Hermione Granger and the Theft of Magic

Chapter 27: Not Just a Shadow

[A/N: Thank you to Calamity Owl for beta-reading this chapter!]

Harry's recovery wasn't quite what Hermione expected. After a slow start the next morning, he quickly fell back into their usual routine of cooking, cleaning, and studying. She found he was much more interested in helping her with her DADA or Charms work than he was in talking about his experience, but a little gentle questioning (or possibly nagging, based on the looks he gave her once or twice) eventually induced him to open up.

The Dreamless Sleep Potion ensured Harry slept like the dead on his first night home, but the second night brought nightmares for them both. Neither ended up sleeping much, but Hermione did manage to leverage the content of Harry's nightmares as well as the endless silence of the night (well...silent for London, anyway) to draw some more memories out of her new-ish bedmate. Periodically one of Harry's memories would trigger the shadow of a recollection in Hermione, too, a grotesque looming just beyond the outskirts of her consciousness, but nothing came to her more concrete than vague feelings of terror and malevolence.

The dawn found them both exhausted, and after a quick breakfast they decided to go back to bed to give sleep another try. This time, for whatever reason, they managed to get a solid hour and a half of sleep uninterrupted by nightmares before a honking delivery truck for the family three townhouses up the street dragged them from their slumber.

They were still a little groggy after that, but the drizzle had slowed enough for them to take a nice walk along Regent's Canal. Harry kept an eye on the water as if it were a wild animal that could attack at any moment, but he seemed to feel confident enough in his ability to wrench apart and rearrange reality to his will to enjoy the walk with her.

When they got back to the house, they discovered Dobby had celebrated Harry's return to the country by setting up a three-course meal with all of his favourite foods. It would normally have been a little early for supper, but they'd accidentally skipped lunch and ended up tucking in immediately, pausing only to thank Dobby after each course.

Afterward, Hermione offered to help clean, but Dobby resolutely refused and ordered them both upstairs to relax. As they climbed the stairs, Harry asked, "Do you suppose Dobby is trying to...um...encourage us to go make some babies for him to dote on?"

Hermione blushed a bright red. "The thought had crossed my mind. On the one hand, he's not usually so subtle. On the other hand, though, maybe he's so excited about that possibility that he's willing to try anything, even subtlety."

"Heh. For him, that's practically desperation."

The two of them paused for a moment at the top of the basement stairs, their bodies halfway between walking toward the sitting room and continuing upstairs.

"Harry?" Hermione's blush was incandescent by this point. "There's nothing else to do tonight..."

He looked down at the floor. "I...don't know if I can. For the first few days, you were all I could think of, but by the end I just felt dead inside."

"It's alright." Hermione threw her arms around him and hugged him tightly. "Don't worry. Just come to bed and let me hold you and we can do whatever you're up for, even if it's just sleep."

"Are you sure?" he asked. "You're going to be bored out of your mind going to bed this early."

She grinned and leaned up to whisper in his ear, "That's the idea, love."

Harry gave an involuntary shiver at her tone, then looked down in surprise. "I'll be damned," he said. "It does have a mind of its own."

Hermione started laughing so hard that she tripped on the first step and would have fallen had she not caught herself on the railing.