Hermione was in a state of shock as they walked back to the Burrow. Fred and George were carrying Harry while Ron was ushering back a sobbing Ginny. Hermione, however, just stood rooted to the spot where they arrive. She couldn't stop processing what had just happened.

'Why would he do that? Why would he cover me? Why did he feel his life was worth less than mine?'

These were the thoughts that ran through Hermione's head as she just stood there. It wasn't till she heard Ron screaming her name that she finally came back to the land of the living. She proceeded to run full speed to the Burrow, barrelling past Ron and into the house. The scene she ran into was one of mass panic.

Ginny was still crying, Fred (or George) gently rubbing her back assuring her that it would be okay. Molly was yelling a mile a minute at George (or Fred) about what happened and why Harry was in this state. Ron came in seconds after Hermione still breathing hard from their espace.

"Hermione," Ron huffed out, still trying to catch his breath, "are you okay?"

Hermione ignored Ron's question as her gaze was fixed on Harry's body, which laid face down on the couch. She slowly walked over to the couch and sat down, shifting Harry's head so that it was now on her lap. She gently started to stroke his face, unsure of what else to do.

While the rest of the Weasley's looked on, Arthur entered through the front door. Molly ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, thankful that all the people she cared for were still alive. The twins updated their father on the situation with and watched as he quickly went to the fireplace to make a floo call. While Arthur was talking to someone, Molly walked Ginny in the kitchen to try and calm her down. Fred and George thought it might be a good idea to bring down Harry's pajamas as well as a blanket since they figured Harry wasn't going anywhere. Ron, however, had not moved a muscle since Hermione sat down next to Harry. He didn't know why but the intimate nature of Hermione stroking Harry's hair and face left him feeling jealous. These, while not entirely new, had been rearing up more and more ever since Harry had come to the Burrow.

FLASHBACK

Harry's departure from the Dursley's was quite possibly one of the greatest moments of his young life. yes, Arthur was made and yes, the twins would get in trouble for it but it was still worth it. Ron showed Harry up to his room so that he could unpack and hopefully get some flying in before Arthur told Molly and their brooms would be confiscated.

"BOYS!"

Too late. Ron groaned as he heard his mother scream. He started to slowly exit the room when he looked back towards Harry.

"Pray for me."

"Any particular god?"

"All of them."

Ron then left to meet his irate mother. While Harry was still unpacking, he heard someone knock on the door.

"Come in," Harry said absently.

Harry turned around to see and was coming in when his eyes bugged out. There stood his best friend: Hermione Granger. But she was different somehow. She seemed taller and she had a light tan. Her hair was still as bushy as before and her front teeth were still bucked but Harry never really cared much about that. He was brought out of his stupor when she wrapped him in a big hug.

"I thought I heard you arrive downstairs. How has your summer been so far?"

Harry stuttered a bit before replying, "It's been great. The twins pulled a prank on Dudley before we left."

Hermione frowned at this and so Harry, wisely, changed the subject.

"What about you? How has summer been? You look...good." The way Harry stammered all this out made it quite obvious he was nervous for some reason. However, Hermione, who was blushing after Harry's compliment didn't notice.

"It has been perfect so far. Before I came here, my parents took us on holiday in southern France."

'That explains the tan,' Harry thought to himself.

"It was so great to be able to with them. I get homesick at school so when I get the chance to spend with my parents, I just take full advantage of it," Hermione said in a joyful rant. She then noticed that Harry's face had turned downcast. She was curious as to why before it hit her.

'He'll never have what I have with my parents'

Hermione walked right back to Harry and gave him another hug. This one was softer and gentler than her previous one. Harry didn't say anything to her but he returned the hug. Their relationship was one that neither had to say anything to understand what the other was thinking. Hermione knew Harry was thinking about his parents during her rant and Harry knew Hermione knew. This was what Ron walked back in on as he re-entered his room.

"What's going on?" Ron said with a hint of venom to it.

Harry and Hermione jumped apart at the sudden question and exchanged nervous looks.

Harry recovered first and gave Ron a suitable explanation.

"I was just thanking Hermione for her early birthday present," Harry said enthusiastically.

"What are you talking about? What birthday gift?"

"Well, as you know Ron, Harry has decided to stop taking that farce of a class Divination."

Ron nodded his head as he knew Harry no longer wanted to take the class. While Ron felt abandoned that his two best friends were leaving him behind, he couldn't fault Harry for not wanting to hear about how he was going to die for ten months.

"So Hermione decided to lend me her notes for Arithmancy and Ancient Runes so that I could possibly be added to one of the classes for next semester. Professor McGonagall told me she would schedule brief oral exams for me with the professors. If I performed well enough I could placed in the fourth year class."

Ron looked at Harry with mild shock. "So you spent half of your SUMMER VACATION studying?" Harry nodded. "Well what happens if you do well enough to get into both classes?"

Harry hadn't thought about that prospect. "I guess if that happens then I will take both classes. I mean if Hermione could do it then so could , right?"

Hermione beamed at the praise that Harry had just given as well as the confidence in himself. However, the smile that was adorned on her face quickly went away when her other friend spoke.

"That's barmy mate. Hermione is a freak of nature. No normal person could do that. Bloody hell, no normal person would do that."

Ron was looking at Harry, hoping that he would agree with him. Instead, he saw quickly dart his eyes to Hermione.

"Is that how you think of me Ronald?"

Ron stiffened as he heard Hermione use his full name. He slowly looked at her and could she was holding back her emotions. What scared him was that he couldn't tell whether it was sadness or anger. Ron started to speak when Hermione cut him off.

"Never mind Ronald. I'll leave you be. Wouldn't want my freakish, abnormal intelligence to rub off on you. Then you wouldn't need me to help you with your homework." With that, Hermione stalked out of the room.

Ron just stared after her, realising how bad he had just messed up. She hadn't ended their friendship, which was good but Ron wasn't too thick to realise the threat he had just been given. He turned towards Harry to see him standing there with an exasperated look on his face. He would have to play mediator between the two of them. Harry walked towards the door to go calm down Hermione. Right before he left, he turned back to Ron and he told him what he was thinking.

"Sooner or later, you're going to do something that I won't even be able to get her to forgive you. And trust me when I say this Ron, if that day ever comes you won't just lose Hermione." With that said Harry walked out of Ron's room.

END OF FLASHBACK

Everything changed after that day. Harry was spending more time with Hermione reviewing her notes. He still hung out with him but it always seemed tense as Ron wanted to know if Harry had gotten Hermione to forgiven him yet. Harry never answered in the affirmative or negative, simply stating that Ron would know when he was forgiven.

And now Hermione was gently stroking Harry's hair, on his couch, in his home. Watching this, Ron decided that if their friendship was going to remain intact, he would have to make the first move. He moved to pick up a blanket on one of the chairs in the living room and draped it over Hermione's shoulders. He proceeded to sit next to her and wrap his arms around her waist.

"He'll be fine. This is Harry we're talking about. He always finds his way back," Ron said sincerely. While he may have been jealous at their closeness over the past few weeks, it didn't change the fact that his best friend was in serious danger. Hermione didn't speak. Instead she simply rested her head on Ron's shoulders giving him a silent thanks for what he just said.

Arthur finally removed his head from the fireplace and seemed to waiting for something to happen. About two minutes later Minerva McGonagall and Poppy Pomfrey entered the Weasley's living room.

"Where is he?" the two women said simultaneously.

Arthur pointed to the couch where the three teenagers were now resting. Poppy told Ron and Hermione to move away from Harry. While Ron moved immediately, Hermione was much more reluctant to leave his side. Stroking his face allowed her to focus her mind on something instead of what really happened. She didn't know what she would with herself if she stopped. Eventually, the Deputy Headmistress went to her side.

"I know it's hard Hermione but Poppy needs you move aside. I know you're scared but you need to trust us. We want him to feel better just as much as you do."

Hermione heard everything her idol said but she just couldn't do it. She couldn't leave his side. This was her fault so it was her responsibility to stay by his side.

"Let me try Minerva," Poppy said gently.

Minerva moved away as Poppy went to say something to Hermione. She was unsure what the aged medi-witch was saying but the look of Hermione's face was not as dark as it was before.

"Really?" Minerva had a puzzled look on her face when Hermione asked this. Poppy simply nodded her head and told her that she needed Hermione to move away so that she could do her job properly.

Minerva then watched Hermione get up and move to the other couch watching intently as Hermione eyes never left Harry's prone body. Thirty minutes by the time Poppy was finished with her work. When she noticed she was finished, Hermione and the rest of the Weasley's gathered around to hear what she had to say.

"It seems he'll have another scar. But outside of that, nothing permanent. His body will be sore for a few days and he'll need to apply ointment to his wound everyday to avoid infections."

Those gathered simply nodded. Hermione took her seat back and went back to work on caressing Harry's face. As Minerva and Poppy were about to floo back to Hogwarts, Hermione slowly turned to them and whispered a word of thanks. The two witches nodded their heads and left.

Arthur and Molly ushered their children up to bed as it was very late and they all needed their rest. Molly and Arthur, however, could not convince Hermione to move. She had only done it before so that Harry could get proper medical attention. Now that he had it, she had no intentions of leaving his side until he woke. And after what Madam Pomfrey had just told her, she knew he deserved nothing less.

Harry woke up in a daze. He felt a strange tingling sensation in between his shoulder blades and ran down all the way to his lower back. He also felt another strange sensation but this was more pleasant. Someone was lightly stroking his face. He didn't mind the sensation all that much. If he could be honest with himself, he actually loved the feeling. Featherlight strokes going across his cheeks and his forehead. Each caress made Harry feel better and better about his current situation. Then, all of a sudden, the gentle fingers traced the outline of his scar. The touch seemed so intimate, so personal that he didn't know what to make of it. He stirred, turning onto his back so that he could look up at the person who was making him feel so content.

"Her...Hermione?"

A/N: This is my first story so this note might not cover all it needs to but I will try my best to make certain things clear.

First, Harry was hit with just a curse. In my mind, it's the same one that took down Hermione in OotP.

Next there will be mild to major Ron bashing in this story depending on where I take Harry. There will also be some mild Cedric bashing as I feel there could be a great rivalry between the two during the tournament.

To answer GreenGrizzly: yes on the horcruxes, no on the Hallows.

Next chapter will be the end of summer and lead up to the champion selection. It is after he is selected that the story truly starts to take form.

Thanks for the kind reviews. Hope you liked this chapter and hope you will leave more feedback for me to create a good story. Thanks again.