Make No Promises

Chapter 3: Please make the pain go away.

By: hermioneharry4ever ( jes0288@cs.com)

Category: Romance, Adventure

Keywords: Trails, H/Hr, Elves

Rating: 'R'

Spoilers: All four books

Summary: When a big fight breaks up the dream team for seven years, can they get back together before the evil takes over the world? Can Harry get out of Azkaban for what he did? Will Hermione get over what happened to her?

Hermione suddenly sat up. The dream came back to her, as she closed her eyes. She took a several deep breathes before opening them again. As she looked at her alarm clock, Hermione saw that there was a note taped to it, and something behind the note...

Slowly, Hermione reached for the note and whatever was behind it. Taking a deep breathe, she read the note. The note said,

Just in case you're thinking about taking action- think again.

Hermione narrowed her eyes. She had a vague idea of what the note meant. But, then again, it could of meant anything. She took a deep breathe to prepare herself of what was behind the anonymous note. Slowly, Hermione put the note behind of whatever it was. Taking one glance at it, her mouth fell with shock. It was a picture of her laying naked- her legs were spread apart and she laid unconsciously on the bed. The one part that Hermione was unaware of was that there wasn't anyone by her.

Before she could ponder this further, Hermione's door bell was heard. Hermione looked up from the picture, fear in her eyes. Who could be on her door step at this very moment- at this ungodly hour of the morning? The ringing became more persistent.

" Gosh," Hermione mumbled to herself, regaining her wits. " Were you in Gryffindor or not?" She took the note and the picture and hid them under her pillow. She grabbed a bathrobe and headed down the stairs that were on the right side of her door. Now the ringing was going none-stop.

As she opened the door, Hermione got a murderous glare. Her glare faded when she found Harry standing on her porch.

" What are you doing here?" She said with ice in her voice.

Harry took in a deep breathe. " Well, tomorrow's my trail, and I just, I just wanted you to talk to you."

Hermione narrowed her eyes. There was no reason for him coming over to her house. They had talked. There was nothing more to talk about. She saw no reason to voice her thoughts. " Harry, we have talked. Now, excuse me now, I need to take a shower." She started closing the door on him, but Harry was quick about it. He stuck his foot in to prevent it closing.

Using his hand, he wedged the door opened, again. " C'mon Hermione. Let me in." Then he pointed to the sky. " It's going to be storming, and I have no place to go."

Indeed black clouds were in the sky, but Hermione didn't care about them. She gave Harry a glare before shutting the door. While she was doing so, she said, harshly, " Go to the Burrow. The Weasley's will probably have a celebration for you."

She shut the door and turned around sliding down the wood of the door. She closed her eyes, and put her head in her palms. Everything seemed to be blowing up in her face.

Harry yell came to her through the door. " Have a heart Hermione! You did when you were eighteen!"

Slowly, she drew her head away from her palms. She still had a heart, but everything that had happened... there was no need to take all of the blame on Harry. She knew deep down in her heart that she got over Harry leaving her at the alter; but there was still the pain floating over that forgiveness. Deciding quickly, she stood up, and opened the door for him.

" Thank you." Harry said softly. Hermione nodded as Harry entered her house.

" Sit down." She said, crossing her arms underneath her blossom. Harry obeyed her, and sat on one of the couches. " Would you like something to drink? Coffee? Water?" Hermione asked. Though, she didn't want to wait on him, her mothers' voice entered her head telling her to have nice manners.

Harry nodded. " Coffee."

As Hermione went through the doorway that was left of the couch that Harry was sitting on, he couldn't help but let his eyes wander around the flat that he was in. The room that he was in had a light yellow paint on the walls, a fireplace, and stairs that went slowly upstairs. When Harry let his eyes stray the walls, they stopped at the wall before him.

On the wall before him were two shelves. The shelves had pictures, trophies, and medals of all kind. Curiously taking over him, he went towards where the two shelves. As he looked closer, he found out that the pictures had one horse in them. Each of the pictures had the same horse in them. The trophies and the medals each had to do with horses.

Before he could consider anything, Hermione's voice called to him. " Your coffee is ready."

Harry turned around, and nodded. He then took his seat at the couch. Hermione stood standing behind the other couch. Her hands were still crossed under her blossom.

It was a while before anyone of them said anything. What was there to talk about to the person who you were going to be married to seven years ago? It was Harry who ruined the silence. " Do you know what is going to happen tomorrow to me?"

This brought Hermione's eyes up to look at him. She had a stern 'Professor McGonagall' face. She shook her head. " No, I do not." She was uncomfortable.

" Oh," was Harry's reply. Then he asked another question. " Do you still have the engagement and wedding rings that I gave to you?"

Guilt spread in Hermione's eyes. One of her arms slipped down to her side, when the other held onto her elbow of the one that was at the side. She bit her lip, but her voice still was harsh. " Why do you care?"

" I was just wondering."

" I sold them to get money for my horse." Things were tense between them.

Harry just nodded, and took another sip of his coffee. There was a angry feeling in his stomach. But, as he concluded, they were her rings, she could do anything with them.

~*~

Hermione sat there. She was tense as she had ever been in her life. Harry sat next to her in the courtroom. Everyone who was there were silent, waiting for the jury to come out and give whether Harry was guilty or not. Hermione sat there with cold, flecked eyes. No tears were seen coming out. Her heart was stiff; she wanted Harry to be shut away, so she never had to see him again. But something in the bottom of her heart told her that was not true. She wanted to get rid of all of her pain, and in doing so, she was putting it on Harry.

The jury re-entered the courtroom. Their faces were grim, and eyes were guilty of the choice that they had picked. Eleven out of the twelve sat on the chairs that were set up for them. The last one was standing up. That jury member waited until he had the judges attention before saying, " We, the twelve during members, of case 824277 find Harry Potter," the wizard paused for a moment to let the suspense die in. " Guilty of killing Alfred Williams with magic..."

Harry didn't hear anything else. Time had suddenly stopped in midair. The truth soaked in. He was going to Azkaban, for a crime that he didn't commit. Seven years didn't make him forget about the look of his father's friend when he had escaped from the wizard jail. A new thought entered his mind. This was the last scene he would have saw out of the prison. This was the last time he'll be able to think freely before he was handed to the dementors.

Hermione watched as Harry was being taken away. Time, too, had stopped for her. She didn't even realize that people all around her were moving. All she was doing was looking at Harry. Her best-friend for all of her schooling was being taken away, her lover seven years ago was being put behind bars.

Though, she didn't apprehend that there was a single tear zigzagging down her cheek. However, what she did know was that the mean feelings that she had harbored for Harry these last past weeks had gone away. Instead in it's place was a numbing feeling.

When Harry was passing through the door, he glanced back at Hermione. There, at that point of time, their glazes met. At that point of time, Hermione knew that truth, Harry didn't kill anyone; and as for Harry, he knew that somehow, he'll be safe, no matter what. It was voiced in Hermione's single tear and was all over her eyes.

*****

Soon, it was three weeks after Harry's trial. Nevertheless, Hermione was still going through work with a dazed look in her eyes. She wouldn't talk to anyone while at work, and after she had gotten home, she still had that gazed look. That numbing feeling had been with her all three weeks and had never gave her a break.

She didn't listen to any of the conversations about the trial. She knew what they were talking about. How she failed to keep Harry out of Azkaban, and how when he was little he was expected of great things. People went up to her occasionally to ask her whether this was her plan of 'getting back' at Harry for him leaving her at the alter. She would always run away after those questions, and not answer them. But, she knew the truth. At first all she wanted to do was to get back at him for all of the harshness in her life. However now, she wanted to at least talked to him; it didn't seem right.

It was a month after Harry Potter was put in dementor care. Hermione sat eating lunch at The Three Broomsticks with Ginny. Hermione wasn't exactly eating, but was picking at the plate before her. Ginny, however, with the growing, two month year-old baby inside of her, was eating quickly.

Ginny stopped talking, and looked at Hermione. She tilted her head at looked at her friend. Those months had been nothing much but trouble for Hermione. She hardly ate, and the worst part about it was that her skin was as pale as Malfoy's. Hermione was supporting her head up with her left palm; with her elbow on the table. " Hermione, you ok?" Ginny asked.

Hermione's eyes darted to the table. If Harry being sent to Azkaban was fine, though he was innocent is it ok... she wanted to reply. Instead, she just shook her head. " No, everything's ok."

The red-haired woman narrowed her eyes. Taking a look down at her empty plate, she decided to forget about it, and take Hermione for a walk. " C'mon, let's ditch this place." She grinned slightly, putting a gallion on the table.

Hermione walked with Ginny around the infamous wizard town in silence for the first five minutes. It was as if that this time of Harry being gone had taken a deep affect on her than the last time. During her moments of silence, Hermione was trying to forget about the incidents in these past few months; the rape, Harry and Ron coming back into her life on the same day, Ginny's baby, and Harry's predicament.

Too occupied with her forgetting about the happenings, Hermione didn't realize where Ginny was leading her to. For Hermione's state, Ginny was glad that Hermione didn't realize where they were going. If she did, Hermione would have caused a fit.

Soon Ginny stopped walking, and turned to her friend. Hermione opened her mouth slightly. " Why did we stop?"

Ginny sighed. " Look where we are. Go on, look."

Hermione narrowed her mind and looked around her. There was a lake a little ways away, and as far as she could tell, the water was calm. They were standing in a circle of oak trees, and there were little flowers growing off to the sides. There was also three spots where the grass didn't grow. Each of these spots had their space in front a tree.

The browned-haired girl whirled around to face Ginny with tears sparkling in her eyes. " Why did you bring me here?" She yelled. She started running off, but before she could exit through the trees , Ginny hand gripped Hermione's upper arm. Hermione turned roughly around to slap Ginny's face, but before her hand could connect with Ginny's cheek, Ginny caught it.

" Hermione! Stop it!" Ginny exclaimed, still holding onto Hermione. " You can't run away from your past anymore!"

This only cause more tears to escape Hermione's eyes. Ginny, sensing that Hermione had calmed herself down, moved her best friend to sit on one of the spots without grass. Ginny sat across from her sobbing friend and waited silently for the tears to stop.

" G-g-ginny, I-I- am s-sorry."

Ginny nodded. " Are you ready to tell me why you've been silent and moody all month?"

Hermione crying brown eyes looked up at Ginny. " I-I've b-been m-moody?" She asked.

Ginny laughed at little. " Oh yes, you have. Are you going to tell me?"

A sighed escaped Hermione's mouth. There came a point of time when you couldn't hold everything in to yourself. So Hermione told Ginny everything; from the blame being put onto Harry, to how she knew that he was innocent, not guilty of killing the Muggle; from her old feelings that she felt about him coming back. Ginny listened attentively to every sentence that Hermione had said. She waited until Hermione was done before saying her share.

" Herm, I'm sorry." Ginny suddenly looked at Hermione quizzically. " You really think that Harry Potter is non-guilty of the crime he committed?"

Hermione looked at Ginny, wiping the tears from her eyes. " Yes, I do. From the look in his eyes..."

" Then you should do something, and not be mourning around to get Harry out of Azkaban, shouldn't you?" Ginny asked.

" What can I do? I'm useless. I can't get him out of prison!" Hermione exclaimed.

Ginny sighed. She opened her arms wide on the sides of her. " Hermione, look around. What do you remember most of this place?"

Hermione sniffled and looked at the two spots that were empty of any grass. Those two spots were Harry's and Ron's spots. Harry was always on the right side of her, and Ron on the left. This was the place were they were running away from Voldemort's first attack on Hogwarts in fifth year. This was the place where they'd came up all of their old plans. A weak grin appeared on Hermione's face as she remembered all of the pathetic plans that they had come up with- with all of those wrong things canceling out another wrong, making it right.

As she was thinking about the feeble plans, and idea came to her head. An idea so crazy and rule-breaking as when she was in school! Hermione abruptly stood up, Ginny following her. " Ginny, the trio is going to be together in a week." Hermione said smiling at Ginny.

Ginny got a wide grin. " I can't wait!" At this sentences, Hermione smiled widely along with Ginny.

*****

Ron Weasley ran a hand through his red hair. For the past two hours after his Quidditch practice, he had been sitting on the bench that ran in front of his locker. He hadn't changed out of his orange quidditch robes yet, his broom was laying next to him. Since Harry's imprisonment, he'd been okay on the outside, but on the inside, when he was all alone, he would mourn.

Suddenly he felt someone sat next to him. He didn't care to look who it was. He didn't want to know who it was in that matter.

" Angry too?" He heard a woman's voice asked.

Ron looked up. He saw Hermione sitting next to him. " Hermione, what are you doing breaking the agreement that we had a while ago?" He asked.

Hermione smiled a little. " As I recalled, you didn't care about breaking the agreement when I got raped. However, the agreement faded the time when both you and Harry came into my life on the same day."

Ron rolled his eyes, and Hermione nudge him in his side. " Why did you come here in the first place?" Ron asked.

Hermione sighed. " I've got an idea."

" And..." Ron started.

" We get Harry out of Azkaban!" Hermione said weakly, though she already knew what Ron was going to say.

Ron starred at her in amazement. " Hermione! No one hasn't even break out of Azkaban before!" He paused for a moment. " Except Sirius."

Hermione nodded. " I've got it all planned out." She said, before explaining to Ron her plan.

*****

Harry laid in his cell shaking. There were dementors that kept patrolling the corridors. But what was bad was when dementors came around, he got to see his parents whole death again. All from when Peter Pettigrew told Voldemort of the Potter's hiding place, to when the bright green light was heading towards him as a baby.

There was also another vision. This vision was of him and Hermione trying to defeat Voldemort once and for all. Ron was there too, but he was laying unconscious behind the gravestone.

Although there wasn't no chocolate to regenerate Harry when the dementors came around, he always got up after the shakings and the memories, and started pacing around his cell. " I'm innocent, innocent. I know the truth and that's going to get me out of here." He kept muttering to himself as he was pacing.

But this time was different. Harry didn't get up. Instead he laid conscious on the ground. Tears were coming out of his eyes. He had lost almost all of his hope of getting out of this wizard hell. " Herms... Ron... Save me. Help me. I'm sorry." Harry muttered before he dozed off. Little that he knew, his hope was coming true.

*****

As soon as the last person exited the building, apparated, Hermione came out of her shadowed haven on the north side of the courthouse. Slowly, she crept to the magically locked doors of the courthouse. The sun had gone down, leaving only the light radiating off of Hermione's wand and the stars for light.

As soon as she reached the top of the stairs to the building, her eyes glazed around, making sure no one saw that she was breaking into the building. Normally, she would have been allowed in enter the building in daylight, but her unfinished task wouldn't be completed: She needed to get Harry's wand. This meant that she would have to go into the strictly forbidden room where all of the Akzaban prisoner's wands were kept as soon as they were sentence to life in Azkaban. This meant that if she was caught, she would possibly be punished, despite her role.

" Alohomora Quisando!" Hermione whispered. The doors creaked opened slowly, making no noise at all. The twenty-five year old looked around her once again, before entering the building.

Hermione closed the door behind her, and started walking down the darken hallway, gripping her strap of her book bag. She was aware of every little thing. Her ears were working full time to catch any noises that might give her away. However, there was none.

A memory appeared in her thoughts, and brought a smiled to her face. If only Harry and Ron were here with her, then this would have been like their first year. They had been running away from Filch, and his devoted cat, Mrs. Norris. During running away from the caretaker, all three of them, with one other student, had entered the forbidden territory that held the Sorcerers Stone.

But Ron was at his quidditch party, celebrating the championship of the quidditch cup. The Chudley Cannons had won by fifty points. Ron had claimed that he would have to make an appearance at the party, so no one would get suspicious. When he had said that, Hermione rolled her eyes, and told him not to get drunk; she couldn't break Harry out of Azkaban all by herself.

Within thirty minutes of entering the building, Hermione stood in front of the door blocking the forbidden room. Using her wand once again, Hermione opened the door. However, different from the front door, this door creaked opened loudly. Started, Hermione looked around, making sure no one heard the door opening.

Regaining her senses, Hermione crept inside the room. It had a musty smell around it. There were millions of boxes and cartons that held the pieces of wood. There were no organization about it, just wands thrown into the boxes and cartons. A tiny moan escaped her lips. How in the world was she going to find Harry's wand within all of the others?

Hermione kneeled to the floor. She set her bag upon the floor. " Well, better start looking." Though it was from the past, a picture of Harry's wand floated into Hermione's mind. Also, she knew it would have been fingerprinted all over, and un-polished. It also would been at the top of the boxes, but which one? Another clue was the Avada Kevada curse within it.

For the next twenty minutes, she dug through the piles, trying to find the right one. After searching, she came up with two wands. She didn't know which one was Harry's, but one of them had to. Each of them had fingerprints all over them, dirty, and the killing curse. There was only one way to figure out which was truly Harry's real wand- bring them to the owner and have him try both of them.

Hermione pocketed both of the wands into her bag, and picked it up. She began heading towards the front doors. As she was coming into the view of the doors, she froze; standing in front of her way of exit were two guards, each looking around them. Hope fluttered in Hermione's heart. Now what? She asked herself.

~*~

A/N: Yes, I know, a little short than usual, but I had to stop at a cliffhanger, or else I'd been breaking my straight record of cliffhangers. Hehe. Oh- another thing. I have just continued to writing this story. It will have a lot more passion, plot, and better writing! I have kind of got better at it.

Oh, and expect Chapter 4 at least by Wednesday. Updates will be on my bio.