(Hello Everyone!! Chapter 8 is now complete YAY! I apologize for how long it took me to write it.. but I'm sure you'll understand once you see the length of this chapter, it is a treat, like two chapters in one.. Take Care, I hope you enjoy and I thank you for your reviews!)
CHAPTER 8
Harry scanned the Great Hall and staff table carefully. He had gotten used to the absence of Professor McGonagall and Hagrid, but it felt so strange seeing Lucius Malfoy sitting comfortably in Dumbledore's magnificent chair. Two wizards sat calmly on each side of Lucius. One of the men was the plump wizard, who Snape addressed as Rufus. He was sitting on Malfoy's right had side, rubbing his round belly and chuckling to himself about something, Harry thought Rufus could have passed as a modern day Santa Clause. The other wizard next to Lucius, was a tall, exceedingly thin, grumpy-looking old man.
"Hermione?"
"Mmm?" She answered while swallowing a spoonful of chicken soup.
"That old wizard next to Lucius, is that the barman from the Hog's Head?" Harry asked.
Hermione glanced at the staff table and furrowed her eyebrows. "What's he doing here?... I wonder who the other wizard is?" She answered craning her neck to get a better look at the plump wizard.
"That's Rufus." Harry stated.
"You know him?" She questioned with a look of surprise on her face.
"Yeah... well no, not really. I ran into him when I was leaving Dumbledore's office, he was the first to tell me about the Muggle attacks."
Hermione pushed her dinner plate aside and rested her chin on the palm of her hand.
"That barman looks strangely familiar." She said at last.
Harry silently agreed and his eyes traveled to the old wizard again. His robes looked battered and filthy, he had piercing blue eyes with a hint of madness and a great deal of determination, thick, grey, unkempt hair, and a long beard that reached just slightly past his chest; he was busy carrying a conversation with Lucius.
Harry assumed he was agreeing to whatever Lucius was saying because he was completely engrossed with the new Headmaster's words, and every so often, he would give Lucius a slow nod.
Suddenly, the old wizard's attention fell on Harry's emerald green eyes; he scowled unpleasantly towards his direction, gave Harry an unexpected wink, and continued his conversation with Lucius.
"He's mad." Harry mumbled under his breath.
"Possibly... or... no, he couldn't be." She muttered.
"Couldn't be what?"
Hermione didn't answer; instead, she took out a large book from her bag and started to furiously flip through the pages.
Harry recognized the book almost immediately, it was Hogwarts A History.
"I've read all this several times, I don't know why I hadn't noticed it before." She said resting on a page somewhere in the middle of the book.
He saw a picture of Dumbledore peering over his half moon spectacles; he was grinning at them both.
Harry looked over at Hermione with a confused expression.
"What does Professor Dumbledore have to do with that old wizard next to Lucius?" He questioned.
Hermione rolled her eyes and pointed to a picture near the bottom half of the page.
Harry's eyes fell on a picture of Dumbledore next to a man that resembled a younger version of the grumpy wizard sitting next to Lucius.
"That's Aberforth Harry... He's Professor Dumbledore's brother!" She exclaimed in excitement.
They did indeed look like siblings, and Harry now understood why the barman had looked so familiar to him on many occasions.
"It says here that Aberforth is ten years younger then Professor Dumbledore, and that he was thought of as a Squib until his sixteenth birthday... that's when he showed the first signs of having magical abilities and since he was from a family where both his parents were capable of magic, Aberforth didn't want to live in the Muggle world... I bet he didn't get a chance to go to wizarding school, I wonder if he even has a wand." Hermione said with a sad look on her face.
"It looks to me like he's not on our side." Harry stated.
"Whatever do you mean?" Hermione questioned half laughing.
"He seems to be on good terms with the Malfoy's." Harry answered in a bitter tone.
Hermione watched the staff table for a moment.
"That is rather strange... Lucius would refuse to carry a pleasant conversation with Professor Dumbledore... They're even laughing together." She observed.
"I don't trust him." Harry decided.
"Mind if I join you Hermione?" Seamus asked attempting to take a seat between Harry and Hermione.
"Actually Seamus, I was just going to ask Harry if he wanted to head up to the Common Room... if anyone cares to join me, they're more then welcome to." She answered.
"I'm coming." Seamus grinned, tucking Hermione's books under his arm.
Harry studied her spicy brown eyes; they reflected his outline and glistened brighter then the stars Dumbledore had scattered on the enchanted ceiling above them. Her bouncy curls rested on her strong shoulders, and her pink lips were gently pressed together in a light grin.
"Harry?" She said.
Harry watched as her upper teeth curled over her bottom lip; she was thinking.
"Aren't you coming?" She asked in a hopeful tone.
Harry looked over to the plate Hermione had pushed aside earlier. Maybe it would be a good idea for Hermione to spend some time with some other guys her age, he thought. Since their fourth year Hermione hadn't been given an opportunity to get to know any other boys besides Ron and himself, and since Ron began to date Luna, Harry had been her constant companion. Perhaps it wasn't fair for Harry to keep Hermione all to himself.
"No, you two go ahead... I've got some things I need to sort out, I'll see you later."
He didn't dare look into Hermione's eyes, he was afraid she would see right through him.
She didn't move from her spot for quite some time. Eventually, Seamus took her by the hand and escorted her towards the doors of the Great Hall.
*******************************
Harry ambled to the library and collapsed in Hermione's seat. He closed his eyes and allowed the setting sun's rays, from a nearby window, to tickle his face. He felt empty inside without Hermione's presence, it felt like someone had torn off a piece of his heart and taken his soul. What Harry wouldn't give to be just a normal Hogwarts student, what Harry wouldn't give just to hold Hermione's hand like Seamus had, what Harry wouldn't give to embrace her in his arms and tell her how beautiful she looked, what he wouldn't give to shower her soft skin and delicate lips with warming kisses, and what he wouldn't give to just tell her those three words which linger in his throat each time she gives him a smile.
Harry opened his eyes and sighed. He looked at the many book cases and spines of hundreds of books in all shapes, sizes and colors. He suddenly sat up when he remembered the enormous, brown, hardcover tome Hermione had eagerly put away when Harry had joined her in the library. What had she been reading? Why wouldn't she let Harry see what it was about? What was she up to exactly?
Harry pushed the chair he was sitting on back and casually strolled over to the shelf, which he knew held the dirty, brown tome. It was squeezed in-between two large red books bearing bright gold Roman numeral three's on the spine. He swiftly slid the enormous tome into his hands, his knees nearly buckled from the weight of the book. Harry shuffled back to Hermione's seat and started to flip through the tomes dirty, old pages. He didn't understand why Hermione would want to keep this book a secret from him; it didn't seem to contain anything unusual. If he only knew what Hermione what looking at, if he only knew what page or even what chapter it was.
'Venus is the goddess of love and beauty. Many witches and wizards over thousands of years have attempted to Summon Venus, in hopes of being granted true love, or in hopes of gaining love from a desired individual. Tales are told of Venus giving Summoners several lovers. Tales are told of Venus granting unconditional, eternal love to faithful couples who Summon her presence, but there are no records to prove that Venus was successfully Summoned. As we know it, the art of a Summon is along the same parallel as the art of Divination, it is rare to come across a witch or wizard with such abilities. Venus the planet is considered to be the brightest and most beautiful object in the black sky next to the sun and the moon.......'
Harry was quite positive Hermione wasn't reading the chapter about Venus. Harry flipped to the next chapter which was devoted to Aphrodite, and was sure Hermione wasn't trying to read about her either. Harry was about to turn to the next chapter when something caught his eye. There was a page near the end of the tome that had the top corner folded, he remembered seeing Hermione often bookmark important pages this way. Harry grinned to himself and flipped to the bookmarked page.
'...It is needed for just one soul to devote its full strength, power and love for this rare elixir of life. Few would trade one's life to spare another; few possess the ability to love so unconditionally, to love so deeply, so desperately, with such innocence and loyalty. Because it is the purest form of magic, it is all but extinct. This form of magic is known as Love's Eternal Sacrifice,'
Harry's scar prickled unpleasantly, he felt hot tears fill his emerald green eyes, and he found himself breathing fairly rapidly. His scar began to burn before it erupted into an unbearable flame of pain and dizziness. He fell back not knowing what his body hit before collapsing on the library floor.
"HHHAAARRRRYYYY!" His mother's voice rung in his ears, he couldn't stand the pain any longer, and passed out.
***************************
"Will he be alright?"
"He should be just fine dear, he just needs some rest... the poor boy took a fairly nasty fall."
"Can I stay with him?"
"Absolutely not. Have I not made it clear that he needs his rest?"
"Please Madam Pomfrey?"
There was a long pause.
"Oh alright Miss Granger, but only you, and you mustn't disturb his rest... if he wakes, be sure to give him this so he'll sleep again, are we clear?"
"Yes ma'am."
"Good... if you should need me, just call."
Harry heard Madam Pomfrey's footsteps move away from his bed. Slowly, he opened his eyes. Hermione was sitting at the edge of his bed, gently stroking his right hand with her thumb, and studying his face with a worried look in her chocolate brown eyes.
"Harry?"
"Alright there Hermione?" He answered with a grin on his face.
Hermione nodded. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"I'm okay." He answered holding her hand.
"What happened?... all I know is you passed out in the library."
Harry ran a hand through his hair.
"Nothing, it was just my scar… Where's Seamus?" He questioned with a hint of jealousy.
"He probably went back to the Common Room. He walked me here and then left… apparently he felt he was intruding." She took the potion which sat on the bedside table. "Here… you have to drink this."
"I don't want to, I just got up." Harry protested remembering the fowl taste of the sleeping potion.
"You have to, Madam Pomfrey made me promise… besides, you'll get your strength back faster this way."
Harry sighed and swigged back the potion.
Hermione held back a giggle as Harry made faces from the awful taste of the potion.
"Alright there Harry?" She teased.
"Very funny." Harry mumbled.
Harry's eyes quickly felt heavy and he fell into a deep sleep.
*
Harry stood in the entrance hall of a large ancient looking manor. The wooden floors creaked with each uneasy step he took, the air was dry and smelled like fresh sawdust, and the sound of an old grandfather clock's ticking echoed throughout the house.
"Hello?" Harry called.
There was no reply. The manor seemed completely deserted, but something made Harry feel uneasy, something screamed inside of him that there was someone here that shouldn't be. Harry removed his wand from his robes and cautiously glided up the magnificent staircase.
On the upper floor of the manor was a long hallway with several doors. They were all closed. Harry assumed they all lead to rooms, but something made Harry's heart drift to his throat. Perhaps it was the emptiness the house portrayed, or perhaps it was that all the doors to each room were closed and he felt helplessly trapped.
Harry put his left hand on one of the cold handles of the many doors. With his right hand he gripped his wand firmly, ready to shout a spell in case of an attack. Taking a deep breath he pushed the first door open.
Empty.
Harry wiped the sweat from his forehead on one of his sleeves, and opened the door to the left of the one he had just examined.
Empty.
He was starting to gain more confidence now, he was starting to believe he was just being paranoid for no reason. Harry opened the door to the next room.
Empty. Except something caught his attention in the small room, what was it doing here? Next to the neatly made bed stood a magnificent mirror, it wasn't just any mirror; it was the mirror of Erised. Harry strolled over to the grand mirror and recognized the inscription engraved around the rim.
`Erised stra ehro oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi'
He stood before the mirror. He saw himself and his entire family around him, but something was missing, something didn't feel like this picture was complete. Harry's heart gave a jolt when he saw someone new come into the picture, he knew who it was, he recognized that grin immediately. Hermione wrapped her arm around Harry's reflection and gave his cheek a brisk kiss. His reflection grinned.
Harry heard a noise coming from within the manor.
"Who's there?" He demanded as he rushed out into the long hallway.
There was only one door Harry hadn't yet opened; there was one door that remained closed. Harry put his hand on the cold metal knob and turned it.
Locked.
A dark, cold voice escaped from the room with the closed door. The low hiss made Harry's insides toss and his lightening shaped scar burned painfully.
"Foolish girl, you don't need to die."
Harry heard a woman sobbing and knew the Dark Lord was in the room with her, threatening her in some way. He kicked at the door in hopes of breaking the locks, but it stayed firmly in place.
"Harry no!" He heard the woman yell.
He knew who she was, it was his mother, and he needed to save her.
"Bombardium!" Harry shouted causing the door to explode into shreds of wood.
Voldemort stood with his back to Harry, he didn't turn when he heard the explosion; instead, he erupted into a sick kind of laughter.
"Avada Kedavra!"
Blinding green light surrounded the room as Voldemort placed the killing curse on the innocent woman, her shrill shriek echoed and rung in his ears as his scar burned with unbearable agony.
"HHHHAAAAAAARRRRRRYYYY!" Harry saw past the blinding green light and saw not his mother, but Hermione.
Harry tried to reach out to her. His scar burned harder, he thought his scull was going to split into two halves.
"HHHHAAARRRYYYYYYYY!" The cry continued as the killing curse slowly sucked the life out of Hermione.
*
"Harry!.... Harry, wake up… come on… wake up!"
"HERMIONE!"
"Harry, I'm here, wake up!"
Harry opened his eyes to find two brown eyes inches from his own emerald green ones. His body was drenched in cold sweat, his scar was still burning furiously, but the cool damp cloth Hermione held to his forehead eased the pain.
She sat down deeper on the bed and allowed Harry to fall into her arms. He was breathing rapidly, gasping for oxygen to fill his lungs; then the coughing started and he began to choke.
"Shh, its okay." Hermione said as she rocked him back and forth. She rubbed his back in small circles and whispered reassuring words into his ear.
Harry was still trying to catch his breath when he felt the warm trickle of blood fill his mouth, he felt like he was dying from the inside out. When he managed to steady his breathing, he pinched his nose knowing the nosebleed was going to follow; he was right.
Hermione removed her wand from her robes, pointed it at Harry's nose and muttered, "Amendo Sangrante Neus.", as she gave her wand an energetic swish.
"Thank you." He mumbled trying to form the words.
Hermione's bottom lip trembled; she was desperately fighting back tears.
Harry quickly lunged off the bed and ran to the toilette. He fell down to his knees and vomited a large amount of blood; he had never felt so sick in his life before. Harry fought as the sensation to pass out filled his head and managed to pull himself to his feet again. Hermione ran to his side and helped him back into bed.
"What's all this ruckus?" Madam Pomfrey came rushing over to where Harry lay.
"We need to see Professor Dumbledore." Hermione said calmly.
"No such thing will be happening, this boy isn't well enough," Madam Pomfrey stated with a frown.
"WE NEED TO SEE PROFESSOR DUMBLEDORE RIGHT NOW!" Hermione yelled nearly lunging herself at Madam Pomfrey, and pointed her wand at her in a threatening manner.
Seamus who had stood in the doorway and watched the entire event, quickly strolled over to Hermione, lowered her wand, took her by the shoulders and moved her away from Madam Pomfrey.
"You will control yourself Miss Granger... Now, we have no contact with Professor Dumbledore, he is no longer the Headmaster, if you wish, I'd be pleased to call Sir Malfoy." Madam Pomfrey stated in a sing song manner.
"That will not be necessary Poppy."
Madam Pomfrey looked at the old wizard and quietly made her way to the opposite side of the Hospital Wing.
Hermione glared at the grumpy wizard and tightened the grip on her wand.
"No need to feel alarmed Miss Granger." He spoke calmly gliding over to the bed Harry occupied.
"What do you want?" She said bitterly stepping before Harry in a protective manner.
Aberforth smiled. "If you would step aside, I'll have a look at Mr. Potter."
"I don't trust you." She answered still standing between Aberforth and Harry.
Harry took a hold of her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I'll be alright Hermione."
Hermione looked into Harry's eyes and reluctantly stepped aside, but pointed her wand at Aberforth.
"If you do anything to hurt Harry in any way… I'll… I'll,"
"You'll what, Miss Granger?" He asked with a twinkle in his eyes.
"I'll curse you to non-existence." She threatened.
Aberforth shrugged and hovered over Harry.
"Has your scar ever given you this much pain before?" He asked gently.
"No sir… it's been gradually getting worse." Harry answered truthfully.
"Why had you not informed my brother of your pain?" Aberforth questioned.
Harry hadn't answered; there was really no reason, except his pride.
"I see," Aberforth spoke with a slight grin. "My brother could have helped your pain, if you would have told him."
Harry sighed.
"If you, and Miss Granger here," He glanced at Hermione. "will allow me to help, I can perform a spell to either make the pain completely go away, or make it partially go away."
Harry looked into the old man's icy blue eyes; then looked over into Hermione's chocolate brown ones. She looked pale and scared, she shook her head lightly to indicate she doesn't approve.
Harry thought for a moment. He wouldn't feel very comfortable if his scar would completely stop prickling, it had always been a good indicator of evil, but it would be extremely helpful if his scar didn't blind him with pain. What if he needed to face Voldemort and his scar erupted into unbearable pain again? He wouldn't stand a chance to even defend himself.
"Okay… but I don't want the pain to completely go away." Harry said.
Hermione stared and she went even paler. "Harry don't." She squeaked.
"It's okay Hermione… I have a feeling he's not here to hurt me."
"Hurt you?" Aberforth looked taken aback. "I'm Professor Dumbledore's brother, why in Merlin would I be out to hurt you?"
"There's no mistake you're on good terms with the Malfoy's." Harry stated.
Aberforth chuckled. "I thought you would have figured out that I'm here to protect you… its true that I wasn't too pleased with the idea, I owe my brother a favor you see," He shook his head. "Who doesn't owe my brother a favor?... Do you think Albus would have allowed Hogwarts to be run by Lucius Malfoy?"
"But he's the Headmaster, and he's still made muggle born students lives miserable." Hermione stated in a bitter tone.
"Awh, yes… well, I cannot stop everything Lucius does, but I'm sure he knows well that I'm in close contact with Albus, and although he loathes Albus, he is simply terrified of what he may do if say, Death Eaters would stroll into his school… not to mention, he has no idea what abilities I may possess." Aberforth explained.
"I'm sure he knows you were sixteen when you gained magical powers." Hermione stated calmly.
"You are a clever witch," Hermione blushed. "Yes Miss Granger, I'm sure he does, but you don't need school to learn magic… now, if I may be allowed to, I'll perform the spell and be on my way before Lucius discovers where I am."
Harry nodded and Hermione lowered her wand.
Aberforth put his fingers on Harry's scar and closed his eyes.
Harry felt a cooling sensation travel up his scar, it felt like someone had taken an ice cube and carefully traced the lightening bolt shape.
Aberforth picked himself off the bed; he grinned at Harry, then Hermione and made his way towards the Hospital Wing's entrance.
"Thank you sir." Harry said gently.
"Your welcome Harry… Poppy," Madam Pomfrey glanced towards Aberforth's direction. "the boy is free to leave the Hospital Wing if he feels he is ready to do so… Harry, please take no notice if I act rudely towards you, I must act my part."
Harry nodded with understanding as Hermione helped Harry to his feet.
Harry and Hermione left the hospital wing hand in hand with Seamus trailing close behind.
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