Chapter 2

A Sleepless Night Cont.

As Harry flew over the towns the dread in his stomach grew. "I'm going to be too

late," he kept thinking.

He was about a mile from Hermione's house thinking maybe he would make it

after all when he saw the sight he was dreading. There was billowing smoke

coming from the heart of town… where Hermione lived. "No! I'm too late!" he screamed. He

scanned the ground for anything that could hide his landing. His eyes fell on a small grove of

trees two blocks from Hermione's house. Harry quickly went into a steep dive and pulled up a

foot from the ground. He didn't even bother to hide his broom. The second he touched ground

he took off toward his friend's house.

"Please let her be alive, please!" he prayed as he rounded the corner and saw her once beautiful

house up in smoke. "Hermione! Where are you?" he screamed as he ran out back. The smoke

was starting to make the air thick. He knew he had to hurry if he wanted to find her alive.

"Hermione!" finally he spotted her, or rather hoped he had. There was a heap on the ground that

seemed to moving up and down eratically. He ran to it and found out it was Hermione. The

reason she was moving so much was she was hyperventilating.

"My… my par…parents…they….they're…d…dead!!"she sobbed.

"Hermione, come on. We need to get out of here." He tried to pull her to her feet, but she

seemed not to hear Harry.

"They're…dead."

Harry had never seen Hermione like this. Her eyes were wide and her face was sickly pale, and

tears were streaming down her face. "Hermione, please, there's nothing we can do here. Ron's

in trouble. We need to go." She seemed to come back when she heard that Ron was in trouble.

She looked up at Harry and nodded, still shaking a little.

She tried to stand, but immediately fell back down. Harry bent over and put one hand behind

her back and one under her knees. He then picked her up like she was a rag doll. She clung to

him like her life depended on it. He hugged her to him and proceeded to run back to the trees

where he left his broom.

When they got there he knew there was no way Hermione could ride in the state she was in, so

he placed her carefully on the ground and mounted his broom. He then picked her up again and

cradled her to him once more. "It's gonna be alright," he murmured in her ear. She replied by

hugging him tighter and burying her face in his chest. He kissed the top of her head and kicked

off from the ground. As they soared through the air, Harry dreaded more and more what he'd

find at the Weasley's.

………………………………………………………………………………..

It was a long journey from Hermione's place to Ron's, and with Hermione as added weight,

Harry was getting nervous. "Come on, Ron, put up a fight," Harry thought to himself.

When they finally reached Ron's house the sky was starting to turn pink. Harry touched down

on the lawn out front and was trying to figure out what Lestrange had done when the front door

flew open and Ron came flying out. The rest of the Weasley's weren't far behind.

"Harry! Is she ok?" Ron looked at the bundle in Harry's arms and his face paled.

All Harry could do was gape at Ron. Nothing was wrong. The house was fine, and all the

Weasley's looked disheveled, but otherwise okay. He was expecting to find a catastrophe like

he had at Hermione's, but there was absolutely nothing wrong here.

Ron shook Harry from his thoughts with his urgent voice. "Harry! Is she alright?"

Harry looked down at the heap in his arms to find Hermione was sleeping. Ron must have

thought the worst because he let out a cry and ran to Harry's side.

"Noo!" he cried.

"It's alright, Ron. She's not dead. She's asleep." Harry put a hand on Ron's back.

Ron reached out swept the both of them, along with the broomstick, into a huge bear hug.

Hermione woke up with this and let out a cry. She looked up at Harry and he felt a sudden pang

of sympathy. He knew she was waiting for him to tell her she had just woken up from a bad

dream, and for a minute he wanted to tell her that. He didn't want to crush her with the truth.

Ron looked back and forth between the two of them until realization dawned. He gave

Hermione a kiss on the forehead and Harry a clap on the back. "We'll talk later, mate," he said

to Harry.

Harry nodded and looked back to Hermione. "We need to talk," he looked at her and felt like

he was going to cry. He dismounted his broom, still holding her. He wasn't going to put her

down, either. She needed support right now, both physical and emotional. He walked her a little

way into some woods around the back of the house.

"Mione, everything's going to be okay. Just know that before I tell you what happened." He

looked at her and she nodded.

He then proceeded to tell her everything, starting with Lestrange coming into his house, and

ending with them flying away from Hermione's house. At the end she was crying again, but it

was a softer cry than last time. She seemed to be accepting what happened. Harry knew it

would take a lot longer than a few minute for her to be okay, but this was a good start. He was

awed by her strength. He knew if he had just been told his parents were killed by a deatheater,

he would have either broken down completely or be in a blinding rage destroying everything.

He was brought out of his thoughts by Hermione's small voice, "Thank you, Harry," she said.

"For what?" Harry was confused. He was expecting her to be mad at him, not grateful. From the

way he saw it, everything was his fault. "If you didn't know me, Mione, none of this would have

happened. They came after you because of me."

"You're right about one thing," she said with a small smile. "If it weren't for you none of this

would have happened, because I would have been dead a hundred times over. You've saved

me so many times, Harry. I'll never be able to thank you. This was one thing not even you could

have stopped." She looked up at him, her eyes gleaming.

Harry looked down at her, still in his arms. "You are the most amazing person I have ever met,

Hermione Granger." With that he bent down and kissed her.

At first he was afraid he had gone too far, but a second later she kissed him back. This was the

happiest he had ever been in his life. They stayed there together for a few minutes before

Hermione looked back at the Weasley's house. "We should probably be getting back there."

She looked at him and smiled. "Thank you, again."

He smiled back at her and put her down. "If you ever need to talk, I'm here for you. Don't hide

your feelings." He said the last part with a pang of guilt. Now he knew what it was like for her

and Ron when Sirius had died.

"Don't worry," was all she said before they started walking back to the house.

When they reached the edge of the woods Harry turned to Hermione and gave her a quick peck

on the lips. "If you don't want to talk about this you can go lie down, and I can explain

everything."

"Thanks, Harry, but I think I'm alright. You'll have to explain most of it anyway, but I'll stay

down with you guys while you talk." A little quieter she added, "and I really don't want to be

alone right now."

Harry enveloped her in a huge hug, "Don't worry about that. I'm sure once the Weasley's see

you, you'll never get a moments rest."

They laughed lightly and walked into the house. The second they walked through the door, all

the Weasley's came running into the kitchen to greet them. Harry settled onto a chair at the table

with Hermione right next to him. Under the table he found Hermione's hand and squeezed it

reassuringly. He then told the Weasley's everything that had happened throughout the long

night.