Trouble – it will find you
No matter where you go
Oh, oh
No matter if you're fast
No matter if you're slow
Lenka - Trouble Is A Friend
Chapter 8: Trouble is a friend
Harry's head snapped up at their comment. They knew?
"Who did it?" He snarled.
The twins looked at him with wide eyes, they hastily bowed, then They rose and started stammering about their whole story. "Stop! Slowly and coherently," he demands.
One of the twins, Harry couldn't tell them apart, blanched at his tone of voice. "We had just entered the hall when we saw a man staring at women with long brown curly hair..." She says quietly.
Hermione sits up suddenly, "What did he look like?" She asks them softly.
"Well, he had shoulder length black hair, but it was stringy and greasy, and he had a hooked nose, beady eyes, he was atrocious!" Padma stammers out.
Hermione glances at Harry's face, he's looking from Padma and Parvati like they're mad, she almost giggles, then she remembers why they're here and the giggles die in her throat.
She takes a deep breath before speaking. "Padma, are you sure? This isn't you just being dramatic?" She asks hesitantly.
Padma nods fervently and Hermione looks to Harry to see his face, to get a better reading on what he is thinking, "That description, it doesn't sound familiar?" Hermione asks him.
He shakes his head, he runs a hand through his hair, "That doesn't sound remotely familiar...I haven't seen anybody new around the castle either. Maybe, maybe my mother will know of somebody of that description, she practically knows everybody who enters and leaves this castle."
Hermione nods her head once, "You should go talk to your mother, I'll stay here with my friends..."
He nods once, kisses her knuckles and leaves them to their own devices.
Just as he's about to open the door, Hermione calls out to him, "Harry!" He attention snaps to her, "Be careful."
He stares at her intensely, "I promise..." He quickly rushes out of her room and rushes towards his mothers chambers. He hears Ron's footsteps behind him, he turns to him unexpectedly, "Make sure there are extra guards round the clock at her doors. She is to never be without five guards until we find who did this!" He orders. Ron nods and then continues to wait for Harry to walk on. Harry cocks a brow at him, "I meant go NOW!"
Ron looks at him bewilderedly, "But, what about you? They could go after you next!"
Harry waves a hand dismissively, "I don't care! They poisoned her food, not mine, now go!" Ron nods softly, then takes off at a sprint towards the guards hall of the castle.
Harry quickly continues his venture to his parents rooms. He looks at the guard once before he opens the door and he strides inside. "Mother!" He yells. He looks frantically around the room, she quickly comes out of the bathing room.
She sighs with relief at the sight of him and rushes to pull him into her arms. "I was so worried! I didn't know if something had happened to you, if you'd eaten any of her food!" She shrieks.
He shakes his head, "They had barely put the drinks in our goblets, she was about to take a sip of mead..." He sighs brokenly. "Then that woman started choking and she turned purple and red. Why are they still after her?"
Lily smooths his hair back softly, "People, they're desperate for a man to sit on her throne. Some of her people are happy that she sits on their throne. But there are groups, mostly made of men, that want a man to sit on her throne. They're getting desperate..." She says angrily.
"Well, what are we going to do?" He asks her.
She steps away from him, she rubs a hand over her face tiredly, "Here's what we're going to do. Tomorrow, we are going to have a sit down breakfast with Hermione and your father, and we're going to discuss this wedding. I believe we may have ton push the date up. Maybe even until a next month, or even the next. But the sooner we have this union finalized, the better leverage she'll have to her throne. Understood?" She asks him.
He nods slowly, "Do you truly believe the wedding will have to be moved up?"
"Yes," she says with authority. "Now, I think it's time we retire for the evening, now go." He turns away from her, "Harry!" She searches his face for something he doesn't know she seeks. "Don't tell anybody of what we spoke of right now. We'll have to plan in secret for awhile..." She sighs and then hugs him one last time, "Sweet dreams, Harry."
He kisses his mothers cheek, "Night mother."
Once he leave his parents chambers, he quietly walks the halls near Hermione's rooms. He decides to take a chance and asks the guards to let him through. He hands them a few coins to get them to keep quiet about his visit. He can't have them spreading rumors about a sullied queen.
He walks quietly over to the vanity where he spies Hermione sitting. He walks behind her waiting for her to spot him in the mirror. Her eyes lock with his in the mirror. He places a hand softly on her shoulder and she places her hand right on top. He bends down to place a soft kiss on the top of her head, "How are you doing?" He asks her.
She shrugs, "I just, I naively thought they would stop when I arrived here..." She stands up and starts pacing. "What if they never stop Harry? What if after the wedding, they try to invade the castle? What then?"
He grabs her shoulders to stop her from pacing, "Then we deal with it when the time comes. I'm going to tell you a little secret," he says, a lopsided grin on his face.
She looks at him with a questioning look in her eyes and steps away from his hands, "Well," she demands, laughter in her eyes.
He grabs her shoulders again and pulls her closer than they've ever been, "My mother says we may have to push the wedding up, maybe even next month!" He says excitedly.
She giggles, "Well, aren't you an excited man! Most men aren't happy to be married..."
He shrugs, "I've always had this idea that when I was married, it'd be the start of this amazing adventure, just me and a woman who I loved."
She smiles softly at him, "That sounds wonderful, an adventure...An adventure of love?" She asks softly, a strange glint in her eyes. Harry looks at her intensely, he walks softly towards her, he stares into her eyes. He caresses her cheek, starts leaning towards her, her lips fall open softly as she stares at him. He finally places his lips softly on hers and her eyes fall shut softly. She sighs happily against his lips.
She pulls back and pulls him towards the bed, his eyes widen, and he wonders if she's inviting him to make love. "Not for that, silly," she says with a giggle, she caresses his cheek, "Just to sleep. Please?"
He chuckles, "Of course, do you mind if I change?" She nods her head and goes behind the changing partition to step out of her gown. She pulls a soft white long sleeved night gown over her head. Her hair all ready brushed out, she tentatively walks out of the partition to see Harry all ready getting comfortable on her bed.
She doesn't look at him while she walks towards the bed. She's nervous enough as it is, she's never been with a man, never even entertained the thought all these years.
She jumps on the tall bed and burrows into the blankets. She feels Harry's hand grasps her underneath the blanket, and she let's out an audible gasp. She turns to look at him, eyes wide and mouth parted, then she laughs softly. She's being ridiculous, she thinks, she invited him, not the other way around. Why is she so surprised to feel him under the blankets?
He pulls her closer, but leave space between them, "Shhh, relax, we're just going to go to sleep!"
She nods, "I know, I trust you." She says with a small upturn of her lips. She relaxes her body and turns onto her side to watch him. "I'm glad I'm marrying you," she whispers.
His eyes light up, "Me too," he whispers back.
And then they slowly start to fall asleep. It's not until the morning when they wake that Harry remembers he didn't ask his mother about the strange man who the twins saw staring at Hermione.
In the dark recesses of the castle, Albus Dumbledore meets with a man whose name is not widely known. "You didn't do your job correctly Severus! She didn't consume the poison!" He says, his voice low and menacing.
Severus cowers before him, "I thought you said her food testers were gone while she was in the castle!"
"It still should've made it to her lips! You better not fail me again Severus!" Dumbledore yells.
Severus shrinks back at his yell, "Next time, I won't fail..." And with his last words, he retreats, his black cloak billowing out behind him like a shadow.
Author's Note: sorry for the delay, had some medical problems with my dogs, but they're all better! Hopefully you guys liked this chapter and you review?