A/N: I give partial credit for this chapter to H_HrFan for helping me with this! Terri, thanks AGAIN! I never would have gotten it up if it weren't for you. Well, I would have, but it wouldn't have been nearly as good! Thanks!
I am SO sorry it took me ages to get this chapter up. I just couldn't seem to write this week. Don't ask me why. But now it's up, and I hope you all like this one. It's so different from the other chapters. I mean, there's just so much more happening.
Anyway, here it is:
He's Taken Her
"What do you mean `gone'?" Harry asked.
Ron looked very upset. "Harry, I mean...V-Voldemort has her."
"WHAT!" The words just seem to rush over him and he hadn't really comprehended them.
"What did you say?" he asked slowly, hoping Ron wouldn't say what he thought he just heard.
"Harry," Ron answered at the same pace. "Voldemort - has - Hermione."
"WHAT DO YOU MEAN VOLDEMORT HAS HERMIONE?" Harry bellowed, his voice carrying down the corridor. "HE CAN'T HAVE HER! I JUST SAW HER THIS MORNING!"
"There was a raid this morning! Death Eaters came out of nowhere and almost all of the Slytherins are gone."
"What!" Harry shouted. "Who?"
"Malfoy, Crabbe, Golyle, Nott...Anyone who's dad's a Death Eater basically!"
"And they didn't take anyone else? Just Hermione?" Harry asked quickly.
"No." Ron said sadly. "Just her. Everyone is crowded in the Great Hall with most of the teachers, and Dumbledore's had everyone else out to look for you. We need to go and find him now, so we can find Hermione."
Very reluctantly, Harry let his anger towards everyone slip away for the time being. Getting Hermione back now was what was important. He couldn't be angry with her now. He couldn't bear to think of those last words he had said to her. What if Voldemort hurt her? What if - no! Harry would not think that. Hermione was strong. He knew that, he knew she would fight for her life.
Harry and Ron raced down the corridors to Dumbledore's office, where they found him waiting for them.
"Professor! I - found - him." said Ron panting and trying to catch his breath.
"Thank you Mr. Weasley." Dumbledore said with his naturally calm voice.
"What do we need to go into your office for?!" Harry yelled, feeling all his anger return. "We can talk right here!"
"Harry, listen, I know that you're upset about the truth you discovered last night and it will all be explained once we get into my office." said Dumbledore stepping onto the spiral staircase. Harry and Ron followed.
"Look, I don't care about that right now!" shouted Harry as they entered Dumbledore's office. "All I want to know is what's happened to Hermione!"
"Harry, calm down please - " said Dumbledore before Harry interrupted.
"Calm? How am I supposed to be calm when Voldemort's got my girlfriend?!" Harry felt all of his pent - up frustration come out in a loud roar. "HE'S GOT HER! What if - I mean, how do you even know it's Voldemort who's got her.
"There was a note." Ron said shakily.
"A note?" Harry said, glancing back and forth between Ron and Dumbledore. "What note?"
Professor Dumbledore reached into the pocket of his robes and pulled out a small piece of parchment.
"Harry," he said. "When you read this, you must know that this is not going to be what you expected. Harry took the note from him and lowered his eyes to read it.
Harry Potter,
Guess who! You've undoubtedly noticed that your precious mudblood girlfriend is gone. By the time you receive this letter, I will have gone too, to join the Dark Lord.
"Wait," Harry said looking up quite confused. "This letter isn't from Voldemort."
"Keep reading Harry." Dumbledore said.
Harry lowered his eyes back down to the parchment and continued on.
I am going to give you some instructions now. You MUST follow these instructions!
If you don't, your precious mudblood will die.
First, you must go to the Slytherin common room. The password is `Incontaminatus'.
"Typical." Harry muttered under his breath and then read on.
Then you must go the fireplace, the fire will be lit. Grab the burning log.
"What!" Harry yelped, looking back up at Dumbledore and then at Ron.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
"Hang on." Harry said to him, returning to the letter.
The log is a Portkey and will take you to a secret location. Don't worry about the burns. Pain is a small price Potter. Think you can handle it?
Come alone.
See you soon...scarhead.
Just then, Harry's scar began to sear in pain. He dropped the letter and it burst into flames.
"What was that?" Ron demanded, looking at Harry and then at Dumbledore.
"Malfoy." Harry said furiously through clenched teeth.
"What? What about Malfoy?" Ron asked perplexed.
"He took Hermione to Voldemort!" Harry shouted. "He took her to him!"
Harry wheeled around to look at Professor Dumbledore. "I've have to go after here!" Harry said quickly, pressing his hand hard up against his scar. He ran towards the door, but before he could even get to it, Professor Bright (in Ron's view anyway) had just walked in.
Harry stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her. She did the same.
The two of them stared intently at one another. "Harry..." she said, then looked over to Professor Dumbledore.
Harry looked at Liz. "I don't have time for you right now."
"But Harry wait I..." Liz began.
"I've lived without you and the truth for 16 years, a few more hours sure as hell won't hurt anything," he said angrily.
Ron looked from Harry to Liz trying to decipher what was happening between them. "Harry, what's going on? What's Professor Bright got to do with anything?"
Harry looked at Ron in mock surprise. "What? You mean you don't know?" he said, making no attempt to hide his sarcasm. He looked at Liz and said, "What? You mean forgot to tell someone other than me?"
"Harry that's not what happened," Liz said desperately, "You have to let me explain."
Harry's anger rose higher and it looked as though he was on the verge of exploding. "I don't. have to listen. To a damn. Thing. You. Say..." he growled through clenched teeth. He turned his attention to Dumbledore before he continued, "Voldemort has already taken my parents and Sirius. HE CANNOT HAVE HERMIONE! The only thing I have to do is save her."
Dumbledore sighed audibly but held Harry's angry gaze steadily. "Harry you mustn't..."
Harry's anger exploded. "What I mustn't or must do is no longer your concern," he said vehemently, "I'm leaving with or without your consent."
"I'm going with you, Harry," Ron said.
Harry turned to look at him and his anger lightened slightly as he looked at his friend's scared, yet determined face. "No Ron, you're not," he said in a soft, firm voice.
Ron looked at him in shock. They always did things together and he was determined not to let Harry go alone. "Yes Harry, I am," he replied in the same firm tone Harry had used.
Harry looked at Liz. "You know what, you want to do some explaining?" he asked. Liz closed her eyes and slowly nodded her head; she knew what was coming next. "Well explain it to Ron, then. That way both my best friends will know all the secrets involving me that even I don't know."
"Harry, I..." Liz began.
"Save it," Harry said putting his hand in the air. He pointed toward Ron and said, "Keep him here and tell him your story. It'll save me having to do it later. I'm leaving."
"I don't wanna stay Harry," Ron said, "I wanna go with you. I love her too, you know."
Harry turned to look at him one last time. "I know you do, Ron. But follow me and I swear I'll do a binding curse to keep you here," he threatened. "I'm going alone." He looked around at each of them in turn expecting another argument. When no one said a word he looked at Dumbledore, "...and I'm going now," he added with quiet conviction.
The last thing he heard as he stepped through the door was Dumbledore saying, "Sit down Mr. Weasley, let him go."
Liz, Ron and Professor Dumbledore all watched as Harry left. Dumbledore soon ushered Ron to a seat in front of his large desk and told him to wait there. Liz was still standing next to the door, staring blankly at the eagle statue that stood in the middle of the stairwell. Dumbledore came to stand next to her.
"I can't do this anymore." she whispered as tears trickled down her face. "I don't know how much more I can take."
Dumbledore put a comforting hand on her shoulder and turned her towards him. "Elizabeth, I know this is difficult for you." he said. "It pains me to see him walk into something I know I can do nothing to prevent, into something you and I both know will happen. More importantly, must happen."
Liz looked away from him as he spoke. "Waiting can be the hardest part. You know that." Dumbledore said. "In the end, all will be right." Liz lifted her gaze back to him. "I know." she said. "I know that Albus. It's just that, I wish they didn't have to go through so much pain."
"Nor I." Dumbledore said as tears crept out of the corners of his eyes. "Nor I."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Harry raced down several corridors trying to remember where the Slytherin common room was. He'd been there only once, during his second year, and had never wished to return until now. When his memory finally came to him, he made a sharp left turn at the next corner and ran down to where he remembered the common room was.
Finally there, Harry shouted the password at the portrait that guarded the entrance and ran to the fireplace. Many Slytherins were yelling and screaming at him.
"What are you doing in here?" They were shouting.
Harry simply ignored them and stared into the fire. He hesitated only for a moment.
"This is gonna hurt."
Then he reached out and grabbed the burning log. Instantly he felt a sharp tug behind his navel as he was whirled to his unknown destination.
He slammed down on the ground hard and quickly released the burning log. His flesh was burnt badly and it stung severely. In the distance he could hear laughter. Then, a familiar voice echoed in the distance. Harry looked around. Where was he? All he saw around him was an empty field. But behind the fog that covered the ground, Harry was sure he saw a village.
"Betcha that one hurt! Didn't it scarhead?" said a voice in the distance.
Harry looked up to see...Malfoy. He was standing proud and tall with a fresh Dark Mark burned into his forearm and he holding a staff. Malfoy noticed Harry staring at the Mark and walked towards him.
"Like it Potter?" he said sneeringly. "Pretty cool huh?"
Harry got to his feet. "Going to fight me are you Potter?" Malfoy asked as he began to circle around Harry.
"I'm going to kill you!" Harry said darkly.
"Ho ho!" Malfoy said laughing. "You just try. The Dark Lord has given you to me. For the time being anyway, you know...to torture you a bit."
Harry glared at him and reached for his wand.
"Uh uh Potter." Malfoy said waving his wand back and forth and shaking his head. He set down his staff and walked closer to Harry. "You don't want to suffer like your precious mudblood girlfriend do you?"
That did it. Harry was laughing in his head. Malfoy didn't stand a chance. What the hell was Voldemort even thinking sending out Malfoy?
Harry had hit Malfoy with a curse so quick, he wasn't even sure how he did it. Malfoy was sent flying backward, screaming in agony. Harry made to run away...anywhere. He needed to find Hermione.
"Couldn't kill me could you Potter?" Malfoy yelled from behind. Just as Harry turned around, he saw Malfoy running at him. Before he knew it, Malfoy had slammed him into the ground. They had their second muggle duel. Harry was throwing punches left and right and soon Malfoy was spraying blood all over him. Malfoy, like the coward he was, managed to get up to his feet and started running.
Harry scrambled to his feet and bolted towards Malfoy. Jumping on him he crushed him to the ground. Harry rolled him over and hit him square in the nose with his fist. Malfoy let out a cry of pain as Harry got up and grabbed Malfoy's staff. He was ready to hit him with it when once again felt that horrible jolt behind his navel and was transported to a dark place. He landed on his side and felt that the floor was damp and cold. The smell of rotting mold was all around him.
"Another Portkey?" he thought. "What the - ? Where am I?"
His hand was still searing with pain from the first one. He scrambled around to find his glasses which had flown off of his face upon impact. Quickly finding them, he placed them back and his face. He finally managed to rip off a piece of his robes and gently wrap it around his burnt flesh. He then stood up and looked around to try and find a shred of light.
Nothing.
Just pure blackness.
He moved in the darkness, trying to find a wall or something to latch onto. After what felt like an endless number of uncertain steps, Harry found himself against a wall that felt mossy. He eased his way to the left, holding onto the wall until his foot kicked what sounded like his wand. He dropped to his knees and began to grope around the ground until his hand landed on what felt like his wand.
"Lumos." he said. The light appeared and he suddenly realized that this was not his wand at all. It was Hermione's. Through his despondency, Harry felt a twinge of hope. He lowered Hermione's wand to the floor and searched quickly for his own.
Finally locating it, Harry explored the room further until he heard someone crying in the darkness. He rushed toward the sound and was horrified to find Hermione chained to the wall. He ran towards her and fell to his knees and removed her chains with a vanishing spell. She fell towards him and collapsed into his arms. He could feel her in his arms, she was cold and he could see that her eyes were closed. All over her body, blood stained her clothes where it looked like she had been tortured. Slash marks ran down the length of her arms and there were cuts and bruises all over her face.
"Hermione! Hermione, please, please...open your eyes." Harry pleaded with tears streaming down his face. He was holding her in one arm and shaking her with the other. "Hermione! Please!" he pleaded again. He brought a hand up to her cheek to brush away her hair. As he touched her soft skin, he was terrified at what he felt. She was so cold.
"Hermione...please...you can't be dead." He dug his head into her shoulder and began to sob uncontrollably when, to his immense relief, he heard Hermione speak.
"Harry..." she said weakly.
Harry's heart began to beat again as she slowly opened her eyes. "Hermione!" Harry said. He could do nothing but continue to sob as he stroked her face and gazed into those cinnamon eyes once more.
"Harry," Hermione said in her tattered weak voice.
"I'm here!" Harry reassured her.
"Ha-arry...I - I'm so-o... s - sor-ry." Hermione sobbed into the cold air. Harry could see her breath escaping from her lips.
"What? No! No Love, don't be sorry..." he said crying as he held her to him. "Don't you be sorry."
"B - But I-I a-am!" she cried. "P-please f-forgive me.
Harry pulled away to look at her. She was crying fiercely as was he. "Hermione, I do forgive you. I love you." He took off his cloak and wrapped her body in it. "But you're freezing and we have to get you back to Hogwarts and to Madame Pomfrey."
Harry carefully picked her up so that he held her back with his right arm and let her legs dangle over the side of his left arm.
"Hermione." he whispered in her ear. "I need you to throw your arms around my neck and hold on. Can you do that?"
Hermione nodded weakly and did as Harry told her.
Harry's hand burned with pain as he held her, but he knew that was nothing compared to anything he would have experienced had Hermione been dead. As he held her, she let out whimpers from her own pain. Harry imagined that the slashes on her arms must hurt even more with her arms stretched around his neck. "Hermione," he said. "I'm going to get you out of here. Trust me, we'll be back at Hogwarts in no time." Harry felt her nod in recognition of his words just before she let her head fall to his shoulder.
With Hermione in his arms, Harry laid Hermione's wand on her stomach. It was still lit and provided Harry with the light they needed to find their way out. Harry searched the room fervently for an exit until he finally found a large oak door. It, like the walls and floor, was growing things all over. He tried to grab his wand without letting her go, but was unsuccessful. With the little strength she had, Hermione let go of Harry with one hand and reached to her stomach and grabbed her wand.
"Nox." she said, extinguishing the light. Then, pointing the wand towards the door she muttered, "Alohomora."
She turned to Harry to give him a weak smile and wrapped her arm around him again.
Harry smiled back and kicked the door open. Behind the door, a large hallway was brightly lit by large snakehead-shaped torches that were perched on the walls.
"Where are we?" he whispered to himself. Hermione answered. "R-Riddle H-house." she said. Her voice was still shaky from the cold and pain. "L-Little H-Hanglet-ton."
Harry stared at her. "Riddle House?" he said, perplexed. "You mean, this is Tom Riddle's house? This is Voldemort's house?"
Hermione nodded. Harry looked back up and down the hall. His scar began to burn in agonizing pain. His knees began to buckle and he had to struggle to keep Hermione up. "He's - so - angry." Harry said through the pain. "And - he's - close...so - close."
Harry fought to try and keep the pain under control without letting go of Hermione. Within seconds it became increasingly difficult to do so. Voldemort seemed to be getting angrier by the second. Harry dropped down to his knees, Hermione still in his arms as he let out a scream. Then, all of the sudden the pain deadened for a moment. The feeling changed. Voldemort was now happy.
"We have to get out of here Hermione! Now!" Hermione let go of him and grabbed her wand. She painfully moved to Harry's feet and pulled off one of his shoes. "PORTUS!" she said as loud as she could, pointing her wand at it determinedly. She pulled Harry's hand out to touch the shoe and they were both instantly transported to the gates just outside the grounds of Hogwarts. Hermione landed on her feet, but instantly collapsed to the ground. Harry landed firmly and saw Hermione fall. Forgetting all about the pain, he hurriedly pointed his wand at the gates and yelled "ALOHOMORA!"
Nothing happened.
Harry felt the panic and frustration rising through his body. "Now what!" he yelled to no one in particular. He ran towards Hermione's still body. Quickly checking for a pulse, Harry deduced that she was unconscious. He just had to get her to Madame Pomfrey...and fast.
Raking his brain for anything, something finally popped into his head. He lifted his wand and pointed it towards the sky and yelled, "ACCIO FIREBOLT!"
Within seconds his broomstick was racing toward him. When it finally got to him and landed in his hand, he seized Hermione and held her steady as he climbed onto his broom. This was going to be tricky. With one hand placed firmly around the handle of his Firebolt and the other tightly gripping Hermione, Harry kicked off and was soon racing back to Hogwarts.
A/N: Hmm...hard to believe that took me 6 days to write huh? Well anyway, I hope you all liked it. I'm not even going to say when the next chapter will be up. I don't like the pressure!! I'll be writing it though. I think that now that this part is done, the next chapter should be easier to write!
I know that this may have seemed a little too easy, Harry getting to Hermione. Well, there is more to it than you think.
Thank you all for reading and I'd really appreciate your comments on this one!
P.s. Terri, I finished the chapter so....ahem....where's my Epilogue? LOL! J/K!!
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