It was a week after Hermione's unfortunate events occurred. She was looking at bit better. She talked to Remus a lot. He would give her coping advice. She had also taken to spilling her guts to Harry. He didn't mind. To be honest, he was glad Hermione was sharing more with him. Yeah, they shared a lot with such a close relationship, but she was still pretty closed off.
That certain day, Hermione and Harry were working in the gardens of the home. Honestly, most of the plants tried to eat them. It was ridiculous. Harry had to send a quick wandless slicing hex at a plant with razor sharp thorn teeth. It had bit Hermione's leg. She swore loudly and Harry rushed inside. Sirius quickly came out and looked at the plant while Harry wrapped up Hermione's bleeding leg.
Sirius sighed in relief. "It's not poisonous, thank heavens! I have no idea what vile things mother planted." Hermione and Harry shivered at the thought. Hermione hobbled inside and sat down on a kitchen chair. She threw down her garden gloves and groaned.
"I don't want to go in that nasty garden ever again!" Harry sat beside her while Sirius went to get some ice for her leg.
"Neither do I." Sirius came back to the table with a bag of ice wrapped in a thin towel. He placed it on her leg and she sighed in relief.
"That's so much better." He smiled and told her to hold it on. Instead, Harry took it and she smiled thankfully at him.
Sirius sat at the table and said with a sigh, "So, I guess the gardens are my job. That means you guys have the library." Hermione looked excited. Sirius looked to her seriously. "There's a boggart still rammed in an unknown shelf. Be careful please. You two know the spells?" Hermione and Harry nodded. Sirius went back to the gardens and when Hermione's leg felt better, the two headed up to the library.
The two stuck close and stood on guard for the boggart. In the three hours they were up there, they dusted the rest of the bookshelves and fixed half the destroyed books. Hermione was heading to open the curtains when she heard a thud. Hermione looked to see a fallen book. It was supposed to be on one of the cracked bookcases. Hermione waved her wand over the crack on the black wood bookcase and it snapped back into place.
She then painfully bent down to retrieve the book and paused when she heard a soft growl. She slowly laid on the ground and looked underneath the large bookshelf. Nothing, but darkness. She was about to get up when there was a groaning sound and the bookshelf shook. She hurriedly got up and found nothing unusual. She sighed and placed the book back on it's shelf, fixing the cracked spine with care. She turned around and bumped into someone. She stepped back and looked up. It was Harry. She huffed a breath and crossed her arms with an easy smile.
She said to him, "You really made me jump there. You walk around like Snape. I didn't even hear you." The familiar lopsided grin on Harry's face began to turn sour. She was confused. "Did I say something?"
He snarled at her and took a step towards her, forcing her back. "You always have something to say, don't you."
She looked confused. "What?"
He narrowed his eyes and took another step. "Always saying something." He mocked her voice. "No Harry, stop it Harry, you're not doing that right Harry. Must you always speak?"
She shook her head and her back hit the bookshelf. "This isn't funny anymore Harry."
He snarled and quickly gripped her neck in a hold. "Let's stop those words now, why don't we?" She gasped for breath and tried to push him away. The boggart. The fake Harry pushed Harder on her throat and she tried to breath. She wanted to call for help. The fake Harry maliciously smiled and took out a gun, still managing to hold her with one arm. He was completely pressed against her, restricting all movement. Boggarts were strong. She recognized the gun. It was her father's.
"Maybe, when the guilt washes over me from killing you, I'll shoot myself." He removed the safety. "Just like dear old daddy."
Hermione needed to do something! "R-Rid-Ridd-Ri!" The boggart growled and choked her harder. Her vision began to blacken.
"Some little spell can't save you. You're powerless know-it-all!"
"Hey!" The boggart turned to face the real Harry and instantly shifted forms. It was another Hermione. Darker. With dead eyes and a sliced neck. Hermione tried to push away while the thing was distracted, but she just felt her head go dizzy as she struggled.
The fake Hermione said in a small and gargled voice, "You did this to me."
Harry faltered and he was losing control. "Ridik-."
"You did this to me! You promised no one would hurt me!" The fake Hermione coughed and blood spurted from the injury. "All I did was care for you. All I did was love you and you let me get hurt!" Harry tried stuttering the spell through his fear. It was like he didn't even see the boggart choking her. Hermione was seconds away from passing out.
"They captured me. The Death Eaters got me. I was right there! I was by your side and you let me suffer!" The fake Hermione screeched in agony and Harry's wand dropped.
"N-No!"
"Look at me! Look at what you did to me!"
Harry clutched his head and cried, "I'm sorry!" Hermione couldn't do it. Harry was suffering and she couldn't just sit there! With strength she never knew she had, she growled animalistically and toppled onto the boggart. Harry got his sense together, actually feeling Hermione's distress.
The two grabbed their wands and tore that boggart apart. After all the pain they dealt to the creature who could use no form to scare the children, they finally gave it mercy. They gave a giant laugh in it's face and the boggart exploded. It exploded in a burst of black smoke and loud screams of fear. The two gripped their heads and once the screaming stopped, they looked to each other and clung on for dear life. They didn't even cry or say anything. They just needed to reassure themselves that the other was okay. Sirius came bounding up the steps when he heard the deathly scream. He ran up to the obviously terrified children.
"What happened?"
Harry stuttered out, "Th-The b-boggart."
Sirius held up his wand defensively around the room. "Where is it?"
Hermione looked at him with a frightened gaze. "It exploded." Sirius dropped his wand arm and decided he would save his questions. The two were cowering in fear. He gently helped the shaking teens up and lead them to the sitting room on that floor. He set the fireplace and ran to get them some calming drought. The man made each take a large swig and then left them for some time to calm down.
Hermione looked to Harry hesitantly and asked, "Is that really your worst fear? Not being able to protect me?" Harry looked down to his hands that had a good grip on hers.
"Losing you would be the worst torment I could ever know. Knowing that I could have protected you and...and it wasn't enough." He looked up to her brokenly. "I don't know what I would do without you by my side."
Hermione looked at him and slowly lifted her hand to his cheek. "I feel the same way about you. I wouldn't survive knowing that you despised me. That you hated everything about me. That you would go as far as to get rid of me like my father tried to. I….I can't lose you." They stared into each others eyes and Harry leant forward. Slowly, but surely, they captured each other's lips.
It was electric, it connected something inside of them. There was a flash of gold from their chests as they kissed. As they finally confronted their feelings. The gold flashed away and they released each other. They stared for a moment and felt a sharp burning on the inside of their wrists. Hermione looked down to her right as Harry looked at his left.
There, on there wrists was a forming golden swirl. It shined and finally settled. Hermione's was harsh curves and scratching swirls elegantly wrapped around another elegant line that came from the other side. Harry's was the same image, but the swirls and shimmering on his were smooth and soft. It was who they were. Hermione, harsh and rough with an inner beauty that compared to no one else. Harry, someone's who's kindness reflected on every surface of his being. They looked back up to each other and just stared. What had they done?