DISCLAIMER: As the author of this fan fiction story I do not, in any way, profit from the story or claim any rights to the 'Harry Potter' universe. All creative rights to the 'Harry Potter' universe belong to J.K. Rowling. Thank you for letting me play in this amazing world.
CHAPTER THREE
Hermione felt her body give an unconscious painful jerk, as if she was falling, and concentrated on bringing her focus back to whatever was happening around her as she kept her eyes closed. She was still being carried, but they had stopped walking and no one was speaking.
"Hold on Hermione, don't try to move too much," came Harry's soft voice from somewhere in front of her. She took his welcome advice and kept her head down on Bill's shoulder. After what seemed like an hour to her fuzzy mind, Hermione heard a door creak open, then slam behind then. She could hear voices around her, two deep and one light, but couldn't figure out what was being said. Suddenly, she felt herself being moved and then softness underneath her body. A warm hand was suddenly on her forehead, one she was sure she knew even in her hazy state, and she struggled to open her eyes to confirm what she already knew.
"Harry," she muttered seeing him above her. She took in his dirty, bloodied clothing and skin, and dark-ringed eyes and was suddenly worried about him. How could she have allowed herself to be coddled when Harry needed her? She tenderly hooked her elbows behind her back and started to slowly push her way to sitting. She hissed as she felt her aching body burn with the movement, and then stopped moving as Harry put his firm hand on shoulder.
"You're hurt! I need to take care of you, Harry!" She muttered with as much indignation as she could manage, confused when he just simply gave her a crooked smile.
"Hermione, you have been taking care of me for the past year without fail or complaint. Now please, just let me take care of you for a while, I assure you I'm not hurt, just a bit banged up. Now lay back down for me, please" Harry quietly pleaded with her. She stared at him while her mind fought to ignore what he said, but she saw both stubbornness and worry in his eyes and decided to listen to him. She was too tired and muddled to fight back anyways, which was saying something. Hermione allowed Harry to guide her head back down onto the soft surface. She turned it to the side and saw she was lying in a large version of a Gryffindor dorm bed. Bill and Fleur were also standing on the opposite side of her bed, quietly holding hands as they watched her with Harry.
"Where are we? In the tower?" she asked them.
"We went to the Room of Requirement to see if it would still work after the fire, and I guess this means it repaired itself. We need a quiet space to rest for a while." Harry's voice was starting to sound farther away as she closed her eyes, focusing on the warm hand that was back on her face. "I know you would like nothing more than to go to sleep right now, but I need to clean you up first," he continued, "I see some pretty nasty cuts, and who knows what else is underneath all that dirt…" he said, with a forced chuckle in his voice. Hearing his tone of voice, and knowing it to sound strange for Harry, Hermione forced her eyes open and looked up into his worried eyes. The haziness began to lift for a moment, and Hermione grimaced as she became aware of not only the persisting ache of her body, but sharp pains as well.
"Would you like me to stay and help heal you both?" Fleur's voice came quietly from Hermione's side. She had almost forgotten they were in the room for a moment. Harry looked down at her, and she discretely shook her head 'no'.
"Thanks Fleur, but we became pretty good at healing each other in the past year," Bill and Fleur openly grimaced at this, "and Hermione needs treatment by a healer, there's not much we can do right now for her." At this, Fleur opened her mouth to question what Harry had just said, but he gave a sharp shake of her head to quiet her. "Later."
Fleur sent a small smile to Hermione as she made to walk out the door, and Bill leaned over to gently smooth her hair back and give her a light kiss on the forehead. "We'll be back in a few hours to check on you both, we won't tell anyone where you are."
"Thanks. And please tell your Mum that Hermione just needs a good rest, and so do I. There is no need to worry everyone tonight, we'll be fine for now." Harry almost pleaded with Bill, not wanting Molly Weasley to bother them tonight, though he knew she only had good intentions.
Bill nodded in understanding, gave Hermione's hand a gentle squeeze, and followed his wife out the door.
A moment after the door shut Harry left Hermione's side, and through half-opened eyes she watched him walk about the room, exploring what he had created. She watched as he stopped in front of a cupboard, staring at it in deep thought, and then he opened the door pulled out some fluffy towels. Slinging these over his shoulder with a smile on his face at his success, he moved to a small claw-foot tub in the corner of the room and repeated the same process. Hermione smiled as she saw the tub expand to look more like a small pool, much like the bath in the prefect's bathroom.
Harry made his way back over to the bed where she lay and sat down carefully beside her, giving her a shy smile. "Care for a hot bath, Mione?" He knew she wouldn't be able to resist; she had spent the past year wanting a decent hot bath, and instead put up with tepid occasional showers. That was one of the few things Harry could remember her actually vocalizing her complaints about.
She smiled back at him, and made to roll over onto her side to pull her aching weight off the soft bed. She felt Harry's hands grasp around her sides and gently pull her upright and onto the edge of the bed. Once her feet touched the floor again she hissed at the change in position. Harry didn't say anything about her reaction, but she knew it had registered in his ears.
"Bend over a bit, Mione," Harry asked as he began to pull her jumper up her torso, gently pulling it over her bent shoulders and lowered arms so she wouldn't have to strain herself, and threw it onto the floor. Despite the way she felt, she still felt a pleasurable shiver down to her core as his warm hands touched her sides. She noticed Harry's head looking at her fallen shirt, then moving towards her bare skin. She looked in disbelief for a moment at the blood-stains and burns that covered the garment, and also turned her gaze to her bare stomache and arms. She was covered liberally in bruises and grazes, with a few missed burns from the Gringotts escape. She jerked as Harry placed his hand on her side, feeling a sharp pain at his action
"I think you have bruised or cracked ribs," Harry muttered, running his hands up her arms and back, checking for more injuries. He found a darkly bruised gash on her back which was still trickling blood.
"A falling stone I think, and the ribs from hitting a wall," she distantly remembered, as Harry knelt in front of her and began fumbling with the button on her jeans. Bracing her hands on Harry's shoulders, she lifted herself up long enough for him to pull her pants off her legs, after her tattered shoes and socks. Her legs burned as he did this, and she looked down to see bright red and bubbly skin on the back of her legs.
"The fiendfyre..." Harry muttered, "It must have come really close to you to burn you like that."
Hermione's mind flashed to remember their escape on brooms, the fire licking at her legs and she trailed Harry, Ron, Draco, and Crabbe out of the Room of Requirement. She hadn't even registered she was in pain, so focused on getting out and not burning alive. Thinking of the small trade-off these burns were for escaping with her life, she just shrugged her shoulders. She knew Harry understood as he didn't say anything more but started to strip off his own clothes. She grimaced as Harry's uncovered body looked much like her own, an assortment of gashes and bruises, but not too bad considering they had just fought a war. Her eyes followed the pattern made by the marks on his body underneath his dark body hair, and was startled when she felt him reach around her to undo her bra and pull it off, having gotten lost in her thoughts.
"Do you want me to heal you first, or take a bath first?" Harry asked her quietly. She thought about it as she eyed the steaming tub. She knew he wasn't going to be able to heal her properly, so logically knew she should soak in the hot water and clean her body off before her wounds were partially closed.
"Bath," was all she said to Harry
"Okay, we'll take a nice soak in the tub, clean up our cuts, and then you can sleep for a while, I promise," his voice rumbled as he helped her stand to remove her remaining garment. Pressed against his bare warm body, Hermione gladly let Harry lead her over to the large tub. Keeping hold of her hands, Harry stepped in the steamy water first, and then braced her at the hips as she gingerly stepped into the water. It was steamy, hot, and bubbly, and she sighed in happiness despite her aches and the burns on her legs. She had been looking forward to this for a long time….No, she was happy she was even alive to enjoy a hot bath after the past year. She scowled to herself a bit at this last realization, and was interrupted as Harry tugged on her hips. She slowly sank into the water with him, feeling both pleasure and pain as the hot water covered her body. Harry leaned against the edge of the tub with a content sigh and pulled her to lie against him, cradling her against his chest.
Hermione let out an unrestrained moan as the hot water slightly eased the ache that hadn't left her bones since the fiasco at Malfoy Manor. Since her torture she had felt aged beyond her years, falling asleep and waking up each day with the same constant pain. Too much physical exertion and stress only made it worse, not to mention that they had been next to starving for months. Her body was no longer healing properly, and even the heinous word that had been cut into her arm was barely scabbed over; it often broke open and started trickling blood.
After sitting for a while in companionable silence Hermione felt the tired darkness closing in around her eyes, so closed them where she lay against Harry's chest. From her position on the edge of sleep, Hermione felt something soft being run over her body, and smiled as she felt her body wake up and respond to Harry's intimate caresses as he cleaned her up. Pain was something that she was constantly aware of in her day-to-day life, since her torture, so to experience pleasure felt that much more heightened to her senses. When they had been hunting Horcruxes and camping, most days she thought all day about how she would get to share a bed with Harry that night and they would have a chance to share intimate caresses and kisses in the dark. Her body was too sore to tolerate any more than that, but the thought of their time together would get her through each long painful day.
Hermione felt Harry's lips suckle gently at her earlobe, slowly moving down her neck and shoulder, as his other hand caressed her breasts and stomache softly, careful not to touch any sore spots. She didn't hold back her moan, and Harry's hand slowly moved down to caress her downy lips, causing her to shiver as he rubbed his finger down the middle of them. She pushed her hips against his hands, wanting him to open her up and touch her sensitive flesh.
"Careful Hermione, don't move too much. Just relax and let me do the work." He breathed in her ear. This was a familiar dance for them. She stopped herself from her eager movements, knowing he was right, and concentrated on feeling what he was doing while she kept her eyes closed.
His finger pushed in farther between her lips, and suddenly Harry was rubbing her clit under the water. He reached his other hand down at the same time to gently spread her legs farther apart between his, then spread her lips open wide, continuing his stroking with his other hand. Hermione gripped his legs tightly under the water, and her head lolled against his chest with her moans as she felt warm pleasure radiating from where he was stroking her. She started clenching and unclenching her hands rhythmically on Harry leg as an orgasm grew from inside her core, and her body unconsciously began to move against his hand. Harry knew she was close to orgasm and started stroking her harder as he used his other hand to slowly push two fingers into her and curl them to stroke her other sensitive spot with the same rhythm. She gasped as she felt her pleasure get to a peak and then explode inside her, so powerful she could almost feel her eyes roll back as her muscles convulsed around Harry's fingers and he slowly stroked her down.
Her head lolled back on Harry's chest as pleasurable warmth ran through her body, temporarily chasing away her nagging pain. She sighed in pleasure, and Harry moved to wrap his warm arms around her body, content to hold her quietly and enjoy her weight on his chest.
"I love you, Hermione." He whispered in her ear. She knew they had so much more to say to each other, having not known if they would even be alive to see each other again, but for tonight she was content to enjoy his arms around her and deal with the repercussions of the war tomorrow.
"I love you too, Harry." She turned her head upwards and planted a soft kiss along his jaw, keeping her lips in place as he hugged her.
They sat contentedly for a while, letting the hot water take away their troubles, but Hermione began to get restless as her aches and pains seeped back into her consciousness. For the first time since the battle she could feel the throbbing of the gash on her back, and the sharp ache of her ribs, on top of the normal bone-deep ache in her body. Harry sensed what was happening with her, based on her uncomfortable movements, and carefully helped her lay back so he could wash her hair and get them out of the bath. After she was clean Hermione helped wash Harry off as best she could, then accepted his help climbing out of the bath and getting wrapped in a warm towel.
Harry led Hermione back to the bed and helped her sit down on the edge. He left her for a moment to grab her beaded bag, removing their small bottle of Dittany, and grabbed his wand. He sat behind Hermione on the bed and unstopped the dittany to drip a bit of the potion on her still-trickling back wound. He frowned as he watched it very slowly start to heal and only close over enough to stop the bleeding. It was still inflamed and bruised. He then dripped some dittany on the back of her leg, using his hand to spread it around the burn, and again watched as it only partially healed. He performed the same action on her other leg, which also only half healed. He performed the spell on her ribs to mend the cracked bones, successfully, but the bruise covering her side remained. Although Harry had known this would probably happen, he had hoped Hermione would be soon able to start healing properly; her ability to heal had been almost non-existent since Bellatrix Lestrange had tortured her with black magic, so Harry could only assume that the curse was the reason. Hermione was watching his face apprehensively, knowing her body was still not healing properly, and he gave her a smile to comfort her.
"We'll find an answer Hermione, don't worry, you'll be back to normal again soon." He said, as reassuringly as he could. She gave him a quick smile, then took the bottle of Dittany from his hands and started dabbing it over his cuts. Harry healed quickly and in a short time was nearly unmarred. Feeling better after having a bath and being healed, Harry quickly walked behind them to pull down the covers of the bed, then helped Hermione stand up and walk to the edge of the bed, removing her towel as he helped her lay down and get tucked under the blankets. Harry walked around the room to blow out the many candles, feeling comforted to do it the muggle way, and left a couple flickering beside the bed. He also placed his and Hermione's wands and his glasses beside their bed, not able to give up the thought of "constant vigilance", even though the battle was over. He removed his own fluffy towel and climbed in bed beside Hermione, holding her as close as he could without hurting her. They had started sleeping bare together a few weeks ago; after the close call at Malfoy Manor and the uncertainty of their future getting closer, they both craved to be as close as possible to each other, and his warm body also relieved Hermione of some discomfort. There was something about sleeping next to the person you love with bare skin that felt so raw and intimate, Harry thought as he gave Hermione a kiss on her forehead where it was tucked under his chin. He sighed as he settled down to sleep. This was the first time in about a year they had slept in a comfortable bed and did not have to worry about horcruxes, setting up wards, or keeping watch. They both felt into an exhausted but relaxed sleep very quickly.