AN: Wow took me long enough right? Well Ive been busy moving and with college, so here it is! Hope you enjoy, next chapter will be out sooner than this one was. I promise!
Disclaimer: I do not own anything Harry Potter except for the wonderful posters on my wall!!!
Chapter Ten: It is Time
I was wandering through the Forbidden Forest quite alone, it was dark and cold. The air was foggy and difficult to see in, nevertheless I pressed on. I felt as if there was something I was searching for, someone I needed to see. The trees reached out for me, their snarled branches reaching out to grab me like decrepit fingers. I quickened my pace slightly and continued walking. Fear was creeping up my spine, as if I didn't have any control over it whatsoever.
I continued walking, my trainers scuffing the ground occasionally. My breath had began to come out in ragged gasps, and I was frightened that I would not make it through the night. Then all of a sudden, directly in front of me, I saw a dim light. It was so beautiful, nothing special, just a light. But it was such a change from the darkness I had come accustomed to I was drawn towards the light.
The light wasn't alone. It was being held up by something, someone. A wand…this light was coming from a wand. My eyes made their way from the tip of the wand where the light emanated from, all the way down the wooden shaft of it, and onto the hand that held it. There was nothing special about this hand, it was just a normal hand covered slightly in a blonde hair that was visible from my vantage spot.
I felt something begin to tickle my nose, I wasn't sure what it was but I wiped it away. It stayed right where it was. I learned to ignore it after a while, my eyes becoming quite curious as to who was actually holding up the wand. They traveled up the arm, noticing the hair becoming a slight strawberry blonde now. My eyes were currently trained on this persons shoulder, I noticed the torn and tattered clothes they were wearing, realization hitting me immediately. I knew those clothes, I knew that sweater! As my eyes traveled up towards this persons I face, I held my breath. There was a tiny bit of red stubble at the end of his chin, and his lips were spread in an odd smile. His nose was the same as it had always been, slightly crooked and long. His eyes were the same deep shade of blue they had been when he was alive. And finally my eyes fell on his hair, such a deep color of ginger red that I had to smile in remembrance. It was Ron, my best friend.
I walked towards him preparing to give him a warm hug when he put his hand out stopping me.
"No Harry, I am merely here to warn you." He said in such a professional voice, I almost thought it wasn't him. This wasn't the Ron I knew and loved so dearly. I cocked my head in a questioning look. "Harry, the time is almost here for you to fight." He finished.
I nodded my head, I knew that I would be facing Voldemort soon, he didn't have to tell me that.
The tickling was back in my nose, it had become quite unbearable all of a sudden. I kept rubbing my nose, but was unsuccessful in ridding myself of this sensation. I looked to Ron again, the smile hadn't faded, but he was. He was becoming quite fuzzy, as were the surrounding. He was leaving, and I wasn't ready to let him go. I held out my hand to him hoping he would take mine in his.
"No! Ron!" But he was nearly faded completely. I could feel myself being tugged backwards, almost as if I were using a portkey. I was trying in vain to hold onto anything to stay in this place with Ron, but I was being pulled against my will away from him.
--
I awoke to an insane tickling sensation in my nose. When I finally decided to open my eyes I realized it was Hermiones' hair that was on my face. I smiled at her lying so innocently next to me, the dream fading from my mind for the time being. I had to wake her up before any of the other Gryffindors awoke and found us in the current position.
I leaned closer to her and placed a gentle kiss on her nose. Instantly she began stirring, then her eyelids fluttered open elegantly. A smile broke out across her face.
"Morning, Harry." She whispered, a hand placed delicately over her mouth. She blushed slightly. "Morning breath…I'm sure you didn't want to suffer that."
I laughed loudly then covered my own mouth. We both giggled before shrugging our shoulders and planting our lips on each other, not minding the morning breath very much. I pulled away after a few moments and looked at her.
"I could get used to this, you know?" I said after scrutinizing her face.
"What?" she questioned me.
I smiled and grabbed her hand, squeezing it three times. "Waking up next to you."
Her face was overcome with reds and pinks as she blushed.
"As could I." She smiled brightly at me. Just then we heard the doors to the dormitories begin to open., our expressions of happiness changed instantly to realization that we needed to get up and clean our mess up before anyone came down. Scrambling to our feet we pulled out our wands and began shooting cleaning spells all around the room to tidy up. Just as Seamus and Dean were coming down the stairs we plopped down onto the couch in a tired fashion.
"Oi, there ya are Harry. We didn't see you when we woke up." Seamus proclaimed loudly with a grin spread across his face.
I blushed immensely and searched for an explanation, my mind was blank. Just then Hermione spoke up, her voice tense.
"Yes, that's my fault. I woke him up for a…for a…for a walk!" She added with a smile on her face. I grabbed her hand and squeezed it, then nodded to Dean and Seamus.
"We were out for a walk…"
They both looked skeptically at us, but accepted our lie nonetheless. They meandered around the common room for a few minutes before deciding to head down to breakfast. I breathed a sigh of relief as they left and slumped back against the couch. Hermione, I saw did the same thing. Suddenly we both burst out laughing, huge spasms of laughter wracked our bodies until tears sprang into our eyes.
Her head fell against my shoulder as our laughter died down and we settled into one another. Our hands found each other and were instantly intertwined. I squeezed her hand three times sending her my silent message knowing she still didn't get it. To my surprise though my hand received three squeezes in return. I shifted my gaze down to her, and our eyes locked.
"You think I didn't figure it out Harry?" she smiled. "I am the smartest witch of my age." Her smiled beamed up at me.
I grinned at her. "I think the phrase were looking for here is insufferable know-it-all." Instantly I was on my feet, dodging her fist as she tried to connect with my stomach. A glare was on her face, but behind it I could see a hint of playfulness.
"You are such a prat Harry." She stood up and proceeded to walk towards the stairs, tossing glaring smiles over her shoulder towards me. "I need to shower…and so should you." She waved her hand in front of her nose a couple times and smiled as she dashed up the stairs.
I stood in the common room alone before I lifted up my arms to smell them. "I do not smell!" I proclaimed before I too made a mad dash for the showers.
~~
Somewhere deep in a forest in a distant land, he sat in his chair contemplating his next move. His mole had been discovered, as if he hadn't expected that to happen. His blood red eyes burned with contempt for the seventeen year old boy who had once again thwarted his plans. This had been happening since this child was born…it needed to end. He stood from his throne, his back cracking with ease as he rose. He reached well over six feet tall and was built quite nicely for such a hideously disfigured creature.
He stalked over to his desk which had figures lying all over it. This was odd for him, he was not a man to rely on such trivial things as these. But he would need them for the defeat of the boy called Harry Potter.
Their last meeting had been a bad one for him. He could have killed Potter right there had Dumbledore not interfered. He slammed his fist down on the desk at the thought of the wrinkled old man with that stupid twinkle constantly in his eye. He hated that man more than anything, yet Harry along with everyone else loved him beyond belief. They would sacrifice their pathetic lives for his. Suddenly it hit him. To get to Harry, to finally ruin the boy that destroyed him, he would need to kill Dumbledore.
~~
"GO HARRY!!" Hermione screamed at the top of her lungs as Harry flew across the quidditch field after the golden snitch. She had seen it at about the same time he did, but then again so did the Ravenclaw seeker.
Harry was half way across the field when a stray bludger came flying towards his face. He grabbed hold of his broom and turned it furiously upwards to barely miss the flying death trap. After regaining his balance he spotted the other seeker a few feet in front of him, and just a yard or so in front of him flew the tiny little snitch.
He grabbed hold of his broom and flattened himself as flat as he could against the broom to allow for better speed. In nearly five seconds flat he was neck and neck with his opponent, the snitch right in front of them. Totally forgetting that they were classmates, they began ramming one another, attempting to knock the other off their broom.
The other seeker then did something that Harry did not expect. He reached out his gloved hand, and back handed Harry right across the face. He flew from his broom totally bewildered, landing on his back with a thud, his broom a few feet in front of him. He didn't even have time to reach his broom before the other team caught the snitch. He knew the game was over, nonetheless he jogged over to his broom ignoring the cheering from the Ravenclaw stands. While he was picking up his broom though, the cheers immediately changed to screams of horror. Harry looked to where the seeker lay on the ground.
Laying? Why is he on the ground? Harry thought furiously. He made his way over to the boy, unsure of what he was going to find. The screams were all around him, the fans, his team mates, the other team; everyone was screaming. He was the first one there, and suddenly he knew why everyone was screaming. This boys body lay in a grotesque form on the grass…his head a few feet away from his body. His hand flew to his mouth to suppress a scream as he saw the blood pooling around the severed neck. Staggering back he fell to his knees as he looked on helplessly. Crowds of students and teachers alike made their way over to the two young men.
Black spots were beginning to crowd Harrys' vision as more and more people came over to him. He heard Hermione frantic voice next to him, and knew he would be alright as long as she was there. Some teachers were ushering the students back to Hogwarts while others looked after Harry and the poor dead boy. He heard random sentences before he finally collapsed in an unconscious heap on the grass. The one that stuck with him, even through his comatose state, scared him quite a bit. It wasn't meant for him, it was meant for Harry.
~~
Harry awoke some time later in the hospital wing with a splitting headache, and feeling nauseous. He could see through his cracked eyelids that Hermione was sitting dutifully across from him in a chair reading a new addition of "Witch Weekly". He smiled at the sight of her and felt himself grow warm all over.
"Hi" he managed to croak out.
Her face turned to him and a smile broke out across it. Instantly she was at his side.
"Harry, oh thank goodness. When I saw you go down…I thought the worst." She grabbed his hand supportively and squeezed.
He shook his head. "Hermione, what exactly happened?"
He could see her visibly gulp as she began the story. "After he hit you in the face, the Gryffindors were pretty upset. We began booing for the poor conduct." She paused and squeezed Harrys hand once more. "Well he was right behind the snitch, and as he reached out his hand to grab it, something…happened…it transformed into this giant…scythe. He didn't even have time to stop and attempt to turn around. The scythe moved as if someone were controlling it…it just…lopped off his head right then, then it disappeared." She looked nonplussed about the whole incident, in fact she sat awaiting a reaction from Harry.
He glanced around the room looking for any professors, when decided that no one was within ear reach he looked back to Hermione.
"Mione, I heard…before I blacked out…that it wasn't meant for him…but it was…for me." Hermione winced as he said this, but nodded nonetheless.
"They found a note, scrawled in blood, sardonically apologizing for the death of a one Harry Potter." Goosebumps arose on her flesh as she spoke these words. "It was horrible Harry knowing that you could have been killed."
Harry nodded. "Its even worse knowing that someone else was killed in your place. That never should have happened."
Hermione nodded and squeezed his hand. "What do we do Harry?"
Harry seemed to contemplate for a minute what exactly he was going to do, then suddenly he let go of Hermione and wrenched the sheets off of him.
"What are you doing Harry?" Hermione demanded as he slid off the bed gingerly.
He turned to her, a determined expression etched into his face.
"It's time…and I have to prepare."
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