Well, I got a much greater response to Chapter 2 than 1, so that gives me hope :) . I would just like to reiterate how much I appreciate the reviews, they mean more to me than you know.
The story starts to cloud over in this chapter...and the sun isn't going to come out for a long time.
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Chapter 3: The Madness Within
"SON OF A BITCH!"
Harry, Hermione, and the Grangers had just arrived in the basement kitchen at Grimmauld Place, and Harry, in a fit of rage not seen since before his fifth year, grabbed the nearest breakable object (a glass goblet) and hurled it into the stone wall, whereupon it shattered into a thousand pieces. He was about to snatch up another one and repeat the effort, but found himself frozen in place, his outstretched hand stuck in mid-air.
"Now then," Hermione said, tucking her wand away in her robes. "If you've stopped expressing your anger long enough to calm down, perhaps you could enlighten me on exactly why you're firing around pieces of the Black family china set like they were cannon fodder." Harry blinked once to show his assent, and with a wave of her hand, Hermione released him.
Harry slumped down into a chair at the table and slammed his fist down on it, though not hard enough to cause any damage.
"Every time something like this happens..." he muttered. Causing Hermione and her parents to raise their eyebrows slightly.
"Honestly, Harry, you can't blame yourself for what happened tonight," Emma Granger said consolingly. He looked up at her with a clenched jaw, but after taking a second to consider her, relaxed.
"I suppose it's all right coming from you," he said. "You actually don't know why tonight was my fault."
"Tonight was NOT your fault, Harry," Hermione said, the color rising to her cheeks.
"Bollocks!" he yelled.
"Now then, son, you can't blame yourself for accepting a party on your behalf from two people that you helped start their own business," David said putting a hand on Harry shoulder.
"That's part of it, but it's not the real reason," Harry grumbled.
"Then what is, dear?" Emma asked.
"Pettigrew," he spat in response.
"Ah," Hermione's father said, drawing his hand from Harry shoulder. "So that's the man who betrayed your parents?"
"Yes," Harry replied through clenched teeth.
"Mum, Dad," said Hermione. "Perhaps you could give Harry and me a second?"
"Of course, dear," her mother said. "We'll be in our room if you need us."
"Thanks," Hermione replied. Emma and David walked quietly out of the kitchen, and let the door close behind them.
"You could've been a bit more sociable to my parents, you know," Hermione said once she was sure they were out of earshot. "It's not their fault."
Harry gave a frustrated growl and stood up, walked over to the sink and turned the tap on.
"What is it you're so worked up about?" she asked, almost pleadingly.
"Read my mind," he said, splashing some water on his face.
"Now don't get snippy with me," Hermione replied hotly. "I'm only trying to help." Harry turned off the faucet and grabbed a nearby towel to dry his face with. "Now what's wrong?"
"You know, sometimes it even amazes me," he said turning around to face her, his eyes blazing with self-hatred. "That I was able to get over Sirius' death before forgiving myself for letting Wormtail live."
"Harry, is that what this is about?" Hermione asked, her shoulders slumping visibly with sadness.
"Yes," he replied. "Every time something happens that's his doing, I can't help but blame myself."
"It was a noble thing to do, letting Peter live," she replied. "And what Dumbledore said is true, your father would've done the same."
"I don't bloody care if my father would've done it!" Harry exclaimed, throwing his hands up. "Look what's come of it! Sirius was forced into hiding, Voldemort got his body back, and we came close to winding up with dead bodies ourselves tonight! I think if I had to choose between Pettigrew or Voldemort, I'd rather have crossed wands with the rat!"
"But you don't have a choice in the matter," Hermione whispered, a lone tear running down her cheek. "You have to fight Voldemort in the end, no matter who dies along the way."
"Yeah, I know," Harry sighed, taking a seat at the table again. "Still though..."
"Hermione's right," said Ron floating through the door and drifting into a seat. "There's really no point in beating yourself up over it, mate, the worst that happened on our side were a few cuts and bruises from when the windows were blown in."
"Yeah, speaking of which," Harry said. "How was everything after we left?"
"Chaotic," Ron replied. "But Dumbledore managed to get everything under control pretty quickly. Last I checked Fred and George were talking with the owner of the restaurant, in order to sort things out."
"Bloody hell," Harry muttered. "If you talk to them before I do, Ron, make it perfectly clear to them that I'm paying for what's happened tonight."
"Suit yourself, mate," Ron said. "But they'll just try to brush you off."
"How did you get here anyway?" Hermione asked the ghost.
"Took a portkey with Mum, Dad, and Ginny," Ron replied. "Ginny pulled something during the fight, so they're helping her up to her room. They'll probably be down -"
He was cut off as the basement door opened and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley came inside, the latter hurrying over to Harry and giving him a bone-crunching hug.
"-shortly," Ron finished.
"How are you two," Molly asked. "Not hurt, I hope?"
"No, we're fine," Harry said. "How's Ginny?"
"She'll be fine, just pulled a calf during the battle," Arthur replied. "How about you, Harry? You're not beating yourself up over this, I hope?"
Hermione looked at Harry and crossed her arms, wearing an expression that plainly said, 'I told you so'.
"A bit, yeah," he replied.
"Listen, it's late," Molly said, her motherly instincts kicking into gear. "Why don't you all go to bed, and we can have a nice long discussion in the morning?"
"As long as it's not too early in the morning," Ron replied. "We were all up much earlier than the sane people this morning." This caused a collective chuckle from the people in the room, and Harry, Hermione, and Ron bid their goodnights to the elder Weasleys and set off for the upper floors of the house.
"Well, I'll see you two tomorrow," Ron said, trying to stifle a yawn. "Don't stay up too late now, you hear?" he added with a wink.
"Yes, Father," Harry replied sarcastically. Ron smiled and waved goodnight to them, before floating through the door to his room. Harry looked over at his fiancee and couldn't help but smile.
"What?" Hermione asked, smiling shyly.
"I really love you, you know," he replied.
"I love you too, Harry, but why-" Harry quickly cut her off by pressing his lips to hers in a passionate kiss. He pulled away a moment later, his eyes full of only love for her.
"I believe you have a promise to keep," he whispered, resting his forehead against hers.
"Y-yes?" Hermione asked, slightly breathless and lightheaded from the kiss.
"One that you made before we left tonight?" Harry grinned and in one swift move, picked her clean up off the ground, cradling her body in his arms.
"Harry!" Hermione squealed, but couldn't help laughing as Harry carried her up the flight of stairs to the floor their room was on. "What are you doing?"
"Carrying you across the threshold," he said with a smile as he reached the door to their room and kicked it open.
"Aren't you supposed to wait to do that until the night after we're married?" Hermione asked as he sidled into the room sideways, before closing the door behind him with his foot.
"Am I?" he asked with a mischievous grin. "Well, too late now."
"Yes, I suppose it is," Hermione replied, beginning to unbutton her blouse.
"Stop," Harry whispered, gently grabbing her arm. "That's my job."
And with a wave of his hand the lights turned off.
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"Wormtail has been captured, master," a voice from behind Harry said meekly.
"I am aware," Harry replied. "I should not have sent him tonight."
"Yes, my lord." Harry turned around slowly and faced the man, who was kneeling on the floor with his head bent, his identity hidden by the pitch black robes he wore.
"You dare to say that Lord Voldemort was wrong, Rodolphus?" Harry breathed, so softly it was almost inaudible.
"No!" the man called Rodolphus screamed, terrified. "I would never disagree with you, sire." Harry considered the man carefully.
"Hmm, perhaps the only answer you could have given to spare your life," Harry said. The man let out a soft sigh of relief. "But it shall not spare you from pain. CRUCIO!"
The man's screams shattered the dull, quiet atmosphere surrounding the room as his limbs bent back in upon his body. Harry held the curse for a few seconds, then released the man.
"I have no need for a 'yes' man," Harry said. "But be more careful with your words, Lestrange."
"Yes, master."
"I have a task for you."
"What is your bidding?" Harry smiled.
"I need you to deliver instructions to our spy in the Ministry," he said. "You are to relate that Wormtail's trial must delayed, no matter the cost. Since our agent is in a position of information and power, that shouldn't be a problem."
"Is there anything else, master?" Rodolphus asked.
"Yes..." Harry hissed. "Summon Narcissa."
"Yes, lord," the man backed out of the room, and closed the double doors behind him. Harry looked around, and only then did he notice his surroundings.
The walls were a deep green, along with the carpet on the floor. A purple fire was blazing in the fireplace. A silver serpentine chandelier was hanging from the ceiling, its candles lit and also giving off a purple flame. There was a single wooden chair in the middle of the room, which Harry sat down upon. Aside from that, the room was barren. A soft knocking at the door broke the silence.
"Enter," Harry hissed. The door opened and Narcissa Malfoy walked in.
"You summoned me, my lord?" she asked, kneeling. Harry grinned.
"I am in need of a woman's body," he said, with a revolting smile.
"Of course, my lord," replied Narcissa, who bowed.
"AHHH!"
Harry bolted upright in bed, eyes wide and panting hard.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, waking. "Another nightmare?"
"No," he replied, still hyperventilating. "I...it was a vision." Hermione sat up in bed at hearing this.
"You were Voldemort?" she asked evenly.
"Yeah," replied Harry. "I should try to contact Dumbledore."
"Okay," said Hermione, getting out of bed, and picking up the clothes that were strewn about on the floor.
"Are you coming?" Harry asked, turning so that his legs were hanging off the side of the four-poster.
"Of course," she replied, throwing her bra on and fastening it. "I'm not letting you go looking for Dumbledore by yourself, especially just after you've had a vision." Harry nodded, and they each got dressed in silence. A few minutes later they were walking down the stairs to the basement kitchen, and found to their surprise when they arrived that Dumbledore was there talking to Remus.
"Professor," Harry said, trying to interrupt their conversation as politely as he could.
"Ah, Harry," Dumbledore said as Harry and Hermione walked into the kitchen and took a seat at the table. "What ails you so that you must be up so early in the morning?"
"It's morning already?" Harry asked, and saw to his dismay that technically it was; the clock on the wall read 2:55. Dumbledore and Remus smiled. "I had another vision." The headmaster nodded calmly, and took a seat, while Remus merely had a worried expression on his face and kept standing.
"What happened?" Dumbledore asked.
Over the course of the next half hour, Harry related the events of what happened in his dream, while Remus and Hermione looked on, occasionally asking questions to help fill in the blanks.
"And then," Harry gulped. "He summoned Narcissa because he was 'in need of a woman's body'," he finished with a shiver, which caused Remus and Hermione to scrunch up their faces in disgust.
"I see," Dumbledore said. "This is most disturbing news indeed."
"Which part?" groaned Remus.
"A spy in the ministry could prove extremely dangerous for us," the headmaster said. "We must be on constant alert for anything out of the ordinary, especially from newly hired people."
"Right," agreed Harry.
"For right now, we must concentrate on two things. The first is to make sure the security around Peter is increased. If Lord Voldemort wants his trial delayed, then he will probably try to break him out of custody." The other three people in the room nodded.
"And the second?" Harry asked.
"We must all be extra cautious," Dumbledore said. "If there is a spy running around, then we cannot talk about Order business outside of this house, no matter how private you think the area where you are speaking is." Again, Harry, Hermione, and Remus nodded, and Hermione gave a huge yawn.
"I think perhaps you two should get back to bed," Remus said. "You don't want to sleep in and then have trouble falling asleep tomorrow night."
"Why?" Harry asked.
"Well, you do have a little thing called training to attend," Remus replied, causing Harry's and Hermione's eyes to widen.
"That's right!" Hermione exclaimed, slapping her hand to her forehead. "The day after tomorrow - well, technically tomorrow is the 20th!"
"Right, now get off to bed you two," Remus said, shooing them out of the kitchen.
"Hey! Watch it," Harry grinned. "Or I'll get that advanced charms book my mom gave Hermione and find a good spell to turn your ears green for a week." Remus' brow furrowed.
"What are you talking about?" he asked.
'He doesn't remember that,' Hermione said to Harry silently.
'Right,' he replied in his head. 'Memory charm.' Hermione nodded.
"Harry?" Remus asked.
"Sorry, don't worry about it," Harry said in a dismissive voice. "We'll just be off now." With that he and Hermione left the room. Remus turned around and faced Albus with a confused face.
"I know they went back in time," he said. "But did Lily really give Hermione an advanced charms book?"
"Indeed she did," Dumbledore replied, his twinkle shining brightly behind his half-moon spectacles. Remus could only smile and shake his head before resuming his earlier conversation with the headmaster.
Upstairs, Harry and Hermione were lying awake in bed, Harry staring at the ceiling, while Hermione was staring at him.
"Harry?" she asked. "What's the matter?"
"I dunno," Harry replied. "I guess I just kind of wish I could talk to Remus about all the things we did in the past with him. With my parents."
"I understand," Hermione said.
"I just wish there was some way to reverse a memory charm!" Harry growled. "Merlin, it'd be so much easier than 'crucioing' the person until they remembered."
"Well, you know," Hermione said, with a thoughtful twinkle in her eye not unlike Dumbledore's. "There is always that option."
"What option?" Harry asked. Hermione looked past him and nodded in the direction of the dresser. Confused, Harry turned to look. "I don't get it. What's the dresser got to do with anything?"
"You are really daft sometimes, you know that?" Hermione asked.
"Um..." Harry thought. Then it hit him and his eyes bulged out. "Ohhhhhhhhhh." Silently, he got out of bed and grabbed his wand from the nightstand before walking over to the dresser. Crouching down, he waved his wand in a series of complex motions before a clicking sound was heard, and he opened the bottom drawer. "You do remember what happened the last time we used this, right?" he asked, pulling a dusty old tome out.
"I think creating a spell to reverse a memory charm is a little more simple than creating a spell that accidentally sends one back in time," Hermione said as Harry walked back over to the bed and sat down on it, placing the book next to him.
"The Tome of the Spellmaker," he said, leafing through the pages. "It seems like so long ago when we made that charm."
"Well, it was almost a year," Hermione said, taking the book from him and closing it. "We don't need to worry about making a new spell tonight. It can wait for the morning."
"It's already morning," Harry said with a smile.
"Later in the morning then," Hermione replied, putting the book on the nightstand, along with Harry's wand. "For now, let's just sleep."
"Yeah...sleep."
And for the first time in a month, Harry dreamed not of nightmares, and death and destruction. He dreamt of his parents and Sirius.
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I know, I know, this chapter is EXCEPTIONALLY short, but I had one less day to work on it, so forgive me. I promise you
all that Harry and Hermione's training will start next chapter. Three chapters for one day and a little is a lot, I
understand. Once training starts, the story will move much faster. Until next week, then!