Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own the sandbox the is the Harry Potter Universe. (If I did, I definitely wouldn't have student debt.) Said sandbox belongs to J. K. Rowling.

Trigger Warning: This chapter contains SA. If you want to avoid that, look out for the ANs bolded, underlined, and centered like this message. They will tell you when that section is going to being and when it ends.

Chapter Six: Nightmares & Daydreams

December

Hermione

Hermione watches as Luna lets out an exasperated huff before dragging Neville's head down to hers and placing a kiss on his lips, cutting off whatever Neville had been saying the moment before. They were kind of perfect together. He kept her grounded and she kept him on his toes.

"Have I told you that you look beautiful tonight?" Her best friend pulls her from her observation as he twirls her around the floor with ease.

Laughter bubbles in Hermione's throat. "Only about a thousand times."

A comfortable silence surrounds the two teens as they softly sway to their own rhythm, completely ignoring the fast-paced Weird Sisters song playing around them.

"Can I cut in?" Ginny's voice breaks their silence as she drags Hermione away from Harry before either of them can answer her question, Harry's laughter following the three girls (apparently Ginny had abducted Luna before she'd taken Hermione) as the feisty redhead pulled the other two girls into the middle of the crowd.

Ginny twirls both Hermione and Luna and the two girls return the favor, giggling like maniacs.

"May we cut in ladies?" Harry's voice interrupts Ginny's attempt at the muggle sprinkler three songs later.

The three girls turn toward the sound of his voice only to see Harry, Viktor, and Neville watching the three of them with wide smiles on their faces and laughter sparkling in their eyes.

"I don't know, love. I might just leave you for Gin and Lu, they've been showing me a hell of a good time. What'd you think, girls?" Hermione grins at her boyfriend, throwing her arms over the shoulders of her two friends.

"You're a great girl and all, Mione. But I just don't see you that way," Luna replies, grinning back at her friend.

"Sorry, babe, but I'll have to agree with Lu on this one." Ginny agrees as both girls slip out from under her arms.

"Shatter my heart, why don't you?" Hermione calls after her two friends as they walk away with their dates.

Their laughter is her only response before Harry spins her into his arms, pulling her body close to his before placing his lips on hers.

One of Hermione's hands wraps around Harry's neck and the other threads through his hair, messing up his (for once) neat hair, as she deepens the kiss.

Harry's hand slides down to the small of her back, pulling her small frame even closer to his as his tongue glides against her.

"Fifty points from Gryffindor for inappropriate conduct," Professor Snape's harsh voice breaks the young couple away from their embrace. "There is a time and a place for that and it is not here. Now get out of my sight before I deduct more points." He whirls away from them before they have the chance to move.

"Want to sit down for a few?" Harry bends down to whisper in her ear.

"Sure," Hermione replies, smiling up at her best friend.

"I'll get us some drinks from the bowl the twins didn't spike if you find us a table." Harry smiles back.

Hermione nods in agreement and Harry drops a kiss to her hand before making his way toward the tables housing the snacks and beverages for the evening.

Before she can find a table, a familiar rising voice has her rushing toward the gardens as it drifts in through the open door.

"TOO OLD FOR ME! I'M OLD ENOUGH TO MAKE MY OWN CHOICES, RONALD BILIUS!" Ginny's voice echoes down the quiet hallway as Hermione sprints through the empty garden toward her best female friend.

It's quiet just long enough for Hermione to make it back to Ginny who is standing next to Viktor in front of an angry Ron.

"DON'T BE STUPID, HE'S ONLY AFTER ONE THING!" Ron shouts, glaring at the couple in front of him.

"Ginny is amazing girl. I am pri-vah-laged that she came with me tonight," Viktor's voice is dangerously low as he steps toward Ron (who backs away, fear in his eyes). "I vould nevher hurt her."

Ginny smiles at Viktor, her smaller fingers threading through his larger ones as she softly squeezes his hand.

The red in Ron's face deepens as he watches his sister and Hermione takes a protective step toward the girl who had become like a sister to her.

"YOU'RE BETRAYING YOUR HOUSE AND YOUR SUPPOSED FRIEND!" Ron yells, glaring down at his sister though Viktor's burly frame keeps him from getting any closer to his younger sister.

"I'M BETRAYING MY FRIEND! YOU WERE A JACKASS WHEN HE NEEDED YOU MOST AND I'M THE ONE WHO'S BETRAYING HIM!" Ginny screams and Viktor has to hold her back to keep her from tackling her brother.

Ron opens his mouth to respond but Hermione cuts him off in a quietly firm but furious tone,

"That is enough, Ronald."

The gangly redhead whirls toward the curly-hair witch, quickly invading her space with stumbling steps.

"You don't get to tell me when I've done enough, Hermione," he growls in her face, the alcohol on his breath burning her nose.

"You're drunk," Hermione states, a grimace taking over the fury on her face before she shakes her head and turns to walk away.

"Don't walk away from me!" Ron snaps, grabbing her arm and forcing her to face him.

Hermione's breath quickens as she tries to even her breathing, she can hear Viktor and Ginny speaking from behind Ron but she focuses on the boy in front of her, "Let. Go. Of. My. Arm."

Ron freezes, realization and worry warring in his gaze as his eyes slowly slide from her face toward his hand on her arm. Almost like he hadn't realized what he'd done. He immediately releases her and takes a step back.

"What's going on here?" Harry's voice draws everyone's attention to his entrance.

There's a long, tense beat of silence. Where Ron's eyes flicker from Hermione to Harry, his fury reigniting and where Hermione has a silent conversation with Ginny, begging her not to say anything. Because Hermione knows Ron. Regular Ron never would have touched her like that. He'd just had a rough night with his date leaving him for an older Durmstrang boy and he'd gotten too far into the twin's spiked punch. More than anything, Hermione just wants to keep the peace. The sharp nod Ginny gives her after a long moment lets the curly-haired witch know that she will let the action go for right now.

"Ron was just letting his feelings be known," Ginny responds, the icy tone of her voice making Ron flinch because Ginny rarely got angry enough for her tone to be that cold. "Let's go, Viktor. I'll see you upstairs in a bit, Hermione. I think Luna already made it up that way.

Harry watches the couple leave with narrowed eyes before turning his full attention to the only remaining redhead.

"I don't know what happened here but I think it's safe to say that you need to take a step back from all of us until you are ready to apologize for anything you said to anyone here tonight," Harry practically growls before placing his hand on the small of Hermione's back and leading her back into the ballroom.

"Want to get out of here?" Harry asks quietly, seeing that none of their friends remain in the nearly empty ballroom.

"Yeah, I think I've had enough excitement tonight," she replies, leaning her head against his shoulder as he wraps his arm more securely around her waist.

They walk in comfortable silence all the way up to their common room, any remaining tension leaving their body with each step because despite everything that had just happened with Ron, the rest of the night had been absolutely amazing.

"So I take it you're not staying with me tonight?" Harry asks as he helps her into the portrait hole, both teens ignoring the Fat Lady's knowing gaze.

Hermione shoots him a sheepish look. "I promised Lu and Gin we could do a girls' night after the ball in my room. I promise I'll stop by tomorrow before I leave though."

"Looking forward to it," he replies with a soft peck to her cheek as his hand once again falls to the small of her back.

Harry walks Hermione to the bottom of the girls' staircase before wrapping his arms around her waist to stop her and pressing his lips against hers, one of his hands threading through her hair while the other presses her body as close to his as possible from the small of her back.

One of Hermione's hands grips her boyfriend's shoulder blade while the other twined in his messy hair to pull him closer as the kiss deepened.

"I love you, Harry," Hermione whispers when they pull apart.

"I love you, Hermione." He smiles softly at her and kisses the tip of her nose.

"Goodnight," she whispers after placing a chaste kiss on his lips.

"Goodnight, love."

It was better than any of her dreams.

Sirius

Sirius nudges Remus's leg in his animagus form before shooting a pointed glance at his godson whose bottom lip was tucked into his teeth, a habit he'd no doubt picked up from their favorite bookworm.

Remus nods, running his hand down the animagus's back, before turning to the younger man. "Where's your head, cub?"

It wasn't the first time that Remus had used that term for Harry but it still surprised Sirius every time he would use it. His wolf had never considered Harry a part of his pack like he did Sirius and Hermione... Until he and Hermione had become a serious couple, that is. He now saw Harry as his cub's mate and a part of his pack.

"I just can't shake the feeling that we shouldn't have let Mione go home," Harry states, running his fingers roughly through his permanently messy locks.

Remus doesn't answer for a long moment, a sigh escaping his lips in the silence. "I'm sure she'll be fine. She can more than take care of herself."

It's a lie and they all know it but none of them are willing to admit it. Some Gryffindors they are.

Gringotts comes into view before any of them break the silence and the trio quickly makes its way into the bank.

Harry takes the lead as he strides purposefully toward one of the furthest goblins from the door.

"Hello, Griphook. How are you?" He greets the goblin, confusion showing clearly on his face when both Remus and the goblin stare at the young man in shock. Goblins weren't normally shown respect by wizards let alone known by name.

"I am doing well. And yourself, Mr. Potter?" The goblin–Griphook–quickly regains his composure.

"Alright. I was just hoping you could help me with something."

"I can most certainly try. What seems to be the issue?" There's a kindness in the goblin's voice that Sirius had never heard from a goblin before.

"I just recently learned that my parents had a will and I was hoping that I could hear it now."

Harry doesn't question why the goblins hadn't asked him if he wanted to hear the will on his first visit or place any blame on the goblins, which surprises Sirius. He definitely would've chewed out whichever goblin came in his path by now…It really shouldn't surprise him though. His godson had more respect in his pinky finger than Sirius had had in his entire body at Harry's age. Even though Harry's life was just as bad if not worse than Sirius's.

"Gringotts Bank was informed by your magical guardian that you did not wish to hear the will until you came of age. Is that not true?" Anger simmers clearly in the goblin's–Griphook's–voice.

"I don't even know who my magical guardian is so I have no idea how they could have told you what I wanted."

"I will look into how this happened personally and keep you up to date on what I find. For today though, I'll contact your account manager and have him read you the Potter will."

"Thank you, Griphook. I'm sure you're extremely busy so that you're willing to look into the issue personally means a lot to me. Would you be willing to be there for the reading? Just so there's someone there I can trust who understands the legal jargon behind the will." Sirius's eyes widen as he watches his godson.

"Absolutely, Mr. Potter. It would be my pleasure."

"You can call me Harry, sir."

A terrifying smile tugs at Griphooks lips as he replies, "It would be my pleasure."

Hermione

Trigger Warning: SA begins scene begins here.

Hermione huffs, flipping over in her bed for the umpteenth time. Something wasn't right. Her father hadn't done anything to her for missing the first couple days of the winter holidays. Her door creaks open and she bolts up in her bed, her hand scrambling for her wand. Crack! She flinches slightly as the sound echoes through the quiet room and her wand rolls under her bed. A curse escapes her lips and she goes to get out of the bed but a cold chuckle paralyzes her.

"Such crude language from such a pretty little mouth." Her father's deep voice comes from her doorway.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione's voice is harsh even though shivers of fear are racing along her spine. God, she wished Harry was here.

Her father strides toward her, a smile on his face that she was sure she had never seen before but that seemed to tug at something in the back of her mind. His hands undo his belt and he lets his pants fall to the ground.

"You're a smart girl, what do you think?" He sits on the edge of her bed, his hand sliding up her leg.

The image of his calloused hands running over her much smaller legs flashes through her mind and she shakes her head in an attempt to make the image go away.

"No!" She gasps, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes. Even he couldn't be that much of a monster. It couldn't be true.

"Get away from me!" She tries to kick his hand off of her and scramble away from him but his hand clamps down on her upper thigh, his fingers digging into her skin with a bruising force. She screams, praying that her mother hears her. If she does, she doesn't come to help. She should have stayed at Hogwarts.

"Come on now. If you're old enough to go to dances with boys, you're old enough to do this with me." His grip on her thigh tightens as he yanks her down on the bed before releasing his grip just long enough for him to pin her small frame down with his large body. "It's not nearly as fun when you can't fully participate."

"Please, don't!"

As fucked up as it was, as much as she wished something (an escape plan, the muggle defense techniques she knew she'd read, honestly anything of relevance besides begging because that clearly wasn't working) would go through her head, all she could think was:

This was worse than her worst nightmare.

Scene Ends