CHAPTER 28
Hermione sat in one of the desks in the front row waiting for her detention to begin. She glanced at the time; Professor Kilmore was very late, or perhaps, not coming at all.
Her wishful thinking vanished almost as quickly as it had lingered in her mind with the sound of a door opening and closing.
"I apologize I'm late Miss Granger."
She didn't reply, instead she sat upright and concentrated on not allowing her head to bow in submission to his authority.
Kilmore made his way to the front of his classroom, summoned a stool to gracefully glide across the room and sat down just in front of where Hermione sat.
"You're quite the very good friend Miss Granger."
She resisted the urge to express that Harry was more than just a friend to her; much more in fact.
"I didn't want this detention for you…Hermione… but I can't possibly allow my students to see I allow for such, oh how should I phrase this exactly?…disrespect." Kilmore continued. "The oddity of having my most prized pupil in detention is quite shocking, I didn't even know what sort of retribution I should concoct." His eyes rested on Hermione's and he gave her a sly grin. "But I think I thought of something."
The hairs on the back of Hermione's neck prickled with fearful anticipation; she relaxed slightly with the reminder that Harry was just outside the door.
"Don't be nervous Granger, we're going to have a little duel, just you and I."
"And what if I refuse," She questioned as calmly as possible. "professor?"
"Refuse?" Kilmore laughed, throwing his arms in the air and rocking the stool back and forth on its uneven legs. "I dare say, you're not given a choice."
Hermione knew very well what he meant by that, he was holding that expulsion threat directly over her head.
"I'm not afraid of your threats." She stated in a proud, yet acidic tone.
Kilmore grinned in amusement.
"Feisty aren't we?" He chortled with a grin. "The wizarding world isn't too kind to young witches who don't complete their schooling."
She wouldn't let him win; this was a verbal battle, a battle of the wits
`or wits and disgusting perverts…' She thought bitterly.
"I could leave the wizarding world and become a doctor."
"Awh, yes, a muggle healer. I'm sure they'd be welcoming you right back to their school with open arms." He said sarcastically. "What year were you in when you came to Hogwarts Miss Granger?"
Hermione frowned heavily; he had a point.
"I learn quickly professor; I could find a simple job in Diagon Alley." She countered.
"Yes, I'm sure you could, but wouldn't it be a shame not to pursue the career of your dreams?"
"I don't need a successful career to be happy Professor." She stated truthfully.
"No of course not Miss Granger," Kilmore chuckled. "And that is because you have the Potter boy, am I right?"
Hermione didn't answer, but agreement was written all over her face.
"For your sake Miss Granger, may Harry Potter always be with you, through your entire life on this earth."
Hermione wasn't quite sure how to respond to Kilmore's statement. Was he giving her a blessing, or a death sentence? She decided on giving Kilmore a slow nod.
The Professor pulled out a pocket watch from his inner robe pocket.
"My, my… look at the time, it seems to wither away right before our very eyes." He said with a shake of his head. "Let us forget our little duel then Miss Granger, and call this moment the end of your detention."
"Thank you sir." She said firmly, yet again refusing to show how intimidated she felt by Kilmore's presence.
"You may go now."
Hermione rose from her seat, relief began to exert in her stride as she quietly shuffled towards the door; towards freedom.
"Legilimens!"
Memories started to float before her eyes, she tried desperately to stop what was happening, but failed.
"Never turn your back on an opponent Granger." Kilmore chortled.
*
She was eight; Marcus Reed had pulled her by the hair to the boy's bathroom, and was going to shove her head into the toilette bowl. She closed her eyes and gave a yelp of defeat when she suddenly vanished from his grasp and reappeared near the sinks before running away.
*
It was freezing, the wind was whipping in every direction and the rain pelted at her from the stands where she focused on Harry playing Quidditch. She gasped nervously each time a bludger came close to striking Harry, but he managed to dodge each one. Before she knew what was happening Harry was plummeting to the ground, she held her breath without realizing it, and all she could do was put her hands to her mouth and pray for a miracle.
*
She was alone with Viktor; he stared into her dark eyes with his own identical pair and inched closer, running his fingers up her bare arm in a sensual manner. She turned her head at the last moment. She left Krum looking crushed; she should have somehow told him that her heart lay elsewhere.
*
A feeling of intense need came over her. Without thinking, she kissed Harry on the cheek.
*
Hermione didn't have the strength to plea with the professor to cease robbing her of personal memories, she fought to stand on her own two feet and strained against the blackness that clouded her eyes; she couldn't take much more of this, she would pass out.
*
She was on an enormous battlefield dueling Bellatrix Lestrange in an effort to reach Harry who was fighting intensely with Voldemort; Ron lay lifeless a few feet away. It was a dream she had experienced on several accounts over the last year and a half, and knew exactly where it was headed.
*
"No!" She cried through her tears as Voldemort had cast the killing curse, draining the life from Harry's intense green eyes.
The door to the classroom burst to shreds of wooden splinters and she saw Harry standing in the doorway just as she lost consciousness.
She felt warmth rapidly spread through her; her head felt heavy, her thoughts were clouded and she couldn't see when she opened her eyes.
The distinct smell of potions and disinfectant made it clear she was in the hospital wing.
"Goodness gracious, can't you both give me a break for Merlin's sake?"
And Madam Pomfrey's voice confirmed it.
She moaned as she propped herself up on one arm.
"What happened, where's Harry?" She asked groggily as her vision began to return.
"I was hoping you, Miss Granger, would be able to tell me the same thing… Mr. Potter dropped you off here saying he couldn't explain and ran off. The nerve, he woke up poor Penelope who's been having a dreadful case of the mumbling measles."
"I have to go." She muttered, beginning to slide herself off the hospital bed.
"Oh no you don't!" Poppy announced firmly with her wand pointed at Hermione. "I shan't hesitate to use it Miss Granger." She warned motioning for Hermione to lie back down on the bed.
"Madam Pomfrey you don't understand,"
"I, dear girl, understand perfectly well. You need your rest and that's that; maybe it'll teach you to stay out of trouble." Poppy stated, looking slightly frustrated.
Hermione rolled her eyes and allowed herself to plop back into her stack of pillows.
Looking pleased Madam Pomfrey began to scurry away from Hermione's bedside when simultaneously, the large Hospital Wing windows burst into pelting shards of glass.
Hermione leapt from her bed and brought Madam Pomfrey to the floor with a heavy thud and sheltered her face with an arm.
"Sorry." She mumbled painfully as she cautiously rolled off the school nurse. "Where's my wand?" She questioned almost inaudibly while carefully brushing bits of glass from her bushy hair.
"Bedside cabinet." Madam Pomfrey answered looking perfectly petrified with what had just occurred.
Hermione crawled back to her bedside table and carefully peered over the top of the bed to see if anyone was present to shoot spells at her.
The wind ruffled the white curtains in the near distance.
Her eyes scanned back and forth looking for any sign of an intruder, but no one was there. Carefully, she reached her hand into the bedside cabinet drawer and grasped her wand, before ducking back behind the side of the hospital bed.
"Stay down Madam Pomfrey." She whispered.
"Is there someone there?" Poppy squeaked in fright.
Hermione put her finger to her lips to silence the nurse.
*
Harry trudged with a heavy heart from the hospital wing towards the headmaster's office. He wouldn't have left Hermione alone if he hadn't been sure that she would be back to her normal self given some rest; he wouldn't have left her at all if it wasn't for having to deal with Professor Kilmore.
Harry couldn't explain how he had heard Hermione's cry for help. Kilmore had obviously placed a silencing charm around the classroom walls as the sound hadn't come from the door he diligently watched; her cry had come from within him.
He ambled down the stairs passing a few students who were probably on their way to their dormitories from the Great Hall; they stared at his torn robes and whispered among one another. Harry ignored them, his stomach suddenly remembering that he hadn't had dinner.
After dealing with Kilmore, he would go visit the kitchens and bring some food up for Hermione and himself, he decided.
His focus went back to the task at hand, which was to inform Aberforth of the event that took place. At this very moment, Professor Kilmore was locked in his Defense Against the Dark Arts Classroom, unconscious and tied down with a binding spell. It had taken Harry quite some time to take the Professor down without using any seriously damaging spells; he was furious with Kilmore, but he didn't want to hurt him. What Harry found odd was that Kilmore hadn't resorted to Unforgivable Curses during their battle, which was why Harry chose not to use spells that would inflict harm to the Professor. The whole situation didn't seem to add up, unless of course, Kilmore really wasn't looking to rid the world of Harry Potter, maybe Kilmore wanted to murder Hermione… but why?
He reached the last step and lengthened his stride down the Entrance Hall.
BOOM
Harry leapt back, doubling over with his hands on his face to shield it from the grey chalky cloud that surrounded him. Coughing, he covered his mouth and nose with the sleeve of his robe in an effort to catch a breath of cleaner air, realizing that part of the roof must have caved in from above. The sound of screaming students piling out of the Great Hall ceased his eyes from looking at the damage. He held his breath in shock when a massive wind erupted from the familiar dining hall and split into three twisters that hit the ground with an earth shaking thud.
"Close those doors!" Harry yelled at the frightened students that remained closest to the Great Hall, throwing himself to the ground as a chair whipped past him.
The Hogwarts students piled their strength into closing the two doors to the Great Hall; the hinges creaked with the sound of bending metal as Colin Creevey locked the doors shut.
"Is everyone okay?" Harry asked
"What happened here Harry?" Parvarti questioned nervously, pointing to the pile of rubble near Harry.
"I don't know, but I want everyone to head down to the dungeons. Seventh and sixth years take charge to get everyone to safety." Harry ordered in a serious and bold tone.
No one dared to question twice, and slowly the large hoard of people began to pile down into the dungeons with sixth and seventh year students giving commands every so often.
Harry clenched his wand firmly in his grasp and made way for the entrance doors, he was quite sure he was hearing heavy footfalls on the roof above and needed to get a better look.
BOOM
Another cloud of gray filled the Entrance Hall, but this time Harry pushed it away with a quick wind charm before looking up, somehow knowing that there would be a huge gaping hole just above him.
Shrill shrieks filled his ears from the students that had not yet made it to safety.
Harry's eyes met the face of a dragon. It roared in fierce anger, flashing its set of razor sharp teeth and flicking its dark snakelike tongue past his smoking nostrils.
He swallowed, feeling his rather dry bundle of spit trail sharply down his throat as though he had swallowed a handful of nails. Then, he slowly began to back away keeping constant eye contact with the beast. This was, without a doubt, the same dragon Harry had read about in the Daily Prophet with Hermione, and those eyes somehow looked shockingly familiar.
The sound of a chain rattled in the lower half of the dragon's neck where Harry was unable to see as the hole in the castles ceiling was not big enough to accompany the wider half of the dragon's neck.
The dragon let out a low grumble; its bulging orange eyes widened and flashed over with an intense rage. Without thinking, Harry dove as far away from the dragon's head as he possibly could while a stream of flame erupted from the dragon's mouth; burning the entrance door to a crisp. Harry rolled back and forth furiously on the floor to put out the small fire burning the back of his robes where it had caught the burst of flame.
Another rattle of chains and the dragon slowly withdrew its head from the enormous gap in the ceiling, its orange eyes lingered on Harry for a moment before it disappeared.
"Norbert?" Harry whispered, hardly believing that he had just encountered the former pet of Hagrid's.
Harry didn't have time to wonder what was happening, or how it had happened; Dementors flooded in through the gap where the entrance doors had once stood.
A young girl stood petrified; rooted to the spot she stood in, only her jaw trembled when the Dementor hovered just before her.
Harry pulled himself to his knees, staining the cold floor beneath them in a pool of blood. He pointed his wand and summoned his happy memories.
"Expecto Patronum!" He chanted in a mad fury just as the Dementor pulled down his hood to take the girls soul.
His powerful stag Patronus stabbed the Dementor with its magnificent set of antlers, driving it back a few feet before another smoky form joined in to help his stag.
Harry nearly gasped when he found the entire entrance hall covered in the most dazzling array of white light. Tears streamed to the rim of his eyes as he witnessed students, mostly members of the DA, following his lead in an effort to drive the soul sucking creatures away.
Neville's Hare Patronus threw itself fearlessly at any Dementor in its zigzagging path, Ginny's seal guarded the students incapable of protecting themselves, Parvarti's blackbird circled and attacked from above.
Harry pushed himself up from his knees and motioned for everyone to attempt to drive the Dementors from the entrance hall to the outdoors. He wasn't sure how much longer they could cling to their happy thoughts and summon the energy to stay conscious, and he definitely didn't know how he was going to drive all these Dementors away from Hogwarts; he wished he had Dumbledore's skill, or at least the Professor's help.
The night air was brisk; an owl's call could be heard from the near distance accompanied by a strange set of audible footfalls across the dead grass.
Harry's stag seemed to grow brighter under the light of the full moon. Together the group of students slowly marched across the grounds pushing the deathly creatures back with their shield of fading guardians.
The slow yet scattered footfalls grew louder and Harry dared take a look in the direction they were coming from. Though the moon's light was bright enough to illuminate most of the grounds, the enormous figure seemed to blend with the darkness; Harry could only just make out the edge of the Forbidden Forest in the far distance.
"What is it?" He heard Neville call to his left.
"I don't know, it's something huge!" He called over the battlefield noise.
"Harry!" It was Ginny's cry coming somewhere from behind him. "Harry, Death Eaters!"
"Fuck!" Harry swore aloud.
His eyes scanned in the direction Ginny was pointing and fell on Bellatrix Lestrange disarming Collin Creevey.
Before Harry could even make the slightest reaction, his eyes watched a green sliver of light shoot from Bella's wand and hit Collin near the throat. He watched in an eerie slow motion as the young man collapsed to the soft soil in a heap. Running towards Collin as fast as he could, Bellatrix Lestrange's laughter hung in the air and echoed through his mind.
He dodged a few spells aimed his way but didn't slow his stride.
Harry fell next to Collin and held the young man's torso in his arms.
"Collin! Collin wake up!" He shouted while shaking him frantically; only succeeding to bob the young man's head back and forth.
Harry felt his eyes sting from withholding tears as he looked into Collin's haunted pale blue eyes.
He placed Collin's limp body back into the muddy grass and put his left hand on the young man's chest, hoping against all possibilities that maybe he would feel the boy's heartbeat against his palm. It wouldn't happen, he was definitely dead.
"I'm sorry Collin… this wasn't your battle to fight." With those words he brushed his thumb and middle finger over the young man's face; shutting Collin Creevey's eyes to the world forever.
Harry stood to his feet once more, an image of what had just occurred flashed before his eyes; though, instead of Collin, he couldn't help but see Hermione in his place… he had to find her.
And Ron.
He raced towards the castle with a pang of guilt rising like bile in his throat at the thought of his selfishness; there were so many lives at stake all around him and all he could truly care about was the safety of his two best friends.
Knocking a Death Eater to the ground and avoiding being hit by another, he wondered if his reasoning was at all normal; either way, he hated himself for it.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Some innocent girl Harry didn't know hit the ground near his escape route.
She didn't have brown bushy hair.
He pushed back the terrified look in her grey eyes and ran on; he could see Norbert thrashing his tail around on a part of the castles rooftop in an attempt to keep Grawp at bay; who was succeeding in driving most of the Dementors away.
The giant swatted continuously at the Dragon with his massive hands, but wasn't nearly nimble enough to avoid a powerful blow to the face by the Dragon's whipping tail.
Grawp howled in agony, grasping his bleeding face with his sausage-like fingers; this gave Norbert the opportunity to blow an enormous gust of fire towards the huge dark figure Harry hadn't been able to identify earlier. As it blazed into a ball of fire, screeching in fits of pain, Harry recognized the dark figure as Arigog; the massive spider that was also one of Hagrid's pets.
"Expelliarmus!"
Harry almost managed to hold on to his wand, but it slipped from his grasp in the last moment.
"Revenge Potter… its wonderful isn't it? It's so sweet it's making me sick!"
He couldn't see her face, but her voice seemed distantly familiar; only her feminine eyes could be seen through the slits of her Death Eater mask.
He stumbled backwards, pretending to cower from her rage in an effort to reach his wand that lay somewhere in the unkempt grass.
"Don't know who I am do you Potter?"
Harry shook his head slightly.
"Perhaps I should refresh your memory," She barked deliriously, swinging her long twig-like wand in a taunting manner. "You killed my husband!"
"Sorry, that doesn't refresh my memory, since you know, I didn't kill anyone!"
"Giving me lip are you?"
"No, actually, I just have no idea what you're on about." Harry answered with cheek in his tone.
He shifted slightly further from the Death Eater before him and felt the tip of his wand against his index finger.
"I want you to know you died in the hands of a Malfoy, you took my husband's life, and you ruined my son's future," She pointed her wand in the direction of Harry's heart and took a breath; she was going to kill him. "Avada,"
"NARCISSA!" A male voice hollered just as she uttered the first portion of the killing curse. "Follow your orders; the boy is the Dark Lords battle!"
"Incarcerous!"
Ropes shot from Harry's wand which he had managed to get a hold of while Narcissa's attention was focused on the other Death Eater.
"Impervius!" Narcissa countered causing the ropes to repel.
"Cissy!"
"Leave me be Flint, I won't kill him… I just want to play." She hissed.
Flint nodded and left to inflict further destruction upon Hogwarts, its students, and professors.
Harry clenched his jaw waiting for the inevitable attack, wondering if he shouldn't strike first; but no, he wouldn't stoop to her level.
"Levicurpus!" She spat.
Harry had been expecting her to use the Cruciatus Curse and found himself unprepared to use the counter curse for her attack. Dangling upside down, he struggled to detangle himself from his robes which obscured his vision.
Narcissa's icy laugh permeated the clouding material before him; her laughter was crisp with hate and if it wasn't for her fear of Voldemort, he didn't have a doubt that she would even hesitate about taking his life.
Harry steadied his wiggling attempts as the blood rapidly rushed to his head.
"Liberacorpus!"
He curled his head towards his chest praying that his head first fall wouldn't break his neck.
It didn't.
Instead he hit the ground on his back and felt the wind rush from his lungs.
"That wasn't very clever of you, was it Potter?" She chortled while Harry gasped for a breath; he had fallen a fair distance. "Crucio!"
Harry's body twitched with the torment of the Unforgivable Curse; the pain from his lungs now forgotten. Luckily, he had been exposed to this form of training for so long, and the fact that Narcissa was hardly comparable to Dumbledore's strength, made the intensity of the curse somehow bearable.
"Incarcerous!" He croaked trying the binding spell once more; his hand slightly inaccurate and shaky.
Harry's attack was rapid and accurate despite the tremor of his hand; unfortunately Narcissa was quicker producing an invisible shield which caused the ropes to snake to the ground before her.
Harry remembered Dumbledore using the same spell during their private duels.
Scowling, he had decided he had quite enough of this silly game; he had to find his friends and here he was wasting precious time.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
His lip twitched at the corners of his mouth with private satisfaction when Narcissa dropped to the ground with a heavy thud.
He was about to run onward when a flick of fiery red hair caught his attention and his head darted to the right.
Covered in cuts and bruises, her teeth clenched in concentration, her hair no longer sleek and perfect, Ginny struggled to fight off four Dementors all by herself from a group of cowering students.
"Expecto Patronum!"
The stag leapt from his wand once again to aid Ginny's fading seal. To Harry's great surprise, it was such a powerful summon that the Dementors retreated into the depths of the night.
"Thanks Harry." She mouthed weakly.
"Get out of here Ginny, go home!" He said rather harshly without intending for it to be quite so rude.
"You can't make me, I'm here to help." She replied stubbornly.
"Ginny,"
"No Harry, this isn't just your battle, they attacked us all!"
"I…I just. I don't want you to get hurt." He said feeling fearful for her life.
She gave him a weak smile.
"I'll be careful."
He nodded knowing there wasn't any way he could persuade Ginny Weasley from what she had her mind set on.
"Harry," She paused to make sure she had his attention. "I'm needed out here, but… but I don't know where Ron,"
"I'll find him Ginny."
She nodded rubbing streaming tears from her dirt covered face.
"And Harry,"
"Yeah?" He asked, flicking her salty tears from her cheeks with his thumbs.
"Be careful too."
"I will."
***
AUTHORS NOTE: I hoped you guys enjoyed!! WOAH what a rush this chapter was to write, I had a lot of fun though some area's were slightly worthy of a writers block; thankfully they didn't last long! Thanks, as always, for all the reviews and I'll do my best to get you guys chapter 29 as soon as possible!! Take Care =o) Happy Holidays!
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