Soul Pieces

Soul Pieces

Chapters 26: The Evil Within

"Hermione!" he cried out and every living soul in the room looked at him in concern.

"What happened, Harry?" many voices called.

He felt lost, unsure of what he should do.

Claire looked at him and smiled sadly.

"Go after her, Harry," she said, "please, give me James and go after her."

*******************************************

Harry hadn't the faintest idea how he had managed to Apparate in front of 12 Grimmauld Place,...how he had opened the door, and hurriedly run inside.

It felt like one of those horrible dreams where you suddenly find yourself stuck in a situation you can't get out of.

If he only he had told her...maybe...

As he ran up the stairs, Harry felt tears falling from his eyes, his left hand holding tightly the engagement Hermione had thrown at him.

"Hermione! Love!"

When he reached the landing at the top of the staircase, Harry looked towards their room and found the door wide open. He could see her standing by her side of their bed, stuffing various pieces of clothing into the large overweight bag placed on the edge of the bed.

She was packing.

Oh God...

She was leaving.

"Hermione, sweetie..." he spoke quietly, moving closer to her.

"SHUT UP!" she snapped without looking at him.

"Mione, please, don't leave..." he pleaded.

"And what do you think I should do, Potter?" she asked dryly, her eyes brimming with tears. "My son and I have nothing do with- with this place anymore."

"Hermione, please, I know how you are feeling."

She gave him a sarcastic laugh.

"Hah! I believe you don't! You can't even imagine how I'm feeling! There is nothing you could say, Harry. Nothing. You lied. You made me feel like an idiot."

"Hermione-" he implored.

"Did you laugh?" she asked in a trembling voice.

"W-What?"

"Did you laugh every time you were with her? Did you laugh when you realized that I thought Professor Larousse was a man?"

"No! Of course not! You have to understand-" he begged but she seemed not to be listening.

"And I had believed in you, you know. I had believed in that fancy dinner, all those romantic promises..." with the back of her hand she swiped angrily at her tears.

"Hermione, please...I love you. I want to be with you- with James..."

He never loved you, Granger.

"You know, I think Snape was right," she spoke, motionless, looking blankly at their bed.

The atmosphere in the room was becoming heavy, darkened; a strange sensation of instability.

"W-What? What are talking about?" he inquired confusedly, not noticing her expression, or seeing the lifelessness in her eyes.

He had never loved you.

He had never loved you.

"Snape. He was right." She sneered. "You are an arrogant prat. Just like your father- but was your father a bastard too, Potter?"

"Don't talk about my father, Hermione!" he shouted, a wave of anger encompassed his body. "I know you are mad at me but please don't offend someone who can't defend themselves." He couldn't understand the reason, all the anger he was feeling right now. Claire seemed forgotten. His fears forgotten.

He wanted to hurt her.

"You know, I wonder if you inherited your behavior from your father or- well, it could be from your mother," she continued bitterly, a clear intention to hurt him, "the great Lily Potter! But what about Lily Evans, maybe she liked to fool-"

You hate him.

You hate him.

"She was just another whor-"

SMASH!

Harry hit Hermione right on her face, his body trembling in angry.

How dare she?

How dare she?

You hate her, Potter.

You hate her, Potter.

"Shut up!" he shouted, his was breathing heavily. Hermione was on the floor, but didn't seem to have noticed. There was so much coming from her that he could barely take it. "Shut up!"

And she just looked up at him. A look of sadness and disbelief in her eyes. The voice wasn't talking with her anymore. There were just Harry's cries.

"Shut up! Shut up!"

His scar seemed redder, as his eyes.

Don't hit me. Don't hit me.

She was afraid. She couldn't speak.

Don't hit me. Don't hit me.

Harry's shouts brought Lupin and Tonks, with James in her arms, and Ron to the bedroom. They had just arrived from McGonagall's manor.

What they saw was something...bizarre: Harry, glowing with anger, yelling at a confused and trembling Hermione. The young witch was on the floor. Her cheeks flushed, her right eye...bruising quickly.

"What the hell is happening here?" demanded Lupin.

Harry seemed to be in so much anger that he didn't say anything until...

"H-Harry...he-he h-hit me," Hermione whispered. Her words brought Harry back to reality... what he had done.

"Oh, god! Oh, god!" he cried in realization, "I'm sorr-"

He couldn't understand.

What he had done?

What he had done?

"Did you hit her!" yelled Ron with a roar. His face flushed red with anger. "You bastard!"

Ron tried to get to Harry but was interceded by Remus who grabbed his shoulder.

"No, Ron! We don't need more violence!" Remus said in a calm but firm voice. "Please, take James to his room-" Ron wanted to protest but Remus cut him off. "Take him, Ronald. Nymphadora, please, if you could heal Hermione...you know I am not very good at-" Just then Hermione interrupted. She had just got up from the floor.

Show them what great hero Potter is!

"No," she said with a hateful voice, "I don't want to be healed. I want to carry this...mark. I want to make him see every day what he did!"

Make them hate him.

"Um," Tonks managed to say, "if it is what you want, Hermione...Remus, I think Ill go see to James." And Tonks left the room.

Remus took a deep breath and looked at Harry who was sitting on the edge of the bed with his hands covering his face.

"Now, can you please tell me what happened?"

Harry put his hands on his lap and sighed. "I lost control...I couldn't think straight-"

"Oh, of course! You never think, Harry!" Hermione snapped in a sarcastic tone of voice,. It was a tone that neither Remus nor Harry had heard before...a tone that made Remus shiver. "Maybe that's another thing that Professor Larousse could teach you!"

"Hermione, I swear-"

"Please, Potter, I am done with your lies!"

"Enough!" cried Remus. "Enough! I know you two have to talk about Claire, er, Professor Larousse-"

"How did you-" questioned Harry.

"I knew who she was since the beginning, Harry. Tonks told me. I just didn't say anything because it wasn't my place. That's something you need to discuss alone. What I want to know is why you hit her, Harry."

"I don't know what happened Remus."

"It's easy! You hit me!" yelled Hermione. "This just goes to show what kind of hero you are."

"I-I couldn't control...I don't know." His breathing was still labored. "I don't know. I never felt so much anger. And you were calling my mum names..."

"Whoa! Whoa! Hermione, what did you say about Lily-" Remus was saying when he noticed Hermione's eyes. They were black. Lifeless.

With a fast movement, she put her hands on her temples and began to shake her head. Her head hurt so much. So much. She didn't understand why she had said those things.

You hate him.

No!

The young witch began to rock on her feet, hands on head as she pressed palms to forehead. She only wanted all the hate to go away. She wanted the voice to go away.

Remus and Harry exchanged worried glances. Harry came towards her and put a hand on her shoulder.

"Hermione, sweetie-"

She snapped and looked at him, like she had never seen him before.

"I am sorry what I said about your parents, Harry," she stated emotionless.

"It's okay, luv. I am so-"

"I have to see James," she murmured as she didn't seem to have heard Harry, "I have to see James." She looked between Lupin and Harry anxiously. "I have a son, you know? I have to see my son."

And she left the room.

Harry was about to follow her but Remus stopped him.

"No, Harry," said Remus, "we need to talk. Tell me, what really happened."

"Well, after Hermione left the manor I came after her and she was here...packing," Harry said in a painful voice. "I tried to talk...apologize- but, I don't know- she-she laughed."

Remus' eyebrows arched in question.

"Laughed?"

"Yes, she laughed and then...and then she said that Snape was right about me. About my dad. And then, she said something not so nice about my mum."

Remus nodded.

"And," Harry continued, "I don't know what happened. I just felt so much anger towards her. There was so much hate inside me, Remus. And not only inside me, but coming from her- from this room. I could practically feel it. I just couldn't hear her voice anymore- then, and then-" The young wizard couldn't continue. Hot tears began to fall from his emerald eyes.

Remus came towards him and hugged the young man.

"I hit her, Remus," Harry sobbed, "I hit her!"

Remus broke the hug and looked Harry into his eyes.

"Harry, what you did was uncalled for, terrible. I can't pat you on the back and say that everything is gonna be alright. A relationship isn't only snogs and shags. A relationship is about love...and trust. I know you love her, Harry, but sometimes, only love isn't enough."

"But Remus, I swear, I didn't do anything!" Harry said wiping at his tears, feeling shame for having cried in front of Remus.

"This isn't about what you did, Harry. This is about what you said, or what you didn't say. I should have told Hermione about Claire."

"I know. I know."

"I think you two need to talk; and not only about Claire but also about your behavior towards a certain Mister Wood," Remus said.

Harry groaned and Remus smiled despite the situation.

"Harry," Remus spoke again after a few moments in silence, "is everything alright with Hermione? I mean, about her behavior."

Harry closed his eyes as he tried to remember something.

"Yeah. I mean, it's nothing very noticeable. Just a few things. Sometimes she seems very irritable and she doesn't have much patience with James." Harry decided not to mention the silencing charm. "And she is having dreams-"

"Dreams?" asked Remus. "But Nymphadora said that the disguise potion-"

"No, I don't think it's about that. You see, one night she woke up screaming. I asked what had happened and she said it was nothing. And just a couple of days ago I heard her murmuring while she was sleeping."

"What did she say?"

"She said, 'I have to go James. I have to go'."

"She is dreaming about your son," Remus said almost to himself.

"I think so. Remus?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"What do you think is going on with Hermione? I mean, look at her today. Did you notice her eyes? And what she said about my parents...I don't know...it was like she's a totally different person. It wasn't her." He closed his eyes, "We had talked a little about it. Me and her, I mean. We had thought about Post-partum Depression. Do you think this is her problem, Remus? I can't lose her, Remus. I just can't."

Remus smiled tiredly at his former student. "Perhaps, Harry. It is a possibility.' He ran a hand through his hair. I don't know very much about this subject- and, well, she didn't have a normal pregnancy."

Harry lowered his head, looking down at his hands. "It's my fault, isn't it?"

"That she got pregnant? This is your both fault. You should have been careful." Remus placed a hand on Harry's shoulder, squeezing it gently. "But let's not cry over spilt milk."

"We had intended to let madam Pomfrey see her tomorrow, but now..."

Remus smiled reassuringly. "I'll talk with her. I'll talk to her."

Hogwarts

Hospital Wing

Hermione sat on the edge of one of the Hospital Wing's bed. She was there, all by herself, waiting for Madam Pomfrey's results. Remus and Tonks had asked her if she wanted them to come along, but she had not. Whatever Madam Pomfrey had to say, Hermione wanted to hear alone.

Four days had passed since the fight. Hermione had thought about leaving Grimmauld and going to Hogwarts or someplace that could be a shelter for her and James, but Remus, Tonks, and Ron were totally against that. She didn't even want to hear what Harry's opinion on the matter was.

It had been four days since the last time she had spoken a single word to him.

And every time he tried to come closer, that voice- that hateful voice started to speak again.

At night, she used to sleep in James' bedroom- or at least try, as the uneasy sleep and strange dreams never seemed to ease.

Hermione wondered if she was going crazy.

"Miss Granger?" Madam Pomfrey's voice broke Hermione's reverie. "I-I have some news..."

*****

McGonagall's Manor

The last days hadn't been easy for Harry Potter.

Actually, the last seventeen years.

He had told Ron what had happened and why he lost control and hit Hermione. Ron forgave him but only after he punched Harry himself.

Hermione wouldn't even look at him, forget speaking.

Harry's training wasn't going well either.

First, the training with Remus...He barely could make furniture stir.

Then training with Mad-Eye- Merlin, Harry simply couldn't kill that bloody rabbit! He couldn't even make the rabbit faint!

He was starting to hate rabbits!

And then at McGonagall's Manor; training with Claire and Ginny.

I must have been a very bad person in a past life!

They had been training for about two hours when it happened. Harry didn't know exactly how it had happened. The fact is, somehow, Ginny lost her balance and the two of them fell on the ground- Ginny on the top of him.

"Er," Harry said, a little shyly, trying to get up but Ginny didn't move.

The youngest Weasley looked at him with bright eyes, leaned her head down and kissed him on the mouth.

***

Hogwarts

Hospital Wing

"W-What news?"

"First, Miss- Hermione, you are not suffering from Post-partum Depression," the old nurse said with a tired smile.

"But?" Hermione knew there was a 'but'. The Healer's smile didn't seem to fool her. There was something else.

"I don't understand how I hadn't seen it before." The Healer seemed to be talking almost to herself. "During your pregnancy, and even that time later- I didn't see it. But now- it's so strong. "

Hermione looked alarmed. "What? What's wrong with me?"

"Dark Magic, Miss Granger," Madam Pomfrey replied in a sober voice.

"D-Dark magic?" But how? "I-I don't understand..."

"I don't know what it is exactly, but- but it is the same kind of enchantment you have inside of you when Mister Potter brought you here almost a year ago." She paused a moment, her eyes fixed on the young witch. "Just- much stronger."

Within seconds Hermione's eyes switched from confusion, to understanding, and then- finally- horror.

Almost a year ago.

Godric's Hollow.

The cup.

The Horcrux.

A Horcrux.