just kept walking.

A number of thoughts were racing through my head. The main thought was that this couldn’t be happening. Right on the heels of my godfather dying, I’d lost my best friend. No, she wasn’t dead, but she was gone. From the way it sounded, it didn’t seem as if he’d be seeing her again anytime soon.

I hated myself for seeming so selfish, but this wasn’t fair. I didn’t see how she would have gone along with any of this. She loved being at Hogwarts. She wouldn’t willingly allow herself to be taken away from there.

Ron and I could sometimes give her a hard time, but she was really one of the best people I’d ever met. I honestly don’t believe either of us would have passed any of our classes without her helping us. Not only that, she was one of the most loyal people I’d ever met. Through everything I’d been through, she’d always stood by me. Even when it seemed as if the safer route would have been to walk away, she’d thrown caution to the wind and been my friend. When everyone had thought I’d stuck my name in The Goblet of Fire, she was the only one who believed me that I hadn’t done that. Even Ron, had doubted me, then, but not her. She’d never wavered in her belief in me.

As I walked out there in the field, I couldn’t even imagine being at Hogwarts without her. Her friendship meant a lot more to me than I’d ever realized. They always said you never knew what you had until it was gone, and that certainly had proved true.

I came to rest at one of my favorite spots, just beside the creek. I picked up some stones and began to skim them absentmindedly on the pond.

“Hey,” a voice said, startling me.

I turned to see Ron staring at me. I only nodded at him. He stood beside me at the edge of the pond watching me skim stones. We were both silent for a long time.

“I can’t believe this,” Ron finally said.

“I know,” I said softly.

“Where do you think she is?” Ron asked me.

“I don’t know,” I said.

“Do you think we could try and find out and bring her back? I mean, if we found her, and talked to her parents, maybe they’d understand and let her come back,” Ron offered.

“Sounds as if their minds are made up, Ron,” I said grimly. “They wouldn’t budge.”

“She can’t be gone, though,” Ron said, shaking his head. “We’ll never make it through N.E.W.T.S. without her, you know that? We’ll never graduate without her! We’ll be as bad as Neville without her, you do realize that? This isn’t fair, Harry! There’s got to be some way that we can find her and bring her back.”

I was silent as I listened to Ron spout off questions. They were the same questions I had been asking myself.

“And with all the stuff coming up with You-Know-Who, we’re going to need her now more than ever. She’s the brains behind our little trio, you realize that?”

Ron asked.

“YES!” I answered hotly. “I realize that, Ron! I realize all of that!”

He looked taken aback by my outburst. I certainly hadn’t meant to get that upset about it.

“I’m sorry,” I said. “I shouldn’t have gotten so upset.”

“It’s okay,” he said. “I understand.”

“So what are we going to do?” Ron asked a few seconds later.

“What can we do?” I asked. “I don’t think her parents are going to change their minds anytime soon.”

“There’s got to be something we can do. I mean, we can’t just let her go, can we?” Ron asked me.

I agreed with him. We couldn’t just let her go, but how would we get her back? There had to be something we could do.

“You know if she was here, she’d probably tell us to go to the library to research the problem,” I said, with a laugh.

“Yeah,” Ron said, laughing. “I wonder if there’s a book called, “How to Save Your Best Friend from her Overprotective Parents.”

“I can’t believe this is happening,” I said.

“Me, either,” Ron said.

“Do you realize Malfoy is going to love this,” I said glumly.

“Oh, you’re right!” Ron said. “He’ll be over the moon about this. I can just hear the git now.”

“What are we going to do, Harry?” Ron asked again.

I could only stare back at him. I had no idea what we were going to do, or if there was anything we could do.

One thing I did know was that I didn’t like feeling helpless like this. I wouldn’t be able to just let this go, though. She needed me, I was sure of that. I couldn’t, no I wouldn’t let her down.

Normal 2 87 2003-08-09T03:18:00Z 2003-08-09T03:18:00Z 1 2063 11760 98 27 13796 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Chapter Three 

A Thousand Miles                                    (Hermione) 

“It’s always times like these

When I think of you

And I wonder

If you ever

Think of me

’cause everything’s so wrong

And I don’t belong

Living in your

Precious memories”

-Vanessa Carlton

A Thousand Miles

It was hot. There was no other way to describe it. I really should be inside, sitting in the air conditioning, but I wasn’t about to go inside. If I went inside, Mum would make me help with the unpacking. I wasn’t about to do that because that would mean somehow that I accepted all of this. I hadn’t. I was still waiting to wake up from this nightmare or for my mother to tell me it was all a hoax and we’d be leaving for London tomorrow.

That hadn’t happened yet. We’d been in Atlanta for nearly three weeks now. My parents had found a house pretty quickly. They’d dragged me a long to meet with realtors and tour houses. My mother fell absolutely head over heels in love with this house that we were now moving into in the Buckhead community. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a lovely house. It has four bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, a nice sitting room, a great kitchen and a fabulous dining room. There’s even a swimming pool in the backyard. The house was great, it just wasn’t my home. They could put the same furniture in the rooms and hang the same art and it still wouldn’t be my home.

The newfound animosity between my parents and me had been hard to stomach for all of us. I’d never been a problem child for them. I’d always been responsible, obedient, little Hermione. For the first time that I could remember, I didn’t agree with them and it was taking its toll on us all.

To escape from the sounds of the movers and my mother, I’d taken a seat out by the pool on one of the lounge chairs. I had my favorite book, Hogwarts: A History, on my lap. I knew my mother wouldn’t leave me alone for too long. Sure enough, within seconds she was walking out to the pool, calling out my name. I didn’t answer her. I stubbornly sat there, silently, reading my book.

“So, how long is this silent treatment going to go on?” my mother said.

“I’m not giving you the silent treatment,” I said, turning a page.

“Really? I would swear that’s the first sentence you said to me all day,” she said, taking a seat at the end of the lounge chair. She put a hand on my leg.

“Sweetheart,” she continued. “You could begin unpacking your room. The movers just unloaded the last box up there.”

I continued to sit there, pretending to be very interested in the book.

“I wish your dad would get home soon so we can start unpacking all this stuff,” my mother said, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.

“Where did Daddy go?” I asked.

“He went to scout out some office buildings in the downtown area,” my mother said. “Hermione, it’s awfully hot out here, are you sure you don’t want to come inside?”

“No,” I said. “I’m fine.”

She looked at me as if she wanted to say something further, but thought better of it. There was a loud crash and the sounds of glass breaking filled the air.

“Oh, no!” my mother exclaimed. “I hope that wasn’t the crystal vase! I’ll be right back!”

I watched as she rushed back into the house to investigate the source of the crash. Couldn’t she see how unhappy this was all making me? What more did I have to do?

“Uggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!” I exclaimed loudly.

“That didn’t sound too good,” said an unfamiliar voice from behind the bushes.

“What?” I said, startled.

A girl, who looked to be about my age, came out from behind the bushes. She was pretty and had a warm smile. She was about 5’4 with brown, shoulder-length hair that was stick-straight. She had an athletic build and was wearing a pair of khaki shorts and a red t-shirt. She wore no shoes.

“You must be my new neighbor,” she said, coming closer.

“Yeah,” I said. “Hermione Granger.”

“Hi,” she said, extending her hand. “I’m Kit Reilly.”

“Nice to meet you,” I said, shaking her hand.

“How old are you?” she asked, taking a seat on the lounge chair directly beside mine.

“I’ll turn 16 in September,” I said. “How about you?”

“I turned 16 two weeks ago,” she said. “I’m supposed to go and get my drivers license in a couple of days. My mother is dragging her heels about the whole thing. I think she’s worried.”
“About something happening to you?” I asked.

“No, well, I’m sure that’s part of it, but she’s probably a little more concerned about her Cadillac,” Kit said, giggling. “So where did you move here from. You are definitely not from around here.”

“No, I’m not,” I said. “We moved here from London, actually.”

“Wow!” Kit said, excitedly. “I’ve always wanted to go there. What brings you here to Georgia, if you don’t mind me asking?”

“I don’t mind you asking,” I said. “My mother and father wanted to move here.”

“But you didn’t,” Kit said.

“No, is it that obvious?” I asked.

“Just a little bit,” she said. “You miss your friends?”

I nodded. “Yeah. The thing is that they didn’t even know I was going to be leaving, neither did I for that matter. So, I never got the chance to say a proper goodbye.”

“Why not?” she asked.

“It’s complicated,” I said. “But to make a long story short, they didn’t like the direction my life was taking and they decided to do something about it. Of course, they didn’t ask me about it.”

“Bummer,” she said.

“Yeah,” I said.

We were quiet for a couple of seconds after that until Kit asked me what school I’d be going to.

“Well, I was supposed to start East High School, but my father heard from the realtor about some prep school called Ramsey Preparatory Academy and he enrolled me in that.”

“Oh, you poor thing,” Kit said. “Ramsey?”

“Is it that bad?” I asked.

“Not if you’re planning on taking over a third world country or attempting a leverage buyout of a major company,” Kit said, smirking. “That school is so snooty. It’s a bunch of people with old money who are very selective about who they will let in and who they won’t. You know what I’m talking about?”

I nodded. “We had a couple of people like that at my old school.”

“My parents had wanted me to get in there, too,” Kit said. “But, thankfully, they looked down on my family because we weren’t ‘old’ money. My parents won the lottery a couple of years ago. Before that, we got by, but never had anything like this. It still takes a little getting used to. I go to East High School. It’s a shame you won’t be going there.”

“Well, if I had my way, I wouldn’t be going to school here, period. I’d be back at my old one,” I said sadly.

“Did you leave a boyfriend behind?” she asked.

“No, not really,” I said. “I did have a boy that I was writing to, but he lived far away and it was never really anything beyond a friendship. There was someone that I kind of liked, but I don’t think he ever picked up on it, though.”

“Boys are like that,” Kit said. “Granted, I don’t have that much experience where boys are concerned, but I know enough to know that they are as clueless as can be when it comes to girls.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Well, he’s had a lot of things on his mind lately. He just lost someone he really cared about, his godfather. He didn’t take the news too well. I wish that I could just call him and make sure he’s okay.”

“Why can’t you?” Kit asked confused.

“It’s a little complicated,” I said. “Where he’s at now, they don’t really have a telephone.”

“Well, what about a letter?” she asked.

“That’s complicated, too,” I said.

“Oh,” Kit said. Luckily, she didn’t go any further on the correspondence issue.

“So what’s this guy’s name? Mr. Clueless?”

I laughed. “Harry.”

“Have you known him a long time?” she asked me. “I hope you don’t think I’m too nosy or anything.”

“No, I don’t,” I said genuinely. I liked this girl. “You’re not prying. I’ve known Harry since we were 11 years old. We met on the train on the way to school. At first, I don’t think he or Ron liked me too much to begin with. I was a bit of an old bossy boots know-it-all.”

“Who’s Ron?” she asked.

“Ron’s my other best friend. He and Harry actually became friends first and then they had to save me from---,” my voice trailed off. I very well couldn’t tell this girl that the two of them had saved me from a mountain troll could I? She’d think I was a nutter or something like that.

“Well they saved me from a bad situation,” I said. “Ever since that happened, we were friends. We’ve been through so much together. I can’t even remember what life was like before they were a part of it, you know?”

Kit nodded. “So when did you start to like this Harry?”

“Well, I don’t really know when it began,” I said. “All I know is that I’m worried about him all the time. I get this feeling in my stomach whenever he’s around, kind of like butterflies, you know? It’s weird, because I’m the least boy-crazy person you’d ever meet, but with him, sometimes I just get all goo-goo eyed and I feel like I can’t think. It’s crazy.”

“No, it’s not,” she said. “You’re eyes light up when you talk about him.”

“They do?” I asked, surprised.

She nodded. “And he has no idea how you feel?”

“Not that I’m aware of,” I said. “All last year, he had this crush on this other girl. It didn’t really work out between them, though, partly because of me.”

“You?” she asked me. “What did you do?”

“She thought that he and I were more than friends,” I said. “Nothing Harry said to convince her otherwise would sink in. I can’t say as I was all brokenhearted for him when it didn’t work out. I never really thought she was right for him.”

“Well, it doesn’t sound as if she was all that clueless,” Kit said.

“No,” I said. “She wasn’t the only one. A lot of people have asked us about it. That guy I told you that I was writing to, he picked up on it to. That’s part of the reason why it didn’t work out with him. He said he knew he couldn’t keep writing to me when my heart so obviously belonged to another. That was when I finally had to admit to myself that there was something there. That I wanted more than to be his friend. It seems pretty hopeless and desperate now, doesn’t it?”

She put a hand on my shoulder. “I don’t think so. Call me a helpless romantic, but if it’s meant to be, it’ll happen. If two people are meant to be together, a little thing like an entire Atlantic Ocean and a couple of disapproving parents wouldn’t be able to keep them apart. I say, have faith, sister.”

I laughed. “Thanks, I needed to hear that.”

“No problem,” she said.

“KATHERINE MICHELLE REILLY!” a voice exclaimed from behind the bushes. “GET YOUR BUTT OVER HERE AND CLEAN UP THIS MESS. HONESTLY!”

Kit looked at me and grinned sheepishly. “Uh-oh. She used my full name. I am definitely in trouble.”

“What did you do?” I asked.

“Tried to cook spaghetti,” she said. “I don’t think it turned out well.”

She and I giggled and I watched as she got up from the chair. “Well, I’m just over there if you need to talk or anything. It was nice to meet you, Hermione.”

“Thanks,” I said, smiling back at her. “It’s nice to meet you, too, Kit.”

When the heat began to be too much to bear, I finally gave in and went inside. My mother was busy unpacking some of the books in the sitting room. When I walked in, she told me that she’d made a pitcher of lemonade and I was welcome to a glass if I wanted one. I thanked her and proceeded to walk into the kitchen to pour myself a glass. She followed me into the kitchen and sat down at the table beside me.

“How is it?” she asked hopefully. “It’s sugar-free.”

“I know,” I said. “It’s pretty good.”

“Good,” she said. “I saw you talking with a girl outside.”

“Kit,” I said. “She lives next door.”

“See, you’re already making friends,” she said hopefully.

“A friend,” I said sarcastically. “Not friends, but a friend. Besides, I have a bunch of friends back home that you pulled me away from.”

“Sweetheart,” she said. “This is really for the best. Your safety is our top priority. You might not like how we are going about this, but I hope that in time you’ll---“

“I know, I know,” I said. “You hope that in time I will understand why you did what you did, but you know what? I don’t see that happening anytime soon. I was perfectly happy and content where I was. I had friends who I loved, who need me now more than they ever have before. You don’t understand because you don’t live in the world we’ve lived in, but this isn’t the time for you to do this. This was the wrong time.”

“Sweetie,” she said.

“No! I understand that you have me here and there’s nothing I can do about it, but don’t think for a second that I’m going to ever feel good about this or I’m ever going to get use to it, because it’s not going to happen.”

I got up from the table and walked away from my mother and walked up the stairs to my bedroom. All around me were boxes. Tears were streaming down my face.

I didn’t like this person I’d become. What’s more, I didn’t like the way I was treating my parents, but I had no choice. They had done this to me. I hated to be cross with them. Part of me did understand where they were coming from. I was all that they had. I knew that my mother and father tried for years to have a child, and when they’d nearly given up hope, my mother got the news that she was pregnant with me. The pregnancy had been a difficult one and due to that, she was unable to conceive anymore children.

If something happened to me, they would only have each other. Truth be told, I didn’t want to die. No one did. It was a chance though that I was willing to take. The battle was on in the wizarding world. It was time for us all to stand together and fight as one. Yet, here I was, a thousand miles away, powerless to do anything to help.

There had to be something I could do, but what?

Normal 1 73 2003-08-09T03:20:00Z 2003-08-09T04:33:00Z 1 1739 9915 82 23 11631 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Authors’ Note: Thanks to all who have reviewed. I hope you enjoy….

Chapter Four

If Your’re Gone

 ”If you're gone - maybe it's time to go home

There's an awful lot of breathing room

But I can hardly move

If you're gone - baby you need to come home

Cuz there's a little bit of something me

In everything in you”

-Matchbox 20 

“If You’re Gone”

The Order of the Phoenix was having another impromptu meeting. This time, it wasn’t at 12 Grimmauld Place, but at The Burrow. There were only a handful of members present and the meeting was being held primarily to discuss how to safely get Ron, Ginny and me to Kings Cross Station to board the Hogwarts Express.

The members present were Arthur and Molly Weasley, Remus Lupin, Alastor Moody, Tonks and Kingsley Shacklebolt.

Ron, Ginny, and I were perched on the staircase, trying to listen in to the meeting. Unfortunately, this was hard to do as the members kept their voices low and spoke in whispers, perhaps knowing that prying ears were footsteps away. As Fred and George no longer lived at The Burrow, there were no Extendable Ears to borrow.

“This is really unfair,” Ron whispered to me. “They ought to at least make you a member of the Order being as you’re the one who Voldemort’s after.”

I didn’t respond. I honestly didn’t know what to say. I agreed wholeheartedly with Ron, but knew that because I was only 16, there was no way they’d make me a member. Also, I hadn’t divulged to Ron my discussion with Dumbledore at the end of the year, shortly after Sirius’ death. Ron didn’t know, or anyone else for that matter, that in the end, it would be either me or Voldemort. One had to die for the other to live. Truth be told, I didn’t know why I hadn’t told him this. With him being my best friend and all, you’d think I’d tell him, but something held me back from letting him know.

There were a lot more important things to think about now, namely Hermione. We hadn’t really spoken much about her. Mr. and Mrs. Weasley hadn’t said anything else, and we hadn’t pushed the subject any further. We all missed her, though. She might not have been mentioned, but she was on all of our minds.

Ron, in particular, seemed to be taking this hard. I had always suspected that his feelings for Hermione ran a little deeper than friendship. The whole fiasco around the Yule Ball had pretty much confirmed it, but I didn’t know if he’d ever have had the courage to do anything about it. Hermione had never mentioned anything to me about feeling that way toward Ron. It was all kind of weird, if you asked me. I mean, the two of them fought like cats and dogs most of the time. Sometimes, I wondered if they’d have even been friends if it hadn’t been for me. I was the common link between the two of them.

At times, I would wonder how I would feel if they did end up together. They were my two best mates. If they found happiness together, I would be happy for them, wouldn’t I? I couldn’t honestly say.

All I knew now was that I missed her. She couldn’t be having an easy time of this either. I couldn’t understand how her parents could do this to her, knowing how much her life at Hogwarts meant to their daughter. They must not know their daughter at all if they thought this was best for her.

When I thought of things like this, though, I always felt a pang of guilt. It was my fault that she was in this mess. She was paying for being my friend. If she’d not walked into that train compartment on that first day, we might not have ever made friends. She’d be trying to make Head Girl now and studying for N.E.W.T.S. and not worrying about starting another life at another school.

It was because of this, though, that I felt I owed it to her to find a way to get her out of this mess. She belonged at Hogwarts with Ron and me. I was as sure of that as I’d been of anything in my life. I knew that I didn’t stand a chance passing my classes or against Voldemort without her. This wasn’t just because she was smart and clever. It was because of the type of person she was; the type of friend she was. She was as loyal as they came. When I thought I had no one to depend on, she was there. She’d come through for me time and time again. And how did I repay her for this? I unknowingly contributed to her parents’ decision to take her out of school.

Ginny interrupted my thoughts by announcing to Ron and me that the meeting was disbanding. This was confirmed seconds later when Ron’s mum called up to us that we could stop hovering and come down and greet the guests.

We sheepishly descended the stairs and greeted the Order members warmly. Lupin asked me how I was doing and I said that I was doing okay. I don’t think he believed me for a second, but he nodded and walked over to Mrs. Weasley who was handing out a tray of crackers and cheese. Ginny had took a pitcher of pumpkin juice from her mother and was busily filling everyone’s cup.

I stood there, watching everyone, alone in my own thoughts. I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to see Tonks grinning at me.

“Hiya, Harry!” she said.

“Hi, Tonks,” I said. “How are you?”

“Okay,” she said. She put her hands to her hair. “Do you like the dreadlocks? I was thinking they might be a little over-the-top, but Kingsley said that they looked okay, so I went for it.”

“Yeah,” I said, nodding at her. “They look fine.”

“Thanks,” she said, beaming at me. Her face suddenly turned serious. “I heard about Hermione. I’m sorry about that.”

I nodded solemnly. “Yeah.”

“Can you meet me outside in about two minutes?” she asked. “Come alone. It’s important. I think it might brighten your mood a bit.”

“Okay,” I said, wondering what she wanted to talk to me about. “Sure.”

“Okay,” she said.

I watched as she went over to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and thanked them for the refreshments and that she had to be leaving. Within seconds, she had walked outside the house. When I was sure no one was watching, I followed suit a couple of minutes later.

I found Tonks just behind the house, sitting at the picnic table.

“So, what’s this about?” I asked her.

“Do you know what this is?” she asked me, taking a black object from her satchel.

“Of course,” I said. “It’s a mobile telephone.”

“Yes, it is,” she said. “Do you know why I have a mobile telephone?”

“No,” I said confused. “I don’t think it would work out here anyway, Tonks.”

“Yes, it will,” she said. “It’s a special phone. A friend of mine in the Muggle Artifacts office did some tinkering with it and it will work, even all the way out here.”

“So, you want to make a phone call?” I asked, still confused.

“Not me,” she said, handing me the phone. “You.”

“I don’t know anyone who has a phone, except for my aunt and uncle and I assure you I have no desire to call them.”

“What about Hermione?” she asked. “You can call her.”

“No, I can’t,” I said. “I don’t know where she is, let alone what her telephone number is.”

“I do,” Tonks said. “I have a friend in the relocation program that they set her family up with. She’s in Atlanta, Georgia in the States. I also have a telephone number. Why don’t you give her a call?”

“Well, what about the time difference? What if I wake up her parents?” I asked.

“You won’t,” she said. “I set up a Floo Connection and I saw that her parents were leaving her home while they went out to dinner. She’s there alone now. It’s around 11 p.m. over there. Give her a call.”

“Tonks!” I said, beaming at her. “I could kiss you!”

Tonks laughed. “That’s what they all say. Don’t waste your time on me. Dial that number. Give her a call.”

I nodded and looked at the piece of parchment she palmed off on me. A telephone number was scribbled on it and I began to dial the number. My heart felt like it was beating a mile a minute as I heard the phone begin to ring. Tonks walked away a few steps to give me some privacy.

“Hello,” Hermione’s voice said.

“Hermione!” I said excitedly. “It’s me, Harry.”

“Harry!” she said, almost in disbelief. “But how?”

“Tonks helped me,” I said. “How are you?”

“I’m holding up,” she said. “But, Harry, how are you?”

“Same as you,” I said. “Did you parents give you any reason?”

“They said they wanted to keep me safe,” she said. “I’ve almost memorized my parents’ speech whenever I ask them why this has happened.”

“We miss you so much,” I said.

“I miss you, too,” she said. I could hear her voice begin to tremble. “Any news on Voldemort?”

“No,” I said. “Nothing new to report. He’s keeping a low profile.”

“Harry, be careful,” she said. “Stay alert. You don’t know what he’s capable of. You have to be strong.”

“It would be a lot easier if you were here,” I said, with a hollow laugh.

“I would give anything to be there with you,” she said. “And Ron, too.”

“I know that you would,” I said. “I’d give anything to get you back. We’ll find a way.”

“Don’t get yourself into trouble, though, Harry,” she said ,sounding like the Hermione I knew.

“I don’t get myself into trouble,” I said, trying to sound indignant. “It seems to find me.”

“Too well, it does,” she said, with a slight laugh. “I’m serious.”

“Hermione,” I began.

The phone suddenly went dead. She was gone.

“Hermione?” I said into the phone. Silence.

“Hermione? Hermione?”

I clicked the phone off. Tonks came hurrying up to me.

“Well?” she asked.

“She’s okay,” I said. “I mean, she’s as good as can be expected. She misses us.”

“I know she does,” Tonks said. “Last summer she used to talk about you all the---well, its’ not important, really.”

What had she meant by that? It sounded as if she was going to say that Hermione talked about him all the time, but she’d stopped herself. What was that about?

”Tonks,” I said, handing her back the phone. “Why did you do this? I mean, you could have gotten yourself into a load of trouble.”

“Well, let’s just say I have a soft spot when it comes to you and Hermione,” she said, taking the phone and placing it back into her bag. “You have a great friendship. I hate to see it fall apart because of this.”

“Thanks,” I said. “This really meant a lot to me.”

She beamed at me. “Anytime. Let’s keep this between you and I though, Harry. If this got out, it could be very bad, not just for me, but for my friend who gave me the mobile phone.”

I nodded and gave her my word.

“Take care of yourself,” she said. “You better get back inside before anyone asks questions.”

“Okay,” I said.

“See you in a few days to head to the station,” she said.

I watched as she apparated a few seconds later.

That night as I went to sleep, I couldn’t remember feeling as hopeful as I did at that very moment. Things had seemed bleak before, but just the sound of Hermione’s voice had made me feel better.

Things just might work after all.

(Hermione)

Meanwhile, a thousand miles away, I was remembering how my father had grabbed the phone from me and hung it up.

“Who was that?” he asked angrily.

I didn’t answer.

“Harry? Ron?” he asked me.

Again, I didn’t respond.

“I thought I could trust you, Hermione,” he said. “This isn’t going to work if you insist of fighting us every inch of the way.”

“I would really hate it if this didn’t work, Dad,” I said, angrily.

“Hermione!” my father cautioned me.

“I’m so sick of this,” I said hotly. “Can you see? The first inkling of happiness I’ve had since we got here came from a telephone call from Harry. What does that say to you Dad? Are you blind?”

“Hermione, you aren’t to contact them anymore, do you hear me?” he said firmly.

“Yeah, I hear you,” I said. With one last look at him, I walked to my room.

“Why can’t you hear me?” I said, under my breath.

Normal 2 73 2003-08-11T03:39:00Z 2003-08-11T03:39:00Z 1 2137 12182 101 28 14291 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Author’s note: Thanks again to all who have reviewed and read! You guys are great! I appreciate it, keep ‘em coming!

Chapter Five

Wherever You Will Go

“And maybe, I'll find out
The way to make it

back someday
To watch you, to guide you
Through the darkest of your

days
If a great wave should fall
It would fall upon us all
Well I hope

There's someone out there
Who can bring me back to you”

-The Calling

Wherever You Will Go

(Hermione)

Today was September 1^st. Today I should have been aboard the Hogwarts Express on my way to begin my sixth year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Was I there, though? Oh, no, I wasn’t. I was finishing my fifth day at a school that I absolutely detested.

Kit had told me about Ramsey Preparatory Academy, but I don’t think she’d done the place justice. For all that she had said, it was much worse than I ever imagined. The classes, the students, and the teachers were all nightmares. Of course, it didn’t help that I walked around all day with a surly look all over my face. My father said that it didn’t help matters when I went in predisposed to hate the place. That had been his response when I told him how much I hated the school.

I would give my father that. He’d made this decision and he was going to stick to it, regardless of how unhappy or miserable I was. I wished that they’d at least have waited until my final year at Hogwarts to pull this because I would have at least known how to apparate by then. If I knew now how to do that, I would have apparated back to London so fast my head would spin.

The thing that kept me going was the memory of Harry’s unexpected phone call. Words cannot express how happy that three-minute phone call had given me. To know that he missed me---well, it just did something to me. For one thing, it strengthened my resolve to find some way to get myself out of this mess. For another thing, it eased my mind as to his condition. I had really been worried about him these past few months.

The school day here was quite a bit different from Hogwarts. For one thing, the subjects were complete opposites of the Hogwarts curriculum. I began my day with something called “homeroom”---this was where attendance was taken and where announcements and notices were given. This was followed by first formal class---Biology. After that, I had American Literature, Latin, Computers, then Lunch. The day closed out with a class in Advanced Mathematics and Physical Education.

For the first time in my life in a classroom setting, I failed to pay attention to the teacher. I sat there at my desk, doodling or writing notes. I admit this was all pretty pointless, especially the notes I was writing. It wasn’t as if I could sent these to anyone.

In comparison to me, my parents were thriving in their new life. They’d found an office space in the downtown area and had been busily setting it up. They were both adjusting fine, which irritated me to no end.

This animosity between us was unfamiliar to me. I’d never had a problem with my parents before. Now, I walked around angry all the time, mainly at them and at the situation. I didn’t like the person I was becoming and I knew my parents weren’t too fond of her either.

The only happiness to my school day came when the final bell sounded at 2:35 p.m. Another end to another terrible day at Ramsey. I wondered what Ron and Harry were doing. They’d been back at Hogwarts for at least a few hours by now. They were probably enjoying the feast in the Great Hall.

I should be there, I wanted to shout. I should be there watching as Ron stuffed his face with as much food as he possibly could. I should be there as Harry laughed as I rolled my eyes at what a pig Ron was being. I should be there urging Harry and Ron to pay attention during the Sorting Ceremony. It should be me who was pointing the first years in the right direction as they received their first tour of Hogwarts. It wasn’t, though. It didn’t look as if it ever would be me again.

(Harry)

We finally finished with the feast in the Great Hall at a little after nine. I was tired, but didn’t feel as if I could sleep. I was too wired. Ron, who’d had to show the first years where to go, had bid me goodnight as I headed back to the Gryffindor Tower, following Dean and Seamus. We’d both wanted to talk to Dumbledore, but he’d left the Great Hall abruptly after making his final remarks to the students.

I knew, though, that if I didn’t talk to him tonight, I’d not be able to sleep. He may have some more answers as to why Hermione’s parents did this.

This whole day had been difficult. The entire day something seemed off, something seemed to be missing. We all knew what it was. Her absence spoke volumes.

The train ride back to Hogwarts was just as I expected it to be. Ron had left me to go and meet with the other prefects. In Hermione’s place, Lavender Brown had been named a prefect.

Ginny and I had found a compartment near the middle of the train and were joined shortly by Neville Longbottom, Dean Thomas, Seamus Finnegan, and Luna Lovegood. Dean and Neville were playing a game of exploding snap which Seamus was watching and shouting insults back and forth, trying to make Dean and Neville upset. Luna and Ginny were discussing something about their class schedules and I, well, I was looking out the window watching the scenery as it passed by.

When Ron had joined us in the compartment a few minutes later, Luna had brightened up and had begun to stare at him like he was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. She didn’t speak to him, however. Ginny and I caught on to this immediately, and exchanged a look as we watched Ron, who was oblivious to it all.

Things were actually going quite well, or as well as could be expected. Ron had just sat himself down and helped himself to a handful of pumpkin pasties when the moment we’d all be dreading happened. Draco Malfoy sauntered into the compartment, followed as always by Crabbe and Goyle.

“Hey, Potter,” he said, looking in my direction. “I heard a rumor and I wanted to see if you could confirm it for me.”

“I can,” I said. “Yes, you are the world’s biggest prat. It was confirmed just today.”

Everyone giggled, except of course for Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle.

“Very funny, Potter,” he said, wearing a frown. “That wasn’t the rumor I was talking about. I heard that the Mudblood you run around with was kicked out of the school.”

“She wasn’t kicked out,” Ginny said hotly. “She was withdrawn from the school by her parents, if you must know.”

“Easy, Red,” Malfoy said, surveying Ginny. “Don’t get all upset. It doesn’t matter, really. As long as she’s gone, I’m happy.”

“She’ll be back, Malfoy,” I said determinedly. “You can count on that.”

“Oh, how touching,” Malfoy said. “Weasley, you did know that Potter liked the Mudblood, too, didn’t you? You aren’t the only one all googly-eyed when she’s around. You both should know better, she’s not worth the waste of time.”

Both Ron and I rounded on Malfoy at once. We’d both grabbed our wands and pointed them at Malfoy. Crabbe and Goyle then proceeded to grab both Ron and I and try to hold us back.

Through all the pandemonium, we heard a loud, “PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!” and watched as all three of the Slytherins, collapsed to the floor in one fell swoop. We all turned to see Luna, putting her wand away and smiling, somewhat sheepishly.

“Sorry about that,” she said, smiling at Ron. “I just couldn’t stand hearing him anymore. I really don’t like him much at all.”

“No problem,” Ron said, smiling at her for the first time I could remember.

“You’re welcome,” Luna had said, beaming at him.

So, now here I was, making my way to Dumbledore’s office. It occurred to me half the way there that I had no idea what his password was and would no doubt have to wait for his return.

Luckily, I didn’t have to wait too long, as Dumbledore came down the corridor within a few minutes. He smiled knowingly when he saw me and nodded his head.

“Harry,” he said. “I was expecting to hear from you or Mr. Weasley soon.”

“Yes, Professor,” I said. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Alright, then,” he said. “Let’s go upstairs to my office.”

I watched as he muttered his password and the entrance to his office was opened. We walked up the spiral staircase in silence and upon arrival to his office, I sat in one of the chairs directly across from him.

“So, this no doubt has to do with Miss Granger, am I right?” Dumbledore said, peering at me over his half-moon spectacles.

“Yes, sir,” I said. “Could you please tell me why Hermione’s parents took her out of school? How you could let them take her out of school? I mean, she’s probably the smartest, most clever person here. We need her here.”

“I agree with you, Harry,” Dumbledore said. “But, you see, they are her parents. They have the final say in where their daughter receives her education. You know that a number of parents have expressed their misgivings about the safety of this castle. I tell them that we provide the best protection that we can. Some of the parents are not easily assuaged of this, though, I’m afraid. Hermione’s parents are scared. She is their only daughter; their only child. They want to protect her. I told them I didn’t agree with their decision, but I respected it, if they felt they were acting in the best interest of their daughter.”

“But they weren’t!” I exclaimed. “Can’t you see? She’s not happy where she is! We need her here with us! Not cooped away in some Muggle school!”

“I understand,” Dumbledore began, but I interrupted him.

“I don’t think you do,” I said hotly. “The one thing I’ve always been able to depend on, no matter how bad things got for me, was that my friends would always be there for me. Ron and Hermione mean everything to me. After what happened last year and you telling me about the prophecy, I don’t need this. I know it sounds selfish, sir, but I want her here with us. She belongs here with us!”

“Harry,” Dumbledore began again. “I’ve seen a number of students pass through these halls. I’ve seen friendships form and break. I’ve seen friendships that you knew would stand the test of time. The bond that you three have is a special one. It’s based on trust, loyalty and bravery. All of these things are what landed all three of you in Gryffindor House. You need to hang on to that bond. I know it seems like a desperate, hopeless situation, but if you have faith and you hold on to that trust, things will work out in the end.”

I could only nod. He continued.

“She needs you now more than ever, Harry,” he said. “I know you’re upset right now, but give it time. It is my belief that her parents will see past their fear and know where their daughter belongs.”

“That’s your answer?” I asked him in disbelief. “You’ve always said we could come to you when we needed help or if we had questions.”

“You can, Harry,” Dumbledore said calmly. “You may not always like the answers I give you, but you can come to me when ever you have a problem or a question.”

I sat there for a good while, just staring at him. Maybe I was waiting for him to give me some sort of wisdom that I could use to get Hermione out of this situation. Maybe I was waiting for him to tell me something, anything that I could build on. I don’t really know what I wanted him to tell me, but I did know that I didn’t need to hear that I should respect her parents’ decision and to give it time and pray for the best.

“Perhaps you should be getting back to your dorm, Harry,” Dumbledore said. “It’s getting rather late and you do have a busy schedule tomorrow.”

I nodded and walked down the staircase into the corridor, my disbelief growing with every step. When I returned back to the Common Room, I wasn’t surprised to see that it was deserted. By my best recollection, it had to be near midnight by now. I was about to ascend the staircase to the boys’ dormitory when I heard snoring from the couches. It was Ron.

Walking over to him, I nudged him on the shoulder and he awoke with a start.

“What time is it?” he asked me groggily, sitting up on the couch. I took a seat a few spaces away from him and looked into the fireplace, which provided the only light in the Common Room.

“Almost midnight,” I said.

“Did you go see Dumbledore?” he asked.

I nodded.

“And?” Ron said impatiently, rubbing his eyes.

“Nothing,” I said. “He said we should respect her parents’ decision and give it time. Same old story we’ve been hearing for weeks now from every adult and authority figure we know.”

“Makes you think they all got together and came up with this standardized answer to use whenever anyone questioned them about it,” Ron said. “I wonder how she’s doing.”

I was quiet. I hadn’t told Ron about my phone call to Hermione. I didn’t know why I hadn’t. I told myself it was because Tonks had said to keep this private. Yet, somehow, I knew this wasn’t entirely true. Tonks knew that Ron was my best friend and that he was Hermione’s best friend as well. He had just as much right to know how she was doing as I did. Yet, it was me that Tonks had gone to with the telephone.

“I think she’s doing okay,” I said diplomatically. “I mean, she’s Hermione. She adjusts.”
“Yeah, but, this has got to be terrible for her,” Ron said. “You know I would be out of my mind if my parents pulled something like that on me.”

“Yeah,” I said, continuing to look into the fire.

“We better get on up to the room,” Ron said, stifling a yawn. “Early start tomorrow.” He got up from the couch and started for the staircase and turned to see me, still sitting at the couch staring blankly at the fire. “You coming, Harry?”

“In a minute,” I said. “You go on ahead.”

He nodded and walked up the staircase. I was alone.

As I stared into the fire, I was thinking of two thoughts. I felt guilty for not telling Ron about talking to Hermione on the phone and I wanted desperately to find a way to see her. There had to be something I could do.

Then, an idea came to me. It was so simple. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before. Despite the fact that I was exhausted and I knew that I would pay for it tomorrow, I didn’t care. I quickly made my way out of the portrait hole and up to the Owlery. This couldn’t wait.

Normal 2 111 2003-08-16T21:27:00Z 2003-08-16T21:27:00Z 1 2633 15013 125 35 17611 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Authors’ note: Thanks for the kind reviews. Please let me know what you think!

Chapter Six

King of Pain

“I have stood here before inside the pouring rain,
With the world turning circles running 'round my brain
I guess I'm always hoping that you'll end this reign
But it's my destiny to be the king of pain”

“King of Pain” by The Police

(Harry)

How could things seem to be on the verge of falling apart, but also seem almost normal? For one thing, there had been no word on the whereabouts of Lord Voldemort. Many people took the “no news is good news” approach to this and went about their lives as normally as possible, but not me. Personally, I felt that he was lulling us all into a false sense of security. Then, he would attack and we wouldn’t be prepared.

Sometimes, I wondered why all of this had to fall on me. I was only 16 years old, for Merlin’s sake. Most guys who are 16 years old aren’t worried about saving the world from the Dark Lord. Most guys hadn’t just been told by Albus Dumbledore that in order for one of us to live, the other would have to die. There would be no other way around it. I know that I keep going on about it, but it’s a hard thing to escape. The knowledge of that prophecy has haunted me from the first moment I heard it. At times, I did feel it was a bit much. At these times, I tried to remember how Hermione had mentioned my “saving people” thing. I suppose I did have that. She could read me like a book. It was painful to think of Hermione. It didn’t seem right to be here without her. She was as much a part of Hogwarts to me as anything. She and Ron were my family. They meant so much to me. Their friendship had kept me going. It was like Dumbledore had told me, the bond between us was a special one. I had to do what I could to hold on to that.

Ron had been uncharacteristically tight-lipped about Hermione. He hadn’t mentioned her in a few days, and I didn’t really know what to make of that. I knew he missed her as much as I did, maybe that was why he hadn’t said anything. He’d never been one to be too open about his feelings, especially toward Hermione. Personally, I think his feelings toward her changed during our fourth year. He can say what he wants but I think he finally noticed that our best friend was a girl that night of the Yule Ball. Truth be told, I think that was the first time I’d noticed, too. I could still see her, walking in the Great Hall on the arm of Viktor Krum, confident but nervous. She’d looked beautiful that night, there was no denying that. Ron and I, though, had never talked about it----seeing Hermione in a different light other than the one we saw her in. She was our friend---it didn’t matter that she was a girl. She was just Hermione.

She was about as different as night and day from Cho Chang. Looking back on it all now, I think Cho was some sort of ideal I had set up in my mind. I’d never really gotten to know her, the real her. I only saw her as the pretty, popular girl that she was. This had been unfair to her, I know. Hindsight being 20/20 and all, I know now that it would never have worked out between she and I. For one thing, she was still getting over Cedric. For another, she had this crazy idea that Hermione and I were more than friends.

Come to think of it, Cho wasn’t the only one who’d had that idea. All of fourth year, what with Rita Skeeter’s articles about my “finally finding love at Hogwarts” rubbish, people had bought into the idea that Hermione and I were some sort of couple. Colin Creevey had been interviewed in the story and he’d said that we were never seen out of the company of each other. Then, Viktor Krum had approached me and told me how Hermione talked of me often and that he thought there was something between us. Not to mention, Cho going crazy over my wanting to cut short our date to go and meet with Hermione about an important matter. For Merlin’s sake, I was trying to get people to know that Voldemort was back. At the time, The Daily Prophet was painting the picture of me as some attention-seeking, tragic hero who made up stories to feed his need for fame.

It had been Hermione’s idea to use that horrible Skeeter woman to get the word out. I can remember how impressed I’d been with her that day. She amazed me time and time again at how clever she was. We gave her a hard time, but I don’t think you’d get Ron or me to admit that we’d been crap without her.

As I said before, things had returned to a somewhat semblance of normalcy in the past couple of weeks. I’d been approached to continue the D.A. training lessons, but there wasn’t really a point in continuing when we finally had a Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher who could really teach us how to defend ourselves against what we could possibly face. Dumbledore had received permission to rehire Remus Lupin. Some parents had expressed concern about a known werewolf teaching their children, but Dumbledore had assuaged their fears by assuring them that Lupin was taking every possible precaution and would never hurt a student.

Angelina was busily trying to put together the training schedule for Quidditch. My life-long ban (imposed by Umbridge) had been lifted and along with Angelina, Katie, Alicia, Ron and Ginny, we were going to hold tryouts for a beater soon. Life was going on, but I couldn’t shake the fact that something was missing.

As I told you before, Hermione had always been there for me. She needed me to come through for her. It was the least I could do for her, after all that she’d done for me. That was why I had sent that urgent letter off a few nights ago. I’d known it was a risk to do this, not only to me, but to the letter’s recipient. I also knew that you never got anywhere in life by letting things go and praying for the best. Sometimes, you had to take action and you had to take a chance. That’s what I had done.

Luckily, I hadn’t had to worry too much about setting up a meeting. Though I didn’t like waiting, there was no other option, but to schedule it for the first weekend in October---our first weekend visit of the year to Hogsmeade.

When that Saturday finally rolled around, I’d been so anxious about my covert meeting, that I’d barely been able to eat breakfast. Ron had asked me what my problem was, but I’d just told him I wasn’t very hungry. We’d set off after breakfast with Neville, Dean, Seamus and Ginny for Hogsmeade.

Getting away from Ron had been hard to do. I’d left him just outside of Honeydukes’. I’d told him that I needed to go and check something out in one of the post offices. Luckily, he didn’t question me and said I could catch up with him when I was finished.

Yes, I still felt guilty for not sharing any of this with Ron. I tried to make myself feel better about it by saying that none of this could actually end up panning out. It would be a shame to get Ron’s hopes up and have to dash them so quickly. That was what I was telling myself, but I didn’t believe a word of it, not for a minute.

So, I’d made my way down to the Hog’s Head. As I walked through the doors to the pub, I saw that the place hadn’t changed much in the year that I’d been there last. It was still small and dingy and still had that goat-like smell to it. As it was still early in the day, there weren’t very many people there. There were only a few people scattered about among the bar. The man behind the bar watched me warily as I strode up to the bar.

“What do you want?” he asked me firmly.

“Butterbeer, please,” I said.

He didn’t say a word as he reached under the bar and pulled out a bottle and put it down on the bar.

“Two sickles,” he said, holding out his hand. I reached into my pocket and took out my money. After paying for it, I grabbed the bottle and headed for one of the empty tables in the back of the bar.

I took another glance at my watch. We were scheduled to meet after 11 a.m. It was now just past 11. I hoped Tonks wouldn’t be too much longer.

Luckily, fate was on my side. She came striding in the doors a few moments later. She had said she’d be dressed inconspicuously. If this was her idea of inconspicuous, I would hate to see what she did when she really wanted to stand out. She was dressed in a pair of pink, acid-washed jeans with a neon green t-shirt that had a printed design embroidered on it that spelled out the word “Charming”. She topped this look off with a pair of green, high-top trainers. Her hair was dyed a platinum blonde and was styled in ringlets. She wore a bright smile as she caught sight of me.

“Hiya, Harry!” she exclaimed, taking a seat across from me.

“Hi, Tonks,” I said warmly. “Thanks for agreeing to meet with me.”

“No problem,” she said. The man behind the counter motioned to her to see if she wanted to place an order. “Nothing for me, thanks.”

“So,” I said. “Did you---I mean, were you able to-?”

“Get you a Floo Connection?” she asked softly.

I nodded.

“You bet your sweet arse, I got you a Floo Connection,” Tonks said proudly. “Don’t worry. It’s a secret connection, totally undetectable. I have a mate who works in the connection department. She owes me a favor. I got her backstage to see The Weird Sisters a couple of weeks ago and she said she owed me one, so this is her way of repaying me. It’s a four-hour block, Harry. You need to make sure that you’re not detected. If you miss the connection back, you could be stuck on Hermione’s side and that wouldn’t be good.”

I nodded. “When is the connection for?”

She looked at me sheepishly. “It’ll be tricky, Harry. It’s on Monday, October 6^th,” she said.

“What’s wrong with that?” I asked confused.

“Well, it’s not the date, but the time of the connection,” she said. “The only time I could set up is at 6:00 a.m. our time.”

She was right. That wasn’t a good thing. Classes began every morning at 8:00 a.m. My absence would be noticed, there was no doubt about that.

“It’s gets even more complicated, Harry. You know with the time difference and all, it will be 6:00 a.m. our time, but where Hermione is it will be 1:00 a.m. You’ve got to make sure you aren’t noticed. I know with Floo, it’s a little hard to be inconspicuous, but you’re going to have to try. If her parents find you, it could be a disaster.”

I nodded determinedly. “Well, it might not be the most appropriate time, but it will work. I mean, it has to work. On the bright side, I know no one will be in the common room that early. It should be good to go, but this whole thing about Hermione’s fireplace, that’s another story.”

Tonks nodded. “I know. Could you imagine, Hermione’s mum and dad sound asleep and the next thing they know you come sliding through their fireplace. You know, that happened to me once. I was sound asleep and this ex-boyfriend of mine just showed up unannounced. Scared me half to death, mind you, but I fixed him something good. I put a curse on him where every time he would open his mouth to speak, he’d squeal like a pig. It was a sight to see, let me tell you.”

“Tonks,” I said, wanting to get her back on topic. “Are you sure this is okay? I mean, I know you’ve taken a big chance to do this form me.”

“Not just you, Harry,” she said, smiling at me. “It’s for Hermione, too. You know, I got to know her really well when she was here last summer at 12 Grimmauld Place. She’s a great girl. I imagine she’s missing you something fierce right about now.”

“Well, we miss her, too,” I said. “Ron and I both miss her a lot.”

Tonks winked at me. “Well, you’ll get to see her, soon. Just think about that.”

“Thanks to you, I will,” I said, smiling at her. “I really don’t know what to say to thank you.”

“Tell Hermione to hang in there,” she said, getting up from her chair. “Tell her I said hello.”

“I will,” I said. “Thanks.”

“You said that, already,” she said.

“I figured it bared repeating again,” I said.

“Good luck, Harry,” she said, turning on her heels and walking out of the bar.

I followed suit a few seconds later and made my way back to Honeydukes’ to meet back up with Ron. On the way back, I passed a shop and the sight in a window made me stop. After staring at the object behind the glass, I walked into the shop. I knew what I had to do.

Sunday went by in a blur. I tried to catch up on my homework, which was growing in length everyday. Ron, too, was trying to catch up, but he’d given up when Dean challenged him to game of chess. When nightfall finally came, I was happy to give up on my futile attempt at homework. If Hermione could see me now, I thought, she’d tell me I needed to concentrate harder on my studies. I couldn’t help but laugh. She’d be able to tell me that in person, very shortly.

I’d set my alarm to go off a little after 5:30 a.m. When it did, I awoke with a start. Luckily, none of my roommates heard it. I quickly put my glasses on and surveyed the room. The only light came from a tapered candle that was sitting on the table in the middle of the room. I could see that everyone was still fast asleep. The room was quiet, save for Neville’s snores. Picking up my wand, I muttered “Lumos” and watched as my wand tip illuminated. I placed it on my bedside table and quickly dressed in a pair of jeans, a deep blue sweater and a pair of trainers. When I finished dressing, I picked my wand up and pulled out the packet of Floo powder I’d nicked from Professor McGonagall’s classroom.

I took one last look around the room, before heading out. I quickly made my way down the stairs to the common room. Thankfully, it was deserted, just as I thought it would be. This was it. I was nervous. After all that I had been through, this was making me nervous? It was a little hard to believe, but it was.

“Please let this work,” I said, as I made my way toward the fireplace. “Please let this work.”

I took a pinch of the floo powder and stepped up to the fireplace, and threw the powder into the flames. The flames turned emerald green and I stepped in and quickly shouted, “124 Whispering Pines Road, Atlanta, Georgia!”

Floo Powder had never been one of my favorite ways to travel. I felt the familiar feeling that I was being sucked down a drain. The sound was almost deafening. This was longer than I’d ever remembered it being, probably since I had a greater distance to travel. I kept my eyes closed, trying to block out the loud sound, which sounded like a freight train. Finally, I heard a “whoosh” sound as I seemed to be descending. Within seconds, I felt the cold brick on my skin.

Finally opening my eyes, I gingerly got to my feet. I was covered with soot, as was the floor of what I hoped was the Grangers’ new living room floor. It was dark, but the light from the moon illuminated the room. Looking around the room, I was relieved to not hear the sounds of footsteps. Apparently, the Grangers’ hadn’t heard my arrival. Surely, if they had, they’d been downstairs in seconds flat.

Looking at the mess of soot and ash on the floor, I took out my wand, and muttered, “Scourgify!” Within seconds, the floor was spotless.

“Lumos”, I whispered and my wand tip was lit. I was able to see their house for the first time. It was very nice and big. To my great relief, I caught sight of a picture of Hermione with her parents on the fireplace mantle. This was most definitely the house!

Barely containing my relief and excitement at being there, I quickly made my way to the staircase and ascended them to the second floor of the house. The first door I tried was a bathroom. The second was a guest bedroom. There were two other doors to try at the end of the hall.

“Great,” I whispered.

Taking a chance, I decided to choose the door on the left. My hand was shaking as I placed it on the doorknob and turned the doorknob slowly.

To my delight and relief, this was Hermione’s bedroom. She was sound asleep in her twin bed. I took a look around her room and found that it was somewhat messy. Though I’d never been in her bedroom before, either here or in her old home, I’d never imagined it to be messy. She always struck me as someone who would keep her room neat as a pin, but these weren’t normal circumstances. The majority of her belongings were still in the unpacked boxes.

I took a deep breath and walked closer to her bed. My heart leapt just looking at her. I attributed it to not seeing her in such a long time, but something inside of me couldn’t shake the feeling that it was something different. Trying to get that idea out of my mind, I tentatively put my hand out to wake her.

She stirred a little, but seemed to fall right back to sleep. I shook her again, and she opened her eyes at me.

“Hi, Harry,” she said sleepily. “You know you really shouldn’t be here in the girls’ dorm because-“

She had turned over, but froze as she realized what she’d just seen. I couldn’t help laughing.

“H-h-arry?” she asked, opening her eyes fully.

“Last time I checked,” I said beaming at her.

“Am I dreaming?” she said, sitting up in her bed. I had took a seat right on the edge of the bed. “Are you real?”

“I think so,” I said.

“What are you doing here?” she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes.

“Well, I was in the neighborhood,” I said, trying to crack a joke. She stared back at me, seemingly trying to convince herself that I was really here and that this wasn’t just a dream.

“Are you going to keep staring at me or are you going to give me a hug?” I said, holding out my arms to her. Within seconds, she’d pulled back her bed sheets and comforter and we embraced in a big hug.

“I missed you so much!” she said.

“I missed you too, Hermione,” I said. “You have no idea how much.”

Normal 2 148 2003-08-18T02:26:00Z 2003-08-18T02:26:00Z 1 2062 11755 97 27 13790 10.2625 BestFit Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

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.”

Normal 2 74 2003-08-20T02:50:00Z 2003-08-20T02:50:00Z 1 1964 11199 93 26 13137 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Author’s Note: Thanks again for the reviews! They keep me going! I hope you like this next chapter. I know this is short, but I hope you like it.

Chapter Eight

Complicated

“I'm so scared that the way I feel,
Is written all over my face
When you walk into the room,
I wanna find a hiding place.
We used to laugh, we used to hug, the way that old friends do.
But now, a smile and a touch of your hand,
Just makes me come unglued.
Such a contridiction, do I lie or tell the truth.
Is it fact or fiction,
Oh the way I feel for you.”

-Carolyn Dawn Johnson

“Complicated”

(Harry)

Somehow, I managed to get back to the Common Room a little after 8 a.m. As everyone was already in class, the Common Room was deserted, thankfully. With a quick glance at my watch, I cleaned up the mess of soot and ash that littered the floor and my clothes. I quickly dashed upstairs to my dorm room to change into my school uniform and cloak. Within minutes, I had changed, grabbed my bag and ran through the portrait hole, heading in the direction of Professor McGonagall’s class. I knew she wouldn’t be pleased.

Not pleased, was putting it lightly. She was positively livid when I rushed into the room, out of breath and winded. The entire class turned to watch as I made my way toward my desk. She wasn’t going to let me off the hook so easily, though. Right before I sat down, she descended upon me.

“So nice of you to join us, Potter,” she said, giving me a look mixed with disappointment and disdain. “I am so sorry that we don’t schedule these classes on your time, but it is so good of you to come and join us when you were ready to grace us with your presence. I trust you have a good excuse for why you were nearly forty minutes late to class?”

“Sorry, professor,” I muttered. She stepped back and I was able to take my usual seat beside Ron.

“I’m waiting,” she said.

“I, uh, took an early morning walk and lost track of time,” I said sheepishly.

“Well, you’re tardiness has forced me to take five points from Gryffindor,” she said. “See that this doesn’t happen again, Potter.”

With one more look of disparagement in my direction, she turned back to finish the lesson. I exhaled, relieved that she’d bought my story. It was pretty lame, I admit, but it did the trick just the same. I quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and my quill from my bag, but that was just for show. I knew that I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on what McGonagall was saying. I was too busy reliving my visit with Hermione in my head. It had been so great to see her again. He would do it all again just to see the look of surprise and elation in her eyes when she woke up to find him in her bedroom.

In the five years that I’d known her, she and I had been around each other, alone and in the company of others, loads of times. We knew each others looks and tones of our voices. We knew when to leave each other alone and when to offer a friendly ear or shoulder. That’s what happens when you’re friends. This time, though, had been different, to say the least. Everything about this visit had been different.

I suppose I could chalk it up to not seeing her in months, but I knew better than that. It wasn’t just that. Maybe it was because she’d kissed me. Albeit, it was a quick kiss on the lips, it was still a kiss. She’d kissed me before. The first time had been that day at Kings Cross Station at the end of fourth year. That had taken me by surprise, too, but it had just been a peck on the cheek. Maybe, I was reading way too much into this. After all, I had just risked expulsion by using an unauthorized Floo Connection to visit her. I’d just given her a present, too. She was probably just showing her gratitude. That’s all it was, right?

My thoughts on Hermione were interrupted though, when I felt someone nudging me in the side and calling my name.

“Harry?”

It was Ron. I focused my attention on him and saw that the rest of my classmates were busily exiting the classroom. Ron was gathering up his paper and quill.

“You planning on spending the rest of the day here with McGonagall?” he asked, watching with a smile as I quickly gathered up my untouched parchment and quill. “I would advise against it. I don’t think you are her favorite person at the moment.”

“Yeah, right,” I said, following Ron out the door.

We started the walk to Flitwick’s class in silence, but Ron asked me the question that I knew would come.

“Are you alright?” he asked me finally. “I mean, you were gone when I woke up this morning. I was worried.”

“Yeah, I’m fine,” I said absently. “You know, you are starting to sound more and more like your mother everyday. It must be the whole prefect thing. I think it’s going to your head.”

“Sod off, Harry,” he said. “Seriously, where did you head off to this morning?”

“It’s like I told McGonagall, Ron,” I said. “I woke up early this morning and couldn’t sleep so I thought I’d take a walk. That’s it.”

I could tell he didn’t buy this story. Lying had never been one of my strong suits.

“You’re sure that’s all,” he asked me, as we rounded the final corner before reaching the classroom.

I nodded, and to my great relief, he didn’t push the issue any further. Once we entered the room, we took our seats and Ron struck up a conversation with Dean and Seamus. As I sat down, I couldn’t help thinking of Hermione again. Try as I might, I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I remembered how my heart had sped up at the sight of her, soundly asleep in her bed. She had looked so peaceful, so calm, so…beautiful.

“No, no,” I told myself. “This is Hermione. Hermione. She’s my friend! I can’t go around thinking of her like that.” But, then again, how good did it feel just to see her smile at me again? How good did it feel to hug her? How good did it feel to get all that stuff off his chest? I’d known that of everyone, she’d be the one I could share that with. I was comfortable with her. I knew she’d understand. She always understood.

This wasn’t right. I shouldn’t be thinking of her like that for a number of reasons. One, she was my friend. Two, I suspected Ron had feelings for her. Three, I had other things to occupy my time. If I allowed myself to think about this, I’d be opening up a bigger can of worms than I was prepared to open.

(Hermione)

I awoke sometime after 7:00. Truthfully, I hadn’t slept since I said goodbye to Harry. How could I be expected to sleep after that? I couldn’t believe he had done that! What’s more I couldn’t believe how I’d been so brazen as to kiss him like I did. I was worried that I may have made a mistake. Despite my apprehension over this, I couldn’t stop smiling.

I quickly showered and dressed for school and looked on my dresser where the necklace and charm lay sparkling. It truly was the most special gift that anyone had ever given me. I looked at it and smiled before putting it around my neck and hooking the clasp.

“Hermione!” my mother called from just outside my door. “You are planning on going to school, aren’t you? You need to get a move on.”

“I’m ready,” I said, quickly, opening my door. My mother looked surprised to see me dressed and ready. From her tone, I think she expected me to be sulking about in my pajamas.

“Oh, good,” she said. “There’s some toast and marmalade downstairs for you and fresh orange juice.”

“Okay,” I said, grabbing my book bag. I gave my mum a bright smile before breezing past her. “It’s a beautiful day, isn’t it?”

“Uh, yes,” she said, following me down the stairs. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Fine,” I said. “I am absolutely perfect!”

She still looked skeptical as she watched me take a seat at the kitchen table and help myself to some toast and marmalade. I smiled warmly at my father, who was nursing a cup of coffee and looking over the morning newspaper.

“Good morning, Daddy,” I said.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” he said. I saw him and my mother exchange nervous looks. I suppressed the urge to tell them not to get the idea that I was finally coming to grips with the situation. I was just too happy right now to worry about them. This was the one ray of sunshine I’d had in weeks. They weren’t going to spoil it for me. Nothing would spoil this for me.

“I forgot what a beautiful smile you had,” my dad said. “We haven’t seen it in a long time. I hope it sticks around.”

“Me, too,” my mother said.

“Things are definitely looking up,” I said. “Things will be back to normal soon. You can count on it.”

My father beamed at me. “I’m so glad to hear you say that!”

We ate the rest of our breakfast in silence. My dad finished reading his paper, my mother was reading a magazine, and I was thinking about Harry.

“That’s a pretty necklace, Hermione,” my mother said. “Where did you get that? Is it new? I don’t remember ever seeing that before.”

My smile faded. “Oh, you mean this necklace?” I absentmindedly put my fingers on the charm. “You remember how Kit and I went to the mall a couple of days ago? I picked it up at one of the shops.”

“It’s beautiful,” she said. “It looks beautiful on you.”

I beamed at her. “Thanks! I fell in love with it the moment I saw it.”

She smiled and looked at her watch. “We’d better get a move on, Robert.”

“Yeah,” he said. “Come on, Hermione. We’ll give you a ride.”

The school day went by in a daze for me. I took the bus home and walked up the walkway to our house and saw Kit sitting on my front steps.

“Hey,” she said.

“Hey,” I said.

“How was your day?” she asked me. “Mine was average. Someone pulled the fire alarm before fifth period and we spent the rest of the afternoon outside.”

“That’s good,” I said, somewhat in a daze.

“Yeah,” Kit said, obviously noticing that I hadn’t heard a word she’d said. “And I’m thinking of quitting school and joining the circus where I hope to become a acrobat and marry the bearded lady.”

“That’s nice,” I said. “Wait a minute, what?”

“Where were you just now?” she asked.

“At school,” I said, taking my key from my backpack, and opening the door. I held it open for Kit to walk through and I followed suit. “Where else would I be?”

“No,” Kit said. “You were in some other world just then. In fact, you are smiling so brightly, I didn’t even know you had that many teeth. Spill your guts, girl. What happened?”

“Hold on,” I said, taking hold of Kit’s arm. I looked around the house and called out, “Mom? Dad? Are you here?”

There was no response. With a conspiratorial look at Kit, I led her into the kitchen and sat her down at the bar.

“What’s the big secret?” she asked me.

“Harry was here,” I said, beaming at her.

“He came to visit you all the way from London?” she asked me, a smile creeping across her face. “Hermione! That’s amazing! No wonder you’re so happy!”

I could only nod.

“Wow,” she said. “How long is he here for? When do I get to meet this guy?”

I frowned. “Well, you don’t get to meet him. He wasn’t here for very long. My parents don’t even know he was here. They’d probably flip out if they knew he’d been here.”

“I don’t understand why you’re parents are so against him. I mean, he sounds like a great guy,” Kit said. “Most parents would love for their daughter to meet guys like that.”

“Well, they like him,” I said. “They just didn’t like the environment that he and I were living in.”

“What kind of ‘environment’ were you living in?” Kit said, confused.

“It’s complicated,” I said.

Part of me wished I could tell Kit everything. She’d probably laugh in my face if I told her the truth. She was a Muggle, after all. She was, though, my one true friend here. I was afraid that if I told her the truth, she’d run far away from me and I’d have no one here.

The truth was that I had nearly given up hope on ever getting back to Hogwarts before Harry’s visit. I’d resigned myself to thinking that this was the lot I had in life, and I had to deal with it. I felt like there was nothing else I could do, but Harry convinced me that all was not lost. He did care about me. He took a big risk doing what he did last night. He didn’t have to do that, but he had done it. Last night, he gave me something other than a necklace. He gave me back my faith. I would need that if I was going to make it through this.

“Complicated?” Kit asked me. “Well, I can understand that. Whoa! Look at that necklace! Hermione!”

“It’s a late birthday present from Harry,” I said, beaming.

“Oh my God!” she exclaimed. “It’s absolutely beautiful.”

“Thanks,” I said. “I think so, too. I couldn’t believe it when he gave it to me. I wasn’t expecting anything. In the past, he’s always given me a book or something, because he knows how much I like to read.”

“Well, this is different, alright,” Kit said. “I think your Mr. Potter thinks a lot more of you than you think.”

“Really?” I asked her.

“I’ve got people I consider good friends that I don’t give gifts like this, too,” Kit said, with a laugh. “I don’t think I’ve ever given my parents a present as nice as this. It’s only a matter of time, Hermione.”

“It’s complicated,” I said.

“Well, I think it’s getting clearer by the second,” Kit said.

I hoped she was right.

Normal 2 223 2003-08-24T02:23:00Z 2003-08-24T02:23:00Z 1 2389 13619 113 31 15977 10.2625 BestFit Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Chapter Nine

We Belong

“Close your eyes and try to sleep now

Close your eyes and try to dream

Clear your mind and do your best

To try and wash the palette clean

We can’t begin to know it

How much we really care

I hear your voice inside me

I see your face everywhere”

-We Belong by Pat Benetar

(Hermione)

“Miss Granger?”
My English teacher, Mrs. Talley, was calling on me. I heard her, but I didn’t answer. I was too busy doodling on my notebook.

“Miss Granger?” she asked again impatiently.

“Yes, ma’am,” I said, reluctantly looking up from my notebook.

“Well, thank you for finally answering me,” Mrs. Talley said. “What I asked you was if you read the assigned chapters?”

“No,” I said looking down at my desk, not meeting her eyes.

“You’ve not completed any of the assignments since the school year began,” Mrs. Talley said. “You are in danger of flunking this class and we haven’t even finished half the school year. Is that what you want?”

“No,” I said. I could feel the eyes of the entire classroom on me.

“Well, then, I think you should go and see your guidance counselor,” she said. “Gather up your things. It’s a waste of my time and a complete disrespect to your fellow students when you haven’t even bothered to complete your assignments.”

I nodded glumly and quickly gathered up my books and stuffed them into my backpack. Mrs. Talley glared at me as I got up and started for the door. As I closed the door behind me, I heard her begin the lesson again.

Again, I had to marvel at how much I had changed in such a short period of time. The old me would have been the first one to raise her hand in class; the one who had read the assignment when everyone else hadn’t. More than likely, I’d be the one who read more than the class had. I would hang on the words of all the teachers and take notes like a fiend.

Those days were over. This new me didn’t pay attention. She didn’t take notes. She was barely there. I’d come to think of this school as a place that I was forced to go for eight hours a day to appease my parents. It might not have been so bad if they’d at least allowed me to attend an American magic academy, but no they had wanted to distance me from all that I knew and all that I loved.

Harry’s visit had bolstered my spirits, but as the days passed on, my heart ached to see him again. It had been almost two weeks since that had happened. I had no idea if he’d been caught. I had no idea if anything had happened with Voldemort. I had no idea, period. That was what was killing me.

When I finally reached the door of the guidance counselor’s office, I knocked and a voice from behind the door asked me to come on in.

I’d only met with her once before when I first began classes. She seemed nice enough. She was in her thirties. She had a short, black pixie-style haircut and today was wearing a white linen top with a grey skirt.

“Ah, Hermione Granger,” Ms. Reynolds said, ushering me inside. She motioned for me to take a seat and I did. “What brings you to see me? Shouldn’t you be in English?”

I nodded. “Mrs. Talley sent me here because I didn’t do the assignment.”

“She’s expressed some concerns about you,” Ms. Reynolds said. “She said that you haven’t been turning in assignments, you haven’t participated in discussions and you haven’t paid attention in class.”

“She’s correct,” I said.

“That’s a report from most of your teachers,” she said. “Is there anything you want to talk about? Are there any problems at home?”

“I wouldn’t know,” I said.

She looked at me confused. “You wouldn’t know if there were problems at your home?”

“That’s right,” I said defiantly.

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” she said.

“This isn’t my home,” I said. “My home is a thousand miles away. This isn’t my school. My school is a thousand miles away. So, if there are any problems at ‘home’ I wouldn’t know because I’m not there, am I?”

She looked at me for a second, trying to comprehend what I’d just said.

“I understand how hard it can be to move from a place where you feel secure into a new environment where you aren’t sure-“

I interrupted her. “You can’t possibly understand what I’m going through. I’m so sick of everyone saying they understand. If they did, this wouldn’t be happening. I was perfectly happy where I was, you know? No one asked me if I wanted any of this. They just did it. When I questioned it, they said they did it for me. Can you believe that? They did this for me? What did they expect I would do thank them for taking me away from the only friends I’ve ever had? Thank them for taking me away from a place that became my second home? Taking me away at a time when I was needed most of all? Do you understand that? Because if you do, I would really like you to explain it to me because I don’t understand at all.”

I knew I was rambling, but every emotion that I’d held back for weeks came pouring to the surface. Once I’d started, I couldn’t stop myself.

“Have you told your parents this?” she asked me cautiously.

“They won’t listen to me,” I said, glumly. I put my face in my hands. “They won’t listen to anything I say. All I want is to go back home, but they won’t let me.”

“Why did your parents move here, Hermione?” she asked.

“Well, they say it was to protect me.”

“Protect you from what? Your records indicate that you were a straight-A student at your last school. The letters of recommendation all describe you as a smart, clever, well-mannered young woman.”

“It’s a long story,” I said. “My parents didn’t like my school.”

“Well, what was their problem with it?”

That was a loaded question if ever there was one. I couldn’t very well tell this woman the truth, now could I? If I did, I have a feeling she’d be recommending a full psychiatric evaluation of one Hermione Granger.

“You’d have to ask them,” I said.

“I think I will,” she said.

I smiled. My parents obviously weren’t listening to me. Maybe they’d listen to Ms. Reynolds. She was an educated woman. If she told them how unhappy I was here and how this just wasn’t working out, maybe they’d do something about it. It was worth a shot, and frankly, I was running out of time.

(Harry)

There were more important things to do than play a game of wizards’ chess with Ron. I had a load of homework that only seemed to increase by the day. In addition to my Occlumency lessons with Snape, I had two essays to do for Professor Binns, I had three rolls of parchment due for McGonagall and I had to study for the quiz Professor Sprout was going to give us tomorrow in Herbology.

Ron was about as bad off as I was. Both of us had taken the art of procrastination to a new level. If Hermione could see us now, she’d roll her eyes at the two of us.

We’d had good intentions when we set up our books and parchment and quills at a table in the common room after dinner. We’d decided that tonight was the night we’d both get caught up. That had worked for about an hour before Ron, who’d grown increasingly agitated over his Potions’ homework, asked me if I fancied a game of chess. We’d promised each other we’d only play for an hour and then resume our studies. That had been nearly two hours ago. The common room was slowly beginning to empty. There was only a handful of students still there, Ron and I included.

“Harry?”

“Hmmm?” I said. I had rested my chin on my elbow as I waited for Ron to make his next move.

“Your move, mate,” he said.

“No, it’s not,” I said, stifling a yawn. “It’s yours.”

“I just went,” he said. “See, I just captured your pawn.”

I looked down at the board.

“Oh,” I said. “Actually, Ron, can we finish this tomorrow? I’m dead knackered.”

“Me, too,” he said.

“So much for catching up,” I said, rising from my chair. Ron did the same and we walked back over to the table where we’d laid out our belongings. As we began to gather everything up, Ron sank down onto one of the chairs.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing,” he said, frowning.

“Well, it’s obviously something,” I said.

“I was thinking about Hermione,” he said. “I think we took her for granted, you know?”

I nodded.

“If she could see us now,” Ron began.

“She’d be disgusted with us,” I finished.

“Yeah,” Ron said, a faraway look coming over his face. “Do you really think she’s okay?”

“I dunno,” I said, avoiding his gaze. “I hope so.”

“We haven’t talked about her, too much, you and me,” Ron said. “Why is that?”

“Maybe we’re afraid of talking about it because somehow it will make it all seem real.”

“Yeah,” Ron said. “Can I tell you something, Harry?”

“Sure,” I said. “Shoot.”

He looked down at the table and then out the window. I couldn’t imagine what had him all nervous like that.

“It’s kind of hard to talk about,” he said. “I’ve never actually said this to anyone. Fred and George used to tease me about it all the time, but I used to just tell them to shove off whenever they said it.”

“Spill your guts, mate,” I said, taking a seat directly opposite him.

He looked around the room, as if he was checking to make sure no one could hear our conversation. He was making me nervous just looking at him.

“Okay,” he said. “Well, for a long time, actually, I’ve kind of had…”

“What?” I asked impatiently, as his voice trailed off.

“Well, you remember during fourth year when Hermione started seeing Krum? I was really put off about the whole thing. I thought it was because I was mad that she was talking to someone you were competing against, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was more than that.”

“What are you trying to say Ron?”

“I kind of, sort of, you know, like Hermione,” he said.

“Well, I should hope so, I mean, she’s our friend,” I said, beginning again to gather up my books.

“No,” Ron said, shaking his head. “You don’t understand, Harry. I like-like Hermione. You know, the way that you liked Cho Chang last year?”

I froze. I couldn’t imagine why this news was shocking to me. I’d suspected as much. Hearing it though right from the horse’s mouth was something different entirely. I didn’t know what to say about this. I didn’t know what to feel about this. I just felt numb.

“Say something,” Ron said.

“Uh-“, was all that came out.

“Come on, Harry,” Ron said. “You must have known. I mean, she and I-“

“You fight like cats and dogs,” I said. “You fight all the time.”

“Yeah,” he said. “I know it doesn’t make sense, but maybe we fight like that to cover up our feelings.”

I looked at him, my mouth agape.

“I know,” he said. “This is pretty big. I couldn’t believe it myself, but I’ll tell you this, Harry. If she comes back, I won’t waste anymore time dancing around her. I’m going to tell her how I feel.”

I nodded.

“Well,” Ron said, yawning. “I’m going to go on upstairs. You coming?”

“Uh, in a minute,” I said.

“Okay,” he said, heading for the staircase. Before ascending the stairs, he turned around and said to me with a smile, “You have no idea how good it felt to finally get that out. Thanks for listening, Harry.”

I mumbled, “Anytime,” as I watched him go upstairs.

A few minutes ago, I’d felt as if I was about to fall out from exhaustion. Now, I was so wired, I knew I wouldn’t be able to go to sleep anytime soon. I sat in that chair for a long time. I suddenly knew what I had to.

As soon as I made it to Hagrid’s front door, I slipped off my dad’s invisibility cloak. I draped it over my shoulder, and knocked on Hagrid’s door, praying he wouldn’t already be asleep or gone.

A few moments later, he came to the door, dressed in a pair of the largest blue and grey plaid pajamas I’d ever seen. On top of his head, he wore a nightcap.

“’arry,” he said, opening the door. “Why you here so late?”

I pushed passed him, which wasn’t an easy job to do, but he shut the door behind me. I sat down on one of his large chairs and couldn’t help feeling a flash of memories come over me at the times the three of us had come down here to visit Hagrid.

“Are you alright?” he asked me. “Do you want some tea?”

I shook my head. “I’m sorry for coming down here so late, Hagrid, but I couldn’t sleep.”

Hagrid sat down on one of the other chairs, which suited him a lot better than it did me.

“Alright,” he said. “What’s the matter?”

“Where would you like me to begin,” I said moodily. “It’s everything, but most of all. It’s Ron. It’s Hermione. It’s Ron and Hermione, together. I mean, could you imagine two people who are least suited for each other than the two of them.”

“What are you on about, ‘arry?” Hagrid said. “What’s this about Ron and ‘ermione?”

“That’s what I’d like to know,” I said, getting up from my chair and pacing in front of Hagrid. “The two of them used to drive me crazy arguing and bickering all over the place over the most stupid things, but all of a sudden Ron is confessing to me that he has these feelings for Hermione. Can you believe that? I mean, I always suspected he had something for her, but I had no idea that it was like this.”

Hagrid just stared at me as I continued to pace back and forth in front of him. If I wasn’t mistaken, I heard him stifle a chuckle every now and then as I continued my tirade.

“You don’t think that she feels that way about him do you? I mean, I don’t think she does, but then again, I don’t understand girls, period. Why are you laughing?”

Hagrid tried to put on a serious face. “Sorry, ‘arry. I really am, but I think you know why I’m laughing.”

“No, I don’t,” I said. “Frankly, it’s starting to make me mad, Hagrid.”

“I don’t want to make you mad,” he said. “Sit down, you’re startin’ to make me nervous. I can’t talk to ya when you’re up and about like that.”

I did as I was told, and Hagrid looked at me for a long time before continuing.

“I’ve been watching you lot since ya came here,” he began. “The three of ya have been like my own family. It broke my heart when I heard about what ‘appened with ‘ermione. It really did.”

“Hagrid,” I said impatiently.

He continued.

“That ‘ermione is a special girl. I’m not just talking about how smart she is, etiher. She’s a great girl and I knew it was only a matter of time before the two of you lunkheads figured it out for yourselves. You know the real reason you’re so upset by what Ron told ya, don’t ya?”

“No,” I said.

“Yes, you do,” he said. “It’s because you might feel the same way about ‘ermione that Ron does, maybe even more.”

“No, I don’t,” I said, looking away from Hagrid. “She’s my best friend.”

“So,” Hagrid said. “The best relationships start out from friendships. I happen to know one, in particular.”

“Who’s?” I asked, intrigued.

“Your mum and dad, for one,” he said.

“From what I’ve seen my mother thought my dad was a pompous git when they were at school here,” I said unconvinced. “From what I’ve seen, I think he was too.”

“You don’t know the full story,” Hagrid said. “Once your dad got over that arrogance, your mum and he were about as close as you could get. You rarely saw one without the other. Kind of reminds me of another couple of Gryffindors I know.”

“Yes, Hagrid, but still I can’t feel that way about Hermione! She’s my friend.”

“Who you trying to convince, ‘arry? Me or yourself?” he asked me.

“I’m not trying to convince anyone,” I said, angrily.

“Well, ask yourself this,” he said. “Why are you so worked up about all of this if she’s just your friend?”

“What?”

“Well, if she was just your friend,” he said. “Why are you so upset to hear that Ron likes her? If she’s just your friend, you should be happy that your best friends might like each other, right?”

To that, I didn’t have a response. Hagrid looked down at me with an ‘I told you so” expression.

“I should probably get back up to the castle,” I said, getting up from the chair and picking up my cloak.

“Alright,” Hagrid said, following me to the door.

“Think about what I said,” he said, as he closed the door behind me.

He had no idea how what he’d said would haunt me for the next couple of days.

Normal 2 1 2003-08-26T01:51:00Z 2003-08-26T01:51:00Z 1 2185 12461 103 29 14617 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Authors’ Note: Thanks again to all of you guys who have taken the time to read and give me feedback! Thanks so much!

Chapter Ten

There’s No Place That Far

“If I had to run
If I had to crawl
If I had to swim a hundred rivers
Just to climb a thousand walls
Always know that I would find a way
To get to where you are
There's no place that far”

-Sara Evans (There’s No Place That Far)

(Harry)

I blamed Hagrid for the way things had been going for the past few days. I had been able to think of little else but Hermione, thanks to him. Even when I tried to focus on something else, something or someplace would remind me of her.

Quidditch wasn’t even a distraction. My thoughts of Hermione got in the way of my flying, which had been horrendous to say the least. It didn’t help that Malfoy loved pointing this out to me every chance he got. He had taken to sitting in the stands during our practices and throwing out jeers and insults whenever he could.

I had taken to having arguments in my head over whether I could see her as more than my friend. The cold hard truth was that I didn’t have much experience or success where matters of the heart were involved. You could definitely say that when it came to love and girls, I was about as clueless as Crabbe and Goyle. The whole fiasco with Cho Chang last year pretty much confirmed that.

Cho had thought that there was something more between Hermione and me. It wasn’t just Hermione though, that had doomed that potential relationship. Cho had still been getting over Cedric. Besides that, I told myself, beyond Quidditch, Cho and I really didn’t have that much in common. I knew now that what I had felt for her had been simple infatuation.

I could still remember how Hermione had to translate Cho’s actions and words for him last year. I remembered how Ron had teased her that she’d needed to write a book about all this stuff. It would be nice to have some sort of book to consult to find answers for this. It wasn’t that simple, though.

Why did all of this have to happen? Why couldn’t things stay the same? Things had been so much simpler when we were 11 years old. We wouldn’t be worrying about something like this if we were still 11 years old.

To make matters worse, ever since Ron had confessed to me his feelings toward Hermione, he’d taken to ask me for my opinion on everything about her. He wanted my help finding out her mailing address. I lied and said that I didn’t know it and had no idea how we’d be able to get it. I also pointed out to him that any letter we sent would likely upset her parents, who obviously wanted to shut their daughter off from the wizarding community completely. He’d begrudgingly agreed with me.

He’d also taken to replaying things that had happened with her, which seemed pretty innocent to me. Did I think she might like him like that? Did I think she thought he was cute? For only the second time since we’d become friends, I’d started to avoid Ron. I was afraid that if I continued to listen to him go on and on about Hermione and his feelings, I would snap at him and that would just complicate things more than they needed to be at the moment.

So, I blamed Hagrid for the way things had turned out. He’d started me out on this train of thought, and I hadn’t been able to get off of it. If I was being honest, I knew that it wasn’t Hagrid’s fault. What he’d said made sense, although I was reluctant to admit this to myself. If I truly only saw her as my friend, I wouldn’t be so upset to find out that Ron liked Hermione. If I truly saw her as just my friend, I should wish Ron the best of luck as he pursued Hermione. I hadn’t done that. I honestly didn’t know if I could do that. I was at a loss.

What I did have, however, was an idea. After the last class of the day on Friday, I quickly made my way toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. I prayed that Professor Lupin would be in and wouldn’t be too busy to chat.

Sure enough, Lupin was seated at his desk in front of the classroom, apparently writing something on a piece of parchment. I cleared my throat as I walked into the classroom. Lupin looked up from his letter and smiled warmly at me.

“Come on in, Harry,” he said graciously. “Have a seat.”

I took a seat at the desk directly in front of him. I just stared at him and fidgeted in my seat.

“Well, what brings you here on a Friday afternoon?” he asked me expectantly.

I bit my lower lip.

“Are you alright?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I said, nodding my head. “Well, no actually, I’m not.”

“I’m afraid I don’t understand,” he said. “Is it something with your scar? It’s not hurting again, is it?”

I shook my head no.

“Sirius? I know I haven’t talked to you about it, but if you ever want to talk to someone about it, I’d like you to know that I’m here for you,” he said.

“I know,” I said. “It’s not about Sirius.”

“Alright, then,” Lupin said, leaning forward on the desk. He rested his chin on his fist.

“Well, I was sort of wondering if maybe,” I began, “you had someway of getting a Floo connection?”

He looked confused for a second as if this wasn’t at all what he’d expected me to ask. “Well, as a matter-of-fact, I do have a connection. The fireplace in my office is set up on the network.”

I smiled. “I sort of need a connection.”

“I see,” he said. “What for exactly? You know as well as I do, Harry, that students aren’t permitted to leave the grounds except during Hogsmeade weekends and in the case of a family emergency.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” I said. “You are going to stand there as one of the founding members of the Marauders and lecture me about rules?”

He chuckled. “I wasn’t lecturing you, Harry. I was just pointing out the rule. As a teacher, I have to at least put on the appearance of respecting the rules, even if I don’t always follow them myself.”

“So, let’s have it, Harry,” he continued. “This is tantamount to pulling teeth trying to get a straight answer out of you. Why do you need a connection? Who is it you want to see? Where is it you want to go?”

“Well, I need to visit someone,” I said, avoiding his gaze. “It’s an emergency, kind of.”

“Are you sure this doesn’t have anything to do with your scar?” he asked me, a serious expression coming over his face again.

“Positive,” I said, exasperated. “Okay! If you must know, I need to go and see Hermione straightaway.”

To my surprise and it must be said annoyance, the same knowing expression that Hagrid had worn a few days ago, came across Lupin’s face.

“What is that look for?” I asked.

He started to laugh. “I’m sorry, mate,” he said, between chuckles. “It’s just that if Sirius, Merlin-bless him, were alive, he’d owe me 100 galleons.”

“What are you on about?” I asked. “What for?”

“Well, he and I sort of had a bet on a certain green-eyed boy wizard and his best girl,” Lupin said, dissolving into laughter again. “I kept telling him it was only a matter of time until you wised up to what was right in front of you. Sirius thought it would take a little longer, as you had a lot of your dad in you.”

“You know,” I began, “it’s great that with all the stuff we’ve had to worry about over the years, you and Sirius found time to make wagers on my love life.”

“Calm down, Harry,” Lupin said. “It was just a bit of fun between friends.”

“Well, I’m glad it was so amusing to you,” I said hotly. “Now, are you going to help me or not?”

“Harry, I’d be glad to help you, but you don’t even know where she is, do you?”

I looked down at the floor. “Actually, I know exactly where she is. I’ve gone to see her once before a few days ago.”
“How?” he asked.

“I had a friend set up a connection,” I said. “I can’t say anything more on that because I don’t want to get this person in trouble.”

“Tonks,” Lupin said. “I swear, she’s a hopeless romantic.”

I didn’t have time to find out how he’d known it was her, so I continued.

“Look, Professor, I know I’m asking a lot, and I wouldn’t ask if this wasn’t important, but I just need to see her. I have to know that she’s okay. That’s not all, though. A few days ago, Ron told me that he liked Hermione and this upset me. Hagrid said it was because I might have---well, actually, he said that I did have feelings for Hermione, too, which was why I was acting like this. Look, I know I’m rambling on, but I have to see her to find out if he’s right. I need to see her. Please, help me.”

Lupin got up from his desk and walked toward the front door of the classroom. He looked out into the hall before closing the door behind him. He turned around to face me, a twinkle in his eye.

“Well, what are you waiting for, Harry?” he said, walking toward his office. I sat there in the desk, just staring after him for a few seconds. “I believe Miss Granger is waiting.”

(Hermione)

Friday was finally here. Thank the Lord! There seemed to be a light at the end of the tunnel. My parents were scheduled to meet with my guidance counselor, Ms. Reynolds, the following Monday. They hadn’t been too thrilled with this news, but Ms. Reynolds had insisited and they’d finally relented to meet with her. As my father had reminded me, this didn’t mean he was going to change his mind about the situation.

I checked my watch. It was just after 6:30 p.m. My parents were going out tonight to celebrate their 19^th wedding anniversary. Apparently, my father had booked a reservation at one of the fanciest restaurants in the area and they had tickets to a play. Despite my angry feelings toward them, I had wished them a happy anniversary and told them I’d hoped they had a lovely time out.

I had camped out in front of the television in the living room. When I heard my mother come downstairs, I sat up on the couch. She did look pretty. She wore a nice black pants outfit that complimented her figure and she’d pulled her back into a nice chignon.

“Wow, mom,” I whispered. “You look beautiful.”

“Thanks, sweetie,” she said. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay by yourself?”

I nodded. “I’ll probably just watch a movie or something.”

“You could invite Kit over,” she said.

“No, I can’t,” I said. “She’s visiting her grandparents this weekend.”

“Oh,” my mom said. “Well, that’s too bad. Are you sure you’re going to be okay?”

“Mom, I’m not six years old anymore,” I said, with a laugh. “I think I’ll be alright here.”

“She’ll be fine, Karen,” my dad said, coming down the stairs. “Wow!”

He’d just noticed my mother and grinned broadly at her. He looked handsome, too. He’d dressed up in a nice black suit.

“Wow, yourself,” she said, grinning.

“Hermione,” my dad said. “You have my cell phone number if you need me.”

I nodded.

“You guys have a nice time,” I said. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Okay,” my mother said, taking my dad’s hand as they walked toward the front door. “Why don’t you order a pizza or something? I left some money by the telephone.”

I nodded. “You kids have fun, now. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.”

I watched as they closed the door behind them.

As it was now October, it was getting colder during the evenings. This had been quite a nice change from the hot, humid summer we’d had. I’d started a fire in the fireplace and couldn’t help feeling cozy as I snuggled up on the couch and watched my movie. Kit had let me borrow it. She’d said it was one of her favorites. It was the movie “Grease”. It was a musical and I was quite enjoying it when I couldn’t shake the feeling that someone was looking at me.

I looked around the room and did a double take as I looked into the fireplace and saw Harry’s face flashing in the flames.

“Harry?” I asked softly.

“Hermione,” he said. “Is the coast clear?”

“Yes,” I said, getting up from the couch and standing in front of the fire. I could barely contain my excitement at seeing him.

“Hold on, a minute,” he said. “Stand back now.”

I did as I was told and felt my heart racing as I waited for him to come through. A couple of minutes later, he appeared.

Even covered in soot and ash, he still looked positively adorable.

“I tell you,” he said, dusting himself off. “No matter how many times you do that, you never get used to it.”

I threw my arms around him. He laughed as he hugged me back.

“What are you doing here?” I asked him, still holding him tight.

“Lupin helped me,” he said, when we finally let go of each other. “Where are your mum and dad?”

“It’s their anniversary tonight,” I said. “They’ve gone out for dinner and to a play. They won’t be home for hours.”

He beamed at me, a twinkle in his eye.

“Harry,” I said cautiously. “Are you sure this is okay? I mean, nothing’s wrong, is it? Nothing’s happened.”

“No,” he said, taking his wand from his pocket and performing a cleaning charm on the floor and his clothes.

“Well, why would you take a chance like this again?” I asked.

“I wanted to see you,” he said, a serious expression on his face. I felt as if I would turn to butter just looking at him. For the first time, I noticed that he’d taken my hand.

“How much time do you have?” I asked, smiling.

“Lupin said I could have four hours,” he said.

“Well, what do you want to do?” I asked.

“How about we go out?” he said. “You can show me Atlanta.”

I had never been known to be someone who was spontaneous or devil-may-care, but at that moment I didn’t care.

“Okay,” I said, a smile playing at my lips. “Let me just go upstairs and change.”

I let go of his hand and put my hand to my hair. I still wore the same blue jeans and red sweater I’d worn to school that morning.

“You don’t have to do that, Hermione,” he said. “You look perfect just like that.”

I couldn’t help blushing as he smiled at me.

“Just throw on some shoes and let’s go,” he said.

I nodded and returned his smile. I quickly pulled on my trainers and smiled nervous at Harry.

“I, um, should probably leave my parents a note, just in case,” I said.

“You’re not going to tell them the truth,” he said, worried.

“Of course not,” I said, reaching for the pad beside the phone. I picked up a pencil and scribbled a quick note to my parents.

Mum & Dad:
I hope you had a good time at the play and at the restaurant. A friend of mine from school dropped by unexpectedly and we went out for a bite to eat. I’ll be back soon!

Love,

Hermione

After I finished, I showed the note to Harry. He smiled.

“And I’m not even lying,” I said proudly. “You are a friend of mine from school and you certainly showed up unexpectedly and we are going out for a bite to eat.”

“I believe we’ve had a bad influence on you, Hermione,” he said, laughing as I led him out the door.

Normal 2 129 2003-08-28T02:12:00Z 2003-08-28T02:12:00Z 1 2315 13201 110 30 15486 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Author’s Note: To those of you who expressed concern---this story is told from both Harry’s point-of-view and Hermione’s point of view. I’m switching off between each of them. I hope this isn’t too confusing. This chapter is told entirely from Harry’s point of view. Inspiration comes from the song “Yellow” by Coldplay. Thanks again for all the kind reviews! I hope you like this chapter…

Chapter 11

“Yellow”

Hermione’s enthusiasm was contagious as she led me down the sidewalks of downtown Atlanta. We’d caught the bus from her neighborhood and I couldn’t help staring in awe at the large buildings and the crowd of people that packed the sidewalks. As we walked along, she pointed out different landmarks and stores.

“You know, I think you missed your calling,” I said, marveling at her.

“What’s my calling?” she asked intrigued.

“I think you should be a tour guide or something like that. You’d be in your element. Your talent is wasted as a student.”

She laughed. “Well, I’ll keep that in mind when we have career counseling again.”

“You know, you never really said what you wanted to do when you finished school?” I asked her, as she led me down another crowed sidewalk. “I mean, you said you wanted to do something meaningful, but you never really got into it.”

“Well, to tell you the truth, I really don’t know,” she said thoughtfully.

“Really?” I said, amazed. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say that.”

“It’s actually kind of scary, isn’t it? I mean, thinking about what you’re going to do for the rest of your life. I mean, as soon as you make that decision, it seems like everything you do, every choice you make, involves that. It’s probably the biggest decision you’ll ever have to make,” she said meditatively.

“How do you do it?” I asked her.

“How do I do what?” she said, turning to face me.

“Know exactly how I’m feeling,” I said, staring at her as if seeing her for the first time.

“It’s a gift,” she said, smiling cheekily at me. “Now, come on, I’m starving.”

I stood there for a second, laughing at her, before following her into a small pizza place.

“Harry, you are going to love this, I promise,” she said. “It’s almost worth being here for.”

We placed an order for two pizza slices---Hermione ordered pepperoni and mushroom for herself and I opted for pepperoni and green peppers. We waited in silence for our orders to come up and then took our tray of pizza slices and sodas to a table beside the window.

She was looking at me, and I smiled nervously at her.

“What?” I asked her.

“This is nice,” she said. “I think this is the nicest time I’ve had since I’ve been here.”

“Me, too,” I said, smiling at her.

As we dug into our food, I couldn’t help comparing this “date” to my date with Cho last year. Whereas things with Cho had been awkward and somewhat uncomfortable, I was completely at ease right away with Hermione. I suppose you could attribute this to the fact that we’d been friends for so long, but it was something else, too. Subconsciously, I knew exactly what it was, though I don’t think I was ready to admit it fully to myself.

As we ate, we exchanged talk about our respective school lives. She inquired about Ron and Hagrid and was thrilled to hear Lupin had been rehired as Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher. She looked wistful as I told her about all that had been going on. I could see tears welling up in her eyes.

“I hate to do this,” she said. “I cry at the drop of a hat lately.”

“Well, you’ve been through a lot,” I said, helpfully.

“So, have you,” she said, returning my gaze. We stared at each other for a few seconds, that seemed much longer.

“So, um, how are your parents doing?” I asked her, trying to hide how nervous her gaze made me feel.

“Okay,” she said. “Oh, Harry! I forgot to tell you. There may be hope for us.”

I looked up at her and swallowed hard. She noticed this and quickly went on.

“I mean, hope for me to come back to Hogwarts,” she said. “My parents are scheduled to meet with my guidance counselor on Monday. She’s a nice lady, Ms. Reynolds. Anyway, she doesn’t think I’m happy at Ramsey so she’s going to talk to my parents and I think she might have some say in it. I know it doesn’t sound like much, but it’s something, isn’t it?”

“Yeah,” I said, happily. “I hope it works. You know that if I’m going to graduate, I’ll need you there pushing me every step of the way.”

“Well, I gave you that homework planner,” she said. “You have been using it, haven’t you?”

“That thing is evil, Hermione,” I said, chuckling. “It’s taken to insulting me every time I open it. It’s said some crude things.”

“It’s supposed to stop you from procrastinating, Harry,” she said, mock-seriously.

“It depresses me,” I said. “I think maybe I should talk to Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia about recording their voices on it.”

Her smile faded. “You know you never really talk about it too much.”

“What’s that?” I asked her.

“Your life with your aunt and uncle and cousin,” she said. “I’d call them your family, but they are nothing like a family.”

“Well, they’re family in blood only,” I said. I looked down at the table. This wasn’t something I liked talking about. Come to think of it, I’d never really talked to anyone about it. “They certainly haven’t shown me any kindness. Not once.”

“What I don’t understand, Harry,” she said, hesitantly reaching across the table and putting her hand on top of mine, “is how great a person you turned out to be despite how you grew up. It must have been awful.”

“It wasn’t a picnic,” I said, trying to crack a joke, but failing miserably. I’d never really wanted to talk about it before, but I felt like I could with her. I felt like I should with her.

“Usually if I kept away from them, they’d leave me alone, too,” I said. “I don’t know what I would have done if I’d had to live with them all the time. I mean, if I’d never received that letter from Hogwarts. I probably would have run away.”

“That bad, huh?” she said pensively.

“Yeah,” I said, looking back down at the table. “As soon as my days at Hogwarts are over, I’m never going to even think about them again. They’ll just be a memory.”

“Your mum and dad would be very proud of you, Harry,” she said. “They’d be proud to know what a fine person and wizard their son turned out to be. I know that I am. I, for one, am very glad that you got your Hogwarts letter. You know, if you hadn’t, I suppose I’d have been finished off by that mountain troll in our first year.”

“Ron would have come after you,” I said.

“I don’t think so,” she said. “As I remember, it was you that reminded him that I was in there in the first place. He’d probably have headed back to the tower with the rest of the students if it hadn’t been for you.”

We’d mentioned Ron before in passing, but now even though he was miles away, I could feel his presence all around us. I felt guilty for what I’d done. Here I was sharing pizza with the girl that he’d confessed to me that he liked. Here I was sitting here with her, feeling all sorts of strange, wonderful feelings about her myself. I had no idea, I suddenly realized, how Hermione felt about Ron.

As if she was reading my thoughts, she suddenly said. “You know, I love Ron, I really do. He’s, well, he’s Ron, and he’s come a long way, but you know I don’t think he and I would have been friends had it now been for you. We’re just too different.”

“Well, you know what they say opposites attract,” I said, trying to covertly find out if she’d ever thought of Ron that way.

“Well, that might be, but come on, Harry,” she said. “Could you imagine Ron and me in a relationship? My Lord, we’d kill each other. We’re like oil and vinegar. We’re much better off being friends, he and I.”

This made me feel better, and I didn’t know how to feel about that.

I nodded.

She looked down at her watch.

“We better get a move on,” she said. “I have something I want to show you.”

“Okay,” I said. “Lead the way.”

What she wanted to show me, to my surprise, was the planetarium.

“What’s so special about this?” I asked her. “This is just like our astronomy class.”

She smiled at me. “You’ll see.”

We paid our admission, which was only a couple of dollars each, and she led me past some exhibits toward the viewing room.

“It’s really great, Harry,” she said. “They have these telescopes set out where you can look out into the stars and they play music, and it’s just absolutely fantastic.”

“How did you find out about it?” I asked her.

“Kit,” she said. “She’s like the only friend I have here, but she’s great. She took me here one night when she got tired of me sitting in my room moping. It really cheered me up. I come here a lot. It sort of reminds me of home, you know Hogwarts.”

I nodded. From the look in her eye, I could see that this place meant something to her. It meant something to me because she wanted to share it with me.

We finally made it to the viewing area. It was an open area with telescopes set up around the grounds. There was music playing in the background and a couple of people were dancing in the middle of the grounds. Now, I would be the first to admit that I didn’t know romance from anything, really, but this would definitely be something you could call romantic, even a blockhead like me could figure that out.

She took me over to one of the telescopes and we took turns looking up into the stars, trying to point out the different planets and constellations we could see. Hermione was taking another turn looking into the telescope when she gasped.

“That sky is amazing,” she said. “Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?”

I looked at her, her face beaming and her cheeks flushed from the cold. Her hair was blowing in the breeze and the moonlight shining down on her, seemed to illuminate her.

“No,” I said, looking at her. I knew, right then, that Hagrid had been right. Lupin had been right. They’d known all along, what I’d been too stupid and blind to see. She was a wonderful girl. She was a wonderful girl that I was falling in love with. Correction, she was a wonderful girl that I knew I was in love with. “I’ve never seen anything more beautiful, Hermione.”

She took her eyes away from the telescope and stared at me. I had been looking right at her as I said that.

“You weren’t even looking up at the sky,” she said.

“I wasn’t talking about the sky,” I said.

A smile played at the corner of her lips. I hoped I hadn’t made her uncomfortable by what I’d just said.

“Oh,” she said.

I looked around at the other people situated around the grounds. A number of people had joined in at the dancing.

“Would you like to dance?” I asked her, extending my hand to her.

She smiled. “I thought you didn’t dance.”

“I don’t, usually,” I said. “For you, I’m willing to make an exception.”

She stood there, staring at me.

“Don’t leave me hanging, here, Hermione,” I said, holding out my other hand to her. “It’s embarrassing. If you’re worried that I’m going to step on your toes, don’t be. You have my word that I promise to try my best and not step on your toes.”

She laughed. “Okay. You should be worried about your toes,” she said. “I’m a menace on a dance floor. You could ask Viktor Krum. I think I stepped on his toes so much he had a limp by the end of the Yule Ball.”

“Come on, Hermy-own-ninny,” I said, taking her hand and leading her to the middle of the grounds.

She laughed and as we stood there listening to the music, we looked around nervously. She hesitantly put her hands on my shoulders and I, just as nervously, put my hands around her waist. Our faces were inches apart as we began to sway to the music. Within seconds, we were comfortable with each other and with the closeness of each other. She pressed her head to my shoulder. For the first time, in a long, long time, I felt light-hearted. I didn’t have a concern in the world, save for the girl who was in my arms. I could smell the scent of her shampoo and it was nearly intoxicating.

“Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And everything you do,
Yeah, they were all yellow.”

Holding her in my arms, I almost felt as if I couldn’t breathe. I moved my hands from her waist to her back and she, in turn, wrapped her arms tight around me. It was almost as if we were all alone, in our own little world.

”I came along,
I wrote a song for you,
And all the things you do,
And it was called "Yellow."

”So then I took my turn,
Oh what a thing to have done,
And it was all "Yellow."

”Your skin
Oh yeah, your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
You know, you know I love you so,
You know I love you so.”

She lifted her head from my shoulder and our faces were inches apart.

“Are you cold?” I asked her, looking down into her eyes.

She shook her head.

“I feel warm,” she said, looking into my eyes. I felt as if my knees were going to give way at any moment. “I feel warm all over and safe.”

“You are safe,” I said. “I’d never let anything happen to you. You know that don’t you?”

She nodded. “Harry.”

“Hermione,” I whispered, feeling as if I was going to burst if I didn’t kiss her.

”It's true, look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine.”

”Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And all the things that you do.”

I could feel her breath on my cheeks. She was so close. I leaned in towards her and felt my heart racing as my lips met hers in a soft kiss. We pulled away, both somewhat shocked at what had just happened, but still holding on tightly to each other and not breaking eye contact.

Before I could catch my breath, we were kissing again, this time it was much more intense. When we pulled away from each other, I felt dizzy and breathless. I rested my forehead on hers and we stood there for a long time, holding each other.

“See,” she finally said. “I said you weren’t terrible at kissing.”

We held hands as we walked back to the downtown area to catch the bus back to Hermione’s house. We’d kissed a couple more times as we danced. It had been nice. It had been perfect. It had been wonderful.

As we crossed the street to get to the bus stop, I could feel Hermione tense up.

“What is it?” I asked her, turning around.

She’d put her hand up to her neck.

“My necklace,” she said. “It fell off, Harry.”

She looked around the road and scanned the sidewalk for her necklace.

“I think I see it,” she said, running across the street.

I watched as she ran a few feet away and leaned down to pick up the silver chain. She held it up to me and started to walk back toward me when everything seemed to slow down.

I don’t’ remember seeing the car. It seemed to come out of nowhere. I screamed for her to get out of the way, but it was too late.

“HERMIONE!” I screamed. “NO!!!!”

I swam across,
I jumped across for you,
Oh what a thing to do.
Cos you were all "Yellow,"

I drew a line,
I drew a line for you,
Oh what a thing to do,
And it was all "Yellow."

Your skin,
Oh yeah your skin and bones,
Turn into something beautiful,
And you know for you,
I'd bleed myself dry for you,
I'd bleed myself dry.

It's true, look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine for you,
Look how they shine.

Look at the stars,
Look how they shine for you,
And all the things that you do.y were all yellow,

Normal 2 1 2003-08-31T03:06:00Z 2003-08-31T03:06:00Z 1 2441 13916 115 32 16325 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Author’s Note: Thanks again to all who have reviewed! I am so glad that you’ve enjoyed the story. I hope you like this chapter. I apologize for leaving you all with such a huge cliffhanger in the last chapter! Hope you can find it in your hearts to forgive me! I know not what I do…

Chapter Twelve

Superman (It’s Not Easy)

“It may sound absurd, but don't be naive
Even heroes have the right to bleed
I may be disturbed, but won't you concede
Even heroes have the right to dream but
It's not easy to be me”

-Superman(It’s Not Easy) by Five for Fighting

This couldn’t be happening. It didn’t seem real. Only a few minutes ago, we were dancing under the stars. We were kissing. Everything was calm. Everything was peaceful. Within the space of a few minutes, everything turned to chaos.

I kept waiting to wake up and find that this had all been a bad dream. It was real, though, very real. I didn’t care that I’d missed my connection back to Hogwarts. I didn’t care that I was probably going to be expelled for doing what I’d done. None of that mattered now. What mattered now was that Hermione was hurt and there was nothing I could do about it.

In one hand, I held the necklace that she’d gone after. In the other, I held her hand. It was cold and limp. She wasn’t conscious. Her face was bruised and scratched from the pavement. Her face was pale and her hands were so cold. The emergency medical technician who was tending to her kept saying that her blood pressure was low. I didn’t know what this meant, but I knew it couldn’t be good.

I felt numb. I could still hear the sound of the car hitting her. I could still see her falling to the ground. I saw myself running to her and cradling her in my arms, screaming for someone to get help. I couldn’t help remember how it had only been a few months ago when I thought she’d been killed in the Department of Mysteries. I remembered how she’d been petrified during our second year. She’d come through both of those times. Surely, she would come through now. She had to.

“Do you know her parents?” the EMT asked me.

“Hmmm,” I said, not really focusing on what he’d asked me.

“I said do you know her parents?” he asked again. “We can radio ahead and get the hospital to notify them.”

“Um, their dentists,” I said quietly. “Dr. Robert Granger and Dr. Karen Granger.”

He nodded and told the driver to radio ahead to the hospital that the daughter of Robert and Karen Granger was being brought in to the emergency room at the Atlanta Medical Center.

Fresh tears welled up in my eyes as I looked at her and gripped her hand tightly, praying for her to squeeze my hand back. I was praying for her to wake up and look at me with her brown eyes shining and tell me that it was going to be okay. She hadn’t done that. She couldn’t do that. Never before had I ever felt so helpless.

“She will be okay, won’t she?” I asked feebly to the EMT.

He looked at me with an expression mixed with pity and sadness. “I don’t know. They’ll do everything they can for her in the hospital. It’s one of the best in the country. She’ll be in good hands.”

“How bad is it?” I asked, my eyes pleading with him to tell me the truth.

“We’ll know more when we get her to the hospital,” he said, avoiding my eyes. “We’re nearly there.”

I nodded, but knew from the expression on his face that things were not good. They were about as far from good as they could get.

We finally made it to the hospital and the EMT told me to get out first. I quickly made my way out of the ambulance and watched as they unloaded Hermione. A couple of nurses came rushing out and I listened as the EMT spouted out medical jargon that I didn’t understand.

“Caucasian female,” the EMT said. “Sixteen-years old; hit by a car. BP is 80 palp and steady.”

“Got it,” the nurse said. “Let’s get her to trauma room 2.”

I watched as they began to take Hermione into the emergency room. I started to follow, but the nurse stopped me.

“Hey,” she said, putting a hand on my arm. “You can’t go back there.”

“She needs me,” I said, taking steps to follow them. “I have to be with her!”

“She needs to be examined by the doctor, now,” the nurse said firmly. “You will be of no help to her if you’re getting in the way.”

“You don’t understand,” I said, pleading with her. “I have to be with her! She has to be okay.”

“They’ll do everything they can for her,” she said. “I can promise you that.”

“Please don’t let anything happen to her,” I said. “Please.”

Begrudgingly, I let the nurse lead me to the waiting area. It was crowded, with people of different shapes, sizes, and walks of lives sitting on the various sofas and chairs. I took an empty seat beside an older woman who was holding onto her arm, which she’d apparently twisted or broken. She kept muttering under her breath about how long she’d been waiting. On the other side of me, a man had fallen asleep in his chair. I could hear him softly snoring. Every once in awhile, he’d get so loud, he’d wake himself up, but just fall right back to sleep.

I’d only been sitting there for a few minutes when I looked up to see Hermione’s parents come rushing into the emergency room. They stopped at the reception desk, where the attendant told them something. I watched as their facial expressions went from anxious to shock to sad. My heart sank as their gaze turned to me. The attendant pointed to me and I watched as they tentatively took steps toward me. In all the years that I’d known Hermione, I’d never really spoken much with her parents. Most of our dealings with each other consisted of a quick hello and goodbye at the train station on the way back or from school. Looking at them now, I knew that this conversation would be much more meaningful and long than any conversation that the three of us had ever had.

I hesitantly stood up from my chair and took steps toward them. We stared at each other for a few moments before Mrs. Granger spoke up.

“Hello, Harry,” she said, tears had started to stream down her face.

“Hello,” I said weakly.

“What happened?” she asked me. Before I could answer her, her dad angrily interjected.

“The better question would be why he was here in the first place,” he said crossly.

“I missed Hermione,” I said softly. “I wanted to see her.”

“Tell us what happened, Harry,” her mother said. “I need to know what happened with my baby.”

I nodded. “I, um, showed up unexpectedly. She didn’t know I was coming. She wanted to show me downtown Atlanta. We went, um, we went out to eat and to the planetarium. We were having a really nice time together and on the way back, we were crossing the street to the bus stop when she dropped her necklace. She went back to get it and this car came out of nowhere and—“

I couldn’t continue. The sounds of that awful event kept playing over and over in my head. I could feel the tears touching my face.

“I’m so sorry,” I said, not knowing what else to say. “I’m so sorry.”

Mrs. Granger sobs became more pronounced. Her father, on the other hand, just looked at me. I couldn’t look him in the eye. I knew what he was thinking, because I was thinking it, too. If it hadn’t been for me, his daughter wouldn’t be in a hospital fighting for her life.

He looked as if he wanted to say something to me, but he didn’t. He put a comforting arm around his wife.

“Let’s go see if we can find out anything,” he said.

Her mother nodded and followed her husband. I could only watch—helpless.

Seconds turned into minutes and the minutes passed into hours as I sat there in that waiting area. People came and went, but I sat there. Her parents hadn’t come back and no one came to tell me any news. Every now and then, I’d go up to the receptionist and ask if there was anything they could tell me and each time, they said there was nothing new to report.

I’d already thumbed through most of the magazines which scattered the tables. There was nothing left to do, but wait. I’d never been one for waiting.

“Pardon me, son,” an older man asked me, taking a seat beside me. He wore a grey sweatshirt that had “Ask Me About My Grandkids” written across it in purple letters. He wore a pair of brown trousers and a pair of brown loafers. “Do you know what time it is?”

Impatiently, I looked at my watch. “It’s just past two in the morning.”

“Thank you,” he said. I went back to thumbing through another of the magazines, but out of the corner of my eye, I could still feel him watching me. Under normal circumstances, I wouldn’t let this get to me, but as it was, I was on edge.

“What?!?” I snapped at him.

He looked somewhat affronted, but continued to smile at me.

“I’m sorry,” I said, taking my glasses off and rubbing my eyes. I put my glasses back on and continued my apology. “It’s just I’m really worried about my---friend----and I haven’t heard anything yet. I shouldn’t have gotten angry with you. You weren’t to know what was going on. I’m sorry.”

He chuckled. “It’s okay. You’re worried about the girl you love. It’s only natural to be upset.”

I nodded.

”Love makes you do crazy things,” he said. “For example, it could even make you sneak out of school to visit her on an unauthorized connection to the Floo network.”

I looked up at him as he said these words, flabbergasted at what he’d just said.

“Hang on,” I said, staring at him. There was a familiar twinkle in those eyes. “Dumbledore?”

He grinned. “You don’t think this is too much, do you? Professor McGonagall said I should blend in and well, here you go.”

It was amazing. Gone was the familiar long, white hair and long, white beard. In its place, was a clean-shaven face and short hair. He noticed me looking at him, studying his transformation.

“Don’t worry,” he said. “It’s not permanent. As soon as I return to the castle, I’ll be my old self again. I must say, it was a bit of a shock for me, too. I haven’t had my hair cut in years.”

“How did you know?” I asked. “That I was here?”

“Well, when you didn’t make your connection back, Remus came to see me and told me what had happened.”

“It wasn’t his idea, sir,” I said quickly. “I asked him to do me a favor.”

“It’s alright, Harry,” Dumbledore said. “I understand why you did what you did. And I must say it’s about time. I had a feeling about you and Miss Granger.”

I sunk lower in my chair. “If I hadn’t have come, she wouldn’t be here.”

“It’s not your fault what happened to her, Harry,” he said to me.

“How can you say that?” I asked angrily. “It is entirely my fault. She would have been home, safe and sound, but no. I had to see her. It’s all about me, right? I didn’t think about what this could do to her.”

“You thought that you wanted to see her,” Dumbledore said. “You love her and you missed her, and you wanted to see her. I expect if the situation were reversed, Miss Granger would have done the same thing for you.”

“It doesn’t matter, now, though, does it? I mean, she’s back there, fighting for her life. I have no idea what’s going on and I can’t help her. I hate this!”

“That’s the thing about life, Harry. You have no control over what will happen. You can make your own decisions and your own choices, mind you, but you never know what kind of hand you’ll be dealt. There was no way that you could have known that this would happen,” Dumbledore said.

“That’s just an excuse; an excuse that is getting pretty old, don’t you think?” I asked, standing up from my chair and pacing back and forth in the waiting room. “Is that what I’m supposed to tell her parents? Her dad looked like he could have killed me on the spot when he came here and found me waiting. I guess I should have told him, ‘Sorry, Dr. Granger, I didn’t know this would happen.’” I said, running my fingers through my hair. “They wouldn’t buy that anymore than I do.”

“Her parents are worried about their daughter,” he said.

“And for good reason, right? I mean, they were right to send their daughter away from me. Look at my track record. Everyone I’ve ever loved has died. My parents, Sirius…it’s only a matter of time before Hermione joins that list.”

“You don’t believe that, Harry,” he said. “You are tired and worried and mixed up and you have no idea what you’re saying. You didn’t kill your parents and you didn’t kill Sirius. Voldemort did.”

“Well, Voldemort didn’t do this to Hermione, I did,” I said, feeling the tears stinging my cheeks again.

“You’re feeling sorry for yourself and beating yourself up over something that you didn’t do, Harry,” he said seriously. “This type of behavior isn’t going to help your Hermione at all. She needs you to be strong, Harry. She needs you to believe in yourself just as she believes in you.”

“How do you know this?” I asked, somewhat begrudgingly. I knew he was right, but I still felt guilty. No matter what he said, I would always blame myself for what had happened.

“Well,” he said, the twinkle returning to his eye. “I’ve been around students for ages. You can pick up on things as you get to know people. You can sense how they feel about certain things and about certain people, even if they don’t always come right out and say it.”

I didn’t know what to say. He picked up on this.

“You won’t be punished for what happened,” he said. “We’re going to keep the knowledge of what happened between the three of us---you, Lupin and me.”

Although it was the furthest thing from my mind, I was still surprised to hear this.

“Thank you, sir,” I said.

“We should probably head back to the castle,” he said, getting up from his chair. I didn’t stand up.

“I can’t leave, sir,” I said. “Not until I know what’s happening.”

I expected him to fight me on this, to possibly order me to return; to give me a thousand reasons why I should go back with him. To my surprise, he nodded and said, “I expected nothing less of you.”

“Thanks,” I said, softly.

“I’ll have Lupin come shortly to make sure everything is okay,” he said, before turning on his heel and walking toward the entrance. Before he reached the door, he turned around to me and smiled. “Believe in yourself, Harry. Believe in Hermione.”

I don’t know when I fell asleep or for how long I slept, but I awoke to the sound of a woman’s voice saying my name. I could feel her touching my shoulder. I wearily opened my eyes to find Hermione’s mom looking over me.

“Dr. Granger,” I said, sitting up in my chair. “How’s Hermione?”

“She’s just come out of surgery,” she said. “They’re putting her in a private room. She had some internal bleeding. The doctor managed to stop it, but the next 48 hours are going to be critical. She still hasn’t regained consciousness.”

“Thank you for telling me,” I said.

She let out a half-hearted smile. “You had a right to know.”

I just looked at her, grateful that she had let me know. I would have thought that I’d be the last person she’d want to know.

“Hermione cares about you very much, Harry,” she said. “I want to apologize for my husband. He’s just been very worried about Hermione, Harry. That’s the reason he wanted to do this---start a new life. She wasn’t happy here. We both knew it. We just didn’t want to take the risk of sending her back there. It was a mistake. I only wished we’d admitted it a little sooner. We probably wouldn’t be here.”

“I love your daughter, Dr. Granger,” I said. “I would never do anything to hurt her. She’s the most important person in my life.”

“I know that, Harry,” she said, tears shining in her eyes.

“Can I see her?” I asked hopefully.

“She’s not allowed visitors except for her immediate family while she’s in intensive care,” she said. “I should get back upstairs.”

“I understand,” I said.

She nodded. “When she wakes up, Harry, you can see her.”

“Thank you,” I said.

A few moments later, I was surprised to see Lupin walking into the emergency room. He, too, was dressed in Muggle clothes, though his were much more contemporary and stylish than Dumbledore’s had been. He wore a three-piece grey suit with a dark blue tie. I wasn’t studying Lupin too much, as my eyes fell on the figure accompanying him. It was Ron.

As I walked toward them, I had no idea what I was going to say to Ron or what Ron would say to me. Needless to say, my actions the night before had set off a chain of events that assured that no one of us would ever be the same again.

Normal 2 58 2003-09-02T02:24:00Z 2003-09-02T02:24:00Z 1 2164 12335 102 28 14471 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Chapter 13

I Don’t Want To Live Without Your Love

“I ask myself but there’s no explanation

For the way I feel

I know I’ve reached the right destination

And I know it’s real

I’m longing for the time

I’m longing for the day

When I’ll be giving you this heart of mine

Believe me when I say

I don’t want to live without you

I don’t want to live without you

I could never live without you

Live without your love”

“I Don’t Want To Live Without Your Love”
By Foreigner

As I approached Lupin and Ron, I had an overwhelming feeling of uneasiness sweep over me. What exactly did Ron know? Did he know that I had been with Hermione when this happened? Did he know that I’d snuck out of school, not once, but twice to visit her, all without him knowing any different. When I put it all out there like that, it sounded terrible. It made me feel terrible.

Lupin spoke first. “Harry, how’s Hermione?” he asked me. Ron didn’t look angry. He looked scared and anxious and unsure. The look on his face reminded me of the same one he wore when we’d seen Hermione petrified in our second year.

“Uh, her mum just came downstairs a few minutes ago and said that she’d just made it out of surgery,” I said, with a slight smile.

“So, she’s okay?” Lupin asked.

“Not exactly,” I said, looking at Ron. “She had some internal bleeding that the doctor was able to stop, but they are still worried about her not having regained consciousness since the accident. Her mum said that the next 48 hours will be critical.”

“She’ll be okay,” Ron said stoically. “She has to be. Can we see her?”

I shook my head. “Her mum said that they’d put her in the Intensive Care ward. She’s only allowed to have her immediate family visit while she’s in there.”

Ron nodded, but looked disappointed.

Lupin noticed my apprehension and spoke up.

“Well, that’s good news, anyway,” he said. “She made it through her surgery. That’s the hard part. She’s going to be fine. She’s a strong girl. She’ll pull through this.”

“Yeah,” I said.

“Dumbledore wanted you to come back with us, Harry,” Lupin said.

“Not before I see her, Professor,” I said firmly.

“Me, too,” Ron chimed in.

“Well, I don’t know if there’s any way around it,” Lupin said. “I’m going to go and check in on her parents. See if there’s anything I can do about it. You two will be alright here?”

We both nodded. I watched as he stopped a nurse, who happened to be walking by at the time, and asked her where he could find Intensive Care. She told him to take the elevator to the third floor. He thanked her and asked us that we stay here until he returned. Ron and I both watched as he walked away from us. We were now alone, save for the handful of people in the waiting room.

There was an awkward silence between us that I wasn’t used to. I wished I’d been able to talk to Lupin alone to find out what exactly Ron had been told. My guess was that it hadn’t been everything, otherwise, he’d have greeted my angrily.

“What happened, Harry?” Ron said, as we sat down on one of the couches. “Have you been here this whole time? The last I saw you was in Divination. I was worried when I woke up and your bed hadn’t been slept in. Dean, Seamus and Neville and I looked all over for you. Then, Lupin comes to me in the Great Hall and tells me there was an accident in America with Hermione and I should go with him as soon as possible. When I asked where you were, Lupin said you were already here. How did you get here? How did you find out?”

I looked at him, not really sure how I was going to explain myself.

“I was with her when it happened,” I said, looking down at the floor.

“You were what?” Ron asked, confused. “How did you get here?”

“The Floo Network,” I said. “After Divination yesterday, I went to Professor Lupin’s office and asked him if he’d help me out so I could come see her.”

“You didn’t tell me you were going to do that,” Ron asked. “Why not?”

Because I’m a selfish bastard who only thought of himself---not of his best friend Ron and what it could do to him. This is what I thought, but didn’t say.

Instead my response was the standard, “I don’t know.”

“You don’t know?” Ron asked me, sounding incredulous. “Didn’t you think I would have liked to see her, too? I mean, I told you how I felt about her, didn’t I?”

I nodded dumbly at his words.

“Were you worried that if I got caught, it might be a little harder for me to get out of it than it would have been for you? I mean, I know you don’t ever use it to your advantage, but it’s there, Harry. That “boy who lived” thing has saved you a number of times. I don’t reckon “the boy who lived’s best mate” would have as easy a time getting out of a jam like that.”

There it was. He’d given me my out. I could just take it, couldn’t I? What he didn’t know, couldn’t hurt him, right? I didn’t have a chance to respond because a girl stood ogling at Ron and me. She looked to be about our age. She was of average height and straight, shoulder-length brown hair. She was wearing a pair of blue jeans and trainers with a grey sweatshirt that had the words “Georgia Bulldogs” embroidered on it in red letters.

“Can we help you?” Ron asked crossly.

“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she began, in a southern drawl. “I know who you are.”

“Good for you,” Ron said.

“You must be Ron,” she said, looking at him, somewhat scathingly.

“And you must be--?” Ron retorted sarcastically.

“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said, putting her hand to her forehead. “I’m Kit Reilly. I’m Hermione’s next door neighbor.”

“Nice to meet you, Kit,” I said, standing up and shaking her hand. “I wish it was under better circumstances.”

“You must be Harry,” she said, letting go of my hand.

“Hermione’s talked about us then?” Ron asked.

“Loads,” Kit said. “I feel like I know you both already.”

“Is that how you knew I was Ron?” Ron asked. “She tell you about my red hair?”

Kit shook her head. “No, she said you were an annoying prat and you kind of lived up to her description.”

Ron looked taken aback.

“Just kidding,” Kit said, with a small laugh. “It was the red hair. She didn’t say you were a prat.”

Ron looked relieved at this. He finally stood up and extended his hand for Kit to shake. She hesitated for a second before taking his hand and shaking it.

“How is she?” Kit said. “My parents told me as soon as I came home.”

“She’s just out of surgery,” I said. “They’ve moved her to a room in the Intensive Care ward. She had some internal bleeding, but they’ve managed to stop it for now.”

“Oh, Thank the Lord,” Kit said.

“We’re waiting for our, um, chaperon, to see if we can find a way around that immediate family rule thing so we can see her,” I said.

Kit nodded, but seemed somewhat confused.

“What?” I asked her.

“It’s just that I don’t understand how you were able to get here so fast from London. I mean, she just had the accident last night, right? And here you are. What did you do take The Concorde?”

Ron and I exchanged looks of apprehension. Obviously, Hermione hadn’t filled Kit in on what she was, what we were, and the kind of world we lived in.

“We were actually coming to see Hermione as a surprise,” Ron said. “We found out about the accident as soon as we got here, actually. We did take the compact thing.”

“The what?” Kit asked.

“The Concorde,” I chimed in. “We took The Concorde. You know, Ron, that airplane that can travel really fast. You remember, don’t you?”

“I do?” Ron asked. “Oh, yeah, I do. I, um, slept most of the way here, though.”

Kit looked a little unsure.

“Why do I feel like you guys aren’t telling me everything?” she asked, looking back and forth between Ron and me.

“Tell you what, Miss Kit,” I said. “When Hermione wakes up, we’ll tell you the full story. You have my word on it.”

“I’ll hold you to that,” she said.

“I have no doubt that you will,” I said, smiling at her. I liked Kit immediately. I was glad that Hermione had someone like that in her life here.

Lupin came walking toward us a few moments later with a smile on his face. He started to speak when he noticed that there was a person sitting between Ron and me.

“Hello?” he asked.

“Hi,” she said.

“Professor Lupin,” Ron said. “This is Kit Reilly. She’s a Mug-, I mean she’s a friend of Hermione’s from here in the States.”

“Nice to meet you, Kit,” Lupin said, shaking her hand.

“Did you talk to her parents?” Ron asked. “Can we see her?”

“Her father was against it,” Lupin said. “Her mother, though, helped change his mind. She’s told the nurse at the nurse’s station that you two are her brothers. They’ll let you see her, one at a time, but only for a short while.”

Ron and I exchanged smiles.

“I’m sorry,” Lupin said to Kit. “I would have tried to get you in, too, if I’d known you were here.”

“It’s okay,” Kit said. “I understand. Will you just tell her parents that I was here?”

Lupin nodded. “I’ll see you out, Miss Reilly. Why don’t you boys go on upstairs. Take the elevator to the third floor. They’re expecting you.”

We nodded and said a quick goodbye to Kit before heading for the elevators.

“This is a lot different from St. Mungo’s,” Ron said.

I nodded.

“My dad would love to come to a place like this,” Ron said. “You know how crazy he is over Muggle stuff.”

I nodded.

“I hope she’s going to be alright,” Ron said.

We didn’t have time to talk to each other anymore as the elevator finally made it to the third floor. We stopped at the nurse’s station and asked where Hermione Granger’s room was. The nurse told us “Room 312” and we walked down the hall until we came to the door. I prayed that it wouldn’t be Hermione’s dad that opened the door. Ron knocked softly at the door. To my relief, it was Hermione’s mum who came to the door. She came outside of the room and closed the door behind her.

“Hello, boys,” she said. “Ron, I’m glad you could make it. You both have meant so much to Hermione.”

“Where’s Dr. Granger?” Ron asked.

“He was a little upset. I asked him to go and get some coffee in the cafeteria while you visited with her.”

“How’s she doing?” I asked.

“Still hasn’t woken up, yet, I’m afraid,” her mother said. For the first time, I noticed how exhausted she looked. Her hair was a little out of place and her eyes were puffy and a little bloodshot. In one hand, she clutched a tissue. “Well, Ron, why don’t you go in first?”

Ron nodded and asked what he should do.

“Just talk to her,” Dr. Granger said. “It may not seem like it, but she can hear you. It’s the best thing for her.”

I watched as he turned and hesitated before turning the knob of the door and closing it behind him. Dr. Granger smiled half-heartedly at me. She asked if I wanted to sit down. There were two chairs situated right outside the door.

I shook my head no.

“I’ve sat enough,” I said.

She laughed. “I know what you mean. It’s a terrible thing to feel so helpless, like this. You wish there was something you could do, but all you can really do is wait and pray.”

“I know,” I said.

She smiled.

“Thank you for doing this,” I said. “I know you didn’t have to.”

“I know,” she said. “But, I think we need to think of Hermione’s happiness and wellbeing. That’s something that I’m afraid her dad and I have neglected out of our own anxiety. Someday, you’ll know that nothing will ever be as hard as raising a child. It’s the most difficult job in the world. You know you make all these decisions and sometimes you know that your child isn’t going to like you very much for them. She must have been so angry with us. I mean, I know she was. I could read it on her face. She must have hated us for this.”

“She didn’t hate you,” I said. “She was unhappy with what you did, but she didn’t say she hated you. She’d never say that. She loves both of you very much.”

Dr. Granger gave me a hug. She reminded me a little of Mrs. Weasley at the moment as she hugged me tightly.

“Thank you, Harry,” she said, finally letting go. “I needed to hear that.”

Ron came out of her room a few minutes later. He looked somber as he sat down.

“How is she?” I asked.

“Just so still and quiet,” he said. I saw that it looked as if he’d cried a little as he’d visited with her. “No response at all.”

“Harry, why don’t you go on inside, now?” her mother said.

I nodded and walked over to the door. My heart seemed to speed up as I turned the doorknob and walked into the room. My heart seemed to fall as I saw her lying in that bed, hooked up to machines and tubes. The only sound came from the monitors.

I didn’t think I had any tears left in me, but they came flowing out as I looked at her, bruised and injured.

“Hermione,” I whispered, sitting down at the chair at the foot of her bed. I took her left hand in mine.

“I’m so sorry for what happened,” I said softly. “I hope you can hear me. I want you to wake up and start telling me that I need to start studying for my N.E.W.T.S. or finish studying for my potions final. I never thought I’d be begging for you to nag me about that, but here you go. Are you happy now? You went to extreme measures to get me to say that, well here you are.”

I stroked her hand.

“I can’t believe that just a few hours ago, you and I were dancing under the stars. Do you remember that? We were under the stars and it was cold, but I felt so warm with you, you know? I know it sounds crazy, but it just felt right.”

“You deserve better than me, you know that? I’ve been a fool. All along there was this beautiful, smart, clever girl right under my nose and I didn’t even notice until after she was a thousand miles away. I’m sorry for that. If you wake up right now, I promise you I’ll make up for that.”

“I don’t have much time, Hermione,” I said. “I don’t want to leave you. I’d stay with you forever if I could. I hope you know that. Your mum said that we could only stay for a few minutes, though. She really stood up for us, you know.”

Reluctantly, I stood up from my chair and let go of her hand. I leaned over her and placed a kiss on her forehead.

“I love you,” I whispered. “I love you, so much.”

I took one last look at her, before turning on my heel to leave the room. I opened the door and was preparing to step out of it when I heard a soft voice whisper hoarsely, “Harry?”

Author’s NOTE: I’m sorry for the cliffhanger. You guys probably want to push me off one with all of them…but I mean, I had to end the chapter someway….forgive me please! Bad, bad, writer…I think I’ll go put myself in Time-out.

Normal 2 78 2003-09-04T03:22:00Z 2003-09-04T03:22:00Z 1 2014 11480 95 26 13468 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Author’s Note: Thanks you guys for all the nice reviews! This latest chapter was a very nice one to write. I was inspired by one of the most romantic songs I have ever heard. It is by Etta James and is called “At Last”. If you haven’t listened to it before, do so. I think it fits this chapter very nicely. I hope you enjoy…

Chapter 14

At Last

At last 

My love has come along 

My lonely days over 

And life is like a song 

Ooh, at last 

The skies above are blue 

Well my heart was wrapped up in clover 

The night I looked at you 

I found a dream 

That I could speak to 

A dream that I could call my own 

I found a thrill 

To press my cheek to 

A thrill that I have never known 

Well 

You smile 

you smile 

Oh and then the spell was cast 

And here we are in heaven 

For you are mine at last

Etta James (At Last) 

“Harry?”

My hands froze on the doorknob as I heard my name. I hadn’t just heard what I thought I heard, did I? Did Hermione really just say my name? I was probably just imagining it because I wanted to hear it so badly.

“Harry?” she asked again, somewhat hoarsely.

Within two seconds, I had crossed the gap between the door and her bedside.

“Hermione,” I whispered, taking her hand in mine, watching as she opened her eyes, and took in the unfamiliar surroundings. She tried to sit up in her hospital bed, but winced in pain as she did so.

“Don’t try and move,” I said soothingly to her.

“What happened?” she asked me. “Where am I, Harry?”

“You don’t remember?” I asked her, stroking her hand softly.

She opened her mouth to answer, but stopped as we heard the sound of the door opening. Her mother peeked her head around the door.

“Is everything alright, Harry?” she asked me. I stood back from Hermione’s bed so her mother could see her daughter, awake and alert. When she saw, she brought her hand to her mouth and let out a sigh of relief. Hesitantly, she walked inside the room, almost unsure as to whether or not what she was seeing was real.

“Oh, sweetheart,” she said, standing on the other side of Hermione’s bed. “You’re awake!” She took Hermione’s other hand and brought it to her face.

“Mom, what happened?” Hermione said, looking back between her mother and me. “How did I get here?”

Her mother and I exchanged a look, not sure what we should say to her.

“You, um, were hit by a car,” her mother said, tears streaming down her face. “You don’t remember that?”

Hermione shook her head.

“Well, what do you remember about what happened, sweetie?” her mother asked, leaning in to caress her daughter’s cheek.

Hermione looked thoughtful for a moment as if she was willing herself to remember the events of the night before. She closed her eyes for a second and then opened them, and with her eyes shining with tears, she looked at me.

“I remember Harry,” she said softly. “He came to see me. I was so happy to see him. We had such a great time, didn’t we?”

“We sure did,” I managed to choke out.

She smiled and continued. “We went to the planetarium and we danced underneath the stars. It was almost magical. We danced to the most beautiful song, too, and we kissed.”

Nearly overcome with emotion as I listened to her recall what had happened, I instinctively leaned over her and planted a kiss on her forehead. As I did so, she put her hand up to my face and touched my cheek and her hand lingered on my face for a few moments. It seemed as if everything melted away, and it was just she and I in that room.

“I hadn’t been that happy in a long time,” she whispered.

“Me, too,” I said, softly. She gripped my hand tighter.

“We were walking to the bus stop, right?” she asked me. I nodded. “And my necklace, I lost my necklace. I turned around to get it. Oh, Harry! My necklace.”

“Shh,” I said, reaching into my jeans’ pocket to pull the silver necklace out. She beamed at me as I handed it back to her. “Good as new, see?”

“Harry gave this to me, Mom,” she said, turning to her mother. “I’m sorry I lied to you. I really am. I just knew that if I told you where I got it from, you’d have been very upset. This wasn’t the first time, he’d visited me. He came once before. You’re not mad, are you?”

Her mother gave a chuckle as she looked at the necklace.

“No, of course not,” she said. “None of that matters now. What matters is that you are alive and with us now.”

“Am I going to be okay?” Hermione asked.

“You, um, had some internal bleeding,” her mother said. “They took you into surgery to stop it. You have a few cuts and bruises, but no broken bones.”

Hermione took all of this in, quite bravely and I couldn’t help marveling at how calm and strong she was as she listened to what had happened to her.

“Harry,” she said, turning to face me again. “You’re okay, aren’t you? You weren’t hurt?”

“Well, I’m doing much better now that you’re awake,” I said, letting out a soft laugh. “You had us all pretty worried, you know?”

She smiled at me and then I saw her look beyond me, over my shoulder. I turned to see what she was looking at and saw Ron standing in the doorway, along with Lupin.

I felt my stomach lurch as I saw the look on Ron’s face. Had he heard all that Hermione had said? Had he heard what we’d done? Had he heard that this hadn’t been the first time that I’d visited her? The look on his face was almost indescribable---it seemed to be showing a range of emotions all at once---he looked angry, he looked sad, he looked anxious.

“Ron?” Hermione whispered, a smile playing at her lips. “What are you doing here?”

He tentatively stepped forward toward her.

“Hi, Hermione,” he said. “You don’t think I’d stay away? Did you? I mean, you and I both know that I couldn’t be a prefect without you nagging me all the time.”

“Oh, those poor first-years, you must be merciless,” she said. “You need me there to rein you in, you know?”

Ron laughed and brushed past me. I reluctantly let go of Hermione’s hand as he nearly pushed me out of the way. I watched as he took Hermione’s hand in his and cupped it.

“Hermione,” he said. “I’m so glad you’re going to be alright.”

“Me, too,” she said. “I missed you so much. I missed you and Harry so much.”

Ron opened his mouth to say something else, but a man came through the door. He wore a white lab coat and carried a clipboard. He was followed by a stern looking nurse.

“Dr. Stevens,” Hermione’s mother said. “Look who’s awake.”

“I see that,” Dr. Stevens said. “Hermione, it’s nice to meet you, properly.”

Ron stood back so that Dr. Stevens could shake Hermione’s hand.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Hermione said, her eyes twinkling.

He looked around at the lot of us, crowded into Hermione’s small hospital room. The nurse spoke up and she reminded me so much of Madame Pomfrey as she forcefully ushered us all out of the room so the doctor could fully examine Hermione.

“We’ll be right outside, Hermione,” I said, winking at her.

She smiled at me. “You’d better.”

As we walked out, I could see Ron rolling his eyes at me. This pretty much confirmed for me that he’d heard everything. We stood outside the room for a few moments. Dr. Granger left to go downstairs to find her husband to let him know the good news.

There was an awkward silence between the three of us. Ron and I were trying not to look at each other. He stood on one end of the hall, with his arms folded, looking everywhere but in my direction. I, on the other hand, stood against the opposite wall, looking down at the marble tile floor. From the corner of my eye, I saw Lupin standing in between us, looking back and forth at us. No one said a word until Lupin cleared his throat.

“We’ll have to be getting back to Hogwarts, soon,” Lupin said. “Our window to get back ends in about an hour.”
“Alright,” I said, wishing for any way that I could stay here with Hermione, but knowing that I’d already used up my second and third chances. Both Lupin and Dumbledore had gone out on a limb for me on this, and I couldn’t take advantage of their kindness. It wouldn’t be fair.

Ron simply nodded.

“So when were you going to tell me, Harry?” he blurted out a few seconds later.

“Tell you what, Ron?” I asked.

“Tell me what?” he asked. “Tell me that you’d sneaked out of school before to see Hermione. That you let me worry about her when all along you knew how she was doing? That you’d spent the evening with her last night, dancing and kissing under the stars? May I ask when you fell in love with Hermione? Was it right after I told you that I was falling for her?”

I opened my mouth to respond to his tirade, but Lupin held out his hand.

“I understand that you two need to talk about this, but this is not the time or the place,” he said forcefully. “You need to remember where you are and think about the girl in that room. It won’t help her or anyone else if you start fighting right outside her door.”

Neither one of us wanted to admit he was right, so neither of us said anything, we just went back to our respective conditions against the wall, pretending that the other one wasn’t there.

“Alright,” Lupin said. “That’s excellent.”

Another awkward silence was broken when the Grangers reappeared.

“Dr. Granger,” Lupin said. “I never had the chance to meet you before. I’m Remus Lupin. I taught Hermione during her third year at Hogwarts. You have a very smart girl in there. She’s probably the cleverest witch I’ve ever seen.”

Lupin held out his hand for Dr. Granger to shake. For a second, Dr. Granger stood there looking down at this man, who’d just called his daughter the one thing he’d tried to deny her of for these past few months.

To my surprise and to his wife’s relief, he shook Lupin’s hand.

“Nice to meet you,” Dr. Granger said. “Hermione told us a lot about you, too.”

“I’m glad that she’s going to be alright,” Lupin said.

Dr. Granger just nodded. I watched with shock as he and Lupin continued to talk, albeit only simple pleasantries, but it was a start. Maybe, just maybe, Dr. Granger was coming around.

A few moments later, Dr. Stevens came out of the room, and looked at us. I said a silent prayer that he would have good news for us.

“Her vital signs are all strong,” Dr. Stevens said. “She’s still a little tired and sore, but that’s to be expected after the trauma she’s sustained. We’ll need to keep her here for a few days, but I think she’s going to make a full recovery.”

“Thank you so much,” Dr. Karen Granger said, giving the shocked doctor a hug and kiss on the cheek. There was an aura of happiness around, even Ron and I forgot our momentary row as we reveled in the news that Hermione was going to be just fine. Hell, even her dad managed to shake my hand. This was progress, even if we still had a long way to go.

“Can we see her?” I asked.

Dr. Stevens nodded. “Yes, but keep it short. One at a time. She needs her rest.”

Her parents went in first. Lupin reiterated that Ron and I were to stay only a few moments as we were due back at Hogwarts soon. Reluctantly, we agreed. I was the last to visit with her. When I walked back into her room, she was yawning.

“Well, that’s a vote of confidence,” I said, my heart speeding up at the sight of her.

“Sorry,” she said. “It’s not you, I promise.”

“I understand,” she said, watching me as I sat down beside her bed. I took her hand in mine.

“We’re going to have to go back to Hogwarts real soon,” I said.

She nodded.
“I don’t want you to go,” she said. “I never want you to leave again.”

“If for some reason, you can’t come back to school, Hermione,” I began, my voice cracking as I tried to say what I wanted to say. “Don’t you give up on me, okay? I will find someway for us to be together. We’ve been through to much to watch it all fall apart now.”

“Harry,” she said. “You don’t need to worry about me, okay? You have so much more on your plate to worry about than whether or not I’ll be back at Hogwarts, okay? You have to get ready for your N.E.W.T.S, you have to be prepared for V-voldemort. Don’t worry about me.”

She had begun to cry again, and she looked away from me.

“You don’t get it do you?” I asked, gripping her hand tighter. “None of that means anything to me? If I don’t have you, I don’t care about any of it.”

“Harry-“, she whispered.

“I, um,” I stammered. I knew what I wanted to say, but I didn’t know if they could convey all that I wanted to tell her. They were three little words that meant so much, but seemed to mean so little in comparison to how I really felt about her.

“Yes?” she asked softly.

“This isn’t an easy thing for me to say,” he said. “Because I’ve never really known what it was, you know? I’ve never really had it before, but I think I found it in you. It didn’t just happen last night, either. It’s been there all along.”

She looked at me, her eyes willing me to go on.

“What I’m trying to say,” I began, “not so eloquently, is that Hermione Granger, I love you.”

“Harry,” she said, her eyes shining with tears.

There was a soft knock on the door as Lupin opened the door.

“I hate to break this up,” he said, “but we have to get back now, Harry.”

I turned around to look at him. “I’ll be right there.”

He nodded and closed the door. We were alone again. She was crying. I was crying.

“Well, you’re at a loss for words,” I said, trying to make the situation lighter.

She shook her head. “No, I’m not. I love you, too, Harry. More than you’ll ever know.”

I leaned in and kissed her softly, not wanting the moment to end.

Normal 2 76 2003-09-06T20:14:00Z 2003-09-06T20:14:00Z 1 2171 12381 103 29 14523 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Author’s Note: Have I told you guys lately that you absolutely rock! Thanks so much for taking the time to read my little story here and to even let me know what you think! I appreciate it more than you would ever know. This chapter continues with Harry’s point-of-view, I promise we will hear from Hermione’s point-of-view soon enough. This gets into Ron and Harry’s return back to Hogwarts and the fallout from Harry’s actions. Please review!

Chapter 15

I Did It

“I did it
Do you think I've gone too far?
I did it
Guilty as charged
I did it
It was me right or wrong”

-Dave Matthews Band (I Did It)

It had been a week since the accident. The goodbye with Hermione at the hospital had been hard. Leaving her behind had never been easy and since we’d confessed our feelings for each other, this had been even more difficult than either of us had imagined. It lessened the blow to know that she was expected to make a full recovery. What was more troublesome was that I had no idea what her parents would do next. It helped that her mother seemed to be more on our side now.

As you can expect, upon the return to Hogwarts Ron and I had the biggest argument that we’d ever had in our entire friendship. We’d both said some hateful things and I doubted if anything would ever be the same again.

That night we’d returned to school, it had been quite late, near the middle of the night. Lupin saw Ron and I back to our common room and left us to go tell Dumbledore the news on Hermione. As soon as we both climbed through the portrait hole, he let me have it. Luckily, as it was late, the common room was deserted. The room was nearly dark, except for the light from the fireplace where a fire burned brightly and wood crackled in the flames.

“You have some nerve, you know that?” he began,

I turned to face him and saw the anger that was written all over his face. “Ron, can we not get into this now? Look, we’re both tired. We’ll be thinking a lot clearer in the morning and we can have it out, then, alright?” I asked him.

“You’re bloody right we’re going to get into this now,” he said hotly. “I think it’s well past time that we got into this. Were you ever going to tell me, huh? When was I going to find out? When you and Hermione took out an ad in The Daily Prophet announcing your engagement? That was probably part of the fun, wasn’t it? Keeping it from me? Yet another thing you had over me.”

“You don’t understand, Ron,” I said, interrupting him, but he held up his hand.

“Did the two of you have a nice, romantic time together? Was your goodbye heart wrenching? The Daily Prophet would get a big kick out of the story, don’t you think? I can see it now, ‘The Tragic Hero and his damsel in distress.’ It should sell loads of copies.”

One look at him and I knew he was just getting started. I fidgeted uncomfortably as I listened to him.

“Why her, Harry?” he asked. “Can you tell me that? You could probably have any girl in this school, but no. You have to go after the one that I want. You have to go after the one that I want just because you can, isn’t that right? You probably wouldn’t have even given her a second thought if I hadn’t told you how I felt about her.”

“Hold on, Ron,” I said, feeling my own anger coming to the surface. “You have no idea what has been happening.”

“Well, of course, I don’t,” he retorted. “You’ve been lying to me this whole time.”

“Would you listen to me?” I asked. “For Merlin’s sake! I listened to what you had to say and if you’d just give me a chance to explain.”

I took a breath and looked at him. He’d folded his arms and was looking at me as if he could care less what I had to say, but I continued.

“I love her, Ron,” I said. “I love her, okay? Not because you think you have feelings for her or because I want to take something away from you. What happened with Sirius and with her being taken away like she was, it made me see what a great person she is. When I had the chance to spend time with her, I found myself admitting to feelings that I didn’t know that I had, but I did have them, Ron.”

“I know I should have told you that I’d been to see her,” I continued. “It was pretty selfish of me for doing that, I admit that.”

“That is the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard,” he said. “You don’t really expect me to believe that, do you? I mean, come off of it, Harry. Every thing I’ve ever wanted, you’ve gotten for yourself before I even had a chance to get it.”

“Not this again,” I said angrily. “You know, I am getting sick and tired of having to walk on egg shells because of you. Things don’t go your way and it’s supposedly my fault. Yeah, Ron, I’ve planned all of this out. Pretty sneaky of me, isn’t it? You’ve found me out. I guess I’ll have to move on to something else.”

“What else am I supposed to think? Look at everything that’s happened, right? Hermione was so right about you last year when she called you on that saving people thing, right? You have to be the great savior, don’t you? No one else can do it. You had to save the Sorcerer’s Stone. It had to be you to save my sister, right? It had to be you that helped Sirius escape with Buckbeak? It was you that had to win that tournament?”

“I would gladly let you have all of that if you want it!” I retorted. “I’ve never wanted any of that, you stupid prat! If I had a choice, I would love to have my mum and dad back and live a normal life, but no, I can’t do that. If you would like to have people gawk at you all the time because of this stupid scar, you can have it, Ron. I’ve never wanted it! And then I found out that I had no choice in the matter to begin with! This was all set into-“

I stopped myself. I didn’t want to share the Prophecy with Ron. Right now, I was finding it hard not to resist the urge to punch his lights out.

“What?” he asked. “What were you going to say?”

“Nothing,” I replied, making for the staircase to the dormitories. “I’m tired of this, Ron. I’m going to bed. When you stop blaming me for everything that’s gone wrong in your life, then maybe we can talk.”

With that, I turned and ascended the staircase to our room. I didn’t look back at him.

That had been seven days ago. We hadn’t spoken a word to each other. We’d sort of developed a schedule where we’d not be in our dorm room at the same time, except when we were sleeping. We sat away from each other in classes and avoided each other at all costs during meal times. Quidditch practice was another story. We’d had to put up with each other during those times, but it was with great reluctance that we did this. It made for quite a tense few hours, let me tell you. Katie was upset with the lot of us and had taken us both aside to tell us that we needed to put whatever was bothering us behind us for the good of the team. We’d agreed to try and get along with each other, but still hadn’t spoken to each other. It was almost like we’d never been friends.

When I wasn’t putting up with staying away from Ron, I thought of Hermione. I could still hear her telling me that she loved me, too. God, I missed her so much. There was nothing I could do about it, though. The proverbial ball was in her parents’ court, now. If she was to come back here, it would be up to them. There wouldn’t be any more covert visits on the Floo Network. Dumbledore had put the kibosh on that upon my return from the hospital. He’d told me that while I wouldn’t be punished for my actions, he’d have to have my word that I wouldn’t go sneaking around like I had. Reluctantly, I’d given my word.

I’d also promised Hermione before I’d left her that I wouldn’t do it again. She’d been afraid that I’d be expelled for doing it, and she reminded me that I had more important things to think about. I’d argued with her that there was nothing more important to me than her, but she’d asked me to promise her that I would go seeking out trouble like that again.

On Saturday morning, I’d awoken a little later than I usually did. I pulled back the duvet cover and reached toward my nightstand to put my glasses on. As I looked around the room, I saw that it was deserted, save for Neville, who was seated on his four-poster bed cradling his toad, Trevor, in his arms.

“What’s going on, Neville? I asked, coming closer to him.

“Trevor,” he said, looking up.

“What’s wrong with him, then?” I asked, leaning in for a closer look. He looked perfectly fine to me.

“You’ll see,” Neville said glumly. “Just watch.”

We stood there for a few seconds just staring at the toad, which wasn’t doing much of anything. I was about to say something to Neville, when it happened. Trevor started to croak, and out came soap suds and bubbles.

“How did that happen?” I asked, looking at the toad in awe.

“The house elves accidentally put him in with the laundry,” Neville said. “He’s been croaking up soap and bubbles since then.”

“Oh,” I said, watching as Trevor gave out another croak that this time let loose a sea of bubbles that fell onto Neville’s bed.

“You should probably take him down to Hagrid and let him have a look,” I said, helpfully. “He can probably fix Trevor up for you straightaway.”

Neville nodded. “You’re probably right. Thanks, Harry.”

I nodded and watched as Neville put Trevor in his carrying case.

“Where is everyone?” I asked, as I walked back over to my bedside table and pulled out a towel and toothbrush.

“Seamus and Dean talked Ron into a pickup game of Quidditch before breakfast,” Neville said. “They left about thirty minutes ago. You want me to wait for you for breakfast?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Why don’t you go and take Trevor down to Hagrid’s and I’ll go shower. We can meet in the common room in about 20 minutes?”

Neville nodded. “Okay.”

About half an hour later, Neville and I made our way to the Great Hall to grab breakfast. It was a Hogsmeade weekend and I hadn’t planned on going so I hadn’t signed up. I hoped Ron had so I wouldn’t have to be around him. To my dismay, Ron was sitting at our house table in the Great Hall with Dean and Seamus. They were talking animatedly over a plate of eggs and bacon and toast when Neville and I approached them.

Dean and Seamus greeted us warmly, but Ron simply glared at me as I took a seat across from Seamus, who was seated beside Ron.

“Oi,” Ron said to Neville. “Neville, can you pass me the toast? Unless, of course, Harry wants some, because I’m getting some.”

I glared at him.

Neville looked at both of us, before handing over the plate of toast to Ron.

“Thanks, mate,” Ron said.

“Harry,” Dean said, trying to change the subject. “You coming in to Hogsmeade with us?”

I was about to answer him when Ron rudely broke in with, “No, I reckon ‘The Boy Who Lived’ is going to brood over his girlfriend whose parents rightly took her away from him to keep her safe.”

I dropped my fork angrily.

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” I asked, glowering at him.

“You know damn well what it means,” Ron said, dropping his own fork and pushing back from the table. “You know, all of a sudden, I’m not very hungry.”

The four of us watched as he angrily stormed out of the Great Hall.

“He’s really angry,” Neville said to me.

“Do you think?” I retorted sarcastically.

I noticed Neville look affronted at my remark.

“I’m sorry, Neville,” I said. “He just gets me so mad sometimes.”

“He’ll get over it soon enough,” Dean said.

“Hermione’s not the only fish in the sea,” Seamus said, between bites of egg. “I mean, even Crabbe and Goyle could have told Ron he was fighting a losing battle for Hermione. Anyone with half a brain knows she’s only had eyes for you for a long time.”

I felt a little better as we finished our breakfast. I was still angry with Ron, but I was trying to not think about him. I was trying to think positive thoughts. As usual, these usually revolved around Hermione. Again, I said a silent prayer that some way she’d be able to come back here. With each passing day, it didn’t seem so likely anymore.

Despite Dumbledore’s assurances that this would be kept hush-hush, things had a way of getting out and they usually did around Hogwarts. Within a couple of days, rumors were circling about what had happened with Hermione and how I’d snuck out of school to see her. In the past couple of days I’d overheard Parvati and Lavender squealing about what a romantic I was for doing that for Hermione. I’d been embarrassed to over hear their conversation about this and had gone a million shades of red when they’d gushed over it to me.

When I’d finished breakfast, I said a quick goodbye to Dean, Seamus and Neville, who were all going to Hogsmeade. I set off back toward the Common Room. Why is it when you least want to see someone, they always have a funny way of turning up?

While I didn’t have the answer to that question, the proof in the statement came walking past me in the form of one Draco Malfoy, who was accompanied not by Crabbe and Goyle, as per usual, but by Pansy Parkinson.

Trying to act as if I didn’t see him, I tried to walk faster past him, but he caught on quite quickly to what I was trying to do, and I knew he wasn’t going to let me get away so easily.

“Potter,” he said haughtily. “It’s a shame about Granger. Really it is.”

I stopped dead in my tracks.

“What do you want Malfoy?” I asked turning around to face him. He was sneering at me, and Pansy was standing right beside him, taking it all in.

“I was just saying that it was a shame about Granger,” he said.

“Are you kidding me?” I asked.

“No, of course, not,” he said, with a laugh. “It’s a shame that car didn’t finish her off. Oh well, at least she’s out of this school.”

He opened his mouth to say something else, but I didn’t let him utter another word. It was as if all my anger and all my frustration were ready to come out and Malfoy was going to be the unfortunate target. I rounded on him immediately and punched him with all my might in the nose. He fell back against the wall and Pansy stood back, watching as I punched him again in the stomach.

“Malfoy,” I said, standing over him, as he winced in pain. “If you ever say anything cross about Hermione again, I’ll make you wish you’d never been born. You aren’t fit to say her name, you filthy son-of-a-bitch. You aren’t worth it!”

I gave him one last look, before turning to walk away. Pansy sobbed as she stood over him.

“You broke his nose!” she screamed after me.

“It’s an improvement,” I said, walking away from the two of them.

That had felt good. No, that had felt damn good.

Normal 2 163 2003-09-09T02:59:00Z 2003-09-09T02:59:00Z 1 2499 14247 118 33 16713 10.2625 Clean Clean MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Author’s Note: Thank you all so much for reviewing and reading and keeping me going. I hope you like this chapter. There will be one more chapter after this and depending on feedback, there will be a sequel to this one, if you want me to do that, please let me know. This chapter is told from Hermione’s point-of-view.

Chapter 16

Ordinary Day

“Just a day,
Just an ordinary day.
Just tryin’ to get by.
Just a boy,
Just an ordinary boy.
But he was looking to the sky.
And as he asked if I would come along
I started to realize-
That everyday you find
Just what he's looking for,
Like a shooting star he shines.”

“Ordinary Day” by Vanessa Carlton

It had been a week since the accident…I was still in the hospital. Yes, I know I still had some cuts and bruises and I was still sore, but for the love of God would someone please let me out of this place! I’ve had enough Jell-O and something called hamburger surprise to last me a lifetime. I have been tested, x-rayed and observed. I think it’s safe to let me out among the well and healthy. Every day that Dr. Reynolds comes to see me, I ask him if today will finally be the day that I’ll be able to go home. Each day he grins and says “We’ll see.”

Don’t get me wrong. I’ve absolutely enjoyed not having to go to Ramsey Preparatory School. That has been a picnic, let me tell you, even if I had to get hit by a car to do it. No, that’s not very funny. I shouldn’t joke about things like that. Though, with the way things have been going for me in the past couple of months, it was either laugh or cry.

My relationship with my parents was improving, especially with my mother. I now felt as if she was on my side. I think she’d been impressed with the lengths Harry had gone to in order to see me. She’d even told me how he’d been worried sick about me. She’d said she could see how much he cared for me in his eyes. It had almost seemed like it used to be before all of this happened.

I hadn’t pressed my luck, though. I knew that I was on the verge of getting what I wanted and I couldn’t risk the progress I’d made by harping on about going back to school and how unhappy I was here. They knew all of that. I would only hurt my case now, by pressing the issue. I was so close I could feel it.

I’d spent my days reading some books and magazines my mother had brought from home for me. She’d even snuck in Hogwarts: a History, without my dad’s knowledge. It had been therapeutic to look through that book and see and read about my school.

I hoped Harry was okay. Before he’d left me, I’d made him promise not to take any more risky chances. He’d been lucky so far that he hadn’t been punished, but luck had a way of running out. I didn’t want him to be expelled, especially now that I might be coming home.

Harry. When I closed my eyes, I could see his brilliant, infectious smile and his shining, green eyes. I could still hear the emotion in his voice when he told me that he loved me. He loved me! I never in a million years would have believed that this would have happened.

Sometimes, I wondered if he would have done any of this, if I’d not been taken out of school. What if we’d just returned to school, as usual---or as usual as possible for a school that trains witches and wizards, and things had been the same as they always were? Would he have noticed me? Would he have finally seen what was right in front of him all along?

When I had thoughts like these, I would remind myself that it didn’t matter how it came about, the important thing was that he felt this way. He felt the same way about me that I felt about him. It was amazing. It was truly the most precious gift. I could still remember that line from one of my favorite movies, Moulin Rouge. I know I’m paraphrasing here, but I truly believe that the most important thing is to love and be loved in return. It was a wonderful feeling.

It had been wonderful to see that Ron and Professor Lupin again. I couldn’t help sensing that there was something wrong with Ron. He’d seemed a little bit off when we’d had our little chat before he’d left. He’d come in before Harry to say goodbye.

“Ronald Weasley,” I had said to him when he’d walked into the room. “I do believe those are tears in your eyes.”

“No, they’re not,” he’d replied sheepishly. “I just have something in my eye. These American hospitals are full of dust aren’t they?”

He’d come to sit beside my bedside. He took my hand and looked at me for a few moments. Neither of us said a word. The silence was a little awkward.

“What is it?” I asked him.

“Nothing,” he’d replied.

“I’ve known you long enough to know when something is bothering you, Ron,” I said. “I know you and Harry about as well as I know the back of my hand. That’s what happens when you’re friends with someone.”

“Friends,” he’d said. His voice seemed a little cold as he’d said that word.

“Best friends,” I said, gripping his hand a little tighter.

“We, um, have to be leaving soon,” he said. “Lupin said we’d need to leave soon to make our connection back to Hogwarts.”

I nodded. “I know. So, how have you liked your first visit to America?”

“Well, it’s been quite a trip, actually,” he said, his smile returning to his face.

“You are behaving yourself at school aren’t you?” I asked him. “You are a prefect, after all. You’ve been helping the first-years? You haven’t been calling them ‘little people’ or ‘rugrats” or my personal favorite ‘annoying little snotrags’?”

“They deserve it, Hermione,” he’d said. “We couldn’t possibly have been that annoying when we were 11!”

“I think we were,” I said. “In fact, I know for certain that you were.”

“Well, you make fun of one smarty pants girl in your first year and you’re branded for life?” he asked me. “Is that about right?”

“Yeah,” I said, laughing, but then wincing as I felt the pain.

“You should probably get some rest,” he said. “You have to get better and get back to where you belong, you know?”

“I will,” I said softly. “Will you do me a favor?”

“Anything for you,” he said with a smile.

I was worried about Harry and him having to deal with that prophecy. I knew, though, that it wasn’t really my call to tell Ron about this. I still hoped that Ron would be a good friend to Harry at a time when he really needed it.

“Look out for Harry, Ron,” I said. “He’s really going through a lot. You know I can’t really get into all of it, because it’s not really my place to tell you. I’m sure Harry will tell you when the time is right, but it’s really huge, Ron.”

I felt Ron’s hand tense up. A few moments later, he let go of my hand all together.

“What’s going on between you two, anyway?” he asked me finally.

“It’s complicated,” I said softly.

I could still remember how he’d tensed up after that and had seemed uncomfortable. He’d quickly bid me a goodbye and a get well soon and beat a quick retreat out of my room.

Looking back on that conversation, I wasn’t sure why I hadn’t told Ron about my feelings for Harry and vice versa. Maybe it was because I knew there hadn’t been enough time to go into something like that. If I was being honest, it would be because I always felt deep down that Ron had feelings for me that went a little beyond friendship. That whole Yule Ball thing had pretty much confirmed it for me. He hadn’t ever done anything about it. If I was on this honesty kick, I would have to say that I didn’t ever see Ron as anything but my friend. He was like a brother to me---albeit an annoying and at-times aggravating brother.

Knowing Ron like I did, I knew that if he did have feelings for me, he certainly wouldn’t want to hear that I, in turn, had feelings for Harry. I could still remember how he’d reacted during fourth year when he’d thought Harry had submitted his name for the Triwizard Tournament. He hadn’t believed that Harry wouldn’t have entered his name in that contest. He’d believed that Harry was going to go for the glory and he, Ron, would just be the second banana/sidekick again. In all the years that we’d been friends, I’d spent a lot of conversations with Ron where he’d tell me how he’d always wanted to have something of his own. He wanted to make a place in the world for himself. He didn’t want to just be the little brother or The Boy-Who-Lived’s best mate.

I can still remember how proud of himself he’d been when he’d won the Quidditch Cup last year. He’d finally had something to call his own. I’d been happy for him, then. I knew Harry had been proud of him, too. He finally accomplished something on his own. Yes, it had been on the team, but he’d done it without being in the shadow of Harry or Fred or George. I knew that he sometimes resented Harry’s “fame”.

That time during fourth year when he and Harry had their big row, I’d tried to make Ron see that Harry never asked for any of it. That he would have gladly given it up to have a family, to lead a normal life. Sometimes, though, I don’t think Ron saw it this way. I couldn’t help feeling, though, that if Ron had feelings for me; he wouldn’t be too keen to find out that I loved Harry.

I didn’t have too much time to think about this, though. Dr. Reynolds came into my hospital room with my parents in tow.

“Good morning,” Dr. Reynolds said with a smile. “And how is Hermione today?”

“Hermione,” I said, sitting up on my bed, “is ready to go home.”

“You know,” he said, taking a seat beside my bed, while my parents hovered in the doorway, “I’m not psychic or anything, but I had a feeling that you would say that.”

“Well, I’m not psychic, either, but I have a feeling that the next words out of your mouth will be ‘Well, Hermione, we’ll see’.”

Dr. Reynolds tried to look affronted by my statement. “Well, I hate to be predictable, so I think just to deny you the satisfaction, I’ll say that we’re all pretty tired of looking at your pretty face, so if you really want to leave, we won’t stop you.”

“Oh, please tell me you aren’t kidding?” I asked, a smile playing at my lips.

“You do know that doctors very rarely kid,” he said. “You being the daughter of dentists, I would think you would have known that right away.”

“Oh, thank you!” I said, pulling back my covers and getting out of bed. I enveloped Dr. Reynolds in a hug. “Thanks so much!”

He hugged me back and shared a laugh with my parents as I sat back down on the bed. “I must tell you, Hermione that you are going to miss out on tonight’s dessert---lime flavored Jell-O.”

“Don’t take this the wrong way,” I said, “but I hope that I never see Jell-O in any shape or form for the rest of my life.”

Getting discharged from the hospital isn’t something that can be done quickly. On the contrary, it can take quite a long time. It took nearly two hours for my parents to complete the necessary paperwork and for Dr. Reynolds to give me one last checkup. Finally, I was able to go. Although the weather was cold, it felt so great to breathe in fresh air and feel the sun shining down on me.

The ride back to the house had been surprisingly quiet. Other than my parents exchanging comments about patients they would be seeing in the next couple of days, we’d pretty much kept things quiet. When we finally did make it back to the house, my dad told us to go on inside and he’d get the suitcase and flowers from the car.

As I was hungry, as soon as we entered the house, I made my way toward the kitchen. After a week of bland, hospital food, I was ready to devour some real food. Somewhere in this kitchen, there was a turkey and cheese sandwich with my name on it.

“I think you should go upstairs, first, sweetheart,” my mom said, following me into the kitchen.

“I will,” I said, heading toward the refrigerator. “I just want to get something to eat, first. I’m famished.

“Oh, Hermione, there’ll be time enough for that,” she said. “I just think you should go upstairs to your room first.”

I turned around to face her and saw that she had a gleam in her eyes as she watched me. She had that look on her face that clearly told me she was up to something, and I was about to find out what it was.

“What’s going on?” I asked warily.

“Nothing,” she said. “Just go upstairs. I’ll fix you a sandwich.”

“Yes, but you don’t know what I want,” I said stubbornly.

“Hermione,” she said. “I’m your mother. I think I know by now that your favorite sandwich is turkey and Swiss cheese on whole-wheat toast with extra mustard.”

“Okay,” I said. “If I go upstairs, will it make you happy?”
“Extremely,” she said. “Now go. I have a sandwich to make after all.”

With one last look at her, I turned and walked out of the kitchen and toward the

staircase. As I ascended the staircase, I heard the front door close and my father say to my mother, “I dropped one of the vases, Karen. There’s broken glass all over the garage floor.”

I stifled a laugh as I made my down the hallway to my bedroom. The door was closed, but as I got closer I could make out distinctly the sound of a cat mewing.

That couldn’t be, though, could it?

I slowly opened the door and let out a gasp as I saw my ginger-haired cat, Crookshanks, sitting smack dab in the middle of my bed. When she saw me, she quickly jumped off the bed and into my arms.

“Crookshanks!” I exclaimed, rubbing her head. “What on earth are you doing here?”

When we’d left on “vacation” to come here, my mother had made me leave the cat with our next-door neighbors. I honestly believed I’d never see her again.

Crookshanks, however, wasn’t the only surprise awaiting me. For the first time, I got a good look at my bedroom. I let Crookshanks down and looked at the two trunks that were sitting in the middle of my room. My school uniform from Hogwarts along with my cloak and wand were laid out on my bed. A box of books sat beside it. I went closer to inspect and found a new collection of books. Among them, a book entitled Standard Book of Spells, Grade Six.

This couldn’t be right, could it? I picked up Crookshanks and slowly made my way back downstairs to the kitchen. My parents couldn’t be playinga cruel joke on me, could they? Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me. To make sure I’d seen what I thought I’d seen, I quickly made my back upstairs and looked into my bedroom where I saw that the trunks, wand, uniform and books were all still there. I let out a nervous laugh as I looked at these things in disbelief.

Warily, I made my back down the stairs and into the kitchen. I saw my mother putting the finishing touches on my sandwich and my dad was just starting to eat his own sandwich.

“What’s the matter, sweetheart?” my mother said.
“Um,” I said, letting Crookshanks down. “My bedroom. Books. Uniform. Wand. How?”
“I’d like to buy a verb,” my mother said, with a laugh.

“I think I can answer that for you,” my dad said. “Your friend, Professor Lupin, visited us and pleaded your case. We agreed with what he had to say and he offered to fetch your books and things from Diagon Alley and the neighbors were more than happy to send the cat with him.”
I sat down at the kitchen table and my mom put the sandwich plate in front of me. I was no longer hungry.

“Does this, um,” I began, “mean that I’m-“

“Going back to Hogwarts?” my dad finished for me.

“Yes, it does,” he said, with a smile. “That is, if you still want to go.”

“Well, of course, I do,” I said, “but I’ll be so far behind.”

“Well, Professor Lupin said that your professors would be willing to help you with your lessons to get you caught up. You’ll probably need to put in some weekend work and extra hours, but they think you’ll be alright.”

Tears came streaming down my face, but this time, they were out of joy, not sadness.

“But how did you change your mind?” I asked.

“The truth is, sweetheart,” my mom said, “is that your accident helped us see the light. It’s a shame that it took something like that to get it to sink in, but the truth is that anything can happen, whether you are here or there. The most important thing, though, is that you are happy. We forgot that somewhere along the way. I don’t know if you could ever forgive us for that, but I hope that in time, you will.”

I nodded, not really knowing what to say.
”Are you, um, going to go back, too?” I was finally able to ask.

“We’re going to stay here,” my mother said. “We’ve actually made a good life here. You’ll come back here of course for holidays and summers.”

“Thank you for this,” I whispered. “Thank you so much.”

“Well, you better eat and finish packing,” my dad said with a wink at me.

“You’ll be leaving in a couple of hours. Professor Lupin will be here via that Flow Network thing.”

“Floo Network, dad,” I said, wiping a tear away.

I couldn’t believe that by the end of the day, I’d finally be home!

Hi you guys! I know this isn’t a new chapter, yet, but I must explain why it’s taking me so long to get the new one up…it’s been a tough time for me the past couple of days…work related, etc….I won’t bore you with the details, but it hasn’t been much fun lately. Anyway, in addition to that, I live in North Carolina and as you might know we are about to get hit by a hurricane—Hurricane Isabel. I live about two hours from the coast and we’re supposed to be getting a lot of wind and rain…hopefully, my power will not go out and I’ll be able to put the time to good use and write, write, write! Luckily, my office will be closed tomorrow (Thursday) due to the hurricane, so I hopefully will be updating soon (weather & electricity permitting).

Again, thanks to all who have read and reviewed! You guys are great!

And I know I goofed with the Crookshanks thing…I knew the cat was male, but referred to her as a “she” in my previous chapter. Please forgive me…I had a momentary lapse of concentration…I seem to have a lot of those!

Take care you guys!
Amy

*Serial procrastinator*

Authors’ Note: Thanks so much to everyone who sent me email and reviews, concerned about the hurricane…the good thing was that we didn’t get hit that hard where I live and I truly feel blessed that we made it out okay. On a brighter side, I was able to do some writing and I hope you all like this concluding chapter. At the end, you will see a little teaser note about the sequel…

I want to give a special thank you to the following people who kept me going when I had a tough case of writer’s block and didn’t think I would get this chapter out! Ash, Muirnin, SummrMagic, Kathryn Mason-Sykes, Enchanted Quill, Sofie, AngelWing, Hallie, BM, ECR Potter (PLEASE FORGIVE ME FOR THE CROOKSHANKS ERROR!), and everyone else…thanks for the reviews! You guys are great!

Chapter 18

Drop in the Ocean

“Love took me by the hand
Love took me by surprise
Love led me to you
And love opened up my eyes”

”And I was drifting away
like a drop in the ocean
And now I realize that
nothing has been as beautiful
As when I saw heaven's skies
In your eyes”

(Michelle Branch)

“What have you got in here, Hermione?” my dad said, as I tried to help him lug one of my heavy trunks down the stairs.

“This one has all of my books in it, Dad,” I said, huffily.

“I wish you could do magic out of school and levitate this thing down the stairs,” he said.

“Did I hear you say you wished I could do magic?” I asked, trying to stifle a laugh.

“Yes,” he said. “I’m man enough to admit when I’m wrong. Okay?”

“Whatever you say, Dad,” I said, as we finally reached the bottom of the stairs. “Whatever you say.”

The front doorbell rang at that very second and my mother quickly came in from the kitchen to go and answer it. A few seconds later, she came back into the room with Kit in tow.

“Hermione!” she exclaimed. “You’re home!”

She quickly ran over to me and gave me an enthusiastic hug.

“What’s with the trunks?” she asked.

My parents looked at me and I looked back at them.

“Why don’t we go upstairs and get the rest of Hermione’s things, Robert,” my mom said.

My dad nodded. “Right.”

I looked at Kit, not really knowing what to say.

“So, what’s with the trunks?” she asked again.

“Um, I’m kind of going back to school; my old school, actually,” I said grinning at her.

“Oh,” she said, smiling half-heartedly at me. “How did you get your parents to finally agree to that?”

“I think the accident knocked some sense into them,” I said. “I’ll have to remember to get myself in mortal danger the next time they say no to me.”

Kit giggled, but then her face turned serious.

“What? What is it?” I asked her.

“Well, I’m happy that you get to go back to school, but I’m going to miss you. You’re the only decent person my age in this neighborhood. With you gone, I’ll have to hang out with the Carson twins.”

“Aren’t they newborns?” I asked her.

“Yes, they’re far too young to be snobby or pretentious just yet,” she said. “You see? If you leave, I’ll be forced to hang out with newborns. Next thing you know, I’ll be watching Barney and The Teletubbies.”

“I’m going to miss you, Kit Reilly,” I said, giving her a hug. “You are truly one of a kind.”

“Yeah, thank the Lord for that,” she said. “So when do you leave for the airport?”

“Airport?” I said.

“Yeah,” she said. “Don’t tell me you’re traveling all the way back to Europe in a boat? Oh, no let me guess, you are going by bus, right? Last time I checked, there wasn’t a bridge across the Atlantic Ocean.”

“No,” I said, walking over to my trunk, and making sure the lock was secure. “You can’t get to Europe by bus.”

“So, how are you getting there?” she asked me.

“Well,” I began, but my voice trailed off. I could tell her the truth, couldn’t I? I mean, she was the only real friend that I had here. She’d been there for me when I thought I had no one. She deserved the truth. I never liked lying, especially to someone I considered a good friend. If I told her this, though, would she think I was actually being sent away to some psychiatric home for the criminally insane?

“Well?” she prompted me.

“Kit,” I said, taking a deep breath. “Why don’t we have a seat?”

“Okay,” she said warily. We walked over to the sofa and took a seat.

“I don’t really know where to start, actually,” I began again. “It’s really complicated. I don’t have much time, so I guess I’ll just give you the Reader’s Digest version.”

She nodded solemnly at me.

“Okay, here goes,” I said. “I’m not like your everyday, run-of-the-mill teenagers. Up until a few months ago, I was going to a school where they didn’t teach you normal subjects like biology or algebra or things like that. At my school, we study things like Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, and Divination.”

“Potions?” she asked. “You mean like Magic Potions? You mean like Love Potion Number Nine?”

I laughed. “Sort of, but not really. They are magic potions, yes. The name of the school is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft & Wizardry. It’s one of the finest schools of its kind in the world. I was so excited when I got my letter telling me I’d been accepted to go there. You have no idea! It answered so many questions. When I was little, I was able to do certain things and I had no idea how I was able to do it. You know, when I was angry or sad or wanted something, I could make it happen.”

“What do you mean?” she asked.

“Well, there was this one time when I was staying with a neighbor friend of my parents. I must have been six years old at the time, but she wouldn’t let me use my paints in her house. I had this new paint set that my parents had bought me for my birthday and I’d brought it over to her house so I’d have something to play with. Anyway, she took the paint set away from me and I just remember being so angry. She’d placed it at the top of her tallest bookshelf. Somehow, I was able to get the paint set down from there and I proceeded to paint all over her sitting room wall.”

“Wow,” Kit said, in awe.

“Anyway, I was always doing stuff like that. My mother and father had no idea why it was happening. They were non-magical people, which we in the wizarding world call Muggles. Anyway, when I received my letter, it explained so much. I was so happy.”

“Well, when I first started at Hogwarts, I didn’t really have any friends. I was such a bossy-boots. It didn’t matter to me about friends, or so I thought. I was more interested in getting top marks and being the best student that the school had ever seen.”

“And then?” Kit asked me.

“Well, then there was Harry and Ron,” I said, smiling as I thought of them. “They didn’t like me too much when they met me, I don’t think. There was this incident where Ron said some horrible thing that upset me, so I spent the day in the girls’ bathroom, crying my eyes out. What I didn’t know was that there was a mountain troll loose in the castle. He was headed straight for the girls’ bathroom. Well, let me tell you, he nearly finished me off, and probably would have, if it hadn’t been for Harry and Ron. After that, we were pretty much inseparable.”

“So why did your parents want to take you out of there? I mean, aside from the Mountain Troll, what could possibly go wrong at a place like that?”

“Well,” I said, thoughtfully, “They were worried that my friendship with Harry was one day going to get me killed.”

“How?” Kit asked.

“Well, you see, in our world, Harry is pretty well-known. His parents died when he was just a baby. They were killed by one of the darkest and most powerful wizards. He tried to kill Harry, but he couldn’t do it. He was responsible for vanquishing this dark lord when he was just a baby! He was the savior to so many people.”

“He seemed like a regular guy when I met him at the hospital,” Kit said.

“He is,” I said, proudly. “That’s one of the things that are so great about him. He’s so important and well-known, but you wouldn’t know it by talking to him or by being his friend. He’s got such a good heart. He’s loyal and funny. He’s led such a sad life, but he’s so resilient. He’s had to face so many things in such a short time, but he’s always faced them so courageously and bravely…I could sit here all day and tell you about Harry, but I don’t have much time. Anyway, I’ll just say that this Dark Lord is always trying to finish him off. This past year, one of his followers killed Harry’s godfather. The year before that, the Dark Lord himself killed one of our classmates right in front of Harry. My parents were afraid about what would happen t me if I continued to go to school there. They were worried about what would happen to me if I continued to be Harry’s friend.”

“Aren’t you scared, too?” Kit asked. “It seems like a lot to take on.”

“It is,” I said. “And, of course, I get scared, but he’s my friend. I knew what I was getting into when I became his friend. If I could change anything about it, I wouldn’t. I care about him too much to walk away from him because I might get scared or I might be afraid of what could happen. That isn’t any way to live, you know?”

She nodded. I couldn’t really tell how she felt about anything that I’d just told her. She looked down at the floor and avoided meeting my gaze for a long time.

“You don’t have to believe what I said,” I told her. “I hope that you do, but I’d understand if you didn’t. It does seem half-baked, I’ll admit.”

She looked up at me, finally, and smiled. “I believe you, Hermione.”

“You do?” I asked her in disbelief.

“Yeah,” she said. “You’re my friend. If you say that this is the way it is, I believe you.”

“Thanks,” I said, sincerely. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes.

“You will be coming back, won’t you?” she asked. “I mean, for vacations and holidays, and things?”

“Yes,” I said, smiling at her.

“Next time that you come, you have to do some tricks for me,” she said. “I mean, you don’t have to pull a rabbit out of a hat or anything like that or saw someone in half. I mean, you could do that, if you wanted to. I mean, that would be pretty cool, if you wanted to do that.”

I couldn’t help laughing at her. “You are one of a kind, Kit Reilly.”

“This from the teenage witch,” she said, giving me another hug. “Like you have room to talk!”

After Kit and I said our goodbyes, my parents came back downstairs to wait with me for Professor Lupin’s arrival.

I could hardly wait! All of my trunks and bags were packed and ready to go. Crookshanks was trying in vain to get out of his carry-all.

I was pacing. Every few minutes, I checked my watch. Time seemed to be standing still when all I wanted it to do was speed up.

“Hermione,” my mother said from her perch on the couch.

“Yes,” I said absently.

“Sweetie,” she said softly, “would you please sit down you’re starting to make me nervous.”

“Sorry,” I said. “I can’t help it.”

“You’re about to burst, aren’t you?” my father said.

“Is it that obvious?” I asked with a laugh.

Before my dad could answer, there was a loud “pop” as Professor Lupin apparated right in my living room. My mother nearly jumped out of her skin. My father cursed.

“Professor Lupin,” I said. “I thought you were coming by Floo.”

“I was,” he said, “But I was running late so I thought I’d apparate in. We’ll Floo back. Good evening, Dr. Granger. Good evening, Dr. Granger.”

“Actually, it’s afternoon,” my dad said, standing up to shake his hand.

“Oh, yes, you’re right,” Professor Lupin said. “I guess I’m still on Hogwarts time. It’s around seven in the evening back at school.”

He turned to face me. “So, are you ready to go?”

I nodded enthusiastically.

“I thought so,” he said, giving me a wink. “Well, let’s see then. I’ll come back for your trunks after we’ve seen you safely back to school, alright?”

“Great,” I said, barely able to contain my smile.

“Oh, sweetheart,” my mother said. She stood up from the couch and gave me a big hug and a kiss on the forehead. “You promise me that you’ll be careful.”

“I will,” I said. “I’ll miss you, Mom.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” she said, giving me another hug. “You take care of yourself and make us proud.”

“She always makes us proud, Karen,” my dad said, taking his turn to give me a hug and a peck on the cheek.

“I love you, Hermione. I hope you know that.”

I nodded. “I do, Daddy.”

“Take care of our little girl,” my dad said looking sternly at Professor Lupin.

“We will, Dr. Granger. You have my word on that,” Lupin said. “Well, Miss Granger, let’s get you back to school, then.”

(Harry)

Why is it that the last person you want to be around always finds a way of showing up wherever you go? This was the predicament I found myself in with Ron nearly 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It didn’t help that we shared a bedroom and nearly all of our classes together, not to mention Quidditch. The truth was that in the past few days, we hadn’t spoken more than a few words to each other.

If I could, I would change the way that things had played out. I was sorry about how I’d snuck around behind Ron’s back to visit Hermione. I was sorry that I hadn’t told him the truth about my own feelings for her. I was sorry for many things, but the one thing I wasn’t sorry for was my love for Hermione. It was the one thing in my life that was constant. It was the one thing in my life that I felt like I could count on. I missed her so much.

The downside to all of this drama was that I had neglected my homework. It had continued to pile up as I continued to procrastinate and neglect my studies. If Hermione could see me now, I knew she wouldn’t be pleased. The pile of assignments that I now had wouldn’t wait any longer. I was in definite danger of falling way behind. That being the case, I made a conscious decision to spend the entire evening doing my homework. As soon as dinner was over, I would head to the Astronomy Tower to work on my star charts that were due to Professor Vector in the morning. I wasn’t looking forward to it. The evenings had become increasingly colder and the Astronomy Tower was always much colder than the entire castle. So instead of doing my homework in the comforts of the common room, I’d be freezing in the Astronomy Tower trying to finish star charts. A smashing way to spend an evening, isn’t it? I could barely contain my excitement.

Dinner in the Great Hall went about as well as could be expected. I walked in and found Neville and Seamus sitting down beside Lavender Brown and Ginny Weasley. I quickly made my way to the table and took a seat across from Lavender. I’d just put a helping of Shepherd’s Pie on my plate when Ron came in and sat down across from me. It was the only empty seat so I knew it hadn’t been his choice.

The meal was an uncomfortable one, to say the least. Ron and I kept shooting each other looks that could kill, while the others looked back and forth at us like they were watching a tennis match. Hoping to end this, I tried to eat in a hurry.

“Ginny, could you tell Harry that we have practice tomorrow at one?” Ron said, taking a bite of his Shepherd’s Pie.

“Didn’t you just tell him?” Ginny asked.

“No, because I’m not speaking to the Great Harry Potter, remember?” Ron said angrily.

I had to resist the urge to throw a spoonful of potatoes in his face.

Ginny looked over at Ron, rolled her eyes at him, and in exasperation asked him if he wanted a piece of pumpkin pie.

“No, thanks,” Ron said. “I don’t like pumpkin pie.”

“Yes, you do,” Ginny said. “When Mum makes it at home you always have at minimum two pieces. What is this sudden aversion to pumpkin pie?”

“I just don’t want any,” Ron said, grumpily. “In fact, I think I’ve lost my appetite. See you, Ginny.”

With that, he arose from his seat and stomped out of the Great Hall. Ginny looked at me sympathetically.

“He’ll get over this, Harry,” she said. “Just give him time.”

“I could give him all the time in the world and he still wouldn’t get over it.”

“This is so stupid,” she said. “You know that you both are behaving like children. He’s too stubborn and you’re too proud.”

“I didn’t say anything to him!” I protested.

“That’s the problem,” she said. “Neither of you are talking to each other! Hermione wouldn’t want this. The friendship that the three of you had was very important to her. It is important to her. When she comes back, what do you think she’s going to do to find that her two best friends aren’t even on speaking terms?”

“We’ll never know, Ginny,” I said. “We’ll never know because she isn’t coming back, okay?”

“You’re not giving up on her, are you?” Ginny asked.

“No,” I said. “I will never give up on her, but I have to face the fact that her parents aren’t going to budge on this one. She’s there and I’m here. It hurts like hell, but there’s nothing I can do about it. There’s nothing she can do about it. We’re stuck.”

“You don’t believe that, Harry,” Ginny said. “You have to have faith.”

“No, I have to be logical,” I said. “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Ginny, but it’s no use. I’ve got to head to the Astronomy Tower. See you later.”

With that, I gathered up my bag and walked out of the Great Hall. Never before had I ever felt so alone.

(Hermione)

It took only a few minutes to travel on the Floo Network to Professor Lupin’s office.

“You know,” I said, as I dusted myself off from the soot and ash, “I’ll be so glad to learn how to apparate and not have to travel like that again.”

Lupin chuckled as he, too, dusted himself off. “Well, Miss Granger. Welcome home. How does it feel to be back?”

“I don’t know a word that could come close to describing it,” I said. “I can’t believe I’m actually here.”

“Well, you are actually here,” he said, “just a little late, but actually here.”

“So, what happens now?” I asked, looking around.

“Well, Professor Dumbledore wanted to see you before you go to your dormitory. You know his office is just down the corridor here.”

I nodded.

“I’m going to go back and get your trunks and Crookshanks,” he said. “Oh, yeah, the password for Dumbledore’s office is ‘M & M’. You know he had a bag of them when he was in America to see about you and must have brought back about sixty packs with him.”

I giggled. “They are pretty good.”

“Off with you, now,” Lupin said.

“Okay,” I said, “Thanks, Professor Lupin.”

A few moments later, I found myself waiting in Dumbledore’s office. The office was empty, save for Fawkes the Phoenix. I took a seat in one of the cushy chairs directly across from Dumbledore’s desk.

Within moments, I heard the sound of voices on Dumbledore’s spiral staircase and saw to my delight he’d brought Professor McGonagall with him.

“Hermione Granger,” Dumbledore said. “Welcome home.”

“Thanks,” I said, standing up. “It’s good to be home, finally.”

“It’s good to have you back, Miss Granger,” Professor McGonagall said beaming at me. “We sure have missed you here.”

“Well, I know that you probably want to go see your friends, but there are a few things we need to discuss before you go back to your dorm room,” Dumbledore said. “So, let’s have a nice, quick chat.”

(Harry)

Constellations. Ursa Major. Ursa Minor. They’d already been taken care of. I had yet to see Orion’s Belt. Of course, it would help if I was actually concentrating. It was hard to do an assignment, or anything else, when your mind was on so many other things.

It didn’t help that I was tired and had to keep trying to make myself focus on the telescopes and the night sky. The wind kept blowing my parchment across the tower and more than once I had to run after the scraps of paper as they blew around in the room.

As I looked into the telescope at the night sky, I couldn’t help but remember the last time I’d spent a fall evening under the starry skies. When I closed my eyes, I could hear the music. I could see the gleam in her eyes as she looked up at me as we danced.

Ginny was right. I had to have faith that everything would work out. With each passing day, though, faith seemed to be failing me. I couldn’t give up on Hermione, though. I couldn’t give up on her after all that she’d done for me. She had never given up on me. I couldn’t give up on her when she needed me.

It was hard to do, though. She was a thousand miles away. I couldn’t help wondering if she was possibly looking up at the same sky as I was. I berated myself silently for thinking something like that. Where she was, it was still daylight.

Focus, I tried to tell myself. Think about your assignment.

I couldn’t shake the feeling, though, that Hermione was somehow near to me. It was almost as if I could feel her close to me. Again, I berated myself for thinking something so stupid. She wasn’t here. I chalked it up to wishful thinking and went back to trying to find Orion’s Belt.

(Hermione)

I had no idea what I would find when I climbed through that Portrait Hall with Professor McGonagall. To my surprise, a number of people descended upon me the moment I walked into the room. Colin Creevey ran over to me and nearly blinded me with the flash of his camera.

Lavender Brown and Parvati Patil nearly smothered me with hugs. I couldn’t believe this. They’d never really treated me as anything but a roommate in the six years I’d known them.

Neville, Dean and Seamus all gave me pats on the back and hand shakes.

Ginny screamed with glee when she saw me. She inundated with me with a number of questions.

“What are you doing here? How did you get back? Are you feeling okay? We were so worried about you, did you know that? Are you back for good? This isn’t just a visit, is it?”

“Ginny,” I said, laughing. “Take a breath. They don’t have this many questions on Jeopardy.”

“On what?” she asked me confused.

“It’s a game show,” I said.

“A what?” she asked me.

“Never mind,” I said, scanning the room for Harry and Ron. They were not in sight.

“Where’s Harry? Where’s Ron?” I asked Ginny.

“Ron’s upstairs,” she said. “And I haven’t seen Harry since dinner.”

“Oh,” I said, trying to hide my disappointment.

“I’ll go get Ron,” she said. “Don’t go anywhere.”

“Okay,” I said.

A few second year girls came up to me to welcome me back and I thanked them for their concern. I still kept an eye out for Harry, but he was still nowhere to be seen. Where on earth could he be?”

A few seconds later, I felt a tap on my shoulder.

“You are sooooo late,” came a familiar voice from behind me.

I turned around to see that familiar grin of one Mr. Ron Weasley. I couldn’t help laughing as I saw him give me a look of mock disdain. “They’ve corrupted you in America, haven’t they?”

“They tried,” I said, giving him a big hug.

“So you’re back, then?” he asked me, finally letting me go.

“Yeah,” I said. “My parents finally caved in. Can you believe it?”

He shook his head. “It’s so good to see you again!”

“It’s great to see you, too!” I said, giving him another hug. “Where’s Harry?”

I could feel Ron tense up at the mention of Harry’s name. He let go of me, and I could see he was angry.

“What is it?” I asked him. “Is something wrong with Harry?”

“You want to know where Harry is?” he asked me.

“Yeah,” I said. “He’s okay isn’t he?”

“Why don’t you go see for yourself,” he said angrily. “I’m not his keeper, you know? I don’t know where he is!”

To my utter shock, he turned on his heel and angrily walked back upstairs, presumably to his room. What on earth was that all about? I gave Ginny a look of utter confusion and she shook her head.

“Don’t worry about him, right now,” she said. “He’ll get over this eventually.”

“Get over what?” I asked her.

“Oh, come on, Hermione,” she said. “You have to know.”

“Know what?” I asked her, not understanding what was going on.

“You know that Ron has liked you for practically forever. He was really hurt when he found out that Harry had been sneaking out to see you. Harry never told Ron what he was doing. He was really hurt when he found out,” she said.

“Harry never said he hadn’t told Ron anything about this,” I said. “He never mentioned it.”

“Therein lies the problem,” Ginny said. “They’ve barely spoken since this happened.”

“Oh, no,” I said, feeling like I’d been punched in the stomach. “This can’t be happening.”

“Well, it is,” she said. “But, don’t worry about that now. You need to go find Harry. He’s going to be so happy to see you. He’s had a tough time of it the past couple of days. He got into detention for punching Malfoy in the nose.”

“He what???” I asked.

“He was defending your honor, Hermione,” Ginny said. “I’ll tell you all about it later. Go find Harry. Colin Creevey said he’d seen him heading up to the Astronomy Tower to work on his homework. Go!”

I wanted to hear more about what was going on with Harry and Ron and everything else that had been happening while I was away, but I did so desperately want to see Harry.

“Okay,” I said. “I guess I’ll see you later, then.”

Ginny nodded and squeezed my hand.

‘It’s good to have you home, Hermione.”

You know that feeling you get in the pit of your stomach when you are anticipating something wonderful as it’s about to happen. Well, you could take that and magnify it by about one thousand to get an idea of how I was feeling as I made my way to the Astronomy Tower. I nearly ran the entire way from our common room to the tower.

I had seen Harry loads of times in my life. Seeing him again shouldn’t make me all nervous and squidgy should it? It must be love, I couldn’t help thinking. I was making up words. Squidgy?

My heart seemed to be beating about a mile a minute. I took a deep breath before I began to climb the stairs. I wanted to surprise him, not scare him half to death. I couldn’t just run up there and scream “Boo”, now could I? I quietly climbed the stairs, praying that he couldn’t hear me coming.

When I made it to the top of the stairs, I looked around for him, but didn’t see him at first. My heart leapt as I saw him at the end of the tower. His back was to me and he was looking into one of the telescopes. He was diligently working on something, which I guessed must have been a star chart or something like that. He was absolutely…adorable. I know it sounds odd…here I was describing “The Boy Who Lived” as adorable, but looking at him now, that’s what I thought. He was absolutely, positively adorable.

“Excuse me; are you going to be long with that? Because I am so behind on my homework, and I’m going to need that as soon as possible,” I said, trying not to laugh as I said it.

“What?” he asked a touch of annoyance in his voice. He turned around and looked like he was going to tell whomever it was off who had just interrupted him, but when he saw it was me, he just stared at me.

We didn’t say anything for what seemed like a long time. He looked at me as if he didn’t really believe that I was here.

“What is it?” I asked him softly.

“Is that really you, Hermione?” he finally asked me.

“I think so,” I said smiling at him broadly.

“What-how-who, um, where-, I,” he said, stumbling on every word.

“Anyone ever tell you that you have quite a way with words?” I said cheekily. “I think it’s one of your finer qualities. It makes a girl want to swoon.”

He looked down, laughing in spite of himself. “Are you really here?”

“There’s one way to find out,” I said, stepping closer to him.

Within seconds, he bridged the gap between us, he tenderly stroked my face. I felt as if I would jump out of my skin at the touch of his hands on my cheek.

“If you don’t kiss me soon, I will never speak to you again,” I said, staring into his eyes.

“Well, in that case,” he said, and he leaned in and softly kissed me. I felt like I was finally at home. When we broke apart, he enveloped me in an embrace. We stood like that for the longest time, just taking each other in. Words weren’t necessary. They couldn’t have done justice to this perfect moment.

(Harry)

We’d decided to take a walk on the grounds. Although it was cold, I took off my cloak and gave it to her and she gladly accepted it. We walked along the grounds of the castle, holding hands and talking. She’d told me about the events that had led up to her parents changing their minds. I told her about what had happened with Ron. She’d been upset to hear about it, but said that we’d work it out.

“He’ll come around, Harry,” she told me. “He just needs time to get used to the idea.”

“What idea is that?” I asked her coyly.

“Well that you and I are,” she said, thoughtfully, “Well, that you and I are, girlfriend and boyfriend, you know? That we’re a couple.”

“That’s what we are?” I asked her.

“Oh,” she said, stopping in her tracks. “I’m sorry. Did I speak out of turn? You don’t think of me in that way, do you? I shouldn’t have done that, put a label on this. It’s too soon. You know how I am, always jumping ahead of myself and everyone else.”

“Take a breath,” I said, smiling at her. I put my hand up to her face. “I don’t think of you as my girlfriend, Hermione.”

She looked crestfallen.

“Shhh,” I said, putting my finger to her lips. “I think of you as much more than my girlfriend. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me. You know that I’ve never had a family that I could call my own. I’ve never had a home. When I realized how I felt about you, I found all that and more. You, Hermione Granger, are my home.”

A tear fell down her cheek.

“I love you,” she whispered.

“I love you, too,” I said and again leaned in and softly kissed her.

For the first time in a long time, everything seemed right. Everything seemed perfect. I prayed it would last. I knew that because of who I was it wouldn’t always be perfect. I couldn’t guarantee that things would be alright. The truth was that I didn’t know. What I did know was that I loved this girl who was walking beside me, holding my hand. I knew that she loved me. Right now, that was all that I really needed to know.

Sequel Sneak Peek: It will take a place sometime in the future…with flashbacks…etc. I know it’s not much, but it’ll have to do…you didn’t want me to end on a cliffhanger, did ya?