Who'll Fill a Coward's Grave? ↣ Harmione

Chapter Two

Chapter 2 - The Wrong Malfoy

After having an in-depth, honest and frank talk with Hermione's parents, including setting down boundaries of what Emma and Dan thought was acceptable behaviour for a teenage couple temporary living in the same house, Harry had gone and blown it on the first night.

Hermione was currently on his bed, with his head cradled against her unencumbered chest. Since he had both arms wrapped around her, and clinging on for dear life, Harry was certainly aware of just how flimsy the material Hermione's nightdress was constructed from. About the only Granger house rule they had complied with wasn't going to win them any points either. Yes the room door was open but, with Emma and Dan currently standing in it, Harry was ready for the shouting to begin. Then Emma gently spoke.

"My father's favourite recipe for dealing with his little girl after she'd had a nightmare was for us to get up and have some hot chocolate. I know I always felt better after we'd sat and talked it over while sipping from our mugs of chocolatey heaven. I'll go and make some now."

Hearing Emma say the word 'nightmare' saw something click in Harry's head. With a groan he embarrassingly asked a question. "Did I wake everyone?"

Watching his young daughter hold a boy like that was hard for the father in Dan to accept. There was no denying the positive effect Hermione was having on her new boyfriend though, Harry had been shaking like a leaf when he and Emma had first raced into the spare room.

There was also no denying the effect being friends with Harry had on their daughter, her frequent letters and visits home for the last four years always saw his name being fondly mentioned. Both parents were well aware how important Harry was to their daughter. That, and the hint of desperation in Hermione's last letter home, was the reasoning behind them spending so much money on a pair of mobile phones. They were also hoping Hermione would now be able to use hers, and keep in touch with them, when she stayed at her other friend's house.

Trying not to let his discomfort with just how close these two were show, Dan attempted to keep his answer light. "Harry, you probably woke half the street. Are you prone to nightmares?"

Hermione wasn't for letting him go so Harry just answered from where he lay. "Every night since the graveyard. In school I can put up silencing charms so's not to disturb anyone else. We're not allowed to do magic here..."

She was well aware that suffering in silence was her boyfriend's modus operandi but Hermione thought even Harry might be pushing that to extremes here. His screams had torn at her heart, and she was out of her own bed and by his side in seconds. "What about dreamless sleep potion? I'm sure Madam Pomfrey would have given you some."

"It's apparently highly addictive, and only administered to patients under her care."

Harry's screams had terrified Emma and Dan too. What this young man had been forced to endure had left both parents very angry at those supposedly charged with caring for him. "Well Emma will have the hot chocolate on by now, and I don't think any of us are ready to go back to sleep just yet. I'll see you down there."

As Dan was coming back out of his room, after collecting his housecoat, he overheard something that confirmed he and Emma were handling this right.

"Hermione, your parents are awesome. Then again that shouldn't be a surprise - they produced you."

Both teens soon joined the adults, just as Emma was filling four mugs with hot chocolatey beverage. It was the company though, albeit aided by the soothing drink, that saw Harry open up.

"We'd just defeated the final obstacle, an Acromantula. I was injured and the cup was just sitting there. I told Cedric to take the cup, end the bloody tournament, but he wouldn't. It was my idea to share, to cement a Hogwarts victory - and it got him murdered."