A/N - Thank you for reading this story! Would love to hear your thoughts and actively improve my writing for this story and the other two so far from my profile. Your constructive feedback helps make all my content better and more enjoyable for all to read. Thanks in advance and enjoy!


"What now?," asked Hermione. To her shock, Harry had just broken and discarded the Elder Wand. "Now, we rebuild," Harry said, clearly in deep thought as he looked down at his old Headmaster. The pain of his mentor s death still hung heavy in his heart - he felt like he had lost his father all over again and his eyes would again fill with tears of sadness. He looked sadly at Hermione, who locked gazes with him sympathetically. She, most of all, understood. She had been the one to lose Ron.

Both of them had woken up so many times since that terrible day, hurt by both the loss of Ron and what happened afterwards. He also because of Voldemort and the deaths he could have prevented if he had just been better, as well as the mind numbing battles with his mind and Voldemort's, and Hermione mainly due to flashbacks of the moment they had lost their ginger-haired friend. The manner of his death was so... abrupt and pointless. If only he had died fighting surrounded by Death Eaters and bring most or all of them with him to the grave... but that would never be. Harry missed Ron and cared for him as a brother, but Hermione had been falling IN love with the young man. That would hurt more, he supposed.

Hermione's chin trembled as she, once again, struggled to hold back the tears. Harry quickly stepped over to her, enfolding her in a hug. He strove to keep his body relaxed and supportive. He still hated hugs, but, for Hermione's sake, he would bear them. As often as she needed him to. It was a terrible memory which had crushed much of her drive. As he embraced her, the wall around her heart broke into a thousand pieces and, yet again, she collapsed into heaving, gasping sobs. As he gently moved his head closer to hers, his nose involuntarily wrinkled. She really smelled. Bad. When was the last time she had bathed? Was it a week ago, maybe two. He couldn t remember, try though he might. He decided that needed to be the first order of business when her tears subsided.

As Hermione s bawling reduced to residual sniffles, Harry stepped back and held her face between his two hands. "Hermione," he said, gently, looking into her eyes deeply. "I don t mean to change the subject so quickly, but when is the last time you took a bath and slept a full night?". Hermione s eyes blazed with a faint spark of anger that was so familiar to him. He had annoyed her and it was the first time in a while where he saw the old Hermione. "You re hardly one to lecture me about my bathing habits, Harry!," she snapped. "You have hardly ever taken much interest in your appearance."

Harry saw an opportunity to defuse her ire and hopefully draw her out further. "Hermione, when I was with the Dursleys...," he hesitated, and her tone softened. "I learned to not care much about how I look. I had to wear... baggy clothes that were many sizes too big for me. I was starved regularly there and have always been small. On the other hand, my cousin Dudley is obese. I only was allowed to wear his hand-me-downs. And was rarely allowed to shower. When I m at school, I really enjoy bathing every day and try to look after my hygiene as best I can."

Hermione s eyes watered as she looked back at Harry. He had never spoken about his time at the Dursleys in any detail, always deflecting any questions people may ask about his upbringing. This freely volunteering information spoke of the level of trust Harry had with her. In the midst of her turbulent emotions and the crushing depressive weight of guilt and grief, Hermione s caring side slightly resurfaced, showing it s head above the monsoon of intensity in her chest.

"Oh, Harry. I m so sorry to hear that. I never knew, I guessed, of course, but never really knew... HOW CAN ANYONE POSSIBLY TREAT A CHILD AS YOU VE BEEN TREATED?!," she rambled, becoming absolutely furious with the Dursleys as Harry continued speaking faltingly, describing as much as he could about his childhood. To Hermione, a girl who had a strong sense of righteousness, the words resonated within her, stirring her compassion and fire further out of the shell of self blame and self pity barring her from emerging from the spiralling depths of feelings.

Harry suddenly found himself the recipient of a very firm Hermione hug and felt his ribs groan under the crushing force. After a few moments, the pressure lessened enough for coherent thought. Harry took Hermione s face between his hands once more and looked deeply into her eyes. He saw the old Hermione coming back, he recognised the look. She hadn t been herself since they ran off together to find the Horcruxes. Harry recognised that to keep the "Strong Hermione" as he liked to think of it there, his next words would carry the most weight.

"Hermione, I m the Boy-Who-Lived, but have you thought about what that means? I had no choice in that my mother and father died to save my life. Despite my best efforts I can t stop people looking at my scar and thanking me for something I never did. Some things are out of our control, and the most important thing to me is to do what I feel is right, to uphold my values and protect those who deserve it. I have lost SO many people, Hermione! I ve lost Dumbledore, who was the closest thing I had to a parent or grandfather, I ve lost my parents, I ve lost Tonks and Remus and Sirius, and Fred, Percy and Ron. I m so sad about Ron particularly too, Mione, but please, for the sake of our long friendship, and your own peace of mind, please look after yourself.

"Since... it happened, you ve been distant. Like you re another person, but I ve clung to the faith that the Hermione I know and love is inside you still. She can t come out when you re drowning in neglect you ve brought upon yourself. Please, Hermione, for yourself, for me, for Ron s and everyone else who died s memory, look after yourself. You never bathe, hardly eat or sleep, you've lost your spark, Mione. And while I will still be your friend regardless of how you are, I would really like to have you back." Hermione s eyes were wide open and her mind was clearly buzzing with questions but Harry was not quite finished, and held a finger up to forestall her reply.

"Hermione, I m one of the world s worst mopers, or at least have been. I promise you it does nothing but make everything harder. I know what it s like to feel so much loss and guilt and pain that it feels like nothing else can exist in the world you re aware of, so I can understand some of how you feel. You can remember those people fondly forever, treasure their memories, and have them always in your heart, but you need to move on with the rest of life. Eat, bathe, sleep, strive for something, help others and accept others help and support. Eventually the pain will fade to become manageable. You don t have to say anything, in fact, I d rather you didn t. But think on what I have said and whether you will stay lost or come back, I will still be here for you.

"I have one thing to ask however, which might help to take your mind off these nightmares and give us both something to do when we cant sleep for hours - I need to be better if there s ever any further need to protect those I love. While I care about Dumbledore, there were many things which would have been useful. I want to know how to make a portkey, duplicate items, transfigure living materials, and, as sad as it sounds, I want to be able to use the three Unforgiveables better. I want to change the weather, find concealment spells, learn to become an animagus. All those things I could very much use your help with Hermione and will be much better prepared if another time I need to protect others comes again. I fear it might very soon," Harry finished.

Hermione's gaze was all consuming. She appeared to be staring right through his soul. Harry flinched, "I'm sorry, Hermione," he said. "I went too far. I'll uh... see you later...," and so saying, Harry ran off, unable to bear the embarrassment of the heartfelt words he had spoken to reach her, and the tears pouring down his face, at seeing his familiar Hermione returning, at exposing so much of himself, of the fear of losing more people in the future. So instead of hearing Hermione's words, he sprinted for the dorm.

-Page Break-

Harry spent that night deep in thought. He couldn't sleep and had practically no appetite. I shouldn't have run off after saying that. She deserved to say what she wanted after hearing it. I'll have to make that right tomorrow... "Can't sleep, Harry?," came the surprisingly gentle voice of Hermione, accompanied by her hand on his shoulder. "Sorry I ran off... and for what I said," Harry murmured, a bit drowsily. Hermione abruptly hugged him again. "You were right, Harry," she said, tears yet again flowing down her face, but this time because of gratitude for her friend and relief at having a way to break the self-destructive pattern. "About all of it. And I needed to hear it. I was very shocked, and just stood there until you were long gone. By the time I realised what had happened, you had long gone.

"I just wanted to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. And that I will do everything I can to help you prepare for any other times you may need to save a life." With that, and a quick kiss on the forehead, she ran upstairs to the girl's dormitory. Harry watched her go, a little numbly. As he was about to drag himself out of the all too comfortable couch in the common room, Hermione returned carrying a blanket and pillow in her arms. She placed the pillow gently under his head and draped the blanket over him. Stoking the fire so the room was nice and cozy and giving him a mug of hot cocoa, she lay on the floor next to him, getting into a similar arrangement. When she was settled, she softly murmured, "This is a special occasion, having cocoa so late. And it's just like old times, you and me, camping out, this time in the Common Room. Maybe we can explore the world and start a tradition haha. Seriously, though, Harry. Let's try and get some sleep... both of us. And tomorrow we plan. Goodnight, Harry. Thank you for being there for me." And just like that, she fell asleep.

Harry lay awake for a few minutes longer. He was glad that Hermione seemed to be back to more of her old self. But still he felt a sense of restlessness. Something was going to happen, and soon. He had an instinct about things, like when he was about to be attacked. He felt something would really shake their lives up soon, and was scared. However, as he sipped his cocoa, it wasn't long before he sank into the chasm of sleep.