~A/N>In celebration of my husband coming home today, I decided to post a chapter! This chapter is actually a
little longer than the most recent ones I've posted; I'm not sure when I'll update again so I wanted to
lengthen it to make up for the wait. Thanks to Spaz141 for all the hard work she put into this chapter; she helped with
the parts I had completely screwed up, using time she really didn't have to spare. I also want to say thanks for
all the reviews you guys left on the last chapter!! :)
As Harry and I continued to talk to Professor Dumbledore our instructors arrived; Remus, Kingsley, Moody, Tonks and
Snape. 'Wait a minute...' I thought and then asked, "Professor Snape?"
I saw a mixture of hatred and disgust on Harry's face as he stared at our Potions teacher. "What's the matter Potter, not thrilled to see me?" Snape asked with the same expression on his face as Harry.
Thankfully before Harry could respond, Remus walked up to him and said, "Hello Harry, it's nice to see you again." He turned to me with a smile on his face and said, "Hermione, how have you been since our duelling lesson?" I couldn't help returning his smile as he brought up the duel in which I had rather quickly bested Harry.
"I'm good Remus. How have you been?" I asked in return.
"Rather busy I'm afraid" he answered. I noticed that Professor Snape had taken Professor Dumbledore off to the side to speak with him so I asked Remus, "I don't suppose you could tell us what Professor Snape is doing here?"
"Actually I can" he replied, "Severus is here to instruct you in duelling as well. It's not widely known at Hogwarts, but he was a duelling champion during our years there."
"Wonderful" said Harry, finally joining the conversation. "Well, I suppose now he'll have his chance to get back at me for everything my Dad did to him."
"Not necessarily Harry" replied Remus, "I will be assisting him in your instruction, so it's quite possible you'll be up against me instead."
"I hope so," Harry mumbled, glaring in the direction of Professor Snape. At that moment, Professor Dumbledore asked if I would get Ginny and Draco from upstairs. I got up and made my way up to the second floor; I quickly got Ginny out of her room and then knocked on Draco's door. It took him a minute to answer, but he too was soon on his way to the kitchen to join the others.
Once we were all assembled around the kitchen table, Professor Dumbledore started to explain exactly what we were going to be doing. "Messrs. Potter, Weasley, and Malfoy will be working with Professor Snape and Mr. Lupin to practice duelling, Miss Granger and Miss Weasley will be working with Aurors Tonks and Shacklebolt for instruction on self-defence; Moody will be over seeing your progress. Expect to train every day, please keep in mind that this is to teach you how to not only protect yourselves but also those around you. Each one of you have an important role in this War; each one of you will be prepared when the time comes to join the battle."
After completing his speech Dumbledore instructed us to make our way outside; Harry grabbed hold of my hand and guided me to the back door and into the cold blustery morning. We followed our instructors into the open field adjacent to the Burrow where they quickly set up shielding and heating charms. I kissed Harry on the cheek and squeezed his hand for encouragement; silently hoping that Professor Snape would leave him alone. I walked over to where Tonks and Kingsley were talking to Ginny and asked, "Okay, what are we going to learn first?"
~*~
I watched as Hermione made her way over to where Ginny was standing and wished I were in her group. I shifted my attention back to Remus as he called for Ron to join him in a duel first and then Snape called Malfoy over to duel with him. They had set up two makeshift duelling platforms and the pairs now stood facing the other. I watched Ron and Remus first; Ron held his own for a while but then Remus threw a Confundus at him and it was pretty much over. Draco and Snape, on the other hand, were actually interesting to watch. Snape was throwing some pretty strong curses at him and Draco was deflecting them expertly and attacking immediately after, keeping Snape on his guard. Finally Snape finished Draco off with three spells in succession. Once Malfoy was able to get his bearings, he stood up and limped off of the platform. Since both were finished with their duels, I started to make my way to where Remus was when Snape's voice stopped me.
"Where do you think you're going Potter?" he asked with a challenge in his voice. I stopped abruptly even though the little voice in the back of my head, which sounded very much like Hermione, was telling me to just keep heading towards Remus. When I didn't turn around to face him Snape advised, "You will be duelling with me next, not Lupin."
I looked at Remus and he looked at Snape and asked, "I though we were going to cycle the boys through Severus; first they would duel me and then go to you?"
"We both know you will go easy on the boy Lupin; he should duel with me first, he might actually learn something."
Remus looked at me apologetically and I sighed; why couldn't anything go right for me, just once? I reluctantly turned and made my way over to Snape's platform, taking my place opposite him and striking the duelling stance. With a quick look around I noticed that everyone else had stopped what he or she were doing to watch us. 'Great, just what I need' I thought, and then brought my attention back to Snape as he started to count down.
"3...2...1...Conjunctiva!" shouted Snape.
I watched as the jet of light from the spell sailed towards me, and thinking quickly I said, "Protego!" I noticed that the shield wasn't as strong as it should have been and quickly dove out of the way of Snape's spell. As I regained my footing I heard his mirthful laughter.
"Is that the best you've got Potter?" he taunted.
I glared at him and took my place once more; I pointed my wand at him and shouted, "Expelliarmus!" He easily deflected it and continued his taunting.
"How do you ever expect to defeat the Dark Lord if you can't even defend yourself against me?" he asked condescendingly. "Your Father may have been a miscreant, but even he knew how to duel properly."
While he spoke, I felt a wave of heat travel through my body; it started with a burning in my eyes and traveled all the way down to my fingertips. A surge of magical energy coursed through me unlike anything I had ever felt before; it was as if some strange entity was taking over my body, I had no control over it at all. I could feel a smile spreading on my face, but it wasn't from anything good. It was a smile of evil satisfaction at what I knew was coming.
"Shut your mouth!" I shout and then with a wave of my wand, Snape's mouth disappeared. I saw the tiniest flash of fear cross his face and the feeling inside of me flared. "I'm tired of the way you try to demean me Snape. Tell me, does it sate your insecurities, help you feel more like a man?" I taunted. Snape just stood there staring at me wide-eyed and then looked around at everyone watching. "I'm sorry, am I embarrassing you? It's about time someone paid you back for all the horrible things you've said and done over the years. Crucio!"
"Potter!" Moody growled, and with another wave of my hand, I sent him flying away from me; my other hand was directing the Cruciatus curse at Snape, who was writhing painfully on the ground. After a few seconds more I released him from it and watched as he laid shaking and breathing heavily. A sick sense of retribution washed over me; a part of me knew this was wrong, but I couldn't stop myself.
"Get up!" I shouted, raising my wand in the air, which forced Snape to stand. "It's time to show you just how well I can defend myself; raise your wand!" Snape stared at me for a moment, a look of resentment glinted in his eyes, before staggering over to where his wand lay on the ground. He unsteadily took up the duelling stance and just stood still watching me; "What are you waiting for?" I asked mockingly.
In the absence of a mouth Snape performed a series of wand movements aimed directly at me. With another quick wave of my wand I easily protected myself. "Is that the best you've got? I thought you were the 'duelling champion of Hogwarts' in your day?" I taunted, knowing that I was enjoying this far more than I should. Feeling bored of playing with him, I pointed my wand at him and shouted, "Accio Snape!"
The Potions professor sailed through the air towards me, and just before we were about to collide, I took a step to the side and watched as he slammed into the tree behind me with a sickening 'thud'. I smiled, my need for vengeance sated. I casually walked over to the crumbled heap that was Snape, I bent down and whispered calmly in his ear, "I am not my father you pompous arse; you would be wise to remember that in future."
"Harry!" cried Hermione. I turned around and noticed her standing behind me. "What are you doing? Professor Snape is our teacher, it was only supposed to be a friendly duel, why did you attack him like that?"
I felt a quick increase in the hatred I was feeling and then suddenly it was gone. My head started pounding and my scar felt like it was on fire. "HE made it personal." I managed to choke out as I brought my hand up to cover it and noticed that it felt hot. I pulled my hand away again and I heard Hermione gasp; "Harry, your scar's bleeding."
I looked down at my hand and noticed a small smear of blood on my palm. When I looked back at Hermione I saw a look of fear in her eyes; was she afraid of me? "Hermione..." I started, but then stopped immediately as she took a quick step away from me.
"Your eyes Harry" she said in a quivering voice, "Right before you started attacking Professor Snape, they went from green to red to green so quickly I thought I might have imagined it. What happened?"
"I don't know; I felt as if I didn't have control anymore. I knew what was happening, what I was doing, but I felt powerless to stop myself…I didn't want to stop myself." I explained.
"Harry" called Dumbledore, "Would you care to explain why you just assaulted Professor Snape?"
"I don't know what exactly came over me, Sir" I answered, "It was as if I couldn't control myself." He stared into my eyes for a moment, as if searching for something, and then he brought his hand up and gently touched one finger to my scar.
"I believe I have an answer, Harry" he said quietly. "It appears that Voldemort was able to access your mind; it's very likely he influenced your attack on Professor Snape."
Voldemort had been in my mind? I sat there going over everything I had felt before I went after Snape; the wave of hatred, the lack of self-control, a sick feeling of excitement as I watched Snape writhing in pain. I turned quickly and wretched, disgusted that I had allowed such evil to invade my body and hurt another human being.
After wiping my mouth with the back of my hand, I turned back to Dumbledore and Hermione, only to see expressions of pity and concern respectively on their faces. Feeling revolted at everything I had just done, I turned quickly and started to run into the forest behind the Burrow. I could hear Hermione and Dumbledore calling after me to come back, but I had to get away, before I hurt someone else. Too concerned with getting away from everyone, I didn't hear the numerous 'pops' that resounded through the air as I ran away.
~*~
I had been watching Harry's reaction to Professor Snape's taunts and I knew he was getting upset; I could see him clenching his jaw. Just as I was about to intervene, I saw a flash of red in Harry's eyes and stopped cold. I watched in horror as Harry performed the Cruciatus curse on the Professor; I couldn't believe that Harry would attack a teacher in such an odious manner and use an Unforgivable. I kept watching in disbelief as he continued to go after our Potions teacher and then suddenly at Harry's command Professor Snape flew directly at him. The horrific crunching sound that I heard as the Professor hit the tree after Harry had ducked out of the way was one of the worst sounds I had ever heard. I had run up behind Harry and called to him; when he turned I noticed another flash in his eyes and then his body seemed to slacken.
Now I stood watching as Harry ran into the forest trying to figure out why he was running away. I know it must have been horrible to have your worst enemy in your head, controlling you, but now was not the time for Harry to be alone. Just as I was going to run after him, there were about a dozen 'pops'; Voldemort's Death Eaters had just apparated onto the grounds of the Burrow.
"Miss Granger, run!" shouted Dumbledore as he gave me a quick push to get going. I ran behind the closest tree, as suddenly there were dozens of different colored jets of light soaring through the air around me.
"Hermione!" I heard someone whisper as they ran behind me. I looked back and noticed Ron right behind me. "We need to try to get back inside the house" he said, as if it would be the easiest thing in the world to do.
"And how do you propose we do that Ron?" I asked, "There are about six Death Eaters between us and the door."
Before he could answer, I heard Ginny scream and turned around quickly to see what was going on. One of the Death Eaters had wrapped his arm around her neck from behind and now had his wand pressed to her temple. He was bent down, whispering into her ear, and she started to cry. Just as I gripped my wand tighter, preparing to go help her, I noticed Draco sneaking up behind them. With a quick Stupify the Death Eater fell stiffly to the ground and Ginny was safe. She had turned around quickly once she was free and her eyes grew wide as she saw whom her rescuer was. "Thanks Draco" I heard her say quietly. He just nodded quickly and ran back into the fight.
"Don't move Mudblood" came a voice beside me. I turned to discover a wand pointed directly at my face; when I looked up I saw a hooded figure standing over me, their teeth glinting in the light as they spoke. I looked over at Ron quickly, only to see that he too had a wand pointed at him by another Death Eater.
"Well, well, well, what do we have here? Could it be wee-Potty's Mudblood whore and the blood traitor Weasel?" came a very high-pitched voice from behind the mask of the person standing in front of Ron. I watched as a hand came up and removed the mask, revealing Bellatrix Lestrange.
"Too bad we can't have a little fun with them before bringing them to the Dark Lord." voiced the hooded person in front of me as they pulled the hood back. It was Antonin Dolohov; what is it with this man? It must be his mission in life to hurt me as much as possible. I fought taking a step back as he walked right up close to me and whispered, "Maybe my Master will let me play with you before using you to lure Potter to his death?"
I cringed, feeling disgusted by the insinuation of his words. Before I could say or do anything, two shouts of "Crucio!" rang through the air and my body was racked with pain.
~*~
I walked a little ways into the forest, enjoying the quiet surroundings as I mulled over everything that had happened. How was it that Voldemort so easily invaded my body without me knowing? Who knows what he could have made me do; at that thought I felt another wave of nausea roll through my stomach.
As I anguished over everything I had felt, I realized something; if Voldemort had possessed my body, then he would know where we were. He knew I was at the Burrow; that gave him the perfect opportunity to attack again.
I started running as fast as I could back towards the Burrow, knowing that I had to warn Dumbledore and the others. There was this lingering feeling in the back of my mind that they were in trouble, which only caused me to run faster.
When I broke out of the forest and into the field, I stopped dead at the scene before me; there were bodies lying everywhere. 'Oh no!' I thought, and started running again.
The first body I came upon was a Death Eater I didn't recognize; I ran a little farther and saw Snape. He wasn't moving, but thankfully when I bent down and felt for a pulse, I found one. A new wave of guilt washed over me, Snape was still missing his mouth. I quickly cast the Finite Incantatum spell to return him to normal. I stood up and looked around, 'Where are Hermione and Ron?' I wondered, feeling panic and fear starting to overwhelm me. I saw a movement to the right of me and when I turned I saw that it was Dumbledore. "Sir!" I called as I started running towards him. I stopped abruptly before him and noticed that he looked completely worn out. "Sir, what happened?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.
"There was an attack Harry, right after you left" he explained, and I immediately felt guilty for leaving. "There is nothing you could have done; it is actually a good thing you were not here, Voldemort showed up shortly after the Death Eaters."
"Voldemort was here?" I asked in disbelief.
"Yes Harry, he was. I thought he might come after you described what happened during the duel; it would have been easy for him to recognise where you were."
I closed my eyes, guilt pounding in my gut, Voldemort had used me and I let him. Then I had a sudden realization; "What about Hermione and Ron?" I asked almost frantically, "Are they okay?"
"They are fine" he replied, and I released the breath I didn't know I was holding. "They are both resting comfortably inside; Mr. Weasley will need some bed rest, but otherwise he is all right. Miss Granger is suffering from the effects of a Cruciatus curse, but she too will recover after some rest."
"And everyone else?" I asked, afraid of the answer.
"They are fine; Madam Pomfrey is inside tending to them as we speak" he replied. "You should go inside and check on your friends; I am sure they will be relieved to see you and that you are all right."
I nodded my head, and just as I was about to walk away, I remembered Snape. "Sir, Professor Snape is still alive, he is over there, and he's badly injured" I said as I pointed to where Snape lay on the ground. Dumbledore nodded in acknowledgment and made his way over to him as I started to make my way to the house.
'How could this happen?' I thought, 'Weren't there wards around the Burrow to stop this sort of thing?' Knowing I couldn't answer my own questions, I opened the door and walked inside to see my friends and to apologize once more for putting them in Voldemort's path of destruction.
~*~
As I lay in my bed upstairs, I tried not to think about how much my body hurt, but it wasn't working too well. The pain would lessen for a little while and then it would intensify so much that I wanted to cry. A knock on my door forced my thoughts away from my pain and with my raspy voice called out, "Come in."
The door opened partially and I saw an eye peek around it; I'd know that tuft of black hair and that green eye anywhere. "Harry! Your okay!" I said, relieved to see him safe and sound. He walked the rest of the way into my room and slowly made his way over to my bedside. He just stood there looking at me, a look of sadness and remorse in his eyes. I knew he was blaming himself for everything that had happened and I slowly reached out my hand to him. "I'm okay Harry," I said quietly. When he still didn't say anything, I said, "It's not your fault Harry, so stop blaming yourself."
"How can you say that?" he asked, his voice rising slightly. "He found out where we were because of me!"
"There's nothing you could have done to stop him Harry," I said quietly. I couldn't stand to see the anguished expression on his face; "Please stop blaming yourself, no one else thinks it's your fault." I tried to squeeze his hand a little, but a wave of pain hit me just then and I cried out.
"Hermione?" he asked, sounding like a scared little boy.
Once the pain subsided and I was able to catch my breath I said, "I'm okay, it's just the after effects of the curse. Madam Pomfrey said I should feel better in a couple of days."
Harry squeezed my hand and knelt down on the floor in front of me. "I hate to see you in such pain 'Mione. If Voldemort wasn't so set on getting to me..."
"Stop it!" I said as angrily as I could. "You did not cause this attack Harry; don't make me say it again." It was then that I noticed how bright his eyes were with unshed tears. "Ron and I chose to be around you because you're our friend and we care about you; we knew what we were getting into after first year. We stuck with you because we didn't want to give up our friendship."
"She's right Harry", came Ron's voice from the doorway. We both looked at him as he leaned against the doorframe for support.
"Ron!" Harry exclaimed, "Are you all right?"
"I'm fine; it was nothing Madam Pomfrey couldn't heal. Mind you, she kept muttering about how she's tired of fixing us up all the time, but she did a fine job, as usual." I smiled at him and saw Harry's face had relaxed a little; he didn't look as upset as he had when he arrived.
"What about Ginny and Draco?" I asked. I noticed Ron's face turn a light shade of pink and he stood there quietly for a moment.
"Ginny's fine, Malfoy...saved her" he answered through gritted teeth, like it was the hardest thing he'd ever had to say. "He's bruised up a bit, but Pomfrey says he'll live, unfortunately."
"Ron..." I started, but he quickly interrupted me.
"You may be able to put up with the sodding prick, but that doesn't mean that I have to be nice to him. I just can't forget everything he's done to us; maybe someday, but not right now." Clearing his throat, Ron looked at me and asked, "How are you feeling?"
"I'm doing better" I replied, "thank you for bringing me here."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, looking at me worriedly.
I looked at Ron for a moment and he got the hint from my expression that I wanted to talk to Harry alone. "I'm going to go check on Ginny again; I'll see you two later!" he said, and then walked out of the room.
Once the door closed behind him, I turned to Harry and said, "Ron had to carry me into the house, I couldn't walk on my own. Dolohov and Bellatrix Lestrange found Ron and I; they were the ones that cast the Cruciatus on us."
"Then how come Ron is out walking around and you're still in bed?" he asked, a worried expression on his face.
"Because Dolohov kept the curse on me longer than Bellatrix had on Ron. He had this evil glint in his eyes, he enjoys inflicting pain, he wanted to watch me suffer." I said, shuddering at the memory.
Harry got up off of the floor and sat down gently next to me on the bed. He was staring at me and I could see love and fear in his eyes; he reached out to cup my cheek with his hand and I placed my hand over his. "I love you Hermione; I don't know what I would do if anything ever happened to you."
I felt tears spring to my eyes at his heartfelt words; I was getting another glimpse of the scared little boy in him again and I hated that his life had been so terrible. I took my hand off of his and tentatively opened my arms, inviting him to hold me. I needed to be in his arms right now, to assure myself that he was safe and to assure him that I wasn't going anywhere. He leaned forward and gently wrapped his arms around me; I sighed at the familiar feeling of being safe in his arms. "I love you too Harry; that's never going to change."
He didn't say anything, he just tightened his hold on me slightly and held me for a long time; it seemed like he was afraid to let go, out of fear that I might get hurt again if he did. About a half hour later, he let go of me, only to gently lay me down and reposition himself behind me. I scooted back a little so that my back was pressed flush against his chest; he lay his arm around my waist lightly and I reached down to hold his hand. I finally felt relaxed and I started to drift off to sleep. I squeezed his hand, whispered, "I love you", and then drifted off to sleep before I could hear him say anything in return.
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