Chapter 8 - Disaster
Hermione sighed as she watched Harry turn his attention toward the book he was reading. He gulped. It felt a little funny having her just watch him like that.
"Harry I…"
"Mr. Potter! Mr. Potter!" shouted another voice from down the Great Hall. Though the name Harry was called, he and Hermione turned their heads. A second year Gryffindor girl was running toward where they were sitting as if she was in desperate need to win a jogging marathon.
"Mr. Potter!" she said again as she came to a dead stop in front of them and put her hands on her knees to take a much needed breath.
"Whoa, whoa," Harry said, putting a hand on her shoulder to calm her. He had never seen a young girl look so frightened before. "And call me Harry."
"What's the matter?" interjected Hermione in a comforting voice, putting her hand on the girl's other shoulder.
"Oh Ms. Granger!" the young second year girl screeched in a breath. "It's terrible!"
"Call me Hermione dear," she said, trying to calm her as Harry had did. Even though they were Head Boy and Head Girl, the formal calling of their last names were unnecessary.
"What is it?" soothed Harry, but the girl still had the horrified look on her face.
"It's… it's Hedwig Mr. Pott… I mean, Harry," the girl answered.
Harry flinched as his eyes widened in fear and concern. "What… about Hedwig!?"
"Outside… on the castle grounds… by the main entrance," was all she could manage just as she burst into tears.
"Hermione let me handle Hedwig. You…"
But Hermione was already running toward the doors to the Great Hall, in the direction of the main entrance.
"No, Hermione! I have Hedwig!" Harry shouted just as she turned outside the doors. She obviously did not hear him. "You forgot your box!"
Harry exhaled deeply, thanked the little girl, grabbed Hermione's box out of instinct, and sprinted the path Hermione had taken.
***
It seemed like a long time before Harry had actually went through the front doors and onto the front lawn. It was no wonder the little girl that told Harry and Hermione something was terrible was frightened, at least form a little girls eye view anyway.
Harry stood in shock with his jaw dropped as he looked at the spectacle. Hedwig was there all right, but she was being attacked by two bigger, larger, and stronger wild eagle owls. Her screeches were loud enough to pierce through a wall. Hermione stood a few feet away with both her hands over her mouth in shock. A few other students were standing a few feet away and just watching, too shocked to do anything.
Harry on the other hand could feel his blood rising quickly as he saw the two eagle owls torment Hedwig. Her cries and whimpers fueled Harry even more as she could do nothing but just literally sit there; the two owls were just overpowering her.
Without thinking, Harry dashed forward passed Hermione and to Hedwig's much needed aide. In Harry's mind, he was no longer holding a box belonging to Hermione, but now he was holding a weapon. He batted one of the owls off of Hedwig with the box, using momentum from his run to make sure the owl received the full blast; it left a huge dent in the box. The eagle owl flew only a few feet, a bit dazed by the blow.
With the adrenaline Harry had left, he used it to whack the other eagle owl off Hedwig. It flew a few feet too, but not as far as the first owl did.
Harry looked around as he stood over Hedwig, protecting her from any other danger. A few students that were watching let out screams and gasps; Hermione stood at a distance, her hands over her mouth with shock.
The two eagle owls stumbled a bit, shook their heads, and focused their eyes right on Harry.
"Hang on Hedwig," Harry whispered to her, "I won't let anything else happen to you."
As if on routine, the two eagle owls darted toward Harry, much faster than he had anticipated. As a quick reaction, he shielded himself and Hedwig with the box, making the eagle owls attack that first. It seemed like they wanted to tear the box apart in order to get to Harry. The eagle owls slaughtered the box, getting through one of the sides and tearing away at its contents. The eagle owls tried to get around it, but Harry was persistent in keeping Hedwig safe.
Some bystanders were starting to cheer him on. Others were just in plain shock.
"Go! Give it to em Harry!"
"Oh no! That's awful!"
"Somebody help him!"
Those were some of the things Harry had heard as he continued to protect Hedwig. Not wanting to defend any longer, Harry took a few swings with the box at the eagle owls when he felt the time was right. Sometimes, he missed; other times he hit air. The back and forth duel between Harry and the eagle owls went on for quite some time.
Finally, probably due to exhaustion, the two eagle owls gave up and retreated helplessly; they could no longer take any more beatings. Harry watched with alerted eyes as the eagle owls flew away, just in case if they were to come back. When he was certain they were long gone, Harry dropped the box and rushed to his knees to Hedwig's aide.
Harry kneeled beside her with his mouth agape. The damage was already done.
"Hedwig…"
"It's… ok Harry…" she barely managed to get out, "I'm fine…"
Harry gently put his hand on one of her wings. It looked like it had been twisted with a pair of human hands. Hedwig screeched in pain.
"Sorry, Hedwig," he apologized, as he tried to caress her wing.
"I think it's broken…" she whispered. Just then, Hermione came running and knelt down right beside Harry to examine Hedwig as well. The rest of the spectators stood a few feet away silently, hoping for the best.
"Oh my gosh Hedwig," gasped Hermione. "You poor thing."
"I'm fine Hermione," said Hedwig. It was too bad it sounded like a pitiful moaning hoot to her.
"We need to get you to the hospital wing," she advised, wiping at least some of the blood that was coming from her cuts. Because her feathers were white, the blood had stained most parts red.
"I'll take her," called a voice from behind. Harry and Hermione both turned and saw the same girl that had told the both of them that there was a problem. "I'll handle her just like a delicate child."
Harry carefully helped Hedwig into the arms of the girl. After a sigh of relief, she was on her way to the hospital wing, Hedwig as fragile as crystal in her arms.
Hermione sighed as the girl walked away and hugged Harry's arm. This surprised him just a bit, but nonetheless it did feel good. He smiled at her and she smiled back as the both of them watched Hedwig off.
The crowd that was around them started into a bunch of cheers as the saving of Hedwig was a complete success. Some of the students went over to congratulate Harry in a job well done; however, the sudden look of sadness in Hermione's eyes didn't make him feel like celebrating any more.
"What's wrong Hermione?" he asked, as if she and him were the only ones around. The crowd took this as a hint, smiled with amusement, and walked off without another word.
Hermione didn't answer. Harry continued to look over her; the look on her face was heartbreaking. Her eyes were staring blankly to an area and her lip was somewhat trembling. It hurt to see her in such a state. Harry followed her gaze to the heap of mess on the floor. It was her box.
Harry had totally forgotten that it was Hermione's box he was carrying. If his brain was functioning correctly, he might've dropped it and took on the owls with his bare hands, but the two eagle owls upset him too much for him to think.
The once beautiful and immaculate box was now a bit smudged, dirty, and smashed in several places. It was shredded here and there and some pieces were falling off. The thing that caught Harry's eye the most was that it's contents were protruding from the gashes.
Hermione let go of Harry's arm and knelt down by the box, trying to gather all the pieces together to see what was left. It seemed that Hermione cared more about the contents than anything.
It was some sort of red material, made out of a very rich and delicate fabric. There were a few hints of glittering in the material when the sun hit it, which told Harry that whatever was inside was not cheap. Hermione ripped apart the box and took out all of the contents.
It looked like some sort of big, red, and shiny blanket ripped in two. The only difference was that it was shredded and torn in a few places. Something told Harry that that was no blanket.
"Hermione…um… what was that?" asked Harry as he knelt down by her to observe the material with her.
Hermione's eyes were just a bit watery. She swallowed, hoping that the tears wouldn't fall. "This was my dress Harry."
Harry's jaw dropped. He couldn't believe what he just heard. That big shredded material that he though was a blanket turned out to be a dress! Harry embarrassingly reached for the material and felt it carefully; the texture was one no blanket would have. Hermione sniffled.
"Um… Hermione?" asked Harry softly. "This wouldn't happen to be the dress you were going to use for tomorrow night's Christmas Ball, right?"
"Actually… it is Harry," she replied softly. "Well… it was…" She let out a fake heartedly laugh. Though Harry could see the tears in her eyes, she refused to let them fall.
"Oh no…" groaned Harry. "This is all my fault…"
"No it's not," replied Hermione. "You were trying to protect a friend. That I see as a very honorable thing to do."
"But what about the ball?" asked Harry, his eyes full of concern for Hermione's attendance for the ball.
"Don't worry about it," she assured. "I'll just find some other dress."
"But it's a formal ball Hermione!" exclaimed Harry. "If you don't find another dress in time, you won't be able to attend."
"Then I won't go…" she whispered sadly.
"But…" was all Harry could say. In fact, he didn't know what to say after all this. It was because of him that her dress was used as a baseball bat. It was because of him that her dress was completely destroyed. It was because of him that she wouldn't be going to the Christmas Ball.
"I am so sorry Hermione…" whispered Harry.
"Don't worry Harry," she answered in the same soft, dead tone. "It's not your fault."
It was no use. Who was she trying to kid!? Harry knew very well that she knew this was his fault and Hermione could have told him that it wasn't his fault a million times and he still wouldn't believe it. No matter what, he was responsible for this mess here and deep in his mind, he was going to make it up to her… but how?
"Is that why you weren't down at lunch at the usual time?" Harry just had to make sure.
Hermione nodded. "I was waiting for the box to be delivered. Mom sent it to me…"
That did it… Harry had to make it up somehow.
***
Harry paced back and forth in his Head dormitory in his pajamas, trying to think straight. Since the eagle owl dilemma, the thought of making it up to Hermione bothered him like a fly. He just couldn't concentrate on anything else.
"What am I going to do!?" said Harry to himself exasperatedly. "There's something in my mind, but I can't put my finger on what it is!"
Harry scratched his head in frustration. "If only I had more time! The ball is less than 24 hours away! How am I going to get a dress before then!?"
Harry continued to pace even more around the room with his hands behind his back. "If I don't come up with something now, this'll haunt me for the rest of my life. If only all stores sold dresses then…"
Suddenly, Harry stopped in mid-sentence in the middle of the room, his eyes widening. He looked at the door to his closet, then to a mirror showing his reflection, then to the broomstick servicing kit Hermione had given him in 3rd year, then to the clock. He stood there for a few moments to make sure that everything fit and would work.
"That's it!" smiled Harry. "I think I got it!"
After taking a few deep breaths of relief, Harry climbed into bed and pulled up the covers with the same grin on his face. He dreamed that his plan was going to turn out perfectly.