Disclaimer: I do not own anything except for the plot, the characters, except Hope, belong to JK Rowling's very creative mind.
Chapter Eleven: Healing Time
Hope was being gently shaken awake by someone. She murmured incoherently and turned over, hoping they would leave her alone. Instead, they chuckled and shook her harder.
"Go 'way," Hope muttered, burrowing her head in her pillow.
"Come on sis, it's noon already. Dad said it's time to get started."
Hope sat up tiredly and rubbed her eyes, feeling even more exhausted than she had the previous day.
"I'm coming," she muttered again as she maneuvered herself around the bed to her crutches. She hobbled out the door Draco was holding open.
"Where are we going?" She asked her brother as he led the way.
"Since everyone has to be watched for at least twenty-four hours afterwards, we decided to use the room upstairs that you can watch Quidditch from. Mrs. Weasley will bring up meals for us all. Dumbledore and I will be in there to begin with, and Hermione will be up there throughout most the day."
Hope nodded as they stopped in front of Harry's door. She chose not to know, and instead pushed the door open and gasped at the sight she saw.
Harry heard a knock at his door and glanced up from his book at the time: 11:40 in the morning. He sighed as he stood up and set the book down on his table before making his way over to the door. He opened it to find a crying Ginny.
"Gin, what's wrong?" He asked, not sure what to do. Hope was one thing when she was crying, but Ginny and Hermione were completely different.
He opened the door and the redhead came in and sat down on his bed. He closed the door and sat down next to her. He waited for her to speak, but ended up saying something instead.
"Gin, why are you crying?"
She looked at him, the tears falling down her face. "It's not fair, Harry. He's gone. He was the one who would wake me up in the morning, or protect me from Fred and George's pranks, or threaten to kill the guys I'm dating. Now, he's not here. It's official that he's not here."
Harry was at a loss of words. He pulled her into a hug and felt his shoulder become wet with tears. After about fifteen minutes, she stopped and pulled away from him, smiling.
"Thanks, Harry."
"Anytime," he replied, hoping it never would happen again. Crying girls just weren't his strategy.
"Hey, since we have the whole family together for once, except Percy, we're going to play Quidditch later. Do you want to join us?"
Harry wished he could, but knew healing Hope would take all day. So instead, he replied he was busy.
Ginny looked put out. "I guess it's okay."
"Sorry, Gin. I really would have loved to, but I already made plans with Hope."
Ginny pouted. "Are you guys dating again?"
Harry sadly shook his head.
The redhead smirked. "Good, because I won't feel guilty about this." She sat up straighter and put her lips against his. Harry was about to pull away when the door opened. A gasp from that direction had the redhead jerk away and stare at the door.
"Have you ever heard of knocking?" Ginny rudely said to Hope and Draco.
Hope turned to Harry, her eyes accusing and filling with tears. "Not when I'm expected to be here. Obviously, someone else had something more important to do. Whenever it's convenient for you Harry, we'll be upstairs waiting."
"Hope, wait!" Harry yelled jerking away from Ginny. He went to run out to the hallway but was stopped when Draco pushed his chest roughly. He glared at the teen.
"I don't care that you are over my sister. But the fact that you are willing to risk her health to shag some girl is pathetic. I expected more from the hero of the light. Obviously all the fame has gone to your head. Whenever you can take time away from your pathetic sex life, the people who actually care about my sister will be upstairs waiting," he said with a murderous glare at the boy on the floor.
"Draco, that's not what happened! She kissed me!" Harry tried to explain.
"Whatever, Potter. When you come upstairs, you do not speak to my sister. You do exactly as the spell calls for and then you get the hell away from her and stay away from her. Unless she approaches you, then you leave her alone. Got it?"
Harry glared. "And if I don't?"
"Then I'll save Voldemort the trouble of killing you," he hissed and turned away.
Harry sighed and turned to Ginny. "What the hell were you thinking!? You know I still love Hope, yet you kiss me and get me into some deep shit with her. Merlin, Ginny. I thought you had more self respect than that, but obviously you're some pathetic slut."
Ginny's eyes filled with tears again. Harry shook his head at her and made his way upstairs. Once he reached the room, he couldn't help but notice the extreme looks of disappointment on the headmasters face, or the fact that Hope was sobbing into her father's shoulder. Severus gave Harry a look that Harry knew meant he would have to explain himself later.
Well, at least he'll let me explain. Harry thought to himself.
Dumbledore rose and conjured three beds into the room, as well as two chairs. He nodded to Severus to set Hope in one, and to Harry to sit in the other. He took a deep breath and started explaining.
"Hope will act like she is about to heal you, but Harry you have to channel her powers back into herself. It requires complete trust in each other, which I'm afraid was compromised this morning. Hope, do you still want to go through with this?"
Hope sighed but nodded. She placed her hands up but Albus shook his head. "Your minds will be connected. You will see what is at the front of each others thoughts. Any issues will need to be resolved for the spell to be fully effective. Like I said, it requires complete and absolute faith in the person. Harry, I can't explain to you how to direct her power back into her, but you will understand. Because of the link of your minds, you will be able to use her power as if it was your own."
Harry nodded. Hope did the same and Albus whispered the incantation to join their minds. The world swayed and Harry found himself standing in a raining meadow. Hope was leaning against a tree.
"Hope, why are we here?"
Hope turned towards him and shrugged her shoulders. "I guess it means we have an issue to fix."
Harry sighed. "Hope, it wasn't what it looked like; I wasn't kissing her."
Hope closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Harry, I still trust you with my life. That's not going to change anything. You can be with Ginny if you want, it's your choice."
Harry shook his head. "I don't want to be with Ginny!" He exclaimed. "I want to be with you!"
Hope opened her eyes and looked around the meadow. It wasn't storming, just raining. She sat down on the grass and motioned for him to do the same. She held her hands up and he place his so that they were barely touching hers.
"Do you feel the energy flowing behind my hands?" Hope asked. "It's yearning to be used. You have to force the same energy from behind yours. It's complicated, but you'll figure it out."
"Hope, talk to me, please."
Hope shook her head. "It's fine Harry. We'll still win the war together. I'll still fight by your side. Do this for me, please?"
Harry sighed and closed his eyes after saying one last thing to her.
"Hope, I love you. In case something weird happens, you have to know that."
The meadow faded and they stood in a dark blue room. Energy passed through their hands. "Hope, how do I know when to stop?"
Hope showed obvious pain on her face. "I'll stop you. Trust me."
Harry did and let the power flow from his hands into hers. He felt the fatigue she felt after healing someone, magnified ten fold. After what seemed like days, Hope jerked her hands away with obvious effort and broke the connection. They were back in the chairs.
Harry felt dizzy and immediately forced his head down between his knees. Hope on the other hand, was in such a high amount of pain that she was clenching the armrests on the chair so her hands were white, and had her head buried in her knees, which were brought up to her chest.
"Hope?" Draco asked, going to touch her. Severus grabbed his son's hand and jerked him back. "Don't go near her. Any touch will burn her. She's in the process of healing."
Hope let out a whimper that brought Harry out of his daze. He went to stand but was grabbed from the side by the headmaster.
"Draco, help him over to one of the beds," Dumbledore ordered, watching as the teen supported Harry, despite their current disagreement.
"Headmaster, why is she is so much pain?" Harry asked, trying to fight the feelings of dizziness and fatigue that were trying to overwhelm him.
"It's all a part of the process. Nobody knows exactly why it hurts a healer to heal themselves, but it doesn't hurt others to be healed. It's amazing how things that this work."
Harry nodded and leaned back against the bed. He watched as Severus sat in the chair but didn't finish the healing process. Twenty minutes later, the headmaster locked eyes with the potion's master and nodded. The link was formed.
Everyone watched as Hope seemed to slip further and further away from consciousness. It seemed like Severus spent twice the time healing Hope than Harry did. Finally, Severus jerked out of the connection with a sharp intake of breath as Hope fell completely unconscious.
Albus helped Severus to his feet and to another bed. He glanced at Harry and was relieved to see the boy had finally given up fighting the fatigue trying to claim him. He looked over to see Draco about to touch Hope.
"Draco, wait ten minutes before you move her. Her powers are a bit confused right now, and I wouldn't want to risk them lashing out at anyone."
Draco nodded and chose instead to sit in the chair across from her and watch. "Is everyone going to be okay?"
"It all worked perfectly. From what I can tell, even Hope's leg is healed."
Severus sat on the bed and wearily rubbed his eyes. "It is. She's completely healed, but her powers won't work for a couple of days, especially her healing ones."
Albus nodded. "I expected as much. They are going to be confused. It's dangerous to have to self-heal more than once every two months. She'll need to be extremely careful in the coming months."
Severus nodded and laid down completely on the bed. He watched for the next fifteen minutes as Draco moved Hope over to the bed between his and Harry's and sat on the end before falling asleep.
The three slept for the next couple of hours soundlessly. Harry was the first to awaken, and Hermione brought over a tray of food for him to eat. Harry ate only a few bites before slowly falling back asleep. Severus did the same thing only a half hour later.
Draco sat on the windowsill with Hermione while waiting for something else they could do. He glanced at her and saw the worry in her eyes.
"They are going to be okay you know," he said, taking her hand in his.
"I know, but what about everything else? Hope's so lost as to what is going on in Harry's head at the moment. She doesn't know which way to turn. This morning only complicated things. I know Ginny; she's sly and always gets what she wants. She's wanted Harry for a long time now, and I think she decided to just take him. Hope will blame herself, and Harry will also. Plus, I don't know where we stand…"
Draco looked at Hermione as she covered her mouth. "What do you mean?"
"I didn't mean to say that, Draco."
"Yes, you did," he said, pulling her closer to him. "What did you mean by it?"
Hermione looked into his eyes. "I don't understand what you are doing. You've made it clear that you like me, yet you don't do anything about it. What are you waiting for?"
Draco sighed. "Hermione, I do like you, but I don't want to complicate things. If I were to become your boyfriend, you would be in even more danger than you are now."
Hermione leaned closer to Draco and kissed him. Draco hesitated before kissing her back. When they pulled away from each other, they heard clapping in the background. They both turned quickly to find Hope sitting up in bed, looking exhausted.
"It's about time, you two," Hope said with a smile. "So, was that just a kiss, or are you actually going to get over yourselves and go out?"
Draco laughed and threw a pillow at his sister. "I was getting there." He turned to Hermione. "Would you go out with me?"
Hermione smiled bigger than she had in a long time. She threw her arms around Draco's neck and hugged him.
Hope laughed again. "That's a yes, bro, now shush so I can get some sleep."
Hermione and Draco laughed as Hope took the pillow he had thrown at her and used it to fall back asleep.
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A/N: Hey everyone!! Sorry it's taken so long to get this out. For some reason, isn't letting me upload my chapters. Good news though! I do have this story finished. I'm working on the last part of the series, Living with Hope! Thanks to Nita for coming up with that name and for betaing both stories!
I am going to have to move my update days to Friday because I'm having to work on Monday nights now. Sorry!! I'll post early this week though, because I'll be out of town!!
Lastly, I have a new yahoo group. I know the Website got cut off last time, so I wanted to let everyone know that is in my homepage. If you join that, you'll know when stupid stuff happens that prevents me from updating.
Have a good week, Thanks to all who reviewed.
Kayla