ALL ALONE
Disclaimer: Harry Potter, the characters and world in the books belong to the one and only JK Rowling.
A/N: This fanfic was made in collaboration with the amazing writer Angel-Wing, whom I am very thankful for all her help and patience. Enjoy.
Chapter 1 -Closing the Fear
It was a hot summer evening when Mr. and Mrs. Granger were sitting at the kitchen table, having a cup of tea and talking quietly. Their 15 year old daughter, Hermione was upstairs in her bedroom. They didn't need to ask what she was doing. It was almost as if they could hear her quill scratching the parchment while she wrote another kilometric letter...
The sound of the phone ringing disturbed the peace for a moment. But before either Mr. or Mrs. Granger could react, they heard desperate steps, someone running downstairs and before it rang for the third time an agitated Hermione picked it up, panting.
"Hello?" they heard her breathe excitedly.
A second passed and she spoke again, this time with a tone of disappointment in her voice- "Oh, um, yeah wait a moment please..." she walked into the kitchen.
"Dad. It's for you," she said unenthusiastically.
"Thanks, darling," said Mr. Granger, raising an eyebrow at his daughter. He exchanged a knowing look with his wife and went to pick up the phone.
"No word from him yet?" Mrs. Granger asked when Hermione plopped down in a chair beside her.
"No," she answered.
Mrs. Granger grabbed her cup just in time before Hermione slammed with her fist the table, sighing with an annoyed expression.
"Ah! That git! I haven't heard anything from him since summer started!" she exclaimed, her bushy hair getting frizzier with her rising temper. "He won't return my owls or my phone calls! If it weren't for the weekly report he sends to the Order, you would think that he had disappeared from the face of the Earth!"
"I know you are worried dear, but you have to understand what great loss…" Hermione's mother tried to continue but was interrupted.
"It's not just that," Hermione said. "I know he is sad…but there is something more…I know there is.... Why won't he tell me?"
Her mother ran a hand through her daughter's hair. "He will. Just give him time," she said, and then embraced her.
"I know," said Hermione, feeling the comfort of her mother arms. "And besides, in a couple of days I will see him again, right?" she added, her frown disappearing at the thought.
Her mother just smiled and looked in her eyes. "You really care a lot about him, don't you?"
Hermione gazed down and a faint blush rushed to her cheeks.
"He is my best friend, mum," she said. "And, well, he has been through a lot. It's just that…"
"Just what Hermione?" Her mother asked.
"Yes, I do care for him," she said finally, in defeat out of the loss of words to say.
She let go of her mother. "I will go upstairs now. Goodnight mum and…thanks."
Mrs. Granger stared at her daughter standing up. She had gotten used to Hermione's attitude towards Harry. Sure, she had always been a caring girl, even when she was 7 she was always worried about her friends. But this boy was obviously different. She knew, because Hermione had told her, that he had a lot of weight on his shoulders. Mrs. Granger didn't know Harry very well, but she knew he was a good boy. She knew that her daughter wanted to be there for him and ease his life a little, but she also could feel that Hermione had developed some sort of dependence from him. She seemed to need him as bad as he needed her. Her daughter pushed everything aside when it came to Harry, and, even when she was proud of her strong will and loyalty, she sometimes was worried about the effect he had in her life. It was almost as if she lived for him.
"Hermione," her mother called, when her daughter had reached the door.
"Yes?" she asked, turning around.
"I love you," she said simply.
Hermione smiled. "I love you too, mum. Goodnight."
She climbed the stairs, gave her father a kiss goodnight, and went to her room. There she sat at her desk and took out a parchment and a quill and started writing again. Crookshanks came in and jumped on the table, wanting some attention, so she started scratching his ears.
"Oh, Crookshanks, I can't help but to feel worried about him," Hermione spoke softly as he just purred. Crookshanks then jumped down off the desk and lay down on her bed.
When she finished the letter, she realized how long it was. It was strange that even when she wrote him almost every day, she still had so much to say. Whatever he was doing, she wanted him to know that she thought about him all the time. Harry was probably feeling very lonely and depressed. She wanted to comfort him so badly! Why wasn't he answering? He had her phone number. She realized that his uncle had probably forbidden him to use the phone, but knowing Harry, that wouldn't have stopped him from getting in touch with her if he wanted to.
She was thinking about all this, when suddenly she heard a noise by the window. She got up to see what it was, grabbing her wand that was in a drawer by her desk. As she got to the window, a white blur scared her, making her lose her balance.
"Hedwig! You scared me!" she exclaimed, getting up from the floor and putting her wand on her desk.
She let the beautiful snowy owl come inside. "You are worried about Harry too, huh?" she said while caressing her feathers. "Well, you are just in time; I just finished a letter for him."
She grabbed the letter and Hedwig extended her leg so she could tie it. She stared at the bird for a second. "How come you always know when I need you to deliver my letters to Harry?" she asked softly.
The bird just flapped her wings. "Oh wait! I have some treats for you! I got them for Crookshanks, but he is so nice that he won't mind sharing," Hermione said before Hedwig flew off.
The cat just stared at her indignantly and she laughed at his reaction. She opened the door of her closet, which had a large mirror in the back. She was about to grab the bag of treats, when she spotted a reflection in the mirror that wasn't hers. A dark figure was standing behind her. She let out a scream and turned around. There was a tall man wearing a black cloak that covered his face. Thinking quickly, she ducked just in time to avoid a spell aimed at her.
"HEDWIG! FLY!! WARN HARRY!"
The man turned to the bird and shot a read beam at it, but Crookshanks leapt in front of it and fell down unconscious.
"Crookshanks!" screamed Hermione.
Hedwig flew away, avoiding the spells that were targeting her from several parts of the house.
There's more than one, thought Hermione desperately, trying to reach her wand on the desk. She lost sight of Hedwig just when the cracking sound of someone Apparating filled the room. Now there were two more Death Eaters.
In a hasty move, she grabbed her wand. "Stupefy!!" she aimed for one of them, and to her surprise, he fell down immediately. She turned toward another and screamed "Petrificus Totalus!!" and saw how his body went rigid and fell.
The third one was shooting at her, but she managed to get out of her room and closed the door with a locking spell. It wouldn't last very long, but at least it would give her time.
In the hallway, she ran into her parents, who had come out to know what was going on. They were in their pj's and stared confusedly at her. Her dad had a cane in his hands; probably thinking a burglar had broke in. With a strength she didn't know she had, she pushed her parents into their room.
"Mum, Dad…no matter what you hear, do not come out!"
"But Hermione..!" said her father, but with a flick of her wand she shut the door and focused on a powerful locking spell that she hoped would protect them at least until help arrived.
The door to her room exploded and the three Death Eaters came out of it. She knew she had to lead them away from her parents so she rushed to the stairs when she felt a powerful blow hitting her back. She fell down the stairs with a yelp and felt a sharp pain in her left shoulder. Another death eater, the one who had hit her, approached her. She tried to lift her head to look at her, but it was very hard.
"Well, well, so…you are his Mudblood… What a bad taste! But what can we expect? He is just like his father," said a female voice.
Hermione managed to raise her head and caught sight of long dark hair.... It was Bellatrix Lestrange...the woman that had tortured Neville's parents...and the one responsible for the death of Sirius. She felt a rush of hatred coming over her, and she tried to stand up, despite the pain.
Bellatrix Lestrange walked past Hermione, and started to move upstairs, towards her parents' room. With a smile she muttered a spell and directed it at the door, but it bounced off, leaving the door intact.
"Interesting, such powerful magic for such a little girl… Lucky for them that they are not our main targets." She frowned. "I just wanted to play a little, this is no fun." She turned to Hermione and walked back to her. "Anyway, Master will be pleased."
"Voldemort? What does he…" Hermione didn't have time to finish what she was going to ask, when Bellatrix interrupted, outraged.
"How dare you… you Mudblood speak his name! You shall be punished!! Crucio!!"
Hermione screamed at the unbarring pain she felt, and then suddenly everything went black.
* * *
Harry was lying on his bed, feeling tired of everything: his daily chores, being locked up in Privet Drive all summer.... But above all, he was tired of being depressed. He could not stop his mind from thinking about the events that happened only a few weeks ago. His stupidity and recklessness had lead his friends to a trap…where they got hurt and where he lost…Sirius.
Last summer, when he had been tormented by Cedric's death, he had thought that things couldn't be worse. One more time, he had been wrong. The pain he was feeling now was something he had never experienced before. Everything reminded him of that moment when Sirius had fallen through the veil. It didn't matter if he was awake or asleep, the sight of his Godfather's face in that moment haunted him. He had been so stupid!
He imagined Voldemort when he realized his trap had worked. He must have been overjoyed to have lured the stupid boy exactly where he wanted. If he had put more effort in Occlumency, this wouldn't have happened. But his pride had gotten in the way. He had often wondered what would have happened if he had received lessons from someone else besides Snape. If you had been more mature, you would have been able to separate your personal feelings towards Snape.
He replayed in his mind over and over how Hermione had tried to stop him. If he had listened to her.... But she could have tried harder to stop him! No, that wasn't fair. It was all his fault, and there was no sense in placing the blame in others. Of course, he sometimes had the awful feeling that Snape could have done something. He could have told him that Sirius was safe in Grimmauld Place, and he hadn't. If it was possible, the hate towards Hogwarts' Potions Master had only grown.
Being in Privet Drive wasn't helping him, of course. There was no way his relatives could understand what he was going through. Not that they knew what had happened; Harry wasn't going to tell them. Sometimes, by the look of his Aunt, he thought that she wanted to ask him something, but she never did. Harry was still being watched by Mrs. Figg and someone else, although he didn't know who it was. He doubted it was Mundungus.
His friends had written him a lot. Ron and Ginny sent him a few letters, with cheerful comments.
We think that maybe Dumbledore will allow you to come in August. Fred and George are almost set with the Joke Shop. Charlie is coming back from Romania.
In their letters, they never mentioned what had happened in June. Harry had the feeling that they didn't know how to deal with the subject, so they chose to act as if everything was fine.
Hermione's letters were different. She didn't talk about the weather of her vacation. She talked about feelings. Hers and his.
You might think I don't, but I understand how you are feeling, Harry. I wish I could talk to you and help you. I know that you are in your room, thinking that nothing is worthwhile anymore, but you are wrong! We love you, we are all here for you, and we want to help you....
Those letters brought mixed emotions to him. Sometimes, he felt some kind of warm comfort, and he reread them over and over again. Other times, he got angry. Hermione couldn't possibly know what it was like. No one could. He didn't want her to feel pity for him!
He hadn't answered the letters. He didn't feel like writing. What was he going to say, anyway?
Dear Ron, I'm so glad your brother is coming back.... Dear Hermione, I'm doing fine, don't worry....
It would all be lies. And he wasn't going to tell them what he was really feeling. And he knew that Hermione had called him a couple of times; he had heard his Uncle picking up and shouting that Harry didn't live there. If he had wanted, he could have called her back.... Truth was, he was afraid to talk to them. Not only thoughts about Sirius were in his mind; he also couldn't stop thinking about that prophecy. He was terrified to tell Ron or Hermione about that. He wouldn't blame them if this time they decided to stay away from him. Maybe it was better to keep them away, it would be safer....
His thoughts were interrupted abruptly when Hedwig rushed in from his window and started flying around the room, screeching and pecking Harry's clothes, trying to force him to stand up.
"Hedwig? What' s wrong? What's going on?" Harry was trying to calm down his owl, but she just kept pulling him and flapping her wings frantically. Her screeches were really loud, and Harry was sure that his Uncle would hear them in the kitchen. Sure enough, he heard furious steps on the stairs, and then his bedroom door opened with a bang.
"BOY!! WHAT HAVE I TOLD YOU ABOUT THAT BLOODY BIRD?!? WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE?!" A very red Mr. Dursley busted into his room, followed by his wife and overweight son.
"I...I don't know!" Harry said, too focused on Hedwig's attitude to pay attention to the murderous look in Uncle Vernon's eyes. "She just flew in and started acting like this…I don't know what's wrong, unless…." A thought came to his mind that made his heart sink. He swallowed and lowered his voice. "Hedwig, is…is someone in danger?"
Such a simple question made the snowy owl calm down immediately and she landed on the edge of the window. Harry was petrified. Now he knew that the answer to that dreadful question was affirmative.
"Who..?" Before Harry had time to finish his question, Hedwig extended her leg to reveal the letter attached. With shaking hands he untied the letter and closed his eyes not wanting to read it…. But he needed to know, so he opened them slowly to see his name written in a fine and neat handwriting. There was no point in looking at the signature. He knew that handwriting better than anything.
His heart started to pound loudly and his head began to spin. He had to do something, anything! Not waiting a second, he stuffed the letter into his pocket and headed for his trunk that was under his bed, not even caring that his actions were followed by the disconcerted gaze of his relatives. He opened the trunk and grabbed his Firebolt. He searched a little deeper to find his dad's cloak. He stuck the wand in his pocket, and with the broom in one hand, he passed the shocked Dursleys and walked out of the room with a determined expression on his face.
Finally, Uncle Vernon seemed to recover and regained his voice again. "WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU ARE GOING??!!" he screamed, grabbing Harry's arm just before he reached the stairs.
"I'm going to help my friend!" he said, trying to get away from his grip. "Let me go!"
"You can't leave the house! That Dimblidong guy told you not to!!" his uncle said.
Harry stopped immediately. He still wasn't sure what his feelings were toward the Headmaster anymore. However, the thought of him made him regain some conscience. He didn't know what was going on with Hermione or where she was. He was about to do something rushed again, just like in June...but he had to do something! He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Uncle Vernon let him go slowly.
"Look, I know what he said…but one of my best friends is in danger, and it's probably because of me, so I would rather be the one who suffers and not her.... Not her...." said Harry with a strange, calm voice that even surprised him. "So this is something I need to do."
He started heading back to the stairs when he heard the familiar noise of someone Apparating, followed by another one. Reacting immediately, Harry grabbed his wand with amazing speed and pointed to the two persons that had Apparated.
Standing in front of him was Mad Eye Moody and Remus Lupin. Their expressions were unreadable.
"Well boy, seems that after all you have been paying attention to me," Moody said with a smirk.
But Harry didn't lower his wand. "How do I know if you really are...you?"
"You know we really need a secret code to stop this question being asked.... Umm, let's see...." Moody started.
"I'm Moony," Lupin interrupted.
It wasn't what he said but how he said it that convinced Harry. He didn't have time to do this, anyway. "I'm glad you are here! We have to do something! Hermione is in danger!! Hedwig flew in and-"
"We know, Harry," Lupin said.
"You know? Oh, so she is alright… right?" Harry asked fearfully.
Lupin and Moody exchanged a look. Harry felt a pang of desperation when the answer didn't come.
"RIGHT?" he yelled, his voice a mix of anger and fear.
Lupin put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Harry but Hermione...she's gone."
She's gone… That was the same thing Remus had said when…when Sirius.... No, no, not again! His mind screamed and he felt such a rush of anxiety and anguish that his heart seemed to stop for a moment.
He just stood there without saying a word, with his head lowered. His shoulders were shaking and his breathing became heavier. He couldn't see or hear Lupin, Moody or the Dursleys anymore. A light breeze could be felt now.... It did not come from any windows or doors.... It came from him. The breeze started to become stronger. The windows were starting to crack and Harry slowly started to forget where he was or what he was doing....
The Dursleys were still at the staircase holding each other. Fear could be seen in their faces.... Moody and Lupin were just amazed at the amount of magic they could feel coming from Harry. Lupin knew that Harry wasn't aware of what was going on. He was in some sort of trance and he had to be stopped before he lost all control.
"Enough, Harry. Miss Granger is not dead," said a calm but strong voice from behind.
The air stopped flowing abruptly and Harry snapped his head, blinking. He hadn't been sure what had happened, but he had heard that voice. His eyes met with Dumbledore's, who was standing beside Remus and Moody.
"She's alive?" he repeated. "Is she alright?" His voice was a whisper, but it was filled with hope. He stared at the Headmaster intently, trying to read his expression.
"Remus, would you be kind enough to gather Harry's belongings and trunk and take them to Hogwarts? Alastor, please stay here with the Dursleys…for their own protection," he added as he saw the look of pure horror in their faces. "And Harry, you are coming with me."
"You haven't answered my question!"
"Please come with me and I will explain...."
"No!! Answer me NOW!!"
Dumbledore gazed at him behind his glasses. "Very well," he said, approaching Harry. He ignored the Dursleys, who were stepping back in fear. "As I said, Miss Granger is not dead. But she is missing. If you really want to know what's going on, you must come with me now."
Harry numbly nodded. Dumbledore took out a book, which Harry assumed was a Portkey, and Harry touched it with one shaky finger. He felt the familiar tug, and when it stopped he found himself in Dumbledore's office, back in Hogwarts. The Headmaster sat on his comfortable chair behind his desk and motioned Harry to do the same. Harry sat down slowly. He was biting his lip furiously. He felt as if someone was slowly strangling him, and he tried to take a deep breath, but the air seemed to have left the room. Dumbledore cleared his throat and started speaking.
"Tonight was a grand night for Voldemort, Harry. He started - or well, his Death Eaters started - a major attack on Muggle-borns as well as random Muggle houses. The Order and the Ministry tried to stop them and fight back the attacks. When an attack was reported from the Grangers' home we thought it was simply because she was a Muggle-born, a random house. But unfortunately, that was not the case as there were other reports - three to be exact - about other houses of pure-blood wizards that were attacked."
Harry was numb.... Everything was happening so fast…so sudden.... Wait....
Three pure-bloods??
"The first report came from the Lovegood house. It seems that Mr. Lovegood and his daughter gave quite a fight but in the end he was stunned and his daughter, Luna, has gone missing. "The second report was from the Longbottoms' house. The Death Eaters were very cruel with Ms. Longbottom. She is at St. Mungo's right now in a delicate state. There were traces of blood in the house. We assume that Neville got into a fiery fist fight, but the amount of blood does not suggest that he was mortally wounded."
Harry was silent, dreading what was coming next.
"The third report, I am afraid to say, is from the Weasleys.... They put up a real fight and even managed to capture two Death Eaters, but they were still able to take hold of Ginny and Ron."
Dumbledore paused. Harry did not know what to think.... His friends…missing…all of them…he was alone…they were in danger….just because of his stupidity.... He didn't need Dumbledore to tell him why.
"The Death Eaters took the ones who went with you to the Department of Mysteries," Dumbledore continued with a soft voice. "I assume that Voldemort might think that one of them knows about the Prophecy."
Harry looked at the headmaster with tears in his eyes. He could not hide his emotions anymore. He had tried to shut everyone out all summer; he had wanted to be left alone. And now as twisted as it was, Voldemort granted his wish. He was truly alone now.
A/N: A special thanks to our two beta readers hallee87 and Tawny Spitfyre for making this fanfic readable and more enjoyable.
Please don't forget to review cause every opinion and criticism is welcomed and useful to be better on the next chapters.
Thanks!