-1Chapter 21- Man or Wolf pt 3
They landed on their feet, dead grass crunching beneath their shoes. Before them stood a large two story home. It was run down and had massive damage done to one side. The white-washed walls of the exterior were brown, and overgrown with vines. The shutters were falling off and the door was open.
The house had obviously not been touched for years. "Dumbledore said he placed a new secret keeper and left the house alone. I guess he thought that one day you would want to come here." Hermione said holding his hand.
Harry was quiet as he took in the sight of his home. The building looked like it suffered as much as he had. He could only imagine what it looked like on the inside.
He began to walk up the yard and to the front porch. "Dumbledore said it only needed some minor work, that most could be done with magic." Hermione continued.
"Who's the secret keeper?" Harry asked helping her up the old stairs.
"It's Snape." she said flinching in preparation to his outburst.
He stopped cold in his tracks. "Snape." He breathed deeply and pushed open the door. The rotten wood swung open to revel a long hallway with a staircase to the left. To the right lead to the living room and directly forward lead to the kitchen.
"How do you know all this?" Harry asked turning to her. Dumbledore was dead and had never mentioned his home to him.
"His portrait. When no one could find you, I went to him for help. He said if you ever came back to bring you here. Only thing is, you wanted to come here before I could bring you." She said.
He missed Dumbledore, even though he kept things from him. He was a lot like Dumbledore when he thought about it. If he could, he would keep things from those he cared about to keep them safe. When you got down to it, he was nothing like Dumbledore either.
"Okay then. Let's take a look and see what we can fix." He said, stepping through the door.
He kept Hermione behind him as they looked over the area. On the walls, aged by time and dirt, hung pictures of his family. His father and mother in school, their wedding, him as a baby.
"Harry, you were so cute." Hermione said admiring his first baby picture. Harry chuckled as he watched his father catch the snitch and his mother holding him.
He came across a photo of his parents, himself, Remus and Sirius. His heart felt like lead. Everyone he considered family stood in that picture, and all he had left was Remus.
Hermione took his hand once again and looked at the photo he seemed to be lost in. She felt for him, for his loss. No one should grow up with out parents and then gain someone you love like a dad, only to watch him die as well.
"It looks like these walls can be fixed with magic. I think we should start down here. Besides it could help you remember some of your spells." She said hoping to draw his attention away from bad memories. At least until he was emotionally stable.
"Let's see what else is damaged down here." Harry said leading her to the kitchen. The cabinets were hanging from the hinges and the fridge door was open. A table with four chairs was off to the left corner, and in the center of the room was an island. The granite counter tops were covered in grim and dirt. The sink was rusted and the stove was covered in dust and grim. All the dishes and glasses were still in one piece inside the cabinets, they were just covered in grim as well.
Near the dinner table was a door. Harry walked around the corner and stood with his mouth open. He'd found the dinning room. A large table stood in the center of the room, surrounded by 8 high-backed chairs. On the wall across from him was a family portrait, and on the walls to his left and right were pictures of his dad, Remus, Sirius in their last year of school, his dad on the quidditch team, his dad and mum at graduation.
Hermione stood beside him. "Wow. Your mother was really beautiful." She said, gaining his attention again. He looked over at her and nodded.
He stepped away from the room and walked back out to the hallway. He turned to the living room and stepped inside. Slowly he was learning more about his family. They obviously lived like muggles except for the obvious magical items.
In the living room was a large couch with two end tables. A fireplace was on the opposite wall, to the right of the couch. Directly in front of the couch, obtaining all of the wall space was a large TV, surrounded by shelves full of movies and keepsakes. A golden snitch was in a glass case fluttering in place. His parents wedding photo was framed and sitting on a shelf.
"Do you want to go upstairs?" Hermione asked.
"No, let's fix it down here. We'll get upstairs later." He said taking a deep breath.
She pulled out her wand, "Where do you want to start?" She asked.
"Anywhere's fine with me." He said pulling out his wand as well.
They got to work in the living room since they were already in there. Hermione started with the removing of the dust and grime. Immediately it was a big difference. Harry worked on mending the walls and furniture. By the end of the hour he had "Scourgify" mastered.
Hours later the downstairs was done. The improvements were outstanding. The walls were clean, a crisp off-white. The shelves were a beautiful oak, the couch was reshuffled and the leather fixed. The fireplace cleaned. All the pictures were fixed in all the rooms. The staircase was fixed and the railing polished. The kitchen had the most improvement. The cabinets were reattached, the stove cleaned and working, along with the fridge.
Harry sat on the couch staring at the fireplace. Hermione walked into the room and watched him. He sat deathly still but she could see the veins in his neck working. He was struggling with something and didn't want her to know.
"Are you okay?" She asked. He sat still, not turning to acknowledge her presence.
"It's difficult." He said. He could hear the screams, haunting him. Why did he do it? How could he not control it?
"I can understand why coming home is hard…" she said moving across the living room to sit next to him.
"It's not that. It's difficult controlling it. It wasn't before, when I came back. It's like it's fitting against me, against my soul." He said.
She touched his cheek and turned his head to look at her. "I have faith in you Harry. You'll gain control of it and everything will become as normal as it can get. It's just a difficult time for you. You just suffered some horrible damage from a horrible person. But that's over and you'll recover."
His eyes changed from green to yellow and back again. She could tell his was struggling but she didn't know what was going on inside him.
"I killed him. It's not something you just get over." He said. Hermione didn't understand at first what he was getting at. "He was the one impersonating Draco's father. I got free and just attacked him."
Hermione's hand dropped to his shoulder, "Harry…"
"I can still hear his screams." he said his facial features softening.
"It'll be okay." She started but he cut her off by standing up. He began to pace and she could tell he was on the edge. His shoulders broadened, his neck tensed. She stood as well and stopped his pacing. "Just calm down and try to push it out of your mind."
Their eyes connected and her breath caught. All his features were hardened, and his eyes held something she couldn't place. Something dangerous and it terrified her. "Harry?"
He continued to hold her gaze and slowly walked forward. Her eyes widened and he could sense the fear in her. He could never hurt her and he needed to let her know that.
Her back hit the wall and he closed the distance between them. She could feel his breath on her face. He could feel her heartbeat through her chest.
He leaned the rest of the way and captured her lips. It was slow and passionate. Her arms snaked around his neck, his hands rested on her hips. Their was no space between them as they continued to kiss.
They finally pulled apart in need of much oxygen. He rested his forehead against hers and breathed heavily in sync with her.
"Harry." She said between breaths.
"I would never hurt you." He said not moving.
"I know."
They held each other, leaning against the wall, for what felt like hours. Eventually they pulled apart and made their way to explore upstairs.
He held her hand as they made their way up the stairs. At the top grime and dirt covered all surfaces. It was a long hallway leading to the left and right. One room was at the end on the left; on the right were three rooms. They started with the left.
Harry stood in front of the door for a few seconds. With a look at Hermione he pushed open the door. The room was a master bedroom. A large bed was against the wall to his left. On his right was a large dresser with a jewelry box and a family picture. Past the dresser was a door and on the wall to his left was the closet.
The room was colorfully decorated to match Gryffindor. The bed was made and only dust covered the room. It looked as if it hadn't suffered any damage. The room past the dresser was the master bath. A large shower covered the fall wall, a vanity to the right and the toilet to the left. A rod held some towels and the shower was in perfect condition except for the dust. They quickly cleaned the room with a few cleaning spells before moving down the hallway.
The first door on the right was another small bathroom. A shower, sink and toilet occupied the room. They quickly cleaned it and moved to the room across.
They opened the door to find a well established library. Hermione gasped as she looked over the shelves. Some were books she had already read, but some were rare, and on vast subjects. She could definitely tell which were James'.
In the center of the room were two overstuffed chairs, an end table between and a coffee table in front. On the end table was a lamp and the coffee table had a few books on it. His parents were probably reading those before they died.
They cleaned the room and moved on to the last room, which was on the end of the hallway. Harry hesitated while reaching for the knob.
"It's okay. I'm right here and I'm not going anywhere." She said giving his hand a squeeze.
He thanked whatever gods where out there for giving him the chance to have her by his side. He was truly a blessed man. He could handle this if she was with him. He turned the knob and swung open the door.
The inside of the room was trashed. The walls were blackened, and the crib against the fall wall was blackened. The carpet was stained and the surfaces of the room were covered in grime and dust.
Harry backed against the wall as he saw green. He could hear his mother's scream echo of the walls. It was as if Dementors had walked into the room.
"Harry?" He could hear Hermione's voice in the background, but all he saw was Voldemort bursting through the door and killing his mother.
Hermione continued to call his name. Harry heard Hermione calling and he grabbed onto her voice allowing her to pull him back.
"You okay?" She asked when he finally looked at her.
"Yeah. Let's just get this cleaned up." He said starting by cleaning the walls. Hermione wasn't going to argue with him. Seeing his old room just only brought him pain and bad memories.
Once they finished the cleaning they went back downstairs and unpacked what the house elves sent them with. They had enough food to last them a week, but he would have to buy some meat to hold off his cravings.
He cooked something for Hermione to eat. She watched him make his way around the kitchen.
"Where did you learn to cook?" she asked as he began to butter the bread.
"The Dursleys made me cook…and clean, and weed the garden, mow the yard, wash the car. All the chores they could think of." He said
Her anger spiked. Those bloody relatives of his, treating him like a slave. Of course their fates were horrid and she wouldn't wish that fate on anyone, but they had no right to treat him in such a manner.
"I can cook for myself." She said causing Harry to turn with the plate full of food in his hand.
"I forbid it." He said placing the plate on the table.
"What?" She looked at him in shock as he pulled out her chair for her.
"I won't have you cook when I can do it. You're my girl and I'm going to treat you like the goddess you are. This means, I cook." He said as she sat down. She blushed at his comment and filled her plate.
Harry joined her and filled his plate as well. "You think we'll be safe here?" Hermione asked. She hadn't forgotten his lack of response when she mentioned Snape as secret keeper.
"I'm not too happy with Snape being the bearer of our safe house. However Dumbledore trusted him and Snape has done good things for us. I trust he won't tell and Voldemort won't find out." Harry said.
Hermione nodded, agreeing to go along with him. If he trusted Snape wouldn't tell then they should be okay. At least until Harry was ready to be around others.
After they finished eating, they cleaned up together. They washed dishes the old fashioned way and snuggled up on the couch afterwards, a fire burning in the fireplace.
Hermione was asleep before long. Hermione was snuggled up to Harry, laying on top of him on the couch. Harry had his arms wrapped tightly around her, the fire burning out. Harry laid there and thought about what had happened. He was losing control, but as long as he was with Hermione he was more man than wolf.
Authors note: Okay so that was it for the "Man or Wolf" I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I can't wait to hear your reviews. Also I got a request to make a longer video, so I did. This is why this chapter has taken so long to get updated. Anyone who's interested can find it on you tube "Harry Potter and the Blood Risen Moon (long). Hope to hear from everyone and I'll have the next chapter soon.
The Wigster