~A/N> Well, here's chapter two where Harry finally makes an appearance :) Thank you for the great response
on chapter 1, and I hope you enjoy this chapter as much. I'm not too sure how many chapters this story is going to
be, but I'm hoping that it's going to be quite a few so things will develop slowly. I love this storyline and
like I said before, it's also the premise of the book I'm writing, I'll just be removing all of JKR's
magical genius and my characters will of course have different names. And if you haven't checked it out yet, please
visit my Harmony Podcast website: www.harmonypodcast.com
Harry sat in the Great Hall Monday morning eating breakfast, making the mistake of picking up a copy of the Daily Prophet that had been left on the table by one of the other students, hoping to see anything that pointed to what Voldemort had been up to. Missing the story about a Death Eater attack on a muggle home in London, his eyes were drawn to the story on the bottom of the front page and he nearly spit out his pumpkin juice. There in bold print was the headline, Boy-Who-Lived to wed the Girl-Who-Stole-His-Heart? with a picture of him and Ginny Weasley underneath it, kissing in the Gryffindor Common Room the year before, after their Quidditch match. When he found Colin Creevey he was going to shove that boys camera so far up his a...
"Hiya Harry," came Ron Weasley's voice, his best mate, interrupting his violent thoughts. "Ready for double potions with Slughorn this morning?"
"Not really," Harry mumbled, trying to keep the paper from Ron's view. The last thing he needed right now was Ron using the article to push Harry to tell Ginny he loved her, when he knew for a fact that he didn't. She was fun to be around, and snogging her was an added bonus, but there was no love for her where he was concerned.
Unfortunately at that moment Dean Thomas, one of their dorm mates, walked up and shoved the paper in Ron's face. "Wow Ron, so you're going to be the brother-in-law of the famous Harry Potter 'eh?" he asked sarcastically. Looking at Harry darkly he asked, "So when's the big day?"
"Piss off Dean," Harry mumbled angrily, staring at his plate of food but not really seeing it.
When Ginny walked into the Hall and started to make her way toward Harry, Seamus Finnegan, another of their dorm mates, walked behind her and said, "Make way for the furture Mrs. Potter."
That had been the last straw for Harry and next thing he knew, the copy of the Daily Prophet he had been holding caught fire, and tossing it onto the table he quickly pointed his wand at it and said, "Aguamenti." Watching as water poured forth from the tip of his wand and doused the flames, Harry could feel everyone's eyes on him and he quickly stood up, excusing himself. He could hear Ginny calling after him and her footfalls behind him, but he didn't slow down. He made his way up to his Head Boy room where he knew she couldn't follow (he had 'accidentally' changed the password and not told her. He had made sure to tell the Head Girl not to give it to her either) and he could have some time alone. He was surprised when he walked into the Head's common room that he shared with Susan Bones, Head Girl, to find Headmistress McGonagall and Remus Lupin, possibly the only adult left that he truly trusted, waiting for him.
"Headmistress McGonagall. Remus. What are you doing here? Has something happened with...?"
"No," Remus cut him off before he could finish his sentence, causing Harry to raise an eyebrow in question.
"Potter, we have a new student who's just arrived this morning from Grimmauld Place with Remus," McGonagall explained. "We would like it if you could help her get to her classes and get to know her way around the castle."
"But wouldn't Susan...?" he started to ask, only to have Remus interrupt.
"I think you would be the best person to show her around Harry." Harry watched as Remus gave him a pointed look and then walked by him to make his way toward one of the windows, where a girl had stood unnoticed when he came in.
Placing his hand gently on her shoulder, Remus quietly said, "Hermione Granger, this is Harry Potter. He'll be helping you find your classes today and help familiarize you with the castle so you won't get lost."
When the girl turned slowly to look at him Harry stared at her, a strange feeling overtaking him. The first thing that struck him was the sadness that shone in her eyes and practically radiated off of her in waves. With a little gentle nudging by Remus, she walked toward him and he tried to give her a friendly smile that he knew looked forced. She gave a very faint smile back that came and went so quickly he wasn't even sure he had seen it in the first place. "Nice to meet you," she said softly.
"You too," he replied, surprised by her lackadaisical response, realizing that either she was really shy or she was one of the rare few that didn't know that he was the boy-who-lived.
"Why don't we go get your things from my office Miss Granger and then Harry can show you to your dorm," McGonagall said, looking pointedly at Remus, conveying more in that one look than she could with ten sentences. "He's in Gryffindor house just as you are," she added since they had sorted Hermione almost immediately after she had arrived. She guided Hermione out of the room as Remus gestured for Harry to sit down on the couch with him.
"So what's going on?" Harry asked as he sat, not bothering with pleasantries.
"Straight to it, 'eh Harry?" Remus asked, trying to lighten the mood. When that didn't work he said, "I don't know if you've seen the Prophet this morning, but Hermione's parents were killed by Death Eaters two days ago. And if you have seen it, congratulations on your upcoming nuptials."
While giving him his deadliest glare for the crack about Ginny, Harry said, "I feel bad for her, but unfortunately that's not unusual these days."
Looking at him with concern at how emotionally detached and cold Harry had sounded , Remus said, "Moody was able to stun the Death Eater just before he was going to use the killing curse on her. When they questioned him under Veritaserum he said he was under orders from Voldemort to kill her or he would be killed if he failed. He said that her death would assure his Master's victory. Voldemort told him that with her gone, your death was guaranteed."
"Since when do you believe any stories the Death Eaters tell?" Harry asked skeptically.
"Since he was under veritaserum, and it was Lucius Malfoy," Lupin replied.
Harry's gaze snapped to his then and he asked, "What connection could she possibly have to me? I've never seen her before, did she transfer from Beauxbatons or Durmstrang?"
"She just found out she was a witch two days ago," Lupin answered. "The same night her parents were killed."
"What aren't you telling me?" he asked the last Marauder, after staring at him for some time.
Hesitating for a moment, Lupin stared back at him and replied, "She's got some link to you Harry, I don't know what it is, but the Order thinks that she may be the key to helping you defeat Voldemort once and for all."
Leaving Harry to his thoughts, Lupin got up and headed toward the door. "I'll be back tonight to give her lessons in Defense Against the Dark Arts, in case you'd like to come round and help out a bit. She's had no training, so McGonagall and I are trying to figure out how to teach her six years worth of magic in just a few months time." When Harry didn't respond Lupin asked, "Harry?" When Harry looked up at him he said, "Take care of her, okay? Remember, she just lost her parents the same way you did."
Harry stared at him for a second before replying, "Yeah, but I imagine for her it's worse. She actually had a chance to get to know her Mum and Dad. I didn't."
~*~
Hermione numbly followed the Headmistress back to the office to gather her meager possessions that they were able to salvage from her destroyed childhood home the day before. Watching in a kind of fascination as McGonagall floated her belongings in front of them as they walked, she thought back to meeting Harry Potter. When she had seen him she had felt faint and weakened instantly while her head had started to pound. He had been surrounded by such a bright orange/yellow glow that it almost hurt her to look at him, but there was something...off...about him. Yes, he had been surrounded by bright light, but when she was able to look more closely she saw that he had a lightening bolt shaped scar on his forehead that was emitting a faint, pulsing grey light. Looking at his face was like looking at two people at once, and it immediately gave her a headache. Knowing that she was going to have to spend the entire day with him was making her headache worse, and she started rubbing her temples.
"If you have a headache or any other need for medical attention, just tell Mr. Potter and he'll show you to the Hospital Ward," the Headmistress said gently.
"I will," Hermione agreed as they walked up to the Head Boy and Girl Portrait once more, just as Harry was walking out with Remus.
"See you later on tonight for our lesson, Miss Granger," Remus stated before walking away.
"Okay," she replied, turning back to look at Harry and as their eyes locked, she grabbed her head while hissing in pain.
"Miss Granger?" McGonagall asked in concern. Turning to Harry she said, "Why don't you go to Madam Pomfrey and get a pain relieving potion for Miss Granger?"
"No!" Hermione said, surprising them both. Taking a deep breath and avoiding Harry's eyes, which seemed to be boring into her, she looked up at her Headmistress and said, "I apologize for my rudeness, but I've been taking strange potions for two days now and I really do not want any more."
"All right then," McGonagall said brisquely, and Harry knew it was time to get Hermione away from the Headmistress.
"I'll take care of her," Harry said, taking over the levitation of her belongings. With a quick nod McGonagall turned around and walked quickly back toward her office.
As McGonagall walked into what was now her office, she turned to face the portrait of Dumbledore when it spoke. "It is her, is it not Minerva?" Dumbledore's painting asked, looking down at her with concern.
"It is," she answered tiredly. "Miss Granger is most definitely Harry's Soul Guardian. But she has no training, magical or otherwise. I don't see how she's going to be prepared to help Harry defeat You-Know-Who when the time comes. And Merlin knows it's fast approaching now that he and his followers know who she is."
"Have faith, Minerva," Dumbledore replied in his usual calm, assuring tone. "She is not called a Soul Guardian for nothing. It is something that she was born into and she possesses great power. We just have to wait for her powers to show themselves so that we can see what she is truly capable of. The fact that she is a Soul Guardian and a Witch as well makes her even more powerful. She simply needs to accept her destiny and learn to use the gifts she was born with."
"Well, for all of our sakes, I hope that it's soon," she replied, sitting down in the chair behind the desk, looking very tired. "Now that You-Know-Who knows about her, he's going to do everything in his power to kill them both quickly. And unfortunately, I don't think the protection of the Order is going to be enough. From what I've read on Soul Guardians and their charges, plus factoring in the power the two of them possess, they'll probably have to depend on one another for protection."
~*~
Showing Hermione the portrait hole that led into Gryffindor Tower, Harry said the password and the fat lady smiled at Hermione and said, "It is an honour to have you in Gryffindor Tower."
"Thank you," Hermione replied, wondering if the nice lady in the portrait said that to everyone. That was definitely one thing that was a bit spooky; the people in the pictures throughout the castle moved, as if they were alive. When she had seen the moving portraits of dead ex-Headmasters in the Headmistress' office she had to admit, she almost asked to go back to the creepy house she had just left.
"Are you royalty or something?" Harry asked from behind her as the portrait door closed, causing her to stop just a few steps inside the common room and turn to face him.
"What do you mean?" she asked, still avoiding his eyes.
Wondering why she wouldn't look at him he answered, "Because the Fat Lady has never said she was honoured to have anyone under her watch, even me, and I'm the bloody boy-who-lived."
"The what?" she asked, confused as she looked around the comfortable looking common room.
"Are you trying to tell me that you have never heard of me?" he asked, instantly on guard, not realizing how egotistical he was sounding at the moment.
"You're quite the cocky one, aren't you?" she asked simply, looking out the windows at the rain that was falling outside.
"No, I'm not cocky, but if you're a witch it's kind of hard to believe that you've never heard the story of how I survived a killing curse cast on me by Voldemort at the age of one."
One of the portraits on the wall went flying across the room suddenly, it's occupants holding onto whatever they could as they yelled for someone to help them. When it slammed into the wall and fell to the floor, Harry looked from where it had landed to Hermione and could almost feel the waves of magic coming off of her. Walking toward the portrait, Harry pointed his wand at it and said, "Repairo," watching as it put itself back together. When he picked it up, the three wizards that were in it starting complaining instantly about being abused in such a terrible way. Hermione watched as he put it back to it's rightful place on the wall and said, "It was an accident guys. Miss Granger is new to magic and didn't mean to hurt you in any way."
"Well then, why doesn't she tell us herself?" one of the indignant wizards asked. Harry rolled his eyes and opened his mouth to say something when a hand on his shoulder stopped him.
"I'm so sorry," Hermione said, sounding close to tears. "I do hope that none of you were hurt...or damaged, I guess it would be instead?"
Seeing the look of anguish on the young lady's face, the oldest of the three wizards in the painting replied, "It's quite alright dear. Besides, it's been a while since we've had anything that exciting happen to us."
When Harry turned and looked down at where her hand lay on his shoulder, she immediately pulled it off of him and turned away. Still staring down at where her hand had been, he realized that his skin felt as if it was tingling. Shrugging it off as his imagination, he turned to her and asked, "Want to tell me what that was about? You could endanger the other students if you lose control like that and the room is full."
Harry saw a tear escape from her left eye and travel slowly down her cheek. Looking toward him, but not directly at him, she replied, "It was you mentioning that evil bastard that had my parents killed and tried to have me killed as well. I'll try to keep myself in check while I'm around other students so that I don't hurt anyone."
"I hate to tell you, but he's talked about quite a bit around here, especially now with everything he and his followers have been doing. Not many witches or wizards say his name because of their fear of him, so they refer to him as "You-Know-Who". Just so you know who they're talking about when you hear it in conversation."
Looking defeated, she nodded and then made her way up the stairs, grabbing her trunk and bag from where he had levitated them onto the landing. Turning to find the one she was to stay in she whispered, "I almost wish he would have succeeded in killing me," thinking Harry couldn't hear her. But he had.
Thirty minutes later, when she realized that she had her first class in fifteen minutes, Hermione fixed her clothes and put on the robe that bore the Gryffindor crest. Walking down the stairs, she was surprised to see the common room was full of students getting ready for their first class of the day. There seemed to be all ages, one little girl looked to be eleven or twelve, but at that moment most of them seemed to be her age. Trying very hard to control her magic and feeling very nervous about meeting new people, something she wasn't good at, she looked around and spotted Harry talking to two redheads. Walking up to him she noticed one was a guy and the other a girl, and by the similarities in their facial features she guessed they were related, probably brother and sister.
"Ready for your first magical class?" Harry asked with an easy smile.
"I think so," she replied, still not meeting his eyes.
"Hi, I'm Ron Weasley," said the redheaded boy next to her with an easy smile.
"Hi. Hermione Granger," she replied, trying her best to smile back and feeling instantly at ease around him.
"Oy! Where're my manners?" Harry said. "Hermione, this is Ginny Weasley, Ron's sister."
"And Harry's girlfriend," Ginny added as she placed a possesive hand on Harry's shoulder and gave her a fake smile. As she looked at Ginny, Hermione could see that the light around Ginny was neither coloured nor black, but grey. The same way it was around Harry's scar. "What're you looking at me like that for?" Ginny asked defensively, narrowing her eyes at her.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I was just admiring your necklace," Hermione covered easily.
"Isn't it beautiful?" she replied, holding it out so that Hermione could see it better. It had two small hearts, one red and one gold, interlocked hanging from the chain and Ginny gleefully added, "Harry gave it to me."
"Last year for your birthday," Harry replied, earning himself a very nasty glare.
Clearing his throat, Ron said, "Well, time for Potions. Hermione, would you like to walk with Harry and I?"
"She has to anyway Ron," Harry replied before she could say anything. "I'm her designated tour guide today."
Hermione didn't miss the jealous look that crossed Ginny's face after Harry said this and wondered what the redhead's problem was. She hadn't done anything to warrant jealousy from Ginny, so why was she acting so possesive of Harry around someone she didn't even know if they were already a couple?
When they were in the corridor and Ginny turned to go in a different direction for her class, she moved to kiss Harry on the cheek and he deftly moved so that she missed completely. Looking as if she was desperately trying not to throw a tantrum, Ginny turned without a word and stormed off in the opposite direction they were going. Pretending not to notice, Hermione looked at Ron and asked, "So, is potions hard? Headmistress McGonagall said that while you're doing seventh year work I'll be starting at first year potions. She didn't want to put me in class with the eleven year olds."
Ron looked at her for a moment, the report in the Prophet coming to mind, and then he blurted out, "Wait a minute. Did you say your last name was Granger? Wasn't it your parents that were...Ow!" Ron messaged his side where Harry had just elbowed him, hard, to get him not to finish the question he had started to ask. Clearing his throat and recovering quickly he continued, "Right then. Well, I'm sure Slughorn will catch you up right quick." Casting a I'll-pay-you-back-later look at Harry, Ron went to take his seat as Harry sat and motioned for her to sit next to him. Taking the proffered seat, Hermione watched as people wearing robes like hers walked in, but some had green patches instead of maroon ones like hers.
"Harry," she whispered, getting his attention while she watched a boy with particularly white blonde hair harrass a girl with dark brown hair in front of him.
"Hmm?" Harry hummed while looking over something in his potions book.
"Why do some of the students have different patches on their robes?"
He looked at her then and followed her line of sight, narrowing his eyes in disgust as he saw she was looking at Draco Malfoy. She continued to watch Draco as Harry turned back to her and replied, "Hogwarts has four houses, that's why they put the sorting hat on you in McGonagall's office, to see which house you would be in. Besides Gryffindor there's Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and that smarmy git you're staring at is in Slytherin, where most of Voldemort's evil little followers come from."
When both of their potions texts went flying from the table Hermione dropped her face into her hands and muttered, "Not again."
Sighing, Harry got up and walked to the front of the room where their books had landed and bent to pick them up. When he stood up, he came face-to-face with Draco and had to do everything in his power not to pull out his wand and hex him into oblivion. Walking up to the two boys, Hermione took her book out of Harry's hands, diverting Draco's attention from Harry to her. "Well, well Potty, did Weasley finally smarten up and dump you? Leave it to you to take up with some ugly looking hag when you had Weasley, who was much easier to look at."
She could feel the anger between them and as they advanced toward each other she stepped inbetween them, dropping her book and placing a hand against each of their chests to stop them. What she felt at that moment was a mixture of heaven and hell, good and evil, pleasure and pain, and she collapsed as her body was overloaded by the intensity of it all. "What the hell was that?" Draco asked, backing away from her with his hand over the spot hers had just been, wearing an expression that could almost be described as fear.
Harry knelt down next to Hermione, immediately asking, "Are you okay?" To his surprise, when he grabbed her hand to help her up, he found her skin clammy and she was shaking badly. Just then, Professor Slughorn walked in and seeing Harry with the ill looking girl he asked, "What is this then?"
"It's the new student, Hermione Granger, sir. She seems very ill, I think I should take her to Madam Pomfrey right away," Harry stated, even though Hermione was shaking her head no. "She's just fainted dead-away."
"After all that she's been through, I can imagine she's not feeling the best," the professor replied. "Go ahead and take her to hospital, you can both come to see me after dinner tonight to make up the lesson."
Ignoring her protests and nasty looks, Harry gathered up their things and, taking Hermione gently by the arm, he led her out of the room with Draco's eyes following them the entire way. Remembering his father's letter about keeping an eye out for a new female student his age suddenly showing up at Hogwarts, he made a mental note to owl his father right after class.