Feallan Steorra
Chapter 18: Valentine
Author's jibberish: I had to have a Valentine sequence here!
Ringbearer: Yeah, I know. Not a whole lot of romance. Are you waiting for them to kiss? Well, the course of love never did run smoothly. But thank you for saying you liked my story!
Lime: Me? Like JKR herself? Agh! No, no, no way! She is too cool! But thanks for the compliment; it made my day (stupid anatomy test was a real downer…)!
Ok, readers, I need your opinion: Do you want to see Quidditch?
It had been a week since Sirius/Padfoot/Snuffles left. Harry was back in school; he had to find some sort of normalcy in his life.
Buzzes were all over the school. The events of the Forbidden Forest were news to everybody: Orion's alliance with Voldemort, the attacks and Hermione's condition. Harry tried his best to avoid all questions. The Slytherin table was particularly quiet during school meals since then.
"Probably in dead shock a real death-eater was among them," Ron bit. "I'm sure Malfoy must be green with envy."
Ginny looked up to her brother, then to the blonde boy in question. She noticed, quite nervously, that his grey eyes were in their direction. Ginny's attention was now at the scrambled eggs in front of her.
Harry and Ron had been going to Hermione's hospital room almost everyday. Her room was at the end of the hospital wing. The bed was about a foot away and parallel to the wall with the window. The window had a clear view of the Great Hall, and opened up to the Hogwarts air. Besides a few candles and three chairs, the décor was rather depressing.
They visited everyday. They wrote down her homework for all her classes, even her extra courses and they would leave it at her bedside in case she woke up and had the pounding feeling to catch up. They even thought the presence and smell of books would rouse her.
They were wrong. She remained sleeping as she was.
"I hope she wakes up in time for our final Quidditch match. I'm sure she'll smile as we clobber Slytherin," Ron said.
Days passed and Hermione's room became not so dull. Mrs. Weasley sent her flowers, her parents sent flowers and loads of balloons, which Ron had a wondrous time trying to figure out the science of rubber and helium. Lavender, Parvati, Neville, Dean and many other Gryffindors sent her candies like Chocolate Frogs or Sugar Quills, Fred and George sent her their own "special" candy of their won creation ("Hermione wouldn't be that much out of it to try those," Ron commented), and Ginny gave her a cinnamon color teddy bear, adorned with red and gold ribbons around its neck. Ron, who was running out of options, gave her a card:
Get well soon, Hermione. Real soon. –Ron
P.S. Really, really soon. The OWLs are coming up in about 4 months.
Harry, on the other hand, wasn't sure what to get her. It's not like she'd complain, in her condition after all, but that wasn't the point…
It was announced about a week ago that there would be a St. Valentine's Day party the weekend of February 14th. It was most likely a move the staff made in hopes of brightening the spirits of the students. Word got out that some of the students' parents, who were Ministry officials, had a secret trial to bear witness to.
Lavender Brown asked Ron, with the most flirtatious batting of the eyelashes, "Will you be my date for the party?"
Ronald Weasley, being the type of ladies' man he was, gulped harshly, got red in the face and dumbly nodded without uttering a sound. He later told Harry, "I got Miss Brown wrapped around my finger," and smiled in a cocky fashion.
That Saturday in February, Harry sat beside Hermione's bed, with Ron and Lavender standing by the doorway.
"Are you sure you won't come?" Ron asked.
"Go on ahead," Harry told him.
"But you'll be here all by yourself, besides Hermione," Lavender asked. "Won't you be lonely?"
"I'll be fine."
Lavender muttered a soft "Suit yourself" and tapped Ron's arm.
"If you don't go, I'll bring you some cakes to the common room, ok?" Ron offered. Reluctantly, he left with Lavender.
Harry had decided what to get her: chocolates. At a trip to Hogmeade last week he bought truffles dressed in a bright red box. He had placed it on the nightstand, along with everything else.
With an elbow on the edge of her bed, he rested his chin against his palm. It was only about an hour frozen in this spot that Harry realized he was staring at her. If he closed his eyes, he had a photographic memory; he remembered every curse of her face.
An uncomfortable tingle ran down his back and he decided to do something else. His eyes fell on her hand. He noticed her fingernails weren't too short or too long. He recalled in first year how she would nibble on her nail tips when she was nervous. She must have kicked that habit.
Curious, he gently grasped her hand. Then, he lifted her hand up and lifted his hand to hers, palm to palm, finger to finger. He compared the size of her hand to his; in his opinion, hers was so small. Her hand was so much smoother as well. His hands have met rain and wind during Quidditch matches, so it only made sense.
Then, he placed her hand over his head, her fingers tangled his messy tendrils. "Hermione…" he whispered.
"Harry…"
Harry's head shot up. He saw Hermione's light brown eyes sparkle at him. She gave him a weak smile. "Did you win?"
Harry couldn't help but smile. "Yeah. I did. Now Orion's far away. Let me tell Madam Pomfrey that you're awake!" He hurried to the door and called out for her.
"For goodness sakes, this is a hospital wing, not a playground," she huffed.
No one else was there, what was she complaining for? "Sorry," Harry apologized as she entered the room.
"Oh, Ms. Granger! It's good to see you up! How do you feel?"
"Weak…but I'll manage."
"Well, that's expected. Having a dark curse is like poison," Madam Pomfrey said as she checked Hermione. A hand went to her forehead, "We're all surprised you woke up at all," Madam Pomfrey ran her wand along Hermione's body, checking for other vitals, "You are very lucky. Now," after she checked her, "I think you should stay overnight so you can gain some of your strength back. I don't think you need a sleep potion, but if you're having trouble, ring me," she said, gesturing to the bell beside her bed.
Hermione nodded. When Madam Pomfrey left, Harry spoke. "It's good to see you awake."
"It's good to be awake," Hermione sighed. "What have I missed? What happened after I passed out?"
"Well…" Harry explained the duel, including the spectacular lightshow and animal battle in the sky. He also explained who found them later.
"So, I've been out for a while. Like a week or a week and a half?"
"Pretty much."
"What else has happened?"
"Um…Morell has his trial coming up. McGonagall said we'd start OWL preparations next week and--."
"Is that music I hear?" she interrupted.
"Yeah. I was just about to say there's a Valentine's Day dance tonight."
Hermione sat straight, peering through the window. "There is? Why didn't you go?"
Harry
shrugged. Why didn't he?
"I would've gone," Hermione
muttered. She closed her eyes and heard a slow song coming from the Great hall.
She pulled the sheets off and threw her legs over the edge.
Confused,
Harry came close to her. "Hermione what are you doing?"
"Would you dance with me?" she
said, standing in a long-sleeved nightgown with one hand on the headboard and
the other out towards him.
"Dance? But you shouldn't be walking around when you're weak."
"Then we'll sway in a stationary spot," Hermione compromised. "Please?" she asked with the needing eyes of a child.
Harry couldn't resist. He softly smiled and pulled her close, a hand to her waist. Her hand wrapped at his shoulder and their remaining hands linked, their fingers laced around each other.
They swayed to the rhythm of the music. There were times when Harry could feel her weaken under his embrace; he pulled her close in response. Her soft scent filled his nose; it was of cinnamon, most likely from her shampoo. Her bangs were brushing his jaw line and Harry could feel Hermione's breath near his neck. She's so close, he soon realized.
"This is nice," she muttered.
"What?" All logical thought were gone.
"Dancing here. I thought for sure you'd be down in the hall with Cho Chang."
Cho? Harry had completely forgotten about her. He hadn't spoken to her since the ball. She was his hard-time crush and suddenly Cho was far from his mind. Why was that?
Harry pulled back slightly. Hermione felt him distancing himself. She looked up at him and realized the small distance between their faces. She caught herself stealing glances at his lips. And then, their eyes locked at the same instant: amber meeting emerald. Her breath cut short and she could feel the heat rise in her body. Harry swallowed the hard lump in his throat. Chemistry…is that what it was called? The dancing stopped and they stood frozen. An indescribable flutter erupted in their chests. Was it his imagination, or did she move forward? Or was it him? They could feel the distance lessen between them as if they moved with the same thought and intent.
Colors exploded in the sky. Hermione and Harry's vision snapped to the window. Fireworks of every size and color decorated the night sky. Hermione sighed in a child-like joy. "Beautiful…"
"Yeah," Harry said, and then smiled at her.
They watched the fireworks dance in the sky.
