Alrighty, this is definitely my longest chapter yet and it's got quite a bit of information in it. I should also mention that S.P.E.W is mentioned in this chapter and that if it wasn't mentioned this early in the actual book, we're just going to pretend it was. :o) I hope you guys like this chapter and I'd love to hear what you all have to say (as always).

Love,

Adrien

Disclaimer: I still don't own this sandbox in which I love to play. The amazing J. K. Rowling is the only one with that right.

Chpt. 9: Unforgivables

"Where's your head, Mione?" Hermione's eyes snap up from the list she'd been staring at instead of looking through the tome lying abandoned on her lap, her fingers tracing over the fourth name signed up to support S.P.E.W (the only name besides her own that hadn't been signed in an attempt to shut her up), at the sound of her best friend's voice.

"I'm worried about Neville," Hermione responds, her eyebrows drawn together in concern.

Harry shrugs in return and irritation floods through Hermione as her eyes narrow dangerously. Harry doesn't notice this of course. "He seemed fine earlier when Ron and I were working on our Divination homework. He was reading some Herbology book Moody had given him."

"Just because someone seems fine doesn't mean they are." Hermione's voice is harsh as she gathers up her books, intent on finding Neville and seeing how he was doing for herself. "The curse clearly bothered him, Harry. You don't just react like that over nothing."

"Since when do you care about Neville so much, Hermione?" Harry blocks her path, suspicion swirling in his emerald orbs.

Hermione's eyes spark with barely contained power, the air around her almost crackling with energy. "I have always cared about Neville, Harry. He was my first friend and, unlike some people, he has never turned his back on me." Hermione shoulder checks Harry as she passes him and storms up the stairs to the boys' dormitory.

Harry doesn't follow her and Hermione feels a twinge of guilt, she hadn't meant to throw the fact that both Harry and Ron had abandoned her last year when she had reported the mysterious broom Harry had gotten after his own had been broken by the Whomping Willow. At the time, she had been so afraid that someone may have jinxed it that she didn't even think to talk it through with Harry before she reported it to Professor McGonagall. No one in Gryffindor had been happy with her when their Head of House had confiscated their Seeker's broom and no one had talked to her in the few weeks it had taken Professor McGonagall to determine the broom was safe…everyone except Neville that is. The boys, well Harry at least, had understood her reasons once they finally let her explain and had apologized for not giving her a chance to explain in the first place. She had forgiven them and it was a hit below the belt to throw that back in his face now.

Hermione shakes her head to clear away those thoughts and knocks on the fourth years' door. She would apologize to Harry later.

"Hi Hermione. Not that I'm not glad to see you are anything but what're you doing up here so late?" Neville's smile is genuine as he holds the door open a little wider so that Hermione can enter the empty dorm but the surprise is clearly written across his face.

"Thanks, Nev." Hermione smiles brightly at the chubby boy as he clears a number of papers and Herbology books from his bed so that she has a place to sit down. "I just wanted to see how you were doing? I was really worried about you after Professor Moody's lesson today." Trever XII (at least Hermione thought it was the twelfth, she honestly couldn't remember how many times she had replaced his toad when she'd found the previous dead somewhere in the castle after Neville had lost him, anymore but she really didn't want Neville to know his beloved pet had died...many times) hops toward Hermione, nudging her hand softly before nestling into her lap.

The smile fades from Neville's face as he reaches out to stroke Trevor's back. "I've been better. I didn't realize it would be so hard seeing that curse in action. I thought I could handle it but clearly I couldn't."

Hermione is quiet for a moment as she studies Neville's solemn face. "Can I ask why it was so hard for you, Neville?"

Neville's gaze snaps up to Hermione's and the long silence that follows almost makes Hermione think that she has pushed her friend too far but Neville begins speaking just as Hermione is about to open her mouth to retract her statement. "During the war with You-Know-Who, my parents fought against him with everything they had. They were both Aurors, partners both at work and in life, and they were damn good at what they did. You-Know-Who wanted them on his side but they rejected him three times before they found out that they were having me and they decided to go into hiding. They were safe for almost two years. I was just over a year old when their hiding place was found but I wasn't with them for some reason, my Gran refuses to tell me why until I'm older. They fought like hell, took down more than their fair share of Death Eaters, but they were outnumbered. They were captured and tortured for information by Bellatrix Lestrange but no matter how hard she pushed, they wouldn't give her what she wanted. They lost their minds to the torture. My father's been in a coma and my mother has resided in the mental ward at St. Mungos for the past thirteen years because of that woman." Neville takes a deep breath, his tear-filled eyes never leaving Hermione's as her hand squeezes his in comfort. "She used the Cruciatus Curse to torture them."


A knock at Remus's door startles Sirius and he freezes, praying whoever it is doesn't decide to come in as he shifts into his animagus form.

The knock sounds again, closely followed by a familiar voice. "Lupin? Are you in there? There's something I need to talk to you about," his godson's voice floats through the room.

Sirius transforms back into his human form before quickly striding to the door and cautiously pulling it open. "Sorry, Harry. It's just me here right now, Remus had a detention he had to run tonight. Is it something I could help you with?"

Harry nods, running his fingers through his unusually tangled hair as he strides through the door Sirius was holding open for him. He is quiet for a few moments as he paces in front of Sirius who sits on the couch, watching his frazzled godson in amusement.

"What's going on, pup?" Sirius questions and Harry freezes for a moment at the nickname before collapsing on the couch beside his godfather.

"I'm pretty sure I screwed up things with Hermione tonight," Harry mumbles but Sirius hears him perfectly clear and has to fight the smile trying to spread across his face. Harry really did remind him of James sometimes.

"I doubt you did, pup. That girl has a bigger heart than anyone I have ever met and she's probably already forgiven you for whatever stupid comment you made. Now, what happened exactly?"

"I was reading up on some defensive charms and Hermione was working on spew—."

"Spew?" Sirius cuts his godson off, curious over whatever his pup could be concocting with such a stupid name.

"It's a political group Hermione has created to support the welfare of house elves. She's made buttons and everything."

"Interesting… Has Hermione talked to the house elves here at Hogwarts?" Sirius continues questioning his godson who shakes his head in response. "I think you should take her down to the kitchens one night and have the elves explain their bonds to the wizarding community, she might be surprised with what she finds."

"I'll definitely do that if she gets over the fact that I basically acted like an ass tonight," Harry said, bringing Sirius back to the original topic. "Hermione and I were doing our own things in the common room tonight when I noticed that she had been staring at her list of supporters and completely ignoring the massive tomb on her lap so I asked her what was wrong and she told me that she was worried about Neville. Her worry surprised me, I hadn't realized that she was friends with him and I told her that… Apparently that was the wrong thing to say though because she got royally pissed off, I could feel her magic crackling in the air when she glared at me and said that Neville had been her first friend and, unlike some people, he had never turned his back on her." Sirius shoots his godson a questioning look but Harry answers before he can verbalize the question. "Last year, I got this new broom but there was no tag saying who it was from… I actually still don't know who got it for me but that's beside the point… Hermione immediately assumed the worst and turned the broom in to McGonagall without talking to me and I was pissed. I couldn't understand why she wouldn't just talk to me, why she didn't trust me enough to hear her out and trust her judgement. I would have handed over the broom myself if she had just talked to me but she didn't and I was hurt so I didn't talk to her. The rest of Gryffindor followed my lead apparently though I didn't realize that until everything was all over, I had just assumed that everyone else was acting normally. After all, it was my broom and they didn't have any reason to be mad. The only person who didn't follow the rest of the pack was Neville apparently. I thought she had forgiven me but it looks like I was wrong."

Sirius reaches out to his godson, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "I'm sure she has forgiven you and that she feels extremely guilty for throwing that in your face. She was probably just defending Neville. If what you're saying about him is true about him being her first friend, she's probably just as protective of him as she is of you and we both know how protective she is of you." A smile tugs at Harry's lips and Sirius can't help but grin back. "I think you should sleep on it tonight, give her some time to cool down, and apologize to her tomorrow."

"I think you're right." Harry nods, rising to his feet. "Thank you, Sirius."

"Anytime, pup."


Hermione groggily blinks her eyes as someone carefully moves her over before snapping into a sitting position. She hadn't meant to fall asleep.

"Sorry." Harry's voice is quiet as he smiles at his friend apologetically. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"It's alright, I didn't mean to fall asleep." Hermione grins back for a moment before it falls from her face, an apologetic expression taking over. "I wanted to apologize for earlier. I shouldn't have thrown last year back in your face, especially when I forgave you as soon as you heard me out. You had every right to be angry with me and there really wasn't anything to forgive."

"I'm just sorry that everyone else decided to follow my lead when it had nothing to do with them. I would have done something about it if I had known." Harry smiles at her before pulling her against his chest in a tight hug.

"I know you would have." Hermione smiles against his neck, hugging him back just as tightly.

"I also wanted to apologize for how I reacted earlier, I was a right asshole."

"There's really nothing to forgive, Harry. I think we both just blew the entire situation out of proportion."

The two teens sat in silence, neither one willing to let go of the other, until Harry pulled them both into a sitting position and began to speak again, "There's something I want to talk to you about."

Hermione pulls back a little so her questioning gaze can meet Harry's completely serious stare though her arms remain lightly wrapped around her friend. "What is it, Harry?"

"You told me you didn't want to tell me about your home life because I was never completely open with my own and I know that was just an excuse but I want you to know that I trust you more than anyone in the world and I am so tired of hiding… I'm not doing this because I want you to tell me what's going on with you, not entirely at least, and I want you to know that I don't expect you to tell me anything after you hear what I have to say… I'm doing this because you're my best friend and I trust you more than I trust anyone else in the world. You're the most important person in my life and I would definitely be dead if it weren't for you." Harry takes a deep breath, smiling slightly at Hermione when he feels her arms tighten slightly around him in an attempt to show him that she wasn't going anywhere. "I know there's a lot you've probably assumed, you wouldn't send me food or take care of Hedwig without question during the summer if you didn't know something was up. You've probably heard Ron and the twins talk about the bars on my window when they came to get me for second year as well. But what I've never told anyone before, anyone who was actually willing to listen and believe me at least, is that I lived under the staircase in the Dursley's house for ten years before they moved me up into Dudley's second bedroom and the only reason they moved me into his second room with all his broken and abandoned toys was that they were trying to fool the owls. They were trying to keep me from getting my Hogwarts letter… My story starts before then though… Honestly, I don't really remember when it started. Vernon was always punishing me for my 'freakishness' but the older I got, the worst the punishments got. At first it was just a smack here and there but when I was six, I had a major outburst of magic and Vernon lost it. He threw me across the room and I hit my head on the wall, the next thing I remember is barely being able to open my swollen eyes as I woke up in my cupboard with bruises caking my entire body and an extremely tender rib cage. I tried to open my cupboard door but it was locked. They didn't let me out for three days. Beatings like that were normal after that and locking me in my cupboard was even more frequent. I tried to reach out to a teacher in my second year of school but she didn't believe me and when Vernon found out, he whipped me with one of his old belts until my back bled. I didn't try to reach out again after that but Vernon seemed the take up the position that he could beat the 'freakishness' out of me. I was never given anything that was actually mine and Dudley's massive hand-me-downs hid the bruises extremely well. My beatings didn't get any worst than that for a long time but things started to get worst after I returned from my second year. The Dursely's were not happy that I had lied about being able to use magic outside of school… I ended up in the hospital for two and a half weeks, that's why it took me so long to write to you… Then last summer, Vernon crushed my airway with his hands until I passed out. I couldn't talk for two weeks after that and the bruises didn't go away for almost a month. More beatings and food withdrawal happened during that time period of course but that was the worst of it." Harry's eyes never left Hermione's teary gaze. She didn't pity him though she wanted more than anything to protect him.

"We're going to figure out a way to get you out of there, Harry." Her voice is more determined than it had ever been before and the look in Harry's eyes tells her that he believes in her completely. The two teens once again fall into silence as they settle back down into the bed, Harry twirling one of her curls around his finger as Hermione listens to her best friend's heartbeat. At least ten minutes pass before Hermione finally breaks the silence, "I honestly don't remember much of my life outside of primary school and Hogwarts. I remember my father back handing me when I was five because I questioned how God could be real when there was so much science that proved otherwise. I remember my mother yanking me out of bed at nine in the morning one summer when I was seven, telling me that she wouldn't stand me just lazing around the house even though I could barely move because my body had been so bruised from the night before. I remember every time my father hit me for speaking out of turn or not doing something that he thought I should have. I remember trying to tell my mother and her telling me that she didn't believe me and that I was an ungrateful brat… But I have these massive holes in my memory, that I can't remember for the life of me…Though if I'm being honest, I've never tried as hard as I could. I've always figured that there was a reason I had blocked out parts of my childhood and that there are some things that are better left forgotten… Since I've come to Hogwarts, I haven't had any of those blank spots. I think it's because I'm here so often to be honest. I barely spend any time in that house during the year so I don't need to block anything out."

Tears stream down Hermione's cheeks as she buries her face in Harry's chest, clutching her best friend tightly, and she feels Harry's own tears seeping through her hair as he holds on to her just as tightly.