A/N: A few more errors fixed here. Also added some scene separators….

Chapter Eight

The Calm Before the Storm

Harry and Hermione arrived at his home an hour later. They had ended up taking as many things from Hermione's flat as possible, that way she would not run the risk of Death Eaters coming to her home. Harry explained he had a secure floo connection to the Ministry of Magic. Otherwise they would have to walk about a mile to get outside the wards to apparate. Harry had said the address when he made the last turn that way Hermione was able to see the house because it was protected by the fidelus charm.

Her breath caught in her throat as she saw the sprawling mansion ahead of her. Obviously it was the Potter ancestral home, but Harry had never told anyone about it. They entered the main hall and Hermione gazed in wonder at the vaulted ceiling and the pillars with gold patterns running down them. Hermione saw some portraits just down the hall with the occupants crowding the closest frame, trying to get a look at her. Harry took her coat and made to put it in the closet by the door when a sharp pop interrupted him.

"Harry Potter sir! Dobby is glad to be seeing you!" the excited house elf squeaked. His tennis ball like eyes looked at Hermione. "Oh and you is brining the Grangey as well! Mistress Grangey, Dobby never got to properly thank you for all of the wonderful hats you made!"

Hermione stumbled and giggled at the excitable little elf. She gave Harry a disapproving look and her eyes flicked to Dobby. Harry held his hands up defensively and explained.

"Mione, don't look at me like that. Dobby would not leave me alone until I brought him here. Trust me he gets paid and the lightest workload anyone could have. Compare it to Ron doing his homework," Harry said. Hermione rolled her eyes and slightly nodded.

"Well, at least you had someone to look after you," she said. A loud yell from the portraits interrupted their conversation.

"Well for Merlin's sake, Harry, get her over here so we can meet her!" a woman's voice said. Harry sighed and rolled his eyes. "I saw that Harry James Potter! If I wasn't in this frame…"

Harry's face flushed crimson as Hermione raised an eyebrow. She wanted to meet the woman who could get that kind of reaction from Harry. Despite him trying to lead her to another part of the house, she made a beeline for the portrait. Harry quickly ducked behind a suit of armor that was on display in the main hall.

"Oh no you don't son, you get yourself over here!" said a man who looked like a carbon copy of Harry. Hermione recognized the man as Harry's father, James. "My you are a lovely one! Would you be a dear and bring my son over here."

Hermione grinned and nodded. She walked over to Harry and gently took his arm. He resisted a little, but a quick kiss rendered him a bit goofy and pliable. She led him over to the portrait which seemed to contain almost the entire Potter line. After a quick introduction to the most recent members of the family, Hermione fixed her gaze on Harry's mother, Lily.

"Were you the one who yelled at him?" Hermione asked. After receiving a nod and a smile, Hermione proceeded to talk to Lily for a bit. James motioned Harry over to another frame and started to chat with him.

"Harry, is that the Mione that you kept talking about?" James asked with a grin. Harry merely nodded sheepishly. "Well, she is definitely a catch I must say. So have you finally told her how you feel about her?"

"Yeah I did, Dad. I thought she would have laughed at me and told me I was a nutter. But it turns out that she felt the same way," Harry said with a lopsided grin. "I got some more of the story with Ginny. It turns out she was a seer. She had seen what was supposed to happen. Dad, I was supposed to lose that day. Sure Voldemort would have probably been taken down, but the effort was eventually supposed to kill me. Then his followers would have continued his ambitions. What I mean to say is that she died to save me!"

James looked at his son with compassion. Harry was furiously wiping tears out of his eyes at the memory and what had happened that day. While Harry was recomposing himself, he had signaled to Lily that Hermione was needed to help Harry. Harry felt a small pair of arms wrap around his waist trying to turn him around. When Hermione saw his pain filled expression she pulled him into a hug. He sank to the floor pulling her with him. His emotions surged to the surface. He buried his face into her shoulder and cried. Silent sobs racked his body as she held him and whispered soothing words to him.

Lily could barely watch her son go through this and not be able to hold and comfort him. She caught Hermione's gaze and nodded. Hermione tightened her grip on Harry trying to make up for Lily not being able to help him. They sat like that for quite a while, until Harry was able to talk again.

"Thanks," he said quietly. She responded with a gentle kiss, and pulled him back to her.

They spent another hour talking with his parents about menial things. When the question was raised why they were dressed up quite a bit, they told the tale of their dinner. When Harry mentioned the little girl he befriended, his expression fell.

"Harry? Why are you sad all of a sudden?" Lily asked. When he merely shrugged, her gaze hardened. "Harry, tell me what happened after dinner."

Harry looked at his feet and sighed. He told them of how the battle suddenly erupted in the middle of the street. He detailed every move he made and to Hermione's surprise, her movements as well. When he came to the part of the tale about Crystal's mother, he choked on the words and faltered. He described how her mother died and his eyes turned to ice as he mentioned who had killed her. Lily gasped.

"Severus did it?" she whispered. Harry nodded. "Oh Harry, tell me you didn't fight him!"

"I did mum," Harry said darkly. "And I beat him. I don't know if he survived, but I know I was close to killing him right there."

"Harry, why did you fight him? He managed to kill Dumbledore! How could you put yourself at that risk? No one who was able to kill Dumbledore should be trifled with!" Lily ranted. James put a hand on her shoulder to calm her down. She took a deep breath and continued. "How badly where you hurt?"

Harry showed them the slight rip in his pants where the reductor curse hat hit his leg. He told them of the cruciatus curse, and how he had fought it. James whistled in amazement as Harry described it.

"Harry, how did you do it?" James asked.

"Well Dad, it comes from my extensive occlumency training and skills. The cruciatus curse makes your mind believe that the pain is real. If you occlude your mind enough, it blocks most of it out." Harry explained. "And there is one more thing I need to tell you two."

Lily waited for Harry to say something, but he was hesitating. It was then that Harry pushed his hair back and Lily gasped. His scar was back and it looked like it had been bleeding recently. He eyes met Harry's, and she shook her head disbelievingly. Harry nodded and his expression turned grim.

"Yes mum, he's back again," Harry said. "He's not up to full power yet, but I was so tired from the battle, my shields were not up to their usual levels. I think someone found Snape and brought him before Voldemort. Tom isn't happy about it."

James stifled a quick chuckle at Harry's choice of words. He sobered up quickly when Lily fixed her glare at him. Harry grinned and shook his head at his parents. Even though they were dead, his mother could still intimidate his dad. They all said good night to each other as Harry and Hermione were dead on their feet. Harry led her upstairs and showed her the guest room. He bid her a good night sleep, and turned to go to his room. When he reached the door, he found that Hermione had followed him. He smacked his forehead and leaned in to give her a good night kiss, berating himself for forgetting. She accepted his kiss, and pushed past him and proceeded into his bedroom. He stood there gaping like a fish out of water as she proceeded to start putting her clothes into the wardrobe next to his, and she disappeared into the bathroom to put the rest of her things in there. She came out of the bathroom and looked at him. He was still in the same spot, and the expression on his face was priceless.

"What's the matter, Harry?" Hermione asked. She sat on the edge of his bed and watched him. Harry finally gained use of his voice again.

"Uh, Hermione? Er… You know that this is my bedroom, right?" he stammered. She just nodded. "Oh, right. Yeah I guess you would notice that."

Hermione smiled and stood up and crossed the room to stand in front of him. She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. She smiled and the slight shiver of his body when she did that. She laid her hands on his chest.

"Harry? Could you do something for me?" she asked. She turned around so her back was to him. "Could you please unzip my dress?" She grinned when his breathing rate suddenly increased.

"Er.. No problem," he stuttered. His desperately tried to keep his cool, but his heart was pounding, threatening to break out of his chest. He smoothly and slowly unzipped the back of her dress. He managed to hide the fact his hands were shaking. He was a bit unnerved that he could face down a powerful group of Death Eaters, but he was scared to even do this to Hermione. Granted they were now an item, but he had never been in this kind of situation before.

She could feel his nervous movements even though he was trying desperately to hide them. She was nervous as well, but she concealed it well. He finished with the zipper, and dropped his hands. She turned her head and nodded her thanks with a sultry smile. She picked up her bag and went into the bathroom to shower. She left the door open just a bit and heard Harry muttering to himself, cursing his nervousness. She started the shower and stepped in and let the hot water loosen her stiff back.

Harry was at a loss of what to do. He knew he had no idea what to do next, but he was not about to admit that in front of Hermione. He sat on the edge of the bed and picked up a decorative crystal ball and rolled it around in his hands trying to calm himself. What happened next made him drop the crystal ball in shock.

"Harry?" Hermione called from the bathroom. "Do you want to join me?" She knew that Harry would not do it, but she wanted to mess with his head a bit. She heard something hit the floor hard. She giggled at his reaction. Hermione knew he was definitely interested in her, but he was not ready for jumping in that fast. But his head poking through the doorway made her jump.

"Not this time, but I might call in the offer soon," he said impishly. She heard the challenging tone in his voice. She was startled that he would poke his head in, so she decided to retaliate. She knew that the door to the shower was somewhat transparent, so she turned around to face him with an equally impish grin. She watched his eyes quickly widen at seeing her like this, and his eyes shot to the ceiling. "Sorry, I didn't mean to look…"

She giggled at his reaction and turned back around. He was such a gentleman about certain things. She finished rinsing her hair out and turned off the shower. She turned around to see that only Harry's arm was visible, and he was levitating a towel for her to use. She took the towel out of the air and wrapped it around herself.

"Ok Harry, I'm covered, you can stop hiding now," she said as she was using her wand to dry her hair. His face came back into view and he looked down at the floor, blushing to his roots. She walked over to him and kissed him on the cheek. "The shower is yours. And when you are done, let me look at the wound on your leg."

Harry nodded and let her out of the bathroom. He grimaced as he pulled off his slacks and they brushed against his injury. He quickly scrubbed his hair and cleaned his leg the best he could, hissing when the soap soaked into the wound. He stood under the hot shower attempting to relax his muscles. 'What has gotten into Hermione? I have never known her to be that forward,' he thought to himself. 'How do I deal with this kind of thing?' He decided as much as it embarrassed him, he would have to have 'The Talk' with his father's portrait. After locking the room he would do this in down nice and tight, of course. He would never live it down if Hermione caught him doing that.

He finished his shower and dried off. He put on a pair of sleeping shorts and a shirt. He walked out to his room and stopped suddenly, seeing Hermione in just an over large sleeping shirt. His breath hitched in his chest and he fought the urge to act on his desires. Hermione could see he was struggling with himself. At least she could tell he wanted to be with her, but he was fighting it for reasons only known to him. She got up from the bed and walked over to him. She took his hand and led him to a chair next to the bed. She took out her wand and started to heal his wound. When she was finished he breathed a sigh of relief from the pain it had been causing.

"Harry? Are you coming to bed?" she asked as she slid under the covers of his bed. His heart went into overdrive and he started to sweat.

""I'll be right back," he said. "I-I need a few minutes." He raced out of the room and bounded down to the study. "Dad! I need your help!"

James rushed into the portrait expecting a major problem. But when he arrived in the portrait, he saw Harry wringing his hands and looking awfully nervous. He chuckled when he made the connection.

"Ah, so you finally need 'the talk' eh, Harry" James laughed. Lily rushed into the portrait as well looking concerned. James glanced at Harry only to see him mortified that she was in the same portrait. James leaned over and whispered into Lily's ear. Her eyes widened and she let out a squeak. She quickly exited the portrait. Harry waved his hand and several locking spells made the study a veritable fortress.

"Well, sort of. I know how things go, but I am clueless to the signals she is putting out. I just need advice on what to do in response," Harry said.

"Ok Harry. I kind of guessed you would know a bit about it, but the signals are different for every woman," James said. "Now tell me all of it."

After about a half hour of Harry explaining what had been going on, and what his reactions were like, they discussed what it could mean. James came to the conclusion that Harry wanted to, but he was nervous and possibly not quite ready for that step. James told Harry that it would be fine if they slept in the same bed, but to only go father when Harry was ready for that step. Harry felt a bit better, but still a bit nervous of what could happen. He didn't want to mess the relationship up. He wandered back up to his room, to see Hermione reading a book in bed. She looked up when he entered and smiled.

"Have a nice talk with your dad?" she asked with a grin. His shocked face and sudden stop was enough of an answer for her. "Oh don't worry, I don't bite. I can probably guess you are not ready for that step, but I still want to be with you."

Harry sighed with relief that he wouldn't have to try and explain. He quickly crossed the room and slid into the bed next to her. She marked her page and put the book aside. He waved his hand and the lights went out. She scooted over and snuggled up against him and smiled. Harry wrapped his arms around her and gave her a kiss that left her breathless and dizzy. They cuddled together and after a short while, they were both fast asleep with smiles on their faces.

ooo

Harry awoke at his usual time of five am, but found he could not move. The source of this was a peacefully sleeping Hermione who had wrapped herself around him. Every time he would try to slip out of her grasp to do his morning run, she would just tighten her hold on him. He soon gave up as he did not have the heart to wake her up. He brushed a stray curl from her face, which caused her to smile faintly and tighten her hold even more. Harry just laid there and watched her sleep. He eventually dozed off again, holding Hermione in his arms.

Hermione woke up around half eight, and watched Harry sleep. She was getting hungry, so she tried to wake Harry gently. She first tried touching his nose with her finger tip. When that didn't work, she nuzzled his cheek with her nose. That didn't seem to work either. She finally got a bit impatient, and just outright kissed him senseless. To her surprise he responded right away. Her mind made the sudden connection.

"Harry! You were awake the whole time?" she said. He just gave her a goofy grin.

"Well, I had to get a good morning kiss somehow," Harry said. She smiled at him and kissed him again.

"Honestly, you should know you don't have to try and sneak one. All you have to do is go for it," Hermione said. "You know that right?

Harry took the hint and tackled her. He drew her into a heart stopping kiss, only stopping when air because a desperate need. They took turns in the shower and got dressed for the day. They made their way towards the kitchen, only to be taunted by Harry's father, doing a couple of catcalls at Hermione. Lily rescued them by chasing James from his portrait. When they entered the kitchen to make breakfast and tea, Dobby popped in and assisted them, grumbling like every other day.

"Harry, why is Dobby grumbling about you?" Hermione asked.

"Well, when I took Dobby in, I set a rule for him. I help cook every meal and he is not allowed to start cooking anything unless I enter the kitchen. He's been after me for the last year about that one," Harry explained. "The rule only applies if I am in the house at the time. If I am traveling for an extended trip, he can do what he wants."

Hermione smiled at Dobby's good natured grumbling about the 'Great and stubborn Harry Potter'. She helped cook some breakfast despite Dobby starting to grumble about her help as well. They enjoyed a nice breakfast with Dobby sitting with them. Dobby explained that Harry had insisted that Dobby was to sit with him and eat as well. Harry launched into the time he had set that as a rule and how Dobby had fought it tooth and nail, before sobbing about Harry being a great and generous wizard and giving in.

The finished breakfast and cleaned up. Harry and Hermione relaxed a bit on the front porch in a swing, and they had their morning tea. They finally got up to face the day, and the threat that re-appeared over the night. They took the floo to the Ministry, only to have Harry recognized and hundreds of people tried to get a glimpse of Harry. Shouts were heard and the news spread like wildfire that Harry Potter had returned. They were accosted by a couple of the Aurors and escorted to their headquarters. There they found Ron, looking tired and distraught.

"Ron?" Harry said. "What's wrong?" Ron looked up and sighed.

"It's Luna, Harry. They found her dead this morning," Ron whispered. "Something else was there. The Dark mark was above her flat. But it looks like she put up one hell of a fight. There were two dead Death Eaters in front of her."

"It's started then," Harry said. "Though I think you should know Ron, Voldemort is back."

Ron shuddered at the name, but he nodded. Harry sat down and though of some fond memories he had of Luna. He smiled to himself as he remembered her butterbeer cork necklace she had always worn. Hermione sat down, wiping tears from her eyes. She may not have always agreed with some of Luna's views, but it was hard not to like her.

Ron sat for a few moments and collected himself. He was about to go into his office when Kingsley Shacklebolt walked up to the three of them. His face was set in a grim line and he looked reluctant to say anything in front of Ron. Ron looked at his boss and motioned for him to say what he had to.

"This is going to be hard for you three to hear, but we got a call from Hogwarts this morning," he said. He hesitated again and looked sorrowfully at Ron. "Well, I guess I should just say it, before Weasley here gets me. They called about a grave that had been dug up." Harry's face twisted in rage and horror, and Ron looked sick to his stomach.

"Ginny's," Ron said weakly. Kingsley just nodded and slowly backed away. Ron stumbled and fell onto his backside, clearly stunned from the information. Hermione quickly rushed to Ron's side and helped him into a chair. Sharon had been fetched by one of the other Aurors and she came rushing into the room and took Ron into a firm hug. The three of them looked over to Harry, who was literally shaking with rage. His eyes were starting to glow with an eerie green light. Ron motioned for Hermione to help Harry calm down, before they lost the office. She reached out to Harry and he suddenly relaxed with her touch. He closed his eyes and dropped his head, and sat quietly for a moment. When he looked up, his eyes were burning with determination.

"Well get them Ron, every last one of them," Harry growled. "I swear I will not quit until they all pay for what they have done."