***Thank-you for the reviews! I guess I should let you know that as this story progresses it will not follow the typical canon of the HP books. You will see what I mean in later chapters! :)***
The rest of the summer at the burrow was quiet. Harry still spent his days under the trees, but no one came out to sit with him anymore. Once in a while Ginny would try to talk to him, but he really didn't want to talk to her about it. He had tried to tell Hermione that what he had said had come out wrong, but she wouldn't listen to him. Every time he tried to get her alone to talk, she would turn right around and go somewhere else. Ron wouldn't even look at Harry. He would go into his room right after dinner, and by the time Harry went to bed he was already asleep. Harry was desperately lonely, which was ironic since he was with his two best friends. They had never fought before, and he had no idea how to rectify the situation. He wished Sirius was here to talk to. He would know what to do.
The day came when they needed to go to Diagon Alley to buy their school supplies. They had gotten their letters, and Ron along with Hermione had made Prefect again. The O.W.L. results came also. Hermione had received 12 O.W.L.s, a perfect score. Harry had received 8, and Ron had 7. Even though he knew she was ecstatic over her score; she barely said two words about it to either him or Ron.
"Well, let's get going" said Mrs. Weasley. "Once we get there, Ginny and I will go get her supplies and you three can go and get yours. Grab some floo powder and let's get going!"
Before any of them could protest, she and Ginny were gone. Ron looked at Hermione, then Harry. He made a disgusted sound, grabbed some powder and shouted "Diagon Alley!" and was gone.
Harry looked over at Hermione and asked "would you like to go next, or do you want me to go?" Hermione looked at him, and without saying a word she grabbed some floo powder repeating what Ron had said and she too was gone.
'Great' thought Harry 'this ought to be a fun afternoon!'
After they arrived at Diagon Alley, Ron went to Quality Quidditch Supplies and Hermione went to Flourish and Blotts. It didn't really surprise him that they just went their own ways. Harry watched them go and wondered where he should go first. He went to Gringotts and got some money out of his vault. He decided to go to the apothecary and then head over to Flourish and Blotts. He still couldn't believe he made it into N.E.W.T. level Potions class. He purchased what he needed and headed over to the book shop. He went inside and pulled out his book list. He went to find the new Defense Against the Dark Arts book he would need. As he went to the section he needed, he heard Hermione talking to someone on the opposite side of the bookcase. It was a mans voice, and he swore he had heard it before. Instantly he felt jealousy surge through his body. He walked around the bookcase and snuck a peek around the corner to see who it was she was talking to. He couldn't believe it! Standing there with his arm wrapped around Hermione's shoulder, laughing and smiling was...
"Bill?" Harry asked walking around the bookcase towards them. What was Bill Weasley doing here in the middle of the day? Wasn't he supposed to be working in London? "What are you doing here?"
"Hi Harry! Nice to see you too!" replied Bill. Harry stood there staring at him with a strange feeling running through him. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was very wrong.
"Even though it's none of your business" said Hermione shortly "Bill is in town taking care of something for Dumbledore."
Harry looked up at Bill ready to ask him another question and almost fell to the floor in shock. As their eyes made contact, Bill's eyes flashed red for just a second. Harry looked towards Hermione, reaching out for her arm at the same time.
"Come here Hermione" was all he said.
"What are you doing Harry?" asked Hermione curtly.
"Yeah Harry? What's the matter with you?" asked the Bill impersonator with an evil smirk on his face.
"Hermione we need to leave NOW!" said Harry pulling on her arm and heading towards the door.
"What are you talking about Harry, this is..."
"No it's not! I don't know who this is but he is definitely not Bill Weasley!"
Even though Hermione was mad at him still, she couldn't help panicking a little. Harry seemed truly worried. Just as she turned to head out the door, the man she thought was Bill grabbed her arm hard enough to hurt her. He wrapped his arm around her tightly while in his other hand he held a wand pointed directly at her. Harry watched what was happening, and went to try and help her.
"Always the hero, 'eh Potter?" said the imposter grinning maniacally. "Don't move another step or your precious little mudblood here will die where she stands!"
Harry froze. He looked around the shop to see if there was anyone around from the Order that could help, but all he saw was patrons frozen where they stood. Obviously no one was going to offer their help in this situation and a feeling of dread and helplessness engulfed him. In that instant everything that happened in the Department of Mysteries came flooding back. He saw Sirius fall through the Veil all over again and realized he couldn't lose Hermione too. The memory of her getting hit with Dolohov's curse replayed itself in his mind. Fear coursed through his body along with the love he felt for her, and all of a sudden Harry felt his hands begin to burn. When he looked down, he saw the palms of his hands glowing red. His eyes were glowing the same color as he looked at her and the man holding her. He saw fear written all over her face and when she looked at him she gasped. The burning was becoming more intense. Harry screamed and clutched his hands to his chest trying to somehow stop the pain. The man holding Hermione was so shocked that he loosened his grip on her. She struggled free of him and started running towards Harry.
"Harry!" she screamed as she neared him.
"No Hermione, don't!" he yelled. As he said this, he flung his hand out to stop her from coming any nearer. To his utter dismay, a fireball had flown out of his palm as he did this and headed right for Hermione. It hit her in the left shoulder and she dropped to the ground instantly.
"HERMIONE!!" he screamed in horror as he watched her fall.
Just as he was about to try and help her, "Bill" walked over and shoved his wand tip into Harry's chest. "My Master will be pleased to know that you took care of the mudblood yourself. One less witch for us to worry about! It'll make killing you so much easier!"
Harry sat there looking into the man's eyes as he listened to him laughing. His anger boiled to the surface and he knocked the mans wand aside while shoving him against the wall. "You bastard!" cried Harry "This is all your fault!" As Harry yelled, his palms that were on the man's chest started to burn again. He gritted his teeth while trying not to scream out in pain again. He recalled what happened before and left his hands where they were. Next thing he knew, the body of the man posing as Bill erupted in fire. Harry backed away as quickly as he could and watched in horror as the man burned alive in front of him screaming in agony. Finally, the fire burned out and all that was left of the wizard was a smoldering pile of ash. Harry snapped out of his stupor and remembered Hermione laying on the floor injured. He ran over and fell on the floor next to her. He carefully put her head in his lap and picked her arm up checking for a pulse. When he couldn't find one, he broke out into a cold sweat. 'Oh my God, what have I done' he thought frantically. He put his hand on her chest to see if she was breathing and realized she wasn't. He looked around for someone to help, but everyone was staring at him like he was some kind of murderous freak. "What are you looking at!" he screamed "Someone help me! Please help her!" He looked down at her pale face and cried "What have I done?!!"