Previously:

"Honey, have you ever thought how much Professor Trelawney and I resemble each other? We're step-sisters, to my infinite embarrassment. Occasionally I spout off the occasional bit of nonsense too, though I don't base a teaching career off of it."

"I think I'll be fine in the dorm. I'll come before breakfast to get Hermione," Harry said.

She smiled lovingly at him and kissed him again. He was rendered speechless in bliss and sat there beaming for a while, his mind up in the stratosphere.

"Thank you, Hermione. Thank you for saying yes."

"Thank you for asking."

:

:

Harry wandered back to the Gryffindor tower still smiling widely and in a very good mood. He got ready for bed and before he turned out the last light, he checked one last important thing.
Hermione Granger Vital: Unwell, healing, asleep. Hermione Granger Mental: sleeping, relaxed, dreaming, calm.

Harry relaxed and quickly fell asleep knowing that Hermione was safe, deep in sleep, and healing. She too had checked on him before she fell asleep and was happy and reassured to find that he was well, calm, and still glowing from her kiss.

That night, Harry had the same nightmare again and woke in a cold sweat. He quickly checked on Hermione with the medallion. She was still asleep. She wasn't dead or hurt or anything. Though it was a disturbing dream, and he knew that sometimes the medallion wouldn't be enough, it was enough that night and he managed to get back to sleep for a few more hours. When he woke in time to get Hermione the next morning, he felt well-rested and couldn't remember the nightmare at all. It was still fairly early. His roommates still hadn't woken, so Harry got dressed quietly and made his way to the Hospital wing.

When he arrived, Hermione was already dressed and sitting on the side of the bed. Madame Pomfrey was binding Hermione's ankles and knees while giving her some last-minute advice for managing her condition.

"... and don't walk up or down stairs without someone to help you, or if you do at least hold onto the railing with both hands so you don't fall. If you fall in this condition, the impact will make the swelling in your joints double and make it impossible to walk at all, never mind the pain. Harry will want to help you, so please let him."

"Oh, good morning Harry," Hermione said, seeing him in the doorway.

"Morning. How are you feeling?" He asked, walking toward her.

"Still sore, but I'm ready to go back to class. The question is, are you ready, Harry? This is a huge day for you, starting two new classes mid-term. Do you still want to do this?" She looked unsure. She had obviously thought about the workload it would involve.

"I'll give it my best shot. With you helping me, I feel like I could do anything at all." He smiled widely at her, affection glowing in his eyes. Hermione smiled widely and stood to give him a hug. He embraced her tightly while she hugged him back just as hard. He breathed in the smell of her hair and smiled, relaxing. It felt so nice to hold her close. She was warm, soft, smelled nice and most of all, liked him. What more could he ask for? She reluctantly broke the embrace and pulled away, smiling.

"That hug was nice. We should do that more often." Harry nodded eagerly. A tactful cough broke their attention and they quickly broke apart, blushing.

"Are you two ready for breakfast? Hermione, go ahead and gather your books. Harry, a word," she beckoned him into her office. With a confused glance toward Hermione, he followed the mediwitch into her office.

"Harry, I'll be relying on you to take care of Hermione over the course of the day. I will be here if you need me, but she'll be relying on you to keep her safe, as I know you will. She needs your help with stairs especially. She shouldn't try to climb them on her own. If at any point she is in pain or too tired to continue, bring her back up here. She may get tired quickly as she is still not up to full strength and there is still some residual poison in her wrist. Just watch out for her, okay?"

"Of course," Harry replied. He knew he would have to keep an eye on Hermione to see if she was in pain. She wasn't known to complain of such things and Harry didn't want her to suffer in silence as he knew she might.

When they stepped back into the hospital wing, Hermione was trying to shove another book into her already-stuffed backpack.

"Let's get rid of that Muggle Studies book," Harry suggested. Hermione picked it out and Harry put it aside. Her books fit better then, but before Hermione could swing it onto her back, Harry plucked the bag from her hands and put it onto himself.

"Harry," Hermione admonished, "How do you expect to carry both our books and keep me from falling all over the place all at once?"

"We can share books now since we're in all the same classes. I'll bring some of my parchment and quills so we don't use up all of yours, and then with just one bag I'll have both hands free for you." Hermione thought for a moment.

"Okay, that should work. Come on, we'd best get to breakfast." Harry was glad that she'd agreed to not carry her own bag. It was fairly heavy and would have made her more tired and unbalanced than she would have otherwise been. He offered his hand to her and carefully pulled her to her feet. He held both her hands for a moment, making sure she was steady before moving to her side to walk down to the great hall with her. He noticed halfway down the hall that they were still holding hands and grinned. Hermione looked over at him and squeezed his hand with a smile.

When it came to negotiating the first set of stairs, Hermione was a bit nervous but not as nervous as Harry was for her. He offered to carry her down but she refused, insisting that they were just stairs and that if he wouldn't let her fall then she would be fine.

Harry walked close beside and slightly behind Hermione, holding her elbows as a support as she took each step one at a time. It was the first of five staircases, provided none of them moved. By the time they arrived at the lowest floor, Hermione was tired and sore and Harry was all strung out from worrying about keeping her from falling.

"Are you okay?" He asked, looking at her face for signs of pain. Her face looked a little drawn from all of the painful movement, but she was still fairly fresh from a good night's sleep and had plenty of energy to go on.

"I'll be fine. Let's get some breakfast. We should eat quickly - it's almost time for class." They walked into the room and toward the Gryffindor tables hand in hand amidst a few whispers. Without talking much, they sat down and ate quickly.

"Our first class is herbology," Hermione said, looking over their now-identical schedules.

"Are you feeling well enough to walk all the way to the greenhouses?" Harry asked in concern.

"I'll make it if you're with me. Thank you for carrying those books for me, Harry. It would have become quite tiresome."

"Oh, you're welcome. I'm going to take care of you, you know that right?" He reassured her.

"I know. Thank you," she said simply, leaning into him with her head resting briefly on his shoulder. They ignored the whispers that started up at that show of affection and got started on their slow walk to the greenhouses. Harry held Hermione's hand to steady her as they traversed the entrance steps and kept her hand in his all the way to class. Hermione was glad of this. She was finding that their hands fit together almost perfectly. His hands were a little larger than hers, but they were warm and soft. Their fingers fit together nicely and they walked close, keeping each other warm in the morning chill.

Hermione winced as they sat down behind the desks in the greenhouse.

"You okay?" Harry asked in concern.

"I'm fine," she insisted. "Don't worry so much, Harry. I'll be okay."

"You'll tell me if you're in pain?"

"Yes, I will."

The two friends traversed their normal classes with no problems. The hour before lunch they had Harry's first new class. Harry looked around the unfamiliar room. The room was well-lit but somewhat dull-looking. There were whole walls of charts and diagrams. The room was empty as they had gotten there early.

"Professor Vector teaches this class," Hermione explained. "She can be a little dry, but you'll get used to her. There's a lot of useful things to learn about numbers. It's why to counteract gravity, the wingardium leviosa spell requires a two-part wand movement. More advanced and powerful wizards and witches can levitate things with just the flick after some practice, but the two-part movement is more powerful because of the number involved." Harry nodded, and watched as Hermione tried to levitate a quill with the spoken spell and a single flick. To Hermione's disappointment and Harry's amusement, it simply rolled over.

"Advanced and powerful, huh?" He smirked jokingly.

"I'm fourteen, Harry. Most adult wizards can't do it, but I'm trying." She appeared upset for a moment, but when she saw his smirk she relaxed as she realized he was just joking. Harry smiled, pride for his friend showing in his face, but he didn't dare attempt the same spell-work yet so Hermione continued.

"Also, if you have to move a really big object, sometimes it helps to swish twice. It's supposed to build up more magical energy behind the actual movement. The most powerful number found so far to be practical is seven - the number of completion. Apparently there are other, larger numbers found that can do a lot more, but they're rather impractical in normal activities unless you make a habit of moving buildings on your own."

"You can do that?" Harry asked, astonished.

"Did you know that Hogwarts used to be located near Salisbury?" Hermione smirked. Harry looked momentarily dumbfounded.

"It took every advanced English wizard and witch of the late 1100s using powerful numerically magnified spells to move it out here, and still some pieces were left behind. Muggles call it..."

"Stonehenge?" Harry asked, astonished.

"Right! Those were some of the stabilizing stones of the foundation. At that time there were muggles beginning to settle nearby, and the muggle-repellent charms were weakening from constant use - keeping shepherds and explorers out and such. The movers would have brought the pieces too, but once the main building was gone, so were the repellent charms. The stabilizing stones were replaced when they got the building here and the old ones have been left there ever since."

"Ah, Mr. Potter," the voice came from behind Harry, who turned around to see who spoke. It was professor Vector. She was middle aged and of average height, wearing a tall hat. "I see Hermione has been telling you about spell amplification. Welcome to the class. Now, it may be a little overwhelming at first, but Hermione is the best in this class and I'm sure she'll help you catch up." Hermione, of course, nodded in agreement.

"Nice to meet you, professor," Harry said politely. Hermione tugged Harry to sit beside her at her front-row desk as the rest of the students arrived.

"Hello class," the professor greeted once they were all assembled. "I bid you welcome our new student, Harry Potter." Some murmuring was heard, but most of the students were indifferent, and no longer stared and pointed at his forehead. "Today we will be learning how to apply extra power to rune stones. If you're taking Ancient Runes, this will be particularly pertinent." Hermione nudged Harry excitedly. He still wasn't sure about the classes, but Hermione's excitement was contagious and Harry paid attention to the lesson, taking notes along with Hermione.

"Tonight we can cross-reference our notes," Hermione said between classes as they made their way to the great hall for lunch. She sighed exhaustedly.

"Just two more classes," she said aloud to herself.

"Runes and..." Harry mumbled, checking the schedule, "Care of Magical Creatures." Hermione groaned almost inaudibly.

"That's a long walk," she said quietly. Harry was about to suggest they skip class for her sake, but she straightened up before he could say anything.

"Just two more classes," Hermione said stubbornly. "I'm determined to make it through the whole day." Harry nodded reluctantly. He didn't want her to overexert herself, but he knew how important overcoming that weakness was to her. Fortunately classes would be over by three in the afternoon and afterwards Hermione could rest. He urged her to eat well at lunch and they were soon on their way to the runes class. The class was in the middle of a rune-carving project. The professor mostly left them to their work after instructing Harry on how to begin. Harry carefully chipped at the stone with a chisel and hammer, occasionally glancing over at Hermione's for reference. She explained the project as they worked.

"This is a protection rune. It's created by first carving a symbol that holds power when magically charged. The coil in the middle - there," she pointed to the small pencil outline of the spiral Professor Babbling had drawn for him. "It holds the power." she continued. "The circle around it with that small opening in the side is a time-release. The other lines around it transfer the power to an invisible shield that protects the area behind the rune. The larger the stone, the larger the area of protection. The more precise the carving, the more powerful the ward of protection."

"What does it protect against?" Harry asked, blowing some of the dust away from the markings. Hermione peered closely at his stone.

"The large circles keep unauthorized people out of the area. Those triangles on the side, they protect the area from magical attacks. If you add some squares right here..." she carefully sketched a few squares on the sides of the stone, "It'll protect the area from physical attacks. This type of rune-stone is meant to be put on a bedpost to keep you safe while you're asleep."

"Does it really work?" Harry asked, dubiously. It looked like nothing but a marked up stone to him.

"As far as I can tell, it does," Hermione replied. "Lavender Brown tried to steal my extra blanket one winter night while I was asleep. I woke up when the rune ward sent her flying into the opposite wall. She was quite apologetic." Hermione chuckled at the memory. "That was my first rune stone too. Just repulsion circles like the ones on yours. I should have given you a more advanced one to put on your bed, the way trouble seems to find you. You'll keep one on it from now on, won't you?"

"Sure. I'm sure it'll be quite useful to know I'm safe at night."

"Good!" She exclaimed happily. "I'm almost done with this one. Once it's finished, you can have it. Then we'll work on yours together in class." Harry readily agreed. He knew having Hermione's help on the stone would be quite useful and would make the finished product a lot better than he could have made it alone.

Hermione hadn't quite finished her stone yet. Harry had some shallow scratches for where to carve the symbols, but hadn't made much progress. He wasn't used to using the tools, but they were becoming more and more familiar. He understood now why Hermione's hands were sometimes dusty and rough after class.

Harry helped Hermione down the front stairs again on their way to Hagrid's hut for Care of Magical Creatures. She looked visibly in pain now, but refused to skip class all the same. Harry helped her over the uneven terrain with one arm around her waist to support her as they walked. She thanked him, unable to hide the grimace of pain on her face as they sat down on a bench near the now-empty hippogriff pen. The animals had been moved to a different pasture, farther away from students. Harry took off his outer cloak and wrapped it around Hermione, hoping that the extra warmth might help her feel better. She smiled, at least.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked in concern. "We can go back now. Hagrid will understand."

"Well, we're already here. May as well wait it out," she said. Harry thought it uncharacteristic of her to anticipate simply 'waiting out' a class, but he let it go.

The study was on snakes, which Harry enjoyed. Hagrid taught about the basilisk and its powers, which Hermione knew only too much about. Harry had a conversation with a small grass snake when Hagrid passed around the reptiles to show students how to handle them.

"Your friend... isss ssshe ssssick?" the little green snake hissed, coiled comfortably on Harry's knee. Hermione looked confused as Harry replied in an unintelligible hiss.

"She was hurt and needs to rest, but she wanted to finish all her classes today. This is our last one, and then I can take her back to the hospital wing." He replied. The snake moved its head closer to Hermione who was a little nervous but not afraid, knowing that Harry was talking to it and it probably wouldn't hurt her.

"Sssshe issss a sssspecial perssson. Sssshe issss kind and ssssmart. You besssst takesss care of her. But sssshe issss ssssick," the snake noted. "Ssssee her eyessss?" Harry looked over. Underneath the slight fear and disturbance of being stared at and talked about by a snake, Harry saw pain and exhaustion in her brown eyes. They weren't bright anymore - not like they had been in runes while she enthusiastically explained the project. They were dull and dilated with pain. She was sitting very still, almost as if the slightest movement would be painful.

"You're not all right, are you?" Harry asked her. She looked down and muttered,

"No."

Before Harry could form a response, Hagrid dismissed the class. As the half-giant gathered all the snakes, Harry helped Hermione stand. She swayed slightly and groaned.

"What's wrong?" He asked, almost beginning to panic at her silence.

"Everything... hurts." She muttered, barely holding back tears. Harry quickly sat her back down. She certainly didn't need to be on her feet at the moment.

"Let's get you back to the hospital wing," Harry said softly, pulling her into a gentle hug. At his warm, caring touch, Hermione cracked. In overwhelming pain, her tears overflowed her eyes and she looked quite miserable trying to hold them back and keep from audibly sobbing all at once. So Harry did the only thing he could think to do. He carefully lifted Hermione's stiff but unresisting body into his arms and started carrying her toward the castle.

After some weak, failed protests that she could walk, Hermione finally relaxed a little and turned her tear-streaked face into Harry's shoulder for comfort as he walked into the building. Fortunately for her dignity, everyone else was in class or in their common rooms and they didn't meet anyone on their way up the stairs to the hospital wing. Harry nudged the door open with his foot and carefully deposited his precious bundle onto one of the beds while calling for Madame Pomfrey. The mediwitch was shocked to find Hermione curled up in a fetal position on the bed, shaking and wrapped in cloaks while Harry sat beside her, gently rubbing her back.

"What happened?" The healer asked as she rushed over to the bed.

"She was... I dunno... and all of a sudden in Care of Magical Creatures... just... help her... please..." Harry was stumbling all over his words, worriedly watching Hermione.

"I wanted to go to all of my classes today, Madame Pomfrey," Hermione weakly murmured. "I should have come up here after runes."

"I'll say you should have," Madame Pomfrey agreed. "You poor dear, you look exhausted."

"Don't be mad at Harry," Hermione insisted while the healer gently stretched out Hermione's arms and legs so that she was lying flat on her back. "He tried to get me to come here earlier... I didn't want to miss class." Hermione grimaced and tried to relax. Madame Pomfrey tutted softly and went into her office, presumably to fetch a potion. Harry worriedly held Hermione's hand.

"Are you feeling any better now that you're lying down?" He asked in concern.

"A little. I wish I had listened to you," she moaned.

Madame Pomfrey returned quickly and with Harry's help, propped Hermione up into a reclining position on some pillows. The mediwitch handed a potion to Hermione. It was a pain reducer and after Hermione took it her body relaxed and she felt better almost immediately. Madame Pomfrey unbound her legs and ran a few magical scans over Hermione's body before returning to her office.

"I'm so sorry you're feeling bad," Harry said, stroking her hand gently.

"It's okay, Harry. It's not your fault. Thank you for trying so hard at all the new things today. You did wonderfully at runes."

"Thanks to you," he added, smiling sadly. "Please get better fast, Hermione. You're scaring me."

"Scaring you?" she asked with a small smile. "The boy who faced down a mountain troll, a possessed teacher and a basilisk... is scared of me?"

"Not of you," he said, his voice wavering a little. "Of losing you, or anything bad happening to you." Hermione's heart broke a bit for him. He looked so helpless sitting there, so desperate to help but with no idea what to do.

"Harry, I'm not going anywhere. I hardly think swollen joints and some aches and pains are going to kill me. I'll be here for you, and I'll be fine with time. I promise." He looked up at that last sentence and met her gaze. Her sincerity soothed him and he relaxed a little. She smiled reassuringly and held her arms out. She could see that he needed a hug and was more than willing to offer one.

"Come here," she said softly and Harry soon found himself leaning over and being wrapped in her arms. Hermione realized he was shaking a bit and gently rubbed his back while telling him over and over that she was all right and that she'd be okay. Harry calmed down and held her form close to him as best as he could. His warmth and gentle embrace calmed Hermione further. She felt safe, warm, and very, very tired. Hermione felt herself slipping into sleep and shook her head as Harry leaned back.

"Wait... can't sleep now... have... homework... Harry..." she trailed off as her eyes began to close of their own volition.

"I'm here. Yes, you can sleep. You need to sleep. Please rest, Hermione. I'll be right here the whole time. I'll be here when you wake up and we can work on stuff then. Please rest, please get better," Harry practically begged her.

"Oh, okay," she murmured with her eyes closed, far too exhausted to argue. With the last of her strength, she reached out and took Harry's hand in hers and squeezed gently to reassure him before sleep finally claimed her and she went limp against the pillows. He held her hand for some time, watching her. He saw the tension and pain slowly leave her face as she slept. She would feel better when she woke. Harry sat down beside her on the bed, leaning against the pillows too with his arm around her, holding her close to his side to keep her warm as it seemed to help. He took out his locket and was glad to see that she was no longer in pain, but the medallion now read Hermione Granger Vital: Unwell, exhausted, swollen extremities, aching back and head, asleep, not in pain. Hermione Granger Mental: Asleep, not dreaming, relaxed, calm.

Harry managed to relax as well, listening to Hermione's even breaths and the soothing humming of the mediwitch as she worked on something in her office, occasionally checking on the sleeping girl and her watchful companion. Madame Pomfrey smiled. She'd seen how close they were becoming and had been glad to hear (albeit through eavesdropping) that they had become a couple. She was glad to see that they weren't being sickening, though. They were behaving more maturely than she had expected, and she was glad. Such maturity helped relationships to last longer than the flame of passion that often accompanied teenaged flings. She smiled and continued humming, knowing that her charges could hear it and that it would soothe them. She had learned the song from a phoenix, after all.