"Do you think we'll live a normal life ever again?"
Hermione looked over to the dark skinned man sat next to her on the sofa. "When has our life ever been normal?"
"Do you ever wish you hadn't have found out?"
"No. Not for a second." She replied closing her book and placing it on the table in front of them.
"Me either. I thought I would after everything but I really don't." Dean checked his watch and asked. "Where's Harry?"
"He's at Headquarters." By Headquarters she meant Andromeda's home, now overrun by members of the Order of the Phoenix.
"Do you think they will find them all?" He moved his arm to the back of the sofa, encircling her shoulders.
"They aren't the type of people to keep quiet for long."
"Hmmm. " He said nodding his head.
"Hence why we are here. They will come for the Muggle born first. They think we're easy, that our abilities are lesser."
"You would have though you being Harry Potter's best friend would have changed their opinions by now."
"They think I stole my magic and that's why I'm good at what I do. That's what she said to me that night." She looked at the book on the table and not in his eyes. It made it easier to talk about it. If she didnt look at him.
"Bellatrix?" He said softly stroking her shoulder with his fingers.
She nodded. "She said I was disgusting, that I was a thief. That I was lower than shit on her shoe."
"If anyone is more deserving of having this gift it's you."
"Thank you." She looked at him and smiled.
"It's good. How you can talk about it. " His brown eyes were large and lovely. It was easy to be open with him. He made her feel comfortable.
"I've seen what keeping it all in does. I don't want to be like that."
"It's brave."
She shook her head. "Sitting in a house doing nothing isn't brave."
"We can't do anything else. We're targets, you said yourself."
"I know. I just feel useless. Stuck here."
"Hey! I thought I was doing a good job of keeping you entertained?" He feigned being upset and stuck out his bottom lip but smiled quickly after.
"You are. I didn't mean it like that."
"I know." He continued to smile at her keeping the circling of his fingers on her shoulder.
"I just wish there was something we could do."
"I can take your mind off it if you want?" He reached out and placed his free hand in hers.
"Dean…" She started, not sure of what she would say next.
"Why are you overthinking this?"
She looked at him incredulously and answered. "Because that's what I do."
"Then do me a favour and just… don't think, just for a few seconds." He leaned his head a fraction closer to hers and she looked at him. His large brown eyes looking into hers. This is the way it had been for the past two months of the four that they had been together in the safe house.
At first he would sit a bit closer on the sofa. He would look at her for that bit too long after making her laugh. Harry was always out for most of the day and only returned late to sleep so they only had each other. A touch of her hand. A hug that lasted too long. A kiss here and there. Then the kisses would last longer. Now he would push her flush up against a wall where she could feel the hardness in his trousers against her stomach. The first time he went down on her was an eye opener. She didn't know her leg would twitch or that she would feel like her insides were on fire.
She didn't think she would like going down on him but she did. She liked watching him fall apart under her touches. They hadn't had sex but she could knew Dean wanted to. She liked him and he liked her but was that enough? They got on and she cared about him but this was just a way to pass the day and not about love. She wouldn't live long enough for that. Not in this world.
All of three seconds had passed and Dean continued to close that gap between them. Three seconds and all those thoughts had run through her mind. She really did think too much. Maybe Dean was right. She needed to not think and just let go every now and then. She had lived her life by books and plans and rules and maybe she needed time to just not be that person anymore. So she didn't. She cleared her head and thought only of this man in front of her, with his brown eyes and his soft lips inching their way closer to hers.
It was different to Ron but not in a bad way. Dean's lips were larger, softer and seemed to be well practised. Ron's were thinner but still practised from his months with Lavender.
Ron and the rest of the Weasley clan would make their bi-weekly visit for dinner on a Sunday. She would help Molly and Ginny with the cooking then sit and chat with Ron and Harry like they would in the great hall at Hogwarts. It wasn't awkward with Ron. It never had been. They had just drifted from their feelings and found their friendship meant more than ever.
Those days they didn't talk of the world outside the small house. Then when the family left the sense of loneliness would set in. Harry would stay in his room and plan without her and she would take solace in Dean. And he would take solace in her.
The thing with Dean was that they both knew what this was. They weren't in school now and they had been forced to group up quickly in the new world. It had now been six months since Voldemort was killed and for the first two months the world felt right. Until the attacks started. Firstly, it was a Ministry worker, then a few Muggles.
Everywhere more and more people were being attacked. And the majority of the attacks were on Muggle born Witches and Wizards or Half Bloods.
Four months ago Hermione thought she had died. She had dreamt of empty faces and dark rooms for what seemed an eternity. She had been told once she had woken up that she had been attacked and narrowly escaped death due to a badly placed curse by a young recruit. She had moved to the safe house the next day and Dean had arrived three weeks later.
She was thought to have been one of the main targets of 'The Ashes.' Harry was also in the safe house with them but he spent most of his time with the Order or the Ministry trying to come up with ways to capture, or stop them.
It was an unusual name for the group of unforgiving death eaters. When you think of rising from the ashes you think of a Phoenix. A beautiful creature signalling a new beginning. A creature with healing powers and creating a fresh start, yet these people had adapted it to their cause. A new beginning from the Ashes of Tom Riddles decaying body.
Each time they attacked they would leave messages on the bodies of the dead. Usually a derivative of their motto: 'From his ashes we will rise.' They were scratched into the skin, just like her mudblood scar. They would write it on the walls around the bodies using their clotting blood.
As the whispers reached the Ministry and the Order it was no surprise that they found Rodolphus Lestrange at the head of the group. No doubt in her mind where he got the idea of disfiguring their bodies from. The thought made her shiver.
It felt like every day that they were there was a count down on their time. A countdown on when they would either be found and killed, or when the Ashes would be found and locked up. In the end it was one or the other. Neither could still be around with the other.
After a few seconds, Dean lifted his hand to her cheek and stroked it lightly and tickled his tongue against her lips. She parted her lips slowly as they continued to kiss, massaging their tongues together. He moved his hand into her hair, ticking the back of her neck with his fingertips and she moved her hand to grip his shirt. He pulled away slowly and kissed her on the nose.
"When did you get so hot?" Dean asked.
"When I'm the only girl you've laid eyes on for four months."
"You're very presumptuous."
"I am also very correct." She quipped at him and raised her eyebrows.
"Then why didn't you tell me to stop?"
"Because I wasn't thinking."
"Are you still thinking now?" He asked with a wide grin.
"No." She said flatly then mirrored his grin. She really found it hard to keep a straight face round him. His smile was infectious.
"Good." He leaned forward again and kissed her. This time more forceful than before. She let his tongue into her mouth straight away and grabbed at his shirt again. He ran his hand up her side then moved his hand to cup her breast pushing her back on the sofa and settling himself in between her legs pushing his area into hers.
She was right. She really wasn't thinking.
Luckily Harry came back at that moment and stopped them from completely losing their minds.
"Hermione?" He called out from the kitchen.
"Man, that guy has shit timing." Dean jibed as he moved off her and rested back on the arm of the sofa. Hermione smirked, stood up, adjusted her top and walked towards the kitchen.
"What's up Harry?" She called in his direction stepping into the kitchen.
"We have Nott!" He exclaimed too excited to keep still, pacing along the table in the square room.
"What!? How!?"
"We found one of their hide outs!"
"How many were there? Is anyone hurt?" A serious of faces flashed through her mind. People that she loved and cared about. People that she hadn't seen for weeks, months but still worried for despite their distance.
"Six captured. Nott the only senior member. The rest young. 4 lads, one girl. Everyone from the Order is fine. A few curses but nothing serious."
A sigh of relief left her lips. "That's great... You think they will talk?"
"I don't know... probably not." His smile faltered slightly.
"Can't we use Legilimens? Or Verit..."
He held up his hand to stop her "The new world has to be fair... and with that means nothing... forced."
It was right of course. But it didn't mean they had to like it. She would have used all the Veritiserum in the world to get information out of the group. But she knew things had to change and if that mean giving them their human rights then it had to happen, however much she hated the idea.
"How did you find them?" She asked.
"We have someone helping us."
This was new..."Who?"
"I cant tell you."
"Of course you can't." She huffed.
"What's up?" Dean had just walked in. Watching Hermione closely with her arms crossed over her chest looking worried.
"They found Nott." Hermione said flatly.
"How?" Dean asked.
"Someone on the inside?" Hermione questioned and directed towards Harry.
"Not anymore... No." He said turning to the cupboard behind him and pulling out a pack of biscuits.
"I wish you would tell me."
"I can't, I'm sorry." He said through a mouthful of crumbs.
"I know... Is there anything I can do? I'm bored out of my mind here." She looked at Dean; knowing it would annoy him but then again he annoyed quickly; who furrowed his brow and left the room with a huff.
"Trouble?" Harry questioned wiping biscuit from his shirt.
"Ugh no, we just feel useless."
"Be careful..."
"Harry..." She lent her hands on the back of one of the chairs not wanting to enter into this converswtion with him... again.
"He likes you." Harry stated.
"And I like him but it's nothing serious. We're... helping each other."
He held up his hands and said "I don't want to know."
She rolled her eyes at him but chose to ignore the comment. "Did you see Ginny?"
"Not today."
"Any letters?"
He shook his head.
"Can you at least get me some more books?" She moved away from the chair and to the kitchen counter, resting her back against the wood.
"I'll try." He said popping another biscuit into his mouth.
"What do you want to eat tonight?" She asked trying to prolong their conversation.
"Anything. Look, I've got some planning to do. Call me when food is ready." He practically ran from the kitchen and she was alone again.
Cooking for the two boys had become a regular theme this last month. She didn't mind. At least it kept her busy. She put on the radio and sung away as she made a questionable looking chicken pie and mash.
She called up to Harry and Dean at seven o'clock and they sat in comfortable silence together listening to the radio. The news bulletin just chiming in.
'The Ministry working alongside the Order of the Phoneix infiltrated a safe house of the rebellion group 'The Ashes' this morning with what they call, great success. We hope this is the start of more positive things to come and wish them all the best of luck. Merlin knows we need it.'
"I wish they wouldn't broadcast it." Harry said drowning out the reporter.
"It gives hope." She said shrugging and putting the last piece of pie in her mouth.
"It lets them know what we're doing... if they don't already know that is..." He pushed his chair back from the table. "Thanks Hermione. That was great." He gave her a smile, levitated his dish into the sink and wandered out of the kitchen.
Dean nudged her arm and smiled at her. "Come on, I'll help you wash up."
"Its like I'm his personal housemaid sometimes." She said with a huff, standing and moving her plate to the sink.
Dean moved next to her and placed his empty plate on top of hers. "He's just busy with stuff. He doesn't mean it."
"I know... " She turned to face him. "I'm sorry about earlier. It just comes out wrong sometimes."
"I know." He reached up and pushed her hair behind her ear stroking her cheek and bending his head to give her a kiss. She smiled into it and pulled him closer. He cupped her face in his hands and pushed her into the worktop.
"Why don't we do the dishes later?" She smiled at the options he gave her. Wash up... or keep themselves entertained in much more appealing ways. She took his hand and guided them out of the kitchen, up the creaky staircase and into his bedroom closing the door quietly behind them. It wasn't the night tonight, but soon. Soon, she decided. After all, what was the point in waiting?
.x.
Her and Dean had fallen into a light sleep after an hour of keeping one another very much awake. He was hugging her back and breathing lightly into her hair, ticking the pieces falling against her ear.
Hermione heard a creak on the stairs and opened her eyes. She was sure Harry was in his room, but this was an old house. It wouldn't be anything to worry about.
She settled again but heard ta definite creak one more time.
"Harry?" She called out, sitting up in bed and listening for a response.
"Calling another guys name whilst you're in my bed really doesn't do much for my ego yno." Dean mumbled beside her.
"Shut up." She hit him on the arm, moved off the bed pulling on her nightgown over her pyjamas and grabbed her wand from the bedside table.
"Get dressed." She whispered. He rolled his eyes and sulked out of bed grabbing the nearest t-shirt he could find and pulling on a pair of jogging bottoms.
"You're overreacting. Harry's probably just having some alone time." He said rubbing his face and stepping towards the door. He held out his wand and pulled it open slowly. Peeking round the corner of the door.
"Harry." He called out. A shuffle was heard then the door opposite opened and the scruffy haired boy came into view.
"What?"
"Was that you creaking?"
He looked at Dean bemused. "I wish I knew what you were on about."
"Good." No sooner had Dean replied their eyes darted to the stairs.
Bang
Something downstairs was knocked over.
"Don't panic," said Harry, "it's probably just Arthur."
"I'll go." Dean said. "Arthur?" he called as they watched him reach the top of the stairs. He took two steps down before they heard "Shit!" and "Expelliamus!" in quick succession.
They didn't even look at each other before they jumped into action. Hermione stepped back into Deans room and sent her Otter Patronus to the Burrow and Headquarters, calling for back-up. Harry raced to the top of the stairs to help Dean fight off the intruders.
She slipped off her dressing gown, knowing it would only hold her back as she heard shouts from below. She had seconds to check the wards. The plan of the house flashing in front of her eyes.
"Two at the bottom of the stairs, one at the back door and one at the front!" She shouted to the boys ahead of her as they shielded flashes of green light coming their way.
"Got one!" Dean shouted, the orange glow from his wand lighting up his face. With only the one at the bottom of the stairs now, the two boys fought quickly to disarm them before they retreated back up the stairs. Harry blasted a hole in the ceiling and debris fell on the stairs in front of them blocking anyone else from easily getting up the stairs. The house suddenly eerily quiet around them.
"The others will be here any second then Arthur can lift the wards and we can dissapparate." Harry whispered, his voice echoing in the silence of the hallway.
A loud noise of glass shattering was heard coming from Deans' bedroom behind them. When they turned they could see a huge wave of flames heading their way. They launched themselves out of the way and onto the floor of the hallway as the burning mass sped past their heads and into Harry's room, blasting out the windows.
"Feindfire!" Hermione shouted as she was pulled up by Dean and scrambled along the hall past the bathroom and into the third bedroom to the right.
"Window!" Dean shouted.
"Bombarder!" She pointed her wand and screamed over the roar of flames in the next room. As the pain of glass shattered green flashes flew at them from outside and they ducked quickly.
Dean wasn't quick enough. He landed on the floor screaming, blood spurting from his side writhing around in pain on the floor.
"There's more! At least ten! We're surrounded..." Harry shouted as Hermione grabbed a blanket from the floor on the bedroom and pushed it into Deans side trying to staunch the fast flow of blood from his stomach. Harry looked scared, both of them looking from one another to the gash on Deans side. The curse looked like it had slashed him from his ribs to his hip.
"I need dittany! Where are they!?" She screamed at Harry, tears filling her eyes. After everything this where they were going to die. After everything they had been through. Panic set in then and the shaking started. She could barely hold her wand and Deans side at the same time.
All of a sudden the roar of the fire in the next room started to crumble the wall. They could feel the heat already and it would break through any second and they would be toast. Harry looked to Hermione with that 'What do we do' look. And she didn't know. Either way they were dead so she chose not to be burnt alive.
"Bombarder!" Hermione screamed again as the wall surrounding the broken window burst apart. Harry grabbed one of Deans arms and Hermione dragged the other, pushing him over the side of the building and into the flower beds below. They both jumped in unison just as the wall to their right crumbled and the fire engulfed the room.
Harry was quick to think of a shield charm as they jumped so stopper the onslaught of curses being throw at them but neither thought of their landing. Hermione landed with a crack and felt a fire burst to life in her leg screaming loudly as she tried to focus and deflect the curses coming their way. One hit her in the upper arm ripping apart her bicep with a slash of blood that spat into her eyes, her wand falling from her hand. She was injured and defenceless in the dark. This was her worst nightmare.
She looked for Harry a few feet away on his knees fiercely dueling with Merlin knows how many Death Eaters that were waiting for them in the distance, slowly closing in on them. She crawled over to Dean covering her head to avoid the shower of bricks and stones falling all around her and narrowly missing another curse that smashed into the wall behind her, hissing.
When she reached him she kept herself as low as she could, pushing her good hand onto his stomach trying to stop the blood but it continued to pool under her fingers. She sobbed over his body as he continued to moan and write around in pain, thick blood seeping through his t-shirt.
"Dean!" She screamed trying to get him to look at her. She called his name over and over again until his movements lessened. She started to feel weak and dizzy.
"Dean! Someone help me! Please!" She screamed in his face as he became still, his blood covering her hand and clothes as she rested her arms on his still form and felt the world spin around her.
She heard a muffled shout from somewhere then flashes of green and orange and red. The shouts continued until she was yanked away from him by a girl with flaming red hair who began chanting over him.
She fell against the wall of the house watching Ginny try to save his life. A loud sob escaped her dry throat as the darkness took her and she thought of him and his dark eyes looking into hers.