Chapter 1
She saw him through the haze, peering down at her. She could see the concern in his eyes. Blood dripped out of the cuts on her hands.
"Mione! Hermione, why did you do this?" He asked.
"I—I—wanted you—you to be happy." She whispered.
Harry looked over at the five forms as they began to stir. His heart leapt at the sight of them, that they were alive, but it sank once more when he turned back to his best friend.
"You have to stay awake. You can't leave." He whispered.
But she was already fading. And something inside him seemed to get thinner and thinner with every breath she took. He started to sob, hunched over her. His hands fisted her jumper, which was his jumper, and burrowed his face into it. His body shook, but he couldn't bring himself to care.
"I love you." He whispered, moving to press a kiss to her forehead, down to her cheek, before brushing his lips against hers.
"I-love-you-too." She whispered. "There's—clothes—in—in my—bag—" she whispered, as her eyes closed.
His cries got louder, and he felt two hands grab onto his shoulders. He pulled back enough to open Hermione's beaded bag and getting the clothes out for his family. He handed them to whoever was on his right, before gazing down at Hermione. He waved his wand and healed the cuts in her hands.
"Kreatcher!" He called, his voice cracking.
A loud crack was heard before Kreatcher appeared. "Master called—Mistress? What happened to Mistress?" He asked.
"Kreatcher, I need you to take us to Andromedas." He whispered.
"Of course Master." He said, but Harry could hear the nervousness in his voice.
Everyone grabbed onto Kreatcher, Harry holding onto his ankle while keeping a firm grip on Hermione.
"Andromeda!" Harry called out, trying to keep his voice down incase Teddy was asleep.
He watched Kreatcher wave his hands over Hermione, nervously wringing his hands, before doing it again.
"Harry is everything—who are you?!" Harry heard more then saw, her draw her wand.
"Andy." He whispered, finally tearing his eyes away from his best friend and up to the lady that had been taking care of them since the end of the war.
Andromeda turned her head away from the people standing behind Harry and towards the girl laying on the floor. It was instantaneous. She rushed over and waved her wand over Hermione and pulled up a bunch of magical charts. But Harry's eyes focused on the heart beat monitor, and saw that it was still beating, just very slowly.
"Harry, downstairs in my lab grab the sleeping drought, blood replenish, and the purple potion next to it. Go now!"
He didn't need to be told twice, as he rushed down the stairs and towards the cupboards. Throwing them open, he rummaged through the potions until he found the right ones, before running back up stairs. Andromeda snatched them from his hands and forced them down Hermione's throat.
They sat in heavy silence as they waited for some sort of change. And it came, when the heart monitor began to get stronger. And stronger and stronger. And whatever that was thinning inside him earlier, began to thicken again. And everyone sighed in relief.
"Let's get her upstairs." Andromeda whispered.
"Kreatcher will you go watch Teddy until Andy or I relieve you?" Harry asked, looking at the house elf.
"Of course, Master." He said before disappearing. Harry scooped Hermione into his arms and headed upstairs.
Harry laid her down on his bed, in his room, before pulling up a chair next to her bedside. He gripped her hand and tried to keep himself from falling apart again. She's alive, that's all that matters.
"What happened?" Harry whispered to the older witch.
"I think if her magic wasn't unstable, she wouldn't have nearly died. But since it is, it took a greater toll on her body."
"Do you think it has something to do with the dark magic in her arm?" He whispered, his hand trailing down the carving.
"Possibly. We haven't done enough testing on it to determine that." She whispered back, watching the young woman on the bed. "She's still to thin."
Harry nodded. "She won't let me take care of her. On the off chance I can, it's only for a moment."
Silence filled the room.
"Are they really—?"
Harry nodded his head, but refused to focus on it when his best friend was unconscious.
Andromeda nodded before excusing herself. Not even a couple minutes later, Sirius and Remus walked in and sat in conjured chairs.
"How are you, pup?" Sirius whispered.
"I'm ok." He whispered back.
"What did Andy mean by her magic is unstable?" Remus asked.
"A lot happened while we were on the run." He whispered. "And when the battle ended, Hermione passed out. She was unconscious for a week and when she woke up her magic was unstable. It's more under control now, she and Andy have been working on a magic stabilizer. Kinda of like those muggle mood stabilizers. They also think it will help Neville's parents come back."
"When did you figure it out?" Sirius asked.
"Fifth year, after—everything."
"When?" Sirius pushed.
"Hermione was injured, unconscious for two weeks. And I couldn't loose her. I knew that losing you, Sirius, was devastating but I could never lose Hermione. It would break me." He whispered, his eyes still trained on his best friend.
Finally after gathering up enough courage, he looked up. The tears had dried on his cheeks, his eyes red-rimmed. Remus and Sirius watched him closely. They could see the devastation written all over his face.
"They're going to want to see you." Sirius whispered.
"No." Harry stated, starring him down.
"But Harry—"
"I can't face them without Hermione." He said.
"Yes you can. They just want to—" Sirius pushed, but was cut off once more by Harry.
"No. I can't face then until Hermione wakes up. If it was my dad and mom in my place, would he leave?" He hissed, and when they didn't answer, he turned back to face his sleeping best friend.
Andy came back in a few minutes later, and shooed them out. She forced Harry to change into something comfortable and eat a little bit of food, before giving him a sleeping drought and levitating him onto the bed next to Hermione.
He should have known that when she did eventually come around, she would wake with a nightmare. It started out as shifting, turning back and forth on the bed. But it was quickly followed by her terrified screams. Harry tried to hold her still, gathered her in his arms, but she still managed to open her scars once more. As he shifted into a sitting position, leaning against the headboard, he kept her wrists pinned to her sides and whispered softly into her ear.
"Come back to me, Mione. It's ok. Everything is ok." He whispered, rocking her gently to try and ease her back into reality. "ANDY!" He called to her, knowing they would need a calming drought to get her to wake up.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw all the newly resurrected people standing in the doorway, wands drawn and at the ready. He could feel blood started to soak through Hermione's sleeve and into his shirt.
Andromeda hurried through, forcing the calming potion down her throat, and setting the bandages and essence of dittany on the nightstand. As the potion took effect, her screams began to quiet, the thrashing slowing until silent body shaking sobs remained. Harry continued to gently rock her until the sobs quieted, only her tears remained. By now, Harry had realized how badly she was bleeding.
"Mione, your scar opened up again. It's bleeding badly." He whispered. "Do you want me to kick our audience out?"
Hermione shook her head and shifted so Harry could adjust their position and tend to her arm. Andy stood next to the bed, bandages in hand and ready to hand them over. Slowly Harry rolled Hermione's sleeves up, easing the fabric that stuck to her. There were a few auditable gasps, but all three of them ignored it. After taking a wet cloth cover in dittany, he gently dabbed at the open wound. He could feel Hermione gritting her teeth around the pain. When he finished dabbing at it, he settled a clean damp one over it, setting a dry one over that one, before wrapping it up.
"I'm glad your awake." Harry whispered.
"I wasn't—"
"I know. And when your feeling better tomorrow I'm going to scream at your for your own stupidity." He hissed in her ear.
"You know I only did it to make you happy." She whispered back.
"But at the risk of loosing you. The one person who's stood by me my whole life." He growled. "Your smart, Hermione, but you do really idiotic things sometimes."
She grinned up at him, pressing a kiss to his cheek. "You know I'm gonna win this argument, do you really want to start one?"
"Says the girl that fought over a dead rat." Harry countered.
"And I was right wasn't I? That rat was supposed to be dead, and he wouldn't have been if it were this me, back then." She growled.
"Yes, you and me both."
Harry and Hermione curled around each other; Harry holding onto her as tightly as he dared.
The audience in the doorway watched them carefully. Remus and Sirius, having seen their friendship before they died were shocked at how close they were. Harry was closer to Ron then Hermione, but when they thought back to fifth year, Hermione was the only one to get Harry out of his bedroom after Arthur was injured. Andromeda hurried over to them, shooing them out the door.
"Her arm." James breathed, as the door closed behind them.
"What happened?" Sirius asked, turning towards Andromeda.
"That is not for me to tell. I will warn you, the best way to interact with Harry, is with Hermione around." She said, guiding the group down the hallway and towards the living room.
"Why? I don't remember them being this close before." Sirius pipped up.
Andy shook her head, a sad smile on her face. "You're probably right about them not being close before, but you didn't see the aftermath of the war for them." She whispered. "You saw Teddy curling up beside her while she was asleep." They nodded. "He does that all the time, but only when she's run herself so thin that he forces her to pay attention to him and sit for a few minutes. They end up sleeping on whatever surface they are on most of the time."
"That doesn't explain why talking to Harry will go over better with Hermione around." Lily cut in, trying to get any information on Harry that could be beneficial.
Andromeda sighed. "The war was hard for them. Hermione wasn't able to get her parents back when they went to Australia to reverse the charm." Remus and Tonks gasped at the news. "Yes, it was devastating for her. And it was devastating for Harry to watch her pretend that she was fine. It took them screaming at each other in the kitchen for her to break down and actually grieve the loss of her parents. Harry told me that Hermione has always done what was in his best interest, regardless of her own well-being. And I got to see that for myself since they've been living here, and you are the product of that very statement."
Remus, Sirius, and Tonks nodded their heads in understanding. While James and Lily looked confused. "That doesn't answer the question." James said, wrapping his arms around Lily.
"Hermione's health has taken a turn. And with her health, her magic became unbalanced. Harry didn't take it well when he found out."
"What do you mean, 'found out'?" Sirius asked.
"Exactly that. Hermione didn't tell him, or anyone, that her health was deteriorating. We didn't find out until a month after she passed out the first time. When she passed out the second time, Hermione almost died from the lack of nutrition and her unstable magic. Harry had finally put the pieces together after that; he figured out that she had been giving him, and their friend Ron, her rations. It killed him. I had to drag him out of St. Mungo's by the ear to get him to shower and eat. Ever since, Harry has been glued to her side, as much as she was to his. The best way to get on Harry's good side, is through Hermione. He's already refused to see you guys until she woke up, and that was a week ago."
The adults slowly sipped on tea as they waited for the other three occupants to wake. All of them processing just how much they have missed, and curious as to what had happened that year on the run.