Four and a half months, It has taken me this long to post up another chapter. Urgg. Be glad I actually got it through my head to actually finish up another chapter. This one will bound to be reveiling.

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I don't own Harry Potter. Enjoy the new chapter

Chapter 21: The Grim and The Snake

By: tojot

"Harry? Ron?" The voice proved that this Silhouette was none other than Hermione. "Do you have any clue what Dumbledore wants to speak to us about?"

"No." said Ron, "We're just as in the dark as you."

"Wait here." Mrs. Weasley said quietly as she and Mr. Weasley went into the room full of Order members.

"So how come you're here?" Ron asked Hermione.

"I was up in my room packing, when an Owl swoops into my room baring a letter from Dumbledore, asking me if it was possible for me to stay here for the night. If so, to come as soon as possible." Hermione whispered. The door opened once again by Remus who had a grim look on his face.

"Would you three please step inside?" He asked in a strained voice. As they did so, Harry noticed that most of the order members had left already. He could see no Snape anywhere.

"Please take a seat." Dumbledore said gently as he stood. He pointed them to three chairs that lined the wall next to Kingsley Shacklebolt. "Now, the last order of business that needed to be taken care of: Those who are here, Even though we are missing one member who I wished would not be incapacitated at this time, (she will be briefed when she is better) I am going to entrust you with the utmost secrecy on this matter. I also ask you not to say anything about this to any one out side this room, that includes the other order members."

"What about these three." Tonks indicated Harry, Hermione and Ron.

"They are here concerning the order of business." Dumbledore pointed out as he turned his blue eyes to Harry. Letting out a deep sigh he continued. "I plan on making them members of the Order of the Phoenix, but special ones at that. They will be junior members, they will report to me, Because they are still in school they have the ability to reject missions I put them on." Remus, Tonks and Mr. And Mrs. Weasley all heaved a sigh of relief at this announcement. "They will not be in meetings, the fact that they are order members will remain a secret between us here."

"You said that you would tell one other." Kingsley stated. "Would this other be Avyllynn Gryphon?"

"That deduction would be correct." The old man said.

"You said you trusted Severus, Why isn't he here?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"It is a reason of trust of these three." Dumbledore indicated Harry, Ron and Hermione. "They do not trust him as I do. It should be very revealing who is here and who is not on how much Harry, Ronald and Hermione trust you."

The meeting did not take long to finish and everyone soon dispersed. Harry, Ron and Hermione went up to Harry's room to discuss the mysteries that where going on.

"I wonder what is going on with Professor Gryphon?" Hermione said quietly after all three had settled down in front of the fire. Ron had spread himself on the soft rug. Harry and Hermione sat down in the chairs.

"You said that this mess could be linked with her." Harry said as he scratched behind Crookshanks ear. The large cat had settled himself on Harry's lap and would not budge.

"Everything is just so confusing!" She huffed. "If I knew more about the Alljandre I could probably get to the bottom of this. Why is Gryphon afraid of them?"

As Hermione said this, a thought kept pestering him. Something he had seen concerning Gryphon and the Alljandre. He rubbed his temples in efforts to ease the developing headache that was forming.

"Maybe we can think better in the morning." Ron yawned. "I don't know about you but Mum kept me busy with housework up until the time we came here. What's more is I think I upset the ghoul as I was cleaning and organizing the attic, I'm beat." He got up and shuffled over to the door "You coming, Hermione?" he asked looking back.

"I am not quite tired yet, Ron. I'll be going to bed shortly." Hermione told him.

"Okay." He slurred tiredly, "Goodnight you two."

"Goodnight, Ron." Harry called after his friend's retreating figure.

Silence rested between Harry and Hermione for a moment. Harry, sensing something else was on Hermione's mind asked, "Care speak about the other things on your mind as well?"

Hermione sighed softly, "I am just so confused, Is love really this difficult to keep from distracting you?"

"What are you talking about?"

"What I am saying, Harry…" She spoke as she rose from her chair and knelt down in front of him. "Is that I am finding very hard to concentrate when thoughts of you are overwhelming my heart."

Harry leaned forward without disturbing the now sleeping cat, bringing his face close to hers and smirked. "So Ms. Granger finds me a distraction?" He said with a raised eyebrow. He was teasing her frustration.

"More like an attraction." She said breathlessly. The firelight glimmered in Harry's green eyes, giving him a somewhat mystic appearance. Hermione found that she couldn't take it anymore and crushed her lips to his. The intense magical feeling returned to them both. Both of them letting their confused frustrations pass for the time being and finding themselves enjoying moment and the memories shared. Crookshanks wriggled free from between the two lovers and leapt to the other chair and curled up and went back to sleep again.

The kiss didn't last long and Hermione eventually became situated on Harry's lap, her head nestled in the crook of his neck. Both just sat in comfortable silence as they watched the flames dance in the grate, only once and awhile, drowsily spouting off a thought that came to their tired minds.

"Harry?" Hermione whispered.

"Hmm?" Harry sounded quietly.

"Do you still want to be an Auror? If and after you defeat Voldemort, I mean."

"Now that I think about it, I guess it is not all it is cracked up to be. I have realized that if I were to defeat Voldemort, I would probably be called in for big things. But I have a feeling that I would just like to get away from fighting the Dark Arts for a while after a defeat that big and go far away from everything." Harry said, every word full of thought.

"Would you leave me behind?" Hermione whispered.

"Not willingly." Harry answered truthfully.

"Thas goo…." Hermione slurred as she fell asleep in Harry's arms. With a quiet chuckle, Harry picked her up and placed her on his bed removed her shoes and placed her between the sheets. Feeling tired himself, Harry kicked his shoes off too and snuggled in with her and fell asleep.

He found himself in a darkened room laying upon a bed, inhuman screaming coming from his mouth, no one was there. His long thin white fingers were clawing and clutching at his chest and he was writhing in disgust. He was terrified and ill. Harry felt himself get up walk over to the mirror. Looking into the mirror he saw the face of Voldemort.

He saw the flicker in Voldemort's red eyes, a flicker of bright green.

"You're here aren't you Harry." He felt himself speak hoarsely, "Right here in my mind. You seem to have found a way to protect yourself from my mental advances…

and recently you have found a way to cause me great and confusing pain."

There was moment where everything went black, light slowly came back to Harry.

"Wh-where am I?" Harry asked, thinking he was alone.

"We are in the link that connects my mind with yours, young Harry." Harry turned to face a face that he had fought with for many years.

"What do you want." Harry demanded.

"I merely want to speak with you, Since I cannot do much more." Voldemort said simply as he pointed to a gigantic shaggy white dog sitting to the side of them. "You seem to have a mind gaurdian, I go any further, it attacks. Though, I have to admit that I have never..." He broke off, " You got my message, I trust."

"The Arrow and the offer. Yes, I received it." Harry said defiantly. "I decline!"

"I see, then you wish us to be enemies. But Harry, we are not very different. Being Half-blooded and powerful as we are, we have been given the very things that make us both invincible. Our mothers went to great lengths to ensure our existence. I really must thank Merope Gaunt for bringing me into a magical existence."

"Your mother?" Harry inquired.

"Yes, My mother, daughter of the Slytherin line." Voldemort answered nonchalantly.

"Why was the Alljandre brought into the fight between us?" Harry demanded. "She was only protecting Hogwarts."

"She was doing much more than that." Voldemort revealed, "Even when I offered her a chance to step aside. She insisted on putting herself in the way, as has the old fool."

"I don't understand."

"Haven't figured it out yet have you, Harry." Voldemort chided. "You have seen so many signs and yet you still don't realize what you are looking at. You associate with the Alljandre woman very frequently."

He understood now, he had somehow known all along but didn't want to admit it.

"Avyllynne Gryphon really is an idiot." Voldemort spat, "One with all that raw power and ability and she still doesn't use it for gain. She hides her true self all underneath the Lapis Lazuli."

"Her true self." It wasn't a question that Harry had just said, it was a realization about Gryphon's fear. She feared herself! Images flashed through his mind. Memories clicking the jigsaw puzzle into place. Finding out this frightening new fact about a teacher that he was coming to trust.

"She's a monster, Harry." Voldemort whispered in his ear as Harry felt a cold hand grip his wrist, "A heartless monster with no respect for life. An Allogryph wood elf cross-breed savage who is said to have murdered her own parents and slaughtered thousands in her rage. She is much worse than I."

"NO!" Harry shouted as he tried to step away, "SHE IS NOT LIKE THAT!"

In an instant, the White Dog had leapt onto Voldemort, twisting Harry out of his grasp and started a vicious attack on the snake-like wizard.

"Wake up, Harry, You must return to consciousness." A familiar voice coming from the dog said. "Wake up!"

"Sirius?!"

"Harry, wake up!" He heard Hermione's voice. His eyes shot open. His head was resting on Hermione's lap. They were both on his bed. He could see her beautiful brown eyes full of concern. When he noticed a weight on his chest he looked down to see that Crookshanks had perched himself there and curled up with his big yellow eyes watching Harry.

"Harry, Thank goodness!" Hermione squeeked as she pulled him up and embraced him, accidentally knocking the cat off his chest, "I really thought we were in trouble when Voldemort caught us in his mind."

"How much did you see?" Harry asked in a rush. "When did you wake up? What do you mean he caught us both in his mind? "

Hermione looked at him in confusion. "I was there when Voldemort caught you after that I woke up. As for me being there," She said as she raised her right hand and showed him the markings on the back of it. "We are linked, Harry, I am sure you remember Gryphon asking me if my words stand declared before we left to repair the charm?"

"What does that have to do with this matter?" Harry asked.

"That, Harry, is the very thing that assured Gryphon that the charm would be cast properly. To properly cast that particular charm you have to be willing in body, mind, heart and soul. If you weren't ready to give up what the charm required, the results could easily be devastating. It is both a protection charm as well as a binding charm, there is no way to escape it. I am bound to you and through you to Voldemort. As time goes on, the bond between us will become stronger."

Harry looked at her in a worried fashion. "But what if he caught you and found out that you…"

"But that's just it, isn't it Harry?" Hermione interrupted suddenly, "He hasn't found out about us. We both heard from him that you have found a way to block him." Hermione then donned a feverish twinkle in her eye that she got whenever she got excited about something, "What's more is the fact that you have managed to give him pain."

"Hermione, did you wake up right after this?"

"Yes. Looking from Voldemort's perspective is kind of disturbing." She said as she shivered. "But apparently, you spoke with him more."

Harry looked at her inquisitively.

"I only heard your side of the conversation, In all truth it didn't make much sense. Just before you woke up you said Sirius' name."

"Is it okay if I not tell you about it, I really don't want to dwell on it again." Harry said avoiding telling Hermione what the Dark Wizard had told him and what he had seen. Everything he had heard about Gryphon was disturbing, just as disturbing as probably having Sirius protect his mind.

"Okay." Hermione said somewhat icily. " I understand." She pulled out of his arms and to the edge of the bed picking up her shoes and moved to pick up Crookshanks.

"Hermione?" Harry inquired about her sudden shift in tone. "I didn't mean to offend you."

"Why do you refuse to tell me when things are clearly bothering you?" She said, standing to face him, "Why?"

He took a deep breath in gathering his thoughts, "Hermione, the reason why I won't tell you what Voldemort told me is because what he told me is very overwhelming. I very well can't be trusting him, I learned my lesson with Sirius' death. Just-just let me sort out something first then I will tell you, okay?"

"Okay." Hermione replied quietly as she nodded. He held her hand out to her. Dropping her shoes, she took it and he pulled her back onto the bed and into his arms.

"I-I love you, Hermione." Harry said as he snuggled close to her. She gasped.

"You do?" She asked, tears forming in her eyes.

"Yes."

"I love you too, Harry." Hermione said quietly as she snuggled closer to him as well. Crookshanks returned to his perch on Harry's chest, next to Hermione.

"I know you do, you said so on the train." Harry said drowsily, his eyes closed as he hummed the tune of Fur Elise. Hermione smiled and drifted off to sleep with Harry not so far behind.

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

This chapter was really fun to work on. Though sometimes I feel like I am divulging information too soon. Then I remind myself that this story is actually passed the midway point. Thanks again for being so patient with me as I work to finish this story chapter by chapter. Please review now and tell me your thoughts on this chapter and what you had originally thought.

-tojot