Healing the Broken

Chapter 33- The Portrait of Albus Dumbledore

"So is that why one of your boggart thingies is a bad grade? Because you're afraid you'll get kicked out and lose this life?" Harry asks her. Ron had fallen asleep on the floor in front of the fire, and they were the only people in the common room. Hermione had been staring into the flames for quite some time, and Harry was sitting next to her, his arm wrapped around her shoulders.

"Yes. I have different fears since then though. Bellatrix just didn't mention them, because they wouldn't have made me flip out." She says.

Harry frowns. "Like...?"

He feels her sigh."Like losing you. And losing Ron. My parents being killed. Voldemort coming back."

He stiffens at the last one, kissing her hair. "You're worried he'll come back?"

"You aren't?" She brings her knees up to her chest and gently sets her head on his shoulder, and his heart aches as he remembers when she went with him to Godric's Hallow. She was always there for him. And he would always be there for her.

"Yes. But it's not something I think about often." He smiles thinly. "I prefer to keep my Voldemort thoughts to a limit, thanks."

He pushes a strand of hair out of her face. "How do you do that?" She asks softly.

He shrugs. "I just don't think about the things like that much."

"I think about everything too much."

"You can't think of a single time your mind is blank."

She shakes her head slightly. "Nope. Can you?"

He sighs. "Yes. When you kiss me. But only sometimes. More often I'm aware of everything the second I feel your lips."

She laughs. "I always just picture your face."

"Why?"

She shrugs. "It fascinates me."

He laughs, and if his laugh were a visible thing, Hermione feels like it would be sparkling. "You know what fascinates me? You."

"So the feeling's mutual then? That's a relief."

He looks down at her. "Yeah. It is." He thinks again of the older days, and for some reason he thinks of when he danced with Hermione in the tent when Ron left."You know what we haven't done in a while?"

"What?"

"Danced." And then he pulls her to her feet while she giggles.

"We don't even have music."

Harry waves his hand at a stereo that always sat in the common room, and he grins. "What was that song we danced to in the tent? The one you really liked?" And with a swish of his wand it's on and playing for them.

He wraps one arm around her waist and takes one of her hands, starting to spin them in circles. As soon as they get to the chorus, however, he gets more into it, twirling her in circles and dipping her down to the floor, while she laughs the whole time.

Hermione even spins him too, and after a few songs they collapse onto the couch, exhausted but happy.

~~~~~

The next morning, it was back to classes, and Hermione was getting a lot of praise for having rid the school from Bellatrix.

"She's merrily trapped." Hermione kept reminding them. "She isn't completely gone." But no one was really paying attention- they were all just relieved that Bellatrix was no longer bothering them