A/N: You guys are really sweet! Thanks, I do feel a lot better now. I probably overreacted, I guess I can get pretty sensitive sometimes. I'm going to drop the matter entirely. After reading your reviews, I decided I needed a policy about flames. So, if I ever get another flame, it will be ignored completely. There's no excuse to be mean when I'm quite willing to listen to considerate constructive criticism.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Rush of Hope
Three weeks passed with no great change in Hermione's condition. The most she could do was to wriggle around a bit and shift positions slightly, though she was gaining more control of her face. But her improvements stopped there and refused to progress. This made for a very moody Hermione Granger. She swung from rage to depression to general frustration at any given moment. Remus found her a bit difficult to live with, but supported her the best he could. He found himself growing more and more attached to her, something he fought, but he just couldn't hold back.
Hermione, for her part, found her condition easiest to endure when he was around, reading to her or just sitting by her, talking about this and that. She was touched by his patience and how hard he was trying to help. Her feelings for him grew slowly. At times, he would ask her why her face was turning red, but she closed her mind against him, and he soon gave up asking.
That day was one of her bad days. Remus was feeling a bit cranky himself. The full moon was coming soon, and it drained him, leaving him with less patience than usual. He entered Hermione's room, feeling a bit disgruntled. Being shut up in this house was getting to him. He was beginning to understand how Sirius felt, being falsely accused and trapped in the Black house. Remus wondered if he was headed for the same fate as Sirius; a quick death sounded a bit more appealing than the long, slow torture of his mind deteriorating in Azkaban until he was practically dead, anyway. Thoughts like these certainly didn't help Remus's mood to brighten.
Hermione lay there on the bed, glaring at the ceiling. She saw a lot of the ceiling, and knew every cracked feature. She wished she could see more of the room. Clearly, she couldn't get anything she wanted these days. Ever. Bitterness filled her. How she hated this. Today, she just felt like hating everything. Her independent nature couldn't take her infirmity anymore.
"What would you like for dinner?" asked Remus. Dumbledore had been sending him things from the Hogwarts kitchen, so they had plenty of choices. He tried to extract a memory from her, but to his irritation, nothing came. "Surely you must be hungry, Hermione." Still, she closed her mind against him. Her eyes hardened.
"Hermione, is something wrong?" he asked, his anger mounting. Nothing. "Is there anything I can do that I haven't done?" His anger surfaced. He recalled the Ministry's most recent trumped up charge against him. "Is becoming a Death Eater in the Ministry's eyes not enough for you? How about being destined for a life in Azkaban? Maybe you have no idea what it's like to have a dementor suck away at your soul, but I do. That day on the train was nothing, Hermione. It's the worst thing you can imagine!"
He grabbed her shoulders and began shaking her a little. "How about being stuck in this house? I'm not here for fun, you know. Do you know what it's like to be reminded of Sirius all the time? To dread the full moon without Wolfsbane?" He saw fear in Hermione's eyes, and snapped back to his senses. He let go of her and stepped back. "I'm so sorry Hermione," he whispered. "I lost control, I should not have let that happen. It was most disgusting of me… Full moon is soon, but that's no excuse…" he paused and smiled wearily. "Now, I'm going to go and get some dinner. I'll come up with some for you." He left the room, feeling ashamed. The last thing he should do was scare her when she was in that state, so helpless and fragile.
That night, Remus slept on Hermione's floor as usual, after apologizing several more times about getting angry. Hermione's mood had turned to rather sad and thoughtful that evening. She felt awful. She really needed to stop feeling sorry for herself and think more about Remus. 'A bit hard to do when you have so much to be sorry about,' she thought glumly.
Meanwhile, Harry was standing outside of Dumbledore's office, his Invisibility Cloak draped over him. He stared intently at the Marauder's Map, observing Dumbledore as he headed towards Hagrid's. The way was clear. Now was his chance! He burst into the Headmaster's office and whipped the cloak off, stuffing it into a bag under Dumbledore's desk.
"And just what do you think you're doing?" drawled Phineas Nigellus, lounging in the throne-like chair of Armando Dippet's portrait. Armando was a few portraits over, speaking quietly with Dilys Derwent.
"I'm going to see Hermione," said Harry determinedly, figuring that there was no harm in telling him, as Phineas couldn't stop him and Dumbledore was sure to find out eventually.
"Teenagers. Always controlled by their raging hormones," Phineas grumbled. "And you're no exception, Potter. I thought you'd tear this room apart— "
Harry ignored him and eagerly turned to Fawkes, his hands shaking in excitement.
" —last year. You were screaming like a banshee, as well. I couldn't hear anything properly for weeks! …Are you listening to me, boy?"
Harry quickly grabbed the Phoenix's tail feathers, whispered, "Number 12, Grimmauld Place, please," and disappeared from the office.
Harry landed in a dark room. Fawkes flew out the door, leaving him in the quiet space. Harry watched the Phoenix go for a moment, before trying to see what was in the room. In the corner, he could see the outline of a bed, and by the lump, someone was sleeping in it. 'It's a bit early to be sleeping,' he thought, tiptoeing over to the bedside. He slowly eased one foot in front of the other, trying not to creak any floorboards. When he was certain it was Hermione on the bed (he noticed her bushy hair), he stopped sneaking and strode up to her.
Out of the blue, he tripped over something. He yelped and he landed with a crash on top of Hermione. Before he could make another move, he felt someone grab him from behind. Harry was punched hard in the jaw and flung across the room. He opened his mouth, but was promptly tackled to the ground by the stranger. "Wait, wait, it's me. Harry," Harry gasped, assuming his attacker was Lupin.
"Harry? Lumos," said Remus. "Sorry, I thought you were an intruder coming to kidnap Hermione. Don't scare me like that!"
"Sorry," said Harry. He stood up awkwardly. "I'm glad I'm not your enemy, Lupin. You can punch really hard." He rubbed his jaw, wincing painfully as he approached Hermione. He heard Remus whisper something and suddenly the room was alight.
"Hermione!" Harry said, grabbing her hand. "I'm so glad to see you!"
A strange expression crossed Hermione's face. The instant Harry touched her she had felt a shot of pain, like crackling fire. She could feel magic all around her. Her whole body began shaking, and Hermione closed her eyes in concentration, trying to fight back sobs of pain. Heat seared down her spine and through her body. It felt as though her dead limbs were being magically resurrected.
"Is something wrong?" asked Remus and Harry, almost in unison.
Hermione weakly returned Harry's grasp. She could feel life stretching up her arm, her neck, her head, and slowly through the rest of her body. It was painful, yet uplifting all the same. "No," she gasped awkwardly.
"What?" said Remus excitedly.
"Ree-mus, I cain tock," she choked out. She'd been silent for nearly a month. She almost had forgotten how to speak.
"Sorry?" said Harry confusedly.
"I wash sayeen I cain tock," Hermione managed, a bit clearer. "I cain tock!"
"What happened? Why do you think this is happening?" asked Remus. He was thrilled for her, but he didn't like the delighted way she was looking at Harry. It made him feel jealous. 'It's not romantic,' he tried to persuade himself. 'I merely wish I would get that kind of appreciation from her.'
"It's Hair-ee," she gasped. "I shood have known! His bud resists the Killing Curse. That's what's happenin'." She sat up slowly, gritting her teeth hard and fighting all the hurt away. The process was agonizingly painful, but she would suffer anything to move.
"My blood?" said Harry, beginning to catch on.
"Yesh!" She paused for a moment. Harry was still bleeding slightly from being beaten up. A bit trickled down his jaw and landed on her arm. She felt another surge of stength. "Yes," she said quite clearly, her voice back. "Evidentally, it's transferrable to me. Let go for a second, I want to see if it's permanent or not."
He let go. Hermione could feel herself gradually being drained of her strength, and grew more limp by the second. The pain left, too. She fell backwards, and Harry caught her. "Thunks. Thanks." She was quiet for a moment, thinking, ignoring the returning fiery streams of pain. "I wonder what would happen if we tried a blood transfusion?"
"Harry, are you up to that?" inquired Remus eagerly.
"Sure," said Harry, frowning. "But what if Hermione and I don't have the same blood types?" He was no genius in the medical field, but on the Muggle news he had heard about blood donations and the different blood types, and the dangers of transfusing someone with the wrong blood type.
"It doesn't matter if you're a witch or wizard," explained Hermione. "Our magic neutralizes it."
Remus fetched a bowl and magically transmitted some of Harry's blood into it, before magicking it into Hermione's bloodstream. Harry let go of her experimentally.
Hermione could feel her insides sizzling with the battle going on there. She blinked several times, trying to concentrate on Harry and Remus instead of her buzzing insides. The pain was horrendous. She felt like her veins held boiling water instead of blood.
"How are you feeling?" asked Remus, concerned. Although he could tell she was trying to hide it, she looked like she was in severe pain.
"Like the summer festival fireworks are being hosted in my body," said Hermione truthfully, though she did not want them to know how much pain she was in. There was not anything they could do about it, anyway. She felt a surge of happiness. She could now move on her own! "But I'm not complaining!" Her face lit up with excitement. "I must admit, Harry, I was angry at first to see you here, when I had told you not to. But I'm so glad you're here now, I've really missed you!" She hugged him, sniffling a little.
Harry hugged her back briefly, and let her go. "You need to come back to Hogwarts, Hermione, we need you there!" he said urgently.
"I'm sorry, Harry, but Professor Dumbledore would get into trouble, and," she paused, "I can't abandon Remus." She turned to Remus with a shy smile. It was strange to finally be able to interact with him properly. Now that she could finally talk to him, she hardly knew what to say. They gazed at each other for a long moment, both aware of the strong connection between them. Hermione smiled at him, and he smiled back.
'So nice to see her smile again,' Remus thought to himself. 'I haven't seen her smile — well, since summer!' He felt a rush of pride. He had proven the experts wrong. Hermione was not only alive, but it looked very possible, now, that she might fully recover.
"Thank you, Remus," Hermione finally said, blinking back tears. Between the pain and the overwhelming gratefulness she felt, she could not help but cry. "Thanks for rescuing me."
He reached out and placed a hand gently on her shoulder. "Now, Hermione, don't cry. You've done enough crying this past month, I think, and I'd rather see you smile."
"I'm crying because I'm happy," she said, glancing between the two men. "You're the best." Taking a deep breath, she struggled to her feet. Her feet screamed as they were forced to support her weight. Remus held on to her, concerned that she would fall. Her body shook visibly as she managed to stand straight. 'Now that I can stand, I don't really have any place to go,' she thought ironically. 'But I want to go somewhere.' "Let's go to the kitchen," she suggested.
"Are you sure you can make it that far?" asked Remus.
Hermione felt a flash of anger, but as she was tottering back and forth, trying not to fall, and felt ready to faint from the pain, she realized he had a point. "I want to," she said stubbornly.
"Harry and I will hang on to you," Remus insisted. Hermione did not object. As she tried to lift her foot up to begin walking, it felt heavy, like a chunk of wood. Her foot felt like it was stuck in deep, congealed mud. But Hermione was not to be deterred. She struggled along in slow, jolting steps.
The trio squeezed their way down the stairs, which were especially difficult for Hermione, and through the kitchen door. Gritting her teeth, she shakily broke apart from them and ambled to the sink, her pain slowly receding. As she filled a cup of water for herself, she felt a surge of satisfaction. At last, she could do something for herself!
She shuffled over to the table, the contents of her glass spilling everywhere as she went, but she ignored this and sat down, exhausted. She drank the remainder of the glass.
Suddenly Fawkes appeared, a furious Dumbledore towed behind him. His expression was one of anger, but it quickly shifted to amazement as he saw Hermione drinking her glass of water. The water was the first thing that she had drunk normally in a month. "Greetings," he said, dumbfounded. Everyone, including Hermione, to his pleasure, greeted him back. "Now, I would like to know what brought this great fortune," he continued, gesturing to Hermione.
"It's my blood," explained Harry. "It temporarily expels the effects of the Killing Curse."
"Curious," said Dumbledore. "I wonder why it never occurred to me. Quite logical, that." He sat down beside Hermione, turning things over in his mind. After a few minutes of deep thought, he asked, "So, how exactly did you administer it to her?"
"By blood transfusion," Hermione answered. Her insides were crackling in earnest now, in a more pleasant way than before, and she felt a bit stronger.
Dumbledore was silent for another minute, and then he spoke again. "It's odd that you didn't wake up in the hospital," he mused, "when Harry touched you."
"Do you have any idea why?" asked Harry.
"I have a theory," said Dumbledore. "I think, when Michael Judge used the Killing Curse on Hermione, he didn't have quite enough magic to get it done. He was distracted. Normally, when the Killing Curse is used, it first knocks the life from the body, and then separates the soul from it, so quickly it seems to happen all at once. He was able to push the life from her body, but was unable to completely sever her soul from it. It hung in a limbo-like state, struggling between the world of life and death. Obviously, her soul won the struggle to stay in this world. Life was attempting to reenter her body as well, but the Killing Curse was so strong, it was blocked it from entering. Harry was unable to help her before because when a soul leaves a body, even partially, no force of magic can bring it back, unless the soul itself manages to struggle its way back on its own." He paused. "Am I right to assume the blood transfusion will become a regular procedure? Of course, we can't have it occur too often, as it would take too much strength out of Harry."
"I'll do it as much as often as Hermione needs," Harry insisted.
"Harry, it has nothing to do with personal weakness on your part. Anyone would grow faint if too much blood was taken from him or her," Remus supplied.
Dumbledore nodded in agreement. "You should continue, but be careful, and only undergo the process when Hermione is in need of it."
Harry nodded. He turned to Hermione. "Can Ron come and visit now?"
"Yes," said Hermione easily. She felt less embarrassed about her condition now that there was a remedy.
"Great! I'll let him know," said Harry.
"Professor," said Hermione quietly. "Do you think I'll ever be able to function normally without Harry's blood?"
Dumbledore looked at her keenly, an odd sort of smile on his face. She swore she saw him glance at Remus. It was so quick, though, she might have been mistaken. "I think, with the help and support of your close friends, and your own determination, your own magical immune system will begin to rally itself and bring life permanently back to you." He stood. "Let's go, Harry, before curfew arrives."
First Harry, then Dumbledore disappeared via a brightly colored phoenix.
Hermione twisted in her seat to scrutinize Remus. "Why did you do it?" she immediately asked. "What made you rescue me?" It had been something she'd been dying to ask for weeks. She gazed at him in grateful admiration.
For some reason, Remus's face reddened. The way she was gazing at him made his insides turn to mush. "I didn't think it was right to let you die. I wanted to give you a chance. I felt there was hope for you, because Harry was able to live normally after he should have died. And besides," he said, his voice lowering, "I couldn't bear to lose someone else that I — hold dear to my heart." He reached to her and touched her cheek briefly. He felt locked in her stare.
Hermione peered at Remus, who was looking at her strangely. His words had touched her. "That's really sweet, Remus. I don't really have a way to thank you properly." He still had that intense look in his eyes. She remained still in anticipation of what was going to happen next.
Remus had an overwhelming desire to kiss her; she almost seemed to be inviting him to. 'I'll just kiss her on the cheek,' he reasoned desperately. 'I can't fairly ask her to love me, when it's only a matter of time before I'll be sent off to Azkaban,' he thought.
Remus leaned close, and Hermione's breath caught in her throat. He brushed his lips against her cheek. "It's about time we got back to bed, Hermione," he said.
She stood, and Remus put an arm around her waist, helping her journey back upstairs. As he settled down on his mattress, he chuckled. "Hopefully there will be no more intruders tonight, I need to get some sleep. Goodnight, Hermione."
"Goodnight, Remus," he heard.
Soon, they were both asleep.
Replies to Reviewers:(question mark): Ooooo, mysterious question mark person! Hehe, thanks. I was quite tempted to call her that, but I feel like I need to be professional...thanks for saying it for me, LOL!
MoonyNZ: Yes, I enjoyed writing that part with Remus and Hermione. I modeled Michael Judge after Bellatrix Lestrange, although, I certainly hope she doesn't do in books six and seven what I'm going to have Michael do. That would sure make everything go haywire! Thanks for letting me know what you thought, I was relieved. Thank you for your great review!
Radingsouls4u: (ominous music) We won't know the full details of what Judge is up to until near the end, around chapter 20, I think. But we will find out a bit here and there until then. :) Thank you, as always, for reviewing!
Dancing in Rain: Yay, thanks! That's exactly what I had in mind. Where it came from is irrelevent. Thank you for reviewing!
SpikesDreamer: Yeah, you're right, no one cares about it, thanks. :) After reading your review, I can see how totally stupid the flame was...even if it was true, and this was all about Terri, it's really stupid not to write about what you truly believe in. I mean, that's what all writers do, for goodness sake, how can she expect anyone not to? Thanks for reviewing "Memory Split" by the way. :)
JTBJAB: Thanks so much for your nice, long review. I totally agree with you. After I wrote "Many Cups of Sugar Get You to the Moon," I made a policy of not writing a story that I thought would get a lot of reviews, it had to be something that amused me and that I enjoyed writing without the feedback. At the same time, though, I love to interact with you all, reading your suggestions and constructive criticisms, heeding them when I can. :) That keeps me writing when I know people want me to, otherwise I'd drop it, I do have other hobbies to keep me busy. Thanks again.
Morena-Forever: Yes, Hermione will try, anyway. We'll just have to wait and see if she's successful. :) Thanks Morena!
skittlesdog: Great to hear from you! Yes, it does makes me feel better. :)
LupinLover99: You're welcome. :) Gosh, I hardly know what to say. Thanks!
Amber Hermione: About Severus. Thanks for being nice and not flaming me. Well, I can't change what I've written, it would change too much in the future, but I will do this for you. I'll have him do Remus, and maybe Hermione too, a big favor in a future chapter. It will probably be around chapter 19 or so (I haven't writing it get, I'm on 18). I do understand a bit about being mad at someone making Severus evil, I hate stories that make him a Death Eater (even after he joined Dumbledore's side). Also, about the P.S., I don't want to be confrontational, but I do have a beta reader that I really like, who's been correcting my chapters and giving me ideas since chapter 5. I'm sorry that you find me hard to understand sometimes. Aside from that, it's really cool that you're reading it to your sister. :) I see you've put this story on your favorites list, thank you! Thanks for the long review, and for reviewing "Many Cups of Sugar Get You to the Moon."
Rane2920072: I can understand being busy. I'm transitioning to a new job, so for about the next week and a half, it's going to be pretty crazy while I try to juggle two jobs, a horse, school, and going downstate for three days for my sister's graduation, LOL. Thanks for your encouragement. :)
BlackPaintedWhite: Ooooo, celery! LOL! Thanks. :) Not in this chapter, but in the future something bad will happen to them, yes. Thanks for reviewing twice!
Preview of next chapter: Neville used a paper towel to sop up a potion spill on a desk, and as he threw it out, something in the garbage can caught his eye. It was the Daily Prophet. Neville rarely read the paper. Usually he was too busy trying to remember passwords and what homework he was assigned to be too bothered about the paper. Something made Neville pull it out for a look.