I forgot some things. I changed others. Not the best. But its been a while. Can't guarantee a quicker chapter update. But I swear I'll try.

Once again. Thank you. So very much.

Last updated before this: 10.29.05

Today: 11.11.06

Needed

Chapter 15

In Touch

Calliore

"You're so beautiful…"

"Can I hold you?"

"Take my hand..."

…Soft hands on her shoulders, a pair of arms around her waist. A kiss placed upon the back of her neck. Her head turned slightly and her lips met another's in a deep, warm embrace. The kiss on her neck was traveling upwards as two pairs of hands held her own...

Her eyes opened slowly, and she took in a dark wooden ceiling. Her head felt heavy so she didn't raise it. Her arms felt pained, so she didn't move them, she just lay there, completely motionless, in a heavy silence, her only company; a ceiling. Her mind was void of any thoughts; any that did enter her mind were quickly dismissed as they caused her much pain. Her eyes gently closed, and she fell back into a blissful, painless sleep.

--

Harry watched as Hermione opened her eyes, he admired the beautiful way that they shone, though her eyes seemed a bit lackluster, he could still see the beautiful, intelligent Hermione that had been hurt too many times. He smiled, but said nothing; he would wait for her to notice him, for her to see him sitting there, by her side, the way it was meant to be. She never did. Her eyes remained glued to the ceiling, she didn't move an inch. For a long while, her eyes remained open, and for a long time, Harry watched. He knew that she probably wouldn't notice him, but at least he knew. She was going to be okay.

--

She spent hours on end alone. Not a soul had remembered her. She had been in the same spot for days, hoping… waiting. She had gone out once before this. Plan in her head to visit those she had hurt, but thought against it when she saw Harry walk out of the infirmary. She followed him to his dormitory and heard him utter the password as she hid behind a large pillar. She remembered the way she had so cleverly snuck into the boy's dormitory, high up on one of the floors, and she listened in. She heard Ron's tears, and felt Harry's anguish, and her eyes filled with tears as well. Not only had she hurt some of her best friends, but no one had thought about her.

She sat up in her bed and looked at her arms. Bruised, and at one point, they were bloody and broken. Her right arm had been broken in two places, on her writs, and mid-radius. Her left arm was mostly cut and bruised, and it wasn't as severe. Her legs were no better than her arms, also left greatly bruised, she had had trouble walking for the first couple of hours. Her back was the part that pained her most; it was where all of the spells and charms had mostly hit her, a great gash running from her shoulder blade down to her tailbone was the deepest, and many other scratches running up and down her back, along with bruises, and blood blisters.

That was one of the things she hated most, every morning after her transformation, she'd wake up and have many bruises and scrapes all over her body. They would heal within a day or two, but the pain was enough to last months. Her broken arm had taken a lot of time to heal, it had been about a week and it was barely starting to heal itself. Her first most hated thing was obvious, and how much she wished she could go to the infirmary, and undo what she had done. She had not the courage to travel so far.

--

Harry and Ron walked solemnly to their classes, once again, the whole school knew. No one bothered them, they received sympathetic looks from all over, but not a word was spoken. The occasional conversations about The Beast were heard, and everyone sympathized for Hermione and George. There was little to say about Harry and Ron, everyday for a week, their days were the same. They went to class, spent most of the day in the infirmary, and slept, day in and day out. They were waiting.

--

Fred sat at his table staring idly at the ceiling. He hadn't seen his brother. He hadn't seen Hermione. He couldn't. His heart would burst from the pain of seeing them, in such a condition. So he drowned out his sorrow, his misery, his regret. The Three Broomsticks was his haven.

--

He held her chin in his hand and pulled her face up to meet his. He stared deep into her eyes and all the rest of the world disappeared around them. It was just the two of them.

He smiled, and held his hand out. A single white daisy appeared on his fingertips; he pulled her hair back and put the flower in her ear, and kissed her nose.

"In this world full of magic, my only magic is you."