"He'll be here any minute," Hermione said cheerfully as she counted down the seconds to midnight. "There. It's tomorrow." She looked up as if she expected Harry to appear before her immediately.
She, her parents, Snape, Lupin, Dumbledore, and Arthur Weasley were in kitchen of Grimauld place sipping tea while they waited for Harry. Her parents had been introduced to Dumbledore and reintroduced to Arthur whom they had met before in Diagon Alley. Arthur was asking them all kinds of questions about Muggle life, fascinated by their work, home, and methods of doing things he relied upon magic to do. He was most interested in having one or both of them examine his teeth and had volunteered all his children for dental appointments as well.
Hermione had noticed that Dumbledore's eyes were twinkling more than usual when he looked at her. He seemed to be trying to surpress a big grin and she wondered what was going through his mind. She had an urge to ask him out right, "Why are you twinkling at me?" It was unnerving.
She checked her watch again. It was 12:03. "He should have been here by now," she said, starting to worry.
Snape looked at his own watch, "Ms. Granger, the boy is rarely prompt. Three minutes is no cause for alarm." Hermione glared at him. Harry was not late to his class very often, really no more than anyone else.
By 12:07, Hermione was pacing the floor of the kitchen and looking out the window every few minutes as if she expected him to be outside.
At 12:12, John said, "I wonder what's keeping him?" He knew that Harry would not want to spend one minute extra with his family and he worried about Harry's prediction that they would be angry if he arrived unexpectedly.
A strained silence fell upon them. At 12:16, Hagrid offered to go get Harry. "Those are some awful Muggles," he said.
"Let's wait a few more moments," Dumbledore suggested. He picked up a tin of biscuits and passed them around, though no one took one.
"Leave it to Potter to keep us waiting expectantly for his grand entrance," Snape growled irritably.
"You seem to have something against Harry," John turned to Snape, accusation in his voice.
"He hated Harry's father and can't quite understand that Harry is not James Potter," Hermione snapped. What would Snape do? He could not take points from Gryffindor since they were not in school. And it was highly unlikely he could become any more unpleasant in class.
"I--" Snape started, but he was cut off by the headmaster.
"I do believe she has a point, Severus," Dumbledore said softly, the twinkle never leaving his eye.
Snape was silent, sulking at being reprimanded, even gently, by Dumbledore.
Jane remained quiet, but started clearing the teacups from everyone, even those who had not finished drinking their tea. She took them to the sink to wash them, just to have something useful to do.
"I'm worried about him," John admitted as he checked his watch again. "He said he would stay one hour. He hates being with those people and I know they mistreat him." It was 12:24.
"He's right, Dumbledore," Arthur said. "I hate to speak ill of someone I've had so little dealing with, but that uncle of his is a rather vile and unreasonable man."
"He's only going to be there an hour. What is so terrible about that?" Snape asked, annoyed at the amount of stress Potter's tardiness was causing. He was certain that the boy would arrive, perfectly well, and perfectly late.
"Harry knew they would be angry with him," Remus, who had been silent thus far, added. "Maybe they won't let him leave now that he's back."
"He has a perfectly good portkey," Snape reminded him.
"His uncle could have broken it," Hermione said nervously. "He hates everything associated with magic. I bet that's exactly what happened. They broke the portkey and Harry can't get here because he can't apparate yet."
"I'll go get him," Arthur said. "I've been to his house before. I think I can handle Dursley."
"I want to help you," John offered. He feared that the man had hurt more than the portkey.
"You'll be of no use," Snape said to him, still angry that John had accused him of having a grudge against the boy.
"Severus," Dumbledore said his name with great disappointment. "John Granger may very well be a valuable asset to our group."
"I'm going too," Hermione walked back to the table to join her father and Mr. Weasley.
"No!" John, Arthur, Remus, Hagrid, and Dumbledore all said in unison. Hermione opened her mouth to reply, but was too stunned by their reaction.
"I want Severus to stay with me. The rest of you all may go," Dumbledore said. "I trust that between the four of you, you can handle any situation. I have some more research to do regarding the information that Severus has brought to my attention. I may need his assistance."
"Professor, do you really think it necessary to send--" Snape started, but was cut off again.
"The more protection that Harry has, the better," he answered, effectively ending Snape's objections.
"Be careful," Hermione said as they prepared to leave.
Remus took John Granger's hand as he had done earlier in Vermont. By doing so, he was able to apparate with the Muggle at his side. Three pop's later they were all inside the den of 4 Privet Drive.
"Lumos," Arthur muttered, lighting the tip of his wand.
John instinctively reached for the light switch to illuminate the room. His stomach lurched at the site before him. The furniture of the once tidy home was in disarray. A lamp had been knocked over and broken. The coffeetable was leaning awkwardly with only three legs. The globe that Hermione had given Harry just hours before was on the floor, shattered. The carpet beneath it was wet and the glass looked distinctly like it was covered in blood. "Harry!" he called. "Harry, where are you?"
"I'll kill 'im," Hagrid said gruffly. "Come out Dursley, you troll!" He stormed up the stairs to look for Vernon.
Arthur followed, determined to keep Hagrid from carrying out his threat. "We'll look upstairs. You two check down here," he called as he followed the half-giant in bounds up the stairs.
"Where's Harry?!" they heard Hagrid boom as he threw open the door to the Dursley's bedroom. A shrill female scream followed.
"I know where he is!" John said to Remus while he darted to the door of the cupboard. It was shut with a padlock. "Harry," he called. "Are you in there?" He fumbled uselessly with the lock.
"In the cupboard?" Remus asked, disbelieving. He muttered an "alohamora" to unlock the door. It swung open and Harry who had been shoved into the tiny space, fell out, unconscious and bleeding from his head. His breath sounded raspy. "Harry!" he gasp. He helped John lay the boy flat on the carpet. When he took his hand away from Harry's shoulder, he realized it was wet with blood.
Even though he was a dentist, John had had to learn basic emergency techniques in his medical training. He checked for Harry's pulse. "Heart rate is good," he muttered. "Could you make that wand light up again?" he asked Remus.
Remus obliged and John used it like a pinlight to peer into Harry's eyes. "He has a concussion," he announced. "We need to stop this bleeding," he said. "Can you find a towel, or--"
Remus jumped up and went into the kitchen. He returned with several clean hand-towels and pressed them to Harry's skull. "I'm not very good with healing spells," he said with regret in his voice. "I'm afraid I would make it worse if I tried to make it better."
"Apply gentle pressure,"John told him.
They heard yelling from up the stairs. Hagrid was threatening the Muggles and Arthur was trying to calm him. "Just tell us where he is," Hagrid bellowed.
"We've found him," Remus yelled up the stairs, while watching John unbutton Harry's shirt.
He gently traced his fingers over the boy's sides, shaking his head. "Some of these ribs are broken. We've got to get him to a hospital. Don't move him," John told Remus. "I'll call for an ambulance."
"No, don't!" Remus stopped him. "We'll take him back with us and get a mediwitch to heal him."
"What?" John asked, stunned. "You can't move him like this. You could do more damage," he argued. "Those ribs could puncture a lung if they haven't already."
"It's okay," Remus said. "We can move him without hurting him. I promise."
Arthur and Hagrid came down the stairs again. "You should've let me finish him off," Hagrid was telling Mr. Weasley. He stopped still when he saw Harry lying unconscious on the floor. "I'm goin' to kill 'im," he announced, turning to go back up the stairs.
"No, you're not!" Arthur said. "You'll just get yourself in trouble and then who will help us protect Harry from You -Know-Who?" That did the trick. Hagrid abandoned his wrath in order to focus on Harry.
"Hagrid, you're the strongest among us. I want you to lift Harry very gently. Be careful, now. He has some broken ribs. Arthur, you apparate with John. I'll take care of Dursley."
Remus had created a stretcher under Harry and bound him to it. Hagrid easily lifted it in his arms and popped out.
"Why don't you let us help you take care of Dursley?" Arthur asked with an evil grin on his face.
*****************************
"Oh my god! What happened to him?" Jane gasp as Hagrid appeared. She jumped to her feet to help him.
Hermione screamed and ran to Hagrid. "Harry!" she cried, seeing his still bleeding form.
In seconds, Dumbledore and Snape were in the room, having heard Hermione's scream.
Hagrid gently placed the stretcher and Harry on the table. There were tears in his eyes. "He's hurt bad, Headmaster."
"How?" Snape sputtered. "Death Eaters can't breach his home."
"It wasn't Death Eaters you stupid git!" Hermione wailed as she lunged at the professor beating her hands against his chest. "It was his uncle! He's a monster! You didn't tell them that Harry was coming back!" she sobbed, clinging to Snape's robes. "You made him go back alone! He told you they'd be angry, but you made him go back alone!" She sank to the knees, overwhelmed by sobs. "Harry, Harry," she whispered softly. She was terrified by the amount of blood seeping from the wound in his scalp.
"Hagrid, floo to Poppy immediately. She's asleep at this hour, I'm sure. You'll have to go wake her." Dumbledore ordered.
Hagrid nodded and exited.
Jane was examining Harry just as her husband had done. She pried his eyes open to check for a reaction and announced that he had a concussion. His hair was matted with blood and his breathing was shallow and strained. "I can't tell if there's damage to his throat or lungs or both," she told them. There were large fingerprint bruises on both sides of his neck. "I do know that someone tried to strangle him."
Dumbledore watched, but did not interfere with her examination. He knew that Poppy would arrive shortly and provide an accurate assessment. He did not doubt Mrs. Granger's assessment, but was certain that Madame Pomfrey would be able to tell more about his internal state.
"Severus, see if you can find a calming potion for Ms. Granger. I'm not sure she can handle this."
"Can you?" He motioned downward to the girl who was clinging to him while she cried. Snape had been too shocked by Harry's state to be angered by Hermione's reaction.
"Come on, Hermione," Dumbledore said, lifting the girl with a strength not expected from one so aged. "Harry will be fine, my dear." He helped Hermione to a chair.
She glanced back at the table and saw her bruised and bloodied boyfriend. She looked away quickly, unable to take the sight of him, but hating herself for being so weak. "Make him better," she whispered hoarsely.
"We will," he assured her. "And you'll be there for him when he wakes up."
Poppy and Hagrid arrived. "My goodness," Poppy fussed, "What has Potter gotten himself into this time?"
Jane explained to her what she had found while Poppy checked him magically. "You're very accurate, Miss," she said approvingly. She found that he did have a concussion, four ribs broken on his left side, trauma to his trachea, and a large gash on his scalp. She muttered an incantation to repair his broken bones and took several healing potions from her bag and began to apply them. She had an idea of what to bring from the description Hagrid had given her.
Hagrid had joined Dumbledore with Hermione. "It'll be all right. He's a strong one, that boy." Hagrid told her in his most comforting voice.
Snape returned to the kitchen with a potion for Hermione. "Take this," he told her.
"I don't want anything from you," she said, slapping it away. The bottle fell to the floor with a clatter.
"Now, Hermione, you can't blame Severus for this," Dumbledore started.
"Yes I can!" she spat. "He wouldn't let me go with Harry. If I'd been with him, if anyone had been with him, his uncle wouldn't have done this. Even my dad offered to go with Harry."
"How was I to know the Muggle would beat him?" Snape argued. "He didn't tell me that."
"As if he would! You treat him like dirt, like an attention seeking drama queen, but you don't know. You just make assumptions based on James. James is dead! Harry never even knew him. If you'd act like an adult instead of thirteen year old bully, Harry might trust you!" She screamed with years of pent up anger. "Just get away from me. Get away from Harry. Go grow up!"
"Severus was doing as I instructed him to do," Dumbledore told her calmly.
Hermione's eyes flared with renewed anger. "That's right. He was. You. You who have sent Harry to those people year after year when he's asked over and over again not to go. You left them with him and let them starve him and keep him locked in a closet when he was a child."
"There are things you do not yet understand," Dumbledore said gently, despite the fact that Hermione's rage had just targeted him as she forgot about Snape.
"I understand more than you know," she snapped. It did not matter to her that this was her headmaster or that she had just verbally and physically attacked a teacher. She paid no thought to anything but protecting Harry from everyone who was a threat to him and, at this point, that meant even Dumbledore.
"Everything I have done has been with the best of intentions, to protect Harry, to make him happy."
"Happy? Do you think he was happy when he was little and they worked him like a house elf, dressed him in rags, fed him scraps, and verbally abused him? Do you think he was happy being called a freak and getting beaten up by his cousin?"
Hagrid looked away from her, as if he felt guilty. He had had no idea that Harry's family treated him poorly until he was sent to get the boy.
"Hermione, it was all for the greater good."
"Who's greater good?" she asked meekly, as her focus returned. She left Dumbledore and Hagrid to be by Harry's side. Her falling apart would not help him, nor would berating everyone in earshot.
"Where are the others?" Hagrid asked. He had expected them to be back by the time he returned. "They said something about taking care of Dursley. They wouldn't let me do it."
"Severus, you should see what is keeping them," Dumbledore started, but he was interrupted by the three men's arrival. "Where is Dursley?" he asked.
"Why, we brought him to you," Lupin said innocently. He took a very harassed looking slug from his pocket and handed him to Dumbledore, coming just short of the man's hand, "Oops, dropped him."
"I'll take care of him," Dumbledore said, levitating the slug and taking him from the room.
"How is Harry?" John asked, placing a hand on Hermione's shoulder. She was sitting at the table, watching Madame Pomfrey work with him.
"Better than he was," she whispered. "I'm so glad you went to find him."
"I'm going to get Molly," Arthur told them. "She would want to be here. She loves Harry like he's her own, you know." Mr. Weasley headed to fireplace.
"We should move him to a bed," Madame Pomfrey instructed. "I've done all I can do. He needs time to heal." She had mended his bones and his trachea. His breathing was steady and easy, but he was still out cold. "I'll stay to monitor him, of course."
"He's going to be okay?" Hermione asked her hopefully, tears still brimming in her eyes.
"Yes, he will be. I imagine he'll have quite a headache when he wakes up though."
"Thank you!" Hermione hugged her impulsively.
"Um, you're welcome," she said, returning the hug. "Now, go on up with Harry. You need some rest too."
Once again Hagrid lifted the stretcher and Harry. Hermione, her mother, and Madame Pomfrey followed him up the stairs to the nearest bedroom where they placed him on the bed.