DISCLAIMER: This story is based on characters and situations created and
owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to
Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros.,
Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is
intended.
(Thank you to all of last time's reviewers. again. Sorry it's been a while since last update, but school's started :(. Despite that, I will continue trying to update if you continue trying to review. Even just a quick word is better than nothing. Also, this is H/Hr, it says that in my fic description. So if you don't like H/Hr shipping, stop reading! Don't bother to flame of get me to change my mind etc. because I'm one of the biggest H/Hr shippers around. Don't worry, that doesn't mean I'm neglecting any of the fun stuff like action and darkness. Anyways, that was a bit off topic. I hope everyone likes this chapter, write a long enough review and I will respond in the next chapter. Thanks again to everyone who's been supporting me!)
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are. Far more than our abilities."
-Albus Dumbledore "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
Harry knocked tentatively on the bedroom door of where Hermione was staying. "Hermione, can I please come in?"
"Fine." Was her muffled response, and he entered slowly.
"Listen, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it that way, it's not that I don't care. Trust me I do care. Above all else I care about you and Ron. The whole thing is just complicated. I need time to think." Hermione, who had been turned away from him the whole time turned back to look at him. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. "I am sorry" he said meekly, stepping closer to her.
Suddenly and unexpectedly she threw her arms around him and buried her face against his chest. It took him a moment to respond, but he finally drew her up into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I'm sorry too Harry." She said, not leaving his warm embrace. "It's all just overwhelming."
"I know the feeling" he whispered softly, wincing as she bumped the bruise on his collar bone where it was fractured.
"What's wrong Harry?" She asked, drawing back to examine him.
"I've been meaning to tell you, I think I fractured my collar bone yesterday. Do you know any healing spells?" "Of course Harry, you should have asked earlier! Sit down!"
Harry did as commanded, and began to unbutton his blouse. He slipped it off his injured shoulder and handed her his wand.
"Why do you carry your wand if you don't need it Harry?" She said puzzled. He shrugged his good shoulder unable to think of an actual reason. She shook her head at him and set to work.
"This probably won't work as well as usual since I don't have my wand, but it should work all the same, maybe it'll just leave a little bruise."
"That's fine." Harry responded, getting a slightly tingly feeling where Hermione had her hand rested on his bare chest.
He wasn't the only one feeling it. "Concentrate Hermione." She scolded herself, recalling the spell she needed.
Once she was done, Harry stood up and tested his arm out. "Good as new." He proclaimed, giving her a small grin that made her feel the tingly sensation all over her body this time. "What would you say to going for a walk?" He asked.
"Of course" she said, returning his grin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was noon and Ron had already spread the news from Hermione to everyone. Now he was seated in Dumbldore's office with the rest of the operatives from the Order of the Phoenix. He couldn't help but grin as they all gathered, and his mother nodded approvingly as he ate while waiting for the meeting to commence.
Dumbledore entered the room and took a seat. "Good afternoon everyone, I'm sure we are all pleased to hear that Ms. Granger is indeed safe."
"Who do you reckon recovered her Albus?" Tonks asked while running her fingers through her hair, which was spiked and baby blue today.
"Of that I am not sure Tonks." Dumbledore answered, a glint in his eye.
"But you have an idea don't you?" Ron asked surprising everyone at the table with his sudden outburst.
Dumbledore trained his deep blue eyes on Ron, and responded, "I do not wish to raise any false hopes here, but I believe that our un- named savior was Mr. Harry Potter."
A loud crash filled the office. Ronald Weasley had fallen to the ground. When he stood up his face was beat red and he quickly pulled his chair back upright from the floor.
"Do you really mean it Head Master?" Ginny asked softly from her place at the table. She had long since gotten over her crush with Harry, and was still dating Dean Thomas. She still loved Harry like a brother though.
"I am not sure of it Ms. Weasley, but it does seem to fit."
"How so?" said an icy voice from the other end of the table. Everyone turned to see that the greasy headed professor Snape had just joined them.
"Who else do we know who has remained secret and anonymous even to us, and could bust a valuable prisoner from a club of death eaters?" Dumbledore's eyes sparkled a bit. "But enough of this, we cannot risk speculation. What do we have to discuss today?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They day had turned out cloudy and snowy, which suited Hermoine just fine. She always loved the snow, it reminded her of her day of youthful ignorance. A world where Voldemort didn't exist, there was no dark magic, and she wasn't falling for Harry Potter. It was ridiculous and she knew it. She had just met back up with Harry after three years and he had changed drastically. They both had, and yet here she was falling for him. It wasn't as though she hadn't always carried a small torch for Harry somewhere in her heart, after all, he was brave, humble and well mannered. Ever since the day he had thrown himself onto the club of mountain troll to save her she had a small crush on him, but nothing pressing, nothing like this.
Suddenly a snow ball whizzed out of no where and hit Hermione square in the back. She spun around to see Harry leaning against a tree like nothing had happened. "Oh.you." she made a snowball and whipped it back at him but he dodged it.
Their game carried on for quite a while, and Harry felt good for the first time in a long time. Memories of the past scarring his brain disappeared for a while as a he submerged himself in this childlike behavior. Finally Hermione flopped onto her back in the snow exhausted. "I take this as an 'I surrender'?" He laughed walking over to her.
"Think again Potter!" She yelled, and grabbing his leg she pulled it out from under him causing him to crash down into the snow. Laughing and breathing heavy he raised his arms and proclaimed his surrender. Still sniggering Hermione crawled over beside him and rested her head on his chest.
Laying in silence they watched the snow fall upon them, cascading down from the gray sky, each flake making its own swirling path down to earth. Harry sighed deeply. Despite what he may have been trying to convince himself, he had missed his friends desperately, and nothing in the world seemed better than laying in the snow with Hermione resting against him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The meeting didn't end as cheerfully as when it had begun. The main topic discussed by the Order had been the death eater's movements to form the Prison camps, which was still vastly unknown. The meeting had ended with a tribute to the dead aurors who had been killed in action the day before. Overall, Ron was feeling pretty crappy by the time he got back to his flat. He felt lonely there alone and hoped Hermione would be getting back soon. Harry too for that matter, if he had in fact saved Hermione. Ron truly hoped so. It seemed too good to be real that his best mate may be coming back again. He couldn't even imagine the reunion. "What will Harry be like after three years?" He wondered, sinking down into his favorite armchair with a steaming mug of tea. He was just ready to take a sip when there was a knock on the door. "Proabably Cho" he thought.
Sure enough Cho was on the other side of the door when he opened it. He let her in and asked her if she wanted some tea, which she declined. "I really have to be off and running again." She explained quickly. "I'm in the middle of the European Quidditch Cup series against the Tutshill Tornados, as you already know, and I need to get back." He pretended to be upset by making a puppy dog face at her and whimpering, but she would have none of it. "I need to get going. Take care Ron." Cho kissed him good bye, and headed for the door. "I'll be rooting for Puddlemere United!" He called after her before she got out the door. "You better be boy! If you have any clue about what's good for you!" He laughed and quickly retorted, "You know, I'm only rooting for them because their seeker is drop dead gorgeous." Cho sniggered at this, and kissed him again. "I'll tell her you think so." With that she was gone, and Ron went back to his tea which was now had cooled down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was in her room drying off and settling down for the night. She told Harry she had to leave in the morning, and he promised to activate the flo network for her, another tricky feature of his mansion. The flo network could be turned on and off. Hermione wished she could be peacefully settling down for bed but she just couldn't help but fret. Harry probably wouldn't go with her in the morning, and she may never see him again. As quickly as she found him she may loose him. Further troubling was the fact that she couldn't loose her new feelings for him quite so quickly. On top of everything else was the confusion brought on by those feelings. They had come on so quickly and randomly. Sure Harry was handsome beyond all belief, and sure he was powerful and kind and mature and caring. there she went again. She need to forget about it all, but that became increasingly hard because now he was knocking on her door.
"Come in" she said, sitting down on the edge of her bed.
Harry entered quickly, wanting to get this out of the way before he changed his mind. As he saw Hermione sitting on the edge of the bed, he nearly lost his breath. She looked so beautiful sitting there, and he wondered where this sudden upsurge of emotion came from. Re gathering himself he took a deep breath and began to speak. "About tomorrow I."
"I know, I know." She said angrily. "You won't be coming due to complications blah, blah, blah. Please Harry we need you. The Order, your friends, we all need you. I need you." She added desperately.
Harry was caught by surprise by her sudden outburst, and slumped onto the bed, laying behind where she was sitting. She stood up quickly and moved away from him. "That wasn't what I was going to say at all." He said, sounding deeply bemused.
He looked up at her, his deep green eyes catching her brown ones, causing her to feel dizzy for a moment. "I was going to say I'm coming with you."
(Thank you to all of last time's reviewers. again. Sorry it's been a while since last update, but school's started :(. Despite that, I will continue trying to update if you continue trying to review. Even just a quick word is better than nothing. Also, this is H/Hr, it says that in my fic description. So if you don't like H/Hr shipping, stop reading! Don't bother to flame of get me to change my mind etc. because I'm one of the biggest H/Hr shippers around. Don't worry, that doesn't mean I'm neglecting any of the fun stuff like action and darkness. Anyways, that was a bit off topic. I hope everyone likes this chapter, write a long enough review and I will respond in the next chapter. Thanks again to everyone who's been supporting me!)
"It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are. Far more than our abilities."
-Albus Dumbledore "Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets"
Harry knocked tentatively on the bedroom door of where Hermione was staying. "Hermione, can I please come in?"
"Fine." Was her muffled response, and he entered slowly.
"Listen, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean it that way, it's not that I don't care. Trust me I do care. Above all else I care about you and Ron. The whole thing is just complicated. I need time to think." Hermione, who had been turned away from him the whole time turned back to look at him. Her eyes were red and puffy from crying. "I am sorry" he said meekly, stepping closer to her.
Suddenly and unexpectedly she threw her arms around him and buried her face against his chest. It took him a moment to respond, but he finally drew her up into his arms, resting his chin on the top of her head. "I'm sorry too Harry." She said, not leaving his warm embrace. "It's all just overwhelming."
"I know the feeling" he whispered softly, wincing as she bumped the bruise on his collar bone where it was fractured.
"What's wrong Harry?" She asked, drawing back to examine him.
"I've been meaning to tell you, I think I fractured my collar bone yesterday. Do you know any healing spells?" "Of course Harry, you should have asked earlier! Sit down!"
Harry did as commanded, and began to unbutton his blouse. He slipped it off his injured shoulder and handed her his wand.
"Why do you carry your wand if you don't need it Harry?" She said puzzled. He shrugged his good shoulder unable to think of an actual reason. She shook her head at him and set to work.
"This probably won't work as well as usual since I don't have my wand, but it should work all the same, maybe it'll just leave a little bruise."
"That's fine." Harry responded, getting a slightly tingly feeling where Hermione had her hand rested on his bare chest.
He wasn't the only one feeling it. "Concentrate Hermione." She scolded herself, recalling the spell she needed.
Once she was done, Harry stood up and tested his arm out. "Good as new." He proclaimed, giving her a small grin that made her feel the tingly sensation all over her body this time. "What would you say to going for a walk?" He asked.
"Of course" she said, returning his grin.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was noon and Ron had already spread the news from Hermione to everyone. Now he was seated in Dumbldore's office with the rest of the operatives from the Order of the Phoenix. He couldn't help but grin as they all gathered, and his mother nodded approvingly as he ate while waiting for the meeting to commence.
Dumbledore entered the room and took a seat. "Good afternoon everyone, I'm sure we are all pleased to hear that Ms. Granger is indeed safe."
"Who do you reckon recovered her Albus?" Tonks asked while running her fingers through her hair, which was spiked and baby blue today.
"Of that I am not sure Tonks." Dumbledore answered, a glint in his eye.
"But you have an idea don't you?" Ron asked surprising everyone at the table with his sudden outburst.
Dumbledore trained his deep blue eyes on Ron, and responded, "I do not wish to raise any false hopes here, but I believe that our un- named savior was Mr. Harry Potter."
A loud crash filled the office. Ronald Weasley had fallen to the ground. When he stood up his face was beat red and he quickly pulled his chair back upright from the floor.
"Do you really mean it Head Master?" Ginny asked softly from her place at the table. She had long since gotten over her crush with Harry, and was still dating Dean Thomas. She still loved Harry like a brother though.
"I am not sure of it Ms. Weasley, but it does seem to fit."
"How so?" said an icy voice from the other end of the table. Everyone turned to see that the greasy headed professor Snape had just joined them.
"Who else do we know who has remained secret and anonymous even to us, and could bust a valuable prisoner from a club of death eaters?" Dumbledore's eyes sparkled a bit. "But enough of this, we cannot risk speculation. What do we have to discuss today?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They day had turned out cloudy and snowy, which suited Hermoine just fine. She always loved the snow, it reminded her of her day of youthful ignorance. A world where Voldemort didn't exist, there was no dark magic, and she wasn't falling for Harry Potter. It was ridiculous and she knew it. She had just met back up with Harry after three years and he had changed drastically. They both had, and yet here she was falling for him. It wasn't as though she hadn't always carried a small torch for Harry somewhere in her heart, after all, he was brave, humble and well mannered. Ever since the day he had thrown himself onto the club of mountain troll to save her she had a small crush on him, but nothing pressing, nothing like this.
Suddenly a snow ball whizzed out of no where and hit Hermione square in the back. She spun around to see Harry leaning against a tree like nothing had happened. "Oh.you." she made a snowball and whipped it back at him but he dodged it.
Their game carried on for quite a while, and Harry felt good for the first time in a long time. Memories of the past scarring his brain disappeared for a while as a he submerged himself in this childlike behavior. Finally Hermione flopped onto her back in the snow exhausted. "I take this as an 'I surrender'?" He laughed walking over to her.
"Think again Potter!" She yelled, and grabbing his leg she pulled it out from under him causing him to crash down into the snow. Laughing and breathing heavy he raised his arms and proclaimed his surrender. Still sniggering Hermione crawled over beside him and rested her head on his chest.
Laying in silence they watched the snow fall upon them, cascading down from the gray sky, each flake making its own swirling path down to earth. Harry sighed deeply. Despite what he may have been trying to convince himself, he had missed his friends desperately, and nothing in the world seemed better than laying in the snow with Hermione resting against him.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The meeting didn't end as cheerfully as when it had begun. The main topic discussed by the Order had been the death eater's movements to form the Prison camps, which was still vastly unknown. The meeting had ended with a tribute to the dead aurors who had been killed in action the day before. Overall, Ron was feeling pretty crappy by the time he got back to his flat. He felt lonely there alone and hoped Hermione would be getting back soon. Harry too for that matter, if he had in fact saved Hermione. Ron truly hoped so. It seemed too good to be real that his best mate may be coming back again. He couldn't even imagine the reunion. "What will Harry be like after three years?" He wondered, sinking down into his favorite armchair with a steaming mug of tea. He was just ready to take a sip when there was a knock on the door. "Proabably Cho" he thought.
Sure enough Cho was on the other side of the door when he opened it. He let her in and asked her if she wanted some tea, which she declined. "I really have to be off and running again." She explained quickly. "I'm in the middle of the European Quidditch Cup series against the Tutshill Tornados, as you already know, and I need to get back." He pretended to be upset by making a puppy dog face at her and whimpering, but she would have none of it. "I need to get going. Take care Ron." Cho kissed him good bye, and headed for the door. "I'll be rooting for Puddlemere United!" He called after her before she got out the door. "You better be boy! If you have any clue about what's good for you!" He laughed and quickly retorted, "You know, I'm only rooting for them because their seeker is drop dead gorgeous." Cho sniggered at this, and kissed him again. "I'll tell her you think so." With that she was gone, and Ron went back to his tea which was now had cooled down.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hermione was in her room drying off and settling down for the night. She told Harry she had to leave in the morning, and he promised to activate the flo network for her, another tricky feature of his mansion. The flo network could be turned on and off. Hermione wished she could be peacefully settling down for bed but she just couldn't help but fret. Harry probably wouldn't go with her in the morning, and she may never see him again. As quickly as she found him she may loose him. Further troubling was the fact that she couldn't loose her new feelings for him quite so quickly. On top of everything else was the confusion brought on by those feelings. They had come on so quickly and randomly. Sure Harry was handsome beyond all belief, and sure he was powerful and kind and mature and caring. there she went again. She need to forget about it all, but that became increasingly hard because now he was knocking on her door.
"Come in" she said, sitting down on the edge of her bed.
Harry entered quickly, wanting to get this out of the way before he changed his mind. As he saw Hermione sitting on the edge of the bed, he nearly lost his breath. She looked so beautiful sitting there, and he wondered where this sudden upsurge of emotion came from. Re gathering himself he took a deep breath and began to speak. "About tomorrow I."
"I know, I know." She said angrily. "You won't be coming due to complications blah, blah, blah. Please Harry we need you. The Order, your friends, we all need you. I need you." She added desperately.
Harry was caught by surprise by her sudden outburst, and slumped onto the bed, laying behind where she was sitting. She stood up quickly and moved away from him. "That wasn't what I was going to say at all." He said, sounding deeply bemused.
He looked up at her, his deep green eyes catching her brown ones, causing her to feel dizzy for a moment. "I was going to say I'm coming with you."