Unofficial Portkey Archive

(A/N: I thank you for your wonderful reviews, Destroyerdrt, Jen KenLee, Mione291 and the new readers TheDivineMsD, Hdawne, Pottergirlajg, Orange08 and Crimson Templar; as usual, I'd like to thank my BETA readers IronChef and SarahLupin for their great help! If you wanted to know what's happened to Hermione, here we are...)

Chapter 7. THE FIRST ATTACK

...
I dream of hugging a true friend
who doesn't want to avenge himself on me
for one
Of his bitter moments....

"A boring day" by Lucio Battisti

Harry was shocked! He rushed over Hermione to see how she was, then turned back to the door, but Malfoy was already gone.

Hermione face was red and she was gasping for breath, her hands still around her throat.

"HERMIONE, WHAT'S WRONG?" he shouted at her, and she gasped out a few words.

"I... CAN'T... BREATH! PLEASE HELP ME!"

Hermione started to cough and with her trembling hand, she grabbed Harry's sleeve.

Without hesitation and with his heart beating like mad, he helped his friend get up. Needing support, Hermione leaned her head on his shoulder, and then Harry lifted her up.

Harry was terrified: Hermione was choking and the only thing he could do was to immediately take her to the hospital wing.

He sprinted out of the classroom and headed to the opposite end of the corridor, still holding Hermione tight in his arms.

He rushed down the stairs and finally reached the hospital wing, calling out for Madam Pomfrey at the top of his voice.

Madam Pomfrey immediately opened the door and realized the emergency, because she let him in without asking questions.

"Lay her on this bed."

Harry laid down Hermione on one of the first beds on his right, but she was still grabbing his sleeve, forcing him to lean closer. Harry looked at her and he felt a chill going down his spine; Hermione had almost completely stopped breathing. Her face was purple and her forehead was sweaty. Her eyes were closed and her mouth was wide open.

Madam Pomfrey didn't waste any time; she took out her wand and pointed it to Hermione's throat, saying the countercurse aloud.

"ESOPHAGUS RELASHIO!"

Suddenly, Hermione gave a deep sigh and opened her eyes. She started breathing normally, lying down completely on the bed with her head on the pillow, though she was still holding Harry's sleeve. Harry gave a deep sigh of relief too.

"Blessed girl! You brought her here just in time. We nearly lost her! Who could have done such a thing to her?!"

"Malfoy... he did it!"

Harry had just regained his speaking skills.

"You said Malfoy? Well, tomorrow morning, I'm going directly to Professor Snape and I will complain to him about that horrible boy!!" commented Madam Pomfrey sharply before heading to her office, leaving them alone for a moment.

Harry turned to Hermione, who was now feeling better, even though her forehead was still sweaty and her face red.

"How are you, Hermione? Are you feeling better?"

"Better! Yes, much better, thanks. This time... this time Malfoy nearly got me!"

"Wait until tomorrow. I will teach that SNAKE a lesson, you'll see!"

Hearing his angry words, Hermione again grabbed Harry's sleeve, forcing him to lean closer, and then stared at him worriedly.

"NO, Harry! Swear to me that you are not going to do anything! Swear to me that you are not going to get yourself into trouble, just for Malfoy. Promise me!"

She was talking in a low voice, but Harry didn't know what to say; he didn't want to worry her even more, but he couldn't promise her something he wasn't willing to keep.

Luckily, at that moment Madam Pomfrey returned, bringing a healing potion to Hermione, who drank it immediately.

"I think that it would be best for you to spend the night here in the hospital wing, Miss Granger."

"No, please! I assure you, I'm fine now! There's no need to stay here the night. I can sleep fine in my dormitory, I'm serious."

Like every other student, most of all Harry, she didn't want to spend the night in the hospital wing. Madam Pomfrey stared at her for a moment, and she spoke again, with a resigned voice.

"All right, then. You may go back to your dormitory Miss Granger."

She then turned to Harry.

"But you will escort her until the last stair, Mr. Potter, and you have to promise me that if you see anything strange, you will bring Miss Granger immediately to me, do you understand?"

"Yes, I understand. Thank you for everything Madam Pomfrey," answered Harry with a big smile. Then, he grabbed Hermione's arm to help her off the bed, but she refused him gently.

"No, Harry, I don't need any help. I can do it by myself."

"You know what, Hermione? I just didn't want you to get tired." Harry answered back, a little bit flustered. He just wanted to be nice, and didn't expect a reaction like that.

He and Hermione exited the hospital wing and headed to Gryffindor Tower.

Along the way, Harry kept staring at his friend, a little worried. As Madam Pomfrey had asked, he wanted to watch carefully in case she had any strange reactions. Even though Hermione was doing her best not to show any sign of suffering, she couldn't help walking slowly and sometimes staggered.

Harry was the first to speak.

"May I know what happened before I arrived? Shouldn't you have been at the prefects' meeting with Ron?"

"Yes, in fact we went to the meeting together, but when it finished, Ernie Macmillan asked Ron if he wanted to see his new broomstick, and I told him that I was perfectly able to go back to the common room by myself. I was nearly there when I found Malfoy and his cronies waiting for me. They pushed me in an empty classroom and then they tried to put me out of action."

Harry was carefully listening to her story, and was starting to feel his blood boil in his veins in anger. He couldn't stop thinking about how Malfoy was going to curse his friend. Hermione continued quietly, as though she wasn't talking about herself, but someone else.

"In the beginning, Crabbe and Goyle were both holding me tight, but when Malfoy tried to curse me with FURNUNCULUS, I was faster than him. I threw myself to the side, and the curse hit Crabbe instead, filling his face with horrible boils. Then Goyle took both my arms and held them tightly behind my back, and then... you arrived, thank God!" finished Hermione, smiling at him thankfully.

"Do you realize what Malfoy was about to do to you? He was going use the CRUCIATUS Curse on you!!!"

"No, he never would have done it! Malfoy isn't that stupid. He knows very well that the Ministry is able to immediately find anyone who uses an unforgivable curse."

"And what if he had done it, Hermione? You talk like that because you don't know what it feels like!"

Harry ended the sentence bitterly, and Hermione turned to face the floor mortified. He realized that she was feeling bad for him and he was sorry for that. He tried to to change the topic.

"Would you like to know how my Occlumency lesson with Snape was?"

"Yes, I'd love to..." answered Hermione with warmth, turning to face him again.

"You'll be happy to know that it went really well. Much better than last year. I'm sure that Snape was really impressed by my performance!" said Harry with pride.

"That's great Harry! You couldn't give me better news."

But suddenly Hermione stopped talking and walking. She raised a hand to her head, closed her eyes, and with the other hand held on to Harry's shoulder for support. Without thinking, he wrapped his arms around her waist and he stared at her worriedly.

"Hermione, what is it? Are you feeling worse?"

"No... no... I'm fine..."

"I'm taking you to the hospital wing, let's go!" Harry told her determinedly and he turned back, but Hermione stopped him.

"No, Harry, I'm fine. I just felt dizzy, but now I'm fine."

Hermione was looking at him imploringly.

"Harry, please believe me, I just need a good night sleep, that's all! Tomorrow morning, everything'll be fine."

Harry rolled his eyes and then gave up. Hermione was very stubborn and he was sure that insisting would have been useless.

"All right then, but only on one condition. You have to lean on me for support until we arrive at the common room."

Harry put her right arm around his shoulder and his left arm around her waist and they started to walk. Hermione must have been really exhausted, because she didn't offer him any resistance.

They walked like that until they reached the Fat Lady's portrait. Hermione was a little bit shorter than him, and both their heads nearly touched. Harry was feeling the light weight of his friend leaning on him at every step and he started to feel a little embarrassed about it. If someone saw them at that very moment, the following day everybody would have thought they were dating.

Even though over the last five years he and Hermione had shared many adventures together, this was the first time for them to be so close to each other and for such a long time. Everything was so odd that he wanted to reach the common room as soon as possible.

Finally they arrived, finding the common room empty, excepted for Ron, who was waiting for them on the sofa. When Ron saw them, he got up, worried.

"What happened to you? I was here the whole evening waiting for you!"

"Is it hard to guess?" asked Harry, sounding upset, as he gently laid Hermione down on the sofa. Then he faced Ron; Harry was really angry with him, because it was partly Ron's fault that Hermione had fallen into Malfoy's trap.

"What do you mean by that, Harry? Why don't you be a little clearer?"
Ron didn't like Harry's tone of voice, and put himself on the defensive.

"I mean that you left Hermione alone, and Malfoy took advantage of that!"

Ron turned to Hermione worriedly.

"What? What happened? What did that bastard do to you?"

"Nothing... Ron, please stay calm, everything is fine."

Hermione didn't want to alarm him, but Harry wasn't satisfied and he turned to face Ron.

"Yes, only because I happened to be near by and I rescued her. Otherwise, Hermione wouldn't be here with us now!"

Ron started to glare at his friend, who was challenging him.

"Are you saying that it's my fault Malfoy attacked Hermione?"

"Yes, exactly!" Harry spoke with a reproaching glare, and Ron was getting even more upset.

"If YOU hadn't provoked Malfoy the other day before Potions, then maybe Malfoy wouldn't have been angry with US too!!"

"If you hadn't left Hermione alone to go off with Ernie Macmillan, then..."

"Boys, let's stop it, OK? There is no reason to argue!"

Hermione tried to shout at them, still sitting on the sofa looking shocked. She didn't understand what was happening to them. Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were frowning at each other, as though Hermione hadn't spoken at all.

"How could I've known that Malfoy was preparing a trap for her? I didn't..."

"Nevertheless, I told you to be careful this morning! But as usual, YOU didn't pay attention to what I said! If something bad had happened to Hermione, I would never have forgiven you!"

"Let me just say that being YOUR friend is a continual source of trouble, Harry!"

This last sentence hit Harry directly in the heart. He had always thought that it was dangerous for Ron and Hermione to be his friends and to share his troubles, but it was the first time that Ron had said that to him. The sound of those words was so bitter; Harry swallowed that bitter pill and answered back, without thinking about it.

"Look, you don't have to be my friend against your will, Ron Weasley! Nobody is forcing you to!"

A long moment of silence and tension passed while the two boys faced each other in anger; Hermione was looking at them, shocked. She then got up and broke the silence.

"May I know what is happening to you two? You are behaving like little children!
I don't know what to think! Come on, shake hands... COME ON!"

But it seemed as if neither of them wanted to put an end to the quarrel. The first to move was Harry, who went over to the stairs in a fury. Before he climbed to his dormitory, however, he turned to Ron one last time.

"From now on, don't ever speak to me again Ron Weasley! I'm through with you!"

"It's about time! Finally, I won't have to live in the famous HARRY POTTER's shadow anymore!"

Ron remained there frowning at Harry, who climbed the stairs two at a time and left the common room, slamming the door.

***O***

Harry entered the dormitory, where all his other friends were already sleeping, and rushed to his bed, throwing himself on top of it without taking off his clothes. He started to stare at the ceiling, grabbing strongly at the bed sheets with his fingers. He had so much anger inside that he would have gladly relieved himself by punching the pillow, imagining that it was Ron's face.

He was still thinking about what his friend had said to him, and he suddenly felt a sharp pain in his chest. He had argued with Ron many times in the past, mostly for silly things, but this time, it was different. This time, Ron had told him clearly that he feared being his friend, that he feared for his safety and for Hermione's. This time, Harry wasn't going to forgive him so easily.

But he couldn't blame Ron, because his life really was full of danger.

After about half an hour, he heard Ron enter the dormitory and throw himself heavily onto his bed. Harry thought that Ron and Hermione had spent that time talking about him and about what had just happened, and then his anger grew stronger. He felt really disappointed because his best friends had joined together against him; he was feeling lonely now.

Then he heard a little voice in his head saying that he was wrong, that their friendship could never end like that, that at least he had Hermione on his side, and that he was going to make peace with Ron soon. But what if this little voice was wrong?

He turned on his side and stared at the moonlight coming through the window. The following day they had planned to go to Hogsmeade together, but now, they would have changed their minds. At least, Harry wasn't going to join them.

But there was something else that was troubling him. Now that he was starting to calm down, he couldn't figure out the real reason he had started to argue with Ron.

I started because Ron had left Hermione alone, he thought, but he still couldn't figure out why such a thing would had made him lose his temper like that. He felt that there was something else, even if he couldn't explain what. Then he heard that little voice inside his brain again.

Is it maybe that I'm starting to see Ron as a rival? Yes... but a rival for what?

Then a name started to float in his brain, and when he realized the meaning of it, he shuddered all over: HERMIONE.

They had argued over Hermione... it wasn't possible!! Finally, he realized that he had treated his best friend so badly, and it was all Hermione's fault!!

***O***

Harry was flying on the back of a giant owl. The darkness of the night was lit by a tiny, far away light that was slowly becoming larger and larger. Then, the owl took Harry directly to the source of that light: an ancient and dilapidated mansion with broken windows and an unkept garden. Harry landed in front of the main gate, which was half open; he slowly pushed it and entered the large garden. He went through it and reached the main door, which was huge and black.

The main door was also partially open, and Harry went in. The entrance was empty and dark, lit only by the moonlight coming through the huge windows. On his right and left, two large marble stairways led to the upper floors.

Suddenly, he heard a desperate scream coming from one of the rooms at the end of the corridor on the second floor. It was a woman's scream and it made Harry's blood freeze. He felt he absolutely had do something to help her, and started to run upstairs. He ran and ran, but it seemed as if the corridor was endless. With each step, he felt his panic and fright growing; he was afraid of not being there on time, he was afraid of arriving too late.

Suddenly, his scar started to throb and the pain became more and more unbearable, until it forced him to wake abruptly.

Harry found himself in his bed at Hogwarts. As he overheard the voices of his friends, he realized that they were getting ready to go out; he remained still, pretending to sleep. He was still in a state of shock about the dream, and didn't want Ron to see him in that condition.

Harry waited until everybody left the dormitory; then he got up and got ready to have breakfast in the Great Hall.

When he went down to the common room, he was happy to see that it was empty; he didn't want to run into anyone, particularly Ron.

As he headed to the Great Hall, he noticed that the students were already in front of the main entrance, waiting to go out and visit the village of Hogsmeade.

Ron and Hermione were waiting in the crowd. When Harry saw them, he hid himself behind a column. Hermione kept standing on her toes, looking back through the crowd; Harry was sure she was looking for him, hoping that he was going to reach them. Ron, on the other hand, was staring at the floor frowning, probably hoping that Harry wouldn't come.

Harry certainly didn't want to disappoint him.

Once Mr. Filch gave permission to go and opened the main door to let out the students, Ron and Hermione disappeared outside.

Harry felt a sharp pain in his heart, but he didn't want to impose his presence when it wasn't welcome. He sighed deeply and then entered the Great Hall, which was mostly empty; there were only a few students, first and second years who didn't have permission to go to Hogsmeade.

He had his breakfast completely alone, and then he looked outside the window. The morning was gorgeous; the sun was shining and there were no clouds. He knew that it would be one of the last sunny days of October, and he really wanted to go out on the grounds with his Firebolt and fly away into the blue sky.

Excited by the idea, he rushed up to his room and got his broomstick, and then went outside. The air was warm and the sky bright blue. He smiled happily, mounted his Firebolt, and then gave a little kick off the ground. In a flash, he was already flying high, freely, the fresh air ruffling his hair. The castle seemed so far away; now he could see everything from above: the lake, the forest, and the grounds.

He realized that flying, without comparison, was the only thing that made him really happy. Finally, he was free, like a bird. He did a few stunts: he dove toward the ground and then pulled up at the very last moment, heading back up toward the sun. Every shadow of sadness disappeared from his heart and a large smile came back to his face.

He wished he could spend the rest of his life up there, flying all the time.

He made a light turn backwards and he headed to one of the hills surrounding the castle; he landed softly and sat on a rock. From there the view was breathtaking, like a beautiful picture. He remained there the entire morning, enjoying his newly found peace.

***O***

After lunch, Harry had the idea to pay Hagrid a visit. Since he didn't have Care of Magical Creatures classes any more, he only had the chance to see Hagrid during weekends.

He left the castle and headed to Hagrid's hut, noticing that lots of smoke was coming from the chimney. He knocked on the door and heard Fang barking.

"I'm comin', I'm comin'.... quiet Fang! Oh, Harry... whatta surprise... come in, I was jus' preparin' tea."

"Thanks Hagrid," answered Harry with a large smile. He was sure that his friend Hagrid would always be there for him.

"Wha's new goin' on? Why're Ron and Hermione not with yeh?" asked Hagrid while filling a giant cup of very black tea. Harry took a seat and stared at the floor, embarrassed by the question.

"They... erm... they went to Hogsmeade today."

"Why didn' yeh go with 'em?"

Hagrid asked the question so naturally that Harry gazed in his eyes and realized that he could never have guessed that they weren't talking to each other.

Harry didn't want to lie and he decided to tell him everything. He talked about Malfoy's trap for Hermione and about his argument with Ron the evening before. He was sure that Hagrid was on his side.

"I can't believe it, Harry! Whadda yeh blame everythin' on Ron fer?"

Harry was completely surprised by his question; he was totally sure that he was right.

"But Hagrid, he left her alone, and Malfoy took advantage of that. Do you realize what would have happened to Hermione if I didn't arrive when I did?"

"Yeah, Harry, I understan' wha' yeh mean, but it isn' righ' ter give Ron all the blame."

Harry thought about that for a moment, but he could not believe that Ron had no fault for what had happened. Then Hagrid spoke again.

"Yer frien'ship is really special, Harry, please don' spoil all tha' fer a silly argumen'."

Then Harry thought about what Ron had told him, that being his friend was a constant danger.

"Ron also told me that he was afraid to be my friend, because my life is full of danger and I understand him when he says that. In the past few years, he and Hermione have put themselves into so many dangerous situations for me that I don't blame him if he doesn't want to be my friend anymore."

"But, Harry, i's not yeh who goes out lookin' fer trouble!"

"No, in fact I don't even need to, because trouble always seems to have a way of finding me first!" said Harry gloomy, and Hagrid spoke again.

"Listen ter me, Harry. Yer life is really complicated, but yeh can' do anythin' ter avoid it, an' even if Ron an' Hermione know it, they still love yeh an' they'll always help yeh of their own free will!! You could ask 'em anythin' and they wouldn' hesitate a momen' whenever yeh're in danger."

Hagrid was right; Ron and Hermione had always helped him, on several occasions during the past five years. There was such a strong bond between them, and the entire situation made him feel so bad... but he didn't want to be the first one to apologize.

"Now, promise me tha' when yeh see Ron tonigh', yeh'll apologize ter him."

"No, never! He insulted me! He has to make the first step! Until then, I'm sorry, but both of us will remain on opposite sides."

Harry spoke with a determined voice tone, and Hagrid glanced at him, deeply sorry.

"Well, if yeh're sure 'bout that... then, I really hope tha' yeh're goin' ter change yer mind."

Hagrid turned to the other side, pretending to rearrange the cups in the cupboard. Harry was sure he had hurt him and he was really sorry about that, so he got up and thought he would leave him alone.

"Erm, Hagrid... see you soon. Thanks for the tea."

"Yeah, Harry, I'll see yeh soon," answered Hagrid, slightly embarrassed, giving him a quick glance and then turning again to his cups. When Harry left the hut, he realized he had made a mistake talking to him like that.

Walking toward the castle, Harry was thinking that, once again, he hadn't kept control of his emotions and that he had just managed to hurt Hagrid. He asked himself why he wasn't able to keep a friend, why was he always making mistakes?

It was already sunset when he arrived in the Great Hall for dinner. From the door, he saw Ron and Hermione already seated at the Gryffindor table. He didn't want to meet them, so he turned to the stairway to go back to the common room. When he heard Hermione calling for him, Harry realized that it was too late to slip away, so he turned to face her with a serious look in his eyes.

"Harry, wait! Aren't you coming to dinner?" asked Hermione staring at him hopefully, but Harry remained serious and answered in a grave tone.

"No, I'm not hungry tonight."

"Come on, Harry! You can't keep skipping meals, just because you don't want to see Ron. Today we went to Hogsmeade, and it was just torture! Ron and I were completely silent most of the time, and I was dying to go back to the castle. We were waiting for you this morning, but you never came... why?"

Harry realized that she was doing her best to pretend that everything was as usual between him and Ron, and that all the misunderstandings were now cleared. Harry looked over at the Gryffindor table and saw Ron, who was forcing himself to look the opposite way, trying with all his strength not to look Harry's way. This raised Harry's temper so much that he felt as though he wouldn't talk to Ron for the rest of his life.

"I didn't want to go to Hogsmeade today, that's all. And then... I didn't want to spoil your trip."

"You spoiled our trip not by coming with us. Listen, why don't you make peace with Ron?"

"You should ask him that. He should come to me first... he offended me!"

Hermione stared at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Listen, Hermione, I'm not in a mood to talk to Ron right now, and that's it. Now, I'm sorry, but I've something very important to do!"

Harry ended the conversation like that, leaving her in the main entrance without saying goodbye. With two jumps, he was already on the staircase and in a few minutes, he reached the common room, angrier than he was that morning.

***O***

It was Harry's worst sunday: he and Ron were obstinately pretending to ignore each other, while Hermione kept running back and forth between them, trying to persuade them to make peace.

In the end, Harry decided to spend the rest of the day on his Firebolt, flying far away from everything and everyone.

Monday morning, Harry woke up very early and left the dormitory while his friends were still sleeping so he wouldn't have to see them. He went downstairs to the Great Hall to have breakfast and then headed to the dungeons for his Potions class. He saw that all the other students were slowly arriving and were starting to queue up as usual outside Snape's classroom. Harry was waiting in a corner, arms crossed, leaning on the cold stone wall with a very angry expression on his face.

After a few minutes, Hermione came down breathing heavily and Harry realized that she was holding the Daily Prophet with an extremely shocked expression on her face. He realized immediately that something bad had just happened, and he moved closer to her.

Hermione looked really worried. Harry signaled her to come closer and then he spoke in a very low voice.

"Has something happened?"

Hermione nodded and gave him the front page of the Daily Prophet. Harry took the newspaper in his hands, and he saw a huge picture of all the Death Eaters Dumbledore had arrested the previous June.

The headline read "SENSATIONAL ESCAPE FROM AZKABAN PRISON".

Harry jumped in the surprise, and then read the article in disbelief.

"Last night, ten dangerous Death Eaters escaped from Azkaban prison, considered until now a place of maximum security. According to the survivors, the Dementors helped them escape and then left with them. The Ministry of Magic has already assigned the best Aurors to the prison to guard the remaining criminals to prevent any more escapes like the Death Eaters'.

In order to guarantee the safety of all wizards and Muggles, the Minister had ordered all Aurors to check the entire country. The Department of International Magical Cooperation has already informed the other nations of the world about this startling escape."

Harry was still looking at the article in shock, his hands trembling with anger. Suddenly he understood the meaning of his vision about Voldemort's plans: the Death Eaters' escape and the Dementors' joining the dark side.

Then Hermione interrupted his thoughts, "See? It's just like we thought. Voldemort was planning this, in the vision you had."

Harry stared at her worriedly and then spoke, very disappointed.

"When I tried to tell Dumbledore, he just sent me away, talking about my Occlumency lessons... I'm curious to hear what he would say now!"

"Hey, are you talking about the escape from Azkaban?" Ernie Macmillan approached, really worried as well.

"I can't imagine what Death Eaters and Dementors could do together. This is terrible news for all of us!"

"Yes, you're right Ernie..." answered Hermione sadly, but their conversation was interrupted by Snape, who had just slammed the door and was ordering everybody to get in.

Harry and Hermione took a seat in one of the last desks, as usual, and noticed that Snape was in a very bad mood, more so than usual.

He was taking points off the Gryffindor students for the most silly reasons; he even took a few points off Malfoy after he had turned to Harry looking satisfied and thrown a little paper ball at him that had written on it "AND THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING...."

Harry was already starting to lose his temper, but Hermione put her hand on his, as though to tell him not to respond to Malfoy's taunts. Harry forced himself to stay calm and burned the paper ball to ashes with his wand. Then, he took his hand away from Hermione's, slightly embarrassed, and started skimming through the textbook, not knowing what he was looking for.

He realized that Hermione was gazing at him oddly, but then she turned away, and started to skim through her textbook as well.

Harry couldn't understand what was happening to him. It wasn't the first time that Hermione had held his hand, but now there was something different. It was becoming really difficult for him to be near her. He was sure that something had changed, but he couldn't figure out what.

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