Three Times Six, Chapter Five
By: myr_halcyon
Summary: Hermione goes awol, apples are eaten. A transitional chapter, ergo short. My apologies.
Warning: Contains implied sexual situations. Absolutely no smut guaranteed, but if anything even remotely sexual regarding seventeen-year-olds disturbs you, please do not read on, but skip to the end of the chapter for a more complete summary.
=====
Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and threw her hand into the shaft of light that had suddenly stabbed into her eyes. "Turn it off," she muttered, turning her head away and pulling the blanket up over her head. Now her feet were cold. Damn it all...
"Can't turn it off, Minnie, sorry about that," came Harry's voice from somewhere off to her right. "It's sort of up there permanently, you know, being the sun and all."
Harry's voice?
"You really should get up, you know," said Harry quietly, crunching straw on the floor of the hayloft as he made his way over to her. "We have a long way to go, or a long time to hide."
Hermione's eyes flew open and she stared incredulously at the foreign cloak covering her body before she threw it off and jumped to her feet. "You, you...you bastard," she whispered, memory flooding back. "First you kill Ron, then you have the nerve to pretend like I'm your girlfriend? You tuck me in? You carry me around? Hell, you probably even did it last night, didn't you?" she asked, angry tears rolling down her face. "Ron was my one and only and you took that away from me, didn't you?" She backed away even further, clutching her own cloak around herself. "Didn't you?" she screamed hoarsely.
Harry sank to his knees and averted his eyes. "So much death...had to counteract..." he murmured.
Hermione's eyes widened. "My god," she whispered. "Harry, how could you?"
Harry looked up, directly into Hermione's horrorstricken eyes, and held them unflinchingly. "Hermione, I love you and Ron more than anything in the world. Ron died because I was too hasty; I wasn't thinking clearly. I could have Summoned his body, but I Summoned my broomstick instead. I could have levitated his body along with us, but for some reason all I could think about was saving you. Hermione, I could have stopped that firebug. I could have saved a thousand lives. But I didn't think. I acted on impulse." He swallowed. "I wanted to, Hermione, God knows I wanted to. I needed to do something to counteract all of the death I'd caused. But I couldn't do that to you. I couldn't dishonor Ron like that, and I would never dishonor you."
Hermione couldn't speak. She just stared at Harry as he rose and knelt before her. "Hermione," he said, pronouncing her full name for only the third time since their fifth year, "I love you."
Hermione sat down heavily, cupping her head in her hands. Emotions were chasing themselves around in her head like a computer in an infinity loop, but somehow practicality won out, as it always did. "So, if you had to counteract all this death, what did you do?" she asked.
Harry gave her a sideways look. "You see those sheep downstairs?"
Hermione gasped, thoroughly disgusted. "You didn't!"
"You're right," said Harry. "I didn't."
***
Harry reclaimed his cloak from where Hermione had deposited it and jumped down to the bottom level of the barn, landing squarely in a pile of fecal matter. Hermione might have said something like "serves you right," but he was too busy fending off curious sheep to be entirely certain.
By the time he had finished scraping the manure from his shoes with the damp grass outside, Hermione had washed her face and located an apple tree to provide breakfast. They sat, eating their apples, on the bank of the small creek that flowed through the farm.
"What was Ron talking about?" asked Hermione suddenly. "You know, on the train." She bit her lip and stared into the water, blinking back a few tears but feeling determined to solve her puzzle.
Harry finished chewing and cast a wary glance at her. "Well," he said carefully, "for the past few months we've been doing channelling in Divination. Ron always got that look on his face when he was channelling someone -- got Hitler once, and Hitler wasn't too happy about that..." Harry trailed off, noticing the hint of pain in Hermione's eyes and at once admiring her ability to discuss those who were dead so soon. "My guess would be that he was channelling someone watching the train. Probably one of the parents at King's Cross." He gulped painfully. "I could have saved them all," he whispered.
Harry jumped up and threw his apple core angrily into the water. "Goddammit, why didn't I think?"
"Because Ron wasn't letting you," said Hermione softly. "Ron didn't know you could stop a firebug, I don't know how you could stop a firebug. He wanted me to live more than he wanted to live, so he gave you the single-minded purpose of saving me." A quiet tear rolled down her cheek. "On the night before graduation he told me that he valued my life more than his own, but I thought he was just being cute and romantic." She bit her lip. "He actually meant it..."
Harry turned to her. "Of course he meant it, Minnie," he said gently. He moved to put his hand on her shoulder, but hesitated. He didn't want to make the situation any worse. But he needn't have worried; Hermione pressed her head into his chest and pulled his arms around her.
After a moment of reverie, Hermione stepped back and shook herself. "So, how would one stop a firebug?" she asked, matter-of-factly.
Harry blinked, then realised he had no cause for surprise. This was Hermione, after all. "It was something Lupin mentioned once, and I made him teach me how to do it. Now, when the firebug is planted..."
***
The two sat engrossed in conversation for several hours until the shepherd came to see why two sheep would be throwing sparks. Hermione flipped a mild memory charm at him and she and Harry grabbed the Firebolt and fled.
"I'm sorry about that," said Harry, pulling Hermione onto the broom and taking off. "It's really not like me to be so long-winded. The charm's just sort of complicated and it takes a lot of practice."
"Don't worry about it," said Hermione, gasping for breath. "I didn't think I'd be able to pick it up in one day. It's more a mental Zen thing than real magic."
Harry shrugged. "That would make sense -- Lupin said he learned it in Japan. Some of those monks are libraries of curses and counter-charms."
"Not that they have much else to do."
"Point."
They flew on in silence for a few minutes. Harry checked his compass and made a slight course correction.
"Where are we going?" asked Hermione.
"To the Burrow," said Harry.
=====
Summary: Hermione and Harry have a short but acute falling out over a misunderstanding. Harry mentions that he was not thinking clearly and could not only have saved Ron but also could have saved the entire train. Hermione reveals that Ron probably muted Harry's thoughts to put priority on saving Hermione. After being sighted by the farmer, Harry and Hermione take off hastily for the Burrow.
A/N: Sorry this is so short, that just seemed like a good place to stop. It's also 12.30 AM, and I have to work tomorrow. By the time I post this, though, I'll have another chapter completely written and proofread, so never fear, the Burrow is near. The sheep humour is in honor of my friend Nick from Texas, who has scarred my mind forever.
Really, I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted. April 21. Wow. Thing is, I just graduated from high school and I had a 1000-word literary analysis to write for my literature class, a 4500-word paper to write for anatomy, and a crapload of projects to finish. So again, my sincere apologies, and considering I now have nothing to do except work and write, more Three times Six is forthcoming! Thanks for putting up with me!
Rachel Potter -- How is your situation at school? I'm glad you found a way to heal, but please accept my (belated) sympathies. We lost a classmate my sophomore year, and graduation was really tough, especially taking his parents the flowers that all the graduates gave their parents. *great big hug from myr*
myimmortal -- Exactly. The opening two scenes are sort of a flash forward, a beginning at the end, and the rest of the story will be catching up to that point and maybe going a bit beyond. The purpose of the device is so you keep speculating on what brings them to where they were, and so that when they get there, you already know what happens. So basically the chronology so far is 3-5, then 1 and 2 simultaneously.
Also, big thanks to AKi, estrella bird, Alexial, MC, and bubbles-123 for reveiwing!
Summary: Hermione goes awol, apples are eaten. A transitional chapter, ergo short. My apologies.
Warning: Contains implied sexual situations. Absolutely no smut guaranteed, but if anything even remotely sexual regarding seventeen-year-olds disturbs you, please do not read on, but skip to the end of the chapter for a more complete summary.
=====
Hermione squeezed her eyes shut and threw her hand into the shaft of light that had suddenly stabbed into her eyes. "Turn it off," she muttered, turning her head away and pulling the blanket up over her head. Now her feet were cold. Damn it all...
"Can't turn it off, Minnie, sorry about that," came Harry's voice from somewhere off to her right. "It's sort of up there permanently, you know, being the sun and all."
Harry's voice?
"You really should get up, you know," said Harry quietly, crunching straw on the floor of the hayloft as he made his way over to her. "We have a long way to go, or a long time to hide."
Hermione's eyes flew open and she stared incredulously at the foreign cloak covering her body before she threw it off and jumped to her feet. "You, you...you bastard," she whispered, memory flooding back. "First you kill Ron, then you have the nerve to pretend like I'm your girlfriend? You tuck me in? You carry me around? Hell, you probably even did it last night, didn't you?" she asked, angry tears rolling down her face. "Ron was my one and only and you took that away from me, didn't you?" She backed away even further, clutching her own cloak around herself. "Didn't you?" she screamed hoarsely.
Harry sank to his knees and averted his eyes. "So much death...had to counteract..." he murmured.
Hermione's eyes widened. "My god," she whispered. "Harry, how could you?"
Harry looked up, directly into Hermione's horrorstricken eyes, and held them unflinchingly. "Hermione, I love you and Ron more than anything in the world. Ron died because I was too hasty; I wasn't thinking clearly. I could have Summoned his body, but I Summoned my broomstick instead. I could have levitated his body along with us, but for some reason all I could think about was saving you. Hermione, I could have stopped that firebug. I could have saved a thousand lives. But I didn't think. I acted on impulse." He swallowed. "I wanted to, Hermione, God knows I wanted to. I needed to do something to counteract all of the death I'd caused. But I couldn't do that to you. I couldn't dishonor Ron like that, and I would never dishonor you."
Hermione couldn't speak. She just stared at Harry as he rose and knelt before her. "Hermione," he said, pronouncing her full name for only the third time since their fifth year, "I love you."
Hermione sat down heavily, cupping her head in her hands. Emotions were chasing themselves around in her head like a computer in an infinity loop, but somehow practicality won out, as it always did. "So, if you had to counteract all this death, what did you do?" she asked.
Harry gave her a sideways look. "You see those sheep downstairs?"
Hermione gasped, thoroughly disgusted. "You didn't!"
"You're right," said Harry. "I didn't."
***
Harry reclaimed his cloak from where Hermione had deposited it and jumped down to the bottom level of the barn, landing squarely in a pile of fecal matter. Hermione might have said something like "serves you right," but he was too busy fending off curious sheep to be entirely certain.
By the time he had finished scraping the manure from his shoes with the damp grass outside, Hermione had washed her face and located an apple tree to provide breakfast. They sat, eating their apples, on the bank of the small creek that flowed through the farm.
"What was Ron talking about?" asked Hermione suddenly. "You know, on the train." She bit her lip and stared into the water, blinking back a few tears but feeling determined to solve her puzzle.
Harry finished chewing and cast a wary glance at her. "Well," he said carefully, "for the past few months we've been doing channelling in Divination. Ron always got that look on his face when he was channelling someone -- got Hitler once, and Hitler wasn't too happy about that..." Harry trailed off, noticing the hint of pain in Hermione's eyes and at once admiring her ability to discuss those who were dead so soon. "My guess would be that he was channelling someone watching the train. Probably one of the parents at King's Cross." He gulped painfully. "I could have saved them all," he whispered.
Harry jumped up and threw his apple core angrily into the water. "Goddammit, why didn't I think?"
"Because Ron wasn't letting you," said Hermione softly. "Ron didn't know you could stop a firebug, I don't know how you could stop a firebug. He wanted me to live more than he wanted to live, so he gave you the single-minded purpose of saving me." A quiet tear rolled down her cheek. "On the night before graduation he told me that he valued my life more than his own, but I thought he was just being cute and romantic." She bit her lip. "He actually meant it..."
Harry turned to her. "Of course he meant it, Minnie," he said gently. He moved to put his hand on her shoulder, but hesitated. He didn't want to make the situation any worse. But he needn't have worried; Hermione pressed her head into his chest and pulled his arms around her.
After a moment of reverie, Hermione stepped back and shook herself. "So, how would one stop a firebug?" she asked, matter-of-factly.
Harry blinked, then realised he had no cause for surprise. This was Hermione, after all. "It was something Lupin mentioned once, and I made him teach me how to do it. Now, when the firebug is planted..."
***
The two sat engrossed in conversation for several hours until the shepherd came to see why two sheep would be throwing sparks. Hermione flipped a mild memory charm at him and she and Harry grabbed the Firebolt and fled.
"I'm sorry about that," said Harry, pulling Hermione onto the broom and taking off. "It's really not like me to be so long-winded. The charm's just sort of complicated and it takes a lot of practice."
"Don't worry about it," said Hermione, gasping for breath. "I didn't think I'd be able to pick it up in one day. It's more a mental Zen thing than real magic."
Harry shrugged. "That would make sense -- Lupin said he learned it in Japan. Some of those monks are libraries of curses and counter-charms."
"Not that they have much else to do."
"Point."
They flew on in silence for a few minutes. Harry checked his compass and made a slight course correction.
"Where are we going?" asked Hermione.
"To the Burrow," said Harry.
=====
Summary: Hermione and Harry have a short but acute falling out over a misunderstanding. Harry mentions that he was not thinking clearly and could not only have saved Ron but also could have saved the entire train. Hermione reveals that Ron probably muted Harry's thoughts to put priority on saving Hermione. After being sighted by the farmer, Harry and Hermione take off hastily for the Burrow.
A/N: Sorry this is so short, that just seemed like a good place to stop. It's also 12.30 AM, and I have to work tomorrow. By the time I post this, though, I'll have another chapter completely written and proofread, so never fear, the Burrow is near. The sheep humour is in honor of my friend Nick from Texas, who has scarred my mind forever.
Really, I'm sorry it's been so long since I posted. April 21. Wow. Thing is, I just graduated from high school and I had a 1000-word literary analysis to write for my literature class, a 4500-word paper to write for anatomy, and a crapload of projects to finish. So again, my sincere apologies, and considering I now have nothing to do except work and write, more Three times Six is forthcoming! Thanks for putting up with me!
Rachel Potter -- How is your situation at school? I'm glad you found a way to heal, but please accept my (belated) sympathies. We lost a classmate my sophomore year, and graduation was really tough, especially taking his parents the flowers that all the graduates gave their parents. *great big hug from myr*
myimmortal -- Exactly. The opening two scenes are sort of a flash forward, a beginning at the end, and the rest of the story will be catching up to that point and maybe going a bit beyond. The purpose of the device is so you keep speculating on what brings them to where they were, and so that when they get there, you already know what happens. So basically the chronology so far is 3-5, then 1 and 2 simultaneously.
Also, big thanks to AKi, estrella bird, Alexial, MC, and bubbles-123 for reveiwing!