2. Prologue

Ron was sitting in his compartment with Lavender, Ginny and Neville. Sixth year was over. For most of them, sixth year had been very calm and very enjoyable. For Ron, sixth year was the year he discovered love. How to love and be loved in return. The Big Love. A love reciprocated by one of the cutest witch of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Miss Lavender Brown. He was proud to be her boyfriend and she was proud to be his. Nothing could have been more perfect. Well, that was wrong, come to think of it. His five years of friendship with his two friends, Harry and Hermione, had faded. They had barely seen each other through the year. Oh, sure, he still saw them at dinner, or at lunch, or in classes, but it was not the same. They didn’t hang out together anymore in their free time. It seemed that Hermione buried herself more (if possible) in the library and that Harry only had his new girlfriend in mind. Come to think of it, beside quidditch practice, he had barely seen Harry out of classes.

Yep… it has been a strange year.

At first they were all fearing that You-Know-Who would try something bad. After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named had failed miserably in fifth year to achieve his goals, losing some of his best followers in the process. But with time passing by, there were no clues that he was planning something. And so, eventually, everyone relaxed and began to enjoy the year. For once, it was good not to have to always look over your shoulder to see if a crazy psychopathic wizard was trying to kill you or the ones you care about.

At Halloween, Ron had gathered all his courage to ask Lavender out. To his surprise and fulfilling his hopes, she had said “yes” and they were quickly known as a couple. If before Halloween he had spent some time with Hermione, after Halloween, he was giving all his free time to his girlfriend. And he had seen Hermione, and Harry, less and less.

The biggest mystery to Ron, was Harry. On the train back to Hogwarts, while he and Hermione had to attend the prefect meeting taking place aboard the train, Harry had encountered this witch named Mary. She was, so she said, transferring from an American school called Salem’s Institute. At the time, she had seemed very interested in Harry. When Ron and Hermione came back from the prefect meeting, she was nearly sitting on his lap. And he didn’t seem to mind. Well, it was quite understandable. Mary was petite and cute. There was something about her that was very endearing. She seemed to have a good personality and was very charming. It could have been worse for Harry… It could have been a second Milicent Bullstrode. One week after the school really started, they were a couple. One can barely be seen without the other. And Harry had started to drift apart from them. In fact, Harry had drifted away from all his classmates. Everyone except Mary. And it had only worsened through the year.

And now, here they were. In the train… Back home… He had no idea where his two former best friends were. He was with his girlfriend and it was good.

One of the last to board the train, Hermione had found an empty compartment and had locked herself in it. She didn’t want to see anybody, she didn’t wanted to speak to anybody. She didn’t want to be pitied. Sixth year had been hard for her. Oh, not on a study plan. She had performed so well on her term exams that she had received the congratulations from all the professors, publicly. Even McGonagall AND Snape had congratulated her. But she had barely acknowledged the praise they were giving her. She had had time to study this year. So much time. Too much time in fact. No, the year had been hard to get through because of her feelings.

So many times, in fifth year, she had kept her feelings for herself. So many times, she had felt her heart breaking. Never, had she said anything. She was his best friend. And that was all there was to say. But, oh, she needed to be more than this. It was burning her from inside. She had cried so many tears this year, alone in the library or in her bed, at night. So many nights she had woken up crying and whispering his name. But he was totally oblivious. Worse, he didn’t see her anymore. It was as if Harry Potter had never entered her life.

She let her mind wander, go back in time. How they were happy to see each other on platform 9 and ¾. How she had to go (damn, now she hated it) to that prefect meeting instead of staying next to him. She had to leave him alone in this compartment. And when they came back… it was too late. He had encountered the one that would be Hermione’s doom: Mary. After a week they were a couple and Hermione had her heart shattered. She remembered that from that day, she hadn’t had a chance to see Harry alone. Mary was constantly next to him. Making sure that no other girl had an access to him but her. She had even made clear to all other girls that she would not hesitate to hex those who wanted to approach him without her consent. She was so possessive… Hermione had locked herself on the library. Starting to work, and work, and work, and work even more. She was carrying her prefect duties late at night to avoid stumbling across them. She knew of course that Harry had all the necessary material to avoid being caught. Until Halloween, Ron had spent some time with her. Dear Ron… So hungry to have someone to speak to. So little concerned when it came to homework and study. Soon he was fed up with the library. And after Halloween, he had asked Lavender Brown out and they were a couple. Another heartbreak for Hermione. Not that she felt something for Ron. But it was her second and last best friend that was saying goodbye to her. She had cried some days and then she had even found more work to do. And when she was not working in the library, she was spending time alone, wandering on the grounds. She never approached the lake. For the lake was giving her too much memories of her and Harry together.

And now she was in this compartment. Her eyes were red and puffy. She was glad the year was over. She was glad to come back home. Where there were people who loved her. People who cared for her. Home… For one instant, she closed her eyes. And then she saw it again… A pair of big green eyes, looking at her, full of love and understanding.

“Oh”, Harry…” she said before crumbling on herself, crying once more over something that has now no chance to happen…

Oblivious to all of this, Harry was in a world of bliss. He was in his compartment. The door was locked and the flexible body of Mary was snuggled very close to him. Her lips seemed to be glued to his. What a year it had been… Life can be beautiful when you don’t have a dark wizard spying your every move. Life can be beautiful when you live it to the fullest with a girl at your side. Well of course, he had not seen his friends too much during the year, but hey, for once, they could understand that he was happy. The ride home was a torture for Harry and he was spending all the time possible with his girlfriend before having to part for two long months. Of course, they would write each other often, but it’s not the same as having the girl you like in your arms. Thinking about the year, Harry was glad. Visibly, they had succeeded in stopping Voldemort for some time in fifth year. He had lost some very important “associates”. Only some of the Deatheaters present in the Department of Magic had escaped. Among them was Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius Black’s murderer. But what a satisfaction for Harry to have Malfoy Senior under custody. And he wasn’t soon to be released. And it was for the better. Draco Malfoy had made fewer remarks to him during the year. His efforts were finally paying. Of course, the bad guy was still somewhere planning death and misery. But sixth year had been good and calm. No bad dreams, no visions, nothing. Only the love of a beautiful girl.

Speaking of girls, he didn’t know how Hermione had done at her exams this year. It seemed that she had spent way more time than usual in the library. Harry remembered that some thing had been said during the feast and it seemed that Hermione was called to the table of the professors… But Mary was saying something in his ear and he didn’t pay attention to what was happening around him. He was focused only on Mary. Hermione could wait. He would have time later for his friends. Now he wanted to spend the maximum amount of time with Mary. After all, isn’t that what happen when a boy meet a girl? For some time, friends do not count anymore. Only the girl counts. And what a girl. She kissed like a goddess, her every word was honey to Harry’s ear. He believed her when she said that he didn’t need the help of Hermione to succeed on his exams now that he had her. And she was right. He had succeeded. Not better than usual, but he had managed to have enough good results to pass.

Harry let his mind wander through time. The beginning of the year had been very good. He had met Mary on the train ride. She had made clear that she was interested in him. When Ron and Hermione had joined him in the compartment, he had made the presentation. Mary had smiled toward Ron but she had scowled toward Hermione. After one week they were together. And from this moment on, no girl was allowed to approach him without Mary’s permission. And she was giving very little of it. The number of girls turning around him had slowly but surely deflated. Which was a good thing. The bad thing was that some very good friends, female friends of him, were pushed back also. Well… That was life…

Now in the train back to anything but home, Harry was taking every moment with Mary. They would be apart for two months. A long period of time when you’re in love…

Slowly, the train came to a halt. Ron, Lavender, Ginny and Neville were in the first to get out. They came through the barrier, not looking back. They didn’t saw Hermione nor did they search to see her. Hermione had been so secret this year that she had melted in the landscape. Unnoticed by each and everyone. They came through the barrier and were greeted by Molly and Arthur Weasley, Lavender’s mother and Neville’s grandmother.

Hermione took her time. Her parents would wait for her whatever time she took. So she made it slowly. Being sure that she was nearly the last to leave the train. From her window, she saw Ron, Ginny, Neville and Lavender. In one swift move, they were gone. She had dried her eyes during the journey home and she had even managed to sleep a little. Her eyes were not red and puffy anymore. Things were back to normal. She took her luggage through the barrier and was greeted by her parents. Quickly, they left the station.

Harry and Mary went out of the train in the mass of students heading home. Harry spotted Uncle Vernon once he went through the barrier. He kissed Mary goodbye and she made him promise to write every day. He promised and they parted…

This was going to be a long, long, long holiday… for everyone.

3. Trapped

Author’s note: Sorry, sorry sorry… I know I didn’t update this story for a long time… In fact, I’ve been working on it to re-write some parts of the chapters and I worked a lot on the end of the story… Now I’ve 26 chapters written which will be all posted in due time… Once again, sorry for not updating in so long… (It’s not easy to rewrite something you already wrote :-)

Chapter One: Trapped.

Three days… It had been three days since the beginning of the summer holidays - holidays that had never been favourites of Harry’s. He was at the Dursleys, as usual. Since the end of fifth year and the talk that the members of the Order had had with Uncle Vernon, the Dursleys had been off his back. He still had to do his share of chores but they were not so quick to criticize his work anymore. In the three days Harry had been there, he had reconnected with the reality - spending some time in the morning to read carefully the newspapers that his Uncle left on his chair, or listening to the news on the television or on the radio. Harry was trying to learn of Voldemort and his plans.

After all, no one had heard from him through out the sixth year. And Harry knew that he must be pretty mad that the prophecy had exploded under his nose. But nothing had happened so far and Harry was slightly worried. Oh, through the year, he had not thought about it or about Voldemort for that matter. But now, without his girlfriend occupying his every thought, he could manage to think straight and see what he had missed. There was nothing… nothing in the muggle world, nothing in the wizarding world. No great escape from Azkaban (where Malfoy senior was always detained), no great mass murder of any kind… It was as if Voldemort had disappeared from the earth’s surface. Harry knew that this was not the case.

Although his scar had not hurt him the whole year, Harry knew it was only the calm preceding the storm. And that the storm would be pretty violent. Harry returned to the flowerbeds and watered them. The drought that had hit England the preceding year was over and now, Aunt Petunia was very eager to have the most beautiful garden ever. Harry had to water the flowerbeds, cut the grass, cut the edges of the garden and make everything fine. On top of that, he had the chores to do inside: cooking breakfast (something he was used to doing and that he was good at), cleaning an already spotless living room, and taking out the garbage… But Harry didn’t mind all the chores… It was taking his mind from a certain fact. The fact that it has been three days since his sixth year at Hogwarts was over. Three days Harry was without news from Mary.

It had been three days since the holidays had begun. Three days that she had been at home. Far away from Hogwarts’ library, far away from Ron and far away from the boy she was in love with. Being at home was good. For once, her parents had decided to take their holiday in August. She had the whole first month to think and to grieve. She had decided that she would not talk about the way her relationships with her two best friends had gone down the drain in their sixth year. She suspected that her mother already knew that something was wrong. They hadn’t talked in the way back from the station. They had all remained silent. Usually, she was telling stories about what had happened through the year. But what did she have to tell this year?. She had barely seen the outside world, constantly being locked up in the library. She had learned much more this year than she had in previous years… She could even have passed her NEWTs a full year in advance of her classmates. “Well, less work for me in seventh year,” she thought. Once she was at home, she locked herself up in her room, pretending to unpack. This day, she went back downstairs late. It was time for dinner. She ate, participated to the family life as usual but her heart was not in it. Her heart was, in fact, in Little Whinging, Surrey, desperate to see a certain boy waiting for letters from another girl.

The next days were similar. Her parents had to work and so she had plenty of time by herself. She did some shopping, bought new clothes, new muggle books, she wrote to her muggle friends, like she always did at the beginning of the holidays. Mainly, she was in her room, thinking back over the past year, on what had gone wrong and on what little had gone right. The only thing that was right was her excellent results at the end of the year. She hadn’t cared for the House Cup like the other years, nor had she cared for the Quidditch Cup as she in the years before. She didn’t even try to fight to keep her best friend. Maybe that was her mistake. When Mary had isolated Harry from all other girls, she should have fought her to be able to stay at Harry’s side no matter what. Instead of that, she had stepped aside and let Mary have her way… God knows what they had done through the year. She had tears in her eyes, just by thinking about it. She crumbled onto her bed and cried some more. She was fine when her parents came home… The first three days of the holidays were similar: a bit of shopping, a lot of thinking – with all thoughts taking her back to Harry and his girlfriend Mary. And so she ended all her afternoons crying on her bed and all her evenings pretending to be fine for her parents

Ron was happy. Oblivious to Hermione’s problems and to Harry’s new girlfriend, he had found perfect love with Lavender Brown. Better yet, she loved him back. Could life be more wonderful? Yes, of course. Lavender Brown was living not very far from The Burrow. Just behind the meadow where Ron and his brothers played Quidditch, there was a forest. Not very thick, and not forbidden. And on the other side of the forest, the first house from the nearby village was the house of Lavender’s grandmother. Of course, they were not joined at the hip yet. Their love was new for their families and they certainly did not want to jeopardize what they had by proclaiming to everyone that they were in love. Ron suspected that her mother knew and he had made sure that his brothers, especially the twins, didn’t find out any too soon. He would never have heard the end of it. They had met two times in the first three days, secretly. It was fun for both of them, they had the feeling they were spies or something like that. It was far better than writing to her and waiting for her answer. However, they kept writing to each other to maintain appearances…

Life was fine for Ron. The only person to know the feelings he had for Lavender was Ginny and she had been sworn secrecy on that matter. Ron wondered what Harry and Hermione were doing right now. No doubt Harry was writing to his new bimbo girlfriend. And no doubt Hermione had her nose in a book, maybe even a muggle one this time. She had done that a lot this past year, wait no, not a lot, she had barely done anything else. She had not come to watch the quidditch matches, she had not come to Hogsmeade once. She kept studying, and studying and studying some more… Even for Hermione, it was not normal, not healthy. But Ron couldn’t point out why she had done it. Of course he and Harry had found love early in the year and she hadn’t. No wonder, she was always in the deep end of the library where no men had gone before. But that did not explain everything. Ron had no clue as to what was bothering her, only that something sure was. He was thinking about taking a quill and writing to Hermione to see what she was up to when a owl jumped through his open window. He recognized immediately Lavender’s owl and all thoughts about Hermione left his brain.

Harry was deep in thought. Through his sixth year Mary was his sunshine, his joy, his pride, and the force that allowed him to continue to live. Closing his eyes, he was remembering the train ride home. The last kiss they exchanged before separating for the summer. Two long months. They promised each other to write each other as often they could - every day if possible. Harry was remembering sending Hedwig with his letter on the first day, at night. Now, it had been three days and Hedwig had not come back. Harry took a few steps away from the nightly frame of the window. It was indeed night already as Harry decided to go to bed, without any news of Mary. Ten minutes later, Harry was slumbering slowly… A light noise woke him up. Hedwig was back and with her, there was another bird that Harry did not know. Harry fetched the two letters from the birds. Hedwig went into her cage and the other owl flew through the open window. The first surprise for Harry was to see that one of the letters he held in his hands was the one he sent Mary a few days earlier. The other letter bore no address or any sign. But Harry recognized the forms of the letter: it was a letter from Mary. He sat down on his bed to read. Colour drained from his face as he read the letter to the end:

Harry,

I’ve never had so much trouble writing a letter to someone, though I must do it. There is no other way to put this. I have done a lot of thinking about our relationship over the past year. My conclusion is that I don’t think it is wise for us to continue to see each other. I don’t want to invoke my reasons in this letter. This would be too long and it wouldn’t change a single thing in our history. We are over. I just hope we can see each other at school next year and be civil about it. I don’t want you to answer this letter. As you see, my decision is made and I don’t want to discuss it. I’ll see you at Hogwarts in September. By that time, we will have had plenty of time to accept the fact that we are no longer a couple.

PS: I know I’ve hurt you and I don’t hope staying your friend after you’ve finished this letter. As for me, I’ll keep an excellent memory of our time together.

Reading the end of the letter brought tears in Harry’s eyes. So this was it. Harry had never had his heart broken by a girl before. On top of the sadness he was now experiencing, he felt a cold anger rising, a surge of dangerous blind animal rage. The tears were falling freely now as he tore the letter in pieces. He rummaged in his trunk for a while, getting all the notes and all the letters Mary had written during the year and he tore them too. For a while, the anger was controlling him. He destroyed some more parchments, photos of Mary, poems he had written since the beginning of the holidays… Every single thing that reminded him of Mary the Traitor was now destroyed around him… A little calmer now, he was thinking about how miserable his life was… Tears were continuing to fall… He lay down on his mattress, burying his face in what served him as a pillow and he cried himself to sleep. He was so depressed…

Meanwhile, somewhere else, a hooded man with a silver hand was receiving instructions from another man. The hooded man was nodding at the instructions:

“Be careful Wormtail. I won’t accept any more failure from you… All you have to do is spy and report what you see… If you get caught, you’ll pray to be in a prison cell in Azkaban before I’m finished with you… Do you understand?”

“Yes master” answered the hooded man, shivering.

“I wonder… Anyway, my plan to bring the boy into a place where I can reach him is already operating… So go to this address and watch…”. The tall silhouette was giving the hooded man a piece of parchment.

There was a moment of silence. And then the hooded man referred to as Wormtail spoke: “Master, if we have his address, why don’t we go and…”

He was never able to finish his sentence, the man referred to as Master pointed a wand at him and yelled “Crucio”. An unbearable pain shot throughout his body. The voice of the man pointing the wand was shaking with anger: “How many times should I repeat myself?. I cannot reach the boy as he is under a very powerful protective spell while he is in this area or with this muggle lover Dumbledore…”

Finally, the cruciatus spell was stopped and Wormtail could stand again. Without a word, he apparated to a location near the address that had been given to him. There, assuming his rat form, he trotted the rest of the way to the garden of a house. This house bore the number 4 and it was located on Privet Drive…

4. Without any hope of come back

Chapter 2: Without any hope of come back

Harry woke up at the sound of his aunt banging loudly at the door…

“You’d better get up boy…”

The problem was that Harry did not want to get up. For one thing, he was far too tired to even move a muscle and for another, he was so depressed that he did not even want to try to move a muscle. Events of the night were slowly surfacing, like a dead fish in the rising tide, ready for the predators to eat. And his despair was the predator, only waiting for the sad thoughts to be thrown on the beach. His despair grew stronger with each minute he laid in bed, darker too… He definitely did not want to get up to please those muggles with a diet breakfast that he did not deserve to follow. All he wanted to do was to stay in bed and rummage through dark thoughts. He did not want to eat, he did not want to see or hear the Dursleys. They would have been too happy to laugh at Harry’s distress or at any weakness he would have shown in his current state of mind. His eyes were wandering in the room. Lingering on the trunk with his books, the ink, the quills, the parchments, the assignments for homework for the holidays… He did not want to do that homework… Maybe he would be expelled for that… But again, what’s good with being a wizard if you have to hide your entire life, or if your love life is shredded to pieces because some psychopathic wizard has your name on his list and can kill you with two little words?

In the cage suspended near the wall, Hedwig was looking at Harry with some sadness in her eyes. Magical creatures were often seen sharing feelings with their owners. At the present time, Hedwig could sense what was on Harry’s mind - as if she understood what was in his thoughts. She let out a little “hoo hoo” as to say: “Don’t give up… “

But Harry was not paying attention. He was lost in his dark thoughts: “All my life has been a misery - a huge mistake, a huge comedy, like a silly cream pie fight of monstrous proportions.. My parents were killed because they were trying to protect me. ‘Eat this Potter; this is the first one you’ll taste in your life… Oooops missed!’ I was to stay with relatives who would be thrilled if they knew I was found dead. ‘Take another one Harry… Ooooops missed again!’ My friends risked their life a hundred thousand times - because of me. Cedric Diggory died because of stupid act of chivalry. Even Sirius died trying to protect me… Yep… A bad cream pie fighting comedy… But I don’t get hit… others got creamed - my parents, my friends, my classmates, Cedric… The world would be so much better without Harry Potter. I would no longer be the cause of other sudden death. And I doubt anyone would miss me anyway.”

There was only one star left in Harry’s darkening sky. This star was carried two names on it: Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger - his two best friends. Oh, of course, with him dating Mary during the sixth year, they had slowly but surely drifted apart. For one thing, Ron was dating Lavender Brown, something he dreamed of for years before realising it, for the another thing, all Hermione had seemed only to be thinking getting good grades so that she would be prepared to pass her exams in their seventh year. She had spend the whole year locked up in the library, studying. On his side, he had spent so much time with Mary. Looking back, he was still wondering why. Sure, Mary was great physically and she also had more IQ than a table. But now it was hard to understand what the attraction had been. He didn’t seem to know why he let his friends down. And for what? The result today was that this girl dumped him, and he had drifted so far from his friends that he barely dared to write them in search of comfort, pity, or some help.

At this time, he made a decision. To heck with the Minister of Magic and the restriction for the use of magical power in the presence of Muggles thing… He packed all his stuff - all of it… Everything he owned could easily be contained in his Hogwards trunk. He left outside the trunk his wand, his Firebolt, the invisibility cloak, some ink, a quill and two pieces of parchment. On each piece of parchment, he wrote the same message:

Mary broken up with me.

I don’t know why.

My life was already worthless; today it is down in the dumps for good.

You have been the best friends I could ever hope for.

Keep a loving memory of me

Good-bye

Harry

He fetched Hedwig out of her cage and tied the letters to her legs. Then, he packed the last thing remaining: Hedwig’s cage, the ink, the quill (a gift from Hermione). Then he reduced his trunk with a single spell and a swish and flick of his wand. When the trunk was the size of a matchbox, he picked it up and placed it in his pocket. Then he turned to Hedwig to give her the delivery instructions:

“Go to Ron first. But don’t wait for an answer ’cause there won’t be one. As soon as you have the message delivered to Ron, fly to Hermione. Stay with her. You always have been a good owl and I’ll miss you but you deserve someone who will be more careful with you.. Ron has Pig, I want Hermione to have you. Go now.”

Hedwig looked a last time at Harry with a reproachful look that Professor McGonagall would have appreciated, as if to say, “Ok, I’ll carry your mail, but after that I do what I want to do.” Then she left in the morning breeze.

His suitcase in his pocket, Harry took his broomstick, threw the invisibility cloak on his shoulder and over the Firebolt, and then headed for the window. He heard the stomping footsteps of his Uncle Vernon on the stairs. Knowing the swiftness at which the ministry could detect any act of magic in the muggle world, Harry was sure that his uncle was carrying a letter from the ministry. Suddenly the voice of Uncle Vernon boomed in the staircase: ”Harry Potter, you have once again done magic… This won’t happen again… Get your lazy carcass out of your room this instant. If you think you’re going to spend your holiday doing nothing….” Under the invisibility cloak, Harry was listening to the voice of Vernon Dursley. This was also a part of his life that he wanted to flee… The sooner the better… From that day on, he would be a fugitive. He would never put the life of others in danger. Never. And if, to reach this goal, that meant spending his life under that invisibility cloak of his, well so be it. He quickly gave a push and took off slowly, leaving Uncle Vernon yelling in the empty room of 4 Privet Drive. It was not the way he imagined it would be to leave that family, but even they would be better without him.

Unknown to Harry, more than one pair of eyes where witnessing his departure. It is extremely rare to see a window open seemingly by itself. It was less rare to hear Vernon Dursley yell… Mrs Figg, the old neighbour lady of Harry, was not very long the right in drawing the correct conclusions from what she had heard and seen – rather, not seen… In the hedge of the Dursley family’s garden, nobody had seen a thin and passably peeled rat, with a finger missing from one of its paws. He also has been witnessing the whole scene, as he had been there since the evening of the day before. And as usual, nobody seemed to care that this rat left the garden to go in a dark place. There the rat turned itself into a human and the human vanished in the air…

5. Reactions

Disclaimer : I don't own anything beyond Mary and the plot of this story… Not mine… all hers… Unfortunately…

Author's note: I know… I know… it has been a long time… a very long time… As I said before, it's not easy to work on an already written story to make it better… And on top of that, my two betas are on strike (just kidding… ). Anyway, I've no excuse but laziness to present to my fellow readers. I hope to accelerate the rhythm somehow from now on…

Ah, and before I forget, English still isn't my mother tongue… So if you don't understand something you can always ask by email and if you spot some spelling or grammar mistakes, please excuse me in advance…

Chapter 3: Reactions

Hedwig did a quick flight towards The Burrow. The life and death of her master could maybe depend of it. She arrived at The Burrow some hours after Harry departed from Privet Drive. Not loosing one second, Hedwig swooped in the room where all the Weasleys where busy having a pleasant dinner. Hedwig moved toward Ron, letting him take one of the letters. Then, without waiting for a reward (as it was always the case when she arrived at The Burrow), she left to deliver her second message of the day.

Ron immediately recognized Harry's handwriting. He was a little surprised to receive a letter from Harry so earlier in the holiday. They were apart for four days only. It didn't smell good. He opened the letter. Colors seemed to leave his face when he read the letter. Seeing him so pale, Molly, Arthur, Ginny, Fred and Georges knew this could not be anything good. Everybody was looking at Ron. Finally taking the silence around the table and the stares of his family, Ron looked up at his family and said with a little distress in his voice: “It's Harry… he's gone…” Letting the message fall on the floor, he ran to his room. “I must warn Hermione of this… We have to find Harry as soon as possible…” He quickly grabbed a piece of parchment and wrote down a few words to Hermione.

Some hours later, Hedwig was arriving at the Grangers residence. Hermione, as usual in the beginning of the summer break, was in her room, busy with her holiday homework. She was the top of her year every year since the beginning at Hogwarts. It was no wonder. She worked hard for it. Homework was also a way to avoid thinking. Particularly thinking to a certain green-eyed boy who was making her life a living hell. She was so into her subject that she at first did not heard the owl that was at the window. Only at the second “hoot” from Hedwig did she turn her head. Recognizing Hedwig, she though: “Well, news from Harry… So weird so early in the summer break”. Harry was generally not allowed to use Hedwig to sent mail to his friend. The muggles he lived with were so restrictive on him… The holidays were running since four days. What possibly had he to say now? He had barely spoken to her the whole year. Hermione didn't have a good feeling about that letter. Hedwig landed on the desk of Hermione, letting her get the message tied at her leg. Then she headed herself to a perch that was there for the owls that were visiting Hermione.

Hermione opened the envelope and read the short message Harry had send. Letting the parchment fall on the floor, she put her hands to her mouth to restrain a cry of angst. Harry, her best friend throughout those six years, Harry was gone somewhere, visibly with no idea of come back in his head. Quickly thinking, she grabbed the letter and read it once more. She could have touched the silent despair that Harry had put in his words. Her first thoughts were that Harry was going the commit some unfixable mistake. The mere thought of learning about Harry's destiny in a newspaper was intolerable for her. She could not bear the fact that Harry would commit suicide without even speaking to his friends… Then maybe, the fact that they have been quite apart this sixth year was maybe the cause he only wrote a letter… The sixth year wasn't exactly like the other. She had a lot of time to herself in the library, Harry being involved with Mary and Ron with someone else. Harry had met Mary in the train ride to Hogwarts. In less than a week, she was his girlfriend. Of course this had hurt. A lot. She always had a big crush on Harry without letting him know. She was happy with her role of best friend and sad that Harry was only seeing her as his best friend and not as a potential dating target. How many time did she dreamed that Harry was actually considering her as the other girls in school… But she was stuck in her best friend role. It sucked… The relationship between Harry and Mary was suspect to her since the day it begun. This girl was fast. Too fast. She quickly removed Harry from his friends, wanting Harry for her exclusively. She quickly removed Harry from other girls too, making it clear that Harry was hers and hers exclusively. Some girls remembered it vividly. She quickly removed Harry from his past too. He seemed happy with the situation. Not really concerned with what happened around him. He was like… bewitched… And now what… Mary had obviously played with his feelings and then she had stomped his heart with her feet. The bitch… And as Harry had felt that he was separated from his friends, he had not dared call them to the rescue. “So much testosterone in those boys” she though. What would she have given to hold Harry in her arms? To listen to him. To feel him close to her… Her crush had turned in a huge love during the sixth year. She was oh so jealous of Mary and now she was going to be so there for her friend, if she could find him that is. She was lost in her thoughts when another owl came through the window. Looking up, she recognized Pig, Ron's owl.

Ron had given special instructions to Pig: “You are going to get this message to Hermione. As quick as possible. Pig, the life of one of my closest friend is in your wings. You can stay at Hermione and wait for me… I won't be long”. The words Ron a written on the parchment were not made to make Hermione feel better. But in the trio, if he was the arm, Harry was the heart and Hermione was the brain. If the trio lost his heart, then they could say good-bye to graduation… Not one on them would ever feel good again to study… Not that Ron cares about studying, he cared for his friend. And he knew that Hermione has had a big crush on Harry by the time. He even tried to ask her out, only to be gently but firmly said “No”. That's when he understood. In the same time she said “no”, she was looking at Harry with such a flame in the eyes that Ron was surprised his best friend Harry had not seen it… But he actually hadn't seen it and the trio had stayed a trio and not a duet with one more participant.

Ron knew that he needed Hermione to find Harry and bring him back. She was the thinker. She was the one with the knowledge. And more she was the one with a deep connection to Harry through her heart. Even if Harry did not realized it by the time…

Pig was gone through the window at the speed of a bullet fired by a gun. Giving up, for the first time of his life, his disarrayed way of flying. He had felt the worry in his master voice. It was like in an instant, Pig had gown up.

Hermione had recognized Pig and was getting ready to catch the bird in his fly, as usual. She was startled when Pig landed himself on her shoulder. He was so light. He let Hermione untie the letter, offering his leg to help her. Hermione was so surprised. Then, Pig went proudly towards Hedwig and stood besides her. Hedwig was looking at the young owl with a stunned look. Where was the little owl that usually was flying around without resting any moments?

The message of Ron was even shorter than the one from Harry:

Herm, (oh she hates when someone else than Harry calls her with a diminutive of her name)

Harry has got problems. I'm coming by floo to discuss the matter with you.

Your friend,

Ron

She was reading the end of the letter when she heard a huge sound downstairs followed by the scream of her mother who was startled to see someone coming through the fireplace. Ron had arrived… “Always doing something we can speak of for years and years later…”

In the same time, in the house at the number 6 on Privet Drive, Mrs Figg was doing very strange things. She was standing in front of her fireplace and was talking to someone whose head was only visible. This other person, this head, was no other than Albus Dumbledore himself.

“And this is all I know for the moment Albus”

“Let's resume Arabella… Harry received 2 owls yesterday evening. One of them was his own owl. This morning you had seen the window of Harry opening but no one was standing there to open it. So you assume that he was using his invisibility cloak. Then, you saw only two feet and then nothing more. And then, some minute later, the uncle of Harry was standing at the window yelling Harry had left… Is that correct?”

“Yes Albus. I found it weird… So I took the liberty of sending a spy in the Dursley house”

“A spy?”

“Yes, one of my friend was there, he is an animagi and can transform into a cat. He went to the room Harry was in. If he's right, Harry left with all his belongings, but without letting any clues on his final destination.”

“Curious… Very curious… And so unlike Harry… However, please stay there for the moment and watch this situation for us Arabella. From your point of view, you are our best card to play if he comes back to Privet Drive”

“All right Albus. I stay here. But keep me informed on the situation, ok?”

“I will Arabella… I promise”. On those words, the head of the Hogwarts headmaster disappeared. Some minutes later, the old Mrs Figg was back at her window, observing the Dursley's garden with much more intensity than usual.

Elsewhere, a rat was approaching of a big chair. Upon arriving, the rat transformed in a human again and kneeled before the man who was sitting in the chair.

“So then Wormtail, my trusted servant and spy, what good news are you bringing to me? Did you see the boy? Is our plan working as we have foreseen it?”

“Yes Master, I saw Mary's owl arriving by the boy. I heard him cry most of the night. And this morning, I saw him leave…”

“Perfect, if he does what we think he will do, the powers of this boy will be mine in no time. And then, I will be invincible…”

“You're already so powerful, Master”

“Shut up you flattering thing… With the powers of the boys, I'll reach immortality. Immortality. Do you know what it means Wormtail… No of course you can't… Me, Lord Voldemort, will reign upon the world… for ever…”

“Master? What if those friend of him are trying to held him back?”

“There is a slight possibility indeed?” Voldemort was thinking, “Wormtail, you are going to spy a little more for me. Be up to date on their ideas, their situation, and the things they will do. Any unattended move can ruin our plans. And we don't need that for now… We don't want that for now…”

“I'll do as you want, Master”

“I hope so Wormtail… For your sake, I hope so…”

Hermione was flying over the steps. Her mother was slowly but surely on her feet again and she had welcomed Ron. Hermione was always gripping Harry's letter in her hand. Immediately, she saw the panic in Ron's eyes. He also was gripping a letter. The same letter she had received earlier. As soon as Hermione walked in the room, he started to speak: “Hermione, Harry and Mary has broken up… Harry is going to make something foolish…” Hermione interrupted him. She had raised the hand clutching the letter. “I know Ron, Hedwig bring me a letter from Harry. I bet they are similar… Question is what can we do about it?”

“I was hoping you'd know it!”

“Well, at first, we have to stay calm. He is not gone for a long moment. From my point of view, he had no intention to come by either one of us. He would be here by the time the letter reached us… I think that we should warn Dumbledore and Remus about this.”

Since Sirius death, Remus had taken Harry as his own child… But as he was not family with him, nor a godfather for the matter, he couldn't have Harry to live with him officially. That's why Harry was stuck with the Dursleys. No matter what they will do, Remus has to be warned.

“Yeah, Remus and Dumbledore… Good idea”

Some moments later, they were at Hermione's desk writing on parchments. They first wrote to Remus:

Remus,

Sorry to disturb you in your activities, but Ron and I received a “goodbye” letter from Harry and we are very anxious. What can we do to help him? What are our next moves?

Hermione and Ron

Ron said:

“We need time. I'm going to ask Hedwig to bring this letter to Remus. We'll ask pig to bring the other letter to Dumbledore. While I attach this letter to Hedwig leg, just write the note to Professor Dumbledore.”

Some moments later, Hermione was reaching Ron with another letter. The text was the same as for Remus. How else could they explain what was happening. They didn't even know what Harry was up to. Once Pig left with the letter, Ron turned to Hermione:

“What now?”

“Now, we wait.”

“We wait? Sitting stupidly on our ass? Without doing anything?”

“Not exactly without doing anything. I want you to go back to The Burrow. Pack a little suitcase for two or three days. If Professor Dumbledore reacts the way I think he will react, we will found ourselves in Hogwarts before the sun goes down… So, be quick…”

Ron nodded and went to the fireplace and then, from the fireplace, to The Burrow. Without waiting for Ron to go, Hermione went back to her room. Without thinking, she packed a little back bag with some articles of clothing, some useful things. Her thoughts were directed to Harry. Her Harry. “Don't make anything foolish Harry Potter… think about me…”. Of course, she knew that Harry was only seeing her as his best friend. No more, no less. In a normal time, she wouldn't have dared what she was thinking now. But, although he was in a deep despair and somewhere by himself, he was free… Thus her chances to win his heart were suddenly at their best. It was like a weight lifted from Hermione's shoulders… But before winning his heart, they will have to find him.

Since Sirius death, Hedwig was used to the journey to the house of Remus Lupin. Harry and Remus were exchanging mail at an alarming rate at the beginning. More slowly after Harry met Mary. She went straight to Remus house.

On his side, Pig was doing great. Never in his young life had he flown so quickly. Pig went into Dumbledore room just at the same moment Hedwig was entering Remus house.

Dumbledore and Remus were in deep conversation when the two owls arrived. Pig went to Dumbledore's shoulder. Hedwig landed on Remus extended arm. And so they read the message from Hermione and Ron at the same time.

Remus looked at Dumbledore. He was thinking. Quickly. Remus interrupted his train of thoughts: “Albus…” But Remus could not continue as Dumbledore had raised his hand to shut him up. He was already speaking: “Remus, could you please go to Hermione. Bring her and Ron here please. I want to know what they know and I think we must coordinate our research plans. I'll wait for you in my office.” And the communication ended there.

Remus took one step backward. He turned to his room to pack some clean clothes and then he concentrated on Hermione. Generally, he preferred concentrating on a place than on a person but he had never been to the Granger's house. So he concentrated on Hermione. Once her image was perfect in his mind, he uttered the magical formula to apparate and with a “pop”, he disappeared from his room.

Hermione was so lost in her daydream about Harry that she did not heard to caracteritic “pop” of someone apparating. Remus saw this and smiled. As a former marauder, he cannot resist the urge to play a prank on Hermione… With an angry tone, he spoke to her: “So it's like this that you maintain a constant vigilance?” Hermione jumped backward, fell hardly on her arse. Remus was laughing out loud at this sight. He helped Hermione to stand up, always laughing…

“Remus, I should have know… Such a bad mischief can only be done by an old marauder.”

“Sorry Hermione, I didn't want to scare you. Dumbledore send me to pick you and Ron up.”

“So you got our message”

“Yup, at the same time… What's wrong with Harry?”

“If only I knew. Ron and I have received the same message.”. She handed him the letters they got from Harry. Remus took knowledge of the letters. His face was pale when he read it. It sat down on the bed. Hermione sat down next to him. Seeing what could be called Harry's closest thing to a parent so aghast was worrying her at the highest level. Tears were coming to her eyes. She was to going to a deep despair... and if she was loosing it, who would find Harry?

Seeing her distress, Remus took her close by her shoulder. Sensing that he was caring for her too was too much for Hermione and the dam that was keeping the tears to flow was suddenly breaking up. She went crying on Remus shoulder. Between sobs, she confessed all those years where she did not dare to speak about her feelings to Harry. She conceded her unconditional love for Harry. Remus worked his best comforting words. Then he took her by the shoulder and made her look in his eyes. Some simple words left his mouth:

“Hermione, we are going to find him and to bring him back. And this long before he can make a fool of himself to the entire wizard world. But from you, I expect to be strong. And I expect a promise too. Promise me that the instant we found him, you will have a very serious conversation with him and you are going to repeat him the exact words you said earlier. I have the chance to have a wonderful friend in Harry. He is like the son I never had. I would like to have a chance to see him happy with you.”

Very shyly, Hermione answered Remus:

“I promise Remus, I'll speak to him. The moment we find him.”

“'That's the spirit I want to see…”

Harry was in no mood to make foolish thing. Not yet though. All he wanted was not being a charge for anybody anymore. No more being a danger to his friends and the one he loved. At the though of the one he loved, a face appeared briefly in his confused mind. A face framed with long bushy brown hair. A face where two magnificent hazelnut eyes were shining.

“What's the matter with me?” he thought “I'm here, on the road to Mary's house, to have a short but meaningful conversation with her, and the second later, I think of another girl. More of that… this other girl is my best friend… What's wrong with me”. His goal was very simple: going to Mary's house, having a short conversation with her on the reasons of her breaking with him and then leave for ever, disappear from everyone life, for ever. He would give information later on, but not at this moment. That's the moment that another voice chooses to enter his mind. The voice was saying: “Don't make anything foolish Harry Potter… think about me…”. It was Hermione's voice. He stopped his broomstick so quickly that he nearly fell from it. What was wrong with him? First he though about Hermione and the next thing he knows, he heard her voice in his head. “Oh boy, this is not good”, thought Harry to himself. He brought the broomstick to the ground, in a small clearing. He was not able to continue to fly for the day. Too many thing were trotting in his head…

Ron went back to Hermione a few minutes after the dam breaking of Hermione's tears. His belongings were in a small bag and he had his wand in his hand. I was surprised to see Remus in Hermione's room but after a short explanation, it appears to Ron that regrouping their forces to find Harry was the best solution. Remus apparated them just beyond Hogwarts ground limit and they rushed into the castle to go directly to Dumbledore's office.

The headmaster was waiting for them to come and he rushed them to sit and tell their part of the story so far. When they finished what they have to say, he stood up and went to the fireplace. He took a pouch of blue power, send it to the fire and say “Arabella”. Almost immediately, the face of an old Arabella Figg appears in the fireplace. He shortly discussed with her and then cut the communication. He then turned toward Hermione, Ron and Remus.

“Good. As you all heard it, Harry had not come back this evening at Privet Drive. And although I worry about him, I don't think he is in grave perils right now…”

“How is that” said a more than worried Hermione

“If we don't know where he is, there is little chance that our enemies are knowing it. While Harry is hiding, he will be hard to spot. I personally don't think we can do much this evening. Spotting someone using an invisibility cloak is very hard at day. It's almost impossible at night. So, I demand that for today, you all rest here. We'll wait tomorrow morning news to see if we can act and what we can do. Remus, you can sleep in one of the teacher's room, Hermione and Ron you have your respective dormitories. Get some rest, we are going to need it if we want to get Harry back in one piece and alive.”

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Love is in the Heir

1. A note from the author

2. Prologue

3. Trapped

4. Without any hope of come back

5. Reactions