Disclaimer: I don't own HP or any of these characters. That belongs to JKR, Scholastic Books, Warner Brothers, etc.
Chapter Twenty Seven : Unending Wish
When Hermione disappeared like that, Harry's heart leapt up into his throat. After a moment of blind panic and frustration, he turned to the fireplace to summon Ron. For while Hermione hadn't suspected it, he and Ron had come up with a plan of attack for the next time she disappeared.
Not that it was much of a plan. It basically consisted of Harry keeping his wits to summon Ron and the two of them going over to Malfoy's flat to beat the shit out of him. It wasn't a plan that Hermione would approve of, but she wasn't there and that was the source of his problems. That plan would have to do for now, especially as Ron had noted it was one that was likely to lead him back to Hermione.
Ron needed only one look at Harry's face to figure out what had happened again. "I'll be over there right away, mate, so I'd appreciate it if you'd put the fire out," he said. Harry moved quickly to do exactly that, using one of those dousing spells that Hermione had taught him. Harry had barely moved quickly enough, as Ron was there almost as soon as he had extinguished the blaze.
"Gah! Hot!" Ron leapt out of the fireplace. "That's one of the things I hate about Floo. It's very uncomfortable if the fireplace has been used in the last several hours. But enough. When did it happen?"
"Maybe five minutes ago," replied Harry. "And this time around, she knew it was happening. I could see it in her face." He paused, remembering that awful moment when Hermione had reached for him, looking so scared—and he couldn't hold on to her, no matter how hard he had tried.
"That's good," said Ron. "Because if she can feel it working, maybe that will help her in finding a counter. But that's not important right now. What is important is that we find Hermione."
Harry nodded. "So do you know where the ferret is?"
Ron scowled. "Do I keep track of his movements, no. But the twins and I have managed to locate where he lives. I figure that we can head over there first and see if his neighbors has seen him." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. "And if we have to, we can always barge into his flat and demand to know where he's put Hermione."
Yeah, Hermione definitely wouldn't like this plan, Harry reflected to himself. But she's not here to critique it and it's the only plan we've got . . . so it has to be good enough. I'll make it good enough. "How far away is it?" asked Harry.
"Not that far," Ron responded. "Though I'm not sure if I want to try Apparating there as I've only the address. I've not actually been there and so—"
"Better safe than sorry," said Harry. "We'll be no use to Hermione if we splinch ourselves."
"Too true, mate, too true. Let's go." With that, Ron walked out of the flat and Harry followed, making sure to lock the door behind him. They moved hurriedly, neither one of them saying much, except for Ron to give Harry to occasional direction. Harry wasn't in the mood for talking anyway. He was too caught up with worrying about Hermione. As much as he despised Malfoy, Harry did hope that Hermione had been sent to him. Because at least, they had a chance of locating her. Harry knew that there was no guarantee that Hermione had been transported to Malfoy once again and that was the thing the bothered him the most. If she hadn't been, he wouldn't know where to start looking for her.
Except maybe he did. Professor Flitwick had said that she had used some sort of shortcut for the harmonization portion. If she wasn't there, then the best thing to do would to be to check up on her other friends. And family. Taking a deep breath, Harry calmed himself down—or tired to. They would find her. Harry wouldn't give up until he did, and he knew that Ron would do the same.
When they were only a few blocks away from the address that Ron had for Malfoy's flat, Harry spotted something that made him want to both cry in relief and scream from frustration. It was Hermione . . . with Malfoy attached to her waist. Ron suffered from no such split of emotions, as he took out his wand and charged forward. With an example like that, there was little Harry could do except to follow suit. Now wasn't the time to stand there and do nothing, not when Malfoy was far too close to Hermione like that. Besides, Malfoy's hand was going a lot lower than it should on Hermione. That was enough to warrant a very bloody death indeed.
"Step away from the ferret," Ron was saying from where he stopped in front of Hermione. Hermione was glaring at him.
"Ron, what are you intending to do?" she asked.
"Watch and learn, Hermione, watch and learn," was his reply.
"Ooo," said Malfoy, lifting his head from Hermione's shoulder. "Another slugfest is coming up, Angel. This'll be fun to watch. Don't get to see that every day." If possible, he managed to press himself up even closer against Hermione as he taunted Ron.
Harry glowered at Malfoy, knowing that the prat was enjoying being close to Hermione, who was supporting him. He could feel himself feeling a cold sort of fury towards the blond wizard for being so opportunistic, with the way he almost draped himself over Hermione. "Hermione," said Harry tightly. "Do what Ron asks."
Her attention flipped over to Harry. "Harry," she said, her face filled with relief. She smiled faintly. "I'm all right. He hasn't done anything to me, so there's no need for any of this."
"Not done anything to you?" Ron bellowed, his face turning red with anger. "Hermione, he's hanging all over you!"
"And if his hand drifts any lower, I swear that I'll forcibly remove it and then stuff it up his arse," Harry growled. His fingers twitched on his wand. It would be so easy to blast the ferret away from his girl, and Harry thought that his aim was probably good enough to accomplish that. The only thing stopping him was the fact that Hermione was right next to the ferret, and he didn't want to take the chance of hurting her.
"Harry, Ron," said Hermione, "use those eyes of yours, please. Malfoy's drunk. You're not about to thrash a drunk wizard who can't possibly defend himself, are you?"
"That's the best time to do it," said Ron coldly.
Hermione bit her lip, something that always made Harry want to snog her. "No you are not, Ronald Bilius Weasley," she said sharply, her tone making Ron take a step back as she invoked his full name. Glancing over at Harry, she added, "And I know my Harry is better than that."
And that was it. When Hermione put it like that, Harry couldn't let her down. He had to be as good as she thought he was. On most occasions, it wasn't that hard—she was simply helping him decide to do what was right—but this time it was. Because he really felt the need to beat the living daylights out of the ferret, who was taking advantage of the situation entirely.
"Fine," he snapped. He put his wand away. "I won't. But step away from him, please, Hermione. Before he does something that he regrets."
"He's drunk," Hermione repeated, as though speaking to a child. "I doubt he can stand on his own."
"Here," said Ron. He walked over to Malfoy's other side. "Let go of him. I'll take care of him. And no tricks, I promise . . . so long as he tries none on me." Hermione let go of Malfoy as directed and Ron took over supporting him. Malfoy squirmed and tried to lurch in Hermione's direction, saying something about how his angel shouldn't leave. It made Harry regret his earlier decision to do as Hermione wished. Hermione winced and moved to his side, her hand seeking out his as though she needed to be in contact with him. Harry closed his eyes and pulled her up against him. It was good to see her again and even better to touch her again, to feel her once again. And it helped for him to see how she didn't want to be near Malfoy like that and how she immediately sought out comfort from him.
Malfoy's face fell as he watched the two of them together. "Angel, always goes to Potter, that rotter." He pouted. "While I'm stuck with the Weasel. Two rodents together in a stew."
"Shut it, Malfoy," Ron said. He was still steaming mad, and Harry marveled at Ron's self control. Truly, Ron had better learned to control his temper as he grew up. In his younger years, he would have already been pushing Malfoy into the gutter while thinking up the most horrible hex he could imagine. Now he was still helping the other wizard to stand, when Harry knew Ron really wanted to give Malfoy a beating he'd never forget. "What do you want us to do with him?" Ron asked Hermione.
"I was trying to take him home," said Hermione. "As I found him doing his best to drown his sorrows and himself in some sleazy bar. But he hadn't been much help when it came to finding his flat." Hermione huffed indignantly. "Honestly! I swear that we've been going around in circles for the last half hour."
"Sorry, Angel," Malfoy muttered contritely.
"I've told you before—don't be sorry. Just stop being impossible," said Hermione shortly. It was a line that she appeared to have used before with Malfoy to little effect, and Harry wondered if she would have hexed Malfoy herself before much longer.
"We can drop him off at his flat," said Ron. "The twins told me where it is."
"What?" Hermione squawked. "How-and why—would they know something like that?"
Ron shrugged nonchalantly. "Preparation," he said simply. "In case this happened again, we figured we'd best know where we could lay our hands on Malfoy. And don't look at me like that, Hermione. You were having trouble enough with Malfoy when we came along. It all worked out in the end."
Hermione glared once more at Ron, before relenting. Ron took the lead, dragging Malfoy beside him, with Harry and Hermione trailing behind. Harry gripped Hermione's hand so tightly that he was surprised that she hadn't said anything to him yet. He had to hold on to her though. He hadn't been able to earlier and now he didn't want to let up at all, just in case she was taken from him again, in case someone needed her more than he did again.
That thought almost drove Harry to his knees. How can anyone need her more than me? he wondered. And a git like Malfoy? Who teased and taunted her for half her life? I need her so much . . . whereas all Malfoy needed was someone to take him home. Because he was an idiot who had to go and get drunk. And he wasn't even willing to help her out there. Harry could feel himself getting angry at the whole situation. I wonder if that charm works properly. Or maybe Malfoy had done something incredibly stupid and would've died if Hermione hadn't been there to bail him out. Bah! It's probably that. It has to be that.
"Harry," he heard Hermione whisper from his side, "what's wrong?"
"Nothing," he said bitterly. "Nothing at all." He regretted saying that so harshly because he knew it hurt her, but he couldn't help it. He hated it, the idea of someone needing Hermione more. It was probably selfish, but there it was. Hermione definitely would think less of him if she knew he thought that way, so he couldn't even tell her about it. It was made him want to scream out of sheer frustration with the entire world for putting him in this position.
Happily, it did not take them too long to find Malfoy's flat and they dropped him off. Hermione was able to open the front door, by means of an unlocking charm, and Ron unceremoniously dumped Malfoy on the couch. Malfoy lurched up and tried to cling to Hermione as she told him good-bye, and she had to literally pry his fingers off of her. When that was done and Malfoy's door was shut behind them, she turned to Harry and Ron, looking happy to be rid of the prat. "Shall we go home?" she asked with a smile on her face for both of them.
"Don't you need to stay with him?" Harry spat out.
Hermione's face crumpled at those words. "Harry . . . ." she said softly. "I don't need to . . . that is, I don't . . . ." She balled her hands into fists and looked directly into his eyes. "Right now, it doesn't matter to me who needs me most. The person I need most and want most is you—and always will be."
There was really nothing he could say to that.
Author's note: And that looks like a perfect place to end
for this week. There will not be an update next week. Alas,
I've been sick this week and so I've had no time to finish the next chapter,
so it's not ready to go to editing. So the update will be in two
weeks instead, on June 11th. Sorry, but if I could've avoided being
sick, trust me, I would have. Finally, I'd like to thank Shawn
Pickett, danielerin, cmt0125, EuphoniumGurl0 (I'm
no good at writing D/Hr -- they're always sad), ExcalibursZone (he's
grown up, but he hasn't -- does that make any sense? Cause that is
how I write him), Zekintha, SilverFoot, PoTtErSPaYnE,
Leah6, Falling (I think Draco is the most OOC character in
this fic, personnally. Well, except for the part about him being
a silly drunk. ), myman-harry526 (either this week or next week,
whenever I finish editing that chapter), Dillion, Ailleann,
Fire-bound heart (eep? That last one was chapter twenty six?), juliet's
rose, Oh-Dear (that was an interesting start -- but it really
was very sweet. Thank you), cuttiepie17172, Jem, chemqueen,
Jade, Tiffie101 (though I sometimes speak of AUs, I think
this has its proper ending ready for it), Aristea (no because Hermione
altered the charm so she wouldn't be bound to the person who needs her
most, and the transportation part is only activated when someone different
needs her more), Star19, RogueBHS (well, she's not the type
to leave a guy there like that), CookiMonstr08, Ramy, TheWraith1
(why a girl?), Orlandopsycho010, Amynoelle, malu (no,
he's not that stupid), fannnasia (one never has to apologize
for the length of a review, long or short ), MasterDeath (somehow
when people plead for D/Hr, I'm not moved, though I understand where they
are coming from. When people bash it, that's when it starts to look
interesting), Jabba1, lee74, Korine (Ginny is in school,
and the only two D/G fics from me will be Seasons and the Matchmakers one.
Gomen ne. But I'll update my LJ this weekend with more Seasons to
make up for it), Izabel, TheGreatFox2000, shaznay17,
Bulma Queen of Saiya-jin, acissej, paochicute, duchesscarml,
Jenny, TiarellaCordifolia (you're welcome to try and claim
him, but you might have competition), casey windsor, sally,
Crissy Potter, and hpfanmelissa for their lovely reviews.
Reading them did help when I was sick. So thanks!