Wow. I had to re-write this twice because my computers an ass-wipe. You're lucky I even got motivated to finish after that. Lol enjoy ya'll.

Chapter 16: Harmony

The canoe they were sitting in tried to right itself back onto the path it was previously following.

Ron jumped up suddenly, knocking Hermione off of him awkwardly. He stared down at her, more in shock than anything else as she slowly righted herself back into a sitting position and dusted herself off, avoiding eye contact with him.

"What was that?" he asked loudly.

She looked up at him, tears filling her eyes. "I…I don't know."

"Suddenly you can't have Harry, so you go right on to me?" even he sounded shocked by what he had just said.

"No!" she jumped up. "That's not it! You don't understand!"

"Enlighten me" he sounded a bit disgusted.

"I just…" she thought through it a bit. She wasn't even quite aware why she had done it. " I needed reassurance that it wasn't my fault…" she trailed off.

"That Harry doesn't love you?" Ron sounded a bit more understanding now, his voice softer.

"Yeah…and I needed a feeling of…" she searched for a word.

"Affection" Ron said steadily.

"Yes…" she looked at him. "How do you know all this?"

"I have feelings you know…"

The canoe they were on was now flowing silently on the glassy water, finding the path it was magically attached to.

"I'm really sorry about that…I thought you wanted it. I mean, when I woke up this morning you were holding my hand."

"Yeah well last night you were like mumbling and stuff in your sleep. I didn't want to wake you so…I just held your hand. It seemed to work. You must've thought I was Harry." said Ron. "And that's ok….I understand." he added.

For a moment all that could be heard was the boat flowing over the water, creating tiny ripples in the water.

"So, what were you thinking about out here?" she asked.

He turned and stared at her for the first time in a few moments. A look crossed over his face, a look of knowing and longing. He opened his mouth, then closed it upon his apparent better judgment.

"Just all kinds of stuff. Nothing in particular." he sighed.

"Oh."

"Hermione…I" he ejected, quite suddenly.

The canoe pulled up to shore with a thud.

"Oh, I should be going to see Harry. We need to talk about a few things." she hopped out gracefully. She began towards the school and the suddenly turned around. Ron was clumsily climbing from the boat.

"What were you going to say?"

He turned to stare at her, brushing a hand through his ginger hair. "Oh…It was nothing."

She walked back and pulled her arms around him. He hugged her back.

"Thanks for everything Ron." she ran a hand along his cheek before turning and hurrying toward the castle. Behind her Ron fell onto his back and buried his face in his hands. "Ugh Bloody HELL!" he yelled into his hands.

"What?" Hermione turned and yelled back, almost to the door.

"Tell Harry I said Hi" Ron yelled back without moving.

Hermione took a deep breath outside the door to the hospital wing. The walk had been lonely, as the hallways were pretty empty. It was early and most people were still enjoying the warmth of their beds or common room. She had a few things she wanted to say to him, before…she pushed the thought from her mind for them moment. There was time for that later. Right now she was just going to enjoy his love while he still had it.

She pushed the door open. Harry occupied the same bed he had when she left. He laid on his back, his eyes closed and his breathing slowed. Surrounding him was Madam Pomfrey, Lupin, Snape, and 2 people Hermione had never seen before, obviously medi-wizards (given away by their uniforms).

Hermione rushed forward. "What's going on?"

"What's she doing in here? Please stand back! We are to have no visitors!" One of the medi-wizards yelled.

"No, it's ok I'll handle this. I'll be right with you." Lupin rushed forward and gripped her shoulder, redirecting her back out the door.

"What's happening?" she demanded as they left the hospital wing.

He bent down to her level. "We have been testing him for almost an hour now. We think we may have found the magical connection and we need to sever it before it get stronger. A connection this strong would usually kill a wizard if severed, but we believe we can do it without harming Harry. It obviously wasn't performed by Voldemort himself."

"But I didn't…" I didn't get to say goodbye.

"He'll be fine, I promise. He's not going anywhere Hermione, he'll still be the same old Harry." he smiled feebly.

"I know" she forced a smile.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I must get back. Are you quite alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine. Goodbye Professor"

With a wink he rushed back through the door, leaving her standing alone in the abandoned hallway. She turned on her heel and ran to her room, sobbing. Time seemed to stop and start at random intervals. The world around her blurred and before she realized where she was going, she was standing in front of her open trunk holding a small golden box.

I can't do this here… she thought, staring around at her sleeping friends. Well actually I shouldn't be doing this now. I told myself I wouldn't. But she had already thrown a cloak on and stuffed the box in the pocket. The time was ripe for broken promises.

She rushed down the stairs and through the great hall. Thoughts rushed through her mind. Thoughts of her life back at her foster home. So much has happened since then, it felt like years ago. She pushed the feeling of irresponsibility away. She was sick of being the responsible one. She was sick of telling people what was right and what was wrong. She was sick of always getting good grades and being Miss Know-it-All.

She hadn't realized she was running. Or sobbing. In front of her stretch a long hallway with a large wooden door at the end. She was in the dungeon now, and she rushed towards it, as if she had done this before, the route seeming familiar to her in some way. She pushed open the door with a bit of strain. It was heavy, solid. She slipped past it and it closed behind her with a thud.

She lit her wand with a whisper of "Lumos". The room was so large that the light didn't even make it all the way to every recess. She walked to a corner where there sat a couple of empty, abandoned crates. She sat upon one, placing her wand on the other, as well as the golden box after fishing it from her pocket.

Am I really doing this…? She opened the box and pulled out a small blade. Oh yeah.

Hermione pulled her sleeve up slowly. Harry….Ron….Love….Hate…what's the difference anymore? She placed the blade upon her arm. Not on her wrist, but her arm. She had never attempted to kill herself. She wasn't suicidal, and thought those who were were cowardly. This was more of a way to deal with pain. She cut herself to turn her emotional pain into physical pain. She didn't have to deal with thinking out her pain. She could look to her scar and say "This is why I hurt".

Harry…Hermione…Har-mione…Harmony. The word rang in her head a few times. H…she carved into her arm. She felt lightheaded for a moment. She sat up and steadied herself. The room seemed to be spinning. She had stopped sobbing and the tears were flowing silently and sparingly. A….R….

She finished by tracing the word with a crude heart. Her arm was stained with blood that was dripping down onto the floor. She began sobbing now at what she had done. It was a common after-effect.

There was a creak and a slam behind her. She heard footsteps but was too afraid to turn around. Oh no…I'm caught…I'm caught…

"Well, look at what we have here." she turned around. She could recognize that voice anywhere. Malfoy.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pressing her arm to her chest, painfully, so her new work was hidden.

"I was about to ask you the same thing, but it's quite obvious" he reached forward and grabbed her arm. She whimpered with pain. "So what, you trying to kill yourself now?"

"No" she said quietly, pulling her arm back. "How did you find me?"

He leaned against the wall, and pulled a cigarette from his pocket. "I didn't" he lit it with his wand "At least not on purpose."

"Well…you're not going to tell anyone are you?" panic now reverberated through her bones.

"I don't know…I bet old Potter wouldn't like it very much would he" he smiled evilly and too a drag from his cigarette.

"He never cared about me." she said simply, the tears coming back.

"What a sob story. Go on get out of here. Maybe one of these days I'll get lucky and you'll cut your wrist." he flicked the cigarette to the ground and ground it with his foot, then pulled out another and lit it as well.

She placed her blade in the box and the box in her pocket, carefully pulling her sleeve down over the fresh wound. She slipped through the door without a word and slammed it behind her. She began running and didn't stop until she was outside the portrait of the fat lady. She hastily gave the password and slipped inside.

"Hi Hermione" said a familiar voice.

"Hi Ron"

"What's the matter? You don't look too good" he inquired.

It was true, she was a bit dizzy and light-headed. She began to sway and Ron stood up to hold her steady, leading her to a couch. "What's the matter?" he repeated.

"Everything" she sobbed. Before she could help herself she grabbed the end of her sleeve and pulled up.

"Harry….Harry….Hey, how do you feel?" Lupin stared down at him as he woke up. Everyone else except himself and Madam Pomfrey had left the room.

"Kinda dizzy" he sounded weak and his voice was strained.

"That's' normal. We've severed the connection Harry. How's your scar feeling?"

"It's burning like hell" his eyes were still closed.

"Well that's to be expected I'm sure. You'll be just fine. " Lupin placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. " You in Madam Pomfrey's hands now. I'll be back later or tomorrow maybe" he turned and began to leave.

"Professor?"

"Yes Harry?" he turned back to him.

"Where's Hermione?"

"I'm not sure. She's not out in the hall and wasn't in to common room when I checked. Ron said he hadn't seen her."

Harry's eyes shot open. No…she wouldn't have…would she?

Now you don't know what to expect do you? The tables have turned now. The end is near my children. Anyway, leave me a couple million reviews k?

R&R R&RR&R R&R R&R R&R R&R R&R R&R R&R R&R R&R R&R