.vi.

"Sit," Hermione ordered.

Harry let out an annoyed breath through clenched teeth and did as he was told. He glared at her from beneath his messy fringe but said nothing. Hermione quickly unbuttoned his shirt and helped him out of it.

Harry had refused medical treatment, wanting to get out of the square and away from reporters as soon as possible. They'd left before Moody could really get into them with questions, only managing to stay out of it because Mr. and Mrs. Potter had intervened. Moody had glared and growled something out about coming by to question them later. The Potters and friends had vacated quickly thereafter.

Harry had yet to say a word to Hermione since the battle had ended.

She gasped when the massive bruises along his side were revealed. All along his left side the skin had gone black, blue, and purple. The colours stretched along his ribcage and down to his hipbone in a morbid sort of abstract painting. "Harry," she whispered in worry as she gently touched the skin. He winced. "You should have gone to St. Mungo's." Hermione looked up when he still refused to respond. "Harry, honestly, will you please just talk to me?" Nothing.

Hermione let out a harsh breath, her eyes watering as she stood back up and began to pace the room Harry had been given in the Potter home. "Is that it, then?" she began to rant. "Just ignore me for the rest of forever? You're that furious with me?" She stopped and gestured wildly. "Say something! Anything! Yell at me! Shout!"

"I'm trying not to yell at you!" he snapped. His jaw clenched and his face twisted in barely controlled rage. "I… fuck, 'Mione, I'm furious with you right now. But I don't want to yell at you and…" His shoulders sagged and he looked down.

"Harry?"

He licked his lips before he looked back up at her. His eyes were wide and lost, begging her to crawl into his lap and kiss away all his fears. "I don't want to hurt you."

Hermione slowly shook her head. "You're not going to hurt me, Harry." Her furrowed brow gave away her confusion. She closed the distance between them and raised her hand to touch his face.

Harry jerked back with a short "No" that quickly cut off as he hissed in pain. He raised a hand to his bruised side. "Just… don't."

Hermione's face twisted in frustration. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked up as she tried to stop her eyes from watering. "I was going to tell you," she explained, her voice higher than usual.

Harry's jaw clenched again, he knew that increase in pitch in her voice. It always happened when she was upset and didn't want the other person to see her cry. His hand squeezed into a fist and he said nothing.

"It just didn't seem like something to explain over letter," she continued, her eyes were still welling up. "I wanted to tell you in person. I was going to, I swear I was."

Harry's eyes squeezed shut and he tried to keep the rage stewing inside of him from boiling over. "What exactly happened?"

Hermione sucked in a sharp breath and wiped away a nonexistent tear. "Uhm, at the Malfoy Christmas party… I left and went to the library and he was there but I - I didn't know it was him!" She shook her head and looked at him earnestly.

"You danced together?" he ground out.

She winced. "Yes…"

"Christ, Hermione." His face dropped into his hand.

"I didn't know it was him!"

"Who did you think it was?" he exploded suddenly. A vase shattered and Hermione jumped.

The door opened and James popped his head in. "Everyone okay?"

"Out!" They both shouted. James' eyes widened and he disappeared again.

Harry forced himself to stand up, a groan leaving his lips as he did so. Hermione went to make him sit again but his glare stopped her short. She pursed her lips and took his place on the bed with her arms crossed tightly to keep her from drawing her wand and hexing him back onto the bed. Harry stubbornly paced in front of her, despite the pain. It was still pretty brutal but getting better with every second now that he wasn't in that weird place.

"So let me see if I've got this right. You were wandering around Malfoy Manor and stumbled upon a stranger in the library who asked you to dance and you said what? 'Oh, what the hell, he's cute and I'm single.'"

She raised her eyebrows. "Am I single?"

He shot her a glare. "No."

"Well, that's a relief," Hermione snarked with a roll of her eyes.

Harry's nostrils flared. "I'm trying very hard not to yell and you're not making this any easier."

"Why is it suddenly such a problem not to yell? Merlin knows you've never had that rule before." Harry's temper was nearly legendary, especially once Voldemort had risen again in their world. The past school year had been a rollercoaster filled with fits of epic proportions on Harry's part. In hindsight, Hermione knew it was probably the horcrux that had lived inside of him. The horcrux was gone now and Hermione had noticed a far more easy going disposition in her best friend. He had not grown this angry in a long time.

Harry's brows twitched in a way that she knew meant he was very stressed and concerned. "Riddle… he said he was untrained, like me. And he lost control of the Elemental magic and it… he killed his family because of it."

Hermione's eyes widened. "And you think that will happen with you?"

He turned slowly and looked pointedly at the broken vase. "Won't it?"

"Harry," she sighed. Hermione stood slowly and walked forwards, inching closer as if he were a startled animal. "That's not going to happen. You aren't going to hurt me or anyone else."

Harry's eyes had filled with unshed tears. He shook his head. "You don't know that."

"I do."

"How?"

Gently, Hermione cupped his face with her hands. "Because I know you. I know you better than I know anyone. Better than I know myself. Better even, than you know yourself." He did not look convinced. She pressed a featherlight kiss to his lips. "Because when given the opportunity to live to take down the man who had murdered your family you chose…" she gasped, barely holding back her tears. "You chose to save me instead. You're the type of man to die for the ones you love, Harry." She shook her head. "Not kill them."

Tears ran down Harry's cheeks. He raised his hand to Hermione's cheek and pressed his forehead against her own. "I love you," he whispered.

Hermione's breath hitched. Her smile was the most beautiful thing Harry had ever seen. "I love you too." She kissed him sweetly and Harry knew he would do anything for her. He would tear the world apart if it meant Hermione was happy. He would die a thousand more deaths if it meant she would live.

When Hermione pulled back, she was breathless despite the chasteness of their kiss. "Will you please let me heal you now?"

He grinned ruefully and nodded. "There's some bruise paste in the top dresser drawer." Harry gingerly sat back down on the bed while Hermione collected the bruise paste. He winced and grit his teeth through the long and painful application. His stubborn refusal to go to St. Mungo's left him without any pain potion to take the edge off and Harry was starting to regret that decision when Hermione finally finished.

She sat back on her heels from her position between his legs. "You turn," she informed. "What exactly happened during that battle?"

Harry couldn't even pretend he didn't know what she was talking about. "Honestly? I don't know. He - Riddle kept disappearing on me in the battle. I couldn't see him but I could sense him. So I just… I closed my eyes and I felt for him and…" Harry grimaced. "He looked like a monster. Far more terrifying than the Voldemort of our world, that's for sure."

Hermione's eyes widened at that description. She tried to keep them on track. "You saw him with your eyes closed?" She rose from the ground and sat next to him on the bed. She kept one comforting hand on his thigh.

He took her hand in his own and nodded at her question. "Sort of, I guess. I could picture him. And so, before he could attack I rushed him and we fell. But we were… somewhere else. Well, I think it was the same place, sort of?" At Hermione's exasperated expression, Harry quickly elaborated. "The clocktower was there. But the ground was dirt and all the buildings were gone. There were trees in the distance and stuff but…" Harry's brows drew together. "Everything was in black and white."

"Black and white?"

"His eyes were red. But that was it. Everything was just… it was weird. Like an old movie or something." Harry looked up from the floor and met Hermione's shocked face. "Hermione? Do you know where I was?"

She nodded mutely. It took her a moment to gather herself. "Harry I… I think you entered the Shadow World."

Harry didn't like the way she whispered those words. He swallowed. "What's that?"

"A very, very bad place."

Bum bum baaaah!

Greetings from South Korea! I've moved, I'm a teacher, my students are so small and adorable. I'm loving life, but sadly have little time to write. For those of you that are big fans of As It Should Be, be happy to know that's pretty much all I have time to work on (and Child Bride too).

Hope you liked this chapter!

xx