Soul Searching/End Game
SS Chapter 21 - Recovery
By Chem Prof
Chapter 21, Recovery
“No! No! Stay back!”
Hermione suddenly bolted awake and looked around. In a moment she realized that she was in the Hogwarts hospital wing. She had certainly been here often enough sitting by Harry to recognize the place. She looked over at the bed that everyone considered to be ‘his’ bed and saw that Harry was indeed in it. She climbed out of her bed and walked over to look at him. He seemed OK but was still unconscious.
Retrieving her wand from the table beside her bed she cast some diagnostic charms on him. She had watched Madame Pomfrey cast these charms on Harry often enough that she had learned most of them. She relaxed as the charms showed that he was all right, but would probably be out for quite a while longer.
Her concern for Harry alleviated, her mind returned to the nightmare that had awoken her. She suddenly realized that she was still exhausted, but as she looked back at her bed she shuddered. She had been reliving the attack and couldn’t bear to go through it again. Realizing she was about to fall asleep on her feet, she looked down at Harry and made a decision. She pulled back the cover and climbed into his bed and snuggled up next to him. Harry would protect her, she thought sleepily. He was good at that.
-ooOoo-
Madame Pomfrey emerged from her office to check on her charges, and noticed one empty bed and one with two occupants. While her inclination was to order Miss Granger back to her own bed, she realized that nothing inappropriate was occurring. Indeed, she discovered as she performed her usual checks, Mr. Potter was still unconscious. And these were two of the most responsible students in the school. She paused to consider. Fred Weasley had stopped in to tell her briefly of the ordeal that Hermione had endured and she was well aware that her emotional recovery would take some time. Deciding that her patient’s mental healing was more important than propriety, she smiled at the two and went back to her office.
-ooOoo-
August 9
Hermione awoke, feeling refreshed after a nice sleep. The nightmare had not returned. As she gradually became aware of her surroundings, she realized that her head was lying on Harry’s chest and his arm was around her. Embarrassed to find herself in such a position, she carefully disengaged and returned to her own bed. As she recalled all of the details of the previous night, she had mixed feelings about what she had done. She knew that she would have been in trouble if anyone had found her in Harry’s bed, but it had kept her nightmare from coming back. At the time she had just been too tired to think it through.
Just then Madame Pomfrey came through the door, and from the look on her face Hermione realized that the nurse knew what she had done. Her face reddened as she began to stammer an apology, but Pomfrey waved it off and asked Hermione to give her more details about the attack.
After her carefully edited explanation, the nurse explained that Hermione might continue to have these nightmares for some time and told why she had permitted the previous night’s sleeping arrangement. When Hermione admitted that she had slept much better after changing beds, Pomfrey told her that she should not hesitate to seek whatever comfort she could if the nightmare returned, but cautioned her to behave responsibly. Amazed that she had got off so lightly, Hermione quickly got dressed and left the infirmary.
-ooOoo-
Minerva McGonagall sat in her office pondering what she had just learned. Ron Weasley had just been in to see her, triumphantly presenting the final horcrux. Only Nagini and Voldemort remained. From the story he had told, it had almost been a disaster, with the three of them either killed or captured. Somehow Miss Granger had defeated her three attackers after Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley had fallen, although it was unclear how she had accomplished that or what had happened to Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle. Earlier, Remus had reported that Bellatrix Lestrange and Severus Snape had also been captured. It had actually turned out to be a major victory for the light side.
McGonagall permitted herself a small smile. With this news it was much more likely that the trio would return to Hogwarts in the fall. Their presence at the school was essential to her plans. Things were looking better and better and it was nearly certain that Hogwarts would survive. Mr. Potter and Miss Granger’s visits to the muggleborn families had been remarkably successful. Nearly every one of them had agreed to return their children to the school. Now, she had only one more hire to make.
-ooOoo-
Harry groaned as he awoke, feeling the pain in his leg and arm. Suddenly he sat upright, only to collapse back into the bed as dizziness threatened to overtake him. Hermione! Ron! What had happened to them? Immediately he was aware of a pair of hands restraining him.
“Mr. Potter. You must rest. Don’t worry, both of your friends are all right.” Madame Pomfrey was familiar enough with this patient that she automatically knew what his concern would be. Ron had been in to check up on Harry and filled in a few more details, and Hermione had said that she would return after taking care of a little unfinished business.
After hearing this Harry relaxed and let himself go back to sleep. Just before dozing off he realized that he had had another dream about Hermione. ‘At least she had all her clothes on this time,’ he thought to himself. As he recalled the dream, it seemed that Hermione had only been snuggled up against him. His last coherent thought before falling back asleep was that that was probably OK. After all, they hugged all the time.
-ooOoo-
Remus, Tonks, and Viktor sat in the back room of Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, listening to Fred and George conclude their tale. When Viktor had related his part of the story he had been immensely satisfied that it had been less than a minute from the time his team had detected the Avada Kedavra curse being cast until they arrived at the scene, and everyone was impressed at how quickly they had engaged the enemy while two of his men had put up the antiapparation wards. The twins’ information was more sobering. Finally they pieced most of the story together and everyone realized how lucky they had been. The only thing that was still troubling them was the nature of the wounds that Hermione had inflicted on her attackers.
“You say there were gaping holes in them, that seemed to be caused by small bits of metal?” Remus asked again for clarification. The twins nodded. “And what did you do with them when you brought them back here?”
“Malfoy was already dead. Crabbe and Goyle didn’t survive either. Apparently they had lost too much blood.”
“Didn’t you have any blood restorative potion handy?”
“Must have slipped our minds.” The twins stared defiantly at the others, and eventually the three nodded their acknowledgement. They were well aware of what the three Slytherins had planned for Hermione, and for Ron, and somehow weren’t inclined to be too sympathetic.
Tonks broke the silence. “I think she must have used a muggle weapon. Like what they were describing to us two weeks ago, only smaller. My dad would know about it.”
Viktor added, “Maybe we can ask him or the muggles who are helping us if they know what it was.”
Remus frowned thoughtfully, then responded, “No, I think we just let it go. If Harry and Hermione want to keep a weapon secret, that’s their business.”
Viktor was the one who finally raised the question. “It wasn’t an accident that they were there waiting for you, was it?” Remus and Tonks shared a look, then looked at the others and shook their heads. Viktor’s response was simple. “Who?”
“The only ones who knew about it were the three of them and the two of us,” said Tonks. “And Moody,” she added.
“And Winky,” pointed out Remus. Then after a pause he sighed. “And Ragnok.”
“So you think …”
“I don’t know what to think. I guess I think Harry’s going to need to be more careful who he trusts.”
-ooOoo-
“Hey sleepyhead. You’re finally awake.” Harry looked up and smiled as Hermione and Ron came through the door to the hospital wing. Ron settled into the chair beside the bed as Hermione sat on the bed itself, Harry scooting over to make room. She colored slightly as she remembered that she had shared this bed with him the night before.
Neither Harry nor Ron noticed, however, and soon the trio was discussing the battle, Harry and Hermione filling Ron in on what he had missed, then Hermione taking up the story from the point where Harry had been knocked out. When she got to the part about the .45, she hesitated and looked at Ron.
Realizing what she was about to say, Harry turned to Ron. “Mate, this next part has to be kept super secret. Absolutely no one can know about the weapon Hermione used on those three.” Ron nodded solemnly and Hermione reached into her pack and produced the gun and removed the disillusionment disk.
“That thing took out all three of them?” Ron asked incredulously. Hermione assured him that it had, and quickly put it away. She did not want to think about it anymore than she had to. Ron then finished the story from the point where Hermione had passed out. There was silence until Ron asked the question that was on everyone’s mind.
“They were there waiting for us weren’t they?” Harry and Hermione looked at each other, then at Ron and they both nodded grimly. “How?”
“The only ones who knew about it were Remus and Tonks,” mused Harry.
“And Moody,” added Hermione.
“Moody? Could he have let something slip?” asked Harry.
“I guess we need to find out who else he might have told,” suggested Ron.
“Anybody else who knew?”
“Winky.” Pause. “Ragnok.”
“Definitely not Winky,” Ron asserted. “Not with the way she helped me.”
“And there’s no reason for Ragnok to have told anybody,” reasoned Harry. “What would be the benefit for him to give us such valuable information just to sell us out? He could just as well have given it to Voldemort in the first place. And he’s certainly better off if we win than he would be if Voldemort won.”
Knowing that there was nothing else they could do about it just then, Ron and Harry played a game of chess while Hermione pulled out a book. Eventually Madame Pomfrey came to tell them it was time to go. Harry would be able to leave in the morning.
Hermione lingered behind as Ron left. “Harry? I talked to McGonagall and Dumbledore’s portrait about that list.”
Harry looked back at her, an unreadable expression on his face. She went on, “Dumbledore told me the same thing he told you, that as far as he knew, Petunia was your only surviving relative. Your mum’s parents died shortly after you were born.” She hesitated.
“But …” Harry prompted.
“But McGonagall didn’t know why their names would still be on the list.” At Harry’s questioning look she shrugged, “It doesn’t surprise me, really. The wizarding world pretty much ignores muggle parents. The only time my parents have been contacted since I started at Hogwarts was this June when the school closed early.” She winced as she finished saying this, not having wanted to remind Harry about Dumbledore’s death.
There was silence as Harry processed this information. Fortunately he didn’t seem to react to the reminder.
“They told me some other things,” Hermione resumed. “Your parents were buried at Potter Mansion. It was on the list you got from Gringotts,” she added, seeing his look of surprise. “I think you missed it because you were so interested in the castle.” He nodded and she continued. “Some of Lily’s personal things were sent to your aunt, including her wand. They were both surprised that Petunia never told you any of this.”
This was getting to be too much for Harry to take. He slumped back onto his pillow. Hermione had crossed back over to his bed and was sitting beside him again. She stroked his head, trying to comfort him.
“That reminds me of when I first met Hagrid.” Harry had his eyes closed, and was trying to recall the scene. “He was really angry with them, but he was also surprised that they hadn’t ever told me anything. He expected me to know who I was.” He opened his eyes and looked up at her, his eyes starting to tear up. “So no one here ever knew that Aunt Petunia had kept me in the dark, or anything else about what they did to me. What else do you think she didn’t tell me?”
He closed his eyes again. “All I remember is that when Dudley asked about his grandparents she told us that they died when we were little. She said they they died in a … in a …” he buried his head in his hands and continued in a very small voice, “…car crash.” Hermione suddenly realized – it was the same story they had told him about how his own parents had died.
He looked so devastated, Hermione just wanted to lie down next to him and hold him and never let go. Hold him and somehow make all the pain go away. And in the meantime hurt the people who had done this to him. But she suppressed that emotion, trying to control her anger. Harry needed to finish healing; he didn’t need to be any more upset. “I, um, pointed out to the portrait and the headmistress the error in their assumptions.”
This made Harry smile. “Somewhat forcefully, I imagine?”
She smiled back. “Perhaps a little.” She continued running her hand over his forehead and into his hair and he gradually relaxed with a contented look on his face, keeping his eyes closed.
“That’s my Hermione,” he murmured, “always taking care of me.” He didn’t notice the dampness in her eyes, or the other hand that she quietly raised to wipe them dry.
“I’ll see what else I can find out,” she said finally, rising to leave.
“Hermione?” She turned back at the doorway. “Thank you.” She smiled back at him and then she was gone.
As she left the infirmary, she decided that it was a good thing Harry couldn’t see the look on her face right now. She would most definitely be paying another visit to the Dursleys. And this time she wouldn’t be very nice.
-ooOoo-
August 10
When Harry was finally allowed to leave the hospital wing, he had an unusual conversation with Madame Pomfrey. She explained to him about what had happened to Hermione and then asked him a question.
“Mr. Potter, do I understand correctly that you are sharing a house with Miss Granger this summer?”
“Uh, yes, but we have separate bedrooms.”
“I’m sure you do. I have a request for you. Miss Granger is likely to have nightmares of her near assault for a while. Would it be possible for you to leave your bedroom doors open so that you might be aware when that occurs?” Upon receiving an affirmative reply she continued. “I’m giving you several doses of dreamless sleep potion. But it may be possible for you to comfort her in other ways when she has these nightmares. Please do whatever you feel works the best for her.” When Harry nodded again, she concluded. “Miss Granger is a very strong person, and is also very lucky to have you as a friend. I’m sure that you will be able to get her through this.”
-ooOoo-
Harry sighed happily as he walked into the Granger house. It had been a rough couple of days and he was looking forward to relaxing by the pool. They hadn’t been able to use it much at all during the past month. He knew that Hermione had taken Ginny out shopping for her birthday that morning but was hoping she would be able to join him this afternoon. He thought he heard her in her room as he walked by and called out a greeting. Strangely, the only response was giggling. Shrugging, he decided he would find out later what that was all about.
To his amazement both Ginny and Hermione were standing there waiting for him when he walked outside, big smiles on their faces as they knew they had surprised him. He froze as he looked at Ginny. She was wearing the suit Hermione had worn the very first day he had swum at the Grangers, mint green with a floral print. The suit that had fit Hermione at age fourteen was perfect on the sixteen year old Ginny and the color was spectacular with her red hair and pale skin. His eyes flickered over her, not able to decide where to linger. Her legs, her waist, her breasts – wow!
For her part Ginny was also stunned. Harry was wearing the racing suit that had made Hermione blush the first time she had seen it, and the effect on Ginny was much greater because she had never seen a swimsuit like that. Indeed, she had never seen that much of the male anatomy of even her brothers, much less a guy that she had decidedly nonbrotherly interest in. She stood mesmerized, gradually turning a bright shade of red.
After watching them imitate statues for a while Hermione took matters into her own hands. “Oh honestly,” she said and took Harry’s hand and led him over to the pool and without warning pushed him in. Then she grabbed Ginny and pushed her right on top of Harry, who had recovered just in time to see a bikini clad redhead coming his way. He managed to put his arms up and catch her just as she arrived with a splash. With a barely clothed, wet girl in his arms Harry did the obvious thing.
He started tickling her.
Harry quickly learned about the dangers of starting a tickling battle with a girl who 1) was wearing a very distracting bikini, 2) had grown up with six older brothers, and 3) had help from his traitorous best friend who entered the battle by splashing water in his face at every opportunity. In no time they had him pinned against the wall.
“I surrender!” he gasped helplessly, holding up his hands for mercy.
“Some hero you are,” chortled Ginny. “How are you going to defeat You-Know-Who if you can’t even beat two girls?” After everyone went silent she put her head down and mumbled, “OK, that was real mood breaker.”
Refusing to let the mood be broken, Harry immediately retorted, “Well, I guess if he sends two pretty girls in bikinis after me I’m done for. Hope he never discovers my weakness.”
“Oh?” said Ginny perking back up. “Aren’t you the smooth talker, Potter.” And she leaned in and kissed him. Rather than a full out tongue tangling kiss like she had given him the other day, this was more a simple nibbling of the lips. Quite a bit like the last kiss he had with a girl in a bikini.
That thought brought Harry up short. Feeling him pull away, Ginny thought sadly that she had gone too far, and started to apologize. Realizing the wrong impression he had given her, Harry quickly put his finger to her lips to silence her.
“Don’t apologize,” he hastily reassured her. “You don’t ever need to be sorry for kissing me. I was just … thinking of something else for a second.” He really didn’t want to tell her what had distracted him. Fortunately, she assumed that it had been something to do with her previous comment and leaned in again and said, “Then let’s see if we can get you to stop thinking about that,” and gave him a kiss that managed to blank his mind quite thoroughly.
Eventually they noticed that Hermione had gotten out of the pool, and Harry decided that they should join her before things got too out of hand.
As they stretched out on the lounge chairs, Harry noticed that Hermione was lying on her stomach and had already untied the strings to her top. While Ginny saw that and shyly followed suit Harry commented to her that lying in the sun was one of Hermione’s favorite activities. Hermione responded that she actually preferred the beach to a pool and asked Ginny if she had ever been to a beach.
“No, but we would sometimes go swimming at a lake at one of my relative’s houses. I’ve never worn anything like this though,” she said motioning to her suit. She had never shown this much skin to anyone, but Harry and Hermione were acting like it was perfectly normal.
“Please don’t tell me witches still wear swimsuits with skirts on them,” Hermione said incredulously.
“No, no, some of my older cousins wore two piece suits, not as small as this mind you, but I was only ever allowed to wear a one piece that covered up pretty much everything,” Ginny replied. “My mum still thinks I’m a little kid.”
“Well, you should definitely wear a suit like this more often,” Harry declared. “Your body was made for a bikini.” He had blurted this out before he realized how bold he was being and immediately got a sheepish expression on his face while Ginny looked shocked and Hermione giggled. “Maybe you could take her shopping for one sometime,” he said to Hermione, trying to recover gracefully.”
Hermione, however, was not going to let him off the hook. “Or maybe,” she said with an evil grin on her face, “she should wear another kind of one piece suit.” While Ginny looked puzzled at this Harry groaned and turned bright red. He realized that he was becoming very uncomfortable with this line of thought and needed to roll over on his stomach before things got really embarrassing.
Hermione went in for the kill. She leaned over and whispered something to Ginny and Ginny’s eyes grew wide as she turned to look at Harry. Then she blushed and buried her head in the towel. Harry could only lie there and mutter about what he had done to deserve having a best friend with such a wicked sense of humor.
Finally, after much prodding from Hermione, Ginny asked Harry if he would go back into the pool with her. Initially he just glared at Hermione, but when Ginny gave him the puppy dog eyes he relented. OK, I’m going to put on a show. Might as well just make the best of it.
Unfortunately, Ginny was not used to her current attire and started to get up without realizing her top was still untied. Hermione quickly reached out an arm and forced her back down, but not before Harry got a full view. With a screech Ginny pulled her arms in tightly to her sides and turned her head away from him, blushing furiously. While Harry enjoyed Ginny’s unintentional revelation very much, it made his problem even worse. But, since she was now even more embarrassed than he was, he had time to recover before she was ready to try to get up again.
After regaining her composure, and another whispered conversation with Hermione, Ginny smiled sweetly at him and asked Harry to tie her strings back up. Hermione made the same request and both girls watched with what seemed to him to be predatory looks as he got up and approached them.
Looking down on Ginny’s bare back Harry had an idea that he thought they would both enjoy. Straddling her, he knelt down so that he was sitting on her upper legs, leaned forward and began to give her a back massage. As he ran his hands over her bare back and caressed her smooth warm skin, the contented moans coming from beneath him indicated that he had made a good choice. Beginning at the top he thoroughly kneaded her neck, shoulders and back, working his way down to the small of her back. Resisting the temptation to go any lower, he nevertheless took a good look at her cute arse in the small bikini bottom before working his way back up her back with long, sweeping strokes.
Ginny was in absolute heaven at the feel of Harry’s strong hands on her back and contented herself thinking of all sorts of ways in which she could repay him. She closed her eyes and gave little moans and gasps as his hands found particularly sensitive spots.
Harry was happy that he was making her feel so good, but noticed that Hermione was watching them with a wistful expression on her face. Without giving it too much thought he gave Ginny a final slap on the bum and announced “You’re next,” and moved over to the startled older girl. This time it was Hermione’s turn for the blissful expression while Ginny tried to hide a jealous look.
He repeated everything he had done to Ginny’s back on Hermione, noting that except for the hair, both girls looked and felt pretty much the same from this angle, although Hermione’s bikini bottom covered a little less than Ginny’s. He tried to refrain from admiring it in the same way he had admired Ginny’s. Finally he finished, and barely remembering what he had been instructed to do in the first place, tied up their bikini strings and the three of them went back in for a swim.
Ginny watched as Harry proudly showed her how Hermione had taught him to swim, and Hermione demonstrated some strokes that Harry hadn’t mastered, including the flip turn that she had teased him with what seemed like ages ago. Ginny tried to do a few strokes under Hermione’s patient instruction, and managed to do a passable breast stroke, which Harry had never managed to get the hang of.
Several times Ginny found herself admiring how easily Harry and Hermione interacted with each other in this setting which was so alien to her, but was pleased that they were willing to include her and she felt much more comfortable with everything by the end of the day. She was determined to fit in to their world better than Ron had.
As the day came to a close the older two could sense that Ginny had something that she wanted to bring up. The younger witch nervously asked them if they could all go inside and sit down, so the three made their way to the Grangers’ comfortable family room where Ginny settled on the sofa between the other two. As the redhead stared down into her lap where her hands were twisting together Harry and Hermione exchanged puzzled looks at each other over her head and shrugged.
“Harry, I … oh this is so hard,” Ginny began. Harry put his arm around her shoulder and Hermione took her hand and smiled at her encouragingly. She turned to Harry and began again. “Harry, you were right. I won’t ask to come along on any more of your missions.”
Harry was startled. He had been expecting the opposite. He nodded and Ginny continued. “I’m not brave like you and Hermione. No, let me finish,” she said as Hermione started to object. “When I heard what happened to you – when Crabbe and Goyle tried to ra…” she faltered, unable to bring herself to say it, “I just fell apart. I know if it had been me there would have been no way I could have fought back. I’d be dead now,” she shuddered, “and so would Harry.”
Harry noticed that Hermione had shuddered herself when Ginny brought up the horrifying incident, and would have liked to comfort her but knew he could do nothing about it right now. Instead he gave Ginny a hug and tried to boost her confidence. “You don’t know that Gin. You …”
Ginny interrupted again. “No, I know how I’ve reacted in the past. At the Department of Mysteries you and Hermione fought back … and Neville. I just ran and tried to hide and managed to break my ankle. All I did was hold you back. And when the Death Eaters attacked Hogwarts Neville fought so hard, even charging that barrier, and all I could do was dodge spells and try to keep from getting hit. And the way you two fought together at your birthday. You and Hermione – and Ron – you’re training and you’ve all done this stuff before. You’re right, if I were along you’d have to watch out for me and that might get you killed.”
Hermione was amazed. She’d never thought of herself as that brave. Indeed, she had occasionally wondered why the Sorting Hat had put her into Gryffindor. She had just done what she had to. It dawned on her that that would be exactly how Harry would describe his own heroics. She squeezed Ginny’s hand that she was still holding. “I still think you’re brave Ginny. Maybe in a different way. It took a lot of mental fortitude to do what you did your first year, and to even be in those situations you described. Sometimes running away or getting out of the way is the best thing to do.”
Ginny looked back at her older friend gratefully. “I still want to train and become the best fighter I can be. I still want to help you guys any way I can. And if that just means supporting you back at Hogwarts, working with the DA, and comforting Harry when I get the chance, that’s what I’ll do.”
Ginny heaved a sigh of relief. Now that she had got the tough part out of the way she was ready to continue. “Harry, I also want to let you know I’m willing to go along with breaking up with you officially if that’s what you think is best. But I still want to be with you sometimes, even if we have to keep it secret. I’ll do whatever I can to keep you in my life.”
Harry’s heart broke at hearing what she was willing to do for him, and couldn’t bring himself to deny her this small consolation. And besides, he really did enjoy being with her, and wanted to continue to get to know her better. Hermione, though, spotted a problem with this plan, which had actually occurred to her when Harry had brought it up a week and a half previously.
“Harry, if you thought you had problems with girls being after you last year, this year is going to be crazy. That one day when I told you Ginny was going to be fighting them off, I wasn’t kidding. Don’t you agree?” she asked, turning to Ginny for confirmation.
“Well, I have to agree he is pretty hot,” admitted Ginny, giggling at Harry’s embarrassment. “And I have to admit that it’s going to be hard to keep from hexing every girl who makes a move on him.” Her face darkened at the thought of what Romilda Vane would be doing to try to ensnare the Boy Who Lived this year.
“Not to mention how Harry’s going to have to avoid killing every guy who looks twice at you,” pointed out Hermione. “Didn’t you notice the death glares he was giving Dean last year?”
Harry continued to turn several interesting shades of red and could merely mutter, “C’mon, it wasn’t that bad.”
Ginny, however, perked up at this revelation. “Really?” she said smiling adoringly at Harry. ‘It actually worked?’ she continued to herself.
Hermione wasn’t finished. “I fear for the health of the Hogwarts male population. You are a magnet for guys, you know.” This time it was Ginny’s turn to be embarrassed, although unlike Harry, she was well aware of her appeal for the opposite sex.
Ginny considered an idea that had occurred to her a while ago, and decided to see what her friends thought of it. “How about pretending?”
“Pretending what?” Harry was confused, but Hermione thought she knew where Ginny was going with this idea. She wasn’t sure whether she liked it or not.
“Pretending to be with someone else. We used to do this when I was younger. You have a fake boyfriend to keep other boys from annoying you. In Harry’s case, of course, it would be a fake girlfriend.”
“But that would just mean someone else was in danger,” Harry objected. “I wouldn’t want some other girl to be in danger just so I could protect you.”
“Well, there is one obvious choice who that wouldn’t be a problem for,” Ginny answered smugly. At Harry’s blank look she just shook her head and rolled her eyes.
“Hermione, you idiot. She can’t be in any more danger than she already is. And it would be the most natural thing in the world.” Since Ginny was looking at Harry, she didn’t notice that now Hermione was blushing furiously. “C’mon, it’s not like half the school isn’t already expecting it.”
Harry felt a surge of panic. “You mean, other people have found out we’re living together this summer?”
“No, you prat. Half the school has been expecting you two to get together for years.” At the surprised look on his face she added, “the other half was expecting her and Ron to get together. There’s actually a betting pool on it among the Gryffindors.”
Harry and Hermione both choked at this revelation. Hermione began to sputter indignantly but Ginny waved her off. “What do you expect, Hermione? You’ve spent all of your time with these two for six years. Of course everyone assumes you’ll end up with one of them. The two sides have even given themselves nicknames.”
Hermione had put her hands over her ears and was shaking her head. “I don’t want to hear this. I really do not want to hear this.” Harry, however, was fascinated by the whole thing.
Ginny was enjoying teasing the older witch. “There are even a few who think you’ll end up with both of them. You know, sort of a three way?”
Hermione was reduced to opening and closing her mouth silently. Harry suddenly wasn’t as amused. Ginny noticed this and decided to backtrack. “Not me though.”
Harry found that his curiosity was aroused. “I imagine you voted for Ron?”
Ginny surprised him however. “Well, obviously I was hoping for that, because it would have given me a better chance at you. But I actually think you two would be much better together than her and Ron.”
Seeing his dumbfounded expression she explained. “What, with the way they fight all the time? They’d kill each other if they ever got into a serious relationship. Just look what happened last year. They never even made it into a relationship and they still almost killed each other.” She took Harry’s arm and snuggled up to him and looked up into his eyes and got serious. “If I couldn’t have you I’d rather you be with her. And look at how well you’ve gotten along together this summer.”
“Hey, I’m still in the room,” Hermione objected, finally finding her voice. “Did anyone ever consider that I might not end up with either of them?” she added testily.
Ginny considered this thoughtfully. “No, I don’t think anyone bet on that.”
Hermione was silent as this sunk in. That’s exactly what it looks like is going to happen, though. She found herself feeling sad at this thought.
“Hermione?” She looked up from her brooding to see Harry looking at her nervously. “What do you think about the idea, though? Do you want to, you know …?”
“Do I want to pretend to be your girlfriend, you mean?”
“Um, yeah.”
“Well, I’m already pretending to be your wife, right? It’s rather a comedown when you think of it that way.” Seeing the worried look on his face she reassured him. “It’s a good idea actually. And it’s not like things would change much. We already would have been together nearly all the time anyway. Although I really don’t have much experience with this. After all, I’ve never had a boyfriend at Hogwarts.”
I’m rambling again, Hermione thought. I always do that when I get nervous. Why is this making me so nervous? Is it because I’m worried that this might affect the relationship that we have that’s going so well right now? Can I really pull this off?
Hermione’s internal monologue was interrupted by a couple of coughs from Ginny and a throat clearing by Harry. Both of which sounded distinctly like the word ‘Krum’.
Hermione turned red and began to object. “He wasn’t really a boyfriend. We only had one date. OK, two dates,” she added, seeing the smirk on Ginny’s face. “Maybe three.” Ginny’s smirk kept growing. “You just keep your mouth shut Ginny Weasley. I know some things about your boyfriends too.”
Harry had never seen anyone change expressions as fast as Ginny did just then. Her smirk was instantly replaced by a look of panic, and Hermione was suddenly silent. He just shrugged it off. It didn’t surprise him that Ginny had told Hermione some things about her other two boyfriends that she would rather Harry not know. He would never expect Hermione to break the confidence of a friend, and knew she was only kidding Ginny. But that reminded him about their other problem.
“What about you, Ginny?” The two girls abruptly turned to him, startled. “What about a boyfriend for you,” he clarified. The tension between the two girls vanished as they considered this question.
“Oh, I don’t know.” Ginny was a little flustered to be talking about going out with another guy with Harry. “There are a few who are interested.”
“But that’s the point,” Hermione broke in, “it can’t be just any boy who’s interested in dating you. You’ll have to let them know that it’s just pretend, and then they’ll want to know why. So it has to be someone we can trust.”
“Neville.” Both girls turned to look at Harry who had been looking down as though in deep thought. He looked up at them and repeated. “Neville. I would trust him with my life. And I would trust him with Ginny, which is just as important.” Ginny beamed at him at that remark, and then thought about his suggestion.
“I hadn’t thought of him, but he’s a pretty good idea. He’s really nice and I like him a lot. And I think he likes me,” she added, turning a little pink. Neville definitely had seemed to enjoy coming to the Burrow this summer and she was pretty sure it wasn’t because of Ron. “It will certainly surprise a lot of people, because I don’t think he’d ever get up the nerve to ask me out. Come to think of it, he was my first ever date at Hogwarts. The Yule Ball, remember?”
The three decided that they would talk to Neville the next day at Ginny’s party and, relieved to have solved a problem that they had all been worried about, ended the day in a very good mood. Harry decided he wanted to swim some laps so Hermione told him she would take Ginny home and meet him back at the house. In a short while she and Ginny were changed and came out to say goodbye (and give Ginny one more chance to admire Harry’s bum while he was swimming his laps) and the two of them disapparated from the Granger home.
-ooOoo-
“Harry?”
Harry was just about to turn in when Hermione appeared in his doorway in her robe. She looked a little shaken up and he scrambled to his feet and hurried over to her to see what was the matter.
“Would you stay in my room for a while tonight?” Harry suddenly remembered Pomfrey’s instructions about Hermione’s emotional state.
“Nightmare about the attack?” Harry asked, putting his hands carefully on her shoulders. She dropped her head and nodded.
“Last night was awful here without you. They actually got some of my clothes off before I woke up. It wasn’t as bad the first night when I was with you in the infirmary.” She shuddered at the thought of it and he pulled her into a hug.
He had tried to avoid thinking about that exact scenario because he knew it would put him into a rage. But he needed to stay calm for her. He knew it must be even worse for her to think about. “Madame Pomfrey says the first week will be the worst, and that I just have to let my mind deal with it and not shut it away. I’m trying but it scares me. If you’re there it helps.”
“Hermione, you know I’ll always be here for you. Just let me know what you want me to do.”
“I was wondering if you could sit in my room. Just knowing you’re there might help. And if I have a nightmare you might be able to stop it before it goes too far.”
Harry settled into a chair in her room, which she insisted on transfiguring into a more comfortable stuffed recliner, and pulled out the book he had been reading. It was Return of the King and he knew it was exciting enough to keep him awake all night if he let it. Hermione removed her robe and climbed under the covers and gave him a grateful smile before rolling over and going to sleep.
Two hours later, Harry had just decided to put the book down and lean back in the recliner and get some sleep, when he heard moaning coming from Hermione. As he got up and went over to her bed she started thrashing around. Kneeling by the bed, he took her hand and gently stroked it, hoping to calm her down. It worked, and she settled back down again.
Just as he made it back to his chair, she started thrashing again. He returned and took her hand again, and once more she calmed down. Briefly, Harry wondered if he could pull the chair close enough that he could lay back in it and hold her hand at the same time. But that was silly. There was a much easier way. He just hoped she would understand.
When they had moved into the house, Harry had insisted that Hermione take the master bedroom, and she had the double bed, so there would be plenty of room for him to get into the bed with her. Carefully crawling in so as not to wake her, he sat so he could lean against the wall crossways to her and put her pillow on his lap, so she could sleep on his lap and he could keep holding her hand. He wedged another pillow against the wall behind him and was all set.
As he leaned back, affectionately running his other hand through her hair, Harry thought about what he had just committed to that day. It would be strange pretending to be Hermione’s boyfriend. It was true that they had been pretending to be married for the last two months, but this would be different in that they would be trying to fool their friends, not strangers. They already held hands a lot and hugged once in a while, but would they be kissing too? Somehow that thought didn’t bother him as much as it would have two months ago.
-ooOoo-
Hermione opened her eyes and shuddered. She had barely any clothing on and was restrained to the ground somehow. She tried to cover herself with her hands but couldn’t. To her horror she saw Vincent Crabbe walking toward her, leering at her nakedness. She struggled against the restraints and tried to scream but it sounded like a terrified moan. Crabbe laughed viciously as his hand reached for her. Hermione felt someone beside her and he took her hand. She couldn’t see anyone but somehow she knew that it was Harry and she felt herself calming. Crabbe began to fade away scowling at her.
There was more raucous laughter as Harry’s presence faded. Draco and Goyle were suddenly at her feet. She started struggling again but was unable to free herself. “Aw look at the mudblood, Greg. All yours for the taking. Want to try her? Take her clothes off.” Draco sneered. She tried to scream and cover up but was again unable to move or make any sound. Just before Goyle touched her she felt Harry’s presence again. Goyle and Malfoy recoiled as she felt Harry’s hand grasp hers.
Malfoy tried to shout nasty things at her but no sound came out as he gradually faded away. Goyle fell with a silent scream as his leg opened with a nasty wound and then he faded away also. Hermione sensed her restraints melt away and felt Harry’s arms holding her. She relaxed some more and leaned back onto him. He was running his hand through her hair and it felt so good. She closed her eyes again. Harry would take care of her.
-ooOoo-
Harry awoke somewhat stiff, feeling a weight on his chest. Remembering what had happened last night, he opened his eyes to see that he had slid down the wall and was now lying on the bed, and Hermione’s head had slipped up from his lap and was now on his chest. His arm was draped across her chest and was still holding her hand. Not wanting her to know that he had crawled into bed with her, he very slowly slid out from under her and then the rest of the way off the bed. Gathering his pillow and book, he tiptoed back into his room.
Hermione opened her eyes as he left. She had awakened a little earlier, but wasn’t sure what to do so she feigned being asleep. She thought that Harry would be embarrassed to be caught in her bed, and so let him leave thinking that she didn’t know. She couldn’t believe that he had lain in that uncomfortable position all night just to comfort her. She sighed. Not only was he incredibly loyal and brave, but he had this sweet, tender, caring side too. It certainly wouldn’t be difficult to pretend to be his girlfriend, she thought.
-xox-XOX-XOX-xox-
The attack in the last chapter had been planned ever since I started writing this story, but the part about Hermione’s nightmares was added later. It seemed to me that a traumatic experience like that must have some repercussions. I am in no way trying to minimize the seriousness of sexual assault, but rather acknowledge it’s emotional impact on women.
There are innumerable fanfics where Hermione (or Ginny) climbs into bed with Harry to try to ease his nightmares, so this is a bit of a different twist in that he is trying to ease her nightmares.