Get It Right

No one was around. With the Holidays just around the corner, it seemed that everyone was gone from Gryffindor Tower this night. Hermione Granger was fast asleep in the corner of the girls dormitory, with Josephine Etalain perfectly still, just as lost in her dreams as Hermione. Harry watched over his love Josephine with worry in his eyes. This is what being a parent must have felt like, he thought. Making sure they take their next breath.


At about one o’clock, Josephine started stirring. Stirring turned to turning. Turning turned to kicking. Kicking turned to thrashing. Harry tried to wake her up.


"Josephine!" He called to her. She was talking to herself.


"You're wrong, Riddle..." She said, kicking her feet rapidly. “You can’t touch Harry! I won’t let you!” She then shrieked so terribly it seemed to stop Harry’s blood cold. “Fiendfyre!” She cried. She thought she was being set aflame! Hermione awoke immediately.

“It’s happening!” was all Harry could get out. He was in tears, he couldn’t help her.


"Get her into an ice bath. Second floor lavatory. Don't worry about getting Ron, I'll handle it. Just help her somehow. Anyhow." Hermione answered sternly. Josephine still spoke to Voldemort in her sleep, still kicked and cried like she was burning alive.

Harry obeyed Hermione’s orders and rushed Josephine to the restroom. Her cries echoed off the dark marble as Harry placed her writhing body into the grand tub. He alternated spells- Aguamenti followed by a Cooling Charm. It was exhausting to switch so quickly between the spells, and Harry’s brow furrowed under a layer of heavy sweat. His concentration was locked on the pain Josephine seemed to be in. Her wand locked in her hand, curses were bounding every which way. The room would light purple, then gold, then green. Corners of stalls and metal sinks blasted apart, and Harry had to toss water on whatever Josephine caught on fire. He tried to grab for her wand but when he touched it, it burned his hand. He fell to his knees and clutched it for a moment. It was bleeding, but Harry thought quickly.


He grabbed a towel and wrapped his hand in it and reached for the eight inch hickory. Much of the heat burned through and caused Harry to wince and grunt, but he kept his hand on it long enough to pry the wand away from Josephine’s hand and send it scattering to the floor. Ron and Hermione ran into the room soon after.

Harry’s hand burned like hell and was damp and red with blood. Woozy, he fell to the floor.

With a final blood-curdling scream, Josephine woke up breathing heavily. She looked at her legs. They were fine. She check every part of her body- all safe and uninjured. She reached for her wand and couldn’t find it near her. Ron retrieved it from the ground and handed it to her. Nothing more seemed to happen when the wood met her soft, shivering fingers. She just looked from him, to Hermione, to Harry, and back to Ron again with wide eyes.


"What the bloody Hell am I doing in a bathtub full of ice?!" She exclaimed, jumping up and convulsing from the cold. Hermione had a blanket ready for her. As Josephine’s blue lips quivered, she looked to her boyfriend and joked, “Blimey, Harry, could you not think of a better way to snap me out of it!” It seemed the worse was over.

She tried to stand, but Harry stopped her before her legs gave out.


"Stay here." He said. He sounded worried.


“I’m fine.”


"You're too weak." He scolded.


"Me?" Josephine replied sternly. "Never." She got up and slowly limped toward the center of the room. When she got there, she had to lean on a destroyed sink and take a breather. “Did I do that?” She gestured to the rubble. “My mum and dad won’t appreciate that bill home.”

Hermione and Ron both chuckled a little, however Harry was in no mood to join in his love’s jesting.

“Damn it, is this not serious to anyone?!” He exclaimed, getting up and storming about the room. “Voldemort has found a way to creep into my girlfriend’s mind and torture her in her sleep! I don’t know how he did it, but he did it through me and it is killing me to watch her go through this all the time!” Ron and Hermione sat in uncomfortable silence and didn’t answer. Harry then turned to Josephine and Josephine alone.

“How do you put on this brave face?” He said, his lips quivering dangerously close to a cry, “How do you act like what he’s doing to you isn’t completely terrifying?! The Dark Lord has infested your head and you’re joking about tuition?”

“Harry, what do you want me to do?” Josephine stepped into Harry’s face and raised her voice. She was never one to be put in her place, not even by him. She seized both his shoulders. “Harry, I’m fine. We are all in this war against him and I will take whatever comes our way.”

“He’s only doing this to you because of me. He knows that you’re close to me and that makes you a target!”

“Then paint a bullseye on my forehead along with a little lightning bolt scar!” Josephine returned. “Harry, I would sacrifice anything to be close to you.” She took his scruffy face in her hands, he closed his eyes and tried to relax and rest against her touch. “You know that as well as I do.”

“I can’t stand the thought of him hurting you, Jo,” he whispered. Josephine stroked his cheek.

“I know. We won’t let him, Harry. We’ll beat him. We’ll get it right.”