A/N: Finally, I was able to get back to writing. After a month of 80-hour workweeks and two cases of the flu being spread through the entire household, things are back to normal again. (Well, as normal as they can be in my house.
Now about the chapter, this chapter contains a dream sequence that covers almost an entire chapter of fifth year canon. I quoted most of the dialog at verbatim, while the descriptions were paraphrased and/or lightly altered. For those who have studied the chapter in depth and are intimately familiar with it, I apologize if it bores you. I tried to shorten it as best I could. Just try to bear with me.
Finally, thanks to Trecklar for looking over this chapter prior to post.
Chapter 9: A Secret Revealed"Sleep well, Harry," she said as he drifted off to sleep.
As the minutes ticked away, Hermione flipped through the pages as she read one of the romance novels that her mum had lent her at the beginning of summer. It was mother's way of trying to introduce to 'less serious' reading than her textbooks. Since she had no homework to do after taking OWL's, she found herself saying 'Why not?' She eventually found that she liked many of them, but the best effect of reading them was actually the impact that they had on her subconscious. Her dreams began to look and feel more and more like the plots of the novels with only difference being that she herself played the role of the leading lady and her friends assumed the roles of those around her. This same phenomenon began happening to her as she now consciously read the books.
Hermione paused in her reading momentarily to savor the vision invoked by the passage she just read. A blush crept upon her cheeks as on of the more romantically illicit moments passed through her mind. She pulled the book back up from her legs to resume120 her reading when Harry rolled over again in his sleep, facing her this time. He looked somewhat uncomfortable, but didn't appear to be having any sort of dream. 'How am l supposed to read when he keeps tossing and turning like that,' she grumbled to herself. She gave up on her paperback and snuggled down into the covers facing Harry, content to watch him for the time being.
Soon, his skin became pale as his eyes began darting to and fro underneath their lids. An expression of worry crept onto the young woman's face as she could almost feel her bedmate's emotional torment. His body shuddered through a series of cold shivers and streams of cold sweat streaked their way across his face. She tenderly placed a hand on his face, palming his cheek. Under her hand, she felt the enamel of his teeth grinding and the knot of muscle clenching his jaw. 'He feels so cold. I know that Ron said he had some pretty bad dreams last year, but I never expected anything like this. I need to wake him up.'
She shook his shoulders in an effort to stir him. "Harry, wake up. Wake up Harry." She lightly slapped his face a few times while continuing to address him. When this didn't work, Hermione became nervous. 'What if I can't wake him up,' she thought. She was shaking him harder still when he took a deep, gasping breath, grabbed her face with one hand, the back of her neck with the other, and locked eyes with her. She tried back in surprise but could not escape his grasp as her eyes failed and her vision faded to black.
Her mind's eye slowly came back from darkness to find herself in a familiar place: The Ministry of Magic's Department of Mysteries. She was in the back of the Prophecy Room. She watched as a dozen Death Eaters were engaged in a standoff with six school-aged children, including….herself? 'What is going on? This is just too weird.'
She felt the somewhat familiar feelings of fear and tension radiating from the group of students. She listened as Harry whispered instructions for them to destroy the shelves to allow them escape. The Harry's command resonated through the room and the echoing sounds of shattered prophecies filled her ears. She followed the group as they ran to the door and out of the room. She saw herself and Harry dodging curses and hexes fired from the Death Eaters, returning fire when the opportunity presented itself. She observed as her other self silenced the Death Eater Dolohov only to herself struck down by his unspoken flaming purple curse. What happened next nearly broke her heart.
Uncontrollable feelings of grief, anguish, and guilt flooded her mind as Harry collapsed to his knees next to her fallen body. His eyes and wand never left Dolohov however. An unspoken voice wailed in her head, as Dolohov silently demanded that he relinquish the prophecy. 'Don't let her be dead, don't let her be dead, it's my fault if she's dead…' The baby-headed Death Eater suddenly burst into the room, distracting Dolohov. Harry didn't miss the opportunity and dropped Dolohov. She watched as unbridled tears streamed silently down his face as he took in the sight of her doppelganger. He dropped his face into the palms of his hands. 'Please God don't take her. I beg you, take me. If anyone here is going to die, it should be me. This is my fault.' His head rose to face the ceiling as the voice continued. 'Do you hear me! IT'S MY FAULT!' His head sunk again as his eyes dropped to his fallen companion's body. 'I…I can't go on without her.'
Neville's voice, altered by his broken nose, halted the stream of thoughts, "Whaddid he to do to her?"
Harry answered sullenly, "I dunno…"
Neville's fingers groped the sprawled Hermione's wrist. "Dat's a pulse, Harry, I'b sure id is…"
A powerful wave of relief followed Neville's declaration. "She's alive?"
"Yeah, I dink so…"
Hermione felt the sensation of tears tracking down from her own eyes as she took in the scene unfolding in front of her. 'I'm sensing Harry's thoughts and emotions, not my own. That's why things felt a little off earlier. It didn't come from me, it's from Harry.'
Hermione watched closely as the fighting raged on. These were the parts of the battle she had never seen—Ron getting attacked by the brain, Luna being thrown like a rag doll trying to lock a door, Neville convulsing under the effects of the Cruciatus, and the entrance of the order members. She watched as the prophecy dropped from Neville's ripped pocket and was kicked some ten feet away by Neville's magically induced dancing feet. She saw a smoky figure emerge from the broken glass's place of impact on the stone floor. She cupped her ear in an attempt to hear the contents of the prophecy as they were recited but heard no more than a few broken words over the noise. And then it came. The moment she knew had happened but never witnessed—Sirius' death.
She saw him make the same mistake that lead to her own fall the battle. He momentarily dropped his guard when dueling with Bellatrix LeStrange. As soon as his taunt rolled out of his mouth, a curse sprung forth from Bellatrix's wand and sent him headlong through the veil.
"Sirius! SIRIUS!" Shock, followed by a sense of panic and urgency erupted from Harry's mind. He jumped the remaining step to the floor. Remus Lupin grabbed him around the chest before he could sprint to the dais.
"There's nothing you can do, Harry."
"Get him, save him, he's only just gone through!"
"It's too late, Harry."
"We can still reach him –"
She could do nothing but tearfully observe as Harry struggled and argued with Remus; trying to get free. She felt the transition in his emotions and thoughts as the weight of Sirius's death crept into his soul.
Lupin was finally able to pull Harry and Neville away from the battle when the group heard a loud bang and painful yell. They turned quickly enough to see Kingsley Shacklebolt hit the ground as LeStrange, his godfather's murderess, blocked a curse from Dumbledore and made her withdrawal.
Harry's emotions lashed out in a rage, the likes of which Hermione had never felt in her life. And it scared her. She followed Harry as he ripped himself away from Lupin and ran through the few doors between the veil room and into the main hall. They both heard the clatter of the lift the Bellatrix had called, and Harry slammed his fist down on the button to call a second lift. Once inside, he viciously and repeated poked the button marked "Atrium" until the doors finally closed. Harry darted through the opening doors and followed the Death Eater in the direction of the telephone lift. Bellatrix looked over her shoulder and spun to fire a curse at him. Harry ducked behind one of the fountain statues.
"Come out, come out, little Harry!" rang her mock-baby voice. "What did you come after me for, then? I thought you were here to avenge my dear cousin!"
"I am!" shouted Harry from behind his statue.
"Aaaaaah…did you love him, little baby Potter?"
Harry's rage went to even greater heights. Hermione cried out to him as soon as she felt the words beginning to form on his lips. "HARRY! NO!"
"Crucio!"It was no use. A stream of angry red light connected Bellatrix LeStrange to Harry's wand. Bellatrix fell to the ground as the curse connected, she screamed and her body dropped. Hermione's stomach lurched and her legs felt numb, as the realization hit her. Harry had just cast one of the Unforgivables on another human!
The woman at the far end of the atrium quickly rose to her feet, breathless. She threw another curse at Harry as dove again behind the fountain statue and peered around the opposite corner.
"Never used an Unforgivable Curse before, have you, boy?" she yelled, the baby voice long forgotten. "You need to mean them, Potter! You need to really want to cause pain – to enjoy it – righteous anger won't hurt me for long – I'll show you how it is done, shall I? I'll give you a lesson – Crucio!" Harry pulled himself behind the statue as the Death Eater's curse sailed by. The two traded several spells as they battled.
Bellatrix stopped throwing curses and shouted, "Potter, I am going to give you one chance! Give me the prophecy—roll it out toward me now—and I may spare your life!"
"Well, you're going to have to kill me, because it's gone! I can't. It's been destroyed," Harry yelled back. Both Harry and Hermione felt the burning pain of his scar and a surge of fury as the Dark Lord became aware of the situation. Harry gave maniacal laugh, "And he knows! Your dear old mate Voldemort knows it's gone! He's not going to be happy with you, is he?"
"What? What do you mean?" she asked, the fear of her Lord evident in her voice.
"The prophecy smashed when I was trying to get Neville up the steps. What do you think Voldemort will say about that, then?" His scar seared painfully enough to make his eyes water.
"LIAR!" she shrieked with a mix of anger and terror. "YOU'VE GOT IT, POTTER, AND YOU WILL GIVE IT TO ME — Accio Prophecy! ACCIO PROPHECY!" But nothing came, and Harry laughed even harder.
Hermione witnessed the black cloaked Dark Lord enter the atrium. Her first look into those snake-like eyes made her shiver in fear even though she knew she was in no danger. She saw Dumbledore arrive in time to tip one of the statues to the ground, blocking a killing curse aimed at Harry. The battle that took place between the two wizards completely awed her. She had never seen such a display of magic!
"You do not seek to kill me, Dumbledore?" called Voldemort. "Above such brutality, are you?"
"We both know that there are other ways of destroying a man, Tom," replied in a tone that suggested that they were having a philosophical discussion over afternoon tea. "Merely taking your life would not satisfy me, I admit —"
"There is nothing worse than death!" snarled Voldemort.
"You are quite wrong. Indeed, your failure to understand that there are things much worse than death has always been your greatest weakness."
She watched as the duel went on. A beautiful phoenix (she guessed, as she had never seen one) flew in and swallowed a killing curse and burst into flame and fell from the air, transforming into a featherless chick on the floor. Dumbledore banished a conjured viper high into the air and vanished it in a puff of smoke. He then encased Voldemort in the water from the fountain, as it appeared to turn into liquid glass. Voldemort then disappeared from within, and the water fell. Dumbledore swiveled his head, looking for the reemergence of his foe as the room held an eerie silence.
Without warning Harry's scar burst, enveloping he and Hermione in a pain beyond reckoning, beyond imagining, beyond endurance. 'I'm dead! I have to be dead!' He felt himself being locked in the coils of a creature with red eyes. Their bodies were bound together by pain, with no beginning or ending and no escape. He felt making him speak and his jaw wrench in pain as the muscles pulled against each other.
"Kill me now, Dumbledore…"Harry felt himself falling away, screaming to be released from the physical pain holding his body.
"If death is nothing, Dumbledore, kill the boy…"'Let the pain stop,' thought Harry. 'Let him kill us…End it, Dumbledore…Death is nothing compared to this…'
His heart pooled with emotion as one last thought came, 'And I'll see Sirius again….'
Hermione felt the creature's tortured scream as it uncoiled itself from around them. Harry fell, and her world went black again…
Harry and Hermione returned from his subconscious mind with a jolt. Harry lessened his grip on her but didn't let go. They stay locked in this position for no more than a second or two, staring at each other with wide eyes. That's all the time it took for the two of them to gain measure of each other. Harry's face shown with a relieved but distraught look, while Hermione's carried a look of newfound understanding, empathy, and compassion for what he had endured. The pair embraced tightly. Harry took comfort in running his fingers through her hair and kept muttering over and over, "You're okay. You're okay. I can't believe you're really okay." All the while, he repeatedly kissed the side her face and head firmly and with abandon. Hermione did the same; reciting a mantra of, "I'm right here. I'm fine."
The heightened emotions of the moment stoked the feelings of love she held for her best friend and broke down her resolve to hold them. The passion in he kisses rose steadily as the river of her emotions ran unchecked over the crumbled the dam of her will. She grabbed both sides of his head with her hands and peppered his face with kisses. When she kissed full on the mouth, the fires of desire in her belly roared to life as the kiss quickly turned into an open mouthed feeding frenzy. This did nothing to stem the tide.
Harry, for his part, seemed to just be following his hormonal instincts. Thoughts had yet to enter the picture, as Harry seemed to be content to let himself to feel. For once in his young adult life, he felt no sense of loss, guilt, sorrow, or tragedy, and he was enjoying it; savoring the feeling of pure bliss. The continued but did not progress until Harry pulled away when his need for oxygen could not be sated by occasional gasp of air.
Harry pulled back and took in the sight in front of him. The weight of Hermione's face rested comfortably in his hands. He could see that her eyes were puffy from crying. Her cheeks were covered in shimmering tracks where the tears had fallen, dried, and fallen again. Her hair was a crumpled mess behind his fingers. She would've looked a fright except for the fact she was smiling contently. 'Hold on a second…Smiling? I just snogged my best friend senseless for no reason, and she's…she's smiling?'
"Uh, Hermione? What just happened?" Her cheeks flushed, and she shyly tried to look away. He pulled her eyes back up to meet his. "Hermione?"
She bit the side of her lip nervously a moment before answering, "I think we just kissed."
"Oh," Harry muttered as he looked down wistfully and closed his eyes. "I'm…I'm sorry, Hermione. I shouldn't have taken advantage of you like that. I was having a bad dream, and it…it just felt so good to hold you. I guess I got carried away." He let out a despondent sigh and continued, "If you want to leave, I understand," he said sadly.
Feelings of guilty and worry tugged at her. She released a sigh of her own, but it was borne of resignation. She lifted his chin to capture his gaze. "Harry, if anything, you should be angry at me. I knew you were dreaming, and I'm the one who initiated the kiss, not you. Besides, it's…it's something I've wanted for a long time."
Puzzled, he tilted his head slightly, "Why? What do you mean?"
"I guess there's no easy way to say it, so I'll just say it." She steadied herself briefly the pressed on, "Harry, I've fancied you — no, more than fancied you — for some time now. Probably since the end of third year."
Harry Potter and the OraclePage 5