Chronicles of Camelot

The oncoming storm

Normal Speech

'Thought'

{Parseltongue}

'Mind Speech'

Harry/Hermione

Neville/Luna

It was official: Harry James Potter had the worst luck in the entire wizarding world: one minute, he was being thanked by his friends and by those who had been petrified; the next, he was blacking out and waking up in the Hospital Wing, with Madam Pomfrey acting one step away from saying something along the lines of, "So, here again are you Potter? Maybe you should move in!"

It surprised Harry that five days had actually passed between he and Ron rescuing Ginny and the current situation, where he was now lying in a hospital bed, Madam Pomfrey performing scans, before allowing him a temporary hiatus in which he would make notes on lessons for Hermione and, when he wasn't doing that, he would be found in one place.

At the bedside of one Hermione Jane Granger, his hand holding her stiff corpse as if trying to fuel magic into the body before him, his mood darkening to a dangerous point whenever he was with her. He didn't actually know when he had figured out his feelings for the brown-haired Muggleborn, but, whenever it was, he was glad for it. Yes, he did love Hermione and, as her closest friend, he wanted to make sure he was here when Professors Sprout and Snape finished the Mandrake Restoration Draught, which would give Harry the chance to tell her himself.

In the meantime, she was someone he could talk to and, after Madam Pomfrey had told him off for sneaking across the ward to see her, the matron had taken pity on him and placed Miss Granger's bed right next to his so that he could talk in complete safety and privacy. Looking to her still-petrified body, Harry heaved a sigh before, reaching across to her, the young wizard wrapped his hand around Hermione's and, with no regrets as to what he was going to say, began to speak.

"Hermione, I know that you always tell me that I'm reckless and that I have no regard for the rules, but, if you could only understand how I felt about you and about the regard for the rules, then you could see the logic in my actions." Heaving a sigh, Harry knew that there would be repercussions, but he was glad that it was Hermione he was speaking to: she would understand him.

"Contrary to popular belief, I wasn't given the life of the pampered prince or the spoilt brat; instead, I was locked in a cupboard from a very young age where my growth and nutrition was greatly shunned by a lack of proper meals or exercise. If I said or did anything that the Dursleys disliked, they would hurt me, or rather, Dudley and Uncle Vernon would hurt me while Aunt Petunia found it all right to wound me by aiming for my heart and the last few good memories I have of my parents. When Hagrid came and told me that I was a wizard, I was ecstatic because I now knew why I was so different from anyone else; I saw a reason to strike back at those who thought themselves in charge and, while I can't really excuse myself for putting my friends in so much danger, there is one event that I cannot regret no matter what I try to do. Meeting a certain brown-haired bookworm on the Hogwarts Express and, not one month later, saving that girl's life."

Checking to see whether he could be seen by the matron, Harry slowly crept out of bed and moved over to Hermione, his body now next to hers as he continued, "I was going to wait until you woke up until I said this, but I feel that, if I tried, then I would be too scared or distracted by Ron and the other Gryffindors. Hermione, I want you to know that the only true regret that I have against my recklessness is putting you in the line of fire: the troll, Fluffy, Hagrid's dragon, the polyjuice potion and now your petrification. Hermione, I know and will understand if you can never forgive me, but I need to say it: I love you; I always have and I always will and, if you come back to me, then I promise you that I will cut down on my reckless behaviour and be the best boyfriend you can ever ask for: just please," he soon found tears in his eyes as he held onto her, "Please Mione; come back to me."