Heeeyyy
I'm sooo tired right now and I was up 'till 3 finishing writing this cuz I just couldn't get it right :S
Butt finally here it is.....
I own nothing sadly but enjoy.... :D
Harry Potter, Special Agent in the FBI, former Auror and all around true American hero was having a pretty shite start to the day. After having one of the best-if not THE best nights of his short yet still eventful life; waking up with the woman who he had been attracted to for nearly all of the years that they had been working together and had been the star of many of his night time fantasies, then being blown up in said woman's kitchen before waking up in a hard, stiff and all in all uncomfortable hospital bed.
The room was small, only a couple of chairs to either of his sides, a small window to his left and a portable television hung from the wall opposite his bed decorated the room. He sniffed, his face twisting into one of disgust as he smelt the sterilised disinfectant hospital smell. Man he hated hospitals. He had been in some form of hospital or another no end of times; either for himself or another agent or friend and each time he couldn't wait to get out. His whole body ached and the slightest sudden movement caused shooting pains all the way up his sides and into his brain. His arms and legs were as sore a hell, most of his chest wrapped up tightly in bright white gauze and by moving the muscles in his face carefully he could feel the stitches that the doctors had placed there.
He heard a soft knock on his door and immediately, almost instinctively, called 'Come in', before lowering himself gently onto the bed. However seeing who it was at the door he tried to sit up quickly momentarily forgetting the situation he was in, and the injuries he had, causing him to almost double up in pain.
Seeing him double over in the small hospital bed, Hermione swiftly rushed over to his bed side and helped him lay back amongst the pillows, before sitting in the chair next to the bed, forgetting (maybe even intentionally, she didn't know or care) to let go of his hand.
"I'm sorry Harry. It should be me lying in that bed. Not you." Hermione said softly looking down at their hands in shame, making small circles on the back of his hand with her thumb.
"I'm fine. All I care about is whether you're ok. You know, I...I don't even know if...if I have to stay here, you know?" he replied softly, trying to give her a small smile and gently squeezing her hand in reassurance, causing her to stop her ministrations and look at him questionably.
"You got blown up." She said seriously a small frown marring her features as she looked at his small smile.
"I've been worse." He joked, lifting his free hand and gently smoothing out the frown line between her eyebrows affectionately before stiffly leaning back and dropping his hand.
"You have burns, lacerations, two broken ribs, green stick fracture of the clavicle…" She retorted reading of the health sheet that had been clipped to the end of his bed. He groaned, he didn't even see her pick it up.
'They must be giving me too much morphine.' He thought." Okay, I got blown up," Harry said, sighing whilst pathetically tiring to reach for a pudding in front of him that was placed on a small grey tray on his lap. Finally after a few failed attempts he flopped back into his pillows dejectedly and looked over at her, big green puppy dog eyes boring into her own worried brown ones. "Can you hand me one of the puddings?"
Reaching over him she gently picked up the small pot, before opening it and handing it to him gently.
"Thanks," he said, lifting a spoonful and gingerly placing it in his mouth, sighing at the soft smooth texture and warmth it gave him. Lifting a second spoonful he held it up towards Hermione, "Wanna try some?" he smiled gently holding the spoon towards her.
"No thank you," she said gently returning the smile, "You need your strength." After watching him eat the pudding tentatively for a few moments she noticed his x rays behind his general health chart. Curious she flicked through them observing the extent of his injuries by looking at his bone damage, wincing inwardly as she looked at them. She stopped and frowned slightly, Harry not noticing as he finished his pudding. There were anomalies in his x-rays, injuries present on his bones that weren't consistent with an explosion.
"You know, on your x-rays, there's a history of multiple fractures on your feet consistent with beating. It's a common method of torture in the Middle East, beating the soles of the feet with pipes or hoses." She said looking up from the file and seeing him pause from his slow consumption of the pudding.
"Yeah, I know." He sighed putting another spoonful of pudding into his mouth and looking down, almost in shame.
" And there are indications of injuries sustained while you were shielding someone."
" How the hell can you tell something like that?" He said surprising her with his deer-caught-in-headlights expression.
" The scarring shows that the rib cage spread in such a way that …" she replied softly bringing her gaze from his face back to the file, sensing that she had touched a nerve as he didn't say a single word to deny it.
" Yeah, okay. A buddy of mine, he lost his weapon and I uh, I tried. He didn't make it." He shook his head gently, "You know you shouldn't be looking at my x-rays." He finished sighing. The pudding lay forgotten in his limp hands, his gaze fixated on the spoon in front of him whilst he absentmindedly twirled it between his fingers.
" I'm sorry, Harry." She said apologetically feeling a little ashamed at his dejected face, closing the file and placing back on the table, refusing to look at him.
"Don't be," He said softly, using a free hand to lift her chin slightly so as she would look at him. "You were just being curious, and there's nothing wrong with being curious," He smiled slightly as he stroked the soft skin of her cheek, "Unless you're a cat that is."
Hermione frowned, "I don't know what that means. How am I cat? Felines and humans are completely different-"
Harry chuckled at her confused expression, cutting her off with a small kiss on her lips, "Relax Bones," He smiled at her glazed expression, still not removing his hand from her cheek, "It's all in the past now." He finished, looking deep into her eyes for a moment before leaning in slightly for another kiss. Sensing what he was about to do, and so that he wouldn't injure him self even more Hermione leant in the rest of the way, but before their lips could touch again an extremely loud and excited voice signalled Luna's return.
"Hey Potter, how are you feeling?" Luna called pushing the door open with her side as in her hands balanced 3 coffees and a chocolate chip muffin. The sudden interruption caused the two occupants of the room to jump apart. Harry slightly wincing at the sudden movement but Hermione tried to remain calm even though her face was slightly flushed.
"Wow, you look like crap," Luna stated finally looking at him, the beverages still in her hand.
Harry was sat up in bed, bare-chested, with long white hospital bandage tape wrapped securely round his muscular torso. Numerous purple bruises, varying in shades, were scattered across his arms and chest and he had two long cuts on his face, one starting above his left eyebrow and finishing in the middle of his left cheek and the other running along the right side of his jaw.
"Thank you Miss. Lovegood," Harry smiled, briefly glancing at Hermione-a glance that Luna didn't miss- but the woman in question was looking intently at her hands, "You as ever look stunning."
"Why thank you, I try my best," Luna said returning his smile and looking down at the coffees in her hands. "I brought us all coffees, and yes I know you didn't ask but it's my treat," she finished, seeing Hermione open her mouth to protest, before indicating the coffees that were still in her hands.
"Th-thanks Luna," Hermione mumbled not lifting meeting her friend's eyes, causing Luna to frown slightly. 'Hermione's acting weird, almost embarrassed,' Luna thought to herself 'but then again so is Harry, I'll soon find out what's going on.'
"Here," she said handing Hermione her coffee. "Grande decafe latte, extra cream extra chocolate right?" Smiling Hermione finally meet Luna's eyes and nodded slightly, affirming Luna's correct guess at her favourite coffee before taking it gently out of her friend's grasp and sitting back in her chair next to the bed. "And for you Harry," Luna mumbled, turning to face the man in the bed before her, juggling the remaining beverage items in her hands before handing him a large coffee cup. "Tall, black, regular."
"How did you-?"
"Know." Luna finished, smiling at Harry's astonished face that she knew his favourite coffee. "It's a talent. One of my many but there you go. Here I also brought you this," she said holding up the muffin before throwing it to him, "I know how bad the food in these places can be."
Catching the muffin with his left hand, coffee still in his right he said, "Surprisingly the puddings pretty good,"
"Sure the nurses aren't just giving you special treatment, I'm sure that it's not everyday they have a hot FBI guy here?" Luna joked sitting down in the chair opposite to Hermione, and surprisingly seeing a brief hurt look cross her face as she slowly sipped away at her coffee, trying not to look at anyone. 'Now I know there's something up,' Luna thought almost not hearing Harry's nervous laugh and quick look in Hermione's direction - almost.
"I doubt it Luna, anyway, did they gather all the evidence from the explosion?" He said turning all of his attention back to Hermione, causing her to look up into his face.
"Yes." She replied quietly, taking a long drink from her coffee, not saying any more causing both other occupants to frown slightly. It wasn't like Hermione to be so quiet.
Harry was worried that he came on too strong, that he had scared her off. He knew it took a lot of trust for her to open up and he didn't want to ruin something that hasn't even started.
"You sure?" Harry asked a slightly tense look on his face, both coffee and muffin left forgotten on the tray as his worried green eyes tried to meet her brown ones.
"Yes. Harry, I was there. They were very thorough, and I was very annoying." She joked a small smile appearing on her face as she finally met his eyes.
Laughing at her comment, Harry brought his attention back to the beverages and started devouring the contents in front of him. Smiling, Luna continued her steady drinking of coffee-quite surprised at it's delicious taste - Hermione and Harry seemed like they were back to their normal happy, smiling selves and the awkward moments that had happened only moments before seemed a distant memory. 'I'll talk to Hermione about it later,' Luna thought as she gently sipped on her coffee, watching the two over the rim of her polystyrene cup.
"Oi, Oi," A male voice joked from the doorway, drawing the attention from the occupants in the room. "What do we have here?"
Luna raised a delicate eyebrow as she saw the handsome FBI agent leaning lazily out the door.
'Whew, Hermione's not the only one who wants a FBI hunk.' Luna thought, her eyes lingering on his white shirt, stretching tightly over his muscular chest. Her lips curled into a flirtatious grin as his sliver eyes caught her blue ones.
"Potter, Granger," His eyes caught Luna's and he smirked, "Why Miss Lovegood, fancy seeing you here."
"Miss Lovegood was kind enough to bring Hermione to see me Drake," Harry said, cutting off Luna's reply and causing the blonde haired woman to send a pout in his direction. "You got any news for me?"
"Yes and no," Draco replied walking lazily into the room before dropping into the only available chair next to Luna and handing Harry a thin yellow file. "I've done some digging and the Mussetti's were pissed that we're reopening the investigation-"
"-And when they get pissed they shoot." Harry interrupted, sharing a small glance with Hermione. A look that both Luna and Draco didn't miss.
"I worked undercover with the Mussettis for over two years, never got very high in the organization. I left when I thought my cover was being blown." Draco said, resting his elbows on the chair arms, relaxing fully into the chair. He shifted uncomfortably before sighing, "Jeez Potter, how do you lie in that bed all day? I can't even sit in one of these ruddy chairs."
Luna hid her smile behind her hands whilst Hermione tried unsuccessfully to mask it behind a very loud and very obvious cough.
"Hey," Harry said, rounding on her with an incredulous look on his face, "You're supposed to be on my side here!"
Hermione only held up her hands in defeat; "I am a woman of science." She said, her brown eyes twinkling as she caught Luna's eye, "I am merely objective. We don't take sides."
Harry only grumbled, muttering under his breath about women and science, before turning back to Draco, "So you think someone from Mussetti's crowd did this?"
Draco shrugged, "It's possible. Highly possible in fact. It had to be, hard to tell who though. They use a lot of different guys for a job like this. This is Gregory Goyle; he's been seen in the area, suspected of killing more then twenty-five people, shooting mostly. Although he likes the occasional garrotting."
"So you think they tried to do away with Bones-uh-Hermione." Harry asked, ignoring the look that passed between Luna and Hermione as he spoke.
"Well they are trying to look more legit. They don't want any ancient history resurfacing, bad for business."
"Hey wait a minute," Hermione argued, speaking for the first time in a while, her eyes flickering between the two men as she spoke. "You don't even know it's them."
Draco shrugged, catching Harry's eye briefly. "Still I have my sources. They say that the Mussetti's know you're working this case and they know you're the best. My opinion; walk away."
Hermione suddenly looked livid and rounded on Harry, her eyes alight with anger as she stared him down. "Is that why you asked him here, to scare me into giving up?"
Harry met her eyes, his back straightening as best it could in the stiff hospital bed, "Hey, I want you to get real, alright? These people you are dealing with. They're dangerous-"
"We don't know exactly who we are dealing with." Hermione argued rising from her seat, her fists clenching in frustration. "It could be them. It could be Hollings for all we know."
Draco pulled a face, before blowing air through his lips, breaking the staring contest between Harry and Hermione, "Doubt it. Serial killers, they follow a pattern. They don't bind and torture and then start picking people off with a high powered rifle."
Hermione only ignored him and still directed her comments towards Harry, "You said Hollings promised no one would ever find enough to get him. Maybe he knows that I can."
"Either way, too dangerous." Harry argued, his tone almost final as he stared defiantly up at her. "You almost caught a bullet in the skull."
"I can give you answers, Harry. I can help you get Hollings." Her tone was almost pleading. "You really want me to walk away because it's dangerous?"
A moment silence passed over the group; Draco and Luna watched with interest to see who would back down first. Harry and Hermione lost in their own world, both fighting not to lose eye contact. It was a few tense moments later that Harry sighed, breaking the gaze between them.
"Sorry man, I tried." Draco said, patting him on the shoulder, removing it instantly when he winced. "Sorry."
Harry just shook his head gently, all was forgiven.
"Any word back from ballistics on the bullets that were meant for me?" Hermione asked, quickly changing the subject.
Draco only turned to Harry who nodded and gently opened up the thin yellow file. "Yeah, it was a military issue," He narrowed his eyes as he read the scrawly handwriting. "A Colt Air 15-"
A shrill noise interrupted whatever Harry was about to say, the threesome watching as Hermione fumbled through the contents of her handbag before finally fishing out the annoying device.
"Dr. Granger."
"Fasciola hepatica," Ron's cheerful voice rang through the silent room as it blared through the speaker phone. "It's a parasite found in beef liver. I found their eggs in the dog excrement. The dogs were strays that were starving so someone must have lured them to the scene with liver scraps because there was no evidence of any liver found at the scene."
Hermione nodded her head in thought, the pieces slowly coming together. "So if we find any traces of liver parasite we can tie them to the dogs."
"I guess so. It's quite possible-"
Neville voice suddenly interrupted Ron's and the group could clearly tell that he had been bursting to tell his mentor what he had found. "Dr. Granger, I also found that the cut marks on her bones showed that the pocket knife had a knick in the blade."
Hermione nodded once more; "Okay, good work thanks." She said, hanging up the call and placing her phone back into her bag.
"Is this her?" Harry's voice asked, quiet almost afraid to ask. It sounded almost heartbroken. No one had noticed that he had began to look through the file on his lap as Hermione answered her call. He was looking at the photo of Penny Hamilton, a pretty 19 year college student. The bright blonde hair, big blue eyes and symmetrical features made her very pretty, yet now she was nothing more than bones on a lab room table.
"Yeah." Hermione nodded, watching the play of emotion run over Harry's face; sorrow, anger, frustration, grief and felt another pang in her chest. She touched his arm gently, "It's not your fault Harry."
Harry nodded, letting out a long breath as he gently shut the case file. His eyes lingered on the yellow cover for a moment before meeting her eyes.
"Thanks Bones." He murmured, almost too quiet for her to hear, and turned to face Draco on his other side. "Drake are you visiting our little friend Hollings?"
"Yeh man, Kingsley just gave me the nod before I came here."
"Good," Harry said, handing him the case file, "Can you take Bones with you? I don't want her to be left on her own."
"Harry-" Hermione began, her hand tightening almost painfully on his arm.
"No Bones." Harry said, his tone firm and eyes unyielding as he looked at her. Couldn't she understand that he just want her to be safe? "If you're still running this case then Draco's going to be with you at all times when you're not here. No arguments."
Hermione huffed in annoyance but seemed to relent as she nodded in his direction.
Draco looked at his watch briefly before rising from his chair, "Well Potter we-" nodding his head in Hermione's direction, "best be off. Hollings won't wait around to be busted forever and personally I can't wait to rub that smug smile off his ignorant face." He held out his hand for Harry to shake as the two women also rose from their chairs.
"Bye Harry," Luna said, her blue eyes large and filled with worry as she leant over to give him a brief and gentle hug, "Get well soon." She turned to Hermione, giving her a hug as well before heading towards the door, "I'll see you at the Jeffersonian later. Ring me." She implored her blue eyes narrowing for effect.
She nodded at Draco, their eyes meeting briefly before she waked quickly out of the door.
She felt something grip her hand gently and looking down she saw it was Harry's hand. The two men shared a look, one that all men knew as a sign to leave whilst the other had some time alone.
"I'll wait outside the door Granger." Draco said, nodding at Harry before following Luna out the small white door.
The two fell into a comfortable silence which neither wanted to break until Harry tugged at her hand making her lean forward towards him.
"Are you ok?" He said, his green eyes filled with concern as his warm breath fanned gently over her face.
"I'm fine Harry." She said, "You should be more worried about you."
Harry shook his head and had an adorable look on his face as he looked up at her. "I don't care."
Hermione only smiled at his behaviour, inwardly rolling her eyes at his overprotective show of masculinity. She leant forward connecting her lips with his and smiled as the hand holding hers tightened.
"Harry I have to go," she said when they broke apart, "Malfoy's waiting."
"Then let him wait a little longer." He retorted, pulling her head down for another kiss, cutting off any comment that she was about to make, Draco long forgotten.
I forgot to say thanks to each and every one who reviewed both for the last chapter and the rest of the story!
To all those who haven't please R&R it means a lot.
Anyway 'till next time guys....