CHAPTER 8

Hermione's dream was getting weird, she was dreaming of her and Harry riding horses but the horse was speaking to her, he was tapping, over and over again. Her dream started to fade and she realised the tapping wasn't. She opened her eyes and realised it was only just breaking dawn, who on earth could be sending her an owl at this time, she certainly had not had enough sleep. She opened her window and the owl flew in and waited for his letter to be delivered. Hermione sleepily, fumbled her way to release the letter. She opened it and tried to focus but the 9 words printed on the letter sobered her up immediately.

Hermione,

Please come to St Mungo's immediately.

The Potters.

She could not tell you how she managed to shower, dress and get to St Mungo's, but at this point she was rushing down the hallway to emergency. The lady at the desk told her room 19, and all of a sudden her feet felt like they were concrete blocks. She forced herself to the door entrance and took a shaky breathe, and pushed the door open.

The first thing she saw and heard was Lily crying and James comforting her. Her brain was not functioning, and she couldn't voice a word, she slowly walked over to the bed and looked at the body who was covered in bruises and scratches. The face was hardly recognisable but she knew who it was and felt her legs giving way.

"Jake" she mumbled as her heart broke and she sobbed, but she gave way to the darkness was covering her and felt herself falling.

James saw Hermione sliding down and before he could voice it, Harry had come from his spot in the corner, to catch her as she fell.

"Harry, take her outside and get her some water. She is just in shock" Harry picked her up and carried her out to the lounge in the hallway. He lay her down with her head on his lap and then summoned a glass of water. He dropped small droplets into her mouth and then she slowly came around. She tried to sit up but Harry stopped her.

"Hermione you need to rest."

"Harry, let me go, it's Jake in there and it's my fault."
"What?"

"JUST LET ME GO." Harry let her go but stayed on the lounge chair. He watched her run to Jake's side and realised he would never have her. He would have to learn to be happy for her, happy while his heart was breaking in two.

Hermione walked back into the room and cried. She walked over to his bed and gently touched his face,

"What happened Mr Potter?"

"He had an accident Hermione, he totalled his car just at the end of our road. It was fortunate that Harry heard the crash and went to investigate, otherwise he may have died." Lily sobbed again but still held her son's hand. Hermione gently grabbed the other hand and even though she didn't voice it, she felt incredibly guilty. James must have seen the look on her face, "It's not anyone fault Hermione" Harry walked back into the room, but his presence went unnoticed.

"No, Mr Potter, it is someone's fault, I told him to stay with me, but he insisted on going home, I should have forced him to stay, I shouldn't have let him go. This is MY fault." Lily stood and grabbed Hermione in a tight hug.

"Sweetheart, it's not your fault, this was an accident OK, it is not your fault." Hermione held onto Lily like her life depended on it. Once she calmed down the two girls went out to get a coffee. It was going to be a long day. James and Harry were left in the room and Harry broke the silence.

"Dad, do you think he will pull out of it?" Harry was staring down at his little brother and felt the tears starting to well up in his eyes.

"Let's hope so son, I don't know what we would do if we lost him." After 5 minutes, James went to check on Lily and Hermione and on the way found the Healer. It was better that Jake remained in the coma for the next 24 hours so his body could repair itself. It certainly looked good. The healers were performing spells on him all day, trying to get the internal bleeding to repair it self. The broken bones had been repaired with skelegrow but all the other injuries needed time to heal.

Lily and Hermione were sitting in the cafeteria talking over there coffee.

"Lily, I am so sorry, I can't shake the feeling that's it is all my fault. If I just apparated home, or if I pushed him to stay, none of this would have happened." Hermione started crying again.

"Hermione, you listen to me, Jake would never blame you for any of this, and neither do we, do you hear me young lady?" Lily was holding her hands tightly over the table.

"I think we had better head back Lily, James will need a coffee."

Lily stood and saw her husband walk in, his face seemed a little relieved and she picked it straight away.

"What's happened?" Hermione started trembling thinking the worst.

"It's OK, Lily, Hermione, they are going to keep him under sedation for the next 24 hours so his body can repair itself and then he will be fine." Both the girls hugged him and the three of them walked back to the room. As they walked in they found Harry leaning over his brother crying. He stood when he heard the door open, and quickly brushed his tears away. Lily tried to comfort him but he walked past her. Lily looked at Hermione and she nodded. First she walked over to Jake and kissed him on the head. "I will be back" she told him.

"Harry" Hermione had found him downstairs sitting in the court garden. From his position, he had a beautiful view of the sunrise. He turned slightly to his name but otherwise did not move.

"Harry, are you OK?"

"Why do you care, Hermione?" Harry looked away from her and did not care that he was being extremely rude. He felt her sit next to him and she reached over to hold his hand. He didn't pull away but instead took her hand with his to rest on his lap. His thumbs caressed the back of her hands and they sat in silence for a few minutes.

"Your dad just said the Healers told him Jake will be ok" Her voice sounded so loud in the silence.

Harry just nodded. He looked up and watched the sun rising over the trees. Hermione followed his gaze and even though she was anxious to get back to Jake, she realised that Harry needed her at this moment. He pulled her hands up to his lips and gently kissed the back of her hand.

"Let's go I know you want to be in there." Hermione nodded and as Harry let go of her hand she dropped hers back down. Harry dusted of his pants and turned to leave. Hermione stepped in front of him and hugged. She held him tightly and after a few seconds that felt like a lifetime to her, he hugged her back. She felt the warm patch of tears forming on her shoulder and hugged him even tighter. They stood there for quite a while and when Harry pulled back, Hermione quickly kissed him on the cheek.

"Your brother will be fine Harry" Hermione wished she was as sure as she sounded. They walked back to the room hand in hand and when they walked in Hermione was surprised to see Ginny had arrived.

"Gin what are you doing here?" Ginny hugged her friend and asked if she was OK. Hermione gave her the over view of what had happened and since Ginny knew her best friend so well, she told her they would speak later.

"How did you find out Ginny?" Hermione, Ginny and Harry were sitting in the room alone since it was almost 10 o'clock and James and Lily went home to make a few phone calls. Apparently Ginny told them it was all over the news and that was how she knew where Hermione would be.

Harry received an owl from his parents and was told to go home and they needed to deal with the press together. Hermione stayed at the hospital and since Ginny left earlier, she was alone. It was after lunch when Jake started to move his hands. His eyes started to flutter open and Hermione called for the Healers.

"Mione, what happened?"

"Jake, just relax, you shouldn't even be awake yet." The healers filed into the room and were astounded at the site before them, Jake had woken himself up from an induced coma. He shouldn't have been awake yet. The Healers ran around doing spells and diagnosis tests. Hermione was being pushed back towards the door when she heard Jake call her.

"Mione please don't go." She walked over to his bed and gently took his hand. He held onto her tightly. The healers were very pleased with his progress and left to inform the Potters.

"Hey there, how are you feeling?" Jake smiled and pulled her hand up to kiss it.

"I feel like I was run over by a semi trailer." Hermione tried to laugh but she couldn't. The tears were building up and threatening to spill over. Jake smiled at her and touched her cheek. She was sitting on his bed next to him, and he gently pulled her in to hold her. She let her tears spill and then babbled out all the feelings of guilt she had. Jake tried to reassure her it wasn't her fault but she wouldn't listen.

"Jake, this would have never happened if I had just apparated, this is all my fault. You could have died." Hermione was still crying into Jake's shoulder and he was trying very hard to console her but was not succeeding. He lifted her face towards his and brushed the hair of her face. His thumb wiped away the tears and he gently leant forward to kiss her. Hermione knew what was coming but she couldn't fight it if she tried. When they touched lips she waited for the sparks, she waited for the surges of electricity to fill her being. It did not come. She pulled back but not before Harry had walked in and caught them in the embrace. James and Lily were a few steps behind him and he ran into them on the way out.

"What's wrong Harry?" Lily called out to him.

"I am an idiot, that's what's wrong." James and Lily walked into the room and were so overjoyed that Jake was sitting up and looked so well they decided to deal with Harry later. Hermione was sitting on the bed and got up to move when Lily approached.

"Oh son, I am so happy you're awake." Lily was crying tears of joy and James was smiling, the obvious relief visible on his face. Jake hugged his parents as they doted over him. He knew Hermione didn't feel the same way that he did, it was hard to admit to himself but it was the facts. He was not stupid, he had seen the way she looked at Harry. He just hoped that she might learn to love him as much as did her. Maybe he needed to try harder. Maybe she could care for him like he wanted, she was here at the hospital and she was distressed about everything that happened. Jake was not one to give up so easily, so he decided he was going to give it one more shot to see if he could get the beautiful Hermione Granger to love him.

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About 6pm Hermione was completely dead on her feet. It had been a ridiculous 24 hours and she was in desperate need of sleep. She said her goodbyes and didn't feel too guilty about leaving since the whole Quidditch team were there. The private room was packed to the rafters. She kissed Jake on the cheek and told him she would see him tomorrow after work.

"OK, Hermione,..." Jake whispered, "I love you" Hermione smiled and touched his cheek, she kissed his cheek and told him, "I know Jake, can we talk about this later?"

Jake smiled and nodded. He turned his attention back to his team and Hermione quietly sneaked out. She went downstairs and sat on the same seats her and Harry had sat on earlier that day. When she turned around to face the other way, she could see the last glimpses of the sun fading away. Why did she always manage to complicate her life, things couldn't ever just be simple with her. She stood and walked to the apparition point and stumbled into her lounge room. She did make one decision today and that was, she was not going to think about the Potters tonight, she needed some rest. A nice hot bath and a few glasses of red wine later, Hermione put on her night slip and crawled into bed. Boy, she was going to sleep well tonight.

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It was two o'clock in the morning when Hermione heard a banging on her door.

"Open up" She couldn't make out the voice so she grabbed her wand. She opened her door and was shocked to see Harry standing before her.

"Herrrrmmmione, what are you doing?" Harry yelled.

"Harry, you're drunk, get in here now." Hermione pulled him in but he lost his balance and fell on top of her. Hermione's breath was knocked out of her and she struggled to get out from under him.

"For Merlin's sake, Harry, get off me, I can't move." Harry tried to stumble off her but found he didn't want to. He grabbed her arms and locked them in one hand above her head and looked into her eyes. His other hand travelled down her side and he could feel her body through the light night slip she had on.

"Harry, please, you're drunk. Come on I will make up the spare bed for you." Hermione was so lost in his eyes, she didn't register his mouth coming closer to hers. He kissed her with so much passion, it nearly had her undone. His kiss was passionate, urgent and strong and his body being pressed against hers did little to help Hermione come to her senses. She found she could not think but wanted to feel. Somewhere in the midst of the passion, Harry must have realised his weight on top of her was making it difficult for her to move or breathe so he rolled over but held onto her taking her with him. The kiss continued until their lungs were demanding attention.

"Harry, we can't." Harry continued kissing her neck and collar bone.

"You have no idea what you do to me Hermione." Harry stopped and looked at her. He could see the guilt in her eyes and read it that she felt guilty for cheating on Jake. How could he be so stupid. He moved her off him and tried to stand. He made his way for the door, which was still open from when he arrived. He stumbled over to the door so he could leave but Hermione grabbed her wand and screamed 'Colloportus' and the door slammed shut. This spell would not have been a problem for Harry but in his state of inebriation, he didn't have the common sense or the will to leave. He slumped down on the floor and he felt Hermione's hands gently pull him up. He stood with her and she guided him into her spare room. She took of his shoes and his belt and pulled back the covers, so he could lay down. He sat on the bed and he mumbled sorry. She pretended not to hear him so she wouldn't have to have this conversation.

"Harry, try to sleep OK, I am next door, if you need anything." Hermione walked towards the door but this time she heard him more clearly.

"Hermione, sorry."

"Harry. Please don't do this now Ok, we have had a huge day." Hermione went to turn off the light but Harry continued.

"I won't trouble you anymore, you and Jake won't be bothered by me anymore." His voice was heartbroken.

"Harry please don't do this, it's not like that..." but Harry didn't want to listen, he turned over and covered himself up with the blankets.

Hermione sighed and turned off the light. Truth be told, it would be a while before sleep would take her tonight.

Hi

Hope you enjoyed this one, poor Hermione is getting more and more into trouble.

Anyway shouldn't be too long for the next one.

As always Review if you like !!

Sirius xoxo