The Morning After
"His mother?!"
Hermione nodded at her mum. Emma Granger sat back in shock at the revelation her daughter just gave them. She looked at her equally shocked husband in silence for a few moments before looking over at Arthur Weasley. The red-headed wizard looked dumbfounded, but not shocked at the news that The Boy Who Lived dead mother returned from the Great Beyond and spoke with Hermione.
"Sweetheart, I think you need to explain that a bit more for us," Hermione's father asked, trying to keep his voice neutral.
Hermione took a deep breath. Her sudden burst of energy was now ebbing and she was getting even more tired than before, "After… well, after…," she paused then kept going after they nodded understanding, "I must have cried myself to sleep or the exhaustion from the battle or something, but she came to me as a ghost. She explained that death and love are not something that are simple and logical explanations with Harry. She's right, and it is because of that ancient magic that she imbued him, and then all of us with."
Hermione looked at Harry and then back to her mother, "But that's what she was trying to tell me. That he would be coming back to me. And that I needed to love him as he needed to be loved. I needed to complete the spell because I love him. Then she faded away and I woke up."
Hermione stopped talking and the room descended into silence again as the other adults in the room processed what Hermione had just told them.
Emma Granger didn't know what to think. Ever since Harry had shown up in the destroyed home a few months ago, the ordered life she was accustomed to had been turned upside down. This was mostly due to how Hermione had been affected and what she had prepared for in case she had found Harry again. Now Emma looked at her daughter, who was nervously biting her lip again, and looking at her mother with a worried expression, and tried to understand the day's events.
In one day her daughter had rushed to see an old friend, battled that friend, killed him to spare him the pain he was going through, and to round out the day's bizarre events… Hermione had had a conversation with her best friend's dead mother's ghost. For not the first time in her life, Emma Granger was thankful that she had an open mind when it came to her daughter's magical world. Otherwise, she had no doubts that after hearing even a small part of what her daughter had told them over the years she would be currently eating soft food, in a soft-walled room in a secure facility.
"So where do we go from here?" Dan Granger's voice suddenly broke the quiet tension.
Hermione looked at Harry's sleeping form, "Obviously, get Harry better, but after that…?" she shook her head and shrugged, "I don't know."
Arthur cleared his throat, "If I might suggest that Harry stay here at St. Mungo's to heal from his magical and physical wounds. My two fears are that Harry trying to get away and once the wizarding world hears he's back if they don't know already, that he'll be hounded by them. So I'll post aurors to keep an eye on him and keep the rest of the lot out. I'll make sure the hospital's wards are strengthened so he can't bring them down and apparate out of here."
He looked at Hermione directly, "Then my dear comes the hard part. You need to help him heal his broken soul," he saw Hermione's eyes fill with fear at the prospect, "Now before you let your fear take hold and run wild in your mind, we all know that there's no one in the world Harry trusts more than you. Plus, your love for him will be something he can look for like a ship looking for a lighthouse in a storm as he gets better."
"Lastly, I think he should spend time in professional therapy here, but spend just as much time in places that can help him see there are others who love and care for him as well," he finished and looked between Hermione and her parents to see if they had any suggestions or concerns with his ideas.
"I agree with Arthur," Dan said, "That sounds like the best plan. And Harry's more than welcome to stay with Emma and I if he needs a place to help recover."
"Excellent," Arthur said with a smile, "Between your house, The Burrow, and perhaps Grimmauld Place, there should be plenty of places Harry can go to be out of sight of the rest of the wizarding world and still be able to have some peace and quiet."
Emma, watching her daughter's face as the two men talked, saw the apprehension take hold, "Hermione, you're apprehensive aren't you?"
Hermione nodded, "I'm an Executive Advisor to the Minister of Magic, not a psychologist! I have no training to help Harry with getting over any of what he's dealing with and I'm afraid that I'll do more damage than good," she quickly held up a finger to stop the three other who had collectively taken a breath to interrupt her, "But… buuut… that doesn't mean I don't want to be here for him," she looked at her mother with wide, scared eyes, "Merlin help me I do love this man more than anything and I want to be by his side while he works through this, but I don't know what to do to help him."
Emma closed her mouth and had to agree with her daughter. However, she realized quickly that, knowing her daughter, there would probably be a stack of books in the room on the subject of dealing with psychological trauma within an hour and her little bookworm would have her nose buried in one. However, she was heartened to hear the conviction in Hermione's voice that she loved Harry and wanted to be at his side while he dealt with his demons.
"My daughter," Emma began with a knowing smile on her lips, "Ever since you were three you have had a stubborn streak in you a kilometer wide. And in this case, I don't see any other outcome than that stubborn streak of yours, coupled with your love for Harry, coming out in full force. As a result, you'll make yourself learn what you need to do and I know you will do that," her smile got a bit bigger, "I'm even betting your mind is right now thinking of ways to help him or what you need to learn."
Hermione let out a soft laugh, as did the two men. Hermione had to agree that her mother did know her… and she was right. Hermione was already thinking about what she needed to ask and learn to better help Harry. Before they could talk further, a nurse came in with a bundle of folded clothes in her arms. She stopped in the doorway and smiled.
"I'm sorry. I don't want to interrupt, but I need to change him and clean him up."
Arthur immediately stood, "Yes! Right! I should go and get Molly and bring her back," with a wave of his wand the chair he sat on disappeared, "She'll probably jump all over me for not letting her know sooner, which will be a joy to experience. I'll see you all in a short bit."
He quickly left the room, allowing the nurse access to Harry. Dan and Emma Granger stood and looked at Hermione.
"We'll go grab some coffee or tea and come back in a bit," Emma said, "Do you want anything Hermione?'
Hermione shook her head, "No, thank you. I'll stay here with him."
Her parents silently nodded and left the room. Hermione watched the nurse as she undressed Harry. Hermione averted her eyes when the nurse removed Harry's pants and underwear. Although she didn't want to see him for the first time like this, she still laughed at herself for her modesty towards the man she had had many fantasies about. The nurse then washed and cleaned Harry, removing years of grime from him. Finally clean, she pulled up the loose pants and Hermione finally took in Harry's body and was horrified to see how thin and almost emaciated he was. She gasped at the sight. His ribs could be seen, his skin was very pale with a greyish tinge. There were many scars from cuts she couldn't even begin to know where they came from. Hermione had seen where he'd been sleeping, but this confirmed that Harry's life alone had been a very harsh one.
The nurse finished dressing him and with Hermione's help, propped him up better on the bed.
The nurse looked at Hermione, "I was going to give him a haircut and shave him," she paused and regarded Hermione with a curious look, "Unless you want to do it?"
"I'd like to do it if I could please," and she took out her wand.
The nurse nodded and stood back to watch in case Hermione had trouble. Hermione knew she would have no issues with giving Harry a haircut. During the seven months on the run, she had cut his hair many times and knew how he liked it done. She calmly went to her task and in a few minutes, the long poorly maintained raven hair was shortened to when she had last seen him before he disappeared. She smiled slightly as it still somehow managed to look in its permanently disheveled state even after she had finished.
With a wave of her wand, Harry's hair was cleaned from the bed and himself. Hermione then bent to her task to remove his long beard. She was definitely not a fan of Harry with a beard. The beard he grew over the last 14 years gave him a wild and unkempt look. She took her time and was as careful as she could be. After the last stroke, she sat back with a satisfied smile on her face. He was finally clean shaven, but then her smile faded.
Harry looked almost a lifetime older. The weight of the pain he carried for 14 years shown clearly on his clean-shaven face. She unconsciously ran her fingertips lightly across his forehead and sunken cheeks, physically feeling the years of strain on his face. Regardless though of what she saw and felt, he was still the handsome man she had seen 14 years ago.
A quite shifting from behind her brought Hermione out of her reverie. She smiled, "Sorry," she said and cleaned Harry's beard hair from Harry and the bed.
The nurse gave her a knowing smile, "There's nothing to be sorry about Miss. Granger. I understand completely."
Hermione gave her a small smile and nodded, "Thank you."
The nurse reached for the bundle of Harry's old clothes, "I'll just toss these then."
Hermione opened her mouth to agree when a gold flash fell from a pocket in the old clothes, bounced on the edge of the bed and landed on the floor with a metallic clank. The nurse bent down and picked it up. She held it out in front of her and then looked at Hermione with a questioning look.
"It's a snitch?"
Hermione gently took the snitch from the nurse and regarded it speculatively. Then like a lightning bolt, Hermione knew what it was.
"It's okay," she finally said to the nurse, trying to minimize the importance for the nurse, "It's a lucky charm of his. I'll hold on to it if that's okay?"
The nurse smiled and nodded, "Of course. I'll go toss these and be back later to check on him. Are you sure I can't get you anything?"
Hermione smiled and shook her head, "No thank you. I'm too tired to eat at this point. Looks like I'll be spending the night with him in the hospital as I usually did at Hogwarts," she looked at the chair she had been sitting in, "on that chair too," she looked at the nurse, "If that's okay of course?"
The nurse nodded at her. Knowing that even if did she had a problem with that, which she didn't, there was no one that could have removed the witch from Harry's side, "Of course Miss. Granger. Also, there's plenty of room if you want me to bring a cot in for you to sleep in here and not hurt yourself on that chair."
Hermione gave the nurse a smile of thanks, "Oh that would be just perfect. Thank you so much."
The nurse gave her a nod and wink and left the room. Hermione looked at the snitch in her hand. She recognized it almost the second she had held it. It was the snitch Harry had swallowed in his first Quidditch match. The same one Dumbledore had willed to Harry after his death and that had held the Resurrection Stone. She was amazed that Harry had kept this with him all this time. She knew when Harry had dropped the Resurrection Stone in the Forbidden Forest, she naturally assumed the snitch had been lost as well.
She gave it a soft squeeze and put it in her pocket. She returned to her chair and sat down heavily. Five minutes later the nurse returned and magically set up the cot and firmly ushered Hermione to lay down, reminding her that she needed to rest and recover from her injuries. Too tired to argue, but getting promises to be woken if any happened with Harry, Hermione climbed into the cot and was asleep before her head hit the pillow. Hermione was sleeping so deeply she didn't hear Mrs. Weasley come into the room not too long after and gasp loudly at seeing Harry. Nor was she aware when the older witch came around to her cot, conjured a blanket and lovingly draped it over her.
Molly regarded both of her surrogate children with a soft smile. She let out a sigh of relief when she looked again at Harry. She shook her head in sadness at seeing the years of strain on Harry's face. Moving the chair to better see them both, she pulled out her knitting needles and started knitting a new sweater. A short time later, Emma and Dan returned and joined her standing vigil over Harry and Hermione until the bright, golden morning light started to shine in through the windows.
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It was the smell of coffee, bacon, and toast that finally roused Hermione the morning after day. She allowed her mind to wake fully before trying to get her body moving. She immediately became aware of just how sore her body was. She honestly felt as if she had been beaten up by the Whomping Willow again like she had been in her fifth year. No, wait… this felt worse she decided. She groaned softly as she rolled over and opened her eyes.
She heard movement as her eyes focused and adjusted to the bright sunlight streaming into the room. She wasn't alone.
"Hermione my dear?"
The happy voice of Mrs. Weasley greeted Hermione's ears. She gave a small smile as she felt someone's hands helping her sit up. She looked and saw Fleur sitting on the edge of her cot and had been the hands helping Hermione to sit up. She gave the blonde witch a smile in thanks, tossed off the blanket and swung her legs around to sit on the edge of the cot.
"What time is it?" she asked running her hands through her wildly frizzy hair.
"Mid-morning," Mrs. Weasley said and came over to her holding out a clear vial with a smoking greenish liquid in it. Hermione took it from her and looked up at her questioningly.
Mrs. Weasley gave her an encouraging smile, "The healer said to drink the whole vial after you woke up. It's to help your soreness and any lingering magical fatigue."
Hermione nodded and drained the vial in one gulp. She nearly choked as the liquid suddenly burned the back of her throat and the taste finally registered on her tongue, "Ughhhhhh… that's absolutely vile," she grimaced and was happy when Fleur took the empty vial from her.
As bad as it tasted, she could feel it beginning to work without delay. She cautiously stretched her muscles testing where her soreness was and stopped when her stomach loudly growled at her.
"Are you 'ungry?" Fleur asked with a smirk at the sound, "I can go grab you some food if you wish?"
Hermione nodded, slightly embarrassed at being fussed over, "Thank you Fleur. I'm starved."
Fleur smiled, patted Hermione's leg lightly and went to grab some food. Hermione looked at Harry and saw he was still sleeping.
"Any updates?" she asked, her eyes never leaving his face.
Mrs. Weasley put a comforting hand on her shoulder and shook her head, "Nothing yet I'm afraid. He's been asleep all night. The healer should be in a little later to check on him."
She gave Hermione's shoulder a little squeeze before going to her chair. Hermione took a look around and saw that not only was Mrs. Weasley and Fleur were there, but George and Ron as well.
"Love the hair, Hermione," George teased with a large smile, "Very chic."
She gave him a mock angry look, "Good morning to you too, you prat."
George chuckled as Ron, the source of the food smell, put his cup down on his food tray, "Ignore him, Hermione. He's just being that way because he's worried," but only a little quieter added, "But he's not wrong about the hair."
"That's enough out of you two," Mrs. Weasley admonished harshly before Hermione could reply herself, "Here my dear," she said handing an overnight bag to Hermione, "Your parents brought you some clothes from your flat late last night while you were asleep. They went home to sleep and said they will be back later."
Hermione thanked her and took the bag form her. She went into the loo and found to her surprise and delight that it was a full bathroom. She decided that she could take the luxury of an extra minute to shower rather than magically try and clean herself. She stripped her dirty and destroyed clothes and started tossing them in a heap on the floor. She decided then and there that they were unsalvageable. She heard a soft clunk when she tossed the remains of her skirt on the dirty pile and bent down to discover the source of the sound. She pulled out the snitch from the pocket and nodded to herself remembering she put it there last night.
She carefully placed the snitch in her bag and carefully unwrapped the bandages covering her burn. She was relieved to see that the burn was almost healed and the new skin was pink and soft. She decided to keep the bandage off while she showered. She turned on the shower, stepped in, and immediately relished the feel of the hot water on her still sore body. She quickly showered, sadly wishing she could just let the hot water wash over her for even longer and dried herself. After she dressed in a simple button-up top and jeans, she pulled her hair up into a ponytail and walked back into Harry's room. Fleur had returned with her food and transfigured her cot into a small table with two chairs, with Fleur sitting in one.
Hermione took a quick look at Harry before sitting down and ravenously devouring her food. She ate in silence and was swallowing her last mouthful of bacon when Bill Weasley entered the room. He was carrying a small bundle and had started talking to his mother as the door closed behind him.
"I'm back, Mum, and you won't…," he smiled when he saw Hermione, "Ahhh... you're awake! Good."
He looked at Harry for a brief moment before sitting on the seat Fleur had quickly vacated for her husband.
"I'm glad you're awake so I can tell you in person," he said and shifted to allow Fleur to sit on his lap, "I just got back from the Forest of Dean."
The cup of coffee was paused halfway to Hermione's lips when Bill mention where he had come from. She gave him a worried look, "Bad?"
Bill's eyebrows raised up in half-amazement/half-trepidation, "Honestly, Hermione" he paused, "It's pretty bad. If I didn't know it was just you and Harry fighting… I swear an army of wizards had been fighting there. The place was practically destroyed."
Hermione's eyes closed and her shoulders slumped in disappointed resignation, "Merlin, I'm sorry…," she whispered.
Bill gave her a small reassuring smile, "Don't be sorry too much though Hermione," he said trying to bolster her, "No muggles witnessed your fight and Mother Nature can recover easily enough. We cleaned up Harry's campsite and removed the wards and protections he placed. So it's as if a strong storm had blown through as opposed to a magical battle. At least that's what Dad and I told the forest workers anyways."
Hermione nodded and gave him a warm smile of thanks, "Thank you. Sorry for causing you so much trouble."
He scoffed at that, "No troubles Hermione," he then had a more serious tone in his voice, "But Dad asked me to say to you that you were very lucky no one saw you. We found a couple of muggle families camping about half a kilometer away while we were there. Thankfully they were all hiking in a different part of the forest at the time."
Hermione nodded again in disappointment at his mild admonishment of her and Harry's behavior.
Bill held up a hand, "Oh before I forget," he said quickly and handed over the bundle to Hermione, "Your cloak. It has a tear or two, but otherwise, it's in great shape. I'm sure Madam Malkin could have that fixed in no time."
Hermione opened her dark blue cloak and took a quick look at it, "Thank you, Bill."
"Wait," George asked in surprise, "You fought Harry?"
Hermione nodded and took a deep breath and related the events from yesterday. They sat in amazement as she recounted the epic duel, Harry's mother's ghost, and Harry surviving the killing curse yet again.
George let out a whistle at the last part, "Harry's blessed, to say the least," he shook his head in wonder, "I'm not betting though if he can survive another go around with that curse though."
Hermione silently agreed.
Ron was speechless after Hermione was done. Like everyone else, he had never in a million years though Harry would ever fight Hermione on anything. To hear that his best mate was begging her to end him was incomprehensible to him. He looked at Harry and shook his head sadly. He felt suddenly guilty for not helping Harry sooner.
His thoughts were interrupted when Healer Thurston entered the room. The healer was a little taken aback by the number of people in the room, but when he saw that the room had been magically expanded, he shrugged his shoulders and accepted the situation. He looked at the far side and saw Hermione awake and sipping her coffee.
"Ah, Miss. Granger. Excellent, you're awake." He quickly made is way over and quickly examined her and her arm, "You drank the potion I gave you?" at her nod he continued, "Excellent. You appear to be in decent health. The burn is healing nicely, and as I said yesterday we'll keep the bandage off. I'd say you won't need any more treatments unless you do something inadvisable," he looked over his glasses at her with an expectant look.
Hermione smirked at his comment and shook her head at him, "Good!" he said, "Now your magical core is still recovering from the efforts of yesterday. Try and rest as much as you can today and you should be fine in a couple of days."
He then turned and spent several minutes examining Harry. The auto-quill at his elbow furiously writing down everything the healer found. Hermione, and the others, waiting on pins and needles for him to finish so they could get some news. After about ten minutes, the auto-quill finished writing with a slight flourish before it and the writing pad disappeared into Thurston's large hip pocket.
He turned to Hermione, and before anyone could ask, started speaking, "Now Mr. Potter's condition is still serious, but I'm a lot more hopeful that he will recover," there was a collective sigh of relief from everyone the room except for Hermione. She sat rock still with her breath still held, biting her lower lip nervously, and never taking her eyes off Harry.
Thurston continued, "His magical core is still severely depleted, but better than it was late yesterday. However, the main concern is that the residual effects of the killing curse still seem to nag his system. I'm not entirely sure how to best treat this as I've never treated anyone who's survived it, but we are doing our best there."
He paused and looked down at his patient, "Now as far as his mental state," his voice turned grave, "I'm afraid that's a far more serious issue. While his body is healing itself, I almost sense his mind isn't really behind it. So we will have wait until he wakes to fully assess where he is hurt emotionally."
"'ealer, any idea when 'arry will awake?" Fleur asked concern showing in her face.
Thurston's face scrunched in thought but shook his head with a bit of frustration in his expression, "I'm not sure and I'm sorry for not having a better answer," he regarded Harry, "We're at Mr. Potter's discretion on that, but it's best to be prepared when he does."
He turned to the group and looked around at them, "Does he have any family living?"
"No," Hermione answered sadly before anyone could, "The closest thing to family he has are The Weasley's," she indicated the others, "They've loved him since the day he met them getting on the Hogwarts Express."
Thurston looked around the room and saw Mrs. Weasley proudly smiling and nodding to him. He thought for a moment, "That's an excellent start and you all seem very protective and caring of him," he said and again receiving nods all around. He looked at Mrs. Weasley, "Girlfriend or wife?"
Mrs. Weasley gave him a soft smile and tilted her head to indicate Hermione, "Our Hermione here is as close to either of those as you can get."
Thurston looked at Hermione and nodded solemnly, "Understood," he took a quick breath, "Well, I'll hopefully have more information later when I check in on him. For now, please feel free to stay and think positive thoughts."
He left the room leaving a silent and contemplative group behind him, and one woman nervously biting her lower lip.
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It was much later in the afternoon before Hermione was alone with Harry. The next wave of the Weasley's had arrived and they and her parents left to get some dinner, so Hermione took the opportunity to stay behind. She had been getting somewhat impatient not being able to have some alone time with Harry. She was worried and was trying not to let it show with everyone. There had been no change in Harry's condition aside from the fact that he was magically getting stronger and his body was recovering from the malnourishment and injuries from the duel. However, he still wasn't responding to anyone around him and was still asleep. Her parents, using their medical background, thought that he might be in a coma and would awake when he was ready.
Now with everyone gone and the room empty aside from just her and Harry. She moved from her chair to sit on the edge of his bed. She brushed the hair from his forehead and smiled down at him.
"You're worrying me, Mr. Potter," she said softly to him, "I thought we agreed in our fourth year not to do that with each other?"
She reached out and held his left hand in both of hers. She felt the warmth and the roughness of his hands.
"You know it's funny really," she said, "You would think me sitting in a hospital with you should almost be old hat for me by now," she smiled, "But I've always been worried. Even in our first year, but," she bit her lower lip and gave him an impish look, "I'll let you in on a little secret. Ron was even sworn to secrecy with this on pain of a bat bogey hex from Ginny, so this is quite serious."
She leaned a little closer to him and lowered her voice, "I told off McGonagall after you fought Quirrell in our first year and were unconscious for three days. Well, she wanted me to go to class and I told her off and said I wasn't leaving your side until you were better," she softly chuckled, "Oh Harry, you should have seen her face. It was beet red and she was sputtering she was so angry with me. But Dumbledore stepped in and we compromised that I could be there anytime I wasn't in class and that I could stay past curfew or overnight with you if I felt like it."
She rolled her eyes, "Shocking and a bit hypocritical to huh?" she squeezed his hand, "Me, the bushy-haired bossy bookworm who once told you that we could have been killed or worse expelled for entering the third-floor corridor and I end up almost getting expelled for yelling at a teacher because I wanted to be with you!"
She smiled and laughed, "But it was one of the best things I've ever done. I showed myself, and others, that I was willing to fight to be with you," she looked down and fidgeted nervously with the blanket, "You were my first real friend and have been my best friend since our first year. I have shared with you things about me my mother doesn't even know. Honestly, if I had been told when I turned 11 that I would meet a boy that would complete me on a train to magical school, I would have told them off saying that no boy would ever be interested in my brainy mind and big teeth. Then I found you and you were interested in me and accepted me without hesitation."
She paused to compose herself, "I hope that you understand that I did what I did yesterday because I love you. And I don't mean I love you like a brother or love you as a best friend. But I love you as the other half of my soul. I think in our fourth year is when I really, I realized that and was afraid for so many years to lose the friendship to try making something more of it. I regret that" she smiled wryly at him, "I remember I once called you an idiot, well I should have said that about myself."
She shrugged her shoulders, "Then you left and it devastated me. I didn't realize just how big a part of me you were until you were gone. Then by some luck, we have found each other again. I will be very blunt Mr. Potter, I will not be so easy to be let go this time and you can bet all the gold in your vaults on that."
She leaned over and lovingly kissed his lips for what seemed like a lifetime but was for only a few moments. She pulled away from his face, still leaning over him, and smiled down at him, "I love you, you selfless, honorable and brave git," she looked at him teasingly, sat up and squeezed his hand.
Suddenly she jumped up from the bed in surprise and shouted for the healer. Harry Potter had just squeezed her hand.
