Author's Note: Thanks to everyone who reviewed! I read this chapter over about four times while checking for errors and such, but I'm still not completely satisfied with it. This picks up off of where we left off. Oh, I need to clear something out: at the end of Chapter 9 (in my Author's Note), I said that I might skip a year. Well, I didn't. It was basically around the same time where I left off...I've kept track of how much progress that this story has so far in the goal to complete nineteen years, and a year and a month has passed so far. I will try to make time go by quicker, but this first few years are very important to these character's future. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. I wish I did, though -- I really, really wish that I did. But I don't. So here I am writing fan fiction rather than completing my homework because of this little wish I have.
Nineteen Years - Chapter Eleven
It only takes one day, one moment, to change your life around.
"Hermione!" Harry said as he ran towards the helpless young woman. But he was stunned by a few Death Eaters before he could get anywhere. Using up almost all of his strength, he managed to lift his arm up with his wand. He had learned how to do the Avada Kedavra curse, being an Auror and all, but he had yet to learn it silently. "Avada Kedavra!" he pointed at the lead Death Eater, but the Death Eater managed to jump out of the way and it bounced off of the wall. By instinct, Harry got back on his feet and ran towards Hermione, just in case the curse came towards her. Luckily, it didn't, but it managed to destroy practically the entire room.
When he nearly reached Hermione, one of the Death Eaters shot a hex at him, causing him to lay flat on the ground with pain.
"HARRY!" he heard Hermione's voice practically deafen him.
"Shut up, mudblood!" the Death Eater shouted, and Harry heard Hermione scream in pain.
Harry managed to get up and saw the Death Eater torturing Hermione. His Hermione. With a sudden adrenaline rush, Harry ran up to the Death Eater, and not even bothering to get his wand out, punched him in the face with all the strength he had in him. The Death Eater fell to the ground and clutched his bloody, yet still masked, face.
"Avada Ked –" before Harry could conjure the killing curse, he was hit with a jinx and he went flying past Hermione and into the wall in front of her. Pain ripped through his entire body, and he placed his hands on his back for support. Hermione was now completely flipping out in her securing charms. Slowly, Harry sat back up and managed to disable the charms, causing Hermione to run through to the other end of the room and search through her dresser. Harry was perplexed by this until Hermione brought out a wand; the Death Eaters must have taken her usual one.
Hermione rushed up to Harry and stood in front of him, defending him with all the power she had in her. Harry did not want her to die by protecting him, so he managed to somewhat stand up and he pushed Hermione behind him.
"Harry! But you're –" she protested.
"No. Stay behind me," he said in a firm voice, causing his friend to back up even more.
Harry shot curses at every Death Eater in sight, but they were still able to stand and defend themselves. The lead Death Eater wasn't clutching his bloody face any more, and he had stood up to shoot hexes. After several minutes of dueling, Harry heard a laugh from the Death Eaters and looked behind him to see Hermione on the ground, motionless. No. They couldn't have killed his Hermione.
"HERMIONE!" he screamed, rushing to her aid. The Death Eaters continued to shoot curses and hexes, but all Harry cared about was Hermione. He finally made it to her and clutched onto her body, which was still not moving, and apparated them into St. Mungo's Hospital.
"Somebody help her!" Harry screamed, still holding Hermione. A few nurses turned their heads and saw the famous Harry Potter holding up a bruised and motionless body. They quickly ran up to him, clutched his wrist, and dragged him to the emergency ward with Hermione.
"Hermione Granger, nineteen years old. A curse hit her, but I'm not sure which," Harry said to the Healer as he rushed into a hospital room. He was used to the process of having a hospital patient being rushed to the emergency ward. The Healer nodded, picked up Hermione, and placed her carefully on the hospital bed. Harry backed up and allowed the Healer to examine her closely. His heart was beating faster than ever, and he could feel tears waiting on the edge of his eyes. Hermione looked…dead…no, she couldn't be dead. Harry hadn't even gotten the chance to kiss her, or even to tell her about his (somewhat confusing) romantic feelings for her. He hadn't even gotten the chance to say "goodbye".
The Healer turned on his heels and faced him. "She's alive…but just barely," his cold words stabbed through Harry like a thousand knives.
"Is she going to make it, though?" Harry asked with a rather shaky voice.
"Her chances of survival are slim, Mr. Potter. I'm sorry," the Healer said. He lifted his wand to perform some healing charms, and after about ten minutes, the Healer walked out of the room.
Harry rushed up to his friend.
"Hermione…" his voice trailed off as tears were now falling from his eyes uncontrollably. "Please don't leave me. I…I don't know what I'd do without you. Please, Hermione. There are so many people who care about you. Especially me." Harry lifted her body and let her head slump on his shoulder. "You can't be gone. No…"
The Healer walked back in and gestured Harry to move away from her. "I need to run some tests. I'll have to ask you to leave."
Harry hesitantly trudged outside. Hermione couldn't be dead; she was Hermione Granger, after all. She couldn't just be killed by Death Eaters going after…
And that's when it hit him. Her friendship with him had caused her to nearly die. Hermione had been in near death situations constantly, but this was the only time where her survival chances were very slim.
Harry had never felt so guilty in his entire life. A huge amount of tears fell from his eyes. People who passed him snickered and whispered, but he ignored them – they didn't understand what it was like to be in such a close relationship with Hermione Granger, and then because of her friendship with you, she was now nearly dead. Nobody could understand how guilty he was, and how he could have been more protective of her than he was. Even if Harry was extremely injured, it was his job to make sure that nothing horrible would ever happen to her – and he failed.
"Mr. Potter?" the Healer's head appeared out of the door.
"Y-Yes?"
"Come here please."
Harry approached him, and the Healer said, "Miss Granger might make it…I think I've stabilized her enough for her to recover, but she's still extremely weak. She has just woken up."
He nodded with a little piece of hope wanting to burst out from within him. He walked to Hermione's hospital bed, where she looked as miserable and as helpless as Harry had ever seen her. He noticed her injuries and tears made their way to the edge of his eyes.
"Harry…"
Harry gently stroked her hair and pushed a piece of it behind her ear. She smiled weakly and put her hand over his wrist. Her smile practically melted his heart; she was trying to be as strong as she could for him.
Admiring the fact that she was alive, Harry leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her cheek.
"I thought I lost you," he whispered in her ear.
Hermione looked down and tears fell from her chocolate brown eyes. Harry wrapped his arms around her and pulled her onto his lap. Hermione laid back against his shoulder and closed her eyes. She lifted her arm up and softly touched his cheek. Harry wished that they could stay like this forever.
Suddenly, two adults in muggle clothing walked into the room. "Hermione!" they exclaimed, rushing towards the young woman in Harry's arms. Realizing that the adults were Hermione's parents, Harry put her back down on the hospital bed and backed away.
Emma Granger put her hand to Hermione's forehead while Dan held his daughter's hands in his. Mrs. Granger finally turned around and saw Harry.
"Oh, hello, Harry!" she said, running up to him and shaking his hand. "I saw you when we walked into the room, but I –"
"You were more concerned about Hermione. I understand."
"What happened to her?" Mr. Granger interupted. Harry's face fell.
"Hermione was hit with a curse...I don't know which one, though."
"By who?" Mr. Granger asked with a firm tone.
"Death Eaters," Harry replied. Seeing the perplexed and fearful faces of Mr. and Mrs. Granger, he said, "Death Eaters are Voldemort's followers."
"But didn't you defeat that man?"
"Yes, but some of his followers are still after me."
"After you? Then how come they hurt Hermione?"
"The Death Eaters took Hermione hostage as leverage," Harry said as he looked down.
Dan stepped closer to Harry with his fists tightening a bit. "So you're saying that my daughter was nearly killed because you're friends with her?"
"Dan, it isn't like that!" Emma put her hands on her husband's shoulders and faced him.
"That's exactly what it is!" he replied, then leaned in towards Emma and whispered (even though Harry could still hear him), "I don't want Hermione with that boy if she's in constant danger like this."
"But it's not Harry's fault!" Emma whispered back. "She's been in these kind of situations before."
"Not like this, where she's extremely weak on a hospital bed!" Dan snapped, still in a hushed whisper. His wife turned her head and looked at Hermione, who was smiling at Harry. Mrs. Granger saw that Harry had been smiling back at his best friend.
"Hermione is nineteen years old now. She can chose whoever she wants to be friends with – and I think that Harry is a wonderful young man," Mrs. Granger began. Dan opened his mouth to protest, but she quickly stopped him to saying anything. "Look at them, Dan."
Harry had heard every word they said, and tried to look happier than ever that Hermione was alive – he didn't have to do much acting on that part. Dan turned his head and looked at the two teenagers sharing smiles.
Harry heard the man sigh before he said, "Fair enough. But if she ever ends up –"
"Calm down, Dan. She'll be fine!"
"Fine," Mr. Granger answered in a firm tone.
The Healer walked in and announced that Hermione would have to stay at St. Mungo's for two more days at the least. "Muggles could come from two o' clock to six o' clock in the afternoon only each day," he added.
"Why?" Mr. and Mrs. Granger asked in unison.
"It's the rules at St. Mungo's Hospital."
Hermione's parents softly sighed and looked at their watches – Harry looked at his watch as well, and realized that it was 5:59pm.
"I suppose this is goodbye for now, Hermione," Mrs. Granger said, approaching her only daughter. She placed a soft kiss on her forehead, smiled, and walked out the door. Mr. Granger did the same.
"You, on the other hand," the Healer said to Harry. "You may come whenever you'd like." Harry felt a huge grin on his face. "So, if you want to go to your home and let her rest here for now…"
Harry's face fell. He didn't even know where the Death Eaters were. Were they still at his home, destroying Twelve Grimmauld Place? The horrible thought almost brought tears to Harry's eyes. His home was the last thing he had of Sirius, his godfather, and it could possibly be in ruins as he stood at the foot of Hermione's hospital bed.
"What's wrong?" Hermione asked in a quiet voice, barely being able to open her eyes.
"I…I need to capture the Death Eaters."
Hermione's eyes got watery and tears fell down her face. "There aren't many out there, but they really want to make a comeback." She reached out and held Harry's hand in hers. "Be careful."
Harry felt sadness rush over him. Hermione's eyes were screaming out that she didn't want anything bad to happen to him. The Death Eaters hurt his Hermione, and Harry would make sure that they paid for what they had done. "Don't worry about me. I'll be okay. Get some rest," he replied, and he apparated out of St. Mungo's and into the phone booth. St. Mungo's was the only huge building in the wizarding world that you could apparate in and out of, because if someone needed medical attention immediately, apparition was the fastest way to go.
"Mr. Potter, are you alright?" Miss Jenkins, the secretary in the Auror Department asked. "Your work shift ended a few hours ago."
"Death Eaters were at Twelve Grimmauld Place," he replied quickly.
Miss Jenkins's eyes widened and she hastily got up and rushed to Harry. "You need a team of Aurors who can help you?"
"Not all Aurors," Harry said. "Get out your enchanted quill, please."
"Of course." Miss Jenkins ran up to her desk and lifted up her quill for a moment before it levitated by itself. She also got out a piece of paper for the quill to write on.
So then Harry named friends from his year that had helped him in the Department of Mysteries as well as the battle at Hogwarts. Quickly, Miss Jenkins rushed up to one of her owls carrying several letters. "Immediately," she ordered, and the owl took off in the blink of an eye. Harry remembered seeing these owls outside of the Ministry – they were highly trained and only used in emergencies. You barely got to see them because they were so fast.
Within five minutes, Ron, George, Ginny (Harry was surprised that she showed up to help him), Luna, Neville, Seamus, Parvati, Lavender, and several others were rushing down the corridor. "Hey, Harry!" Everyone exchanged greetings with Harry for a moment or two, and then Harry stood up and began to speaking.
"Death Eaters were attacking Twelve Grimmauld Place about an hour ago. We need to go back there, although I doubt that they stayed there for much longer," he said.
"Where's Hermione?" Luna interupted.
"At St. Mungo's. The Death Eaters…they hurt Hermione…" he looked down and heard gasps from the peers in front of him. "But they're pretty sure that she'll be alright."
"Let's show those Death Eaters what happens when they mess with us!" Ron exclaimed. Everyone joined in with his cheers, and Harry finally made them fall silent again.
"Try to stun them and let me and Ron know that you've captured one of them. Since Ron and I are Aurors, we're able to apparate in and out of Azkaban, so we'll bring the captured Death Eaters into the holding room, where they will not be able to escape since Voldemort's not alive to help them escape," Harry said.
"I'll do the apparating, Harry. You're a better fighter than I am," Ron said. Harry opened his mouth to respond, but Ron added, "Don't even bother to argue. We don't have enough time."
"Let's go, then! Remember, have your wands out and let's stick together," Harry reminded them as he apparated to Twelve Grimmauld Place. The "team" that had gone with him was barely visible behind him due to the dust.
Harry gasped in horror at the scene. Dust was everywhere and he smelled something burning that wasn't the fireplace. Furniture was overturned and ripped. Picture frames were blasted through, and the staircase was missing several stairs. Harry looked up at the ceiling and saw several holes.
"Going anywhere, Potter?" Harry heard a familiar voice. No, it couldn't be…
But it was. Draco Malfoy stood before Harry and took off his mask. "Didn't recognize that it was me who tortured the mudblood?"
Harry's muscles tensed up. "You're going to pay, Malfoy."
"Oh yeah, you and what army?"
Harry's "team" knew exactly what to do without him having to say anything. Ron, George, Ginny, Luna, Neville, Seamus, Parvati, and so many others walked out from the dust, causing Malfoy's eyes to widen.
"Expelli –" Malfoy began, but Harry stunned him quickly and shot a hex, throwing the hated enemy across the room and onto the wall.
"Harry, you can just stun him and bring him into Azkaban," Ron whispered.
"He needs to pay for what he did for Hermione!" Harry said as he threw curses and hexes at Malfoy, until the blonde haired young man could barely move. "Now you can take him."
The others looked at Harry with slight shock, and Ron rushed to Malfoy, and within seconds the two were gone. Harry gestured the others to follow him, and they did a quick search around the house. No Death Eaters were found, but Neville suggested that they searched the house again just to make sure. Following his suggestions, the "team" tiptoed throughout Twelve Grimmauld Place, finding nobody. A little disappointed, Harry stood in what used to be the sitting room with his peers.
With a loud crack, Ron apparated back into the house, exhausting and panting. "Got him in jail. I got Malfoy in jail."
Harry jumped up from his position and cheered. Oh, how he had waited for the moment that his enemy finally got locked up in Azkaban. After several minutes of cheering, Harry looked around and observed the damage of the house. He felt a strong hand on his shoulder.
"This place isn't safe anymore, Harry," Ron said solemnly and truthfully. How Death Eaters had gotten into Twelve Grimmauld Place, he didn't know. Since Malfoy had been their leader, and now he was locked up (Harry smiled again), the Death Eaters couldn't pose as much of a threat any longer, but it only took one of them to hurt Harry; or worse, he thought: Hermione.
Harry looked down at his shoes, which were covered with dust. "I know. I need to find a new place for Hermione and me to live."
He faced his friend again, and Ron said, "You guys can stay at the Burrow while you find a place. If you want to, that is."
"Thanks, Ron. I think we could stay there for a bit," Harry replied with a smile. He admired the fact that his friend would welcome them into his family's home so suddenly. He thought about the horrible fact that Ginny would be there, but he waved it away after a few hesitant seconds.
Harry glanced back at the people who had willed themselves to possibly face Death Eaters to help him.
"We didn't get to kick anyone's butts!" Seamus exclaimed. "You took Malfoy by yourself."
Neville started laughing along with Seamus and Harry, and eventually the entire room roared with laughter. Harry finally calmed them down and said, "Thank you, guys. For everything. I know that we didn't get to capture anyone but Malfoy –" he received several smiles and attempts of not trying to laugh, and continued, "I really appreciate it that you would allow yourselves to be in such danger to help me. Thanks."
Luna looked up at him with her dreamy face and said, "Oh, it's no bother at all, Harry. It beats catching three-tailed shorkle bats any time."
The others looked at her and rolled their eyes, especially Ron, but Harry simply smiled at her and replied, "Thanks, Luna." He had always admired how she wasn't afraid to be so different from everyone.
"How about we have a party after Hermione recovers and you get your new home? I love parties!" Luna said.
Lavender and Parvati jumped up and squealed. "We can totally put together the biggest party of the year!"
"Er…" Harry hesitated, looking over at Ron for help.
"A Christmas party, perhaps?" Ron said. Harry felt like smacking his friend for being so oblivious to his facial expressions.
This caused Lavender and Parvati to squeal even more, and some guys, besides Ron, were starting to like the idea. "At Potter's new house, eh?" Seamus asked, but it sounded more like a statement than a request.
Everyone nodded, not even bothering to see Harry's reaction. "Um…guys, shouldn't this be alright with me first? I mean, if it was at my house…"
"So, your house then?" Lavender said, batting her eyelashes.
Harry looked down, knowing that he no longer had any more freedom with the future decisions about the Christmas party. "Fine."
The group in front of him roared with excitement, and then said their goodbyes and that they'd help him with any future "Death Eater missions". He received two over excited hugs from Lavender and Parvati before only he and Ron were left.
The first obstacle after this was telling Hermione that their previous house was destroyed and was no longer safe, and that they had to move into the Burrow and find a new home.
"We should go and see Hermione," Harry said, and Ron nodded.
Harry looked at the house one last time before apparating back to St. Mungo's emergency ward. He led him and Ron into Hermione's hospital room.
(From Hermione's point of view)
Hermione was now getting extremely nervous. What if Harry was being killed right now, and here she was, weak and in a hospital bed? She never got to tell him about her feelings for him, and how he just might have captured her heart.
Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing Harry and Ron. Tons of weight lifted from off her shoulders and a huge smile made its face across her lips.
"You're alright! Oh, thank goodness!" she exclaimed while looking directly at Harry, causing Ron to glance away quickly.
Harry approached her and wrapped her in a hug. Eventually pulling away, Hermione laid her head on her upright pillow. "What happened?"
So Harry sat beside her and explained everything from Malfoy being in Azkaban to the planning of the Christmas party. But all Hermione was concerned about was Twelve Grimmauld Place.
"Our house is…destroyed?" Hermione asked with a solemn look. Harry looked at her in a bit of shock that she had said "our house" rather than "his house".
"I mean, your house, but –"
"Nope, it's our house. Or was our house. It's not safe anymore, and it's practically destroyed. I'm pretty sure that some of our belongings might be intact," Harry said.
"When I recover, we should go back and get our stuff, and then –"
"We're moving into the Burrow."
Hermione glanced at Ron. "Are you okay with it?"
"Of course, Hermione," he said with a smile.
"I could get our stuff from Twelve Grimmauld Place before the place collapses," Harry said. "If you're okay with me packing up your belongings, that is."
Hermione admired his chivalry and smiled. "Thanks, Harry. It's perfectly fine with me."
"It's time for my dinner, guys. Mum's probably wondering where I've gone," Ron said. "I'll ask them to come over tomorrow to see you. If you want to tag along, Harry…"
"I think I'll stay with Hermione tonight," he replied.
Harry and Hermione said their goodbyes, and Ron left the hospital room to apparate back to the Burrow.
"Are you sure that you want to stay here?" Hermione asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure. The chairs don't seem to comfy to sleep on, but –"
"Don't be ridiculous!" Hermione exclaimed with a smile. At the same time, she moved over to her left and patted the empty space next to her.
Harry wasted no time hesitating; he laid down right next to her and gently closed his eyes. Hermione stroked his hair admiringly and his lips formed into a smile. He had had one heck of a day.
Author's Note: We will pick up right off when Hermione leaves the hospital. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter! If you have time, please review!
