"What are you doing here Hermione?" Harry asked, his voice quiet but with a hard edge.
She didn't answer right away, instead waiting a moment to take his appearance in. He was much more muscular than the last time she saw him, and had a grace about him that she was unused to seeing. His hair was the only thing that was the same. His long black robes had been exchanged for simple brown and gray cotton clothes, obviously hand made. He had stubble across his chin, giving him a rugged and dangerous look, despite his eyes. Even with a milky sheen to them she could tell this Man before her was hurting just by her presence.
"We need you Harry. I know I hurt you but we still need you." The brunette answered, shame present in her voice. She hated herself for the past but she was hoping he would forgive her.. because if he didn't she had lost everything.
Apparently this was the wrong thing to say to the man before her, judging by the way his face hardened, almost as if he was barely keeping his temper in check.
"Now you need me..." He didn't yell, or even raise his voice at her but his voice was so cold the witch visibly flinched. "When I lost my sight and looked to my friends for help you weren't there. You and Ron swore you would always be by my side... and yet you and Dumbledore were the first to leave me behind. Why the hell do you need me now?" he asked, his question fast and short.
Hermione's breath hitched in her chest, leaving a dull pain in her heart. She took a deep breath and plowed on ahead, figuring that she had nothing to lose now.
"The Death Eaters have captured my parents Harry." The witch almost cheered as she saw the brief widening of Harry's eyes, hoping it meant he was concerned. "We know where they are but the Order has taken such a toll that Dumbledore refuses to mount a rescue and I'm not strong enough... Please Harry I can't imagine life without them."
Harry looked at her sharply, before turning and walking away.
Hermione stood still, despair pulling at her heart as she raced forward, trying not to be left behind as his long legs silently tread a path through the thick weeds. She caught up to the raven haired individual and waited, hoping he would say something without her prodding.
After a moment of silence, the only sound being the steady thump of foot steps the witch tentatively whispered. "Harry?," She hesitated as he glanced toward her, his dull eyes driving a knife into her heart. "Please say something."
He stopped so quickly that she kept walking for a step before realizing that she was walking alone. "What am I supposed to say Hermione? That I know how it feels to lose your bloody parents! That I'll help you because you bloody well said please? I want nothing more to be left out of this damn war you saw personally to shove me out of! Follow me again and I will curse you so hard you won't be able to follow me." Without another look at the girl he resumed walking, quickly making his way into the tree line.
She stood still silently for a moment, tears threatening to spill over her cheeks until she turned, with a pop and silently Apparated away leaving the one chance of seeing her parents alive again far behind her.
He stood staring at the spot where she had been standing for a moment, until Hermies descended from the sky to rest on his shoulder, his talons settling harmlessly on his shoulder. The bird remained silent for a moment, before letting out a shrill screech, as if imploring the man to follow her.
Harry looked up silently, scratching the Falcon under the chin as he pondered the past several minutes for a moment before sighing. He turned and began walking through the forest gracefully, his feet sliding over the tree trunks as if they weren't there. He walked quickly, taking in his surrounding's as his mind raced.
"I don't see why I should have to help her after everything she did to me... but I know if I don't I wont be able to live with myself." He said, as he laid his hands upon the rough bark of a vast tree.
Hermies sat looking at the man before him almost in an exasperated way, as if he couldn't believe the wizard was having trouble deciding. Harry just eyed his familiar for a moment as he felt a voice echo through his mind. "If you still love her you must go after your mate human Harry. I see no reason that you would have to not chase after her."
Even in his own mind his voice sounded harsh to himself.
"I don't love her. Not after everything she did to me. But your right I have to go after her." Harry refused to look Hermies in the eye as he made his way to his home, his mind made up.
The tree's passed quickly as he made his way farther and farther into the dark forest, his home slowly coming into sight. It appeared as a rundown shack should but the inside was charmed to be as large as he needed it. The yard was clean with a small garden behind his house, his large tomato and other plants peaking over the edge of his fence he had built last year. He quickly made his way through his front door, his magic sense blinding him for a moment as the expansion charms flared.
He looked around quickly, grabbing a bag he used for food to store some things he would need. His staff went over a sling on his back, while a set of clothes, and several other items he would need were quickly thrown inside. He reached into his chest, the same one he had used back in school and picked up a badly torn but still wrapped Christmas present. The wrapping had long since fainted, and the moving stars on it long since stopped moving. He glanced at it uncertainty, his mind clearly recalling it's contents. With a glare he stuffed the box back into the trunk, almost as if he never wanted to see it again.
He gazed around the room, his eyes taking in every nook and cranny before he sat down in a huff, his mind far from the wizarding looked around his house, his eyes running over the very few pictures from his younger days that he had left. The magic in the pictures that allowed them to move also allowed him to see them in high detail. He was not nearly as blind as everyone assumed.
"What are you thinking Human Harry?" Hermies asked after a long moment of silence.
"Just wandering how she found me... I've been so careful. I've set up the strongest ward's this side of Hogwarts and she still managed to find me.. If she can find me Why hasn't Voldemort?"
Hermies cocked his head slightly, his eyes boring into Harry's.
"Because Human Harry. You do not go looking for the strongest animal in the forest."
Harry laughed at this, before slinging the bag over his shoulder and stepping outside.
He glanced to the falcon and quickly asked how he would be getting to the Granger house.
"I will fly of course!" and with a set of screeches resembling laughter the bird took wing and vanished into the tree tops.
Hermione entered the empty Granger house silently, the deafening silence enough to make her break into a fresh round of sobs. Tears ran down her cheeks as her eyes slid over the various pictures of her and her parents during her life. She picked up her favorite picture, the one they had taken in a vineyard in Paris when she was younger. She quickly rubbed the dust off the glass as she gazed at the genuine smile on her and her parents faces, and for a moment an overwhelming sadness filled her.
She wished she had made more time for them in the past years, just a minute or two a day would have been better than the contact they had had over the last two years. When she started Hogwarts she was sending letters home weekly but as the years wore on it became monthly and than bimonthly until the witch only sent a letter home when it was convenient.
She wound her way through the kitchen, her eyes replaying scenes of her childhood in front of her. She gazed silently at the sink as a memory of her mother cooking her a huge celebratory dinner for her acceptance into Hogwarts. Her eyes watered slightly as she gazed into the past, remembering the proud look in her fathers eye and the sad gleam to his expressions.
She walked through the entire house, her face lighting up now and than as she remembered various memories through out the halls of her childhood. She made her way back to the couch before crumbling in the center of the couch, her head buried in her hands.
"You really should see about getting better locks on this place." A voice said from the staircase.
The young witch screamed in shock, her wand flying into her hand, before a blasting hex slammed into the staircase where a voice had originated from just a moment ago.
"Watch where you aim that thing it could take an eye out," a voice called out from over her shoulder.
She whipped around to see Harry silently leaning against the wall behind her, staff in hand. The two quietly gazed at each other before the witch asked, "I thought you wouldn't help me?"
A harsh laugh erupted from his lips, and he smirked slightly as he said, "Come now Hermione. You of all people know I wouldn't be able to ignore your plea for help."
"I was hoping you would help me but I wouldn't have blamed you after.. well I wouldn't have blamed you. Thank you Harry." She instantly regretted her thanks as his face hardened and he glared unseeingly at the young woman.
"Don't thank me. I'm not doing this for you I just don't want anyone else losing their parents." His voice was hard, yet she could almost feel another meaning below that.
Hermione remained silent as Harry walked out of the house, his footsteps fading into the distance. She waited a moment before hesitantly following him outside.
Harry stood in the middle of the yard, unnervingly starring into the sky, as if waiting. Within moments a small speck appeared on the horizon and a large smile grew on Harry's face as Hermie's came soaring through the air, his wings tilting as he banked into a dive before landing gracefully on Harry's outstretched arm. With what could almost be a showoff-y look the falcon fanned his tail feather's behind him as he stuck his chest out proudly. The bird glanced at Hermione before locking eyes with Harry, who after a moment slowly sighed and nodded his head in agreement to an unspoken statement.
"Take me to the Order." Harry said, almost as if it was killing him to say the words.-
A/N: Sorry it's taken me so long to update but I've been working on making this into a full story. Hopefully I have things planned out a little better than most stories and it will be uploaded biweekly :)