a/n: Thanks for the reviews last chapter; they're much appreciated. The title of this one is a line from a song by The Beatles; it seemed to fit. Please leave a review after reading, cheers!
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chapter 12: whisper words of wisdom
Harry and Hermione jumped as the bed lurched forward into the shaking wall; they stayed completely still for a full minute before the walls stopped rumbling. Harry looked down at Hermione and saw a look of both fear and surprise upon her face. She raised an eyebrow at him and he immediately scrambled to get off of her and the bed. Just as he was about to hold out a hand to help her up, there was the sound of another explosion in the distance and the walls shook again. Harry was knocked off of his feet and found himself lying on the bedroom floor watching the ceiling lights flicker and sway back and forth. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry saw Hermione shakily sit up in bed and turn to face him with an alarmed expression.
"What's happening?" she asked in a whisper Harry could barely hear.
"No idea," he said and paused before continuing, "Maybe the wards are acting out." In his mind, though, a far more sinister explanation was lurking. "Come here," he said as the walls stopped shaking for a second time. Hermione jumped off the bed and helped Harry to his feet. He couldn't help but smile weakly when he took in her disheveled appearance, and judging from the slight gleam in her eyes, he didn't look much neater. He grabbed her hand and picked up his discarded wand from the ground; he saw her do the same before nodding at him. Harry led them out of the bedroom and into the corridor towards a small window. What he saw as he looked outside into the front garden made his stomach twist unpleasantly and his heart jump into his throat.
Three wizards, clad in all black robes, were pacing back and forth with their wands held high in the air. One of them stopped moving and rolled up the sleeves of his robes, exposing his pale forearms, one of which had an ugly tattoo branded upon it; it was then that Harry knew exactly who these people were.
"Death Eaters," came Hermione's terrified whisper from right behind him. Harry nodded slowly without taking his eyes off of the three men. One of the Death Eaters turned to face the others and said something while pointing in the general vicinity of The Burrow.
"They can't see the house…why are they here?" Harry asked Hermione in a quiet voice, hoping she'd have some sort of explanation for the events unfolding before their eyes.
"They probably have some idea of where The Burrow is meant to be, but I have no clue as to why they're here - only a few members of the Order know we're staying in the house," she whispered into his ear. Harry vaguely wondered why they were keeping their voices down when there was no way they could be heard by the Death Eaters outside. Just as he was about to say as much, the three wizards in the garden joined their wands at the tips and simultaneously mouthed an incantation. A blinding red light flashed through the night sky illuminating the garden and house. The loud explosion-like sound that Harry previously heard sounded again and the entire house seemed to rock violently. Harry spun around and grabbed Hermione in an attempt to steady her, but the house was moving too much and they clumsily fell to the ground.
The rumbling stopped abruptly and Harry heard shouts coming from the front garden. He couldn't see through the window from his position on the floor, but he saw different coloured lights flashing across the wall in front of him and figured there was some sort of battle taking place. Harry moved to stand up and get outside as fast as possible; he wanted to fight and help whoever was in need of it, but a strange pressure on his back kept him in place.
"What the…" he trailed off as he realized that it was Hermione grasping his back in a desperate attempt to hold him down. "What are you doing, Hermione?" he hissed.
"You can't go, Harry," she began in a soft yet urgent voice, "You don't even know who's out there; it'd be reckless and dangerous to charge straight into a situation like this! Don't you remember what Professor Dumbledore told us? We can't leave the house!" Inside, Harry knew she was right, but he didn't want to stay inside and feel helpless - he had felt that way for far too long now. He started to push himself up again but Hermione held on tighter and said, "Please don't…" While Hermione wasn't weak by any means, Harry could easily break through her grip on his back and stand; it was out of respect for her that he stopped trying to escape and nodded in defeat.
"Trust me," she said as she lightened her grip of his back. Harry nodded again before he noticed that the shouting and flashes had seemingly come to an end.
"I think it's-" he began but was cut off by the arrival of Dumbledore and Tonks in the small corridor. "Professor! Where are they?" asked Harry in an anxious tone.
"Alastor, Kingsley, and Remus are taking care of the situation at hand. All three Death Eaters - as I'm sure you've figured them out to be - have been stunned and detained; they are currently awaiting transportation to a location far from here," Dumbledore said. He paused while his eyes swept the hallway, and then added as an afterthought, "Harry, I would advise you move; I believe you might be crushing Miss Granger." He peered down at Hermione in apparent concern as he said this. Harry jumped up with a start and helped Hermione to a standing position before he faced Dumbledore.
"But why are they here? I thought you were the Secret Keeper for The Burrow; surely you didn't tell them where it is!" Harry exclaimed in confusion and anger. He was both scared and upset at the fact that Death Eaters had come close enough to harm Hermione in any way; he was angry with them for even frightening her at all.
"I am the Secret Keeper, yes," the old wizard began, "but that does not mean that all prior knowledge of The Burrow's location has been eradicated. I suppose Tom and his followers deducted that The Burrow is indeed the most likely location the two of you would be situated at the same time." An uncomfortable but thankfully brief silence followed Dumbledore's explanation; it was Hermione who broke it with a question.
"What spell were they casting, Professor? The bedroom was shaking and the noise was almost unbearable - like an explosion of sorts," Hermione said with a furrowed brow as Harry nodded in agreement.
"Just the bedroom was shaking?" Tonks interjected before Dumbledore could reply.
"Well, that's where we originally felt it," Hermione explained going slightly red, "but once we were out in the corridor we felt the whole house rumble again with another loud noise and a bright red light." Harry hoped with all he had that he would not be forced to explain why he was in Hermione's bedroom or what exactly they were doing before they were interrupted. Just the memory of the events that took place only a few minutes prior to the arrival of the Death Eaters served to bother him and make him feel as though the temperature in the crowded hallway had increased.
"Why were you two in the-"
"The spell," Dumbledore interrupted Tonks in a loud voice, "is from an ancient and imprecise area of the Dark Arts. I have seen it used on only one other occasion; unfortunately we were not as successful as were tonight. The spell is designed to locate a person if the Fidelius Charm is in place. It emits immense amounts of magical energy in an attempt to literally draw a person out of hiding. In this case, the Death Eaters were counting on the two of you to investigate the strange effects of the spell, and once you left the confines of The Burrow, you would be susceptible to Voldemort." The small group took a moment to reflect upon what had just been said; Harry was thanking Hermione repeatedly in his mind for saving him yet again. He decided that this was something that she needed to hear straight from his own mouth, and he turned to face her.
"You were right again, Hermione; thanks," Harry said softly as he looked straight into her eyes.
She smiled and without breaking their eye contact, said, "You're welcome." Harry felt as though he was being drawn to Hermione at that moment, so he looked away and focused on an all-too-interested looking Dumbledore and Tonks.
"I'm afraid you won't be able to see or speak to the others tonight; they have Order business that needs to be attended to," Dumbledore stated while peering from Harry to Hermione. "I am quite confident, however, that no other unexpected events will take place tonight; you are safe as long as you do not leave the house. Now, Nymphadora and I must be off; good night, Harry; sleep well, Hermione." He gave one last small smile before he inclined his head at Tonks and swept down the stairs. Tonks, meanwhile, was looking from Harry to Hermione with narrowed eyes as though she was attempting to solve a puzzle, and it made Harry feel very uneasy. She opened her mouth to speak but Hermione cut her off quickly.
"Thanks for coming here, Tonks; it was good seeing you again!" she exclaimed in a high-pitched, nervous voice that reminded Harry of an eleven year old Hermione. She stepped toward Tonks and embraced her in a tight hug that clearly caught the woman off-guard.
"Er - yes; no problem at all, guys," Tonks said when Hermione let go. "Guess I should help old Mad-Eye and Remus, then." She gave the two students one last strange look before she turned and left the corridor in Dumbledore's wake.
"Well," Harry stated while staring at Hermione with a rather blank expression upon his face.
"Yes, that was…strange, to say the least," she replied in a quiet tone as though she wasn't quite sure Dumbledore and Tonks had left the house.
"At least three more Death Eaters were caught - that's good news, right?" he asked, trying to lighten the mood.
"Of course, and besides, it's not like anyone was injured this time around…" Hermione trailed off apparently thinking hard about something.
"Yeah. Not this time," Harry said tensely as he vividly recalled his last encounter with a group of Death Eaters that resulted in various close calls and the death of Sirius. His jaw was clenched and his fists were balled as the images flew through his mind at breakneck speed; Harry was reminded of his behaviour at the beginning of the summer holidays when he would trash his small bedroom at the Dursleys' house.
"Er - Harry - are you all right?" asked Hermione in a cautious voice; she stepped closer to Harry but he quickly backed away into the wall behind him.
"I'm fine, Hermione," he replied firmly, not wanting her to see him at his worst. "Just - just go to bed now." He turned on his heel and stalked up the stairs to Ron's room, leaving Hermione with a confused look upon her face. When Harry reached the bedroom, he closed the door and immediately crossed to his bed where he proceeded to beat the pillow and mattress without mercy, all the while cursing Bellatrix Lestrange under his breath. He caught sight of an empty glass sitting idly on his nightstand, picked it up, and hurled it across the room at the opposite wall without a second thought. Breathing heavily, he watched and heard the glass shatter into tiny shards and scatter across the floor. Harry moved to return to his bed but a sudden movement from the doorway startled him; he spun around and saw Hermione leaning against the frame of the door with her arms folded across her chest and her narrowed eyes watching him closely. He didn't know how to react or what to say, so he stood there dumbly watching her stare at him in total silence.
"You've done that before," she said in a low voice.
"Yes," was all he said as he swallowed the newly formed lump in his throat.
"Why?" she asked, as if the answer was so simple.
"You weren't supposed to see that; there's a reason I told you to go to bed," he dodged her question. You weren't supposed to see me lose control like that.
"And you honestly expected me to go to bed without finding out what was wrong with you? I thought you would have realized by now that I care about you, Harry, and that I'm not just going to abandon you when you're obviously upset about something!" she said, her voice rising as she spoke.
"Believe me, Hermione, I know, but it's not something that I wanted you to see!" he exclaimed in exasperation as he took a step closer to the door and her body.
"It's not something that you should do," Hermione said so quietly that he almost didn't hear her or the pleading tone her voice had taken.
"What should I do then? You tell me, Hermione; you always know all the answers - tell me what I should do," Harry practically begged her as he walked right up to her and leaned against the opposite doorframe with his arms crossed, mimicking her position.
She pushed herself up from the frame to stand perfectly straight and stared into Harry's eyes when she said, "You know what, Harry? This time, I don't know what you should do; I don't even know what I should do. To be perfectly honest, I feel as though I don't know anything anymore. This whole war or whatever it is has done nothing but confuse and scare me; unlike you, I'm not used to having Death Eaters or Voldemort after me! I'm a fifteen year old Muggleborn witch, and sometimes it seems as though so many people rely on me for answers or solutions to problems I don't understand! I don't know how you do it; I can't comprehend how you deal with it all," she finished weakly.
Harry wondered how long she had been keeping those volatile feelings inside under her collected exterior, and he wasn't very surprised to see tears forming in her eyes as she continued to stare into his own. He uncrossed his arms and pulled her into a tight embrace before whispering, "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to put you on the spot like that."
"It's all right; it needed to be said," she replied in a scratchy voice, but she wasn't crying. "At least you know now."
"You can't be afraid, though, Hermione; you can be prepared and ready, but not scared," he continued in the same fierce whisper. Harry wasn't sure where these words were coming from; he just said whatever came to mind. She didn't reply in words but he felt her nod her head against his chest in agreement. "We need to sleep now," he said and shuffled them across the room to his bed. Harry gently let go of Hermione and watched her crawl under the duvet and scoot away from the edge of the bed and towards the wall. He climbed in next to her and was surprised at how normal it felt to be next to her in a bed of all places.
"'Night," she said as she moved to lay her head near his shoulder.
"'Night, Hermione," he replied and closed his eyes to the world and his troubles.