"Killed who? Oh dear, what happened? Harry, tell me!" Hermione cried and led Harry to the couch. Draco came on and was slipping a shirt on over his bare chest, his eyes filled with hate for Harry yet still mild concern and curiosity.

"I killed Sirius," Harry sobbed and buried his head in Hermione's shoulder. A rush of relief came over her face and she stroked his head soothingly.

"Oh Harry," she whispered and kissed the top of his head sweetly. Anger and jealousy filled Draco but she shot him a warning glare. He threw his arms up in frustration and stormed back into his bedroom. "It wasn't your fault," she tried to reassure him and stroked his arms soothingly. His sobs had died down into a whimper.

"You don't understand, Hermione. He told me...he told me I was a disappointment... and that I was I wasn't... his godson anymore," he said through his hiccups. He still had his face buried in the curve from Hermione's neck to her shoulder, and he was breathing deeply and shakily.

At first Hermione was in horror and shock that Sirius would ever say such a thing, and then he continued.

"Then you told me that I was self-obsessed and I had a hero complex and I was pretending to be someone I wasn't... that I didn't care I just wanted attention..." he continued, more calmly. Then his voice began to crack again as he continued. "Then... then you told me you wish you would die so you wouldn't have to deal with me anymore... and Sirius... and then I... I lost my temper and shoved him beyond the veil..." he continued before giving an extra large hiccup.

"Harry, it was just..."

"You told me that you hated me, Hermione! You called me a murderer and walked through the veil!" he cried out angrily and jerked back to look her in the eyes. "Please tell me you don't feel that way," he begged quietly.

"Of course not, Harry!" she assured him. "It was all just a nightmare. Sirius never said or thought those things, I assure you. Please calm down," she begged with him. He held onto her tightly, breathing heavily and trying to control his emotions. After a few minutes, he pulled away and wiped the tears from his eyes.

"I'm sorry... here I am, being the exact thing that you called me in my nightmare. I mean I'm just feeling sorry for myself when..." she placed a firm hand on his shoulder before giving it a firm squeeze.

"Harry, I want to be here for you. It's a pleasant change being needed by others," she said quietly. He smiled at her and squeezed her hand in his own large, square one. She noticed that his hands were rough and callused, barely even considered soft even in the folds of his skin. She could tell housework, yard work, Quidditch, and just plainly working to survive had taken its toll on his hands.

"Harry! Hermione! Open up! Bloody hell what's going on?" Ron voice called stubbornly from the portrait. She heard Sir Bentley.

"I say, Miss Granger. Please open up quickly if you know this boy. I fear he might be on the verge of burning me down."

Hermione hurried to the portrait entrance and it opened quickly. Ron burst inside, Ginny close behind him. Ron looked at Hermione and froze. His eyes flickered to the back of her head. Tears filled his eyes and he embraced her tightly, just as he had at the very beginning of the year.
She sighed and let him hold her. He was strong and reassuring, just like Draco and Harry. She was blessed to have such strong and protective men in her life.

"Hermione, I'm so sorry," he said, trying to control his emotions. "You know I'd face a hundred giant spiders for you," he added. Hermione giggled.

"I think that's one of the nicest things... you've ever said to me," she smiled at him brightly, tears filling her eyes. She was about to say anyone but then remembered everything Draco had told her.

"Yes... well... no offense or anything, Hermione, but there's something much more important going on," Ron said. Hermione smiled even brighter.

"Actually, that's even nicer than the spider comment."

"It's good to have you back, Hermione," Ginny told Hermione and then hugged her quickly and awkwardly. "We're always here for you," she added quickly before following her brother into the Common Room. Harry sat guiltily on the chair, taking what Ron was dishing out.

"Bloody hell, Harry! What exactly was going on in there?" Ron demanded to know quite loudly.

"What's going on?" Hermione asked Ginny in a whisper as the boys continued to argue.

"Well, at breakfast this morning Harry was having some sort of nightmare. Then he started screaming and... I don't know... some sort of energy wave or something knocked Ron and I back quite a ways. Then all the dishes were shaking like mad like there was an earthquake or something. All the while Harry was screaming... somehow Ron managed to slap Harry and wake him up and everything just became still," Ginny explained quickly.
Hermione's eyes widened.

"I don't know what happened! Ron I don't even know if I did it!" Harry exclaimed in annoyance.

"Oh please! You have know what you're doing to be able to do it in your sleep!" Ron snapped.

"Yea? Well how did I blow up my aunt? Hmm? And in my fifth year how is it that I somehow electrocuted my uncle into not throttling me? And last year! Remember when Snape wouldn't shut up and somehow his cauldron exploded? I did that! I don't know how!" Harry screamed at Ron in anger.

"Ron, it's not Harry's fault," she told the redhead. Ron glanced at her and then furrowed his eyebrows.

"I know it's not HIS FAULT! I just wanted to know how he ruddy well did it!" Ron stomped his foot. Hermione sighed loudly.

"Well apparently Harry has so much magic repressed inside of him that sometimes it just sort of... well... comes out in bursts," she said with a shrug. "At times of high emotional stress there must be some sort of overflow"

"So you're telling me when Harry has a temper his mojo gets out of whack?" Ron demanded to know. Hermione paused for a moment and thought over the strange saying.

"Well... yes... I suppose you could say that," Hermione mumbled. Ginny gasped a little and Ron threw up his hands.

"So, Harry isn't just famous and rich, he has to be an all-powerful wizard! In the name of Merlin, Harry, how'd you get off so lucky?" Ron shouted.

"Lucky? Lucky! Ron, my parents are DEAD! SIRIUS IS DEAD! EVERY NIGHT I HAVE NIGHTMARES THAT I'M KILLING MY FRIENDS AND FAMILY! I'M BEING NEGLECTED AND PRACTICALLY ABUSED BY MY AUNT AND UNCLE AND MY BEST FRIEND IS GOING TO BE DEAD IN TWO BLOODY WEEKS! YOU CALL THAT EFFING LUCKY?" Harry screamed.

The coffee table in the middle of the Common Room made an incredibly loud cracking sound as it split in two. Draco's Transfiguration essay spilled onto the floor, as did Hermione's bottle of ink. Everyone stared at Harry in absolute wonder. His face turned red and he sat back down on the couch, for he had stood in anger while he was screaming at Ron. He buried his face in his hands.

"I wish I weren't the boy-who-lived... I wish I were the boy-who-had-parents or the-boy-who-had-a-godfather... what I really wish is that I were the-boy-without-a-ruddy-scar," he mumbled grumpily.
Hermione laughed and wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.

"Even if you are the boy-who-doesn't-have-parents, and the-boy-without-a-godfather... and even a boy-with-a-ruddy-scar, we all still love you," she mumbled and gave him an extra tight squeeze. Ron and Ginny nodded.

"Yea... sorry for the outburst mate. You know I didn't mean it. It's just... I mean I'm barley considered a wizard and I can't even afford dress robes, and here you are... you know what, never mind. I guess we both have things the other wants," Ron laughed as his ears turned red.
Harry laughed and smiled, the last of his frightened tears drying on his face.

"But you know what we both have that everyone else wants?" Harry asked.

"Uh... fiendishly good looks?" Ron asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Well, besides that," Harry laughed and Hermione rolled her eyes.

"No idea, mate."

"We... meaning all of us... have a friendship that I don't think anyone ever imagined possible," Harry said with a sigh and the others were silent with small, coy smiles on their lips.

Little did they know that there was a certain blonde-haired ferret leaning against his doors and fighting off the sadness trying to swallow him he brushed the tears from his eyes and whispered to himself.

"Potter, you don't know how right you are."