Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling, not me.

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Harry looked exhausted. I asked him several times if he was feeling all right, but being a stubborn boy he simply said he was fine. We've been waiting for several hours now, and he just seems to be getting worse. I don't know all of what happened while he was at the lake, just a great many dementors. It's obviously taken a severe toll on him.

"Harry," I whispered. He looked at me drowsily, his green eyes dull. "I want you to go to sleep for a while, or you'll be too tired to be of any value."

I suppose he was too tired to argue. "Hm'okay," he mumbled. Harry lay down on the ground, trying to find a comfortable position.

"Put your head on my lap," I whispered.

"Wha-?"

"Just do it, Harry."

He obeyed me this time. As soon as his head was resting on my knees he fell fast asleep. I studied him carefully. He's far too thin. Don't those stupid relatives know that's bad? It wears down his immune system. No wonder he's always being trundled off to the hospital wing…

Harry sighed quietly. He sleeps so restlessly. Ron says he has…he has dreams, horribly vivid dreams that scare him sometimes. I hope he doesn't have one here; that's the last thing we need.

I smoothed his hair away from his hot forehead, revealing his scar. It really doesn't look so horrible, but there's so much suffering locked in that one tiny mark. Sometimes I forget about what Harry has gone through. He's grown up without his parents, barely knowing what they looked like, not even knowing that they died to save his life.

He needs someone to take care of him, to look after him. Sometimes I feel angry with Lily Potter. How could she leave her child behind like this? But then I remember that Lily died to save her son, and it really wasn't her fault. But still, why couldn't there be someone to look after him?

Harry moaned. He's having another nightmare.

Why can't Lily be here to take care of him? He should be able to go to her with his problems. I have parents and Ron has parents, but Harry is just left alone, without anyone at all.

Well, I suppose if all he has is me right now…

I slipped my arms around him. "Harry, wake up," I whispered in his ear. "Wake up; it's all right." He began to whimper softly, unable to leave the nightmare.

"Mum," he whispered in his sleep. "Mum, please don't cry, I'm all right, Mum, please don't cry, Mum, Mummy."

I lifted him onto my lap. He really is terribly thin. "Wake up, Harry. You're all right." He shuddered violently, but his eyes opened. I ran my fingers through his hair. "It's all right. You were just having a nightmare." Harry nestled against me. He felt so cold. I took his hands and rubbed them gently.

"I saw my mum again, Hermione," he said dully. I rubbed my hand against his bony back. "She was crying…crying, because she wanted to save me so badly, but she didn't know if she could, or if I would survive, or…" Harry swallowed hard. "Hermione, why did my parents have to die?"

I stroked his hair. "I don't know," I whispered. "But even though they're not here, people still care about you."

He was quiet for a long time. "Thank you, Hermione," Harry finally whispered.

I kissed his cheek lightly. "You're welcome."

Slowly he drooped back into sleep, still holding on to me for dear life. I held him for a long time. It's been nearly thirteen years since anyone has held him, after all.

I guess it's the mother in me.

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Author's Notes:
Ooh, a rare first-person oneshot!

Harry needs a family. The end.