Suppression

Revelations

"Harry, Harry, Harry," Lord Voldemort lazily called. The dark lord bared his teeth in maniacal laughter as he stepped around Hermione's writhing body. "Such a pretty girl," he drug his feet across the girl's cheeks, "pity she's a filthy mudblood."

"DON'T TOUCH HER," Harry screamed as he fought against his restraints, his wrists burning with every movement.

"Crucio," Voldemort drawled before Hermione's heart- wrenching screams tore through the night.

Harry screamed as if he was under the curse, fighting against his restraints with all he had. He writhed and struggled until his wrists snapped against the clasp allowing him to slip free. He fell to his knees and tried to crawl to Hermione only for her to be moved further away each time. He felt his blood run cold when Voldemort delivered a chilling laugh to him and raised his wand to the screaming Hermione.

"AVADA KEDAVRA," Voldemort yelled, watching the sickly green light escape his wand and hit Hermione directly in the chest.

Hermione's screams stopped, filling the night with silence as Harry stared at her, too stunned to do anything.

"You will quickly learn, Harry Potter," Voldemort knelt to Harry's level and roughly grabbed his hair, "You will bring death to all who follow you."

Harry defiantly spat in the dark lord's face before leveling a headbutt to him. He was about to rise to his feet when Voldemort's cold laughter rang out and he was sent back to his knees with a swift cruciatus curse

"Defiant to the end," Voldemort raised the intensity of the cruciatus, "I will take great pleasure in burning your world to the ground. Tonight was mere prelude."

Harry screamed in pure misery and pain as the curse assaulted his body while he was forced to look at Hermione's corpse. He failed to save her. Just like he failed to save Cedric.

Nightmare End

"HARRY, PLEASE WAKE UP."

Harry's eyes snapped open before he rolled and scooted to the bed head to huddle up and hide his face from view. Hermione was in his room and, judging from the way she called for him, she had bore witness to his nightmare. She was crying because of him. He felt the bed sink with her weight before the door cracked open and the lights turned on.

"What on earth is going on in here?" Dan questioned from the doorway.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," Harry cried from his spot to Hermione. The shame was assaulting him on every level and he vaguely noticed that his arms were quickly soaking over with blood from his scar.

"Harry, please look at me," Hermione gently pried his arms from his face, "please," she tearfully whimpered.

His face was covered with blood and his shirt was nearly soaked with the substance but Harry knew Hermione wasn't afraid of him when she saw him. He searched within her eyes and found nothing but pain, pain for him, and something else he was unfamiliar with. The soft gasps from Dan and Emma, however, let him know just how terrible he looked.

"Harry, dear, what has happened to you?" Emma spoke before joining Hermione on the bed, her own face matching that of her daughter's in worry.

"B—bad dream," Harry tiredly replied as his tears fell from the sheer guilt he felt. These wonderful people invited him into their home and he repaid them by soaking their sheets with blood and waking them up in the middle of the night. Even now, as his scar continued to gush blood, he was too weak to do anything.

"Mummy, please get a washcloth," Hermione ordered before moving closer to Harry and taking his hands. "Harry," she cupped his face, not caring for the blood on her hand, "let's clean you up."

Harry robotically nodded as he leant into her touch and let his eyes fall closed. Her mere presence stemmed the overwhelming guilt and pain within him.
"We need to take your shirt off," Hermione told him before letting her hands drop to the hem of his shirt. She looked at him inquiringly, asking for permission, before pulling it off of him at his nod.

In any other situation, Harry would have blushed or felt anxious. As it stood, however, he needed more from Hermione. It was as if her mere touch was reducing the pain in his scar to a dull ache. He once again leant his face into her palm before taking her wrist and planting a soft kiss on it, not caring for what it could imply to her. He knew only that he needed her in this very moment, everything else could go to hell for all he cared.

"Daddy, please get Harry some water," Hermione called without ever breaking contact with Harry's eyes.

The pair stayed like that for a beat longer when Emma returned with the washcloth and handed it to Hermione.

Emma stood transfixed as her little girl lovingly daubed the cloth over Harry's face, cleaning his face entirely, before caressing his cheek. She felt as if he was intruding on an intimate moment as her daughter began to sob and Harry pulled her into a hug against his bare chest. She watched as he shushed and cooed at her after apologizing for worrying her and making her cry. The boy was just screaming his lungs out and woke up completely covered in blood, yet the only thing he was worried about was Hermione. She prayed and hoped to God that her daughter would finally listen to her heart and see just how much this boy loved her.

Minutes later, Dan returned with a pitcher and glass of water. Before he could announce his presence, his wife pulled him to her side and gestured to the heartwarming moment taking place right before him. Had he not known and approved of the boy, he would have jumped in and separated them with haste.

"Let's give them the room," Emma saw her husband's affronted look, "they need each other right now." She smiled at him and led him out of the room before softly shutting the door behind her.

"Emma, I don't..." Dan started until his wife put her finger on his lips.

"They're not going to do anything," she assured him. "Sit, let me tell you something."

Dan reluctantly nodded and sat on the bed, his wife joining him shortly after. He was worried about the boy and let it show on his face before his wife rested her head on his shoulder to comfort him. "That poor boy, Dan," his wife sniffled, "his screams were so haunting...so scary. I didn't know what was happening until we rushed into his room," Emma shuddered as Dan held her closer, "his whole face was covered in blood. And d'you know what he did when Hermione started crying?" Emma looked up to Dan who shook his head. "He apologized, Dan. He apologized to our daughter for worrying her and making her cry when he was the one nearly dying only moments ago."

"Jesus Christ," Dan whispered more to himself than his wife. The whole story seemed like a foreign concept to him. No man, much less a teenager, should ever do what Harry just did. If he hadn't known who the boy was, he'd find it in himself to be surprised at his actions. But this was no ordinary boy, this was Harry Potter. Harry Potter who so clearly and fully loved his daughter. His eyes welled up at the thought.

"He loves her," Emma finally said.

Dan didn't reply to her because there was nothing left to be said. He knew her statement to be true. Slowly, He rose with her from their bed and they walked back to Hermione's room. He cracked the door open and peeked inside to find Harry fast asleep in his sitting position with an equally asleep Hermione laying on his chest, her head close to his heart. He heard his wife give a weeping whimper at the sight and dropped a kiss on her head as a weak smile came to his face. The picture before him was of beauty like no other and he couldn't stop his own eyes from welling up. He dropped another kiss into his wife's hair before silently escorting her away from the room.

"If she doesn't tell that boy how she feels, then I will," his wife stubbornly declared before marching back to their room.

Dan watched her go with a light chuckle before following after. He was certain that all would be revealed soon. He was going to have to get ready to let his little girl go but the thought of it wasn't nearly as daunting as it once was.