Ch 26: The Calm Before the Storm
Dumbledore discreetly cleared his throat, causing the two teens to jump apart. He looked at both with a huge grin on his face and his blue eyes twinkling merrily. "If you two will excuse me, I have a few things I need to do. I imagine you two would like to spend some time together, you probably have quite a few things to discuss. Please stay in my office. I will be back to have lunch with you at noon. You may stay here until three, when I have a meeting with the faculty and the Order regarding the status of the school's defenses and to discuss possible remedies for your condition-I guess we'll just focus on the school's defenses. You should probably return to your time with the Time Turner and then give it back to me Harry." With a smile, Dumbledore turned to leave.
"Oh, Miss Granger, would you please make sure that Mr. Potter stays away from the cabinets? Harry's curiosity has been known to get the better of him at times, and some of those objects can be very dangerous." Dumbledore then left the two sitting very close together on a sofa with Harry's arm around Hermione. They talked quietly under the watchful eyes of the former Headmasters.
Shortly before three, Harry teleported with Hermione to the northeast tower, looped the silver chain around their necks, put the Invisibility Cloak over their heads, and returned them to their own time. They waited for a few minutes. A very worried looking Harry appeared, carrying a bloody and pale Hermione in his arms. Hermione shuddered at the sight and listened as the visible Harry spoke, "Hang in there Hermione. Hang on. You're going to be OK. I promise." Under the cloak, Hermione squeezed Harry and whispered, "Thank you, Harry." Harry just hugged her back quietly. Once Harry and the pale Hermione disappeared, Harry teleported them both back to the hallway outside of the infirmary. Seeing nobody around, Harry took off the Invisibility Cloak and put the Time Turner and the cloak in his leather pouch. Hearing voices inside the infirmary, they entered.
"Hermione, you're OK! But you were only gone for a minute or so."
"We just went for a quick potion, Ron," answered Harry.
"Oh, right then." Ron seemed satisfied and turned back to Katie. "Enervate," he commanded. Katie's eyes flicked open and she looked around in confusion. Dumbledore performed the same spell on Madame Pomfrey and revived her.
Turning, he saw that Harry and Hermione had returned. "Feeling better, Miss Granger? You do not know how glad I am to see you back with us." Then he looked at the three Slytherins still immobilized by earlier spells. With a wave of his wand and the pronouncement of "Finite Incantatum," all three found they could move again, though they froze again at the wrathful gaze they received from Dumbledore. "Never in the history of Hogwarts have we had a student attempt to murder another student in cold blood. Never! You will surrender your wands at once. Expelliarmus." Dumbledore reached out his hand, and caught all three wands as they flew in the air. "Mr. Malfoy will summon Professor Snape and the three of you will be expelled this afternoon." Dumbledore looked at Draco, who left the room quickly. "I will also bring the matter before the Ministry of Magic. You may be underage for a full criminal trial, but these are serious crimes that you have committed. You will be punished to the fullest extent possible. I guarantee it." Two of the sets of eyes looked at Dumbledore with pure fear. The other pair of eyes merely glared with hatred at Dumbledore, Harry, and Hermione.
Turning back to the Gryffindor students, Dumbledore said, "You may all return to your common rooms and rest there until lunch this afternoon," instructed Dumbledore. "After lunch, you will probably need to speak with the Aurors who will be coming from the Ministry to investigate these attacks." Ron helped Katie to the door, and Harry and Hermione followed them. On their way back to their rooms, they passed Draco and Snape heading in the direction of the infirmary. They had never seen Snape so furious.
To their surprise, he stopped and asked, "Are you feeling all right Miss Granger? Miss Bell? Mr. Weasley? Mr. Potter?" After seeing each of their nods, he added softly, "I am terribly sorry about what was done to each of you. Those who tried to do this to you will be punished severely. I will see to it personally." And he strode off.
Harry stopped Draco. "Thank you Draco. Hermione and I owe you our lives. Thank you."
Draco seemed unsure what to say and mumbled, "You're welcome, Potter. You too, Granger." He nodded slightly to Hermione.
Harry extended his hand and said, "You can call me Harry."
"Very well. You're welcome Harry," replied Draco and shook Harry's hand briefly before he turned to follow Snape.
When they got to the Gryffindor common room, they were smothered by excited classmates, happy to see Harry back with them. They visited quietly with their friends until it was time for lunch. The Great Hall exploded when Harry and his friends entered and the room buzzed with conversation throughout lunch. Harry noticed that there were several Aurors from the Ministry sitting with Dumbledore at the head table. After lunch had finished, Dumbledore dismissed the students to their rooms, except for Harry, Hermione, Ron, Katie, and Draco. They spent the rest of their afternoon telling their version of what had happened earlier that morning. None of them saw Crabbe, Goyle, or Lestrange again.
They stayed for dinner, and then retired to the common rooms where the Gryffindors had planned a "Welcome back Harry!" party. After several hours, both Hermione and Harry were getting tired, but the party showed no signs of dying down. Harry walked Hermione to the base of the stairs leading up to the girls' rooms, and looked around quickly. Seeing they were alone, he leaned over and gave her a quick good night kiss on the cheek.
"I knew it! I knew it!" thundered Ron, who had snuck up behind the two.
"What are you talking about?" demanded Harry, whirling in front of Hermione. Both were blushing.
"Oh knock it off. It's about time you two got together. You've been falling for each other for months now, if not years. Everybody's seen it coming for a long time except you two!" laughed Ron loudly. He turned to go back to the party and they saw maybe two dozen heads looking around the corner at the three of them.
"Well, since everybody knows…" started Hermione. She stepped to Harry's side and reached up with both hands to his face. Pulling his head down slightly, Hermione gave him a long, sweet kiss that left Harry's senses reeling. With a last, quick kiss, Hermione said softly, "Good night Harry." She then turned and sauntered up the stairs without a look back.
"G-g-night uhh..Herr..minny" stuttered Harry, looking starstruck. Ron quickly returned to his friend's side, throwing an arm around his shoulders.
"Uhh…Harry, you OK there mate? You look like you just got a bludger to the head."
"I think I just kissed an angel," muttered Harry. Harry didn't seem to notice the cheers that had broken out from everyone in the Gryffindor room. Ron helped Harry back out to the common room shouting to the amusement of everyone around, "Clear the way! Clear the way! The love-struck Defender against the Dark Arts needs some air. The fearless foe of troll, basilisk, Dementor, dragon and dark wizards has been conquered by the kiss of his beautiful princess! Make some space! Make some space!" Helping Harry to a seat, Ron sat beside him with a huge grin on his face.
"So, I take it you liked that kiss better than the one with Cho?" asked Ron mischievously.
"Who?"
Ron burst out laughing. Katie had moved over to sit next to them, and pulled on Ron's elbow.
"Quit making such a scene, Ron. You know Harry hates all the attention." As students made their way over to Ron and started giving him coins, she looked at him questioningly.
Slowly coming back to his senses, Harry noticed it too. "Ron, why is everyone giving you money?"
"Well mate, I won the betting pool. I figured one more visit to the hospital would convince Hermione to express her feelings towards you. Some of these dunderheads actually thought you would kiss her first at some point!" Ron laughed.
"You made a bet on me and Hermione? Hey! I did kiss her first," he protested.
"What? That peck on the cheek? That doesn't count. No, it had to be a good kiss right on the…owww!" Ron looked down and found Katie's shoe stomping down hard on his foot. "Anyways, I won the bet."
"Ginny won the bet on Ron and I," added Katie as she put her arm around Ron.
"What?!?! You and Katie? You two are a couple?" Harry looked in amazement.
Katie smiled and said, "You really didn't see anything but Hermione tonight, did you?"
"After all those extra Quidditch practices? You like her now? I thought you always said she was …owww!" Harry reached down and started rubbing his sore foot.
"All in the past, Harry," explained Ron smoothly.
"What was that about Ron? Was there something I should know about?" asked Katie as she removed her arm from Ron's shoulders.
"Of course not. Harry's just rambling. I think his head is still spinning from Hermione's kiss," explained Ron, looking for a change of topic. "In fact, I should probably get him up to bed. He's had a long day." Ron helped Harry stand and led him up to his room.
As he got ready for bed, Harry asked, "So you and Katie, huh?"
"Yeah. I can't believe my luck, mate. When I cast that levitation spell to ease her fall to the ground, I completely forgot about the dragon for a minute. I was just afraid she was going to end up like…" He rubbed his scar for a minute. "Well, anyways, when I woke up in the infirmary, there she was by my bedside. Her face and hair was still slightly burnt, and it looked like she hadn't slept a wink. But she was worried about me. And all I got were a couple of scratches. We had a lot of time to talk, and well, I dunno exactly what happened, but here we are." Ron smiled.
"But I thought you always had a crush on Hermione."
"Oh, I did. But you've seen us fight. Honestly, what on earth do you think we'd be like if we were married or something. Eiigh! No, I'm glad you two finally got together. Really I am."
"Yeah, me too. I can't believe it took me this long to realize what she means to me. I'm such a thick-headed idiot."
"Can't argue with you about that, mate," laughed Ron.
"Shut up and let me get some sleep," smiled Harry.
*-*-*
The next day the four of them headed down to pay Hagrid a visit and check on Brunjildtha. She was sleeping outside of Hagrid's hut, so they let her be and knocked quietly on his door.
"Come in, come in," boomed Hagrid. "I heard you Gryffindors partying half the night last night. Figgered you might be feelin' better, Harry. I'm glad ye came down to visit. Would ya like somethin' to eat?"
"Uhh, no thanks Hagrid. We just stopped by to say hi and see how Brunjildtha was doing."
"She's doing much better than she was. That was a nasty spell ya hit her with, Harry. Ya shoulda been more careful," urged Hagrid.
"Well, she wasn't on our side yet, Hagrid," explained Harry.
"Oh yeah, right ye are, right ye are." Hagrid noticed Harry and Hermione holding hands and asked, "So ya two are a couple now, are ya?"
"Yeah, I guess you could say that," blushed Harry slightly.
"Ahh. Reckon Dumbledore'll be happy to win the pot," muttered Hagrid loudly.
"What pot?! You don't mean that the faculty had bets about Harry and I, do you?!" shrieked Hermione. Ron, Katie, and Harry tried to stifle their grins. They had forgotten to tell Hermione about the students' bets. "What are you three laughing at?"
Harry sputtered, "Well the Gryffindor students were running a betting pool on us as well."
"And you found that amusing?" she asked dangerously.
"Not just the Gryffindors," added Ron with a laugh.
Both Harry and Hermione looked at him in shock.
"And which one of our so-called friends won the bet?" demanded Hermione.
Ron blushed red, then went pale as Hermione's eyes narrowed on him.
"I did. I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, Hermione. It was only meant in fun," explained Katie.
"Oh, that's OK. It's not that big of a deal I guess. But I can't believe that the faculty would become involved in something like this," went on Hermione. Ron mouthed a silent thank you to Katie.
"I should na have said that. I should na have said that," repeated Hagrid to himself.
Having calmed down, Hermione chatted with the others for a while before they all returned to the castle for lunch. After lunch, Harry and Hermione went to the library and discovered that all of the books she had borrowed and read in the infirmary had been returned. Finding a large table, they pulled several tomes from the stacks and began browsing through them.
After half an hour, Harry complained, "Hermione, we've already been through all of these. There's nothing here that's going to help. And we've talked to Dumbledore and he hasn't found anything yet, either. There is one last area in the Restricted Section at the Ministry I want to check. I'll bring some books back and we'll check through them."
"Fine. But do you have some alternative plan?"
"Not really. But I think this can work. It has to work. Dumbledore himself says he doesn't know of the spells that can defeat Voldemort. I think this is the only way. Don't worry, we'll find something. Let's try and enjoy the rest of the afternoon, then I'll go and get the books tonight, OK?"
"All right. But we're studying hard until school starts next week."
"I know. We haven't got much time. He'll try again. Soon. I know it. But I can't get the books until tonight. Let's go for a walk." They spent the rest of the afternoon walking hand in hand by the lake and talking happily.
The rest of the week they spent in the northeast tower, reading through one thick spell book after another. Late one afternoon, Harry noticed that Hermione was reading very intently. When she caught his eye, she quickly turned back a few pages and said, "Yeah, I think I might have found what we've been looking for here. It's called the Tutaminis Trium. It's a variation of a powerful protective ward created from the magical power of those within its sphere. But it needs three casters, not one."
"What? Let me see," moving over, Harry read through the several pages and sat back and thought. "This is the best we've been able to find. It will have to work. I assume you think you'll be the second caster."
"Of course, Harry. Who did you expect?"
"Do you think Ron can handle the third spot?"
"Yeah, easily. It's not just the magical strength that is important in this spell, Harry. But it also depends on the relationship between the three casters. It has to be strong."
"I'll talk to him later. Let me read it again more thoroughly." He wanted to make sure he fully understood the spell. Noticing that Hermione was engrossed in another spellbook, looking for a better defensive spell, Harry turned to the pages Hermione had been reading earlier. His eyes widened slightly. He looked over at Hermione thoughtfully, and then continued to read.
Later they headed down to dinner and Harry pulled Ron aside afterwards. He talked briefly with him and then they went and talked for a while with Hermione. The three were very busy the entire weekend, classes were supposed to resume on Monday. Late Sunday night, Harry had one last talk with both of them. He had to make sure they both understood exactly what they had to do the next day and that they were both willing to do it. Their lives depended on it.
*-*-*
As the students took their places in the Great Hall, there was a loud buzz in the hall as they chatted about their two week vacation. Dumbledore slowly stood, waiting for the talk to quiet down. "Welcome back to Hogwarts. I hope you have not forgotten everything you have learned so far this year over your two week break. In order to help you return to some sense of normality here at school, I have scheduled a trip to Hogsmeade this weekend for all of the students who would like to visit."
"Are you serious?!?! I can't believe you actually brought back all of the students while Voldemort is still on the loose! It's bad enough bringing them back to Hogswarts, but now you want to take them all to Hogsmeade? The protections here at Hogswarts couldn't keep Voldemort away. What chance will they have at Hogsmeade? Well, I'm not sitting around here, waiting for Voldemort and his army to come back and get me. I'm leaving. If any of you have any brains, you'll leave as well."
There was a hush throughout the hall as everyone turned to try and discover who had caused the outburst. The shock was complete in the Hall when Harry Potter rose from his seat and headed towards the doors.
"Harry, wait. You can't go! You have to stay and help us…" wailed Hermione.
"I can't go? Since when is it my responsibility to save the entire world? I never asked to be a hero. I'm not. I know, I'm supposed to stay and keep learning and training until I maybe I can defeat Voldemort again. Well, you know what? I'm sick of it. I can't beat him. And I don't care anymore. Voldemort nearly leveled the place two weeks ago, and now everybody's back, waiting for it to happen again. If you were half as smart as everyone thinks you are, you'd be out of here too."
"I'm not going anywhere Harry. My place is here,"
"Fine!" snarled Harry. Looking at Ron he growled, "I suppose your place is here too? Think the professors are going to be able to protect you again? Do what you like, I don't care. I don't need you!" he looked right at Hermione. "And I don't need you!" he shouted at Ron. Glaring at Dumbledore, he boomed, "AND I NEVER NEEDED YOU. You should have left me in that Muggle house. I'm not the one your precious prophecy supposedly told you about. I'm not going to be the downfall of Voldemort. Let somebody else do that. I'm sick of trying to be the hero! I'M OUTTA HERE!!!" Harry whirled and stalked out of the room, slamming the doors closed behind him, leaving the Hall absolutely silent, except for the sobs of Hermione, left standing alone by the Gryffindor table.
-->