Harry woke up to a murmur of voices, a deep ache in every part of his body and an unexpected weight resting on his chest. A groan clawed its way out of his throat and the murmur stopped and was replaced by a single shout for Madam Pomfrey. The weight on his chest shifted and started talking in a worried voice.
"Harry! Just hang on a moment. Madam Pomfrey is coming to check you over, okay?" He knew that voice.
"...mi...?" His throat was refusing to properly form the sounds he wanted and only croaked out one syllable of Hermione's name.
"Shhh. I'm here Harry." He could feel fingers running through his hair and tried to force his eyelids open but they felt like they were made of lead. Every other part of his body was trembling and occasionally twitching and jerking as the after effects of the Cruciatus still had him in their grip.
"Miss Granger, I need you to get off of Mister Potter so I can examine him." Madam Pomfrey's voice sounded from somewhere above him. Harry felt the weight on his chest move and lift away as the bed shifted slightly. A moment later he felt magic washing over him, probing and searching through his body for injuries.
"Well, Mr. Potter, your broken bones are mending well. You will need to exercise your hand and knee gently over the coming week to make sure there are no problems going forward. The wound on your back has closed nicely, though I'm afraid you will have a scar." Harry tried to shrug his shoulders to indicate that another scar wasn't a major issue but he wasn't sure that he succeeded. "The damage to your throat requires another potion and you need to speak as little as possible. I also have another Pain Relieving Potion to help with any pain you are feeling from that. It won't help against the pain you are feeling from the Cruciatus, I'm afraid; nothing will. That disgusting curse is unforgivable for a reason and only time will help you recover." She fell silent for a moment and Harry felt a vial being pressed to his lips. He swallowed the contents eagerly for a change as he was ready to feel some relief anywhere. After he had drunk both potions Harry finally managed to ease his eyes open.
He could see Madam Pomfrey standing next to the bed watching him carefully. Just beyond her stood Hermione looking anxious. Harry tried to smile reassuringly but had the nagging suspicion that it came off as a grimace. Hermione and Madam Pomfrey certainly didn't look in any way comforted from what he could see. Embarrassed by his infirmity Harry tried to distract himself by looking around. Madam Pomfrey had apparently set up privacy screens around his bed giving him a rather monotonous view until a shock of pink entered his view. Harry froze as his eyes locked on to the mother of his godson. Seeing his shock Hermione tried to help.
"Harry, this is Auror Tonks. She and Auror Montrose have been standing guard here tonight to keep people from bothering you." Harry managed to recover while Hermione was speaking and was able to nod somewhat to Tonks' greeting.
"Wotcher, Mr. Potter. We're expecting Madam Bones back here anytime now. She went back to the ministry to interview the dirt-bags you captured. Amazing job on that last night by the way." Tonks' tone of voice was a little overawed and overly respectful for Harry's liking.
"Pleasure…Tonks. Harry…please." Talking was still difficult with all the damage the Cruciatus had done to his nervous system but Harry was pleased to note that his throat was at least up to producing more than a croak now. Tonks scowled a little at Harry's answer before looking over at the other side of the bed.
"Fine. You were right." she said sulkily. Harry followed the auror's gaze to find a smug looking Hermione. At Harry's look of surprise, Hermione started explaining.
"Auror Tonks was talking to me, well, teasing me really. She asked me if I was sure I wanted to keep dating you since after…after last night, you were going to get a really big head." Hermione was clearly having trouble talking about the events after the third task and, considering which bits she had witnessed, that probably meant she had entered the Pensieve. "I told Auror Tonks that you wouldn't change because of a fight with a dark wizard and she told me I didn't know teenage boys. I told her she didn't know you. We agreed to put it to the test by having her treat you with excessive deference. I told her you would ask her to stop that right away." Hermione's smug little grin was back on her face by the time she finished telling Harry about her conversation before he woke up.
"Should've known you'd know him that well given you're already sleeping together." Tonks shot back proving to Harry that his body might be damaged but that he was still fully capable of blushing. Hermione had gone even redder and was sputtering out incomplete words.
"Not…doing…that." Harry managed. He had missed that wicked smirk Tonks wore so often when he had woken up, now he was wondering why.
"You may have been out of it, Loverboy, but old Montrose and I got to spend the night watching the two of you snuggling up together. Never knew McGonagall allowed that sort of thing or I would have asked to be resorted." Tonks was clearly having the time of her life teasing the two teenagers. Hermione was quick to defend her favourite professor though.
"Professor McGonagall wouldn't condone any inappropriate behaviour! You heard Madam Pomfrey: it was only due to special circumstances and a t-traumatic experience!" Hermione's voice went a little shrill at the end, but Tonks just smirked.
"Who are you trying to convince, Hermione?" she asked. Hermione's gaping would have amused Harry at any other time but her distress when referring to last night's events was more important in his opinion. Making eye contact with Hermione he asked as concisely as he could "Pensieve?"
Hermione looked stricken at his reminder of what she had seen. "Oh Harry, I am so sorry but I just wanted to know what had happened to you and you didn't seem to mind everyone else going in."
"Not…angry. Concerned. Are…you…alright?" Both women were looking open-mouthed at the young man who was so injured he could barely speak asking if one of them was alright.
"Honestly, Harry? No. I am not alright. I watched you get tortured by that disgusting sadist last night and I couldn't do anything to help you. You almost died last night, Harry, and that terrifies me." Seeing the tears in her eyes Harry raised a shaking arm in an offer comfort. Hermione just took his hand and gently pushed it back onto the mattress. She didn't let go though. "If you want to help me you're going to have to focus on yourself for once. I need you to get better, alright?" Harry tried to squeeze her hand and nod before he said "Alright."
"Hey, Harry? When's the wedding?" Harry and Hermione were drawn out of their private little universe and aimed glares at the grinning, immature auror. The comment worked to break the serious mood though and Hermione and Tonks joined forces to entertain Harry while he was laid up. It was mostly Tonks telling stories, showing off her morphing talent and teasing the two teens something awful while Hermione held his hand and occasionally stroked his hair away from his face. There was one moment where Hermione told Harry that she approved of him calling her 'Mi', despite a long-held aversion to any kind of shortening of her name. Harry didn't want to tell her that it hadn't been his intention to give her a nickname while Tonks was listening in and just smiled at her. Tonks and Hermione kept going until Harry fell asleep, exhausted. After that the two women talked quietly with each other to pass the time.
:-:-:-:-:
The next time Harry woke up he was alone. His solitude didn't last long though as Madam Pomfrey came bustling through the privacy curtains.
"How are you feeling, Mr. Potter?" she asked him, wand already out and casting spells at every part of his body.
"Fine." The healer's wand stopped moving as she aimed a glare at her patient.
"I see you are at least well enough to give me that ridiculous answer." she sniffed before continuing her work. "No complications. That is good. I will have someone bring you your dinner and I expect you to eat it all." She finished with a stern look that Harry felt was entirely unnecessary; he was so hungry he could eat a horse. "Also, despite my protests Madam Bones is here to talk to you about last night's events. Considering what happened I can't overrule her on this." Harry just nodded. His dinner was delivered by Winky who's eyes filled with tears when her master croaked out his thanks with difficulty. As it happened the aurors did in fact have the patience to at least wait until Harry had eaten something before coming in to speak with him.
"Mr. Potter, it is good to see you awake. With me are Aurors Shacklebolt and Robards. They have taken over your protection detail from Aurors Montrose and Tonks. I understand that you are not yet up to a long conversation so I shall keep this as brief as possible." Madam Bones' tone was brisk and business-like. Clearly she really did want to get through this quickly.
"We have interrogated the man who was impersonating Auror Moody. It turns out that he was a man named Bartemius Crouch Junior, the son of the Mr. Crouch who was a judge in the tournament. He is a convicted Death Eater whom we thought had died in Azkaban. Obviously he managed an escape. He admitted to Confunding the Goblet of Fire and entering your name on behalf of a fictitious fourth school. His intention was to guide you to victory so you would reach the cup, which he had turned into a Portkey, before any of the other champions and be delivered to his master. You may take pride in the fact that you turned out to be so competent that he didn't have to do anything to help you win and he in fact sent a warning to You Know Who." Madam Bones was cut off by Harry raising a trembling hand.
"His…name…is…Tom…Marvolo…Riddle." Harry told her with as stern a look as he could manage. The three law enforcement officers looked momentarily taken aback.
"That actually leads into one of the questions I need ask you. How do you know so much about You Kno-…Riddle?"
"Told…me…second…year. Memory?" It didn't take much for the aurors to cotton on and Robards went to see if Madam Pomfrey would lend them a few vials. Bones took the time to ask Harry another question.
"I was also wondering how you knew he was alive, but if he was talking to you in your second year I think I have my answer. The question then becomes how many times have you faced him that you are willing to give us memories of?" Harry took a moment to think about it.
"Five." Bones looked shocked.
"When did this happen?" she almost shouted. A dangerous dark wizard had been running around without her knowledge and she wasn't taking it well that she hadn't known about it until last night.
"Yesterday...second...year...twice…first…year…Godric's…Hollow." The memories were not pleasant and already threatening to overwhelm Harry, but he was fighting it off to get the answers out.
"You remember the original attack?! How? You were only a year old." Bones was sure that she was being fed a tale. Children just didn't remember that sort of thing.
"Dementors." The Director of the DMLE felt sick. She had forgotten that she wasn't talking to a normal child. Dementors would dredge up the worst memories someone had and for Harry Potter that probably would be that attack. If Potter was willing to give it, she would take the memory gratefully. Anything that might help destroy this madman was more than they had last time and this memory might contain a hint.
"What…about…Sirius?" Harry decided to move matters along. Madam Bones seemed to remember where she was and continued the story.
"Peter Pettigrew was also interviewed. He told us about last year's events as well as those surrounding the end of the last war. That combined with his very existence should entitle Sirius Black to an exoneration. Unfortunately the Minister is refusing to allow any retrial despite the evidence that we now have from the two Death Eaters in custody who were supposed to be dead, in addition to your testimony. I am afraid we will need a new Minister for Magic and around half the Wizengamot replaced before they will even hear the cases we want to bring to trial." In the years to come Madam Bones would remember the thoughtful look that put on Harry Potter's face. The fact that she suddenly felt that maybe, just maybe, this teenager could pull off what she could only dream of compelled her to be more forthcoming than she usually would.
"The Minister is doing everything he can to suppress any mention of You Kn-…Riddle's return. There was no Daily Prophet delivered this morning as members of the Minister's Office confiscated the entire print and threatened to shut the paper down. Those who are heard talking about last night are threatened with losing their jobs. My own department has had most of its funding pulled so that we can't implement the measures we wanted to. I can't even investigate if someone is…helping these decisions along." Madam Bones was usually more careful with her words but her frustrations were boiling over, fed by her very real fear that this time next year she and Susan could be living under the boot of Emperor Voldemort.
"I'll…talk…Gringotts. Sold…basilisk. Donate…profits." Harry gritted out. He knew that money was going to come in handy. Madam Bones was not ready to accept that though.
"Mr. Potter, you should keep that money. You are still young and it could help you enormously when you are ready to start your life after Hogwarts." She hadn't told him that to get money! Harry was ready for her though.
"Those…you…stop…I…don't…have…to." The Head of the DMLE was left gaping at the young man who was giving her as much of a glare as the twitching of his muscles would allow.
"That is depressingly true. I will accept your donation gratefully and promise we will use it as best we can. I must warn you that my gratitude will not extend to favours should you ever break the law." The glare Harry was aiming at her got more intense.
"Not…Malfoy!" he hissed out. Thankfully for the now embarrassed Madam Bones, Robards finally returned.
"Sorry about that. Apparently Pomfrey sends empty vials back to the Potions Master so that she can get refills as quickly as possible. The grease-rag was trying everything he could to get out of giving me these. I brought along a dozen just in case." He looked around the sectioned off part of the Hospital Wing. "You alright, Boss?" His superior just growled and snatched the vials out his hand to begin the memory retrieval. When they were done the three aurors thanked Harry for his assistance and left him alone. Harry discovered that the whole encounter had completely drained him and he drifted back off to sleep.
:-:-:-:-:
Harry wasn't released from the Hospital Wing until the day of the Leaving Feast. That whole time he was kept behind privacy curtains and a volunteer auror guard. Being kept forcibly out of the public's eye was less of a frustrating experience than a relaxing one to the unwilling celebrity, even more so than usual since this time he had won the tournament outright. He wasn't lonely since Luna and particularly Hermione were frequent visitors. Their first visit had been especially memorable.
Hermione and Luna had walked in the day after Madam Bones' visit and Harry had been extremely pleased to see his friend and girlfriend again. The visit started out much like he might have expected, with many hugs and reassurances that he was fine which neither girl believed. It didn't get strange until Luna pulled out the mail she had received for him.
"Hedwig brought this yesterday. It had a bit of blood on it but she seemed alright so I assume she took it from the owl that was supposed to deliver it." The letter had turned out to be a copy of the Daily Prophet from the blocked edition with a very short note.
Harry
Thank you.
Rita
The front page article gave an extremely detailed account of what had happened the night of Riddle's resurrection which to Harry meant that his least favourite reporter had found a way to lift a ride into his memories. Harry simply passed the newspaper over to Hermione for her scrapbook once he had read it. The real shock came from that day's edition of the Daily Prophet. Its front page was a glowing account of the success of Hogwarts' educational standards and how they had allowed even a mediocre wizard to win the prestigious Tri-Wizard Tournament. The next largest story was that there had been a change of leadership at the Prophet. The previous editor and several reporters had been fired for seditious behaviour by the owners. Harry didn't doubt for a moment that these owners were wealthy Death Eaters. He told the girls about his discussion with Madam Bones, glad that he was able to speak a lot more easily than the day before. Their discussion and subsequent conclusions were grim.
Harry had to stay in the Hospital Wing until the day of the Leaving Feast. Just before Harry left the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey passed on the message that the awards ceremony for the tournament was to be that night at dinner. Hermione and Luna had stopped by the Hospital Wing to pick Harry up before they headed to the Great Hall and promised that they would make sure that Harry didn't skip out on his public recognition to sputtering protests from the Champion in question.
"Honestly, Harry, are you going to try and convince us that you wouldn't skip out on the award ceremony if you thought you could get away with it?" Harry's trapped look gave away that he was still thinking about summoning his Firebolt and getting himself as far away from any awards ceremony as he could. "Come on then, Harry. Best get this over with. They can only give you the cup once."
"It's statements like that that make me extremely nervous some ministry idiot will try to do that anyway." Two laughing girls grabbed Harry's arms and pulled him from the Hospital Wing, or to his doom depending on who you asked. The school matron followed them shaking her head in amusement. By the time they reached the Great Hall the girls were no longer pulling Harry along. Rather Harry had one arm around Hermione's shoulders which she was reciprocating with an arm around his waist. He was using his other hand to poke Luna in the side as she had the time of her life coming up with increasingly ridiculous additions to the award ceremony that she wanted to suggest to Bagman.
When the trio entered the Great Hall, Harry realized a few things. First was that he had never really thought about how the Hall would be decorated in a year when there was no House Cup and nobody had died. He might have predicted the black banners with the Hogwarts crest on them hanging where the winning House's banners usually hung. Nothing could have prepared him for the massive cream-coloured banner bearing a black dragon being pierced by a red sword that was hung behind the Head Table. One look at Professor McGonagall's smug little smile convinced Harry that he was being pranked by his Head of House. Next time it'll be more than a little public affection, Professor floated through Harry's numb mind.
The second was that he had underestimated what it would mean for him to win the contest outright to the rest of the students. The students of all three schools were standing and cheering loudly. Harry just had to count his blessings that the Weasley twins couldn't give him their usual introduction due to the noise.
Lastly Harry realized that he had been out of action for days and that people had probably not been given the slightest explanation and would soon be swarming him for any details they could get. He shot his girlfriend a pleading look that was ignored as she and the girl he was coming to think of as an adopted little sister dragged him over to the Gryffindor table where the cheering was loudest and several of his housemates were waving flags that matched the banner behind the Head Table. The cheering finally settled down when Dumbledore stood up and held up his hands for silence.
"Thank you, everyone for your enthusiastic reception of Mr. Potter." Dumbledore began. "We have come to the end of another year and I hope you have all become richer in knowledge and friends. We have, of course, also come to the end of another day and I believe it best we had dinner before we old folks bore you with our speeches. Tuck in!" At Dumbledore's final exclamation food appeared on everyone's plates.
After loading his plate up Harry performed his now standard check for any strange additives. It was difficult to this surreptitiously as it turned out that Harry had been correct in predicting the reactions of his peers. On either side of him Luna and Hermione were making a valiant effort at keeping the nosy bunch from overrunning him but they had little success until reinforcements showed up in the form of two Weasleys armed to the teeth with prank products. The loud bangs, sudden colour changes, strange smells and odd transformations soon had the whole horde of busybodies finding somewhere else to be.
"Thanks, you two." Harry said with clear gratitude in his voice.
"No problem, little brother."
"Mum would have cleaned us out when we get home anyway." The twins nonchalant attitude didn't quite reach their eyes as they settled down across from the trio and loaded up their plates. The antics and laughter of Hogwarts' premier pranksters and the fact that there was food to be eaten ensured that Harry was at least able to eat his dinner in peace; well, as much peace as it was possible to experience near Fred and George actually trying to be distracting.
When the food cleared Dumbledore stood once again and waited for the Hall to quiet down. Once he was sure he had everyone's attention he spread his arms out and began his speech.
"As I said before we settled down for that excellent meal: I hope you have all gained both friends and knowledge this year. I believe you have all seen feats of magic and friendship worthy of emulation from the people we asked that the most of this year. I am speaking, of course, of our four champions and I ask them to come up here now." There was a swelling of applause as Dumbledore paused to give the champions time to make their way up to the Head Table. Harry got up with less prodding than at Halloween but still dreading the walk to come.
Up on the dais Harry found himself sandwiched between Fleur and Cedric who both said a quiet word of greeting and congratulations. Harry returned the greeting and looked out over the upturned faces to find his favourite shade of brown looking back up at him. The understanding smile on Hermione's face helped him find the motivation to at least look like he was happy to be up here like a pig at auction. Dumbledore allowed everyone a good look at the champions before continuing.
"For each competitor we have a medal declaring their selection as a champion. These will be handed out by Mr. Bagman and Mr. Weasley on behalf of the Ministry for Magic." Bagman strode up to the champions waving jovially to the crowd while Percy scuttled up behind him holding a purple cushion with four silver medals on it.
"First to Ms. Fleur Delacour who represented Beauxbatons Acadamy well." Bagman walked up to her and hung a medal around her neck before pumping her hand enthusiastically. Harry didn't think Fleur looked half as eager as Bagman and she quickly stepped back into line next to Harry.
"Next to Mr. Viktor Krum who did his best for Drumstrang Institute." Krum just looked surly as he accepted his medal and Harry hoped that it hurt the older Seeker to know he had been well and truly beaten. Karkaroff was already mysteriously absent and Harry was sure his body would turn up in a matter of weeks.
"Third to Mr. Cedric Diggory who represented our very own Hogwarts School." Cedric had a bright future as a politician as he was smiling brightly and managing to look like he was doing so at Bagman and the audience at the same time.
"Finally, to the winner of this year's Tri-Wizard tournament: Harry Potter." Harry shook a beaming Ludo Bagman's hand as the unexpectedly heavy medal was hung around his neck. He had the nagging feeling that Bagman's enthusiasm meant that he had just cleared his gambling debts. When Harry moved back from the former beater he could see Dumbledore waiting behind the man with the Tri-Wizard Cup.
"In addition to your medal, Harry, I have here for you the Tri-Wizard Cup." Harry had to force himself to take the Cup from his headmaster. So far he only had very bad experiences holding that thing. Once he had it in his hands Harry felt a little unsure of what to do. To be honest he had never wanted the cup. He decided to just do what he had seen footballers do on the telly and held it over his head. This turned out to be the right move as the Hogwarts contingent exploded with cheers and the other schools clapped politely. After several moments Harry felt his arms begin to tremble and lowered the cup again. Dumbledore stepped forward again, this time holding a large sack.
"The final part of your prize, Harry: 1000 galleons." Harry accepted the bag of money from the Headmaster with as much grace as he could. This was made easier by his own knowledge of the coming of Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Standing there with his winnings in his hand Harry raised them once more and let his schoolmates cheer themselves hoarse. It took even less time for his arms to start trembling this time and Harry quickly lowered his prizes. He was surprised to find arms wrapping around him from either side. Cedric and Fleur smiled at him as they steadied him before waving at the crowd with the arms that weren't supporting him to disguise that they were holding him up.
"Thank you all for your enthusiastic support of the champions this year. Tomorrow our guests will leave before you get on the Express home so make sure you come down to say your goodbyes to them. I am sure you will want to be well rested for both that and the reunion with your families, so off you trot. Goodnight." Dumbledore wrapped up the ceremony quite neatly and some of the students, noticeably those at the Ravenclaw and Slytherin tables started to get up and leave. Krum led the Drumstrang contingent out of the Hall in an almost military march. Gryffindor and Hufflepuff looked more reluctant to do as the headmaster had said while several of the Beauxbatons students were drifting out of the castle to their carriage. Eventually it was just the friends of the three champions on the stage left in the Hall when even the faculty made themselves scarce.
Hermione raced up the steps of the dais to grab Harry, who had clearly overexerted himself at least a little. Harry was surprised at the speed with which Cedric got out of the way and shot a questioning look at the boy.
"Harry, mate, just a little piece of random advice: don't piss Hermione off to the point where she slaps you." Harry blinked once before turning his gaze towards his blushing girlfriend. Hermione laid her head on his shoulder and refused to meet his eyes.
"Cedric, I saw her deck Malfoy towards the end of third year but what on earth happened for you to get smacked like that?" He asked feeling Hermione squeeze him slightly.
"Ah, well, I tried to visit you in the hospital wing. You were unconscious but Hermione was there. I tried to tell her that I was there to apologize to you for stunning you into that Portkey after you saved my life but before I could get my explanation out she slapped me and then tore strips off me about what happened." Cedric said with a slight smile while Fred and George were howling with laughter in the background. "If she's right about what you went through wherever that thing took you then I can understand why she was that upset; even if Madam Pomfrey did have to break out the Bruise Salve." Harry's ribs were being tightly squeezed by now. He knew it still upset Hermione to hear people discuss what had happened after the third task. Harry needed a distraction and he knew just where to find it.
"Oi, Gred! Forge! Get over here." The two redheads ran over and snapped off identical salutes.
"Yes, O mighty Champion?"
"You called for us?" Harry just shook his head with a slight smile.
"I did, you mavericks. Here, take this." Harry shoved the sack of galleons into Fred's hands. "It's for your joke shop. I want you to get inventing." Fred and George had been about to make a series of jokes about Harry using them as mules but now their mouths were dangling open. Hermione was no longer squeezing Harry's ribs as she leant back to look at her boyfriend in surprise.
"Harry, are you serious?" George's voice was trembling. "That's a lot of money, little brother."
"I still have my inheritance and what I made selling the Horntail's carcass, I don't really need the extra thousand galleons sitting around in my vault. Besides, I'm sure that the two of you making everyone laugh is worth far more than that; well, everyone except Zonko's I suppose. If all that weren't enough, you're calling me your brother. If I have the means to make my elder brothers' dream come true I should do it, shouldn't I?" Harry grinned at them. The twins barely managed to stammer out their thanks while their eyes grew glassy as they imagined the possibilities now open to them.
"I think you may regret that next year, Harry." Cedric told him with a grin while the twins were off in their own world.
"And why is that?" Harry wanted to know.
"Well, put it this way: I'm not going to be a Gryffindor prefect next year." Cedric's grin somehow managed to grow even wider. Harry was about to protest that he wouldn't be a prefect but since his only reasoning for that was based on his future knowledge he just let it go. Everyone would find out sooner or later and after how Ron had acted this year Harry didn't feel bad about creating some extra work for him. He was sure he could get the twins to let up around Hermione who was looking utterly horrified at the implications of finally achieving an ambition she had held in her heart since first year.
"Perhaps we should get a head-start on that and get this lot to bed." Harry suggested with a small smile. Everyone agreed and after saying goodnight to the Hufflepuffs and Beauxbatons students, the trio and a still subdued pair of twins headed up the stairs. Luna was dropped off at the Ravenclaw common room and the four Gryffindors headed back to their tower for Harry's first night back. With the twins distracted and the Express leaving at lunch tomorrow there was no party to celebrate Harry bringing the cup into the tower. The twins promised to make it up to Harry next year, no matter how much Harry insisted that they didn't need to, before they headed up to bed and presumably to make sure that the gold was stored safely in their trunks in a way that their mother would not be able to find it.
Harry gathered Hermione into his arms for a goodnight kiss and watched her go up the stairs towards the girls' dormitories. He then headed up to his own room dropping the Tri-Wizard cup unceremoniously into his trunk before getting ready for bed and falling asleep.
:-:-:-:-:
"AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!" Hermione awoke with a loud scream. Her skin was clammy and her heart was racing. It was the same nightmare she had been having every night for the past week, ever since she had seen Harry's memory in the Pensieve. In her dreams she could see and hear Harry screaming under the Cruciatus and just like in the Pensieve there was nothing she could do. She knew it was just her subconscious trying to deal with what she had seen but that didn't make it any easier to wake when the swirl of colours didn't take Harry away from that last green curse and she saw his body falling limply to the ground. In fact the only night she hadn't had the nightmare was that first night when she had slept in the Hospital Wing. She hypothesized that it was because she had had Harry close enough that not even her subconscious could miss that he was alright.
Hermione's breathing was starting to calm now that she was back in the waking world and her rational side could take over. Unfortunately she couldn't shake the worry that something was wrong with Harry. With one last admonishment to herself that this was irrational she got out of her bed and put on her slippers and dressing gown. Quietly she slipped out of her dorm and down the stairs before heading up towards the boys' dorm. With her hand on the doorknob of the fourth year boys' dorm Hermione hesitated for a moment. Her urge to make sure that Harry was indeed alright quickly beat her sense of propriety into submission and she opened the door carefully. She knew from previous excursions into this dorm to wake Harry, and Weasley when they had still been friends with the redhead, exactly where his bed stood. She lit her wand with a low light anyway as she also knew that the floor wasn't exactly likely to be free of obstacles.
When she got to Harry's bed she opened the curtains and nearly screamed when a hand pulled her in and a light shone in her face.
"Hermione?" Harry sounded groggy from just having woken up. The light was extinguished. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to check up on you because I had a nightmare." Hermione's shock was leading to her rather uncontrolled honesty. "Harry, you scared me witless when you pulled me in like that. How did you know I was here?"
"I've been putting wards around my bed ever since we learned that Weasley knew about the dragons. You tripped them and I thought it was him trying to get a last hex in. I wanted to scare him a little. I'm sorry that it turned out to be you instead." As Harry was giving his answer, his arms wrapped comfortingly around Hermione and she relaxed into the embrace.
"It's okay, Harry." She sighed feeling her body start to relax. "Do you mind if we cuddle for a bit before I go back?" She felt a kiss on the crown of her head.
"Of course not." The couple spent several minutes just holding each other and eventually neither noticed that they relaxed right into sleep.