Soon after our second year at Hogwarts started, strange things started to happen around the castle. After hearing a strange voice during a detention I had with Professor Gilderoy Lockhart, I had met up with Ron and Hermione outside of the Dark Arts classroom. Hearing the voice again in the corridor and following it, we came upon a gruesome sight. Filch's cat, Mrs. Norris, hung stiffly on a wall hanging and there was a message written in blood on the wall.
Thinking back to that year, so many things had happened, I was amazed I made it through the year. I had broken my arm during our Quidditch match with Slytherin, only to have Lockhart try to heal it and instead make every bone in my arm disappear. The voice I had heard during detention kept popping up all over the castle and it seemed I was the only one to hear it. I also found out I could talk to snakes; you really don't want to know about that one! On top of it all, a creepy little house elf named Dobby kept popping up all over the place!
After students started to be petrified along with Nearly Headless Nick and Mrs. Norris, there was talk going around the school that Hogwarts might be shut down. I couldn't imagine having to go back to the Dursley's early. Christmas break came along and I stayed at the castle along with Ron. I was disappointed when Hermione said she would be going home for the holidays, but there was really nothing I could do about it. It was a quiet Christmas because there were only fifty students left in the Castle and about fifteen of them were in Gryffindor with us. Thankfully the day for everyone to return came quickly, and I found myself waiting at the doors of the castle as the students arrived. I told myself it was only because I was concerned about Hermione, hoping her Dad had left her alone during the break. When I finally saw her, I opened the door and walked out to greet her. When she saw me she gave me a small smile and flung her arms around my neck, giving me a hug. I just kept telling myself that I had missed my friend, nothing more and nothing less.
I looked up at the castle as I stepped out of the carriage and thought how great it was to finally be back. I had spent Christmas break with my parents and it had been disastrous. As I started climbing up the stairs to the front doors, I noticed someone standing there, watching everyone as they walked up to the castle. As I got closer, I noticed that it was Harry and I felt my heart skip a beat. 'Could he be waiting for me?' I wondered, berating myself for getting my hopes up. If he was waiting for me, it was only because he was worried about how my Dad treated me while I was home.
I watched as he walked out to greet me and I could feel a smile creep onto my face. When he was standing in front of me I surprised myself by throwing my arms around his neck and hugging him. What was I doing?! And when did I become so affectionate?? Pulling away, I immediately looked anywhere but at him and I made my way into the castle. I felt him walking next to me and I knew he was watching me. Feeling a bit uncomfortable, I risked a glance at him and asked "so how was your Christmas?"
"It was ok" he had answered, giving me a questioning look. "I should be the one asking you that."
I noticed all the kids gathered around us and said "I'll tell you later after everyone else goes to bed, ok?"
"That bad, huh?" he asked, probably noticing my sad demeanor. I just nodded my head to answer his question and continued up the stairs.
As we walked into the common room, Ron looked at Harry and asked "where have you been?"
I watched Harry's cheeks take on a pink hue as he refused to look at Ron. "I-I was walking around when I saw Hermione walk into the entrance hall" he said.
"He was sweet enough to walk me up here." 'Where the hell did that come from?' I asked myself, wondering if maybe I was losing my mind. I looked at Harry and noticed his eyes were closed and he was pinching the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. When I saw the smartass smirk on Ron's face, I knew that I had just set Harry up for unending taunting and teasing. "I'm sorry Harry" I whispered so that only he could hear. I took two steps closer to him, and whispering again said "I'll meet you down here at eleven tonight?" When I saw him nod his head in agreement, I quickly made my way up the stairs before I could open my big mouth again.
As I started to unpack my stuff, I started to berate myself for saying what I had in the common room. Harry had cared enough to meet me when I returned and how do I repay him? By giving Ron ammunition to tease Harry mercilessly. Some friend I am.
What was she trying to do to me? I noticed the look on Ron's face as I looked toward him and said "don't say one bloody word Ronald." I felt a little satisfaction when he narrowed his eyes at my use of his full first name.
"Were you downstairs waiting for Hermione to arrive?" he asked me, looking at me with no trace of a smile on his face.
"Ron, I already told you, I was walking around and I happened to be down in the Entrance Hall when she walked in." I knew by the look on his face that he didn't believe me, but I found that I didn't really care at that moment. Wanting to get away from him for a little while, I told him I was tired and was going to go lay down for a while. Escaping upstairs, I lay down on my bed and closed the curtains so no one else would bother me. I lay there thinking for an unknown amount of time, trying to figure out why I had gone to meet Hermione, and I couldn't come up with an answer I could accept.
Eleven came quickly, and I peeked out through my curtains to see if my roommates were asleep yet. Thankfully they were, especially Ron. I quietly slipped out of the room and made my way down to the common room where I saw Hermione already sitting on the couch, staring into the dancing flames in the fireplace. She looked up as I sat down next to her and smiled.
"I'm sorry about before; my only excuse was that I was possessed or something. I don't think I've ever said the word 'sweet' in my life before" she said rather quickly, sounding slightly nervous.
I looked at her and noticed a frightened look in her eyes. 'What is she afraid of?' I wondered, watching her fidget. "It's ok Hermione; it's not like you offended me or anything. Besides, I'm sure Ron will forget about it sooner or later." I watched as she released a breath I wasn't sure she knew she was holding. What odd behavior...
"So, you said you would tell me about your holiday" I said, hoping to get her mind on a different topic. I felt like kicking myself as I watched her face fall immediately.
"Yes I did" she said, wringing her hands together. Seeming to gather herself together, she stared at the flames again as she started talking. "Well, everything started out well enough. My Mum picked me up that night and we went home to an empty house. Seems my Dad has been out of the house a lot recently doing Merlin knows what. The next morning we went shopping for presents, just my Mum and I, and we had an ok time." She stopped for a moment and a haunted expression crossed her face. "Everything went bad on Christmas Eve. We were having a nice dinner; Dad actually seemed to be in a good mood for a change. The phone had rang and Dad got up to answer it." She stopped talking again and I could see she was steeling herself for whatever she was about to say.
"When Dad sat back down at the table, you could almost see his fury burning behind his eyes. He took a bite of the roast my Mum had made and slammed his fork down onto his plate. He started yelling that his food was cold and how my Mum was a horrible cook. She just sat there as he got in her face, screaming like a mad man. When she still didn't say anything back to him, he grabbed her by her hair and yanked her out of her chair." I sat watching her face as she spoke, and I noticed two tears make their way slowly down her cheeks. I reached over and grabbed her hand, hoping to give her just a little comfort.
"He took her into the sitting room and he just kept yelling at her. She never said a word, not that I could hear, and I think that infuriated him the most. I...I heard him start hitting her hard and she started screaming." She swiped at the tears on her cheek and said "When I finally got the courage to walk in there, he was gone and she lay crying on the floor. He had just stormed out of the house and I ended up taking care of her the rest of the night. When I left the house this morning, he still hadn't come back."
We both sat silent for a little while and finally Hermione turned to look at me. I was surprised to see the angry expression on her face as she said "I don't understand my Mum. She knows that just silently standing there while my Dad's in one of his moods only makes him angrier! It's almost like she did it on purpose."
"You can't possibly believe that" I had said, surprised at what she had said.
"Why not?!" she had asked angrily. "It was like she was egging him on or something Harry. After he had left, I asked her if she had any idea what had set him off and she had mumbled something about a girlfriend."
"Your Dad has a girlfriend?" I asked, surprised.
"I guess that's what she meant" she replied, sighing. "It may sound horrid, but I'm glad he left. Christmas may have been ruined, but at least he didn't come after me this time."
I held on to her hand a little tighter, not really knowing what to say. We sat there for a little while longer in silence, both lost in our thoughts, before we decided to turn in for the night. As we turned to go in opposite directions on the stairs, I grabbed her arm lightly to stop her and asked "are you sure you're ok?"
"I'll be fine" she answered quietly, not meeting my eyes. "Alright" I said, letting her go. "Goodnight" she said quietly and I answered "Goodnight", watching her until she walked through the door to her room.
After Christmas, things around the castle seemed to get worse instead of better. Before our final Quidditch match of the year, Professor McGonagall had interrupted Wood's pep talk and called off our game, asking me to come with her. We had went to find Ron and then she took us to the hospital wing where Hermione lay in one of the beds, petrified. I felt sick as I stared at her prone figure laying on the bed, her eyes open and staring. I just stood there staring at her; how could this have happened? I looked over at Ron and he had a look of disbelief on his face as he stared at Hermione also.
It was hard to go on with classes like everything was perfectly fine. In every class I always stole glances at the empty chair next to me where she should be sitting. At night I would go to see her; I tried to make sure Ron didn't find out how often I visited her. He'd been acting strange ever since the day we saw Hermione petrified.
One day when Ron had come with me to visit her, I had found a piece of paper in Hermione's hand that was a detailed explanation of a Basilisk. Ron and I figured that's what had to be roaming around the school petrifying the students and decided to try and find it ourselves. We ended up in the Chamber of Secrets with Gilderoy Lockhart who tried to obliviate my memory. The stupid wanker had tried to use Ron's broken wand and the spell backfired onto him. It had also caused part of the chamber to collapse, separating me from Ron. I went ahead alone and found a young Tom Riddle, a.k.a. Voldemort, waiting for me with Ginny as his hostage. He set the Basilisk on me as Ginny lay there dying; after running my ass off through the tunnels of the chamber, I confronted the Basilisk and killed it.
To make a long story short, I ended up getting rid of the ghost of Riddle, saved Ginny and made my way back out of the chamber after finding Ron and Lockhart. I later found out that it was Lucius Malfoy behind the whole thing; he had planted Riddle's diary in among Ginny's books in Flourish and Blotts. After threatening me, Malfoy stalked out of Dumbledore's office, kicking and hitting his house elf Dobby the entire way. I felt like killing him as I watched him mistreat the elf; no one, man or beast, deserved to be treated that way. In the end, I tricked Lucius into giving the elf a sock, which set Dobby free from the Malfoy's mistreatment. When Lucius tried to kill me, Dobby defended me, blasting his ex-master halfway down the corridor where he landed on his ass, angry and humiliated.
At dinner that night, the Hall had been buzzing with the news that Ron and I had saved Ginny. As I was talking to Ron, Dean and Seamus, Neville got my attention and pointed toward the doors of the Hall. There stood Hermione, smiling and looking the picture of health. As I stood up from my seat, she started running toward me and flung herself at me, hugging me fiercely. I hugged her back just as hard, glad she was back to normal and amazed at how good it felt to hold her like this. She pulled away from me, much too soon for my liking, and turned to Ron. The two of them seemed awkward around each other, like they weren't sure if they should hug or shake hands. Ron stuttered out "W-Welcome back Hermione" while looking very uncomfortable. 'What is that all about?" I had wondered, watching their strange behavior. I decided to worry about it later and just enjoy the fact that she was finally back with us. I felt disappointed when she sat next to Ron; after the hug she gave me I thought she would sit next to me.
Soon it was time for us to board the train again to go home. Hermione had asked Ron and me to tell her the story of what happened in the chamber, so we explained everything from when we found the paper in her hand until my run-in with Malfoy. I was so happy to see her smiling and joking with us again. I had missed her more than I cared to admit. The only thing that bothered me was how she had sat next to Ron once again.
I sat there watching Harry as he sat in the seat across from me. I had sat next to Ron instead of him; I felt that after my little display in the Great Hall the day I was unpetrified, I might make him uncomfortable with all the extra attention. I kept feeling his eyes on me whenever I talked to Ron, and when I would turn towards him, he would immediately look away. I decided not to worry about it and continued to talk to Ron about Lockhart and the memory charm he had tried to cast on Harry. I heard the door to our compartment open and watched as Ron's sister Ginny walked in and sat next to Harry. I watched as she scooted closer to him, her leg touching his, and heard her giggle at every little thing he said. I remember thinking what a little trollop she was, so obviously flirting with Harry like that. I wished she would just leave and then I stopped, realizing the anger I felt towards her really wasn't justified. Why should it matter to me if she sat next to Harry and flirted with him? Deep down, I knew the answer to that question; I just wasn't ready to admit it to myself yet.
Finally we arrived at Platform 9 3/4 and everyone started to make their way off the train. As I stepped off the train, I looked up and saw my Dad there waiting for me. What was he doing here? Did he find out I was petrified for part of the school year? Where was Mum? As all these thoughts ran through my head, I felt a hand on my shoulder and I jumped. I turned to see Harry standing there with a concerned look on his face.
"Did you know he was going to be here to pick you up?" he asked me quietly.
"N-No, I expected my Mum to be here" I answered, watching as my Dad started to make his way towards me. I felt the fear start to tighten my stomach and I started to shake. Harry's hand on my shoulder tightened a little before he withdrew it; he still stood behind me as my Dad stood in front of me.
"Get your trunk so we can go home" he said, his voice sounding harsh and gravelly. I nodded my head and turned to pick my trunk up.
"I'll write you later Harry" I said, smiling at him, when suddenly my Dad grabbed a hold of my wrist and twisted it, causing me to involuntarily cry out in pain.
"I said to get your trunk, not talk to your little boyfriend" he snarled, glaring at me and then at Harry. Harry stood there glaring back at him, looking like he was ready to beat the shit out of my Dad any second. My Dad started to drag me along the platform and I looked at Harry, mouthing 'I'm sorry' to him before I could no longer see him.
I watched as her asshole Dad literally dragged her away, feeling completely helpless to do anything. Ron walked over to me and asked "what was that all about?"
"That's her Dad and he doesn't treat her very nicely" I replied, not wanting to tell him too much. We both watched her until we couldn't see her anymore and then turned to pick up our trunks. I walked with Ron over to his family, trading pleasantries with them and then Molly asked "who was that horrible man with Hermione?"
"That was her Dad" I answered again, starting to get a nervous feeling in my stomach just thinking about what he might do to her.
"Is he always so horrible to her, I wonder?" she had asked. I looked at her for a moment, sizing her up and realizing I could probably trust her. When I noticed Ron wasn't paying attention to our conversation, I took a step closer to her and asked "Can I tell you something?", praying Hermione would forgive me for what I was about to say.
"Of course you can dear" she had replied, giving me a smile that gave me the courage to keep talking.
"Her Dad...mistreats her" I whispered, not wanting Ron to hear "but she doesn't want anyone to know."
"Oh dear" she said, clearly distressed "that poor girl." Looking at me with tears in her eyes, Mrs. Weasley put her hand on my shoulder and said "thank you for telling me Harry. When we get home I'll contact Dumbledore and see what we can do to help her."
A part of me felt better now that I had told someone else, especially since I knew Mrs. Weasley would do everything in her power to help Hermione. Another part of me felt like I had somehow betrayed Hermione by telling her secret. I knew what I did was in her best interest, but she had still confided in me, trusting that I wouldn't tell anyone else. Would she be mad at me for telling?
I walked through the barrier with Ron and Ginny, and I immediately saw my Uncle waiting there for me, glaring at me as usual. I said my goodbyes to the Weasley's and made my way over to him.
"Bout time boy" he growled out, turning and walking away immediately. I sighed, dreading the summer already, and started to follow him to the car. I turned momentarily, looking for Mrs. Weasley in the crowd. When I found her, she was watching me and she waved. I waved back and mouthed 'thank you' to her. Knowing she was going to try to help Hermione kind of put my mind to ease.
Unfortunately, it ended up making things worse; not for Hermione, but for me.
~*A/N>I'm sorry that this chapter isn't very good. I re-did it twice and this is the best I could get it.
The next chapter will be easier to write because I know exactly where it's going and what's going to happen.
Thank you so much for all of your supportive reviews!! I'm glad you like this story so much!!!! For those
who read "The Fear Within", I'm going to try to finish the chapter tonight. No promises though!
:)