Chapter 4: Nightmares
Harry sat up, covered with sweat. That dream couldn't be real, but his scar . . . it was burning. He held his head in his hands, just sat there for a couple of minutes. 'How can that dream be real? It can't be. As long as I'm around, nothing like that will happen. I'll make sure of it.' He looked around the room and noticed Ron and the others were awake, and out of their beds. "I wonder where everyone went." Just then the door started to open and Hermione stuck her head in, "Hey sleepyhead! Ron gave me permission to come and get you. He tried everything himself, but he said that I was the only one who could wake you up." Harry blushed and smiled at her. "Harry, are you all right?" She looked down at his face and saw that his shirt was covered in sweat and she knew that there were tearstains down his face. "I'm fine. I just had a nightmare, that's all." Harry wiped the sweat and tears from his face with the back of his hand. Hermione didn't really believe him, but left so he could change.
"Ron's already in the great hall having breakfast, I'll wait for you in the common room, 'k?"
"Ok, see you in a sec."
After a few minutes, Harry came down in his dark green top, with his black slacks and his normal black robe with the Hogwarts patch over. Hermione watched as he came down the stairs and over to her. "Let's go eat!" Harry grabbed Hermione's arm and rushed her toward the Great Hall. "How late are we, Herm?"
"Only a few minutes," she tried to slow him down, "But if Ron hadn't asked me to wake you up, you probably would have slept through it." They walked in just as the golden plates and cups filled with food and drink for all. Harry pointed over at Ron, who was sitting by Lavender and whispering something in her ear, she started to giggle. Harry and Hermione laughed at the thought of Ron and Lavender getting together and sat across from the two. Ron stopped his whispering and said hello to Harry as they began to eat.
Hermione saw Harry picking and playing with his food. "I thought you were hungry." Harry turned to her with a smile, "I guess my stomach changed its mind."
"You stomach doesn't have a mind."
"You never know," he shrugged his shoulders and Hermione went back to eating. "Herm?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you want to take a walk around the lake with me?"
"Sure. When?"
"After breakfast."
"Alright, after breakfast then." Harry started to regain his appetite and started shoveling food into his mouth. He had it all planned out . . . just get her alone by the lake, turn her toward him, tell her his feelings, then kiss her. After that is up to her, but he has at least that much planned out.
Just as she had promised Hermione went with Harry for a walk around the lake. They followed the shoreline for what seemed forever, talking about what the new year would hold. Hermione stopped and sat down on a flat rock by the water, watching the ripples of the water. To her right there was a huge willow tree, and the braches seemed to stir in the water as the tide washed in and out. Harry looked at her face, as the light reflected from the water danced across her cheeks and shimmered in her eyes. 'Ok Harry. Stick with the plan.' He took a deep breath, "Hermione?" She turned toward him and saw that he held out his hand for her.
She took it and looked into his eyes. He led her off the rock and to his side. "Harry, are you alright? You've been acting strangely ever since you got on the train." 'And saw you,' he thought. She secretly hoped that the thing on his mind is the same thing that has been tormenting her inside for the past few years. "Herm, I don't know." He looked down at her hand in his and concentrated hard, so he could get the words that he so wanted to say formed in his mind. "Don't know what?"
"I don't know about a lot of things. But one thing keeps burning in the back of my mind."
"What is that?"
"I could never get the words to come out right," he finally glanced up from her hand and into her eyes. "But I think that I have finally found the words to say . . . to you." He said the last two words softly, almost wanting for her not to hear them. "Harry, you know that you could tell me anything-" Suddenly a strong pain went through Hermione's head, and she gripped her hair tightly in her fists. Her eyes were shut closed, and everything seemed to be screaming. The sound was excruciating, nothing was making sense. Something was screaming her name; another was screaming other things she couldn't understand.
She couldn't take much more of this, then everything stopped screaming, it was silent. She finally opened her eyes and saw a scene, with Harry trapped in some kind of wrap, and a wizard dressed in a dark clock, chanting something in his direction. She could hear Harry calling out to her, he was in pain. She had to do something.
Harry didn't know what to do. At one point he was staring into her eyes, and then it was like she was in pain, and now she was silent again. He tried calling her name to her, but she won't respond. He saw her raise her arm, as she tried to step forward, "Harry." She fell forward, but Harry caught her before she reached the ground. "Hermione!" Harry looked around, it seemed completely deserted, until he saw movement in the bushes, and took out his wand. "Harry!" Ron came jumping through the whole. "I should have known you would have followed us, Ron."
"It wasn't my idea, it was Lavender's," Ron pointed behind himself to the bushes. "Shut up, Ron! You know it was yours!" Lavender came through the whole in the bush that Ron had stepped from only a few seconds earlier.
"Was not!"
"It was too!"
"Look, I don't care, whose idea it was, help me get Hermione to the Hospital Wing."
***
Hermione didn't respond to anything anymore. Harry explained what had happened, but Madame Pomfrey still had no idea what happened to her. She has been in the hospital wing for a couple of days now, with no movement other then the tossing and turning of a frequent nightmare. Harry stayed with her as long as he could, and was able to skip a couple of lessons, thanks to Professor Dumbledore. Most nights he slept in the chair next to her bed, holding her hand through the night. Ron came in every couple of days with Lavender to check up on both Harry and Hermione.
Ron brought Harry some of his work from the classes and set it on the table next to Hermione's bed. "How's she doing Harry?" Harry brushed some hair to one side of Hermione's face, "She has more color in her cheeks now, and Madame Pomfrey says she should wake up anytime time in the next few days." He took her hand in his. Lavender sat across from Harry, on the other side of Hermione's bed. "Hey, get better alright, Hermione?" She sat back up, and said, "I'll be outside, Ron." Ron nodded his head. "What, are you two a couple or something? And you didn't tell me?!" Harry cracked a smile. He then focused back on Hermione, so he didn't catch the blush in Ron's cheeks.
"Is she still having nightmares?"
"Almost every night," Harry squeezed her hand, "It's starting to scare me, Ron." Ron put his hand on Harry's shoulder then left to join Lavender in the hall. Harry gave Hermione's hand another squeeze, and turned toward his work.
Soon enough Harry was asleep, his head in his potions book. The small candle that was on the table shone everywhere in the room, but left the dark corners of the room unlit. It also shone on a face that was now becoming contorted with signs of an inward struggle. Hermione battled within her dreams, to help who is calling out her name.
*~* Hermione was hit to the ground by some kind of force that she had never felt before. "Hermione! Get out of here! Run!"
"I'm not leaving you!" Hermione got up from the ground. She turned toward the dark figure and tried to show no fear. The dark figure started to laugh, "Don't even try, child. Nothing can help him now." Harry was trapped with in some kind of bond and couldn't free himself. Hermione knew this was only work of a dark wizard, but she had to help Harry. "Hermione, no! Just get out of here!" Harry then screamed out in pain from the wrap tightening around his body. "Harry!" She started to run toward him. The dark wizard hit her with some kind of curse and she fell to the ground. "Hermione!" She tried to get back up, but some one started to pull her away from the scene. "Harry! No! Harry!"
*~*
Harry was awakened from pain in his scar. Something was wrong, he scanned the room, as the pain started to fade to nothing. He turned toward Hermione, and saw her face full of fear. He went to her side, "Hermione?" For the first time in days he heard her voice, "Harry . . . please. Don't leave, I can help you. Don't leave me." He brushed his hand on her face and took her hand in his other hand. "Shhh, Herm. It's alright, I'm right here. I'm not leaving you; I'll always be by your side." The expression of fear in her face slowly disappeared because of Harry's touch. He combed his fingers through her hair, twirling a piece of her hair around his finger. He focused on his finger in her hair, "I'll always be here."
"You promise?" Harry looked down to see straight into Hermione's eyes. "Herm?" She smiled and touched the side of his face with her hand. "Hey Harry." He smiled back at her and cupped her face in both of his hands, "You had me scared for a minute there. Well, actually for a couple of days."
"Couple of days? How long was I out?"
"Only a few days. But don't worry, Ron got our work for us," Harry went over to the table and rustled through papers to find Hermione's workload. "Our work?"
"Yeah, he needed to get my work too, right? Because I know if he didn't you would yell at me for not doing any work," Harry put the stack of papers he had found on the corner of the table closest to the bed. "Why wouldn't you be doing any work?"
"Come on, Herm," He looked at her, "Like I would leave my best friend when she needs me the most." She smiled then turned toward the pile of books and paper that was Harry's then looked at hers. "How did you get more work then me?"
"Remember, you have different classes then I do. Most of it is from the all knowing and all seeing one from the tower."
"That's right. Anything from potions?"
"Nothing that Ron brought in, which is very strange."
"How much work have you actually done?"
"Two pages," she looked at the Harry's new watch that was sitting on the edge of the table. "Harry, it's eleven-thirty. And you haven't done any work."
"It's not as much as it looks, and I needed to take a nap."
"But isn't a lot of this work due tomorrow?"
"Which is thirty minutes away, and you need your rest." Harry was quick to try to change the subject. Hermione yawned, "I think you're right. But when I wake up, I expect to see a mountain of work done." Harry had a huge grin on his face, "Now there's my Hermione." She blushed as she tried to get comfortable, "What happened anyway?"
"No one knows, Herm. At one point we were having a talk, then you blacked out." Harry shrugged his shoulders and Hermione closed her eyes to get some sleep. Harry started to finish his pile of work, because he knew that Hermione would kill him if he didn't finish.