Hey guys! Back up with the New Chapter! But first I would like to say something (Yes I know boring but bear with me)

I've gotten a lot of hate about my little Snape and Lily thing way back in what Ch.6? 7?- You can tell how amazing a writer I am that I can't even remember what Ch Anyway, I would like to set a few things clear.

1. Snape is obviously the most debated good/bad character in the series. I get people who view him as abusive, stalker-ish, and the one I can't argue with, a bit creepy. But still, JK Rowling intended him to be good and so do I. That doesn't mean I completely forgive him for all that he's done or think is the ultimate hero; the things he did the students (Neville and harry especially) are inexcusable, but I understand where he's coming from and I think some people don't give him enough credit for that.

2. JK Rowling SAID that if Snape wasn't interested in the Dark Arts then Lily would've eventually grown to love him. Like us, she must eventually find out his true allegiances, and despite his dark past, he did redeem himself (partly). That and the fact that she married really early out in life (BEFORE YOU YELL AT ME I WANT TO SAY I LOVE JAMES! I really do, but you can't sit here and tell me a girl knows what she wants right out of school). Plus as Harmony fans one of our own arguments is that if Harry waited longer before getting married he might've seen how Hermione was better.

For those reasons I wrote that Chapter the way I did. If you need a refresher, notice that I didn't pick James or Snape with Lily; she's indecisive and is like what most 21 year olds are. Of course she loves James and Harry, but she loves her Sev too. That's why I felt it important to include that, because this idea is also important for the evolution of Harry. Deep down I think Harry knew how his mom was feeling, and while I will not make this Snily, I will acknowledge the possibility.

ITS A FREE COUNTRY! Without further ado, I give you

Ch. 16. So good to see you again!

The next thing Harry felt was a quite familiar feeling, pain. His whole body seemed to ache from bruising, malnutrition, and exhaustion. Well, at least I can feel all of my body parts, Harry thought to himself in between the beats of his headache.

Letting out a large groan, Harry tried to open his eyes. But the strange thing was, he saw no difference in his surroundings once he lifted up his eyelids; it was as if he were trapped in a pitch black room. But even feeling around himself Harry knew this wasn't the case. Just by twiddling his fingers and the lack of a crink in his back he could tell he was in an actually bed now. And moving his unrestrained hands he felt cold bars running parallel to his sides. With enough experience with them to know, Harry realized he was in a hospital bed.

And being in an infirmary meant one thing; he successfully escaped The Shade. Despite his still lack of sight, huge relief left his shoulders and he let out a sigh of relief. He was finally gone; free. No matter where he was now for the moment he was perfectly safe, something he couldn't say for a while now.

Suddenly Harry heard a door being thrown open and an argument ensuing.

"For the last time Abe I will NOT marry you" Madam Pomfrey said, obviously annoyed by the conversation.

"Oh come on Poppy; you know we'd be quite the pair together." Abe responded. But while still in a light-hearted tone, Harry could hear the weakness in his voice.

Poppy scoffed and retorted, "For the last time no! I spent too many of my years waiting for you, but not anymore." Before Abe could respond, Madam Ponfrey must have realized Harry was awake and squealed, "My goodness, he's awake!"

Any previous fun the two were having immediately stopped as they rushed over to Harry Potter. Before Harry could even say a word about his own condition the nurse began to stuff potions down his throat muttering things like, "Bloody hippies, almost killing my best patient"

The last potion he swallowed was particularly vile, and Harry had to try extremely hard not to spit it back out. But soon Harry felt his sore muscles seizing to hurt and his pounding head stop. Now able to think clearly, Harry spat out, "What was in that last dose, slugs?"

Ignoring the dry humor Madam Pomfrey answered, "Oculi (AN: Crappy name I know). It's a very rare potion that can restore a person from blindness for a short amount of time. I hope it'll work, I don't know what spell you were hit with." It started slowly but soon Harry began to see blurry lines of light peeping through the darkness. Then once the little beads of light poke through an on slaughter of light poured into his vision. Now instead of being blinded by darkness it was light that keep him from seeing his surroundings. But soon enough Harry was able to decipher at first general shapes, then a (albeit blurry) Madam Pomfrey and Abe appeared next to him.

The nurse let out a sigh seeing that the potion had done its job then searched for any other injury she could fix; while she did her work she said, "You're lucky, Mr. Potter, that your eyes didn't bulge at your sockets; still, disabling your sight even more isn't the best outcome either. And unfortunately, this isn't something glasses or charms can fix I'm afraid."

Ignoring the obvious life-changing news for a moment, Harry smiled at his practitioner and replied, "Why Pomfrey I'd say we've been through quite enough together for you to call me Harry." This comment made his mentor chuckle, but he quickly stifled it once the beady eyes of Poppy turned to him. Now standing perfectly straight facing Harry she coldly answered, "The day I call you Harry, Mr. Potter is the day that you walk in her to be treated on your on free will!" With that she stiffly turned her back and marched out the door leaving the boy and his mentor alone.

Now freely showing his amusement Abe said limping closer to Harry, "You'll have to excuse her, Harry. You've left her no time to relax in days, and from what I've been told you are her best customer.

"But enough of that" he said dismissing it with his hand. Placing it on Harry's shoulder he said softly, "It's good to see you again."

Harry, who was also smiling now, replied equally relived, "You too, Professor." The two stayed like this for a moment before Abe retracted his hand and shakily took a seat next to Harry's bed.

Seeing his mentor struggle like that greatly concerned Harry, who couldn't imagine the torture he went through on his behalf. "Are you alright, Abe?" he asked gingerly.

Abe previous light demeanor change at the question to one of grief. "I won't lie to Harry; I wasn't treated nicely. But seeing you I was given the better hand." Slightly shifting in his seat he continued with a small smile. "Some good old fashion torture really makes you feel your age...No, I'm not as young as I used to be I'm afraid, and theirs no denying that I won't completely recover from this."

A lump in Harry's throat appeared at hearing his words; his fears of endangering those around him was happening all over again. Suddenly a flashback of old memories filled his vision; Hermione falling at the Ministry, Lavender being killed by Greyback, even Malfoy being hit by the curse he said. Luckily he was saved from even more anguish by Abe speaking once again.

"Now don't go blaming yourself, Harry" he said much how a mother would scold her child. "I was the one who taught you about the Shade. I was the one too cocky in my defenses to consider them breachable. If anyone is to blame for this it's me. In fact if it wasn't for you, they probably would've killed me on the spot; I think they only kept me as a bargaining chip for you."

"Don't say that, sir." Harry protested. "I was the one who perused the subject and made you teach me. Not to mention the one the ravagers were after."

Abe gave a weak smile to Harry and said, "Let's just call it a draw then."

Silence ensued once again before Abe sighed and spoke. "I suppose I should answer your unasked questions." he said. "How did I escape, where was I? The truthful answer to both is I don't know. And certainly your escape was much more glamorous than mine. Wherever they did keep me was small, dark, and smelly; much like them now that I think of it. Not many ravagers were their, most of them were probably too occupied seeing you. And one night, the guard to my cell made the mistake to leave his wand across the room and well, let's just say there're less wizards tying to kill us now."

Harry didn't push more on that subject but added a new question. "But how did we end up in Hogwarts?" he asked, for surely that was where they were.

"Ah, now that I can't take credit for." Abe answered. "I spent a good day or two wandering disoriented in the middle of the Sahara wandless, for it was lost in my haste, and had the inability to apparate; for the potion they used on me confused my thoughts to keep from thinking logically. If it wasn't for your friend Hermione I probably would've been stranded for twice as long, and then it would've been too late."

Now Harry, being who he is, had hundreds of questions float to his mind in that moment; such as where is she? how did she find Abe and him? But Harry being Harry instead chose to brilliantly say, "H-Hermione!?"

"I was wondering if that would come up." the old man smirked. "Yes. Apparently, she had some sort of ring that notified her when you were in danger, and upon seeing our home in ruins, she figured out what happened. And as you can imagine the Savior going missing makes a grand headline, so thousands of wizards were out canvasing North Africa for you; why, I think the obliviators at the ministry have been working double shifts for days."

"Anyway, there will much time to talk of this later; right now the issue at hand is your health and what happened to you." Abe said, scanning for any remaining injury like Poppy.

"I was wondering when that would come up" Harry sheepishly smiled. Looking over himself (which was hard with his vision), Harry luckily didn't see any major injuries. Patches of newly dried blood covered sores on his legs and arms, and Harry could only assume all of his inevitable cuts and bruises had already been taken care of. However and whoever saved him from recapture had done their job well.

The only issue he could find was in fact his eyes. It was odd how he was unable to see anything without a potion, and even that didn't fix his eyes completely; Harry couldn't remember the last spell he was hit with either. The only memory he had of his flight escape was Roldan roaring in pain, then immense pain himself, and finally blackness. Not matter, it would come in time. Again, the only real problem he had was seeing things. He couldn't continue taking a potion every hour just to see where he was going! That was impractical and he wouldn't last a day. Harry sighed as he felt his headache return; hopefully a solution could be found.

Harry was saved from answering Abe when the doors to the hospital wing re-opened revealing a hectic phoenix closely followed by an equally flustered Ron Weasley.

"Harry!" he screamed, sprinting up to his best mate; Ariana likewise sang in joy and flew to her master's soldier.

"Ron!" Harry breathlessly said. Joy washed over him as he realized how much he missed his re-headed friend. "It's great to see you!"

As this was going on, Abe silently stood from his seat and left the room, deciding Harry would need time with his friends(and also hoping to run into Poppy once again).

"It's good to see me!" Ron laughed. "What about you mate! You gave everyone a scare these last two weeks!"

Was I really gone that long? Harry thought to himself.

"I'm just glad my team found you alright." Ron said proudly, seemingly puffing up his chest.

Harry smiled at his friends antics and asked, "So are you the one who found me?"

"Well, I can't take all the credit" Ron shyly replied rubbing his head, now realizing how vain his last statement sounded. "Kingsley let this be our first field assignment, and if it wasn't for your bird we wouldn't have found you."

Ariana seemed to blush at the compliment and snuggled her head even closer into Harry's neck.

"And you gave us quite a first experience too mate." Ron continued. "A bloody dragon! You were riding on a dragon, being chased by at least ten other wizards and still managing to have one captive with you after being trapped for a week! No offense mate, but you making those stories of you as a kid seem realistic."

Harry tried to laugh at Ron's attempt to lighten the mood, but his dampened at remembering Roran and his escape partner. "Ha,yeah I guess you're right, mate." Harry responded also trying to stay casual. "So what happened to Ror- I mean the dragon, and ravager anyway?"

If Ron noticed his screw up he ignored it. "Well that bloody thing was harder to control than the other wizards to be honest." Ron answered. "It didn't seem to fond of us taking you; hell I lost an eyebrow to that think." He took a moment to show Harry where a small patch of slightly lighter hair was growing on his eyebrow.

"Anyway," he continued. "we were lucky that your teacher came to help us when he did, or else we might've all ended up fried."

"So, did it just leave?" Harry asked.

Ron shook his head in response. "That's the oddest thing," he said, "we were planning to leave it be, but once it saw that we didn't mean to hurt you, it completely changed and wanted to come with us! I thought I'd gone mad! Can you imagine me meeting up with a dragon twice in less than a year?! Bloody mental...well, he did come back with us eventually, and I'll tell ya, Hagrid and Charlie went insane! The poor thing can't get a break!"

Here Harry truly laughed at the sight of Ron's older brother and his giant friend ogling over a hundred foot dragon.

"Well, I can't say the same about the snake-head." Ron continued. "Lucky for us he was out when we got him, so it was easy to still bring him back."

While he had every reason not to, Harry felt guilty for the young ravager being captured. After all without him he wouldn't have made It out alive. "So.. where is he now?" Harry choked out.

Oblivious to Harry's discomfort Ron replied, "He's at St. Mungo's right now getting healed, but pretty soon he'll be moved to Azkaban until the Ministry is ready to question him."

"Azkaban!" Harry stuttered out. "Ron I don't think you understand, he saved my-"

"HARRY JAMES POTTER!"

Both boys turned to the source of the noise only to find a frizzy haired, teary-eyed Hermione Granger. Without meaning to harry filled with relief upon seeing the blurry figure of his best friend. But if he could've seen betther, Harry would've seen this wasn't the same Hermione he last saw. Her face was thinner and her eyes were red with large bags under them, and to top it off her face was in pure in utter rage. It was as if she was debating whether to hug or strangle him to death.

Hermione, marching determinedly forward, walked straight past Ron, who seemed to be holding his hands up ready to defend herself (to which she snarled at him "I'll deal with you later!") up to Harry. But to his relief the tough façade (which he now saw was their) dissolved and left him with a sobbing Hermione clinging to his chest. Both boys knew not to move her.

After a solid minute of crying (a very awkward minute for Harry and Ron) Hermione finally managed to utter some words. "I-I missed-you" she sniffed in between sobs. "You-you"

Just then her fury returned and she detached herself from Harry and in anger slapped him across the face; the sound of her hand hitting his cheek being the only sound in the room. And before either man could process what happened Hermione placed her hands on Harry's cheek and kissed him full on the lips.

Shocked, Harry neither kissed back nor stopped it (later he'd try to convince himself it was because he didn't want to get slapped again). In less than two seconds it was over, but the memory would last a lifetime.

"Prat!" Hermione yelled, back to being upset. Even going as far as to hit him on the shoulder. "You-stupid-prat!"

Gasping, she finished by saying, "How could you do this to me!" Once it seemed that Hermione was about to hit Harry again, Ron finally stepped in and restrained his girlfriend. She struggled in his arms shrieking, "Let me go!" but it was no use. After a few moments of futile struggle Ron let go of her seemingly out of pity, but it didn't end well for him.

"And don't get me started with you!" Hermione snapped, stabbing her finger into Ron's chest. "I told you to wake me the moment Harry was awake!"

"Hermione the way you were going Harry might have needed to wait for you to wake up!" Ron yelled back. "You've barely eaten, much less slept in days. Excuse me for looking out for my girlfriend!"

Retreating from the offensive stance, Hermione said with much less gusto, "I'm-I'm fine." This was clearly a lie and both boys could tell by how Hermione look; it was too much like the tent days for Harry's liking.

Deciding to step in before things got too out of hand, Harry calmly said (while still being in some shock himself), "Ron-why don't you leave Hermione and me alone for a bit."

Harry could see Ron was hesitant to leave them alone. After having his girlfriend kiss him Harry couldn't blame that. But it seemed Ron trusted them enough and nodded and began to head out. Before going he placed a loving hand on Hermione's should which she coldy brushed away. Then with a bang from the ancient door he was gone.

For a minute the only sounds in the room were the teens heavy breahing and the soft purring of Ariana. Wordlessly, Harry scooted over and opened his arms in anticipation. Hermione accepted the gesture and climbed atop the bed only with a quiet sob and the creaking of the mattress being heard. Harry jerked at the sudden weight gain, but quickly forgot it once his nostrils filled with bushy hair.

But still, Harry did not move Hermione, and they laid there; her clinging to his chest and him rubbing her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her. Hermione's pity laugh broke the silence.

"Look at me" she pondered aloud. "Sobbing over you almost dying when you're the person who-well almost died. How pitiful is that?"

"Well," Harry responded, taking the rhetorical question very seriously, "Considering that I do the same things when you almost die, either we're both pathetic or it's just natural for us to blame ourselves."

"But this was my fault!" Hermione insisted, flustered. "If only I'd listened to you and kept the bloody ring on all the time, or if I forbade you to research about those-things-, or if I-"

"You what, Hermione?" Harry forcefully interrupted. "That you had been their! If you had you'd have been killed or captured too, then who would've noticed I was gone? And even if you did 'forbid' me to try and stop those things (he chuckled over the same phrase Hermione used to describe them, earning a death stare from her). "Alright sorry" he said still smiling.

"Even if you did, I still would've done it and you know it. Face it, Hermione, this in no way, shape, or form, is your fault. In fact if it weren't for you, I'd probably be dead right now."

Harry could tell Hermione was trying to find a flaw in his argument. But it seemed she couldn't since he received a playful smack on his arm along with a, "prat" thrown in.

"You're thinking too much like me now" Hemione laughed. "I don't like it."

"Oh come now!" Harry smiled at her. "If I thought the way you did I would have been out of their in a day."

Hermione let the statement stand, and more silence filled the room. But it wasn't the same anguished silence as before, for now it was a comfortable silence with each occupant breathing in the other as if it would be another lifetime before they could again.

Unconsciously Hermione began to caress her hand around Harry's eyes (who unconsciously enjoyed it). "Don't tell Ron," Hermione whispered softly, "But I wasn't actually sleeping." Harry snorted; hmn big surprise. Hermione seemed to know what he was thinking but ignored it. "I was in the library, looking for a spell to fix your eyes-Madam Pomfrey told me what happened."

Harry could've done many things in that moment; he could've scolded her for not getting the rest she so obviously needed, he could've moved Hermione off of him protesting this wasn't appropriate of them to be doing since she had a boyfriend who was his best mate, or he could've thrown all care out the window and listen to the quiet but persistent voice in the back of his head telling him to kiss her. He did none of those things.

"And?" Harry whispered back just as softly, not realizing he was moving ever so slowly closer to Hermione's lips.

"And.." Hermione answered, somehow somewhere realizing what Harry was doing but unable to stop it. "And nothing!" she sighed, frustrated and hopping off the bed with a creak. It seemed both rationale subconscious' had won.

"There is nothing anywhere about a spell that blinds the victim that looks like according to Ron a 'black ball of death'" She over illustrated the last few words as she paced around Harry's bed post. "It's as if the thing had never been written about!" And while she didn't say it, Harry knew what followed that was, 'or people who have seen it had never lived to tell the tale'

"Anyway," Hermione continued hopping over the last thought. "The most I have deduced is that it wasn't meant for your eyes, but that doesn't help us cure you, and even if we can figure out what the spell is there's no guarantee there's a counter-curse. And even..."

As Hermione continued to ramble, Harry slowly began to loose his sight again as black spots began to dance in his vision. "Hermione..." he called weakly, but his voice wasn't enough to break Hermione from her thoughts.

"Hermione.."

"maybe we can examine Ron's memories of the orb and get a visual representation to help us, or we.."

Hermione! It wasn't Harry's voice that stopped her, but instead the shriek of Ariana, who immediately saw her owner's distress. She turned back to face Harry. "What is it?"

Harry squinted in hopes to keep Hermione in his vision. "Well," he said concentrating. "The potion is beginning to wear off, and I can't see you that well anymore."

Hermione gasped and muttered a hundred apologies muttering about her 'stupid brain' while running to Madam Pomfrey's storage cabinet. Harry could hear the clinking of vials moving around, but had nearly lost sight of the room once again, Ariana's bright orange being the only color he was left clinging to. He could faintly hear Hermione mumbling, but he definitely heard the immediate sound of glass breaking.

"Shit!" The last of Madam Pomfrey's Oculi potion lay splattered on the floor and before you could even blink it evaporated into the air. Only Hermione came to this conclusion, for Harry was still recovering from Hermione swearing.

"Oh no no no no," Hermione said, fumbling over the broken glass. "This, this can't be it!" Tears began to well up in her eyes, and cuts on the tips of her fingers fed a constant pool of blood.

Harry finally realized what happened and in rashly pulled himself out of the bed to try and help Hermione. Walking there would have been hard enough after being unconscious for a week without his deteriorating sight. Immediately as his feet touched the cold castle stone Harry collapsed. Hermione was too absorbed with the potion and herself to notice. Shaking, Harry slowly stood up again using the bed as a crutch. In a half limp half jump motion, he made his way to the end of the bed, his face scrunched in pain at each step. Then one step away from it-then two, the next harder than the last. But it didn't matter, all that mattered was to help Hermione.

He could tell Ariana was trying to help him; by flapping her wings and nudging her head into the crook of his arm she was able to keep some of the pressure off of him and guide him to where he wouldn't hit something.

But suddenly, almost as someone had flicked off the lights, Harry returned to the darkness. The sudden loss of his eyesight shocked him enough that he lost his footing and fell onto the floor with a grunt.

This got the attention from Hermione, who stopped her fruitless effort of trying to clean find another potion. "Harry!" she screamed, quickly crawling the distance between them. Cupping his head onto her lap she said softly, "Why in Merlin's beard did you do that."

A drop of liquid hit Harry's cheek, but he couldn't tell if it was blood or tears. Weakly he smiled, "You needed help.."

Letting out a hollow laugh she added, "Yes but I was getting help for you!" Sighing, she continued.

"I guess I over-reacted. St. Mungo's has the potion; we could get it in under an hour... But, but then what! You would just continue to have it every day for the rest of your life and only getting half of you sight back! And those fiends will come back for you, how will fight back!" Oh, it's just no fair, Harry, it's not-"

Here Hermione once again broke out into sobs. Not for this one problem, not just for Harry, but for everything. She had never allowed herself to fully grieve over the war, and now all of her built up tears were coming out. She cried for Fred, she cried for Teddy, she even cried for the poor boy who took Arithmacy with her in sixth year that was murdered. But most of all she did cry for Harry, and all of their lost childhoods.

Later, Harry would say this was the saddest sound he had ever heard. Sadder then his mother's screams, and sadder then the mournful cry of his phoenix, harmonizing with the broken girl. He closed his eyes in respect to her suffering, and accepted his fate.

Indeed, Ariana was singing, but she had one last trick up her sleeve-or, wing. Swooping off Harry's shoulder, she landed onto his chest and leaned over his head. In the grace only a phoenix can do, she meticulously dropped tears into her master's eyes; three for each.

Harry felt the droplets fall into his eyes, but didn't know what they were at first. It wasn't until the soft coloring of Ariana appeared again in his vision did he realize what they were; Phoenix tears!

Filled with new excitement and hope, he jumped up from Hermione's lap and shook her. "Hermione! Hermione!" he said.

"Wha-t?" was his response as Hermione quickly tried to dry her tears with her hand (which only smeared dried blood onto her cheeks) and appear normal.

"Hermione!" he repeated once again. "It's Ariana! She got her tears! She-she cried for me." Harry grabbed Ariana from his lap and tried to rub all of his appreciation onto her head. "Thanks, girl" he whispered just to her. "You saved my life."

Ariana merely closed her eyes in contentment with a 'it was nothing look', happy her master was healthy again. Not only were his eyes healed, but the tears restored his energy, and slowly began the process of building back up his muscles and body from his malnutrition.

Hermione gasped and covered her mouth with her hands. "Of course!" she squealed. "Phoenix tears! They're one of the strongest magic their is! Oh Harry!" She wrapped her arms around him and he did the same, both rejoicing over the small victory. This wasn't just about him. In this moment, all doubts, all insecuries and manipulations of the past were washed away. From that moment on, they wouldn't be held back by their past, and the only thing unimaginable was their imagination itself. They were free.

Pulling out of the hug, Hermione smirked at him. "You know..Riding that dragon violates our deal" she stated in her matter-of-fact tone.

This earned her an equally playful smirk. "Well," Harry started. "It doesn't if I had its permission". Seeing her shock made him only continue. "In fact, I believe that earns me bonus points. Which means... you now have to play a game of Quidditch!"

Seeing Hermione's shocked expression was worth all the galleons in the world. "I-I-I" she stuttered out, her mouth as open as a fishes. Growling, she said darkly, "You better sleep with you eyes open tonight, Potter." Which made both teens burst into laughter.

All was well, for now.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Yay! End of Ch. 16! Hope you liked it, and OMG HERMIONE AND HARRY"S FIRST KISS!

A lot of Harmony fanfics draw out their first kiss into one chapter, so I thought it would be cute to have this one spontaneous in the moment thing that HERMIONE did. Anyway, I really like how I expressed their relationship here. You can see the friend zone is crossed, but they aren't quite into the OTP zone yet.

If you have any questions about the Chapter (I tend to tie up loose ends in the next one) just ask me or if you just love this story so much you want to cry review please!