Chapter 17 - The New Year
The return to Hogwarts meant a return to the hard work ahead to learn all they could, in preparation for not only their NEWTs, but for the upcoming conflicts. Harry had continued practicing his spells without a wand, and finding he could perform some of the spells better, levitation, Legilimency and Occlumency seemed to improve without his wand. His interest in the academics increased, partially because Ron was spending more time with Luna, and he spent more time with Hermione, studying and training. The ancient texts she gave him also stirred his interest, the volume on Ancient Runes proved a fascinating study on the basics of wandless magic. He discovered the symbols either had a specific meaning in an ancient language or were emblems of ancient sects.
Several of these emblems held a fascination for both Harry and Hermione as they studied them together. He went so far as to suggest one to be used as an insignia for the DA; it was a round crest, with the image of a flaming sword.
"Have you figured out these symbols yet, Hermione?"
"No, they're quite difficult, it seems they're much older then any of the other reference books in the main library."
"Looks like you managed to buy us a mystery this time. That book written in Parseltongue isn't much better. There are some strange stories; one was a strange cult of wizards that rebelled against the leadership of the era and migrated to a land called…" he picked up the text and flipped through the earlier chapters, "ahh... here, it's hard to translate, it sounds like Corrieban . That's the closest I can make out. There are some difficult words, and I can't find them in any Latin or Greek texts either."
"Hmmm, Corrieban… could it be Caribbean ? Maybe they left for some island."
"What about 'Sikh'? It's referred to several times."
"That's an ancient Hindu religion. But as far as I know, it's never been found in the Caribbean."
"That may not be the correct pronunciation, but it's the closest I can figure out in English."
"What's the pronunciation in Parseltongue ?"
"Shihtthh"
"It doesn't sound like ' Sikh', maybe it's something else. I'll see what I can find on these, it may not be anything, but we need to trace any lead we can find."
He slammed the handwritten book shut in frustration, since it wasn't of much help. Hermione watched quietly as his mood began to shift again. His jaw tightened as he balled both fists. In a few moments, he had gone from being able to research and study, to a seething volcano of emotions ready to erupt.
"What good is it anyway?" he vented, "Unless I can find a way to… to, I don't know, lock him up, or hold him, all this is just useless."
"Harry, it's not useless, we need to dig deeper." She closed her volume and sat facing him. "As best I can tell, this information's been lost for as long as Hogwarts' has existed. Almost like these books are keys or a map to some hidden source of power. That's what we need to find, and I'm here to find it with you. Don't loose hope, I won't." She held back her desire to hold him until his confusion and frustration passed, but her head forced her to stand her ground. 'I can't, it's a mistake.' She kept telling herself.
"Come on, I think we both need a break from this." She said as she pushed he book to the side. "Besides, I have some new books coming soon from the United States."
"Hermione." He looked gravely serious, "I need to know something."
Puzzled she raced through a hundred different topics that could be on his mind, but kept hoping for the one that occupied hers. "What is it?"
"Why did you go looking for me on Halloween? I said so many hurtful things to you, Ron and Ginny and yet you all came after me without a thought."
"Forget it, Harry, you're my friend, you know how we all feel about you. And besides, we know you were distraught then. If you're starting to feel bad about yourself, then tell me now what's bothering you. Don't let it build up."
"I know. It's just that… well…I always thought you and Ron were, well… together. And now I feel like you two broke up because of me. It's not fair to you, that's why I told Ginny we couldn't be together because it wasn't fair to her."
"We're not; I mean we never were, a couple. Not that he didn't want to be, it's that just like you and me, he and I are just good friends." She felt a lump in her throat at having to lie and conceal what she had been feeling. "Besides, if you haven't noticed since Halloween, he and Luna have been seeing each other a lot. I don't want to interfere with them, that's all."
Sensing a bit of relief, he began to relax. "I don't want to be the reason my friends aren't happy, I'm glad he's found someone he likes, like that. I wish you could…"
He stopped in mid sentence, and his face went pale. "Her…mi… my… sca---" was all he managed to say before slumping back. She reached over to steady him from falling off the chair and watched his face turn sheet white, except for his scar, which had turned blood red.
"HARRY… Can you hear me?" She carefully helped lay him on the floor as he began to shake, beads of ice cold sweat built up on his brow. Now she regretted being in the lower levels of the library, knowing help wouldn't be nearby. She held his hand to comfort him, to let him know he was still connected to the real world.
"HELP! ANYONE!" she screamed, afraid to leave him alone.
"Cold… scar… he's…coming…" he began to mumble, his pain was a sure sign Voldemort was active again.
"Harry, can you hear me?" She never let him go, and with her free hand, brushed his hair from his eyes. "Accio hanky!" She yelled as her handkerchief flew out from her bag. She wiped his face free of his sweat and checking for a fever, she laid her hand on his brow and across the scar. In that instant, a bolt of energy surged through him into her, throwing her across the room.
She struck her head on the table leg, and felt warmth run down her neck. She began to feel her eyes grow heavy and before darkness clouded them, she felt the burn in her palm.
She managed to shake the clouds from her mind and opened her eyes; she looked up to a pair of emerald green eyes staring back. "Welcome back, I guess this was my turn to watch over you." He grinned.
"What happened? I feel like I was run over by a bus. How long---"
"Shhh… You got a nasty bump on your head; we brought you to the hospital wing."
She blinked a couple times and looked around, the room was quite dark, and she was covered with a blanket, confirming what she heard. "What time is it?" She asked as she tried to sit up.
"Three o-clock or so. Don't try to rush it, just lay back."
"Three o-clock? It was almost dinner time a few minutes ago."
"It's three in the morning. I stayed to make sure you were ok. We were taking shifts watching over you. You seemed quite agitated while you were 'out', you've been here for three days."
"Three days?"
"Yeah, but you'll be fine. I'll let the others know you're awake."
He stood and started to leave when she called to him. "Harry, please don't leave me. Let them sleep, they'll find out in the morning."
"Alright, Madam Pomfrey let me have a cot across the ward while you were here."
"So you haven't left?"
"Ron, Ginny and I took shifts when we were out of class; I've been taking the night shifts. We were all worried when we couldn't wake you." He sat back on the edge of the bed.
She moved her hand to rub her head where it still throbbed, and felt the thick bandages. He placed his hand on her other one held it gingerly.
"Wait, before you look, your hand, it has… my scar… it burned into your palm."
She pulled her hand to her face to see it was still wrapped, and ripped off the bandages to see a fresh burn mark, a reverse image of Harry's scar.
"W-Who knows about this?"
"Dumbledore, Ron, Madam Pomfrey and me. Ron found us both unconscious in the library, and got us both here. I was a tad woozy, but you were out cold. How's your head feel, by the way?"
"Sore, how bad was it?"
"A bit of a gash, but no one will see it. It looked worse then it was. Not nearly as bad as the one I got over the summer and nothing like Ginny's. So now you really know how I felt then," he teased.
"What about my hand? What does Dumbledore think?"
He stopped grinning and turned serious, and sucked in a chest full of air before answering. "It's not good. It may mean Voldemort had marked you because of me. I could see and hear him planning something big; he was about to reveal his next attack when I think he felt I was listening. There was a flash of light and my head felt like it was about to explode. Next thing I knew, Ron was dragging us both here. How much do you remember?"
"Well, we were studying those books and chatting, next thing I knew, you went sheet white and almost fell back to the floor. I helped you lay down, I was holding your hand and you were sweating badly. I grabbed my hanky, no, I called for my hanky to clear the sweat from your face, and I got what felt like a shock through my arm. I must have put my hand across your scar when I went to check for a fever."
"I'm sorry, Hermione, I should have told you before."
"About what?"
"When I was in the Chamber, he threatened you. He knows about you, Ron and Ginny. I'm afraid he's marked you as his target too."
"Harry, we were marked as targets since we went to the Ministry with you last year. That just means he wants to use us to get at you. We all knew that would happen, so don't think about it."
"You're right, tomorrow we can try to figure out what all this means. It's late, and I don't know about you, but I need some sleep . Y ou'd better try to rest up some too."
"Duh, Harry, I've had three days sleep. You get some rest and I want to look at your books again."
"They're over here with the rest of your things; Ginny packed them up after we were brought here. I've been trying to read the Parseltongue one while I've been here, but the writing had gotten sloppier." He walked over to his cot, picked up her bag and brought it to her.
She pulled the heavy bag to her lap and inspected the contents, "Harry, where's my wand?"
"It's in the book where you left it as a marker." He pulled the large book of Runes and produced her wand, where she had indeed left it while they studied that day. "Are you going to be ok tonight?"
"Yeah, get some sleep, and Harry, thanks for staying."
He crawled into the cot across the ward where he was able to keep an eye on her in case she needed his help and quickly found himself asleep. Hermione sat in her bed and tried to think, but her mind was still cloudy. She opened the large volume and began to re-read the sections on wandless magic she had Harry practice.
The school was beginning to wake when the Headmaster entered the ward where the young witch had been recovering. "Good morning Miss Granger, Harry had informed me you had wakened earlier this morning. I trust you feel fully recovered?"
"Yes, sir. I was hoping to be able to attend classes today; I've missed so much as it is."
"Yes, yes…that can be arranged, I also understand Harry told you everything he knows about your event?"
"Yes, sir. I wish I knew what this means." She held out her new scar on her hand.
"I have a few ideas, but I think we need to wait and see how this affects you, just as Harry's scar affects him. I'm afraid only time will tell."
"Do you think Voldemort did this? Can he read my thoughts like he can with Harry?"
"Again, I'm not certain, but, since Voldemort gave Harry his scar, and Harry gave you that one, I would be surprised if it were a direct link to Voldemort. Now, Miss Granger, I believe you said you would like to attend classes today? I've already checked with Madam Pomfrey and you may leave anytime you wish."
"Thank you, is Harry awake yet? He was sleeping in the cot across the room."
"Yes, he woke a little while ago to inform me of your condition. I believe you can find him and Mr. Weasley waiting for you in the Gryffindor common room. I took the liberty of having Miss Weasley pack you a change of clothes. I'll leave you for now, but if at any time you notice that scar bothering you in any way, I want you to come and see me immediately. Do you understand?"
"Yes, sir. Immediately."
"Good girl, now go ahead and get dressed, your friends are waiting for you." The ancient wizard bowed lightly, turned, and left the young woman to dress.
She dressed quickly after a brief shower in the ward's bathroom. She met Ron and Harry in the common room, just as the Headmaster said, and Ron began his barrage of questions. She and Harry answered Ron's questions and came up with a few new ones themselves.
"Ron, Harry, I don't want anyone else to know about my hand. It may leak out to the wrong people. If it is another link to 'him', and 'he' doesn't know, it may be an advantage for us."
"I agree, but you should take it easy. At least for a couple days."
"Nonsense Ron. I'll be fine. Now, before it gets too late, I'm famished, I haven't eaten in three days."
The group left the common room and was met outside the door by Luna. She and Ron quickly joined together, leaving Harry and Hermione walking side by side. She felt the familiar knot in her stomach, as she watched Ron and Luna walking hand in hand with Harry so near. 'Stop thinking about that! It'll never happen. Just breathe and think about your schedule.' She argued with herself, to make it through the day without having Harry in her thoughts. They sat at their usual spot near the fireplace in the Great Hall to consume breakfast.
- - -
The first class of the day was Defense Against The Dark Arts, followed by History of Magic, lunch and the most dreaded class, double Potions. The morning's classes on her first day back had gone quickly and uneventfully, as did lunch. The three friends left the Great Hall after lunch for the dungeons and the last, but longest class of the day. The trio was among the first to arrive and settle in the familiar seats; the Potions Master stood at the ready, eyeing the three students as if they were his prey.
The lesson for that day was to be an intricate potion used to control another's mind, an obvious attempt to force the lesser students to fail. Ron and Harry didn't worry as long as they had Hermione on their team. The list of ingredients on the board was extremely detailed in not only in the amount of the ingredient, but also the precise source. To add a level of difficulty, several of the harder to find elements were scattered around the classroom, unlabeled.
Ron and Harry were tasked to sort out the ingredients and return them to Hermione who would measure and combine them in the correct order. The class had progressed to the point of requiring the cauldrons to simmer for 18 minutes and 34 seconds. The Professor took this time to begin a lecture on the value of such a potion, hoping to distract certain students long enough to miss the required simmer time.
During Snape's droning about the legalities of controlling another's mind, Harry sat watching Hermione record every word. He had felt strangely at ease and wasn't concerned about the instructions of the day. He just felt normal. Everything felt normal at that moment, he sighed a relaxing breath as he watched her.
Without warning, her hand began to tingle; the suddenness made her jump and she let out a soft squeak of surprise. The brief outburst startled Snape's lecture, and he retaliated as he always had.
"Five points from Gryffindor for disrupting the class." Snape shot at Hermione.
"Sorry, it's my… um… head, it's still sore, and I felt a bit dizzy."
"Well then either sit down or go the hospital before you lose another five points, Miss Granger."
"Yes sir."
"Ooooo… She finally admits to being dizzy!" smirked Pansy from her corner, causing a burst of laughter from the surrounding Slytherins.
"Five more points from Gryffindor for causing the further disruptions," he growled.
"That's not fair; it was Pansy that made that crack!" Ron shouted.
"And we'll make it another five for your outburst, Mr. Weasley."
"Sit down," Hermione whispered as she grabbed Ron's arm.
"But..."
"Shhh… he'll take more if you don't shut-up."
"How very astute, Miss Granger. Let's make it a round 20 points for that additional outburst, any more and you three will spend a week in detention."
The unfairness was quite unsettling for Harry; he began to feel his anger start to rise. Just as his hand reached for his wand, she put her hand on his arm breaking his concentration, and gave him a 'please don't do it' look. She motioned to him the simmering cauldron and pointed to her watch. He simply nodded and sighed while she began rubbing the sting from her hand out of view.
"Did I just miss something?" Ron whispered to Harry.
"No, it's almost time." He pointed to the potion.
They completed the rest of the lesson in near silence to avoid losing more points, and completing the potion correctly. After all the students deposited a sample on Snape's desk, the class left for their common areas.
"What the bloody hell happened in there?" Ron demanded.
"Nothing, I, um felt a twinge in my head. That's all," she lied to them both.
"And he took TWENTY points for that?"
"It could have been worse, right Harry?" Hermione's expression told him to play along.
"Yeah, I guess, we could have messed up the potion," he said with a shrug.
They walked back to their common room in silence, until they met Luna and Ginny, who were waiting just outside the portrait with a report of another attack.