Declaimer: Sadly, I'm not making a profit on this story for the wonderful world of Harry Potter belongs to J.K.Rowling.

A/N It has been a very good week. I managed to meet my deadline for Monday. I'm really going to miss this once school starts again. Sigh Not much to say, so there's the chapter! For future references though, the chorus of the song that Hermione sings in the beginning of this chapter does belong to this humble author, who took time writing it just for this story. Please do not use this small part of the song without my knowledge. Thanks!

Warning: This chapter contains child abuse. Please do not read if you are sensitive to this subject.

Special Thanks: A huge cheer for Azureguy and Amrawo. Also a very special thanks to Pstibbons who gave me some great feedback, and more importantly advised me on a way to put in scene breakers in the story without having to the write the words scene breaker.

Fighting Destiny

By Lola Leddir

Chapter Eleven-Fights and Flights

" You just got to stand up! Stand up!

When you think you can no longer fight

Never give up! Give up!

When nothing is ever right

Believe in yourself, you've got it all

Go after your dreams, you'll never fall

Yeah, you'll never fall."

Hermione's heart was beating furiously as she finished the last chorus of her new song, You Just Got To! It's almost been a month and a half now, yet she still had this overwhelming feeling whenever she finished singing. The joy and pride that always flowed from her head to her toes at the encouragements of the audience, the chanting of her name. She still couldn't believe that she was actually working at the Witches and Whiskeys. She knew that she should have felt ashamed, she should have felt dirty, but she doesn't. For the first time in her life, Hermione had finally found acceptance. It was a whole brand new set of emotions for her and Hermione couldn't help but fall under the spell.

" Thank you," Hermione said softly, her eyes sweeping through the crowd, smiling at various people until she spotted Harry.

Ever since the fight that took place in Hermione's dressing room, Harry had been visiting the Witches and Whiskeys every night. Hermione, as hard as she would like to deny it, loved seeing Harry when she looked over the crowd. To meet his intense emerald eyes after a particular song, to see him smiling encouragingly at her when he realizes that she as watching. It took all of Hermione's self control to restrain from jumping off the stage and walk over to talk to Harry.

Hermione knew that Harry's visits would be coming to an end, however. He had been meeting with Simon Mandrake for over a month now, how long would it take until Harry's assigned to another project? The Daily Prophet can't keep writing about Simon Mandrake forever, so Harry's visit would also come to an end when the comes.

" Harmony! Harmony! Harmony! Harmony!" a particular loud round of chanting brought Hermione out of her thoughts.

" Thank you, and now I bring you my very last song for the evening, Rain," Hermione said, getting ready to sing.

" Hold on Sweet!" a voice called out as a drunken man pushed his way through the crowd, almost tripping over his own two feet in the process.

" Enough with the independent woman and all that crap! Come- come- come down here- and have-a-a drink!" the man slurred as he reached up and tugged on Hermione's arm.

Absolutely disgusted, Hermione pulled her hand away immediately and without thinking, performed a non-verbal Expelliarmus on the man. The man, who had no preparation what's so ever, flew, without warning toward the opposite wall until his back made contact and with a loud "oomph" slid down onto the floor, unconscious

Shocked at what she had done, Hermione froze as all around her, people scrambled away from the stage. A buzz of confusion and fear was now filling the singing hall.

" How dare you! You little slut!" a man cried as he, along with five others advanced toward Hermione. The leader of the group mentioned for two men to go and check on the unconscious wizard in the back while the other three continued to proceed toward the stage, all of their wand out, pointed at Hermione.

Frozen in terror, Hermione gripped tightly onto her own wand as people pushed around from the stage, now screaming and yelling.

With a sudden POP, Harry appeared beside her, his wand out also, as he studied the four men in front of him. Shielding Hermione behind him, he said in a very calm voice " I suggest you leave now if you know what's good for you!"

The four men laughed.

" Look, the slut's got a boyfriend!' the leader taunted as he lowered his wand, completely unthreatened.

" Listen kid, quit playing the hero and stay out of our way. You'll live longer," another man said, flickering his wand at Harry.

" Protago!" Harry yelled, his wand pointing at the leader. Shock was written all over the man's face before he flew into the air and landed several feet away. " Do-Not-Call-Her-A-Slut!" Harry said menacingly, his teeth gritted in anger.

" Security! Throw the trouble makers out!" Simon Mandrake appeared out of nowhere as he glanced upon the scene in front of him. All around him, darkly clad wizards Apparated upon the scene, dragging the threatening group of wizards away.

" Are you okay?" Harry asked as he grasped Hermione's arm and checked for any bruises.

" I'm fine!" Hermione said defiantly as she snatched her hand back from Harry. " And I could have handled that on my own, thank you very much!" and with that she turned away and stalked off the stage.

" Harmony! Hang on!" Harry yelled as he ran to catch up. " Harmony! Wait!"

Hermione just ignored him.

" Harmony!" Harry managed to grab onto one of Hermione's wrist.

" What do you want from me?" Hermione asked as she struggled from Harry's grip.

Harry opened his mouth to speak. What was he suppose to say? Why was he chasing after her anyway?

" I thought so!" Hermione said as she finally shook Harry's hand off her arm and stepped quickly into her dressing room, slamming the door shut.

Sighing, Harry turned to go, but as he turned around, he found Simon Mandrake, marching purposefully toward his way.

" Harmony? Is she in there?" Mandrake asked Harry without an explanation.

" Uh, yeah, but-" Harry started to say but Simon Mandrake stepped around him and pushed open Harmony's dressing room door.

Hermione was sitting by her vanity table, removing her eye make up when her door opened with a BANG. She turned around and found Mandrake stepping through the door.

Hermione panicked. From Mandrake's expression, she couldn't tell if he was furious at her for assaulting one of his precious guests or proud that she had defended herself. But he understood that I don't drink with his guests, Hermione thought. That was part of our agreement when I agreed to this job.

" Mr. Mandrake," Hermione said in acknowledgment.

Without a word, Mandrake walked purposefully to Hermione and slapped her hard on her left cheek, sending Hermione onto the floor. Hermione's eyes went in and out of focus, as she tasted the bitter taste of blood in her mouth. Keep your temper in check! She thought desperately as she slowly got up, her eyes glued to the floor.

" I am sorry, Mr. Mandrake," she whispered, still not daring to look at him. Mandrake raised a hand to strike again and Hermione stumbled backwards, visions of her father racing through her mind.

" But I really didn't do it Father!" a small girl with bushy brown hair cried, cowering into the corner of a wall as a man with perfectly groomed blond hair and very striking features stared down menacingly at the little girl, no trace of sympathy left on his hard angry face.

" Draco did it! He even gloated it with Luna and me! I saw him do it! It wasn't me!" the little girl cried, tears streaming her face.

" Stop crying! You stupid girl! You are a Regragn and you will be dignified and take on the responsibilities that is yours! Crying is for the weak. I will not have a weak daughter!" the man said coldly as he took out a whip and raised it high into the air, ready to strike it down on the little girl.

" Please father! Please don't!" the little girl cried harder as the first strike hit her with a resounding crack. Her skin was burning all over and the place where the whip had hit swelled up immediately, red and swollen.

" Do not cower in front of me! Take it with silence!" John shouted angrily as he brought down his whip even harder, showing no sign of mercy.

" Please stop! Father please! I'll do better. I promise! I'm sorry! Please-"

" I'm sorry!" Hermione cried out, her hands flying up in front of her face in instinct.

" Please Mr. Mandrake, consider it before you anything rash!" Harry said, stepping towards Hermione.

" Mr. Potter, please keep out of it!" Mandrake said, not bothering to look at Harry.

" She said she was sorry!" Harry insisted. " Harmony only did what she did out of self defense. If you have to blame anyone, Mr. Mandrake, it would be that drunken git. He had no right to interrupted an performance like that!"

" Our guests are always our first propriety!" Mandrake said stubbornly.

" Yes, but by making sure that one particular guest is happy, you would have deprived all the rest of your guests a wonderful song and possibly more." Harry said calmly.

" I-" Mandrake started, standing his ground.

" Yes?" Harry smirked.

" Very well Mr. Potter, as you wish," Mandrake said respectfully, finally deflating under Harry's stare. " You! Clean yourself up!" Mandrake growled at Hermione. " And I'll see

you tomorrow evening, Mr. Potter," he stopped in front of Harry, bowed, and then walked out.

Harry and Hermione watched him go in silence. After every last one of Mandrake's man had filed out, Harry closed the door and edged closer to Hermione. He pulled her onto a chair and held his hand about an inch or two away from the left corner of her lips.

Hermione glared at him. " What do you think you are doing?" she asked.

" Your lips, they are bleeding," Harry said gently and muttered something under his breathe.

Hermione felt a rush of warmth spreading over her. She wasn't sure if the warmth had came from the spell, or from the closeness of Harry, or maybe even both, but she immediately felt bad for snapping at Harry earlier.

" Thanks," she whispered as Harry stepped away, checking his handiwork.

" You are welcome!" Harry grinned goofily back at her.

--------------

Harry and Hermione walked cautiously out of the Witches and Whiskeys.

" Where did you learn to do non-verbal and wandless magic?" Harry asked quite intrigued at the magic that Hermione had used on that drunken git earlier.

" I didn't really learn it," Hermione said embarrassed. " I can't control it at all, which is probably why that man flew so far. I really didn't mean to knock him cold! Gosh, I hope he's all right! I just wanted to get his grip off of me! I never thought-"

" It was very well done!" Harry chuckled at her nervousness. " Serves him right!"

Hermione blushed slightly. " Thanks," she said, her eyes glued to the floor.

" May I take you home?" Harry asked suddenly as they came to an awkward silence after walking a few feet off the Witches and Whiskeys.

" I mean- not take you to my home, take you to your home," Harry quickly elaborated at the look that Hermione gave him. Feeling sweaty and stupid, Harry elaborated even more, now stuttering too. " You know- cause-cause it's late-I mean-I don't want you to get-uh- ambushed and stuff. It's dangerous these days -now that Voldemort's reign is getting stronger. It – It wouldn't be right-"

" If it isn't much trouble," Hermione said, resisting the urge to giggle at Harry's display of nervousness. " I'd love it."

"Great!" Harry said, relieved. " Accio Firebolt!" he said loudly, pointing his wand towards the general direction of the Potter Mansion.

A few minutes later, the familiar rush of his Firebolt was sounded in Harry's ears. Grinning, Harry climbed on and then turned to look at Hermione expectantly, who was still standing there, looking very worked up for some reason.

"Oh, I forgot," Hermione, said as she caught Harry's expectant gaze. Finding her voice, which was somehow three times higher than it usually was, she managed to say, " I don't like flying very much."

Harry looked surprised. " Really? You seemed fine that night when I first meet you."

" Well, that was desperate measures!" Hermione said, suddenly feeling very annoyed.

" Look, it'll be fine!" Harry said reassuringly, patting the spot in front of him. " Don't worry, I'll go slow okay?"

Taking a deep breath, Hermione nodded and gingerly got on the broom.

Holding his arms securely around her, Harry whispered softly in Hermione's ear, " ready?"

" I-I guess," Hermione said, suddenly unafraid, as Harry's arms and his hot breath on her neck was distracting every ounce of her attention.

However, when the broom had hovered about four inches away from the ground, Hermione's attention was forcibly distracted as she gave a small squeak and grabbed the only thing that was in front of her, Harry's hands.

Harry chucked in her ear, making her shiver again as they rose higher and higher from the ground.

" Couldn't- couldn't we just stay at the height we were at?" Hermione asked, still finding that her voice was uncontrollable higher than usual.

Harry chuckled again. " I would, Harmony, but I wouldn't want to alert the Muggles once we are out of Diagon Alley," he said calmly. " Stop worrying, you are going to be fine! I've been flying since I was eleven and I'm still alive, aren't I?"

If the situation was different, Hermione would have laughed, pointing out that according to her books, he had at least one broom accident per year while he was on the Gryffindor Quidditch team at Hogwarts, but now, Hermione can only croak out, " sure."

But as they ascended higher and higher, Hermione began to slowly appreciate the beauty of the night sky. The stars are twinkling softly as the clouds floated around dreamily and the moon, glowing magically, was a story entirely it's own. It was all so breathtakingly beautiful, painfully memorable. Slowly, Hermione felt her breath began to even out as she relaxed against Harry and the amazing scene that was painted in front of her.

Sensing her slowed breaths, Harry smiled. " See? It was worth it, wasn't it?" he asked softly.

" It's so beautiful!" Hermione whispered, feeling breathless.

" Yeah, it is, " Harry agreed, and then seizing the chance he asked, " May I ask your something, Harmony?"

" How can I refuse, after all that you did for me?" Hermione replied. " I owe you a lot. I want to thank you Harry."

" All that you owe me," Harry said, " is a name."

Hermione turned her head around, an expression of puzzlement written over her face. " What do you mean?" she forced a laugh. " It's Harmony, Harmony Granger."

" You intrigue me Harmony," Harry said softly, slightly disappointed that she still wanted to hide her name from him. " So I went to the Ministry. One of the workers in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement owed me a favor. I searched for your records. There is no one that exists by the name of Harmony Granger. You are not Harmony Granger."

Hermione blushed pink immediately. He had searched through records for her? She intrigued him?

" So all that I ask of you is for your name," Harry said, breaking Hermione's thoughts.

" My name?" Why is it so important to you?" Hermione asked, feeling very breathless again. " Don't you think that a name is just a proof or an unwanted reminder of where you came from? Isn't it much more sensible to look beyond that and turn your head the other way, to the present instead?"

Harry laughed. " No, not to me, a name is something more than that. It is one of the greater reminders of love. It is the reminder of your parents, loving you and picking out a name just for you. It's the lingering memory of a lover, whispering your name in her sleep, letting you know that she's thinking of you. It's the recall of a surprise party that your best friends threw for you in the hardest of times. A name is love itself Harmony."

Harry smiled as he pondered on his memories. His parent's proud smiling faces, Ginny's soft figure in his arms and the party that the Weasleys threw for him the year after Sirius died. It was all such precious times, such times he knew that he might never be able to come by again. As he thought of this, he leaned ever closer to Hermione and whispered, " Why are you afraid of love?"

" I am not!" Hermione glared at him. " But if my name is so important to you, then I will tell you," she continued. " I'm Hermione, Hermione-" at this she stopped, finding it hard to continue, " Just Hermione." She finished.

" Hermione," Harry whispered. " That's a beautiful name. Why do you hate it?"

" I don't hate it. It just-" Hermione stopped, not sure how much she should say to Harry. " It reminds me of a connection that I don't want to be reminded of," she said carefully.

Resisting the temptation to ask what that connection was, Harry stayed quiet. He himself had always loved his name. It was very simple, but knowing the fact that his parents had given it to him, gave the name "Harry" a priceless meaning.

" Can I advise you on something?" Harry asked Hermione after a while.

" I guess," Hermione replied.

" Leave the Witches and Whiskeys, leave Mandrake." Harry said seriously. " You don't seem like the kind of girl who could survive in a place like that. It isn't safe for you."

" Thanks Harry, but I really need this job. I just really need the money and there's no other decent place that would take me. You see, I had to learn magic completely on my own. I never had a real magical education, so I don't have any O.W.Ls or N.E.W.Ts. It's fairly impossible for me to find a good job. But I'm the only income that's keeping my mother and I alive."

" It's that bad?" Harry asked, shocked." What about your Father? What does he do?"

" I don't have a father," Hermione said sharply.

Harry could barely contain his puzzlement. " Well, what if I can find a good job for you?" he asked, again putting off his curiosity. He sensed that Hermione did not want to elaborate on her father.

" I really appreciate you offering Harry," Hermione said sadly, " but I'd prefer to stay at the Witches and Whiskeys. I'll take care to mind my temper next time and I'll be extra careful around Mandrake. Thanks for your concern." Hermione said sincerely.

" Well, okay, if that's what you want," Harry said uncertainly.

" It is," Hermione replied in assurance.

Then looking down at the now familiar surroundings, she said, " You can just drop me off here."

Harry looked down. " Are you sure?" he asked. It didn't look like a place for someone to live by at all. All he could see was a dark dingy alleyway with the moonlight as it's only source of illumination.

" Yeah, my flat is just pass that gate over there, number 34," Hermione said, pointing at a rusted cast iron gate by the end of the alley. Harry lowered the broom and waited for Hermione to get off before doing so himself.

" I guess I'll see you tomorrow then?" he asked, feeling nervous again. What should he do? Shake her hand? Offer her to walk to her flat? Kiss her?

" You are still coming?" Hermione asked in surprised. " I would have thought that your interview would have ended by now."

" It isn't," Harry grinned. " Mandrake has a lot to talk about.

" I guess I will see you then," Hermione smiled.

"Good night," Harry said.

" Thanks for the ride," Hermione said.

" It's no problem," Harry replied.

" Well, good night Harry," flashing Harry one last smile, Hermione turned and pushed open the gate behind her.

" Good night, Hermione," Harry whispered as he watched her shadow, slowly emerging into the darkness.

A/N Well, hope you guys liked it! I really didn't intend for this chapter to be so long, especially with only two events going on, but almost always, a story takes on a life of it's own once you've written enough of it. Please don't forget to review to give me feedback, encouragement, say hi, or whatever else I'm missing. So until next time, ta!