That hurt.

A LOT.

Those were the thoughts that crossed Harry Potter’s mind.

The final battle was raging around him on the grounds of Hogwarts while he lay on his arse in the mud.

Well, he did have a good reason to.

He had been chasing after Peter Pettigrew after he stunned Ron from behind. The rat had snuck around behind the battle and started firing of stunners into the members of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry hadn’t noticed this until Ron collapsed beside him and he turned around.

Voldemort hadn’t showed his ugly face yet, so he took off after his number two target. Pettigrew transformed and Harry chased him back towards the Forbidden Forest where he could easily escape.

Harry had just caught him and fired off a stunner when he found out, rather unpleasantly, that Peter had been booby trapped. The rat blew up rather forcefully. In his face.

The resulting explosion threw Harry back several feet and into the mud puddle where he was now lying. His hands and face hurt like hell, and he couldn’t move his left arm. It seemed to be twisted under him at a rather awkward angle.

Harry guessed he had second or third degree burns on his face and neck, and third on his hands where he had been reaching down to grab him. His dragon hide clothes that Fred and George had given him for his birthday had prevented the rest of him from being burned as well.

He heard footsteps approaching and tried to summon his wand, but nothing came. He could only hope the person running towards him was an Order member, or he was dead.

When he heard a voice yell out “HARRY!”, he sighed in relief. It was only Hermione. She came running up to him and kneeled at his side. He tried to open his eyes but couldn’t.

“Harry! Are you okay?” she frantically asked. “Can you open you eyes?”

He very slowly shook his head, wincing at the pain that shot through his neck as he did so.

“Lie still Harry,” she said softly. She started to heal the burns, but he could feel no difference in the pain. Hermione’s voice got more and more worried as she exhausted every healing spell she knew, which was quite a few. She ended her attempts with a desperate Reparo.

There was a soft pop behind them and Hermione screamed loudly.

Voldemort laughed evilly as Harry felt Hermione move in front of him, attempting to protect him while he couldn’t defend himself. ‘No Mione, run. Don’t get yourself killed for nothing’ He thought.

“So, Potter’s little Mudblood can’t figure out how to heal his burns? I must admit, that Reparo was quite funny. Those burns will never heal. Not that it matters anyways, since he will be dead in a minute.” Voldemort said.

Harry felt Hermione grip his leg in fear as Voldemort moved towards them. He stopped a few feet away.

“Well now, lets see if we can have a little fun before I kill Potter. Crucio!” Hermione screamed and fell on top of Harry as her body quivered uncontrollably as she was hit with the curse. Harry knew what she was going through and wished with everything he had that he was feeling it instead.

It shocked him when his wish came true. Before Hermione had stopped screaming or moving, or Voldemort ended the curse, the effects transferred to Harry. He had no time to ponder this as white-hot knives pierced every inch of his body. A scream was ripped out of his burned throat and he almost passed out from the combined effects of his burns, broken arm, and the Cruciactus Curse.

Harry had no idea how long he was held under the curse. When it was lifted, he didn’t move, gasping for breath.

“That was quite unexpected.” Voldemort said. “I never thought Potter had the power to learn Legillmency. Now she is going to watch you die. And after you are dead Potter, we are going to have some fun. Think about that as I kill you. AVADA KEDAVRA!” Voldemort shouted.

The last thing Harry knew was Hermione screaming “NO!” before everything went black.

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Harry could hear voices all around him. Some were crying; others laughing; and in the distance there were cheers.

Wait, I’m dead. How could he have missed? Unless...No! Please tell me Hermione didn’t block it! Please! Hold on. If I’m alive, and Hermione blocked it, who defeated Voldemort. That has to be why there is cheering.

Harry tried to move his arm, which resulted in more pain. He let out a soft groan and instantly there was someone next to him, gently holding onto his arm and calling for Madame Pomfrey.

Harry could have jumped for joy when he recognized the voice calling for Madame Pomfrey as Hermione’s.

As soon as she called, the room got quieter. Madame Pomfrey came bustling and immediately began to pour several potions down his throat. They burned on the way down and he immediately felt like he could talk.

“M...Mione” he choked out. “What happened?”

“Shhh! Don’t talk yet Harry,” she said softly. “Let your throat rest for a while.” She fell silent for a few minutes and Harry was beginning to think she had left when she said “He’s...He’s gone Harry. I thought you were...dead. He used the killing curse on you. When it hit you, I lost it and Voldemort just laughed at you. I tried to wake you up, shaking you and pleading. And then all of a sudden, you started to glow white. Voldemort stopped laughing and this beam shot out of you and hit him, and he...just disappeared. Somehow you started breathing again. Ron came running up saying all the Death Eaters had suddenly disappeared too. When he saw you...that was scary.”

“Yeah, mate, if you ever scare me like that again, I’m gonna hurt you,” came Ron’s voice. Harry was glad to hear that he was alright as well. “We brought you up here and everyone was going crazy until they saw you. We had to keep telling people you were alive. They all thought you were dead too.”

“Why can’t I open my eyes?” Harry asked, surprised to find his voice stronger already.

There was a pause and Harry could see Hermione and Ron exchanging looks that meant something was wrong.

“Well Harry,” Hermione said, “You remember how I couldn’t heal your burns? Well, Voldemort said that they would never heal. Madame Pomfrey and Professor Dumbledore think that he was wrong. The burns are really bad, but they might heal naturally. Voldemort was only thinking about magically healing them. That could take a while though. Some Muggle surgery might help too.”

“What’s surgery?” Ron asked.

“Later, Ron,” Hermione replied as she sat down on the edge of his bed. Harry could feel it as the mattress depressed. “You should be able to open your eyes in a few days if you’re lucky, but we don’t know if you’ll be able to see or not.”

Everyone was quiet for a while until talk started to pick back up. Hermione stayed where she was on the side of his bed, her hand on his shoulder.

Should I tell her now? If I look as bad as I think I do, she might not care. She might not in the first place. What the hell.

“Hermione?” Harry asked.

“Yes, Harry?” she replied.

Here goes nothing Harry thought, then said out loud “I love you.”

There was a sharp intake of breath from Hermione as she quickly withdrew her arm, and a dead silence around them. He hadn’t meant to say it that loud, but most of the room was probably listening anyways.

He anxiously awaited her response. After a minute that seemed to last an eternity, he heard her take a deep breath. Harry was hoping, praying, begging that she would say she loved him back.

“Harry,” she began in a very soft voice, so only those right around them could hear.

Harry instantly deflated. She didn’t love him. Her tone said it all. She was going to try and let him down gently.

“I have waited forever to hear you say that.” Her voice had changed, and now she sounded happy. “I have loved you since fourth year. I never expected you to love someone like me.” With that she leaned down and kissed him gently on the lips.

Harry couldn’t believe it. She actually love him!

There was only one problem. Ron.

“Uh, Ron? Is that okay with you?” Harry asked.

“Why would it be? I’ve got Luna!” he replied.

Harry managed a small smile at that, ignoring the pain. Hermione took his left hand gently in her own and whispered in his ear “Do you remember what Professor Dumbledore said at the end of fifth year about the prophecy? The power he knows not? You and Professor Dumbledore were only guessing what that power was. I KNOW that power is love.”

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I might add another chapter to this later on, but for now back to Silent Surprises. There will probably be only one or two more updates before July, when I’ll be gone until August.

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