Harry stared outside into the cold emptiness of space and waxed philosophical as the events from the past 48 hours caught up wi
AN: OK… First chapter in a while. Thanks for the reviews. They encouraged me to pick this story back up. I decided I didn't want to be one of those authors that start a story and never finish…. So here it goes.
Disclaimer: No ownership claimed… even the plot is a mixture of a million different things.
Chapter Nine
Deception
The cockpit of Serenity was a good place to think Harry discovered as he stared outside into the cold emptiness of space and waxed philosophical as the events from the past 48 hours caught up with him like running into a wall. It was easy to accept everything that was happening in the moment. None of it really sunk in… now that he had time to decompress… He just wasn't sure what to feel. He felt some elation with his freedom and the reunion between him and two of his parents' closest friends. Of course there was River, also. But River also gave him an incredible sense of dread…
"How longs he been like that?" Mal asked staring at Harry. Simon turned from the near catatonic teen to look at the captain.
"Since River…" Simon tailed off not knowing how to describe her episode.
FLASHBACK…
After another half hour of joking around the dining table most of the crew had headed back to their bunks. Harry stayed to help with the dishes and to Mal's amusement River volunteered to help. Mal was surprised though when Simon nodded and simply headed off towards the infirmary. The ship was starting to feel like a home again. It felt like nothing could touch their world. How wrong he was…
"River, can you hand me a towel, please?" Harry asked as he finished scrubbing the last plate. River pouted at him.
"It's my job to dry!" She reached for the plate, but Harry still had his quick reflexes and pulled the plate away playfully at the last second.
River's eye widened in delight as Harry held the plate teasingly just out of her reach over his head.
"Giver. Me. The. Plate. Potter." River tried to seem menacing but failed miserably as she pouted. Harry was drawn into her big brown eyes like a moth to a flame. Suddenly he wasn't on a spaceship with River, but instead he was staring into the eyes of his fiancé Hermione Granger and they were standing next to the Great Lake back at Hogwarts. Slowly he leaned in and captured her pouting lips with his own.
River gasped but refused to break the kiss even for her own surprise. After a mere moment she was returning it with equal passion. The plate fell to the floor shattering unbeknownst to Harry or River.
Mal was just heading back to the cockpit to check the course heading when he heard the plate shatter. With a roll of his eyes he headed back towards the kitchen…
"Am I gonna have any china left with the two of y- Ni er ge shi ma!? What in the hell!?" Mal stared in shock at the two lip locked shipmates who seemed intent on ignoring his attempts at breaking them apart. If anything the kiss deepened as River stepped up on her toes to reach Harry better.
"I'm not seeing this!" Mal shook his head. No- he was. "I- I'm- I'm telling Simon…" Mal turned on his heel not sure what he was actually going to do. River was like a little sister… he was sure Harry wouldn't intentionally take advantage of her, but Harry admitted that he wasn't one hundred percent. He might hurt River on accident… he hadn't witnessed River's bad side yet like the rest of them had… Mal hurried over to the com.
"Simon you're needed in the kitchen… no hurry." Mal unfortunately didn't consider that his nonchalance was more likely to draw the rest of the crew where as if he had been pissed people would of assumed business as usual. At least that was the subconscious thought of Kaylee, and Simon as they B-lined back to the kitchen at varying paces of a steady rush.
Back in the kitchen Harry and River finally broke their kiss, but their eyes stayed locked on one another.
"I don't understand…" Harry began seeing Hogwarts castle in his peripheral vision. "I thought none of this was real, Hermione?"
Hermione smiled. "Now you see like I do." She gently tugged Harry back down to continue where they left off. Harry's mind was a gentle haze as pleasure overwhelmed him. It felt like coming home, but a nagging pressure in the back of his mind prevented him from submitting completely to Hermione's warm reassurances. It felt like he was forgetting something… like he'd left the stove on.
"Hey-" Hermione broke the kiss. "Are you with me, Harry?" He smiled to reassure her.
"Always."
"Aw! How cute!" Kaylee gushed watching the two teens share their not so private moment.
"This is serious, Kaylee!" Mal shouted back. "They're in their own world, and Harry thinks River's Harmony again!"
Simon shook his head. "I don't understand. They seem to be sharing the same delusion. Like they must of when they were with the Alliance." Kaylee's smile faded as she caught on to what was happening from the pain in Simon's voice.
"I thought Harry checked out ok?" Mal asked nervously. Simon shrugged.
"River's presence seems to have caused him to slip back somehow…" Simon trailed off as he noticed they never seemed to look away from the others' eyes when they broke from kissing. A horrible thought occurred to him as he noticed this. "River's controlling what Harry sees…" Simon said in shock.
Mal's face twisted into a grimace. "She can't do that, can she?"
Simon watched the pair for a second as he opened his bag… "She can." He drew a syringe from a small stash of tranquilizers. "I'm going to sedate Harry to bring him out of the trance."
Kaylee frowned. "Shouldn't you sedate River?" Simon shook his head.
"If I do then Harry will snap out of the trance… or he'll be stuck in it." Mal frowned not liking the sound of this one bit.
"How do you know sedating Harry will end the trance?" Mal asked concerned.
"I don't…" Simon said simply. Mal shook his head clearly not liking the guesswork going on there.
Harry and Hermione sprung apart. Hogwarts castle was under attack from a swarm of dementors.
"What's going on? I thought the dementors were back under control of the ministry!?" Harry yelled shocked as he watched the horrifying sight.
"They're trying to take you away again!" Hermione cried hugging Harry. Harry gripped Hermione back tightly.
"I won't leave you, Hermione." Harry mumbled into her hair.
"Promise?" Hermione begged looking up into Harry's eyes with her own watery ones.
"Promise." Harry agreed. The ground shook. Trembling more and more until its source was identified as a family of giants sprung from the forbidden forest. They too charged the castle while throwing boulders large enough to completely demolish the exterior of the ancient castle. A piece of debris fell back from the castle headed directly at Hermione. Harry quickly spun them around taking the blow himself before everything went black….
Simon watched Harry closely as he inserted the syringe into his arm before slowly injecting the tranq. Harry's eyes began to droop as it kicked in. Apparently trying to escape the needle Harry whipped around putting River in the spot he was standing before collapsing onto the kitchen floor.
River's eyes followed Harry's descent, but once she saw he was breathing and ok her eyes took on a wild look as she scanned the kitchen.
"River? Are you ok?" Simon took a step towards her.
"Stay back, deatheater!" River shouted.
The castle was nothing but a pile of stones now and blood ran like a river from Hogwarts into the Great Lake, poisoning it with the innocent lives of all the children. Now Hermione was all that was left. They captured Harry and now they were coming for her. For revenge, Harry had killed their master and now they wanted to kill her. There were three hooded figures all wearing the bone white masks that haunted her.
"Even the orderlies wear masks." River moaned. One of the deatheaters reached out with his wand and stabbed her before she could react….
Simon watched as River too began to collapse from the strength of the drug. He gently wrapped his arms around her before she could fall to the floor.
Mal and Kaylee could only watch shocked from the doorway to the kitchen.
When Harry came to he found himself awkwardly slumped in the co-pilot seat. Mal answered his questions as best as he could while Simon tended to River in the infirmary.
"The Doc thinks it's best to keep you two separate for now… Tend to agree with him on the matter." Mal had said. Harry had blushed but his despair outweighed his embarrassment.
As Harry reviewed these memories he finally came to some form of a conclusion. He felt true love for both River and Hermione. But was it River he was so close to or was it Hermione? Was River's personality a copy of some programming they gave her in the artificial reality, or was Hermione's existence spawned from River's personality? Was his love of Hermione from River's kindness and gentleness? Harry wasn't sure if he could love River if she was a product of the Alliance. He had to find out if his feelings were real. If River was real.
Harry stared out into space. The original rumors of how reavers were formed floated through his subconscious as he imagined whether it was the emptiness of space that would drive someone mad…. It would be the driving force, but what really would do one in are memories. The void allows you to go over every detail in your mind over and over until all you do is stay inside your mind. Harry didn't realize it but he had been trapped inside his mind for the past three hours as he thought of all the pain the Alliance had caused, and all the pain he had caused in self-defense against them. Though three hours was a short time in comparison to the years he had spent while in some lab. The lab was the key. If he was going to sort out his feelings for River and about his current situation he would have to get back to those labs. Find the people responsible… and… he'd see about the rest when the time came.
Simon and Mal both shook from their own concerned daze when Harry finally stood to face them.
"I'm gonna find the sons of bitches that did this to River and me." Harry's eyes were fierce and determined. Simon felt a shiver go though his spine from the intensity in his words. Mal just stared back with a matching expression.
"Not alone." Mal swore.
Inside her room, River too went over her own memories. With her head resting against the cool metal of her wall she let her long black locks fall in front of her face, obscuring it slightly. She had always done this as a child when she felt said, though she didn't realize it. Her long hair didn't hide the tears that fell freely down her face, though.
"Harry…" She whispered sadly. "You promised, Harry."
AN: Well… short but I have a lot planned… what do we think?
