The Harmony bond, chapter ten.
Disclaimer:-
To anyone who has been on another planet since 1997, this is to let you know that Harry Potter belongs to J.K.Rowling, her various publishers and Warner Brothers. This story and any new characters belong to me.
In the previous chapter...
Harry has found Hermione and they have returned home, but after overhearing part of a conversation, he feels unwanted again.
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Hermione woke early. She was surprised to find Harry awake. "Hi," she said, feeling a little embarrassed at having him in her bed. He didn't answer her.
"Harry. Are you alright?"
"Yeah," he said, dejectedly. Hermione could tell by his tone that he was far from alright, but, having no idea what she could do, grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom to get dressed.
Breakfast was an almost silent affair as as Harry was sombre and none of the Grangers had any idea why Harry seemed so down again. After breakfast he asked if he could floo Madam Pomfrey.
"Of course you can, you don't have to ask," Mrs. Granger replied.
When he called Madam Pomfrey, he immediately asked, "Could I come and talk to you about the bond?"
"Yes, of course. Hopefully, there will be nobody in the hospital wing this afternoon. Would that be alright?"
"Yes, thank you," he replied, hoping he'd hidden his disappointment at not being able to go straight away.
Several times during the morning a concerned Hermione tried to interest Harry in a book, a game, television, anything, but Harry just sat and brooded, miserably.
His plans to visit Hogwarts were changed after lunch by the sudden arrival of a woman he hadn't seen before. Hermione looked up and recognised her, however, and said, "It's Professor McGonagall isn't it?"
"Yes, dear. Now, Madam Pomfrey asked me to look in. Harry wanted to talk to her more about the bond, didn't you Harry?"
He nodded.
"I'm afraid the hospital wing is a little bit busy right now, so she asked me to come instead. Really, you'd be better talking with Professor Flitwick as a bond is a type of charm really, but hopefully I can answer your questions."
"It's just, I wanted to see her, sort of, on my own," said Harry hesitantly.
"Harry. You want to talk about the bond. That's affects both you and Hermione. Has Hermione done anything bad that she deserves to be kept in the dark about what you are asking?"
"No, it's just..."
"Yes?"
"It doesn't matter."
"Harry. It obviously matters very much to you. Please tell me what's on your mind and I promise it will go no further."
"I want to know if a bond can be broken without harming us."
Hermione gasped and looked hurt.
"May I ask why you want to know that? It's a very hurtful thing to ask."
"I don't mean it like that. It's just, if we didn't have a bond, Hermione would be safe and her mum and dad wouldn't have to worry and it would be a lot easier."
Hermione looked a little happier at his explanation.
Professor McGonagall smiled. "That's very thoughtful, Harry, but, no. Some types of bonds can be broken, the type of bond you two have is for forever. Even if one of you dies, the other would follow soon after."
Neither the professor not Hermione could miss the disappointed look on Harry's face.
"Harry, you have something most of us only dream of, someone who will be part of you forever. If you really want to help Hermione, you need to make a choice to trust her and to stop pushing her away."
"Okay," Harry replied uncertainly.
"And you can start by telling me what's wrong today," Hermione said.
"I can't."
"Harry..."
"I just can't, okay?" He got up and left the room, not noticing Hermione slump to the floor.
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A hurried floo-call later and Madam Pomfrey was there in a couple of minutes. After briefly examining Hermione, she picked her up and took her to bed. Then she turned to see Harry, who had heard her arrival and come out of his room to see what was going on. "You haven't slept, have you? Hmm, you're burning up as well. Go to your bedroom. I'll be back in a minute."
A few minutes later she returned and ordered him, "Take this." The handed him a glass full of something green.
Harry sniffed it and pulled a face. "What is it?" he asked.
"Do you have to question everything?" she asked him. "I don't know what I'm going to do with you when you get to Hogwarts. It's a potion to make you sleep, similar to the one I gave you both when you were in the hospital at Hogwarts. You both need to recover your magical energy."
He shrugged and drank the potion. Fifteen seconds later, Madam Pomfrey was already easing his sleeping form down on the bed.
She then went to Hermione's room and quickly rennervated her. Before the girl could even focus her eyes properly, Madam Pomfrey had her drink a glassful of the potion as well. When both were asleep, she carried Hermione and laid her next to Harry.
She went downstairs and talked with Hermione's parents. "That potion should keep them peacefully asleep for about twenty four hours. But if this keeps up, I'll have to have them both at Hogwarts again, keeping them asleep if necessary, until they are stronger."
"Is there anything we can do?" Mrs. Granger desperately asked the two witches.
"Very little, I'm afraid," replied Madam Pomfrey. "Ultimately this is something they will have to work through between them."
Upstairs, Hermione was asleep, but far from peaceful. She woke up with a scream. For a moment she was disorientated, not sure where she was, then, recognising what was now Harry's room, she quickly got up and walked unsteadily towards the stairs. Her scream woke Harry, who got up and followed her.
"What was that?" said Mrs. Granger.
"I don't know," replied Madam Pomfrey, frowning. "That potion should have knocked them out totally." Mrs. Granger was already getting up, so Madam Pomfrey put a hand on her arm and said, "Please, Mrs. Granger. Let me go to them."
As Mrs. Granger still looked uncertain what to do, Mr. Granger nodded and held onto his wife.
Madam Pomfrey met Hermione on the stairs. "That potion should have made you sleep for at least a day. Come on dear, come back to bed." She tried to take Hermione's arm but Hermione struggled free.
"Let me go," she said firmly. "I want to see my parents."
Something about the anger in the girl's voice made Madam Pomfrey allow her to pass.
"How could you?" Hermione screamed at her parents.
"What?" asked her startled mother.
"How could you tell him you didn't want him?"
"I... we didn't."
"We were dreaming it. I heard you, mother. You said you wished you'd never heard of him."
Madam Pomfrey laid a hand on Hermione's shoulder. "I'm sure it was just a dream..." she began.
"No," interrupted Mrs. Granger. "No, it wasn't," and she burst into tears.
"Harry," said Mr. Granger. "Don't stand in the hallway. Come in. Tell me, what did you hear last night?"
"Just that," snapped Hermione, sharply. "You didn't want him."
"Harry," Mr. Granger said gently. "Please try to understand. We were, we are, just so worried about losing Hermione. She is our only daughter. And this bond has put her life in danger, and that's without worrying about Voldemort or his like."
"Harry," said Professor McGonagal. "When people are scared, they say things they don't mean. Have you ever wished Dudley dead?"
Harry nodded.
"Did you really want him to die?" There was no response from Harry. "What you really meant was you wanted him to stop hurting you, wasn't it?"
"Yes," Harry replied quietly.
"Hermione's parents just want her to be safe, that's all. That's all they meant by that."
"Harry, if you'd heard a minute before, you'd have heard Mrs. Granger saying what a nice boy you are."
Harry looked questioningly at Mrs. Granger, who nodded.
"Then why did you send me away?"
It was Mr. Granger who replied. "We believed it was the only way you could be safe. Otherwise, there is no way we would have let you go."
"Harry, I'm sorry I hurt you," said Mrs. Granger. "I never meant to." She walked across and gave him a hug. She wasn't surprised that he stiffened up as she hugged him.
The adrenalin from their sudden awakening was lessening and both children began to yawn.
"These two really need to get straight to bed before the potion takes effect again," said Madam Pomfrey.
"I'll put them to bed," volunteered Mrs. Granger, "if that's alright with you Harry."
He nodded.
Sending them to bed together, she tucked them in and bent down to kiss each of them goodnight, ignoring the fact that it was still only mid afternoon. She sat down to watch the pair as they quickly fell asleep.
Hermione seemed calmer, but Harry was still restless. She turned Hermione over and put her arm around Harry, who almost immediately began to breath more slowly and deeply. "Sleep tight," she told them, giving each of them another quick kiss.
When she got back downstairs, she found Professor McGonagall ready to leave. "I really ought to be getting back now. But don't hesitate to call me if there is anything I can do. I could get Professor Flitwick to visit if you like. He is the expert on bonds as it is related to charms, which he teaches. He would probably be the best person to explain everything to them about their bond."
"I don't think they are ready for that, yet," said Madam Pomfrey. "I think they need to work through this initial stage first, and learn to trust each other."
The Professor nodded. "You are probably right. It's just that if I am reading Hermione correctly," and the professor couldn't help a rueful grin as she said this, "she is going to want to know everything about the bond before too long."
"Our daughter," laughed Mr. Granger, "wants to know everything about everything."
"She is going to be a delight, and a challenge, to teach. I look forward to having her at Hogwarts in a few years."
"Well, actually," said Mrs. Granger. "We were thinking. Does she have to go to Hogwarts?"
"Not go to Hogwarts?" said a horrified Professor McGonagal. "But she'll need to learn to control her magic as she becomes older.
"Isn't there any other school she could go to?"
"Yes, there are other options. May I ask why you don't want Hermione to come to Hogwarts?"
"Professor Dumbledore," Mr. Granger replied bluntly. "We don't trust him. It seems to us that by his determination to send Harry back to those awful people, he came close to killing both Harry and Hermione."
"This would have happened anyway," Madam Pomfrey pointed out. "That boy has never had anyone to trust in his life. The separation brought it on more quickly, but it would still have happened."
"One thing you need to bear in mind," warned Professor McGonagal, "is that this is Harry Potter your daughter is bonded with. As you have correctly understood, that makes Hermione a target. Professor Dumbledore was the only wizard You Know Who, I mean, Voldemort, was afraid of. Most of us are too afraid to even say the name. Albus Dumbledore is the most powerful wizard alive and, like it or not, Harry and Hermione are going to need his protection"
Seeing the displeasure on the Grangers' faces, she added, "He isn't so bad, you know. Despite appearances, he cares very much for them. I won't go into details, but the Potters, Harry's parents, decided to trust one of their friends instead of Professor Dumbledore and it cost them their lives."
Mr. Granger nodded. "We will think about what you have to say."
After the Professor flooed away, Madam Pomfrey went upstairs with Mrs. Granger to check on the two children. They seemed restless.
"Should they be like this?"
Madam Pomfrey shook her head. "Whatever they are experiencing, it is intense. It may wake them up again, despite the power of the potion, and that isn't good. I have some calming potion in my bag. It will calm them enough to force them to stay asleep"
She quickly went downstairs for the potion and returned.
"Let me understand," said Mrs. Granger, slowly. "They are in a nightmare and you want to force them to stay in it?"
Madam Pomfrey winced. "That's not how I would put it, but yes. The energy needed to overcome the sleep potion is tremendous, and they are drained enough as it is. This will help."
"Then let me give it to them." The mediwitch handed a small bottle to Mrs. Granger. "How much?"
"Just a drop for each, that's it. I will leave the bottle here. I suggest you both take a drop tonight. You look exhausted. And now, I must go. I have patients waiting for me at Hogwarts."
With a brief goodbye to Mr. Granger, Madam Pomfrey flooed away.
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Author's note...
After a couple of angst-ridden cliff-hangers like that, I couldn't leave you waiting for the next chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. Interestingly, my reviewers seem divided between those who think the angst is more realistic and those who don't like it. I tend to write angst, I find it more interesting to write than where everyone is happy. Overcoming the difficulties and the sorrows seem to me to be far more challenging.
The repeated tragedies is, of course, a motif much used by JKR herself, with every book from book 4 onwards ending in a tragic death which Harry has to come to term with, Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, and many in book 7.
The angst also makes the happiness, when it does come, seem even happier, in my opinion anyway. So be warned, although there are happier times ahead, or the story would be maudlin, there is also a very tragic moment in the story not too far ahead.
My thanks to my new beta, Nachoman1, a.k.a. Ignacio RamÃrez, for his work on this chapter, which included some significant improvements.
Thanks also to JamJackEvo for spotting a huge error in chapter 6, now corrected, for those who wish to re-download that chapter.
Please review.
Brian