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Hermione Full of Grace	By : AdamantEve Category: Harry Potter > Het - Male/Female > Harry/Hermione Views: 13378 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, nor any of the characters from the books or movies. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 17
- 18
- 19
Author�s
note: Well, wasn�t that tiring! Some
even found it tedious. So sorry about
that, but life is such! Time to tie up
loose ends now!

Thanks
again, Aurabolt. You know you kick ass, right? You
know you do!

Standard disclaimers
apply.

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Chapter Seventeen � Coalescing in Convalescence

In which I
bet you can�t say the title of the chapter quickly and several times without
tripping your tongue.

Or

In which
a parade of people pay Hermione a visit.

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Harry leaned over the bed, taking Hermione�s hand as she
slept peacefully on the hospital bed.
She had not been allowed to wake since her ordeal the previous night and
while Harry knew she was merely sedated, he couldn�t help but feel a bit uncomfortable
watching her this way. It was too
reminiscent of her coma.

On a nearby chair, Ron gave a snort in his sleep. His chin was tucked into his chest, arms
crossed over him. His long legs took up
half the room outstretched from his chair.
How he managed to find sleep in such an uncomfortable position, Harry
didn�t know.

That was one thing about Ron. No one could touch him for his
resilience.

Harry had found sleep two hours at a time throughout the
night. He was tired, but he was worried,
too. He simply couldn�t sleep all the
way through, and every time he woke up, he had to remind himself that this
time, Hermione was asleep; that she
was resting; that they had induced sleep on her so that she would recover from
her many broken bones and multiple lacerations.

He sighed. He
wanted badly to talk to her.

When he was watching it all happen, he was half-stunned at
what she was being made to endure and half-angry that she chose to endure it
alone. He remembered thinking, Good Lord, he�s hurting her! He�s torturing her! I�I couldn�t even stand
to see her get a sunburn! Good GOD, how could he? How could he� I�M
GOING TO KILL HIM! And then he was so angry that everything started to blow
up around Lysander.
It did no good at harming the smarmy elf, though. Whatever the git
was using, it was impenetrable, so Harry wasn�t exactly able to do him any
harm.

He had never felt so helpless in his life.

The anger, the concern, the love; it was all a mix inside
him right now. He thought maybe taking his
anger out on someone would be very therapeutic.

He looked surreptitiously at the book on the bedside table
and had a barrage of nasty thoughts. Burn it.
Shred it. Throw it into a
volcano! Or better yet� He had a strong impulse to reach into the damn
thing, get his hands on Lysander and physically beat
the man to death, but seeing as it had taken the very angry Defeater of Voldemort, the Defeater�s sidekick, a very determined Elven familiar to-be and a cat-kneazle
hybrid to contain him with lots of Elven magic,
Harry had to admit that he can�t take on Lysander
alone right now.

In retrospect, Harry had had seven and a half years to
practice defeating Voldemort completely. Lysander might be a
tad trickier considering he wasn�t even of the same species.

Harry sighed, pulling off his glasses as he closed his
eyes. Lightly, he massaged the bridge of
his nose.

Sure, he was angry, but he supposed his relief at having
her alive off-set all that. Besides, it
was because he loved her like a fool that he wanted to yell at her for putting
herself in that much danger.

When some of the ache behind his eyes ebbed, he put his
glasses back on and glanced at his watch.
It was half past eight in the morning.

Ron gave off a mighty snore and Harry frowned.

Bloke�s going to
wake up the dead.

Harry was just about to cast a silencio on him when he felt a light pressure from Hermione�s hand. He looked and saw her blinking
languorously. She seemed somewhat
annoyed, but he�d be too if he woke up and most of his body was immobilized by
spells.

He gave her a plaintive smile, reaching up to tuck some of
her hair behind her ear. �Hullo.�

�Tell me you caught the driver of the lorry that ran me
over,� she muttered grumpily.

Harry thought maybe Ron�s snarkiness
was catching. She certainly didn�t get
it from him� much. �He got away from
us. Oh, by the way, you caught a Dark
Wizard. But that�s neither here nor
there. Thirsty, love?�

Hermione stared at him impassively, probably deciding if
he had gone nutters or if he was just being drier
than an Englishman in the Sahara Desert.
�I can just about do with a stiff Ogden�s right now��

He didn�t even blink.
�We�re fresh out. How about some
water?�

�That�ll do.�

He stood to go to her bedside table where there was a
pewter of water and a goblet. He poured her some, chilled it very slightly with
a spell and conjured a straw from a plastic swizzle stick on the coffee
tray. Carefully, he brought up the upper
half of the hospital bed to get her to a sitting position before gently
sticking the straw into her mouth. She
couldn�t move much of anything except her face and fingers; probably her
toes.

�This is humiliating,� she muttered through the straw as
Harry cast a summoning spell for the healer.
�A few hours ago I was putting away a Dark Wizard and now I can�t even
drink water without my boyfriend having to shove a straw in my mouth. I�m not even going to ask what I have to do
to go pee! And oh, wonderful! I�m in these dreadful hospital robes. Cow-dung brown, too! Really, why didn�t they just go in for the
kill and shave all my hair off?�

He arched an eyebrow, more amused than he cared to
admit. �My, my, my� haven�t had your morphine fix today, have you?�

She scowled. �I
can�t move, I hurt and I feel disgusting!�

�The pain would be from the broken bones. You have a lot of them, which is why they�ve
got you completely immobilized. That
disgusting feeling would be because of the dried blood in your hair and
body. It does tend to feel a bit ripe after a while.�

The healer arrived and scanned Hermione over with his
wand. He asked routine questions and
summoned a few potions for her to take immediately. He did nothing to improve the state of her
mobility and when he left, Hermione had no affection for him.

Ron slept through the entire thing, snorting every once in
a while and giggling once. He seemed to
be enjoying his sleep.

Harry saw to her medication, lining up the potions and
making her drink every single one in all their awful tasting glory.

He gave her more water to wash down the taste. �That�ll teach you to go fighting Dark
Wizards all by yourself,� he muttered, earning him a fierce scowl as he held
the cup and straw to her mouth.

He did not let his gaze waver, just so she understood how
seriously pissed he was.

She moved her gaze from him first. It was all she could do because she couldn�t
exactly turn her head away. �I know
you�re angry.�

�Somehow, angry doesn�t cover it right now, but be that as
it may, I love you too much to yell at you in your fragile state. I�ll yell later. For now, we talk.�

She sighed, and she had the grace to go all red in the
face. �Where�s the book?�

Harry lifted his chin towards it. �On the table beside you. It�s safe.
D�you want to explain to me everything that
happened? Luna can only tell me so
much. She isn�t exactly fluent in Elvish unlike some people I know.�

She lifted an eyebrow.
�Luna? Luna Lovegood?�

�Yes. She works in
the ministry, you know. Unspeakable.�

�Naturally,� Hermione grumbled with a roll of her eyes.

Harry frowned. �If
it wasn�t for Luna, I wouldn�t have known how to fight him and help you. She may be batty, but she came through when
we most needed her.� He had given Luna�s
early retreat a lot of thought, too. He
realized that Luna hadn�t been running away from danger, she had simply used
her foresight. With him and Ron
protected, Lysander couldn�t use them to force
Hermione to give in to the binding, but if Luna showed up with them, no
protection spell around her, Lysander could have used
Luna for the same purpose. Knowing
Hermione, she wouldn�t let anyone suffer
for her; not even old Loony Lovegood.

Hermione sighed again, closing her eyes to collect herself
before reopening them. �I�m not
disparaging her, Harry� alright, maybe I am, but that�s just a bad habit from
school. I didn�t mean to be rude. I�m sure she was helpful to you. Sorry.�

He smiled wanly, mollified. �That�s alright. I wasn�t very polite to her either when she
first showed up. And let�s not even talk
about Ron�s charming good manners. I�ve
been going to the Department of Mysteries in the past few weeks consulting with
her about Lysander, but she cast a dedisco on me, so it was only last night I
remembered she was the Unspeakable I�ve been�well, speaking to.�

�Did I just hear you right, Potter? You�ve been checking up on Lysander?�

He shot her a superior smirk. �For weeks now. Since he came to the Ministry kissing your arse. I hate to tell
you this but�� He grinned, basking in
triumph.

She glared at him.
�Say it then, and get it over with.�

�Ha! Get it over
with? My dear, lovely, beautiful
Hermione� this is stellar moment that ought to be cherished and drawn out for
everything it�s worth. In fact, I think
I�m going to wake up Ron. He has a right
to share this moment with me.�

�Harry,� she said in a dangerously calm voice. �I swear to you, if you push me far enough,
I�m warding you out of my room in Grimmauld Place
until you grovel for a month for me to let you back in.�

Harry suddenly didn�t feel all that triumphant
anymore. Nothing�and he meant nothing was worth the punishment of
being barred from Hermione�s bedroom� ever.

�Alright fine,� he muttered. �I told you so.�

It was not as satisfying, having been bulldozed into
saying it. Officially, Hermione was
still the title holder for the best I-told-you-sos in
history.

In all fairness, she didn�t look too glad about anything
either.

�You were right about him, of course,� she said rather
grudgingly. Hermione Granger never liked
getting beaten to the punch. �There was
something seriously wrong with him. You
weren�t sure what but I hadn�t a clue, either.
If the binding process hadn�t spelled me to understand Elvish I never would have found out. And if Lysander
hadn�t wanted me to find out� well, I
don�t think I would�ve realized anything until it was too late.�

Harry began digging the toes of his trainers on the stone
floor, his eyebrows knotting. �You mean
you only began to ask questions because he wanted you to?�

That was rather hard on his ego. He thought maybe their being together had
managed to sever any influence Lysander may have had
on her. He truly believed that in spite
of what Remus had told him that Saturday he came in
for auror duties.
Maybe he hadn�t been strong enough.

�Oh, Harry,� she said in a soft voice. �It wasn�t because you fell short on
anything. Lysander
was using strong Elven binding magic which he had
been preparing for me for months. He had his grip on me the moment I ran
into him at the Ministry. He used a very
subtle spell then. It made me resistant
to any objections you or anyone may have about him from the very beginning. Later, the spell progressed into something
more defensive. It actively made me
evasive of answering your questions pertaining to Lysander��

�I noticed,� he grumbled.

�And then I fell into his trap,� she continued rather
miserably. �It was so stupid! But it was such a
clever trap he laid� he got me to exchange gifts of value with him, Harry. It didn�t seal my fate, but it initiated the
binding ritual and put me in that awful situation on the roof...�

Harry felt just a bit like she had kicked him in the
nuts. �What gifts did you exchange?�

She reddened. �He
gave me that key to the library��

That surprised him.
�But you gave him back that key!�

�He sent it over again,� she muttered. �And he made it so that it would be
imperative that I use it. I�m still
trying to figure out if Cecily Ackwater was a plant
in his grand scheme of things. I�m
thinking she was in on his
plans. Without her, I wouldn�t have
thought about presenting a proposal to him and meeting with him about it. The key was convenient to summon him for that
meeting, of course, but I� well, I couldn�t resist those books�� She bit her lip, looking
at him like she had committed a grave, unforgivable crime and that she was
sorry for it.

Harry sighed. There
was nothing to forgive. They were books,
for goodness sake. It was probably the
library of her dreams! And even he
didn�t think there could be harm in opening a book full of ancient wisdom. Lysander had lured
her brilliantly.

�And what did you give him that was so valuable to him?�
he asked, rather afraid of the answer.

She lowered her gaze.
�My trust. I gave him my
trust. I believed in him, if only for a
while. I trusted that he could get my
Elf Proposals passed, and I was even willing to believe he would do it out of
the goodness of his heart. Cecily� Cecily
Ackwater made me think he would do it for the
proposal�s own virtue. Now I feel like a
complete fool. She probably works for
him, now that I think about it. I�ve
been a bloody idiot blinded by my ideals��

It was a sad day when Hermione Granger thought herself an
idiot. He couldn�t stand it.

He sat on the bed, trying to catch her lowered gaze so she
would lift it back to his. �No, you�re
not an idiot. You believe House Elves
should be given their basic civil rights.
You believe in a worthy cause.
It�s not a flaw to want to fight for those who can�t fight for
themselves, and I never want you to stop thinking the best of people. You look at someone and you almost always see
the goodness in them. The day you become
a cynic, Hermione Granger, is the day I lose faith in wizard-kind.�

She managed a meek smile at that.

�And now that we got that
out of the way,� he said in a mildly stern tone. �What�s this about you
going this showdown alone?�

Her cheeks turned pink.
�I told you� his binding spell wouldn�t let me tell you��

�Yes, but I distinctly remember you saying that you might
not have asked our help anyway. Nice job
on the protection spell, by the way. It
only left you completely vulnerable and alone.�

Hermione�s eyes lit up with a stubborn gleam. �The only way you could have substantially
helped me was to bind yourselves to me and lend me your magic, but if I bound
you to me and Lysander won, he�d have all three of us for his familiars! I simply couldn�t risk putting you and Ron in
that position when I was the one who screwed up. The protection spell was the only alternative
I had, and since I knew you would never agree to the protection if you knew it
barred you from binding yourselves to me, I had to do it without your
knowing. I�m sorry, but I can�t ever
bear the thought of anyone harming you, especially because of me.�

He shook his head disapprovingly. �If you had let Ron and I help you in the
first place, he wouldn�t have been able to hurt you so badly.�

�I still needed to get hurt, Harry. That was the only way I could have completed
the binding spell to imprison him in the book.
And if you were bound to me, you would have felt the pain, too. I just won�t
let you suffer like that.�

Harry was beginning to get a bit teed off. �You think watching you suffer was any easier
for me?�

�It wasn�t my intention to let you watch,� she said with utmost clarity.

�You said so yourself!
You weren�t expecting him to hurt you that badly!�

�Yes, well, that�s beside the point!�

�Hermione, if I hadn�t lent you some of my power� if I
hadn�t been there�I don�t even want to
think about what he would be doing to you right now!�

There was suddenly a look of absolute guilt on her face;
like she had thought of something so horrible that it was going to make her
sick. It wasn�t loathing of Lysander. Harry had
seen what her loathing of the man looked like.
This was something completely different.

�What?� he asked sternly, rising to his feet so he could
loom over her.

She seemed surprised.
�What?�

�That look on your face.
What were you thinking?�
Suspicion began to sneak up on him.
�What were you going to do if
he bound you, Hermione?�

She paled for a moment before she regained her poise and
became haughty. �Well, I couldn�t let
him go on living, can I? In two hundred
years he�d just leave me to die and then move on to the next poor, defenseless
woman. I had to have a way to get rid of
him before he could inflict himself on anyone else!�

�You would destroy him?�

�Naturally!�

He glared at her.
�And what would happen to you?�

She pulled her gaze from him.

�What do you think would happen to me?� she said softly,
the force in her voice gone. �I�d be
bound to him by soul and spirit� if I destroyed him��

Oh, Merlin� �You would destroy yourself.�

She looked down.
�It would be my responsibility.�

He felt a little weak-kneed and he slumped beside her on
her bed, shocked at the revelation.
�Hermione��

He didn�t even want to think about it.

�I�m not suicidal,� she said hastily. �But if destroying him meant destroying me in
the process� well, I�d still do it. He
can�t be allowed to keep stealing free will like that.�

Harry swallowed the lump that had formed in his
throat. �I don�t know what to say��

�Say you�ll forgive me for even thinking it?�

He looked at her, dazed.
�How can I be angry at you?
That�s exactly how I thought it would be for me and Voldemort��

There was relief in her eyes, but sadness, too, because
the complexity of their convictions could only be understood through such
frightful experiences.

Ron gave a snort and jerked in his seat. His head lifted and his eyes slowly
opened. �Noise��

Harry frowned. �Oh,
sorry. Did we wake you?� he asked in a
sardonic tone.

Ron stared at them before the scene registered in his
drowsy mind. He jumped from his seat and
rushed to Hermione�s side, wide awake.
He took her hand, holding it gently.
�Alright, Hermione?�

�I�ve been better.�

�Nice robe, gov�na.�

Hermione dealt him a murderous glare.

Harry wondered if Ron would risk the consequences of such
impudence if Hermione wasn�t bogged down by immobilization spells.

Ron grinned. �Well,
you know I�d be nicer to you since I was so impressed by all that wandless magic you were throwing around, but I gave it some
thought��

�You were thinking?�
she interjected.

�It�s an interesting experience. You should try it some time,� said Ron
without batting an eyelash.

Hermione�s jaw dropped and Harry feared for Ron�s
life.

Ron was unperturbed; brave to the end. �I realized something important Granger. You really
screwed this one up!�

�ARE YOU HOPING TO DIE, WEASLEY?� she yelled, digging her
nails into his palms as her only means of expressing her ire. She couldn�t very well lift her arms and
start throwing things at him, and he probably knew it, too.

He smirked. �Am I
wrong, then? Luna explained some of it
to me. If I understood her right, Athanasius got you good and you had to wiggle yourself out
of the mess! If you had just listened to
Harry in the first place, then maybe none of this would�ve happened! How am I doing so far?�

Her eyes flashed. �Llie
n�vanima ar� lle atara lanneina! Lle--!�

�Whoa, nelly! Easy, there!�
cried Ron, grinning. �I can�t even
understand what you�re saying!�

�You don�t want
to know, Ron!� she shrieked.

�Then I must have been right, ey?�

Hermione looked like she was about to have a stroke.

Harry shot him an irritated glare. �Ron, shut it! You�re upsetting her!�

�As per usual,� came a dreamy voice from the door. �Some things just never change.� Luna Lovegood
stepped in, a bundle of strange, growling blooms sitting in a hanging basket
she carried. Her long blonde hair was
decorated with blinking barrettes that were strangely hypnotic.

Hermione shot her gaze at Harry, too angry at Ron to pay
Luna much attention. �Harry, get him
away from me, now. Or I swear, when I
get back my mobility��

Harry sighed, dealing Ron a deadly glare.

Ron shrugged and let Hermione go, but he settled himself
on the foot of her bed, grinning as he watched Luna approach.

�Nice to see you�re alive and nagging, Hermione,� said
Luna, her gaze traveling between her, the bed, Harry then Ron. She shot Ron a particularly speculative
glance before returning her attention to Hermione.

�And these boys have you to curse for it,� muttered
Hermione.

Ron laughed, slapping his knee.

Harry didn�t think it was that funny. �We have you to thank for it, Luna. I think I�d rather have Hermione nag me my
whole life than lose her altogether.�

Ron laughed even harder.

�Oh, do you, Harry?� Hermione�s voice a tad pitched.

Harry wondered if he could shove his foot in his mouth any
deeper. �Well, of course I don�t want to get nagged my whole life,
sweetheart. Just that it�s��

�The lesser of two evils?� Ron supplemented.

�I take back every good thing I said about you, Ron,� said
Harry. �I wash my hands of you.�

�Traitor.�

Hermione stuck her tongue out at Ron. �Harry�s not a traitor. He just knows I can do wonderful things to
him that you can�t.�

Ron�s lip curled in disgust.

Harry grinned.
�It�s nice to know you understand the depth of our relationship,
Hermione.�

�I can do things to you, Ron, that no one else could,�
Luna said.

Ron�s lip uncurled and his eyes widened at her in surprise
and wonder.

Harry exchanging disbelieving looks with Hermione.

Luna arched an eyebrow.
�I can, for instance make the Three-Eyed Brop
of the Weisterslands paint a tattoo of a Velrostracker on your coccyx.�

Ron�s jaw dropped.
�On my WHAT?�

�Coccyx, Ronald,� said Luna. �It�s the smart term for your tailbone.�

�She said tail,�
said Harry with a stupid giggle. This
odd conversation was turning out to be immensely enjoyable.

Hermione followed it up with a stupid giggle of her
own. �She said bone.�

Harry loved it when Hermione applied her naughty self.

Ron blinked, flustered.
�I don�t have a tailbone!�

Luna looked at him dreamily. �You do.
You just don�t see it, and you know what? I can teach you how to use it.�

Ron inched away from Luna slowly. �Umm� I�err� don�t know what to say?�

Funny how he phrased that as question.

Luna seemed fairly satisfied by his response. �You won�t have to worry about that until
later. For now, I�m here for
Hermione. I hope that in spite of the
considerable aggravation Ronald has been causing you, you still have complete
control of your faculties.�

Harry caught Hermione�s weirded-out
look.

�My faculties are fine, Luna,� she said.

�Good! Then you can
answer my questions.�

�I might be able to.
Ask me.�

Luna then asked her to tell her everything from the very
beginning.

Hermione did, leaving out as much of the embarrassing
details as possible (if Harry was reading the inopportune blushes right) but
adding to what she had told Harry earlier.
It took a while to get through the important points because Luna really
knew how to ask good questions, but Hermione didn�t seem to mind so much.

When she got to the part about trapping Lysander in the book, Luna was amazed.

�You used the book as a focus,� Luna said.

Hermione nodded.
�He said he�s had it his entire life.
His father�s wife wrote the book.
I don�t know if she was Lysander�s mother,
though. Could be just one of the many
besotted familiars��

�It�s in Elvish, correct?�

�Yes.�

�Can you still read it?
Speak it?�

Hermione reddened.
�Yes.�

�Excellent. And
what�s the book about?�

�It�s a thesis,� Hermione explained. �It sugarcoats the servitude and dedication a
familiar should have for her master.�

�I assume Lysander wanted you to
read the book but didn�t expect you to use your skill to research a way to
defeat him.�

�He�s very arrogant,� Hermione muttered. �He also spelled the key to the library so
that he�d know whenever I went there to use it; maybe monitor the kinds of
books I read there, but I broke the summoning charm on it. It probably never occurred to him that I
could. For all his proclamations that he
admired my intellect and all that shite, he still
underestimated me because he�s half Elven and I�m all
human. I don�t think he has a fair
opinion of humans at all��

�L�sandre�s fatal flaw.�

Hermione arched an eyebrow. �How did you know his Elven
name?�

�You mentioned it somewhere during our conversation.�

Hermione flushed, shooting Harry an apologetic look. Harry didn�t mind� much.

�And what�s your Elven name, Hermione?� Luna asked.

�Ermyad-na.�

Ron scoffed. �Well,
that ought to give Krum a run for his money.�

�Hermione�s a prettier name,� said Harry stubbornly.

Luna smiled. �Of
course it is.�

Hermione flashed Harry a smile that made his insides turn
to goo.

Luna turned her gaze to the enchanted windows of the
room. �The spells you used against him;
where did you find them?�

�From the Leabharlann �rsa Runa,� said Hermione.

Luna�s gaze turned glassier
than ever. �The Leabharlann �rsa Runa� wow. That library is just� wow��

Hermione�s eyes widened, her
expression conveying her surprise that she and Luna had something in
common.

�Would you be willing to help
me translate and decipher Elven text?� asked
Luna. �It�s not spell protected, I
think. It can be spell-transferred, but
it doesn�t prevent anyone from teaching and learning it. It was, after all, the generally spoken
language way back then, before the��

�Elven
Cleansing,� Hermione finished for her.
�And you�re right. I think I can
teach it to you. But� will the Unspeakables let me be there on a regular basis?�

�Be where, Hermione?�

�At the Department of
Mysteries.�

�I don�t think so.�

�Won�t that be a problem,
then?�

Luna thought about it, plucking
her wand from inside her robe to scratch at her chin. �Not really.
We will be meeting elsewhere.�

Hermione�s brows knotted. �I�d imagine your colleagues won�t like
that.�

�It�s none of their business,
really. And they�re not my colleagues
anymore. I compromised my position as an
Unspeakable when I met up with Harry Potter at the Leaky Cauldron. I cannot ever go back to the Department of
Mysteries unless I dedisco everyone
involved in the case, and that will be a problem for you, Hermione, considering
I am the only expert witness you have on the matter of Elven
society and culture.�

�Witness?�

Luna smirked. �Do you think they will let you get away with
magically imprisoning a billionaire without at least a hearing to establish you
did it for self-defense?�

Harry sighed. He knew it had to be brought up sooner or
later, and Hermione looked like she wasn�t all that surprised either. Ron, however, was livid.

�Hold on!� cried Ron. �Hermione�s going to trial? But that bastard was the one trying to
enslave her!�

�I don�t imagine that this entire
affair would cause too many problems for Hermione,� Luna said. �It�s easy to put hers, Harry�s and your
memory in a pensieve for the Wizengamot
crones to review, but it�s always good to have witnesses, and an expert at
that. I am prepared to do just that.�

Harry tried not to be too
worried that Luna was about as �expert� as they could get. After all, she was formerly an
Unspeakable. Unspeakables,
though enigmatic, were held in high esteem in Magical-science circles.

He was, however, grateful for her
sacrifice. �I�m sorry you lost your job,
Luna. But�well, thank you for coming
through for us.�

Luna gave a shrug, the spacey
look on her face remaining. �That
department was bloody boring, anyway.
I�ve seen more fascinating things working in my father�s paper. Hermione, I look forward to what you have to
teach me about the Elven Language.�

�And I look forward to teaching
you,� said Hermione. �I�ll owl you when
I get better. We�ll� do lunch.� It was strange to be doing anything normal
with Luna.

Luna seemed to think so too if
the smirk she had was any indication.
�Yes. Lunch.� She turned to look at Ron. �And you?
Would you like to do lunch with me? Or would you like me to do
something else?�

Ron�s eyes bugged out again
with the same surprise and wonder.
�H-Holy� I�ll�umm�floo you?�

She tilted her blonde and
blue-eyed head, regarding him with great amusement. �No, Ronald Bilius Weasley. I�ll
floo you.�

Luna turned, shot Harry a
parting glance and drifted out of the room with three pairs of eyes watching
her.

Ron broke the silence with an
uneasy chuckle. �Completely barmy,
that.�

Hermione�s eyebrow shot
up. �Oh, is that what you think? �Oh, Luna, I�ll floo
you!�� she said, making her tone fluttery.

Harry laughed at the comical
expression on Hermione�s face.

Ron scowled. �Well, what was I supposed to say? I didn�t think it would be polite to tell her
she�s completely mental!�

Her eyes widened and she
smirked. �Oh, dear! Ladies and gents, we have manners!�

�Take the mickey
out of me, why don�t you? Or better yet,
just rip it out altogether!�

�I�d rather kick your coccyx,
Ronald.�

Ron�s eyes widened.

Harry doubled over,
laughing. �You should�ve seen the look
on your face when she said that! I�ll
never forget it! She had you by the balls!�

�You should talk!� scowled Ron. He began to make an effeminate gesture as he
pitched his voice. �Hermione�s a
prettier name!�

�Well, it is!�

�Oh, stop it, you two!�
Hermione said, grinning. �Harry, let�s
leave Ron alone with his little crush on Looo-na.�

Ron frowned. �Oy! She came on to me.�

Harry effected gravity. �Oh yes, and you were real smooth about
it, too: Err, umm, duhhh��

Hermione giggled.

Ron crossed his arms over his
chest. �You see, this is what happens
when your best friends shag! They team
up on you!�

�Oy!�
Harry and Hermione cried in unison.

There was a knock on the door
and they all looked up to find another blonde standing within it.

Ron, who�d probably had enough
of such women for one day sauntered over to his chair to sulk.

Harry thought the woman looked
familiar and he turned to Hermione to see if there was any recognition.

Hermione was frowning, her gaze
filled with suspicion. �Cecily��

Harry�s smile wilted. His hand twitched at his arm holster, seriously
wondering if he was going to need his wand.

Cecily fidgeted at the
threshold, her eyes lowering to the floor.
She held a box of chocolates. �I
heard you got attacked at your home... I came here as fast as I could��

�That�s nice of you,� said Hermione
coldly, her eyes still firmly planted on the woman, as if waiting for her to do
something dangerous.

�Here.� Cecily began to advance as she held out the
box, but she stopped in her tracks as she saw Harry slowly rounding the bed to
get between her and Hermione.

Harry held out his hand for the
box. �Thanks. I�ll put them away.�

Cecily breathed, nervous, as
she gave the chocolates to him.

Ron, probably noticing the
tension in the room, stood up beside Harry, eyeing Cecily warily.

�Cecily, this is Harry Potter
and Ron Weasley,� Hermione said, the warmth still
absent from her tone. �Harry, Ron, this
is Cecily Ackwater.�

Harry looked the woman over
quickly. She was fair in every way, like
Lysander but less pale. She seemed a tad afraid, and as he extended
his hand for a shake, she hesitated a bit before taking the offered
courtesy. Her hand was cold. She was nervous.

Ron did the same.

With the niceties done, the
room fell utterly silent.

Cecily swallowed, her gaze
falling on both men. When she seemed to
have gauged their distance from her, she risked her gaze on Hermione. �I didn�t know he would do that to you.�

Harry was stricken with
anger. He knew exactly what Cecily was
talking about.

Hermione scowled. �So you did set me up to see him at
the library!�

He glared at Cecily and she
cowered under his gaze.

�No! I didn�t!
P-Please, just listen to what I have to say!� she gasped, stepping
back. �I didn�t set you up! But he did speak to me at the L.C.O. He implied that he would be willing to help
with the proposal but only if you asked him to.
He didn�t pay me or anything like that! And honest to Merlin, Hermione, I was just
thinking about you and the proposals.
You have to believe me!�

�D�you
expect me to believe you were doing it all out of the goodness of your
own heart?� spat Hermione.

�Yes!� said Cecily
desperately. �Benevolence is a dying
legacy of my race, Hermione, but I will do what I can to keep that legacy
alive. I didn�t know he was binding you
as his familiar. If I had known I would
have told you not to associate with him!�

Harry�s jaw dropped at the
implications of her words. �What do you
know about binding?�

�I�m half Elven,�
said Cecily. �K�sher
tanya L�sandre. Lye uuve ilya ho.�

Harry blinked and he looked to
Hermione who seemed speechless.

Then she regained her
composure. �Well, I most certainly hope
you�re not all like him, Cecily.�

�He�s an exception to the rule,
I assure you.� Cecily looked at Harry
and Ron again. �Please. I�d just like to talk to her, may I?�

Harry gave the question over to
Hermione with a look. She nodded.

He stepped back, taking Ron�s
chair to put it by Hermione�s bed. Ron
shot him a glare for it but Harry shrugged it off.

Cecily thanked him quietly.

He stayed close, his gaze fixed
on them. As far as he was concerned,
Nordic Elves were still on his Shit List, and Cecily�s motives were still under
suspicion.

�I meant what I said in your
office,� said Cecily. �There are those
of us who ask nothing in return for doing what�s right, especially those who
still live by the Old Values.�

Hermione still looked
distrustful, but the knot in her brow eased a bit. �Are there still many of your kind?�

Cecily smiled wanly. �If you�re worried about how many out there
are like Lysander, I�d say you mostly have nothing to
worry about. I can tell you that within my Elven
circle, what he did is considered abhorrent.
We have not heard it done in the last five hundred years, and even then,
that was just a rumor. The last thing us
Elves want to do is propagate the same stories that led to our genocide.�

Harry flinched at the
term. �Genocide?�

Cecily nodded. �Two thousand years ago, wizards thought it
best to systematically decimate our race because of the rumors that we ate
children and enslaved human beings. It
wasn�t true, of course, but they killed the lot of us, anyway. We haven�t really recovered since, and I
think because of that, we prefer keeping a low profile, hence the illusion that
we have become extinct. We necessarily
have to keep tabs on each other magically, which is how I knew something
happened to him. I asked around
the Ministry and� well, here I am��

Harry regarded her
thoughtfully, his mind stuck on the concept of genocide. �Wizards are different these days, you know. There are the evil ones, of course, but
generally, we don�t tolerate that kind of atrocity.�

�We have very long lives, Mr.
Potter, even us half-breeds. When a
generation of half-Elves can live up to three hundred, and pure-breeds up to
five hundred years old, fears and perhaps even prejudices don�t die out as
quickly. That�s the only down side to
long-life. Societal ideologies stay the
same for longer periods; development to better ideas comes slow; adaptation is
a glamour, not instinct. So it has been
for my people. Which brings me back to
my point� I don�t think we have to worry about someone like Lysander
enslaving damsels, at least in the next three hundred years.�

Ron�s eyebrow arched. �Just because your circle of friends don�t seem
to think like Lysander, how do you know they
don�t? You certainly didn�t think Lysander would do such a thing.�

Cecily sighed. �Well, obviously, I was wrong about that, but
on hindsight, the signs were there, right?
I looked up his profile and saw the impressive roster of spouses and his
relatively extensive family tree.
We Elves don�t procreate quite that eagerly, even with human blood mixed
in. We�re not big on making children,
mainly because we have a gestation period of five years.�

Hermione�s jaw dropped. �Good lord!
Five years?�

Cecily nodded. �A lot of Elven
women die carrying or giving birth, too.
The human mothers bring babies to term faster, but a lot of them don�t
survive the magic. Mothers who carry Elven children have an 85% mortality rate.�

�Goodness,� Hermione
breathed. She looked truly distressed.

Harry held her hand. He knew how things like this affected
Hermione. She was a being of compassion,
after all. It was the reason she broke
innocent men out of prison, saved hippogriffs from being executed, rescued cat-kneazles from abandonment and fought for the rights of
House Elves.

�So Lysander�s
family tree is a lot of codswallop,� said Harry.

Cecily smiled wanly. �It�s not uncommon for Elven
clans to come up with fictional children.
After all, we can�t let on that we could live up to five hundred
years. We�ll get found out if we don�t
fill in the generational blanks, but judging from Lysander�s
record and the spouses, who existed, by the way, I�d say that most of the Elves
on Lysander�s family tree were just actually one or
two persons pretending to be several different ones. Their spouses��

�Were familiars,� said Hermione
with a gasp. �Isidore��

�He would have been at least
five hundred years old before he died,� said Cecily, nodding. �And he isn�t even pureblood. He had to have used human familiars to
prolong his life like that. Whether he
forced them or not, we�ll never know, but junior apparently got a bit too used
to getting whatever he wants.�

Ron looked disgusted. �I never thought anyone can be worse than Malfoy. But lo and
behold��

�So Lysander�s
admissions letter from Hogwarts wasn�t a sham.
He really was just eleven then and he really is just about
turning sixty,� said Hermione.

Cecily shrugged. �That�ll explain why he needed a
familiar. Most Elves don�t need one
until around that time. Did you know if
he had other familiars before you?�

�He did say I was his first.�

Harry made a face. Sometimes, his own instincts scared him. It sometimes had the uncanny ability to hit
too close to fact. �I told you he
was far too old for you. Didn�t I?�

Hermione sighed, rolling her
eyes as she grinned. �Yes, Harry. Right you are, again. But if you think it will convince me to take
your word for it from now on, you�re dead delusional.�

Ron smirked and Harry scowled
at him.

�What are you smirking about, Weasley?�

Ron grinned. �Welcome to my world, Potter.�

Harry was not to be
outdone. He got the girl. �Keep telling yourself that.�

Ron scoffed.

Hermione shot them a glare before
resuming her conversation with Cecily.
�So this binding I broke��

�I don�t even know how you did
it,� admitted Cecily, reddening. �I
never knew it could be broken. I
only know you did because�well, you�re still here and unbound. I�m assuming you have him detained
somewhere��

Hermione finger twitched as she
looked to the book and she sighed. �Can
someone please remove these bloody immobilization spells?�

�Not until the doctor says so,�
said Harry, picking the book up from the bedside table. He looked at Cecily as he held the book
up. �Lysander�s
in here.�

Cecily blinked, jaw
dropping. �Good gracious! Is that what I
think it��

�What�s wrong with it?�
Hermione seemed alarmed.

�N-Nothing. Nothing, really. I thought you had him detained� well, like�in
a holding cell� is that a Mirror Prison?�

Hermione looked to Harry and he
frowned. How the hell was he supposed to
know what it was? She was the one
who made it.

Hermione looked
nonplussed. �Well, I don�t know. The books didn�t call it that. I just took a focus object of his and turned
it into a prison of his own making.�

Cecily nodded. �Trapped by his own magic until he truly
atones for the evil he has done� that is a Mirror Prison! Goodness, Hermione. Those things are extremely rare. I mean, I�ve heard it done, way before I was
born, but I�ve never seen one.
Only a trained Amandil can
withstand the pain of casting it! Rumor
has it that the agony equals that of a thousand hell hounds gnawing at your
soul bit by bit!�

Harry shot Hermione a
glare.

�How very poetic of you,
Cecily,� Hermione muttered. �But it
really wasn�t that bad.�

�Oh,� said Ron. �So when you were screaming your head off,
you were just being melodramatic?�

Hermione dealt him a menacing
look.

Cecily�s eyes were wide with
wonder. �It�s a very old spell. It must have been incredible to watch!�

Harry�s fists clench, and he
remembered all too clearly just what happened on the rooftop of Grimmauld Place. �Incredible?
There was nothing incredible about it! It was horrific and terrible and a fucking,
bloody nightmare!�

Luna�s basket of flowers
exploded, sending clumps of soil and pieces of the poor defenseless flowers
scattered all over the room.

There was a brief silence.

It was Hermione who broke
it. �Cecily, you better go.�

�Right.� Cecily stood up, brushing some loosened soil
off her suit. �Get well soon,
Hermione. I�m sorry this happened.�

Harry wasn�t sure if she was
talking about upsetting him or about the entire thing with Lysander. Whatever it was, he was beginning to feel bad
he went off like that.

�I�m sorry about your suit,� he
muttered. �You can�umm�send me the
cleaning bill. Didn�t mean to snap at
you, either.�

Cecily looked at him in
surprise then chuckled. �It�s alright,
Mr. Potter. I haven�t exactly been the
life of this party, have I? Besides, I
owe you, just like everyone else in Britain.�

Harry frowned. �Owe me?�

�Yes, for finally getting rid
of that pesky Dark Lord.�

Well, it wasn�t everyday he
heard Voldemort get called �pesky�. Nordic Elves didn�t seem to think much of
him. Then again, Harry didn�t have much
respect for the old ghoul either.

Honestly, Harry didn�t care one
way or another. But Ron gasped,
scandalized.

�Pesky!� Ron cried.

Cecily shrugged. �He was dreadfully annoying. Dangerous, yes. Terribly dangerous, but wasn�t he just
so full of himself?�

�You wouldn�t believe how
much,� Harry said.

Hermione rolled her eyes. �Right.�

Ron scowled, sulking
again.

Harry could only assume Ron was
more teed-off by the fact that someone didn�t think Voldemort
horrible enough to seem properly impressed by the defeat of him, a defeat in
which Ron played a part in and formed a story which usually impressed the women
he told it to.

Cecily smiled, placing a hand
on Hermione�s arm. �Tenna� ento lye omenta.�

Hermione smiled. �Tenna� san.�

Cecily left.

�Alright, that�s it!� said
Ron. �That Elf Talk unnerves me! What did she say and what did you say to
her?�

Hermione rolled her eyes. �She said �Until next we meet� and I said
�Until then.� And it�s Elvish. Not
Elf Talk.�

�I wish you wouldn�t speak it!�

�She spoke it first!�

Harry sighed. �I�m going to get some coffee.� He was just about to head for the door when
Hermione�s soft voice reached him.

�Harry, sweetheart� are you
alright?�

He saw the worry in her face,
and he thought maybe she was asking if he was walking out angry. He smiled to put her anxieties to rest. �I�ll be back as quickly as I can, love.�

She smiled back, the relief in
her eyes evident.

So she had been worried
he was angry.

He turned his gaze on Ron. �Don�t you be aggravating her while I�m gone,
Bilius.�

Ron winced at the name but
nodded, waving him away in disgust.

Satisfied, Harry left to get
his coffee.

000000000000000000000000

Harry found brewed coffee in
the lobby. It wasn�t very good, but it
was better than those awful charmed granules in the room.

He needed a bit of time to
think by himself, without having Hermione�s smile or witty sense of humor
chasing away his deep-seated concerns.

The relief he felt at her
relatively peppy recovery was somewhat overwhelming. Most of their hospital vigils for one another
had the patient subdued and drugged up enough to be a bit dramatic when they
awoke. To hear her so snarky was a good thing.

It was a nice change, but it
didn�t mean he wasn�t feeling the old nausea of being in St. Mungo�s in the first place.
The last time he was here, he was praying she would make it through the
day.

He sat in the waiting room
hunched over his cup, elbows to knees.

This relationship he had with
Hermione had been built on strong foundations; matured under the most
extraordinary of circumstances. He
wondered if that meant he shouldn�t expect that they�d live ordinary lives.

In the last eight years, they
had sprung through magical booby traps, conquered a basilisk, helped a convict
escape from Azkaban, freed a hippogriff, won a tri-wizards tournament, joined
the Order of the Phoenix and
stood side by side against the most ruthless and evil of enemies. They had saved each other�s lives countless
number of times and it was never �I owe you one,� or �I�m calling in your life
debt.� It was, �I�ll always be here for
you,� and �I�ve got your back.� They
never kept tally; never kept count.

Perhaps he should have realized
it sooner. Their relationship issues
won�t be about commitment or loyalty or selfishness. If anything, they�d likely gotten way past
that already. Their issues would be
about how far they�d go to protect each other; how much is too much before one
or other admitted that they needed help; what were the boundaries of their
trust?

Trust.

That had taken on a whole new
meaning since the end of the war.

They trusted each other completely
when it came to things like catching each other when one or the other fell, but
they seemed to have a bit of a problem when it came to trusting each other to
catch themselves.

Their issues were a bit more
complicated than your average couple in love, but he supposed the beauty of it
all was that he didn�t find it the least bit daunting. How could he when the prospect of working
them out with Hermione gave him a sense of adventure and nervousness and excitement,
all at the same time?

For the first time in his life,
he could honestly say that Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnegan had been right. He was whipped, and he loved it.

Everything was going to be
alright.

He smiled and drank his coffee.

About eight hours ago, he had
sat in this same seat with Ron beside him as the healer told them, in a
matter-of-fact tone, that Hermione was going to make it, possibly even achieve
a full-recovery. She would, however,
have to spend the week following her hospital stay at home: No stress; no going
out; no lifting of heavy objects; no fighting of Dark Wizards.

Yes, healer. We hear you, healer. Tell that to Hermione, healer.

He hadn�t even told her yet of
her upcoming non-activity. Hermione was
going to have a conniption fit. A whole
week of doing nothing? She�d be at their
throats for lack of anything better to do.

Harry smiled slightly. He could have a bit of fun driving her
insane by treating her like porcelain and slathering her with
obsequiousness.

She�ll be so teed off, he thought,
delighted. In this respect, he could
understand why Ron had been so eager to get her riled up before. The difference between him and Ron was that he
could very well smoothen her ruffled feathers with a right good snog. And wasn�t snogging so much better when it was preceded by witty
banter?

He was looking forward to it
all already.

It ought to keep her
preoccupied at any rate, and when she was all better, he could take her
shopping in the weekend. He�ll even let
her drive the car like a maniac. She
loves that.

He mused a bit more before he
saw a pair of feet in front of him. The
shoes were well worn, like they had been repaired a hundred times. He looked up and saw Remus
smiling his usual close lipped smile, gentle and understanding.

�Alright, Harry?�

Harry cocked a grin, gesturing
to the seat beside him. �Perfect. Hermione�s awake and she seems alright. Fighting with Ron already.�

Remus
sat. �That�s good to hear. That chap Lysander
did quite a number on her.�

�Limey bastard cracked
practically every bone in her body,� he muttered. �But she should be good as new by
tomorrow. They have her completely
immobilized and she hates it. Should�ve
heard her when she first woke up.
Could�ve bitten the head off a Hungarian Horntail.�

Remus
nodded, his smile widening. �Sounds like
she�ll be making a full recovery, then.�

�You better believe it.�

Remus
chuckled.

A comfortable silence fell on
them while Harry drank more of his coffee.

It was Remus
who broke the silence. �Listen,
Harry. I didn�t just come here to
visit��

Harry groaned. �And everything was going so well.�

Remus
shrugged apologetically. �We�re having a
bit of a conflict between the Auror and Hit Wizard
division on this. Our department is
treating this as a Dark Wizard assault on a civilian, but the Hit Wizards are
crying misuse of magic pertaining to illegal binding.�

�Illegal binding!� Harry cried,
half his remaining coffee sloshing to the floor. �Are they mad? He was trapping her soul! What the bloody hell did they expect her
to do? They�re a department of
idiots! I�ll teach them illegal��

�Calm down, Harry,� said Remus. �Tonks submitted her application for jurisdiction last night
and she�s still working to make sure we get this case into our
department, but she�ll need some help if an Evaluation Hearing is called. Do you know of anyone��

�Luna Lovegood
and Cecily Ackwater,� said Harry in the next
second. �Tonks�ll
surely get jurisdiction over the case if she brings them in for the evaluation
proceedings.�

Remus
smiled. He sent a messenger spell out.

�It was self-defense,� said
Harry. �Please tell me the Auror Department believes this and will push for a summary
dismissal. I don�t want Hermione to sit
in front of the Wizengamot and have to justify
herself.�

�The Auror
Department is on Hermione�s side on this, but it can�t be helped that this
would have to be brought before the Wizengamot. Since the Ministry�s embarrassment at being
found out about Sirius�s undue incarceration, the Ministry demands that no
Summary Convictions be allowed under any circumstance, so they�re going to have
to evaluate whether Lysander�s imprisonment is
justified.�

Harry was silent, seething.

Remus�s brows
knotted. �Harry, say something.�

�I can�t. I�m drowning in a pool of irony.�

Remus sighed. �Well, at least you don�t have to worry about
Hermione. Her self-defense plea is
solid.�

Harry was just about to say
that he�d really rather not have a bunch of old crones questioning her like a
common criminal, if it was all the same to everyone, but their attention was
drawn to the reception area where a couple of elderly looking men were arguing
about who was going to get the last jellybean in the box.

�I say, Thane! I paid for the jellybeans in the first
place! According to the law, no one shall
be unjustly enriched at the expense of another.�

�Winston, if that jellybean
unjustly enriches me, I�ll fork over a galleon.�

�I shall refuse that
galleon. It�s the principle of the
thing, you know.�

�I solemnly swear not to hold
your principles to this particular jellybean, especially if it�s snot
flavored��

Their voices faded as they
turned the corner.

Harry looked at Remus in alarm as he got up. Remus followed with
a puzzled look on his face.

�Harry�?�

�They�re the Wizengamot�s senior interrogators.�

�Hermione�s bosses?�

�Want to bet they�re not here
to give her a raise?�

They hurried on after the two
men and Harry was surprised they had gotten so far down the hall in so short a
time.

When Harry and Remus caught sight of them again, they were tugging the box
with the remaining jellybean back and forth between them.

�Give it over!� said Heartcomb.

�Absolutely not!� said
Archibald.

They stepped into one of the
fireplaces and disappeared after calling out �recovery ward.�

Harry sighed, picking up his
pace. �Spry, aren�t they?�

�Quite,� replied Remus.

They reached Hermione�s floor
in short time and as her room came into view, Harry could hear the voices of Heartcomb and Archibald telling Hermione that while they
had originally gotten her jellybeans, they decided that she would appreciate a
compilation of historical rulings instead.

Harry appeared at the door, Remus behind him. He
took in the scene and it was just as he imagined it to be: Ron standing in the
corner looking nonplussed by the two very odd visitors, Heartcomb
and Archibald speaking matter-of-factly to Hermione and Hermione looking at
them with equal parts dazzle and cognition.

Archibald arched an eyebrow at
Harry. �Why, it�s that batty Planter!�

Heartcomb
frowned. �That�s not Planter, that�s
Gardener!�

�It�s Potter, actually,� said
Harry.

�Oh, yes!� said Heartcomb. �The one
who��

�Slew the chap who doesn�t want
to be named, yes.� Harry ignored the
scandalized look on Ron�s face and the perplexed one on Remus.

�Actually, I was going to say
�The one who comes to the office every lunch time to snog
Granger into a stupor,� but who�s keeping track, eh?�

Hermione�s eyes widened briefly
before she dissolved into a blush.

Harry felt the heat in his own
cheeks. �Right.�

�Suffering smithies, Hermione!�
cried Archibald. �Why do you associated
with these hooligans? Look at this
fellow, Whistle over here.�

�Weasley,
Mr. Archibald,� she said. �And what�s
wrong with him?�

�He�s too tall, he�s got too
much red hair and he never seems to close his mouth!�

Ron�s senses finally kicked in
and he complained in the best way he knew how.
�Oy!�

�And then there�s this chap,�
Archibald continued, jerking a thumb over his shoulder at Harry. �He fights dragons and nutty blokes who don�t
want to be called anything, then prances in here with a werewolf in tow, no
less! Where do you get these
people?�

Harry glanced uneasily at Remus. The man
didn�t look like he was offended. He
simply looked confused.

�Look,� said Hermione with a
roll of her eyes. �If I were so bloody
normal, d�you think I�d manage a day in the WizCOF with you two crackpots? You do realize that you�ve spoiled most of
the books in the office. They�re
completely out of control! If I were
you, I�d make them all stand in the corner until they�ve thought about the
things they�ve done. And you call yourselves
senior Interrogators!�

Harry had seen Hermione in this
batty mode, and somehow, he had conditioned himself to expect the unexpected,
but Ron and Remus were beginning to look
horrified. He knew exactly what was
going through their minds: These were the men tasked to put Dark Wizards in
Azkaban? We�re doomed!

Archibald and Heartcomb began to argue that they had tried to make
the books stand in the corner but they kept spitting out pages as they did
so. Hermione told her bosses that
threatening the books with conflagration would do the trick, as she had tried
it once already. They continued on this
nonsensical thread until Heartcomb finally pointed to
the book they had brought her.

�I say, Granger,� he said. �Are you going to take this book or not? Thane and I don�t have all day, you
know! We�ve to process the trial they�re
setting up for you and honestly, how easy do you think it is to send notices to
a dozen judges? It�s no party, I�ll tell
you that!�

This upset Harry
considerably.

Ron looked positively
outraged. �What! That�s it, you�re both completely mad!�

�Ron, calm down,� said Hermione
loftily. �Mr. Archibald, Mr. Heartcomb, thank you for bringing the book. I appreciate your visit. I shall see you both in court?�

�Naturally,� said Heartcomb in a haughty tone. �It�s such a bother prosecuting you, Granger,
but I entreat you not to let us down. I
recommend that you get proper representation for your trial. I saw a list of able counselors on your desk
this morning.�

�List? I don�t recall��

�It�s there,� he said
crisply. �As soon as the hearing is
over, I expect you back in the office bright and early. Clear?�

She paused for a moment before
a glint of realization flashed from her eyes.
She smiled. �Crystal, Mr. Heartcomb. Mr.
Archibald, please place the book on the bedside table, as I am currently
immobilized from the neck down.�

Archibald harrumphed as he did
as she asked. �A likely excuse to order
us around! Get well soon, Granger. And you owe me a dozen quills!�

�And Malfoy�s
briefs!� said Heartcomb.

Both men marched out of the
room, noses in the air. Harry heard them
beginning to argue again as they rounded the corner and disappeared.

Remus
cleared his throat. �I sincerely hope he
wasn�t talking about Malfoy�s underpants.�

That seemed to
break�well�something.

�What the hell was that
all about?� Ron cried. �How can you work
for these people, Hermione? They�re
out of their minds!�

Hermione gave him a sheepish
look. �They�re actually quite
intelligent� you just have to know them, really. Harry, my love, do you mind
looking over that book they left me? I want
to know exactly what it is.�

Still reeling from the
whirlwind that was Heartcomb and Archibald, he did as
Hermione asked without a word.

He took the book, flipped it
open and cringed at the very fine print.
He moved to the front to look at the title. He read the title out loud. �WART: Wizengamot
Annotated Rulings and Trials. Year 12 B.C.� He turned to the next page and
there was a hand-drawn portrait of an old Wizengamot
judge, distinguished and wrinkled. At
the bottom of the picture was his name and title. He was Chief Warlock Laurence Torchkeeper.

The man in the picture coughed
and hacked painfully. Harry thought he heard the elder saying something.

�Pardon me?� Harry asked the
miniature portrait.

Laurence Torchkeeper
went into another fit. Cough! �Page six two�� Hack!
��four!�

Remus and
Ron looked over his shoulder.

�Hey! A WizCOFing
wizard!� said Ron.

Laurence glared up at him.

Harry saw Hermione�s finger
tapping impatiently so he hastened to page sixty hundred twenty four.

The title page said Lockthorne vs. The Kingdom of Britain.
Beneath it were the words: Binding under duress; summary detainment;
defense of self; requisites for the application of Elven
Codes; unwritten Elemental Forces and Laws; Jurisdiction of the Wizengamot; Mirror Prisons; usury rights on personal
property.

There were far too many words
for Harry to make a swift assessment, but Remus
seemed to catch on much faster.

�It looks like a Case Summary,�
he said.

Having no illusions of making
quick sense of it, Harry handed the book over to Remus.

Remus
scanned the words before his eyebrows began to arch in surprise. �If I�m reading this correctly, this case is
about one Ms. Juna Lockthorne. She was a witch drawn into being bound by an
Elf named Caranthir Anwar�nya. In an effort to escape the bonds, Juna summarily detains Anwar�nya
in his own brick furnace, hence the usury rights issue� Juna�s
counselor invokes Elven Codes pertaining to unwritten
Elemental Forces and Laws...� He flipped
several more pages to the end of the case.
�The charges of illegal detainment and undue use of Brick Furnace
against Lockthorne were dismissed on the basis of
self-defense and Elven codes pertaining to binding a
familiar under duress. The resolution
also states that the Wizengamot have jurisdiction of
the case so long as they apply the appropriate Elven
laws. Elemental Forces and Law support
this decision.�

�There�s a precedent to my
case,� said Hermione in an awed whisper.
�They gave me my case arguments to ensure my dismissal! Goodness, how did they even know��

�Tonks
submitted an application for jurisdiction last night to the Wizengamot,�
said Remus.
�Which means the WizCOF was furnished a copy
already.�

�But Tonks
doesn�t have my statement yet!�

�Applications for jurisdiction
don�t have to have that many details as of yet,� explained Remus. �A general statement of facts is enough and Tonks gathered enough of that when we arrived at the crime
scene and after her brief interview with Harry and Ron. We�ll need more details if the deciding body
calls an Evaluation Hearing, but for the written application, the general facts
would suffice.�

Hermione beamed. �You see, Ron? Heartcomb and
Archibald are brilliant!�

Ron nodded grudgingly.

Harry grinned. �The quills are on me, Hermione. You�re on your own with Malfoy�s
underpants, though.�

She made a face, but she
laughed a moment later. �He was talking about Case Bri�oh,
never mind!� She looked at Remus warmly. �I
hadn�t had the chance to give you a proper hello, Remus.�

Remus
chuckled. �Hullo, then. How are you feeling?�

�Imprisoned.�

�Taking it rather well, I
heard.�

She arched an eyebrow and
looked at Harry with an amused grin.
�Oh, Potter�s been complaining, it seems!�

Harry mustered his best
innocent mug. �Not a peep, love! You�ve been an angel since you woke up, right
Ron?�

�Right,� he replied dryly.

She spared them a glance before
looking at Remus.
�They�re only treating me this way because I�m immobilized, you
know. When I�m better I�ll make them
sorry.�

�I�m sure you will, dear,�
replied Remus.
He then launched into a discussion about Nordic Elves, a subject that he
seemed to be immensely fascinated in.

The rest of the day went on in
a similar fashion. Visitors arrived in a
steady stream.

Molly and Arthur came to fuss
over her laden with homemade pudding and a cure-all tonic. They raged at the Ministry�s red tape on the
matter of her case, of course, and Arthur was firmly expected by his wife to
make sure Hermione won�t even hear the word �Azkaban� muttered in her presence
when the case was brought in for hearing.
Then came Tonks and Gail bearing flowers and
half a box of chocolate cauldrons (Tonks had spilled
the other half of it). Tonks gave a favorable report on the matter of the case
falling into the Auror Department�s jurisdiction thanks
to Luna and Cecily while Gail chastised Harry for, yet again, fighting a Dark
Wizard without her.

The Weasley
twins came some time after lunch bearing the most bizarre joke items such as
the Doxie Defanger,
the Cursing Kettle and the Spotting Soap.

�Thought you might like some
profanity with your proper English Tea,� said George, demonstrating how the Cursing
Kettle, instead of whistling when the water inside it percolated, began a
string of very rude words, including insults to various male body parts. He then gave her a not-so-well-hidden
wink.

Fred grinned, winking with his
brother. �Fit to scandalize your muggle queen!�

Hermione stared at the kettle
with mixed revulsion and fascination.
�Err� splendid!�

The kettle was fit to
scandalize a fishmonger�s wife, actually.

The Doxie
Defanger demonstration had Harry and Ron
completely freaked out when Fred and George released a doxie
in the room without spraying it with their concoction first. A wild chase and dodge erupted in the room as
the doxie was furious at being incarcerated.

Hermione watched in dread as
the doxie went straight for her and she yelled that
if someone didn�t stop the damn bugger before it reached her, heads would
roll.

Harry came to the rescue, of
course. Properly motivated by his angry
witch, his aim was true and he was able to immobilize the doxie
in mid-air.

The defanger
was sprayed and true to its promises, the doxie lost
all manner of fangs, claws and poison.
Also, the spray offered a potent dose of intoxication, making the doxie stagger around, fly into walls and making weird,
rather entertaining sounds. It was
actually quite funny, but the adventure preceding it had sapped Ron of
patience. He threatened the twins with
mum if they didn�t take their jokes and shove it up their arses.

Fred and George then bid
Hermione farewell in the most outlandish manner, declaring corny promises of
their love for her and how their days would be dark while she remained
incapacitated in the sterilized walls of St. Mungo�s,
etc., etc. (she had told them that Ron thought they were besotted of her.) They exploded a Helium Haze in the
room, causing Harry, Ron and Hermione to speak in comically pinched voices in
the next fifteen minutes. When the
healer came in to check on the patient and started to speak in the same,
diminutive voice, there was no recourse but to laugh it all off.

Get-well gifts were sent as
well, from acquaintances and strangers alike, and of course, a parade of
flowers were delivered, courtesy of the Bulgarian Quidditch
Seeker.

Hermione sneezed on some of the
daisy pollen.

�Goodness� Viktor doesn�t do
anything in halves, does he?� she said as the room filled up with blooms and
bouquets.

Harry frowned, shoving aside a
vine that was trying to climb up his arm.
�How do you say, �Stop sending flowers to my witch� in
Bulgarian?�

�Oh, hush. He�s just being nice.�

�Out of his mind, is more like
it,� said Ron, stunning a flower that was trying to gnaw at him. �When he has you trapped in a well and
yelling at you to use the lotion he sent or else he�ll hose you, I�d hate to
say I told you so.�

Hermione had rented the digital
videodisc about an American federal agent who was looking for one serial killer
at large by consulting with another who was imprisoned. The serial killer on the loose apparently
kept his victims in a well and demanded them to take good care of their skin
with lotions and such vanities. The
scene in the well had stayed imprinted in Ron�s mind as something Viktor would
do to her.

�He�s not psycho, Ron. He just fancies me, is all. Honestly, does someone have to be nutters to fancy me?�

Harry came to her immediate
rescue. �Of course not, love. Someone has to be nutters
not to fancy you. In fact, I love
you excessively and I�m totally sane.�

�Thank you, my darling.�

�Don�t get me wrong,
though. I still think Viktor�s either
completely yampy or dead from the neck up.�

�Harry!�

�Well, you�ve told him we�re
together, right?�

�Of course I have!�

�Then where does he get off
sending you flowers and writing you all the time?�

�I think he thinks that you�ll
eventually break my heart and I�ll go running to him for comfort.�

�I�ll show him break when
next I see him,� Harry muttered.

Ron nodded. �That�s the spirit, mate! Smash in his teeth!�

Harry shot him an annoyed
glance. �Right. Is that before or after you ask for his
autograph?�

�Bloke�s a Quidditch
star, mate. I can�t help it!�

�Traitor.�

�I promise I�ll still hold �im down for you, though.�

It was while Hermione chastised
them for their immaturity that Ginny arrived bearing freshly baked
muffins.

Harry swore that if it hadn�t
been for Ron, it would have been dreadfully awkward at the beginning. It was therefore with great relief that Harry
found himself watching Hermione and Ginny locked in animated conversation
fifteen minutes later. The two women
were catching up because they had been aloof with each other since Hermione�s
sixth year, but with the way things had gone and the way things were, it was
about time they renewed their friendship.

By the time Ginny begged her
leave, she and Hermione had made plans to do lunch and shop before Ginny left
for Romania.

When Ginny was gone, Hermione
grinned at him.

�You can breathe now.�

Harry reddened. �Who, me?
Far be it I�d be silly enough to believe that two beautiful, sensible
women would have it out on account of me while I�m sitting right here.�

�I don�t know whether to be
flattered or insulted by that comment.�

�Better to shut up, mate,� said
Ron. �Damage control, you know.�

�Right.�

McGonagall came by later that
evening, dragging Filius and Poppy with her. Alastor dropped in,
too, and insisted on examining all the presents for hidden hexes.

By the time the last of them
left, Harry could tell Hermione was exhausted.

Ron had already left, promising
her he�d be back the next day to take the workday shift.

Harry stayed a bit longer,
promising the nurse that he wasn�t going to keep Hermione up longer than was
good for her.

He sat facing her at her
bedside, tucking some locks of hair behind her ear.

�Alright, Hermione?� he asked
softly.

She smiled tiredly. �Fine, really.�

It was at that moment he
finally remembered the thoughts that filled him while he had coffee in the
lobby, how they were both so protective of one another to unreasonable
degrees. �We�ll drive each other spare,
you know, protecting each other and all that.�
He knew she would understand what he was talking about.

She did.

�It�s what we live for,� she
said.

He nodded, chuckling
softly. That was the ultimate truth of
it.

Leaning over, he kissed her
forehead. �I�ll always take care of
you.�

�And I�ll take care of
you. No matter what happens. Even if you dump me for some insipid,
Euro-trash bombshell, I�ll still be there to take care of you� and put Green-Grow
in her bottle of peroxide.�

He smiled. �I�ll never dump you, you know. Even if another Dark Lord comes around and
threatens to kill me over some two-bit prophesy, I won�t ever break up with you
and use the Dark Lord as a reason. You can�t
get rid of me that easily anymore. I�ll
marry you if you ever think I�d get the notion.�

�That�s the most romantic thing
anyone has ever said to me, Harry.�

�Poor baby. If you thought that was romantic then we
foolish blokes have been sadly insensitive to your needs.�

She giggled softly.

He placed soft kisses on her
cheek. �But I mean it. I�m sticking around. I�ll even get you to promise me forever, one
of these days.�

She returned his kisses. �Why, Mr. Potter� is that a proposal I hear?�

�It�s a promise, for now. I reckon you won�t fancy telling our children
that I proposed to you in St. Mungo�s with a plastic
Bertie Bott�s Every Flavored Beans giveaway ring
while you were recovering in a dung-brown hospital gown from fighting a Dark
Wizard.�

Her eyes twinkled. �I suppose not. Children, eh?�

�Many of them.�

�How many?�

�Many. We�ll
put Molly and Arthur to shame.�

�I s�pose
it�ll be fun making them.�

�It would be blooming
hysterical. I promise you.�

She grinned.

He cupped her face tenderly. �I don�t ever want to let you go. I knew that so clearly when I saw him trying
to take you away from me.�

�I�m not going anywhere.�

He smiled, elated to hear her
say it. He tucked her into bed after
that, and when he was sure she was comfortable, he gave her one last kiss
before wordlessly and wandlessly administering a
sleep-inducing charm.

At the sound of her soft,
rhythmic breathing, he finally left her to sleep.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A/N: Not over yet.
I figured after I put you all through the gauntlet, you all deserve more
H+Hr fluff than you can swallow. I shall deliver! Besides, it�s cathartic for me, too. I want to read them all over each other and
what not. ::dives into a pool of
schmaltz::
- 17
- 18
- 19
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Hermione Full of Grace

Author�snote: Well, wasn�t that tiring! Someeven found it tedious. So sorry aboutthat, but life is such! Time to tie uploose ends now!

Chapter Seventeen � Coalescing in Convalescence

Author�s
note: Well, wasn�t that tiring! Some
even found it tedious. So sorry about
that, but life is such! Time to tie up
loose ends now!