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I bet y'all thought this story was a goner. Nope. In fact, I have a shit-load more of it written and almost at the ready to post. I can't recall why I didn't post this chapter… it's been sitting around for years, literally, years, waiting to be posted, but I just never did it… don't know why. But I'm glad it's here, because I've been wanting to write fic and for some reason I just can't right now, so it's good to have something to entertain myself and a few hopeful die-hard readers with. Thanks to Spotted trout, for inspiring me to get my butt into gear! By the by, ST, the quote at the beginning of the first chapter is from the musical The Secret Garden, from a song called "I Heard Someone Crying", and the one in chapter 2 in from "Song to the Siren" by This Mortal Coil.
I hope you all re-discover this story… I hate losing readers, but I realize I've waited a long time. It was a busy… 2 YEARS? Jesus, I really don't have any excuse. Well, I'm sorry. It's here now. What else can I do?
I promise there's more coming, and soon. Enjoy for now.
-N
Chapter 3: Even if it Takes a Little Bleeding…There is nothing to keep me from coming back to you cause i can picture all the pictures of you and me on your walls.
What would it take to make you mine forever?
Just your fingernails, a little game that I made up.
Do you know, that I never ever lose?
Could I cut out my liver, make a special potion to close my flat?
Three parts my heart.
Yeah, you know that I would do it in a second. With just my fingernails, a little game that I made up.
Do you know that I never ever lose?
Never lose.
I am not afraid of what it takes to glue you to my side even if it takes a little bleeding, so be it I would go without breathing and I don't have to justify it.
You just watch me.
I've got time to kill.
Hermione opened the door to the rooms she shared with Remus as quietly as she could. The lights were dim and it was well past two in the morning; surely he was asleep. She would just sneak in, get some of her stuff and—
"Hermione." Not a question, just her name in his voice from the darkness. The light beside his chair switched on. Hermione felt a pang of sadness; he'd been sitting in the dark waiting for her all this time.
"Remus," She said emotionlessly. He gave her a pained look and stood.
"I didn't mean to upset you before," He began, walking towards her. "I'm just worried about you. You're putting your heart and soul into this whole investigation, and when it all turns out to be nothing, you'll be devastated. I just don't want you to get hurt." Hermione sighed. She knew that he meant well, but she just couldn't give up.
"Remus, I understand that you're worried, but I KNOW there's something--"
Remus shook his head. "Hermione, please stop this." He looked so desperate that Hermione was almost taken aback. It dawned on her suddenly that he felt almost as guilty as she did about Harry and Ron's deaths, and that she was making him relive those feelings of guilt. Oh Remus… if only you knew that we have a chance to fix this… "I just want to help you," he said quietly, standing before her, just waiting for her to say or do something. Hermione looked him over slowly. This was the man that she loved, the man who she'd been sure for months now that she was going to spend the rest of her life with. And despite all of this, she was still hopelessly in love with him. It wasn't something she could just put an end to after one simple argument, no matter how important that argument was.
"You want to help me?" Hermione asked finally. "Then believe me. I know there's something wrong, something that just isn't fitting right." Remus squeezed his eyes shut.
"Hermione, look… we're both very tired and very stressed out right now. Why don't we sleep on it, and we can go over it in the morning. Okay?" Hermione was about to protest, but then she realized just how right Remus was. As if on cue, her eyelids began to feel heavy and weighted, and she had to fight back a yawn. She nodded slowly, her eyes locking with Remus', and she stepped forward until she was leaning against him slightly, their bodies touching at every possible place. Remus wrapped his arms around her, and for the first time in weeks Hermione felt almost safe again.
"I love you," Remus whispered in her ear. Hermione smiled slightly.
"I love you too," She said, burying her face in his neck.
"We're going to be fine." He tightened his hold on her. "Just remember that."
Hermione nodded. But she couldn't help but think that she was going in one big giant circle. And she knew, deep down, that Remus would never believe her, not until she had proof.
It was then that Hermione knew exactly what she had to do. She shuddered slightly and burrowed further into Remus' embrace, unable to block out the sudden cold and the feeling of dread that had overcome her.
Harry felt slightly disoriented as he woke up from the rare deep sleep he'd been in. He couldn't feel the cold floor underneath him. His head wasn't throbbing, and he wasn't freezing from the cold of the dungeon anymore. Perhaps I've finally gone numb, he thought. Figures that this reprieve would come now, when I've already offered my last shred of dignity to Voldemort. And had it thrown back in my face. To tell the truth, Harry was more relieved than anything that Voldemort hadn't accepted his surrender. Except for the fact that now he had no way to sway the Dark Lord's actions where Ron was concerned. Harry's heart throbbed at the thought of Ron, his Ron, dead or worse at the hands of Voldemort.
As Harry's consciousness continued to drain slowly back to him, he became increasingly aware that he was NOT, in fact, numb. He could feel, and yet he did NOT feel the same, horrible floor beneath him, or the same searing pain that had constantly plagued him since he'd gotten here. Slowly, carefully, he opened his eyes.
Harry almost gasped out loud. He was in a room, a well-lit, comfortable room. He turned his head slightly, bracing himself for the pain that came from moving, and almost passing out when he felt none. He looked at the thing he was lying on. Bed. He was lying on a bed. His arms and legs were strapped down, but he was lying on a bed. After a moment, he tried lifting his head. He marveled at his success for a moment before staring down at himself. He was completely naked, but that didn't bother Harry at the moment. He was too preoccupied with the sight of is body to even pay attention to his nudity. Where the skin was once broken, bruised and scarred, it was now completely healed. His feet, misshapen from being broken, healed, and re-broken again, were back to normal, as were his hands, arms, legs and fingers. His skin was pale, and he was far too thin, but he was in one solid piece again. Harry wondered if his face was back to normal again.
For a moment, Harry reveled in the painless feeling, the wonderful sensation of feeling healthy and warm, before he remembered Ron. Instantly, Harry felt guilty. He knew the price for being this way, and he knew that if they ever escaped, if Harry managed to save Ron and himself this way, Ron would probably never want him again. But he didn't care. All that mattered now was that Ron was safe and alive. Harry was almost certain that he could keep him that way by doing this. Hopefully Ron would forgive him in time.
Harry turned his head towards the door at the sound of a padlock being opened. A masked death eater entered. Harry was sure it was Lucius Malfoy; no one else had seen him since his imprisonment, probably for security reasons. The entire wizarding world must have thought him and Ron dead; there could be no chance of proving them otherwise. The death eater stood over him menacingly.
"All better?" Asked a cold voice. Harry could now identify the death eater as Malfoy beyond a shadow of a doubt. He glared.
"Malfoy," He hissed, surprised at how good his voice sounded. Voldemort must have hired a master healer for me, he thought, slightly stunned.
"Good guess, Potter. Hats off to you." Malfoy's sarcastic remark so reminded Harry of Draco that he had to remind himself that this was Malfoy senior he was speaking to. "Well Potter, you appear to be up to par again." Lucius ran a gloved hand down Harry's bare side. Harry was suddenly very aware of his nakedness. "Time for a test run," Lucius said venomously as he removed his mask. Harry flinched and closed his eyes as Malfoy's hand traveled further down his body. "No," said Lucius sternly, and Harry's eyes opened with a wave of the older man's wand. Harry found himself unable to close them again, much to his dismay. Lucius grinned savagely. "I want you to see this."
Hermione wrapped her cloak tightly around her small frame as she hurried through the darkness. It was the first week of November now, and the nights were starting to get quite chilly. Hermione ran in the shadows towards the back of the school property, so as not to be seen by anyone looking out of the windows. She ran quickly towards the property's edge, to the graveyard, where several professors, headmasters, and former students were buried. Including Harry and Ron.
She'd been to their graves enough times to find them easily, even in the darkness. Hermione took out her wand and whispered "Lumos" as quietly as she could, shedding a small amount of light on the graves. She stopped and stood still for a moment, contemplating one last time the thing that she was about to do.
Ever since that night one week ago when she'd found the mortality boxes, Hermione had been uncertain that Harry and Ron were actually dead. It just didn't make sense… all of the evidence was faulty, and their mortality boxes wouldn't open. They couldn't have been spelled against everyone… Hermione had gotten several more people to try them, including Sirius, Hagrid, Neville, Dean, almost the Entire Hogwarts Faculty and the whole Weasley family. None of them had had any luck. Hermione had even gotten complete strangers to try them, people who the boxes couldn't have been spelled against, since Harry and Ron hadn't ever met them, and all she'd gotten were several people muttering angrily about biting lion hinges. And so she'd come to a startling yet logical decision; Harry and Ron weren't dead. Lost? Maybe. Imprisoned? Probably. In comas or beaten unconscious? There was a chance. But not dead. The autopsies, obviously, were fake… there were too many flaws. And that left the bodies as the only hard evidence. Bodies that, obviously, weren't Harry and Ron's, since the two of them were alive and the corpses most definitely were not. Hermione's guess was that they were mock corpses, bodies created out of thin air by powerful Dark Magic. Hermione had spent the past few days researching the Dark Arts through books from the restricted section, and she'd found the spell for creating a mock corpse. It was a long, draining process, and only a very powerful dark wizard could perform it. Hermione didn't even have the capabilities to perform such a complicated spell. But Voldemort did. A wizard with his power could make a mock corpse so convincing that even a skilled mediwitch like Poppy Pomfrey would believe it was a real body. The only disadvantage of mock corpses was that after the first moon cycle, the body disappears, leaving only dust in its place.
Hermione was almost entirely certain that Voldemort had used mock corpses in Harry and Ron's place. All she had to do was dig the coffins up and open them to prove it. Certainly, all she'd find would be dust. And if not… Hermione shuddered, pulling her cloak even tighter around herself.
"Alright," She said under her breath. "Come on Hermione… it's now or never." She raised her wand, pointed it at the earth, and muttered the unearthing spell. It hit the ground in front of Ron's gravestone and ricocheted back towards her. Hermione ducked to avoid being hit, and then stood up straight again, staring at the grave in bewilderment. Something was blocking her spell. Someone hadn't wanted anyone to disturb the grave with magic of any kind. Hermione couldn't begin to guess if it was Voldemort or Dumbledore or both who had cast the protection spells on the graves, but either way, she couldn't ask for them to be removed. She sighed heavily and removed a quill from her cloak, transfiguring it into a huge shovel. Shaking her head, she began to dig furiously.
"Professor Lupin!" Remus' head snapped toward the sound and scent of the student who had just burst unannounced into the staff lounge. It was late at night… all students should have been in bed, and yet here was this young girl running into the lounge sounding frantic and smelling of fear and panic. Remus stood, walking towards the girl. Violet Brown, he recalled, remembering both the girl and her older sister, who had been his student almost a decade ago.
"Violet," Remus said kindly, putting his hands on the girls trembling shoulders. "Calm down… what is it?"
Violet looked at him fearfully. "It's Professor Granger, Sir," She said breathlessly. "I was looking out the window when I saw her… she's in the graveyard, and she's…" The girl broke off. Remus closed his eyes as if in pain.
"Violet, go get the Headmaster and tell him to meet me out in the graveyard. Then go straight back to your dormitory and go to sleep. Is that clear?"
Violet nodded solemnly. "Yes sir," She said before taking off down the hall in the direction of the headmaster's office. Remus grabbed his cloak from its spot by the door and began to run towards the back of the school. Oh gods… Hermione, what now?
Dun dun duuuuuh…
Sorry again about the delay. Review! Assuage my guilt!
P.S: Spotted Trout, the lyrics this time are from Saves the Day's "A Drag in D Flat". Thought I'd save you the time and just tell you now;) -N