Disclaimer: Since I'm not a RHr shipper, I'm not JK Rowling. Thus, HP is not mine, unfortunately.
A/N: Well, I got an email proposing me a challenge, and I found the idea fun to do, so here I am. Beware, though, this will involve lots of smut, and when I say lots, I mean it, lol. So, without further useless chatter, here it is!
Thanks to my beta Gingercat!
Depressed? No, Aroused!
Chapter One: Leaving the School
Hermione was worried. It had taken her a couple weeks to heal from Dolohov's curse in the Department of Mysteries, but thanks to Madam Pomfrey, she was in perfect shape, if you ignore the scar running through her chest, exactly between her breasts. But Hermione Granger had never been one to worry too much about her looks, so that was not a problem.
What was she worried about, then?
Of course, she was worried about the well being of her best friend Harry Potter. Harry had lost Sirius in the Battle of the Ministry, as some called that night, and not only did he lose one of the last links to his parents, he also felt it was his fault.
Which, if you consider the situation analytically like Hermione often did if not always, it was. After all, if Harry had listened to her and stayed in school instead of rushing to London on the base of a vision he had, Sirius would still be alive in Grimmauld Place. But of course Hermione wouldn't tell him that.
After all, Harry had agreed to check through the Floo if Sirius was safe, and she had to admit the Death Eaters and Bellatrix in particular had been one step ahead of them, preventing the trio from discovering that Sirius was still at home and thus perfectly safe.
They had all been played, and with a cunning enemy like Voldemort, she was sure things like these had happened before, and to skilled wizards or witches. This time round, Voldemort had proved to be smarter, but if there was something you could say about Hermione Granger it was that she never backed down from a challenge.
She would help Harry defeat the darkest wizard in history, no matter what.
But for that to work, she needed Harry alive, and possibly not depressed. So that brought her back to the matter at hand. Harry, in the time she had been in the Hospital Wing, had shut everyone out, after blowing up Dumbledore's office as she had been told by an awed Ron. At times she wondered how could the redhead find something amusing while their best friend was depressed, but after all he did have the emotional range of a teaspoon, right?
Right now, Hermione didn't care about scolding Ron for his lack of tact. She ran to the Room of Requirements, where she knew Harry would be so that he would be left alone. The dorms were too packed with students getting ready for the upcoming train ride home, and the common room was always too crowded.
She finally arrived on the seventh floor, where the Room was, and started pacing, thinking, "I need to find Harry Potter" over and over.
Slowly, a door shimmed into view, and she eagerly stepped inside.
There he was, in the middle of a completely bare room, sitting on the floor, his back toward her. He was holding his head in his hands, and from the slight movement of his shoulders, Hermione guessed he was crying.
"Just like him, not wanting to show any weakness to the outside world" she mused with a fond smile as she slowly approached him. Crouching near him, she gingerly placed her hand on his shoulder, and looked worried at his face, her mane of curly hair falling to her side.
"Harry?" she tentatively said, seeing that he wasn't acknowledging her presence.
"You managed to find me" he hollowly said. "I didn't doubt you would" he added then.
"Harry, I know what you're thinking, that it is your fault, but really…" she started, frowning at how empty he sounded.
"Isn't it, Hermione?" he scathingly remarked, finally looking at her with his green eyes, and she could see the anger in them. "If I hadn't gone there, he would be alive"
"Harry, you couldn't have known. I admit I had my suspicions, but we checked and Kreacher told us he wasn't at Grimmauld! They thought of everything to make you fall into the trap, you can't seriously think anyone holds you responsible for his death!"
He remained silent, and Hermione simply sat near him. The silence wasn't awkward, it had never been between them. They remained there, thinking, for hours.
Finally, Harry was the first to move. Standing up, he offered her his hand, which she gladly accepted, so that he helped her to her feet.
Still, they remained silent in their trip to the Gryffindor common room. Only when they were outside the Fat Lady's portrait Harry spoke.
"Thanks" he said.
"What for?"
"For coming to see me. I still feel guilty, but knowing you don't hold me responsible makes me feel a bit better" he said, giving her a weak smile. She nodded, a smile playing on her own lips.
"No one holds you responsible, Harry. I told you" she said, before they gave the password to the Fat Lady and slipped inside. They still had to pack for the trip back home.
--
That night, as she lay in bed, Hermione couldn't fall asleep. She kept remembering how broken Harry had looked in that room, all alone. She knew the Headmaster sent him back to the Dursleys year after year because of some old magic related to his mother's blood, but she wondered if given what had happened, having him be mistreated all summer was a wise idea.
She decided to go speak with the Headmaster about it. Slipping a robe on, and being careful not to wake her dorm-mates, she snuck out to the common room, then through the corridors to the gargoyle watching the Headmaster's office. Only then she realized the flaw in her plan. She didn't know the password, nor did she know if Dumbledore would still be awake.
"It would not do for a Prefect to lose points on the very last night of the term, would it, Miss Granger?" a voice startled her from behind. She hastily turned and was faced with the twinkling blue eyes of the Headmaster.
"Er…sir, I wanted to talk to you about something" she stammered, looking down.
"Well, I believe my office will be much more comfortable than a corridor then" he softly said, moving to go past her and giving the password to the gargoyle.
Hermione almost chuckled when she heard it was "Marshmallows".
When a couple minutes later they were settled in his office, a mug of tea in front of both of them, the brunette took a long, deep breath, and launched into her argument about why letting Harry stay with the Dursleys that summer would be wrong.
It took her ten minutes, while Dumbledore attentively listened, before she finished her speech, and finally took a sip of her tea.
The twinkling eyes of the Headmaster regarded her attentively. "Miss Granger, I do believe all of what you pointed out so brilliantly is true" he finally stated, and Hermione looked at him hopefully. "But" and here she deflated, "there is a reason why I keep sending Harry there, even knowing how badly they treat him. I knew even before placing him in their care fifteen years ago, if I must be honest"
At Hermione's outraged look, the Headmaster chuckled. "I met Petunia many years ago, Miss Granger, when Harry's parents were not even married as of yet. It was a sad occurrence, the funeral of Lily and Petunia's parents, and I was there to offer support to one of my best students, and, later, friends"
Again, Hermione looked bewildered. "Yes, Miss Granger, I considered Lily and James Potter amongst my closest friends, and I was really distraught upon knowing of the fate they met" Dumbledore said, his eyes misting with sadness. "And I knew Petunia and her husband were completely against magic, and would treat Harry badly just because of who his parents were. But blood magic is very powerful, Miss Granger, and it saved Harry once already. I thought I was doing the correct thing, for the greater good, placing him with them. I also know all too well how much the Wizarding World tends to idolize people, and I did not want Harry to grow up spoiled"
"There's always a middle between being idolized and considered little more than a slave" Hermione remarked.
"Indeed, there is. I could have found another Muggle family to have him grow up with, and he would be loved, yet not worshipped. But I could not have placed blood magic to protect him there. I fear that right now is not the moment to stop that kind of magic from protecting him, so I confirm that Harry will have to go to the Dursleys after all"
Hermione slumped in her chair.
"But, he does not need to be there all summer. I am quite sure he could do with a week at most. Then, if I am guessing right about what you wanted to ask me, he will be free to spend the summer at your house" the older wizard said, again startling her with that twinkle.
Hermione sat there speechless for a moment, her mouth open like a fish out of water.
Dumbledore smiled warmly at her. "Do not be so shocked, my dear. This comes with years of experience dealing with teenagers" he mysteriously said to her, winking, before he dismissed her, assuring her he would let the Dursleys know about the new arrangements for the summer, with a couple concerns about how they treated Harry.
"I am not convinced it will have an effect, but we can try" he said with a smile, and Hermione just had to smile back. Only a week, and then Harry would be able to leave those monsters! She didn't even stop to think that her parents might object to having him spend the summer with them, they had always been worried about her never bringing friends home so she knew they would only be happy to have him.
And maybe, just maybe, she could show him she wasn't only a know-it-all…
--
The next day, the school emptied, the students making the trip to Hogsmeade to board the Express and go home for the summer. Their trunks had already been loaded on the train by the House elves, something Hermione always wrinkled her nose at, since she had decided to start S.P.E.W.
But today, she had something else to be worried about. She kept eyeing Harry now and then, to check up on him. He would seem fine to most, but not to her. She knew the telltale signs that he was still troubled and somewhat depressed.
The trip went without any particular event to be noticed. Hermione and Ron had to go do their rounds, even if the redhead would have preferred sitting in the compartment playing chess or doing anything else. Hermione wondered why they had given him the badge in the first place.
That left Harry, Neville, Luna and Ginny in the compartment, and none of his three companions tried to bother him as the raven haired boy busied himself looking outside the window. It was only a hour or so later, when their other two companions returned, that Harry looked away, just to acknowledge that they had returned, before setting back to look outside.
Hermione sat in the empty place near him, and tried involving him in some kind of conversation. She had no idea what he was going through, not directly at least as she never lost someone she was so close to. But she could imagine his pain, because she knew she would be overwhelmingly devastated if she happened to lose him.
Finally, trying to let him know she was there if he needed anything, she ran her hand gently through his hair, and he tensed for a moment before relaxing and sighing, almost contentedly. He didn't know why, but Hermione's touch always managed to calm him down, or make him feel safe.
It didn't take too much before he fell asleep, the lack of rest from the previous night taking its toll on his tired body, relaxing against the seat, his head falling onto Hermione's shoulder. She smiled warmly at him even if he couldn't see her, and whispered soothing words into his ear.
Ron met her gaze when she looked up again, and raised his eyebrow a bit. He was envious of Hermione's caring for Harry, but he wasn't stupid enough to not recognize that every effort he made to try and get with her, including him gifting her with perfume, was being brushed aside. He may fancy her, but she didn't fancy him back, and there was nothing he could do.
She shrugged, and returned her gaze to Harry's face, now much more relaxed, as if the dreams he was having were, for once pleasant ones.
When they finally got to King's Cross, Hermione gently shook Harry awake.
"We've arrived, Harry" she said to him as he regained his bearings.
"Oh" he said. "Sorry to have fallen asleep on you" he sheepishly said, giving her a grin that almost made her weak in her knees. He really had no idea how much it affected her when he did that, and how ruddy handsome he had become.
Plus, his green eyes always seemed almost magnetic to her.
Pushing those thoughts away, she smiled back, shaking her head a bit. "No problem, you needed to rest" she said, following Ron out of the compartment, as they made their way out of the train and to their families.
Ron and Ginny said their goodbyes as they went to meet their parents and brothers, considering that the twins had dropped out of school.
"Write often!" Ginny said to Harry, mostly, and Hermione. Both nodded, knowing that Hermione would, but Harry no. He never did, except to reply to letters sent to him.
And so the moment Hermione dreaded came. Harry gave a look to the side, and rolled his eyes as he saw his relatives there, Vernon almost imposing with his big figure, Dudley as fat as ever, and Petunia her old horse-faced self. Hermione narrowed her eyes at them, and wanted to hex them to oblivion, but managed to restrain herself.
Harry pulled her into a hug, surprising her with his unusual gesture, well, unusual for him at least. She blushed a bit when she stepped back.
"Have a nice summer" he said to her, sincere. She could see he was trying to be strong and show he wasn't sad, but she knew he was, and he would mope for the whole week he would be at the Dursleys, taking any insult or blow like he deserved it.
"At least it's only a week" she thought. She kissed him on the cheek, and that was when Vernon came up to them.
"Send your tart away already boy, we don't have all day" he bellowed, and Hermione turned to him, outraged.
"Excuse me?"
"You heard me, freak. Now come on boy or we'll leaving you here"
Harry glared at his uncle. "Apologize" he said, his green eyes flaming. "Apologize now"
"Who do you think you are, boy? You can't do any freak thing here or you'll be expelled" Vernon almost laughed.
Harry was still seething, but calmed down a bit once Hermione placed her hand on his arm. Then she turned to Vernon.
"Believe me when I say you don't want to be home the day he turns seventeen. Nor the day I turn seventeen, for that matter" she warned them, and with a last glare at them she bid Harry goodbye, telling him to expect a surprise soon.
With a wink, she was gone and Harry followed his relatives to their car, the whole trip back to Privet Drive a silent one on his part. He had grown used to tuning their voices out anyway, so whatever they were saying didn't bother him.
He was curious about the surprise Hermione had been talking about though.
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