Chapter Four

Everlasting Love

The room was black, and empty. The hazy sight of a black walled room and he was shivering. He opened his eyes, but his vision was blurry for a few minutes. He couldn't move, it hurt him, and he didn't want to try and speak. He let out a sigh and looked around and saw someone.

This girl, who apparently wanted him dead, was sitting in a chair next to him. She was in a dreamless sleep and she had come to his rescue. Harry looked around, it was dark outside, and noticed exactly where he was. He was at St. Mungo's.

The girl next to him was in a uniform that was made from only the finest, silk white material. She was the nurse, and then it all came back to him. It was Hermione, and she was the Healer. He didn't know if she was aware that she had dozed off or not, but that wasn't what was concerning him.

He was suppose to be dead, why hadn't the spell worked? He looked to the side table and saw his wand sitting there. A thought crossed through his mind, maybe he should try again. It would be no use. His wand was protected by a charm and shocked him every time he tried to touch it.

He swore under his breath as the girl beside him started to stir away. She looked so peaceful, but what happened last night? What provoked him to actually try and commit suicide?

He covered him self more with blankets and closed his eyes. He was pretending to be asleep. People often talk better to each other when one of them is asleep. It was strange, but it probably did make it easier. He just closed his eyes tightly and pretended to be sleeping.

He heard the gently sound of the bottom of her chair slide across the floor. He wanted to look, so badly. He could smell the salty substance and immediately knew she had been crying. He wanted to comfort her, stop her tears, but she just practically told him to die. So why would he care now?

"Harry, I'm sorry." He heard her say. He felt the warm hand of Hermione grasp his own. "This wasn't supposed to happen." She said. She was still starting to cry. He was crossing between thoughts in his head, what did she mean exactly, and why?

"What?" he asked silently. Hermione jumped.

"Harry, you're awake." She smiled happily but Harry just opened his eyes and did not look at her.

"What do you mean? You are the one who sent me the note." He stated and Hermione shook her head.

"No." Hermione said breathlessly, she didn't know how she could tell him.

"But Hedwig came back after I sent you one, so it had to be you." Harry said, he would yell if he wasn't so tired.

"Hedwig is really old, he brought the note to Ginny and she sent it back. Harry I'm sorry, this wasn't supposed to happen. I would never wish you dead, never." She swore on her life. "I'd rather sacrifice myself then tell you to go die. I love you Harry." She spoke silently. Her tears were trailing down her face.

"Ginny? But Hedwig knew who you were, it couldn't have been Ginny." Harry spoke, he was certain Hedwig knew.

"Harry I'll repeat myself: Hedwig is really old." She said. "You got her when you were eleven and now you are twenty two or something and she is still alive. I know she is dependable, but she can't live forever Harry." Hermione said, and Harry only nodded. He didn't know what to say.

This was an odd moment's silence when Hermione sat back down in her chair. Harry just stared at her like there was no tomorrow. He wanted to comfort her, tell her everything was going to be alright, and he could. But it made it harder that he was too tired to move. He broke the silence with a hard question, he wasn't sure if Hermione could even answer it or not.

"Why… why aren't I dead?" He asked. He felt like Hermione was going to cry again, and she did. He felt horrible.

"Well, I sent out a spell from my balcony before you finished your spell. I took your wand from you, and you probably didn't even notice. You had something else in your hand, not your wand. I used the 'accio' spell, took your wand from you, and then switched it with a stick." She said. She didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. "Then I put you under a spell to knock you out… but something happened with your scar." She pointed.

"My scar?" He asked. He tried moving his arms but he couldn't. "What happened?" he asked.

"I can't say. It started growing blue though and your wand came back to you. It's like you called it, but I caught it before you did." She sighed.

"Hermione, I'm sorry. I feel so stupid right now. I didn't want to loose you though; I wanted to prove it to you." He said and Hermione nodded.

"And you have." She smiled. "I love you Harry, but I would never wish you dead. I need you to know that." She pleaded.

"I do." He spoke. He tried moving again. "Uhh Hermione, why can't I move?" he wondered. It was like his arms weighed eight hundred pounds.

"Oh, binding spell." She laughed and removed her wand from her pocket. "You were twitching madly when we brought you in… so we put one on you to stay still." She smiled. She brought her wand to his body and in a matter of minutes, he was free.

"Thank you." He said, stretching his arms out.

"You're welcome." Hermione smiled.

They stood there, staring at each other with desire to be in one another's arms. They were both confused and both afraid. Harry wanted to pull her into an embrace so quickly that he would have exploded if he didn't. But he waited.

"Come here." Harry opened his arms wide. Hermione nervously took a step forward so she was right in front of him. "Come on." He smiled. Hermione bent down and hugged him.

He hugged her back and this is what she wanted. She wanted to hold him. She was afraid, and hurt. She cried into his shoulder silently. She was happy he was alive, but was scared about how close he had come to death. She wanted to go home now, snuggle with him, and stay in his arms for eternity.

"Paging Healer Granger, paging Healer Granger." Hermione looked up as she heard a voice through the loud speaker that said this.

"Sorry Harry, I got to run." She said, wiping a tear from her eye. "That's my call."

"Bye." He said sadly. Hermione kissed him on the forehead.

"You should be able to go home tomorrow. It's late now, get some rest. I'll take you home in the morning." She smiled and he nodded.

"Bye." He said again as he waved to her.

Then she left and Harry was left alone, like always. He watched her disappear behind his room door and he sighed. She left him and now he had nothing to do but do what she suggested… sleep. He laid his head back down and closed his eyes. Anger pieced his heart from what apparently Ginny had done.

The love that once poured through his veins was now clogged, and slamming into his heart. How could she do that? He didn't love her anymore but that didn't mean she could serve his heart on a platter and make him never see Hermione again.

Harry woke in the morning, looking to his side and seeing a clock. It was about to strike eleven in the morning when someone had walked through the door. A girl with long black hair and glasses walked in.

Her hair was down to her back and had freckles across her nose. She had scars on her neck and her face was rounded more then it use to be. Harry recognized her immediately, before she even stated her name, but couldn't place the name.

"Hello Mr. Potter, I am assistant Healer Chang." She greeted, handing him a glass of water and writing a note down on her clipboard.

'Jesus' Harry said in his mind, nothing could get worse now. Cho Chang was inspecting him and it wasn't surprising. The only surprising part was she was assistant he didn't know whether to laugh or joke because she hadn't trained hard enough to be a real Healer. He knew who she was, but still couldn't figure out her first name.

"It looks like everything is in top shape Mr. Potter. I'll be able to inform the staff that. Healer Granger should be in to check on you in a minute and you should be able to go home. You might be a little sore, but it shouldn't be too bad." She didn't even look at him. She kept her nose in her clipboard.

"Alright," Harry said and Cho looked up at him. She gave him a smile.

"Been years since I've seen you." She smiled and he nodded. "Get well soon and I'll page in Healer Granger." She smiled.

"Thank You" Was all Harry could say at the moment.

"Bye Harry." She said before she left the room. He watched her leave with confusion written all over his face.

"She called me Harry?" He asked himself out loud. Hermione had walked in the next moment. She grabbed the clip board from the table that Cho had left. Hermione looked at him and asked.

"What?" She wondered. He looked confused still.

"That assistant Healer chick called me Harry." He said, still confused.

"Not surprising, that's Cho Chang. She is an assistant because she hadn't passed her test. She failed so she came to work as an assistant." Hermione sighed and Harry laughed.

"That's not surprising." Harry laughed as his confusion drifted off his face. Hermione turned to him with a smile.

"Now, now be nice." Hermione joked. "I need you to sit up, you can go home now and I booked a car to take you there." Hermione said.

"Alright." He took a deep breath and moved to sit up. Surprisingly there was no pain at all, it didn't hurt at all.

"Are you in any pain?" She asked as she took his hand.

"No, I feel better then I ever have." Harry said truthfully. Hermione laughed.

"That's odd; I guess that potion does work on some." She laughed.

"Potion?" He asked astonished.

"Nothing, just a substance that's supposed to relieve you but it usually makes people sore." She said.

"Well I don't feel anything." He said as he put an arm across Hermione's shoulders for support. Hermione let him lean on her and she actually enjoyed it. He wasn't hurting her and he was smiling.

"Can you walk?" she asked as she grasped his hard that was lying on her shoulder.

"Yes." Harry said, and he was walking perfectly.

Hermione was amazed. Most were dizzy when they had walked with the potion in them, but Harry walked normally as if he wasn't even in the hospital. She didn't think much of it though. She signed out as usual and put him into a car.

She drove him to his house and helped to move him inside. He struggled a little on the steps, but not too bad. She brought him inside and laid him on a wide couch type thing, and it was located on the balcony. Harry was an outdoor person, he loved it.

"Are you alright?" She asked after changing her clothes, pulling a chair next to him, and sitting beside him.

"Yes Hermione, I'm fine." He laughed as he took her hands and gently kissed her finger tips.

"Good." She said with a smile.

Hermione sighed as she laid her chin on his stomach and stared into his eyes. His glacier green eyes were almost glued to her golden, hunny ones. She felt peaceful, she loved him, but she was confused as why he looked at her like this. She sighed again and smiled.

"What are you thinking?" Hermione asked as Harry stayed at eye contact with her.

"I'm thinking about how beautiful you are." He said silently. She smiled.

"You don't have to lie." She giggled silently. Harry pushed himself up and looked at her. Deeper then deep his eyes poured into hers. Nothing was going to break them apart this time. It was his fault last time and Hermione knew, but she loved him. He would have died for her… she would not leave him alone anymore.

"I'm not lying." He said truthfully. Hermione felt her heart skip a beat. Her heart was pounding faster then ever before.

"I love you." She said silently. Her eyes were trembling slightly. Harry could feel the fear in her. The fear of his reaction was what it was.

He could feel her hand shaking, he could feel it all. She was scared; she was always scared and never calm. He wanted to teach her how to stay calm, and he wanted to stay with her forever. Her long chestnut hair blew in the wind. He pulled his fingers through her hair.

"I love you too." He spoke a tad bit louder then her. He felt her heart pick up speed. She was nervous and he didn't want her to be nervous. He wanted her to feel comfortable.

Hermione felt his two hands wrap around her waist and she sighed in relief. She was afraid he would turn her down right then and say she wasn't worth it, but he didn't. She could feel his fingers twirling around the curls in her hair. She loved it.

Harry sat up, pulling her on the couch with him. He pulled her closer to him and hugged her tightly. He kissed the top of her head lightly and looked at her. Hermione only smiled at him, but he didn't smile back.

"I don't know what I would have done if I lost you." Hermione said after her smile faded.

"You don't have to, and I won't let you go." He said, holding her tighter. Hermione went to say something, but she stopped.

She was in a deep lip-lock embrace with him. She could feel him pushing harder and more passionately. Hermione felt tears prickle in her eyes again. Harry thought she was crying for real when he pulled his head back and took a breath.

"Sorry." He said silently as he moved a lock of her hair out of her eyes.

"For what?" she asked, her eyes carried a deep sense of love. Just by her eyes you could see that she wanted to be with him so badly, so much.

"For not doing this sooner." He said deeply. Hermione felt her heart jump. He had kissed her again, and she was kissing him back harder then ever.

"I have something to say too." She said as she felt a light kiss on her neck.

"What?" He asked. He looked up to her and she felt the tears in her eyes again. "No please Hermione tell me, don't cry, please?" He begged and Hermione took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry about yesterday, when you accidentally called me Ginny." She said, trying not to look at him. "Two years ago, Ginny turned me in to one her friends. She told them I was muggle-born and they hunted me. She was there too, but she didn't know I knew she was. I was attacked, beaten, almost murdered."

"Hermione I-" he started but Hermione cut him off again.

"I don't want you to feel annoyed by me. I am scared Harry, I'm scared to death. I want to know what comes ahead for me. I want to know it all. I don't want to wait anymore; I want to know where I'll be in five years or ten years or maybe the next fifty years. I don't want to sit around and wait f-for this stuff to happen, I want it to happen now so I know it will." Hermione started to cry.

"Hermione I understand." Harry said comfortingly. He pulled her into his arms.

"Harry, I want to stay with you as long as I can. I don't want to be hurt anymore. I feel the safest around you, and I need to feel like that all the time and I don't. I love you. I want to stay with you forever if it were possible." Hermione cried.

Harry pulled her onto his lap and rocked her gently. He kissed the top of her head once and sighed. He snuggled her close to him, and he enjoyed it. He wanted the same as she, to be together forever, and have nothing come as a surprise. He only wished that it were possible to see the future.

"Anything is possible. Hermione, I want to stay with you forever too. I want to wake each morning and see your face there beside me. I don't deserve your acceptance for my apology about calling you Ginny. I had no idea. I didn't even think." He stopped for a moment and Hermione looked up to him, her cheeks shiny from her tears.

"I love you Harry, forever and I'll never leave you. I accepted your apologies because I know you didn't know… I was the one that was out of control." She sighed. She clung to him harder.

"Hermione I'll never leave you either. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, but I don't want you feeling sorry for my mistakes. I want you to be happy, that's all." Harry spoke silently. "Your happiness means the world to me."

Hermione sat up and kissed him harder and harder. Harry felt himself fall forwards onto the couch. Hermione was there below him, holding up his weight by his arms, he watched her. Love was all he could feel right now. It wasn't sadness, happiness, sorrow, fear, nothing. It was just love.

"I want you to promise me something Harry." Hermione said before he kissed her again.

"Anything." He said and he gave her a deepened look. She felt Harry's arms wrap around her waist. She told him what she wanted in two words:

"Everlasting love."

Author's Note:

Well I promised myself that I would get this done today. Not the time I wanted to get it done obviously, but at least it's done. I hope you enjoy and good luck in the future!

Airalynn

UPDATED: (FRIDAY) APRIL 22, 2005