Guilty Love: Year 6
Chapter 6: Weak Curses and Goodnight Gary

Disclaimer: I still don't own Harry Potter, or anything to do with it.

A/N: If you haven't read chapter 5, I recommend you go back and read it, otherwise the beginning of this won't make any sense.

"Hermione, will you be my wife?"

Hermione's jaw dropped. After a moment she recovered from shock and opened her mouth to speak.

"HERMIONE! WAIT!" Ron shouted as he ran up to the pair, panting. "Hermione, I-I love you!"

Hermione stared blankly at Ron for a moment, her jaw still hanging open. Ron did his best to stand up straight, his face pale though he was still panting heavily from his sprint across the grounds. Harry tore his gaze from Hermione as Ron's words sunk in; he stared incredulously at his best friend.

Harry stood up slowly, not taking his eyes off of Ron.

Ron saw Harry standing and took a step back, "Harry, mate, I-"

Harry shook his head disbelievingly and stepped around Ron and started walking swiftly back towards the castle. "Harry! Wait!" Hermione said, jogging to catch up with him.

Harry stopped fast. "Why? Why should I wait, Hermione?" Harry whispered without turning around, his fists clenched at his sides.

Flashback

"You have escaped Azkaban and returned to me. You are more faithful then most, Lucius."

"Thank you, Master, your kindness to me has never wavered," answered the tall man, bowing low to his Master, his unwashed blonde hair falling in clumps around his shoulders.

"Nor has your Loyalty," Lord Voldemort replied. "Now, I have an assignment for you. Our dear friend, Mr. Potter has a new girlfriend. I believe you are familiar with the little Mudblood, Miss Granger," he informed Malfoy.

Lucius' eyes narrowed with intense dislike. "I know of her."

"Potter is very fond of her," Lord Voldemort continued. "To get to Potter we have to get to her. I want her dead."

Malfoy stared into the flames of the fire, watching as the flames slowly turned the interior walls of the fireplace into a sooty black color. "When?"

"Tonight."

End Flashback

Silently, Lucius Malfoy landed his broom in a nearby tree on the edge of the Forbidden Forest. He could see three students arguing, less than fifty yards away. Lucius attempted to straighten his hair; the broom was not his favorite way to travel. Lucius pulled up his hood, making sure his white-blond hair was covered.

He took his wand out of his sleeve, running his fingers along its length. He could feel the magic tingling inside it. His wand seemed to want to make his master happy, just as he did.

Hermione pulled Harry back to Ron. "We need to sort this out. For good," she informed them, sounding surprisingly McGonagall-like.

Lucius Malfoy took a deep breath and readied himself to jump out of the tree. Normally he would have done it from far away, but after four months in Azkaban, he was slightly out of touch with his killing curses. He wanted to do this right the first time. He crouched low on the branch, preparing to jump.

Hermione laced her fingers with Harry's and faced Ron, opening her mouth to speak. There was a sudden crash, and then,

"AVADA KEDAVRA!"

Harry felt Hermione let go of his hand and slip silently to the ground next to him. Harry whipped out his wand and pointed it at the tree where he could now see a tall figure dressed in black, standing and laughing.

"Compliments of the Dark Lord, Pott-"

"STUPEFY!" Harry bellowed. The Death Eater crumpled to the ground. Harry turned to Ron who was staring palely at the fallen, but not dead, Death Eater. Harry shook his shoulders. "Ron! Ron!"

Ron looked at him. "Go get Dumbledore," Harry commanded him. Ron stared for another moment, before nodding and hurrying off towards the castle.

Harry knelt next to Hermione, lifting her head off the ground. "Hermione! Hermione, wake up!" Harry brushed the hair off of her face, "Please! Hermione, come on, please, open your eyes, say something…Hermione…please…"

Harry leaned his head down on top of hers, tears running down his face, "Please, Hermione, don't leave me all alone…I need you…"

There was a tap on his shoulder, "Harry, come on, we need to get her to the hospital wing." Harry turned slowly and his emerald eyes locked on a pair of brilliant blue eyes, hiding behind half-moon spectacles.

Harry nodded and threw Hermione's arm over his shoulder, Ron, who had appeared with Dumbledore, took her other arm. "You boys get Hermione to the hospital wing," Dumbledore told them as he headed towards the fallen Death Eater, "I'll be there in five minutes."

"Potter! Weasley! I want you to wait outside until the Headmaster gets here!" snapped Madam Pomfrey.

"Please, Madam Pomfrey!" Ron whined.

She crossed her arms, "No."

"She is my girlfriend, I want to be with her," Harry demanded.

"Let him in, Poppy," said Dumbledore's voice from behind them.

Harry and Ron followed Dumbledore into the hospital wing to the bed where Hermione lay. Another tear fell from Harry's eyes as he rushed over and took her hand. It was cold.

He looked up at Professor Dumbledore. "I-is she…is she d-dead?"

Dumbledore stared down at Hermione's face, appearing more tired than Harry had ever seen him. "No," he whispered, a small smile on his face. "She is just very lucky."

"What happened?" Ron queried. "I heard the …killing curse. Someone shouted it, and then Hermione fell. I thought she was dead," Ron added.

"Can you wake her up?" Harry whispered, gently stroking the back of her hand with the tips of his fingers.

Dumbledore didn't answer for a moment, he appeared to be choosing his words very carefully.

Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, Dumbledore spoke. "I can, but before I do, I want to tell you a few very important things." He sat down and took a deep breath, "First, I want you to know whom the Death Eater was." He paused, looking directly into Harry's eyes, "Lucius Malfoy."

Harry took a sharp intake of breath. "I thought that git was in Azkaban!" he shouted.

Dumbledore shook his head wearily; "There was a breakout last week."

Harry and Ron stared at him for a moment. "Didn't you see it in the Daily Prophet?" Dumbledore asked.

Ron shook his head; "We canceled our subscriptions when they wouldn't shut up about Harry last year."

Dumbledore nodded, "You may want to start getting it again, it can be quite informative." With a slight smile, he added, "If it weren't for the Daily Prophet, I never would have known about the half-price sale at Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions. Lovely store you know, I got a set of nice new dress robes..."

Ron coughed, "Er, Professor?"

"Ah, yes. I'll get back to the point. Harry, what were you thinking when you used the stunning spell? What was going though your head?" Dumbledore asked, his piercing blue eyes boring into Harry's.

"I was, er, thinking that…" he sighed, "I was thinking that he hurt Hermione, and I wanted to hurt him."

"You did, Harry." Dumbledore informed him.

"I only used a stunning spell." Harry protested.

"Harry, I think the next of your powers has come to surface," Dumbledore sighed. "And I'm afraid this one won't be quite so easy for you to control."

"Powers?" Ron asked confusedly. "What powers?"

Harry looked at Ron. He hadn't told Ron yet. "Ron…Hermione and I, we're sort of soul-mates. We were made for each other, we connect on a level that most people don't," he said without expression. He wasn't sure how Ron would react to that, considering he had confessed his love for Hermione not an hour ago.

"Oh," was all Ron said. After a moment he added, "What kind of powers?" His curiosity had gotten the better of him.

Harry smiled, "Well, so far we can talk to each other in our minds. Kind of like having a walkie-talkie."

"What's a walkie-talkie?"

"Never mind."

"And now, Harry, it would appear you have wandless magic." Dumbledore spoke up.

Harry stared at him. "What makes you say that?"

"Harry, you killed Lucius Malfoy. You were mentally using Avada Kedavra." Harry stared at him still, his mouth hanging open, his eyes searching Dumbledore's for an explanation. "On it's own, your mental killing curse would not have been strong enough to kill him, not yet anyway. But, combined with your spoken stunning spell, the force killed him."

"I-I wasn't trying to k-kill him," Harry stuttered.

"I know, Harry. You are more powerful than I thought," Dumbledore said more to himself than Harry. He continued, "This is not going to be easy for you to control. It won't be easy for Miss Granger either. It is very important that you do. If you lose control, you could harm people unintentionally."

"I DON'T WANT THIS STUPID POWER!" Harry bellowed suddenly, causing a very upset looking Madam Pomfrey to rush in, shushing them.

"Sorry, Poppy," Dumbledore apologized quickly. "There is good to this power, Harry," he said once Madam Pomfrey had returned to her office. "With the proper training, this could be very powerful against Lord Voldemort."

Harry, Ron and Dumbledore sat in silence for a few minutes, each contemplating the meaning of this new power. Dumbledore pulled out his pocket watch, and studied its face for a moment, before standing up. "I will wake Miss Granger now. Eneverate!"

Hermione's cinnamon eyes fluttered open, quickly scanning the three faces surrounding her. "W-where am I?"

Harry squeezed her hand, "You're in the hospital wing, Love."

Hermione stared blankly at him. "Who are you?"

Harry's jaw dropped, his head immediately snapped up to Dumbledore, his eyes asking the question.

Dumbledore quickly turned his attention to Hermione. "Do you know who you are?"

Hermione laughed for a moment, "Of course I know who I am." The laughter stopped, "Wait…" A confused look crossed her face. "No, no I don't."

Harry nearly fell over. Hermione had lost her memory. Desperate, he had an idea. "Hermione, can you hear me?"

Nothing.

Harry caught Dumbledore's eyes again. "Is her memory really gone?"

Dumbledore nodded, "It would appear so. She caught Malfoy's killing curse, but her connection with you, Harry, weakened it to a mere memory removal curse. It may also have been because Malfoy had been in Azkaban and hadn't used a wand for so long, his curse wasn't terribly strong either."

Harry smiled, but it quickly went away, "What about her memory?"

"Well, she will have to take a potion, I'm sure Madam Pomfrey can whip one up for you, but it won't come back right away. It could be a few weeks. Being around you two and taking the potion will help."

As if on cue, Madam Pomfrey came bustling into the room. "Poppy, would you be so kind as to conjure up and Memory Restoration Potion for this young lady?" he asked, smiling at Hermione.

"Certainly." Madam Pomfrey waved her wand a small blue vial appeared on the nightstand next to her. "She is to drink one vial before every breakfast until her memory returns. The vial will refill itself after each drinking," she instructed Harry more than Hermione, and then hurried off to care for a First Year who appeared to have developed a very bad case of green acne.

The next morning Harry led Hermione to the Great Hall for breakfast. Seemingly out of nowhere, a blonde Slytherin blocked his path. There were bags under his eyes and he looked more upset than Harry had ever seen him.

"I heard what you did to my father, Potter. You will pay. You had better watch your back, Potter, because the Dark Lord will avenge his most loyal follower," he glared at Harry, fingering his wand.

"Sod off, Malfoy," said Ron who had just come around the corner.

Malfoy glared at Harry for a second longer, then turned on his heel and headed into the Hall. Ron nodded good morning to his friends and followed him. Harry started to walk in, but Hermione stopped him.

"Why are you being so nice to me?" she asked simply, staring into his emerald eyes.

"Because I love you," Harry told her. "I know you don't remember, but you love me too."

"Oh," Hermione said before heading into the Great Hall. She walked in a few feet, pulled out a chair, and sat down.

"Umm, Hermione? That's Professor McGonagall's seat. We sit at that table, over there," he told her, pointing.

Hermione laughed, "Oh yeah, of course."

That evening Harry and Hermione sat in the common room, Harry trying to teach Hermione six years worth of transfiguration. I never thought I would have to teach her anything. Harry thought bemusedly. Merlin, she is so beautiful, I just want to kiss her. But I can't, because she doesn't know who I am. She keeps calling me Larry, or Jerry, or Carl…can't quite figure that one out.

"Barry?"

Hermione jolted Harry back from his thoughts. "It's Harry. What?"

"Oh, sorry, Henry. Can you show me how to do that floaty-thing again?"

Harry smiled, "Wingardium Leviosa. Swish and flick!" he demonstrated by making their textbook hover above the table.

Hermione laughed and clapped. This boy is amazing. I wish I could remember him, Hermione thought as she studied Harry who was now absorbed in his book. The way his hair falls into his eyes, she sighed, I don't know who he is, but he has the most amazing eyes.

The Dark Lord sat alone in an almost completely dark room. The only light came from the fireplace, which he had his back turned to. He shifted uncomfortable in his armchair. Lucius had been his most loyal followed, aside from Bellatrix, but he couldn't have her out on missions. Not until after his child was born.

He had Crabbe and Goyle, blundering idiots though. Dolohov wasn't in great shape either, and he was sure the Mudblood would remember him.

A thought crossed the Dark Lord's mind. Perhaps he was dancing around the bush too much. Perhaps he should begin to think more about going straight for Potter. Ending it now. All this time, wasted trying to piss him off. What was it worth? In the end it would come down to only himself, and Potter.

It was time to start planning for what was sure to be the final battle.

After two long weeks, Hermione had made little progress, as far as recalling her past was concerned. It was late at night; Harry had already sent Hermione to her room for the night, after a lot of time studying. One thing that Hermione had remembered was her love of studying. She would keep her nose to the books for hours at a time, giving Harry plenty of opportunities to watch and admire her. He couldn't touch her, but he could look.

She was remembering quite a bit of her schoolwork. Which was good, she had even made a minor correction on Ron's potion's essay yesterday. She didn't remember anything about her family though. Harry truly wanted her to remember her mother. He didn't want her to be like him, no memory of his mother.

Harry rolled over. He couldn't sleep. He got up and grabbed his robe, before heading down to the common room. Much to his surprise, there was a bushy-haired witch sitting on the couch in front of the fire, and purring cat stretched luxuriously on her lap.

"Can't sleep?" Harry asked, sitting on the other send of the couch.

Hermione shook her head, admiring the way Harry's shock of black hair appeared to be even more crazy then usual. She also admired the outline of his trained body through his pajamas.

Harry stifled a laugh and ignored the fact that Hermione was staring at him. "So what's on your mind?" he asked.

Hermione shook her head, pushing her attention away from Harry, to the flickering flames in the fireplace. "A lot of things. I guess I'm just frustrated, I want to remember things so badly. My friends, my family, you…" she broke off and returned to stroking Crookshanks.

"Hermione, I'll be here when you remember. I'm not going anywhere." Unless Voldemort kills me, he thought grimly.

"Who's Voldemort?" Hermione asked.

Harry nearly fell of his seat. "You heard that?" I thought your memory was lost.

"It is lost, and of course I heard it."

"Hermione, I didn't say it out loud. It's a part of our connection."

"What connection?"

The one where we can talk through out minds, Harry answered mentally.

Hermione stared at him. "Your lips didn't move." Those gorgeous lips, her mind added.

"Gorgeous? I wouldn't go so far as to say gorgeous," Harry said with a smirk.

Hermione's jaw dropped. "You heard that?"

Of course I heard it, Harry said, laughing slightly.

"Listen," Hermione said, brushing Crookshanks off of her lap and scooting a little closer, "I don't remember you, but I have this deep feeling that I do know you. And…" she leaned forward and kissed him softly on the lips. "Well, I should be able to sleep now!" she stood up and ran upstairs.

Harry stared after her. Goodnight, Hermione.

Goodnight, Gary.

Well, there it is, the much-awaited chapter 6. It's a bit shorter than usual, sorry about that. I've been really busy. I'm not sure how long it will take for chapter 7 to go up. It's the end of the school year and I have a lot going on. I promise I will work on it, so take it easy on me! Anyway, you know I love to hear from you, so don't be silent! Leave a review, or contact me on AIM as WritingHarry182! Have a GREAT night! love