Disclaimer: not mine of course.
Chapter 4Harry arrived at Hermione's neat suburban house in record time. He knocked on her door and her mother answered.
"Oh, hello, Harry!" she greeted him and pulled him inside. "Hermione's at the pool with her friends. I'll get her trunk and you can pick her up there"
She gave Harry the address of the local pool and he packed her trunk into the back of his car before setting off once more.
He parked in the shade outside the pool and scanned the water for Hermione. He spotted her tossing a ball to a redheaded girl and splashing around in a bikini. Harry was shocked. He didn't think Hermione wore clothing, if that's what you called it, like that. Either he'd never noticed or she'd really come out of the closet since dating Malfoy.
He hit the horn a few times until she spotted him and waved. She hugged her friends goodbye and climbed out of the pool, grabbed a yellow duffle bag and ran through the gates and around to Harry's car.
"Hey Harry!" she said breathlessly, tossing her bag on the back seat before tying a tiny sarong around her waist and jumping in the front.
Back in the pool, Hermione's friends were watching her with awe at the fact that she had just gotten into some guys racing car.
Harry could see Hermione, out of the corner of his eye as he turned the key, glancing down at her friends as she tried to hold back a smile. They were all whispering to each other so Harry, thinking it might be fun to play, hit the accelerator so hard that the tires squealed and span before they even moved off. Finally the car when roaring down the street, music blearing from the subwoofers in the boot until the pool was out of sight. It was now that Harry steadied his speed and shut the music off completely.
"That was great!" Hermione gasped.
"Did Dumbledore sort out the bank thing?" Harry asked, slowing down so a semi-trailer could take the road.
"Yeah. He took one look at the footage then found the girl and turned her in. Leyla wont talk to me now though."
"You don't need friends like that," Harry informed her.
"What about you. You look like you haven't eaten for a month."
"I had a bit of trouble with Jenna so I left home for a while and stayed at a friends place"
"Oh Harry!" Hermione looked shocked. "What did she do?"
"She was searching my room. I attacked her and had a fight with Sirius. Speaking of attack, did you hear about…" Harry continued to tell her about the thing in the desert. It took him the whole way home to tell the story and by the time they pulled up outside Grimmauld place Hermione looked terrified.
"It sucked magic from Dumbledore?" she hissed as Harry unlocked the front door.
The first thing they heard was a baby screaming. The Weasleys had arrived and they'd bought Ginny's four-month-old baby with them.
They stepped into the dining room where everyone else was and Hermione got an odd mix of reactions towards her choice of outfit.
Mrs Weasley looked shocked, Ron looked disgusted, Ginny complimented her and Jenna seemed a touch jealous.
Ginny was sitting at the end of the table, bouncing baby Laura Thomas-Weasley on her knee.
Harry and Hermione had been pronounced her godparents when Ginny had given birth and Harry had taking up the title with pride.
Now he wandered over and plucked the baby up in his arms. Laura had darker than olive skin, fluffy black hair and ocean blue eyes. Harry though she was beautiful as he took in her beautiful baby smell. She gurgled at him and he didn't want to give her up to Hermione who wanted a hug.
"She's so adorable!" Hermione cooed.
"Yeah well, you try living with her" Ron muttered, glaring at the baby with much distaste.
"Are you coming back to school, Ginny?" Harry asked. Ginny's bubbly smile faded slightly.
"Yes. But I'm not aloud to take Laura. She has to live with Mum while I'm away"
Just over the holidays Ginny looked like she'd matured a few years or so.
"Hello everyone!" Lupin came into the room smiling for no apparent reason.
"Hello!" the Weasleys and Hermione chorused.
"We have to figure out sleeping arrangements," Sirius said, coming out of the kitchen with a tray of butterbeers. Harry felt the sudden urge to knock them over and ask for rum.
"Molly and Arthur can have the same room as always. So can Fred and George when they arrive. Hermione and Jenna can have the girls' room. Ginny can go in the study with the baby and Ron and Draco can have the room that Draco had last time he was here."
Ron wrinkled his nose. "I have to sleep with Malfoy?" Ron felt threatened by Malfoy and hadn't taken to him the way Hermione and Harry had.
"Move your bed into my room" Harry said with a superior glance at Jenna.
Hermione, looking delighted at the fact that Malfoy would come, suddenly turned pale and sat down, thinking.
"Haven't you been feeding Harry, Sirius?" Molly said suddenly.
"Course I have, why?"
"He's skin and bones! And look how white and sunken his face is! I'm going to start on dinner" she took her shopping bags and hurried into the kitchen.
"She's right, Harry" Ron said, frowning slightly "you do look sick"
"I'm fine," he said with a sideways glance at Sirius. "Lets go move that bed"
The hot breeze from before had now turned into a raging dust storm and it rattled Harry's window as he, Hermione and Ron dragged the bed in there and positioned it against the wall.
Sirius poked his head in the door as Hermione left to unpack her things.
"You mum wants you, Ron," he said and Ron got up, quite reluctantly, and left. Sirius smiled lightly at Harry before continuing along the hall. The wind outside was becoming stronger by the second and was now rattling the whole house. Harry stood up to go downstairs when there was the tinkling of breaking glass as his window smashed and wind and dust came blowing into his room at the force of a bullet. Harry stabled himself and tried to get over to the window. The wind roared in his ears and he didn't hear Sirius enter the room behind him. Suddenly it was calling him. A deep, vibrating voice, travelling on the wind was calling for him. "Harry Potter"
Harry felt himself being jolted to the floor as Sirius dived on him. The wind and dust began spiralling around the room in a tornado like fashion. Sirius pressed him against the floor and reached for his wand.
"NO!" Harry shouted, knocking it away. "IT'LL SUCK YOUR MAGIC UP! IT'S THE THING FROM EGYPT!"
Harry, his eyes shut against the sand, put his hand above his head to the shattered windowpane.
"REPARO!" He shouted and the glass flew back to its original position. Harry felt his magic being drained in the split second before the glass was mended and the wind was locked out. The dust and sand stopped dancing around his room and fell, scattering over the carpet and furniture.
Now that the noise of the wind was gone Harry could hear screaming from downstairs. He pushed Sirius away and jumped to his feet. The two of them ran downstairs and found the hall full of raging wind as well. The windows either side of the door had shattered and Harry could only just make out the forms of several people pressed against the wall through the swirling vortex of dust. He could hear his name being called again and the second he stepped into the storm he felt his magic draining again. He edged along the wall with Sirius behind him until he reached the windows. He mustered up his last ounce of strength and repaired the damage. The hall was suddenly silent again and the wind was once more locked out. Harry fell to his knees and blinked a few times. He didn't know if it was lack of energy or the after effects of watching a vortex but his vision was spinning slightly. He looked up slowly to see who else had been in the hall.
Hermione, Ron, Jenna, Lupin and Arthur.
Hermione had obviously tried to use magic as well because she was slumped against Ron gasping for air.
The wind outside suddenly stopped and everyone held his or her breath, expecting the worst but there was only a soft pattering on the roof.
Sirius let out a dry laugh.
"It's raining" he exclaimed.
"Hermione, what did you do?" Harry asked, trying to focus. Sirius grabbed him under his arms and hauled him to his feet.
"Freeze…I tried to…freeze…it" she gasped.
"Get them to the dining room" Lupin said, pulling out his wand and making a sweeping motion with it. The dust vanished and the group made its way back to the dining room.
Sirius tried to help Harry but he pushed him away. "I can do it," he said. Not sooner had the words left his mouth, though, he staggered sideways into Ron who was trying to support Hermione. Harry let out an insane laugh as Ron and Hermione toppled over.
"He's delirious" Lupin said blankly. Arthur appeared in the fireplace with Dumbledore. Harry hadn't even noticed him leave.
Molly appeared in the doorway to the kitchen with Ginny. Both of them looked shaken.
"What happened?" she and Dumbledore said simultaneously.
"I'll get some chocolate," Lupin muttered.
"Bring some rum!" Harry called after him. Hermione had lost complete consciousness and Ron was trying to wake her.
Dumbledore whispered something to Arthur who nodded and disappeared into the fire again.
Dumbledore grabbed Harry by his shirt and pulled him to his feet.
"He wants to kill me," Harry murmured, trying to stare Dumbledore in the eye.
"Do you know why, Harry?"
But Harry didn't answer; he'd just noticed Lupin reappear with a block of chocolate and a small bottle of brandy. Harry held his hand out for it and Lupin handed it to him.
"Do you think that's a good idea?" Molly asked, pursing her lips as Harry attempted to undo the lid.
"Fermented liquid is a good form of waking someone up, Molly" Dumbledore explained, taking the bottle and opening it for Harry. "Though chocolate is preferred by many people because alcohol can make the recoveree dizzy, it has a much stronger effect and I think that's what Harry and Hermione need until Severus can make the potion"
"What potion" Harry tipped the bottle up and let it drain into his stomach. Sirius had to pull it away to make him stop and, just as Dumbledore had said, he felt slightly dizzy and extremely happy.
Arthur reappeared with Snape who took one look at Harry and Hermione before conjuring up a cauldron and a set of ingredients.
"Voldemort needs to know" Harry informed Dumbledore in a whisper.
"No he doesn't" Dumbledore answered, forcing Harry to sit before moving across the room to help Snape who was already half finished with the potion.
Molly bit her lip before going back to the kitchen to finish cooking.
Lupin had just revived Hermione with a few sips of brandy and she was sitting against the wall giggling feebly.
"Should it have that much effect?" Sirius asked, frowning as Lupin put the bottle on the table.
"Yes. Because she is already weak, her body will accept anything. I'm not sure how it works but it does. No, Harry" Harry had been reaching for the brandy and Lupin snatched it out of his reach and put it on top of a cabinet.
"Give him this, Remus" Dumbledore handed Lupin a cup of bubbling yellow glop.
Lupin forced it down Harry's throat and suddenly he felt wide-awake. He felt like running, or doing something stupid. He began wringing his hands and looking everywhere around the room.
"You gave him to much" Snape said, smirking as Harry began tapping his feet on the ground. "Her to"
Lupin had just given Hermione the potion and she was behaving in much the same manner as Harry.
"Tell me, Harry…" Dumbledore started as Snape packed his potion things away.
"It started as a breeze it got harder and broke my window and when I repaired it, he started sucking my magic so we went downstairs where he'd broken more windows and Hermione had tried to freeze it so it drained her and I repaired those windows and it took more of my magic and it wants to kill me because I make it stronger and it wants my energy and I really, really need to go for a run" Harry said all this in one breath and Dumbledore was taken aback.
"Ok" he said slowly as Hermione began laughing. "I think I've got all I need…I think you better let them out for a run or they'll never get to sleep tonight"
Harry and Hermione took that as a sign to leave and they jogged down the hall and out the door into the rain.
They ran several laps around the block until they both began to calm down. They were soaking wet when they returned home. Sirius was waiting at the door with towels and they dried themselves off before joining Ron in the living room. They watched one of the latest star wars movies until Molly called them for dinner.
"Shouldn't we wait for Draco?" Hermione whispered to Harry as they entered the dining room.
"He's doing his apparition test. He'll be here soon, don't worry"
Draco Malfoy arrived about halfway through dinner and greeted everyone cheerily before sitting in the only empty seat next to Hermione. She was still wearing her bikini and short skirt and she gave her boyfriend a small smile as he sat down.
"Hello, Hermione" he said shortly and Hermione wondered for a brief second if he was mad at her then she realised he was putting it on because Molly was watching them.
"Did you have a good summer?"
"It was fine" she replied just as blankly, picking sulkily at her peas. Across the table Harry was watching them with a smirk, a piece of chicken halfway to his mouth.
They ate peacefully for a while, Hermione trying hard to listen in on the small talk that was going around but all she really wanted to do was kiss the blonde boy beside her.
A few seconds later she felt a hand slide across her thigh. She felt shivers rush up and down her spine and she forced herself to keep eating.
The hand started to pull her skirt up and she slapped it away playfully with a meaningful look at Malfoy. He raised an eyebrow and tried again. This time she hit him away more forcefully. He frowned slightly then, seeing her blush, grinned and pounced on her, his lips crashing down apon hers.
"Oh!" Mrs Weasley dropped the bowel of peas as the two teenagers fell off their chairs.
Harry, Sirius and Ginny laughed and Lupin and Arthur even inputted a small smile each but Jenna and Ron both looked slightly disgruntled.
Hermione pushed Malfoy away and stood her chair up.
"Sorry" she gasped, blushing a deep crimson and staring at her plate. Slowly everyone went back to their meals and Hermione put her head close to Malfoy's so they could talk.
"What did you do that for?" she whispered furiously.
"Well if you weren't such a dick tease…"
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Look what you're wearing! I couldn't resist"
"I don't know whether to take it as a compliment or an insult"
"It's a compliment! I missed you so much over the summer"
"I missed you to"
"We should 'talk' later tonight"
Hermione pulled away from him and stared. He raised an eyebrow and she instantly knew that he meant sex. She looked down at her plate, wondering if she was ready for it. She guessed she was because she'd been fantasising about it all summer but now that the choice was put in front of her…
"Desert will be about half an hour," Molly announced when everyone had finished eating.
The residing teenagers dispersed to places of the rest of the house. Hermione went up to her room to put a shirt on. Malfoy followed her in and locked the door behind him to avoid intrusions.
"So are you going to talk or not?" he asked, sitting on her bed as she rummaged through her trunk.
"If you mean talk as in sex…" she straightened up to look at him and he nodded ever so slightly. She continued to rummage. "I don't know…"
"I'm not pressuring you, Hermione. If you don't want to then I'll wait"
"I know" she pulled on a red tank top and sat down beside him. He put his arms around her waist and they sat quietly for a few minutes until someone banged on the door.
It was Jenna.
"What?" Hermione asked in a harassed voice.
"The red-headed lady told me to come and see what you were doing" Jenna answered stoutly, pushing the door wider and peering in at Malfoy, watching with mild interest, from the bed.
"Why would she send you?" Hermione asked, looking Jenna up and down with distaste.
"Because Harry wouldn't" Jenna replied smugly
"Well you can tell her we're not doing anything" Hermione made to slam the door but Jenna held it open with her foot.
"This is my room to, you know" she informed Hermione with a superior look.
"Fine, we'll leave" Draco was at her side in an instant and they wandered back downstairs together.
"Who was she?" Draco asked, glancing back at Jenna who watched them leave from a crack in the door.
"Sirius' love child" Hermione said shortly before stopping him at the bottom of the stairs. "You have a room to yourself. Come and get me when everyone's asleep"
"Hermione, we don't…"
But she cut him off. "Just come and get me"
Harry came into the hallway rubbing his scar.
"Harry, did Molly try and make you come and spy on us?"
"No" he replied, leaning on the wall with his arms crossed, watching Jenna standing at the top of the staircase, peering at them through the railings. "But she and Sirius are having a massive fight about teenage rights. Brace yourselves; I think we're in for a lecture later. Why did you ask that, anyway?"
"Because Jenna came looking for us because she said Molly told her to."
Harry took out his wand and sent a stream of harmless sparks at the intruding girl. Jenna jumped up and began to yell.
"DAD! DAD, HARRY WAS ATTACKING ME!"
"Jeez, keep your voice down!" Ginny poked her head out of the living room door and glared at Jenna. "I'm trying to get the baby to sleep."
Jenna glared back for a moment before running back along the hall to her room.
"What a bitch" Harry muttered as Sirius appeared behind him.
"Harry, I told you not to use magic on…"
"I was only scaring her away" Harry rolled his eyes and followed Hermione and Draco back into the dining room.
I am a dead set review whore so please review! Please, please, please!