The battle-bruised couple made quite a sight as they strolled towards the Great Hall, with a pristine white phoenix comfortably cuddled into Hermione's shoulder, gently preening her hair with his beak, as the young witch and wizard held hands.
"The last time I felt like I belonged to the zoo, with all these stares burning on my skin was when Rita Skeeter insinuated that I was two timing you with Viktor Krum." She whispered to Harry.
He snorted. "I remember that. Skeeter was always an opportunistic liar, thriving on making her victims' lives a living hell." He ran his hand through his raven hair. "I am glad that she is not here. Imagine the headlines she would invent."
"I know. 'Uppity muggleborn entices The-Boy-Who-Conquered and an innocent Phoenix to a life of misery' Like I would ever force anyone to bond with me." She sighed, and her companions glanced at her warmly.
"We know you wouldn't, Love." Harry said softly, and squeezed her hand as they reached the entrance to the ruins of the Great Hall.
Their hearts sank as they looked at the chaos the battle left in it's wake. The long tables were broken, there was debris, ash, broken stained glass and stone pieces scattered everywhere. The once majestically enchanted ceiling was dull and gray, as if all the surrounding magic was sucked out of what made it glisten before.
There were groups of individuals huddled together in different points of the room, trying to make sense of their circumstances. Healers were tending to the injured, and there were unmoving piles of what looked like people, covered with black pieces of cloth, waiting to be moved to their final resting places.
Hermione took a shallow breath. "It's hard to look and celebrate victory." She blinked back her tears and turned her head to gaze at Harry, whose expression was quite ashen.
"Indeed." He agreed quietly and pulled her towards his body in a needy embrace. He couldn't help, but feel responsible for all the loss that people suffered. For losing Fred, Remus, Tonks, and everyone else. Each person who lost their life belonged to a family that was now broken and shattered, and it all came back to him and that damn prophecy.
His face paled even more and Mia looked at him with narrowing eyes. "Harry James Potter!" She hissed lowly. "Don't you dare even for a moment blame yourself for all of this! If you weren't the Chosen One, someone else would have taken your role, and there still would have been a prophecy, there still would have been a war, and people still would have lost their lives for the cause. It never was and never will be your fault!" She exclaimed, her eyes ablaze with the fiercest fire.
Hermione Granger was always at her most passionate when she was defending Harry, even if it was from himself. Ever since she knew him, he was always quick to blame himself for everything, especially things that weren't his fault.
"Mia..." He whispered taken aback by the apparent fire in her beautiful eyes. "I-, I can't help but think that if it wasn't for me, Sirius, Remus, Tonks, and even my parents would still be alive." He swallowed, as his own tears were threatening to fall, and he really did not fancy breaking down in sobs in the middle of possible witnesses.
Sol couldn't take the overwhelmingly somber mood anymore and rubbed his head against Harry's face. 'Listen to my Bonded, for she is right.' He mentally trilled.
Harry closed his eyes and patted the phoenix gently on his head, revelling in the calm he was radiating towards him. He took a deep breath and swallowed heavily, opening his eyes again. "It's not easy to feel blameless. All my life this dread was looming over my head and it took and took and took from me, and from those sticking around me. I feel so guilty every single day." He whispered, his hand tightening around Hermione's. "The only reason I stayed sane is you, Mi. If I had lost you..." His voice trailed off, but she knew exactly what he meant.
A brown-haired missile crushed into his body, as delicate pale arms circled around his back, hugging the life out of him, causing him to stagger, and attempt to balance them both, before they landed in a heap of arms and legs on the floor. That would unfortunately have caused even more unwanted attention to be paid their way.
The intelligent bird familiar flew off his Bonded's shoulder, so they could regain balance easier, but not without snickering mentally in their direction. He found the whole glomping scene amusing, despite the sad undertones. His little witch was such a hug enthusiast, which was fortunate, because her Soulmate was in need of a lot of human affection, he could sense that.
Sol was also thinking that he should help the sad human wizard find a new familiar, because as his Bonded's Soulmate, he was able to feel around Harry's thoughts and emotions, and he was aware of his recent loss of his beloved snowy owl, Hedwig. He always liked that owl. Back when he was Fawkes, he wandered the grounds of the castle a lot and befriended the familiar contingent of the school.
"Harry, I will always be here for you!" Hermione promised and leaned in to plant a small kiss on her boyfriend's lips, relaxing when she felt his lips curve into a smile.
"I know, Love. Thank you!" Harry said, pulling back a bit.
"Good, and don't you forget it!" She said firmly, but with the kind of softness in her eyes that she only held for him. "We should find an available Healer to look you over."
"You mean, we should find an available Healer to look us over. Sol might have healed your worse injury, but you are still cluttered with cuts and bruises and I won't let you let them go untreated." He gazed at her with such intensity that his emerald orbs almost glowed.
"It's just, they don't bother me as much as seeing you injured does." She admitted. "But you are of course correct, let's get us both checked." She smiled sweetly and they walked towards a witch adorned in official Healer robes.
"Merlin and Morgana!" She exclaimed in her surprise. "Mr. Potter, Miss Granger what can I do for you?" Healer Evergreen asked, recognizing the brave teenagers at once. Her eyes widened slightly as a Phoenix landed gently on the witch's shoulder, cuddling into her voluminous hair.
"Would it be possible for you to mend our injuries, Healer, uhm-" Harry hesitated, not knowing her name.
"Evergreen. Healer Celestia Evergreen at your service, young ones." She smiled warmly. "Let's move into a more secluded corner and I will look both of you over. You don't seem like you have any life threatening, or grave injuries, but I need to run scans required by our protocol to make sure." She explained, guiding the couple towards a somewhat rubble-free corner. She picked up a piece of wood that was situated at her feet, and transfigured it into a simple table miming an actual examination one Healers use at St. Mungo's.
Celestia looked around for a moment, and reached into her robe, pulling out a cotton handkerchief, transfiguring it into a soft-flowing curtain. She waved her wand in an intricate pattern and guided the textile to hang protectively around the three of them, plus the examination table, hiding them from prying eyes.
"You are very skilled with Transfiguration, Healer Evergreen." Hermione said appreciatively, and Harry nodded in agreement.
"Thank you. I have a Mastery in the subject, but my passion lies with Healing." She explained and motioned for her to come closer. "I will look you over first, Miss Granger, because I believe I would have a struggling wizard in my hands, if I even suggested I examine him first." She chuckled.
"Damn right, Healer Evergreen." Harry grinned at her, and nudged his Mia towards the table. "Do you ladies need privacy? I could step out if-"
"Language, Harry!" Mia chided him playfully and then smiled. "You don't have to leave, Love." She said, batting away his worries and doubts with her warm words, and Sol leapt towards his shoulder to free up his Bonded for the examination.
"Sorry, Mi." He said sheepishly and reached over to spoil Sol, gently rubbing under his feather covered chin lovingly. "Are you sure I won't be in the way? I could always make myself scarce." He suggested hesitantly.
Healer Evergreen recognized their bond when she looked at them closely, and a bright smile lit up her face. "Mr. Potter, if I am correct, you leaving this young lady's company is the most unnatural thought you could ever have, seeing as how you two have recently established a Soul Bond." She stated as a fact, and the young couple blushed, which just made Celestia feel all the more amused.
"How can you tell?" He asked, contemplating that she was right. The thought had bothered him immensely, as soon as it popped into his head, but he couldn't help it. He was not confident in anything that had to do with emotions, except for the fact that he loved Hermione Granger. That was about the one thing he was absolutely sure about with one hundred percent certainty.
"You and Miss Granger have a bright golden-white glow about you." She shared and made a circle motion with her wand, muttering a Latin incantation, that for a moment enveloped the couple. "Your Magical Cores are currently integrating themselves to accommodate each other, sharing magic, and, oh my-" Her eyes widened a bit and she cast the same scan to make sure she was not hallucinating. "Your Cores are also expanding. It seems that your Bond had managed to free up some blocks that have been placed on each of you a few years ago to bind some of your power." She frowned.
"What?!" Hermione asked loudly, her eyes wide and expressing shock, and betrayal. "Isn't that highly illegal to bind someone's power levels without their consent?" Sol flew back to her, to soothingly rub his face against her side, radiating some level-headed calm to his little witch.
"It indeed is, Miss Granger." Healer Evergreen nodded and ran a few more scans along the line of the first one, and her expression darkened. "It seems you have also been subjected to a few Memory Charms and Compulsions to keep away from each other. I cannot help but wonder if someone was trying to keep you two apart from establishing your bond."
Harry and Hermione looked at each other with a worried glance, reflecting what Celestia Evergreen was herself feeling, a sense of apprehension.
A/N: I'd like to apologize for making you wait so long for this chapter and ending it with a bit of a cliffhanger. I know it is shorter than the other chapters, I promise the next one will be longer.
Who could possibly have done such a vile thing? It won't actually be Dumbledore, for all his misgivings, he is not exactly a bad guy in this fic, plus it would be horribly cliché, considering he is a dark wizard in Harry Flitwick, which I now shall go and write for.
Enjoy! And thank you for the favourites, follows and reviews, they make my day brighter.