Note: I would like to thank everyone who has read my story and to those who have taken the time to review it, Victor12806, Anonymous, hbraveheartp, MionelovesHarry, awaltzforanight, choccy2604, stranger02. In answer to ricks question the new stuff should appear in chapter 12, but I will tell that as well. Some people has said that this chapter is quite confusing as there are several shifts in location and time, hope this doesn't throw any one off,but I am thinking of changing things if necessary. I hope everyone who reads this enjoys it.
"Are you asking me out?" asked Hermione, a hint of a smile playing on her face.
"Hermione do you want to go out with me? Do you want to be my Girlfriend?"
Hermione's smile melted from her face and slowly condensed into a hate filled sneer.
"Why would I ever want to go out with you? I'd only end up like your mother. Dead because the fun seeking Marauder needed to play the hero. It's his fault she's dead and it will be your fault when I die."
Hermione's hate filled speech had hit all of his fears and her words had wounded him as if they had been razors dragged across his heart.
Harry blinked.
And the world changed.
The Grangers garden became a featureless black void. Voldemort stood in front of them both. Harry couldn't say when he had appeared, but his eyes burned into Harry's as an obscene leer crossed his face. He slowly raised and pointed his wand, not at Harry, but at Hermione.
"Crucio!"
Hermione's screams of pain shredded the air around him. Harry's only defense was to start shouting as loud as he could.
"It's not real. It's not real. It's not real!"
Harry knew he was trapped inside a nightmare. This one, like all the others over that summer, had started a real event from his life that was twisted until even his most cherished memories wounded him. He had to concentrate on waking up. This wasn't real. He was in the Leaky Cauldron. Voldemort wasn't here. He was alone in his room. He kept thinking about his room, where the cupboard was, how the bathroom door squeaked, the green and red carpet that made him feel unwell. While thinking about the details of the room the screaming had stopped and all that was left was darkness.
Harry slowly opened his eyes and saw his room in the pre dawn gloom. He was out. Wiping the sweat off of his forehead he expected his scar to burn as his hand touched it, but just like all of his nightmares since the third task, there was no pain. The lack of pain felt wrong, it wasn't that he wanted the pain, but a bone deep instinct told him that Voldemort was involved and that meant his scar should hurt.
Three hours later and the bright light of the sun had replaced the gray gloom. Harry had spent the time trying to work out why he was so convinced that Voldemort was involved when he had been so adamant to Hermione that he had nothing to do with it. It had been weeks since his last nightmare and his life had improved since then, but he'd also gotten the letter from Voldemort and the letters that he'd gotten from Dumbledore and Sirius could have stirred the memories up again, but when it came down to it he convinced that Voldemort was involved because he refused to believe that it was him who was twisting his best memories.
~ ~ ~
Harry sat at a table waiting for Hermione to come down for breakfast. Her parents were already at the table eating, Harry had came down when he had seen that the sun had come up, any thoughts of sleeping had fled after the nightmare, so he had went for a early breakfast. Reading over his Hogwarts letter a grin spread over his face as he remembered the morning it had arrived.
Four days earlier
Harry was sitting eating his breakfast and relishing in the joy he felt. He had a huge smile plastered over his face; the thought of trying to stop smiling never even entered his mind. She'd said yes, not no or well I like you too but only as a friend or any one of a dozen other things she might have said. They had also shared their first kiss, it had been awkward at first, he'd felt so self-conscious then he'd only become aware of how soft her lips were and how much he didn't want it to stop. The kiss was soft and gentle, but filled with so much passion and for the next few hours the rest of the world simply ceased to exist.
The pair of stupid grins were broken as a small flock of owls came flying into the kitchen; two of them were carrying what was obviously their Hogwarts letters. The other one was carrying a thick envelope with Harry's names on it. Harry ignored the Hogwarts letter assuming that Hermione would point out anything strange in them that he would need to know and immediately opened the other envelope. In side there was two letters one from Sirius and the other from Dumbledore. He decided to read Sirius's letter first as he had been away working for Dumbledore so he hadn't been able to speak to him much.
Dear Harry
I'm sorry I've not been able to write to you much over the summer, but we must move quickly so I'm not left with much free time. I hope that your enjoying yourself at Hermione's and that your telling her what she needs to know. About the letter, I agree with Dumbledore and urge you strongly to follow his advice. I hope that you enjoyed your birthday and you'll get your real present when you get to Hogwarts, as I could not entrust it to the post. And if anything like last summer happens tell Dumbledore straight away.
Sirius.
Harry was happy to have heard from Sirius but wished he'd have sent a longer letter, but if he felt he couldn't trust the post then he wouldn't give even a hint about his work. The line about telling Hermione what she needed to know puzzled him, did Sirius know how he felt about her or was he trying to make sure he wasn't keeping secrets? Harry started to read the letter from Dumbledore hoping that he wouldn't be as confused when he finished reading it as he had been at the end of Sirius's letter, but recalling the conversations he'd had with the eccentric Headmaster over the years he wouldn't have bet on it.
Dear Harry
I'm sure that getting that letter from Voldemort was unsettling but I urge you not to panic. Voldemort has always used fear as a weapon against his enemies you must fight him by refusing to succumb to that fear. I am sure that Miss. Granger and her parents are perfectly safe and in no danger. If you still have the letter I ask you to take it with you when you visit the Weasleys and to give it to Arthur Weasley. As you will soon be re-entering the wizarding world I feel compelled to give this warning, there are many who don't believe that Voldemort is back and will use any excuse to justify that opinion. Since you are the most recognizable person to hold the view of the Dark Lord's return people may try to provoke you into doing something rash so they can attack your character, please try and stay calm so any incidents like in your third year can be avoided.
Yours sincerely Prof. Dumbledore
Harry looked up from his letters filled with conflicting emotions which were quickly washed away as he saw Hermione. She was sitting across from him with a huge smile on her face, practically bouncing up and down her seat.
"What are you so happy about? Did they just add more subjects for you to take?" teased Harry.
"No they made me a prefect." Harry ran around the table pulling her into a fierce hug.
"I'm so happy for you Hermione. You deserve it," said Harry.
"Come on open your letter, maybe your one too."
"They would never make me a prefect, I've been in too much trouble and besides do you think McGonagall would risk Gryffindor losing the Quidditch cup because I kept missing practice because of prefect duties?" joked Harry. Then he remembered the lengths that the stern Professor had went to in his first year so he could play on the team and reconsidered how much of a joke it was.
"She wouldn't do that Harry. She doesn't like the cup that much."
"I don't know I think I might have seen her kissing that cup a few times." His reply earned him a slap to the head.
"Only when your not too busy kissing it and telling it how you'll keep it safe from the nasty Slytherins," said Hermione with a huge grin on her face.
"If it makes you feel better I'd rather be kissing you," said Harry as he lent over and shared a kiss with Hermione. After a few minutes they broke apart for air. "It's okay," said Harry patting Hermione on the head. "I'll keep you safe from the nasty Slytherins."
"And who's going to keep you safe from me, Potter?" asked Hermione with a stern look on her face, which was ruined completely by the small grin that kept tugging at the corners of her mouth. Harry returned the grin and started a whole new round of teasing and jokes.
The letters, which had seemed so important only minutes ago, sat forgotten until that night when Mrs. Granger had asked if they knew who else would be made prefects. It turned out Harry hadn't been made a prefect, but he'd put his money on either Ron or Dean being made other Gryffindor prefect.
~ ~ ~
Harry looked up at the sky and saw nothing but dark clouds covering the stars he'd come to love so much over the summer. He missed seeing the stars, but even more he missed being able to hold Hermione in his arms as they gazed at the heavens. They had been back at the Burrow for a few hours and Harry knew he would have to tell Ron that he and Hermione were now going out with each other. They didn't want him to find out any other way, so they had avoided doing anything that would advertise their new relationship, but in the tense atmosphere of Diagon Alley it hadn't been easy for Harry to stick to the rules.
It seemed as if rumors about what had happened at the end of the tournament had spread through the wizarding world and it seemed split between two groups. One group believed Harry and Dumbledore when they said that Voldemort had returned and the other group who believed the Ministry and thought Harry was simply trying to get attention.
The trip to collect their school things before meeting the Weasleys had started out okay, with several shop owners who knew Harry from his stay at the Leaky Cauldron had shouted out greetings and seemed genuinely happy to see him. The further into the alley they got the more dark looks he was attracting and the air took on an atmosphere he'd only ever experienced when Gryffindors and Slytherins were forced together: dislike choking the air and people just waiting for violence to erupt. Harry was at his worse when he had been refused service and called a publicity seeking mad man by a shop owner who Harry had counted as a friend. Only Dumbledore's warning and Hermione's calming presence at his side kept his temper in check.
The pattern repeated, nobody else refused to sell him things, but dark looks and insults kept being thrown his way. They were standing outside of Gringotts waiting for the Weasleys when he noticed a young couple pointing at him and heard one of them say "See the scar, it is him." Harry was ready to start a tirade against them about how they should be thankful for the warning and how stupid they were for ignoring Dumbledore but the woman who the man was talking to shouted out to him first. "Don't let them get you down Harry were with you and we'll fight him." As if that first act of support had been a catalyst the next two hours saw just as many people calling out their encouragement as those who criticized him or Dumbledore.
"What's up mate?" asked Ron as he sat down with a thud next to Harry.
"Nothing, I just wanted to look at the stars."
"Look don't let those prats in Diagon get to you, we know the truth and we have to tell people it because it's the right thing to do."
"Yeah I know. It's not them," replied Harry his tone indicating that something was bothering him but Ron could tell that he wasn't lying, so it had to be something else.
"Then what's wrong? Did you and Hermione have a fight or something?" asked Ron his concern for both his friends clear in his voice.
"No! what makes you say that?" asked Harry nearly shouting out his denial.
"Calm down mate, it's just that you two have been acting odd today. You keep giving each other weird looks, I just want to know what's going on."
"We're going out with each other. I asked her out the day after my birthday and she said yes." Harry spoke so softly that his voice could hardly be heard. Ron wished that he could have miss heard, but he knew he had heard right.
"I thought she would be different. I thought she wouldn't care that I'm just another Weasley. I didn't think she would mind that I'm not as good as you; that I'm just the bloody sidekick! You're the hero and I can't be you."
"No body thinks that Ron. They think your…"
"Yes they do!" Ron's anger stopped Harry in his tracks. "All they see, all you two see is another Weasley. Nothing I do makes me stand out, I can't do any thing that one of my brothers hasn't already done."
"Yeah your right," said Harry his own anger now coloring his voice. "Absolutely nothing you've done makes you stand out. Tell me how often has Charlie went after a mountain troll to save some one he doesn't even like and I've lost count of amount of times that Bill's walked into to the layer of a killer creature to save his sisters life. I bet it's every day Percy stands in front of a mass murder and tells him if he wants to kill his friends he has to kill him too. The world sees you Ron and so do I and so does Hermione. It's nothing to do with you not being as good as me. Your better than me Ron, I'm "The Boy Who Lived" I have to do these things. You choose to walk in the dark places and that makes you better than me."
As he finished talking Harry slowly slumped to the ground quickly followed by Ron. The argument had been short but had drained both boys energy until it looked like only the wall they were leaning against was keeping them up right.
"I'm sorry Harry, I shouldn't have gotten angry. You just wanted me to know the truth. It's just that I liked her so much," said Ron in a voice that was barely above a whisper. He took a breath before talking again closer to his usual volume. "Okay now for the best friend bit. If you hurt her I'll hex you so badly that you'll look like Malfoy."
Harry tried; he really did but the smile was on his face before he could help it and laughter was soon escaping from the two friends and echoing into the night.