After the death of Sirius Black and the incapacitation of Ron and Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom at the hands of Voldemort, Harry blames himself and begins to shut everyone out. The only relief that he can see comes in the form of a thousand mile trip around the world... and his best friend Hermione Granger.
From the Unofficial Portkey Archive: https://portkey-archive.org/story/7622/
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For By Chris Miller
Summary: After the death of Sirius Black and the incapacitation of Ron and Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom at the hands of Voldemort, Harry blames himself and begins to shut everyone out. The only relief that he can see comes in the form of a thousand mile trip around the world... and his best friend Hermione Granger. H/Hr (Later chapters)
A/N: Welcome one and all to my first dip into Harry Potter Fan fiction. First, right off the bat I would like to thank MissAnnThropic of Portkey.net and Fanfiction.net for all the inspiration in writing this through her own work, Vox Corporis. Ever since I read that masterpiece, I wanted to put my own touch on the world. So before I start, I would like to set it up a bit. This starts at the end of book 5. Everything before where I start is the book. There are no differences, so if you have any questions about set up, refer to the books. Also, yes, I listed this under a Hermione/Harry pairing, but that's not what the story is about. It's about being eternally devoted to one person and the strength of friendship. It is that well before a romantic relationship story. Yes, they will probably be together by the end, but that's not the focus nor will it happen for a while. Well, now I'd just like to say sit back an enjoy the story.
Disclaimer: I own nothing!
I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
By Paul David Hewson
"I have climbed highest mountains
I have run through the fields
Only to be with you
Only to be with you
I have run, I have crawled
I have scaled these city walls
These city walls
Only to be with you
But I still haven't found what I'm looking for."
***
Chapter 1: Vertigo
Harry was blinded by all the different colors of light flashing around him. Reds, blues, purples, and at the very worst greens. Those were the ones you wanted to stay away from, because if you were hit by one of those it would be the last color you saw in your life. "AVADA KEDAVRA!" screamed a powerful, scraggly voice in the darkness. Harry knew the voice to belong to Walden MacNair, due to his experience with Voldemort in the graveyard.
"GET DOWN AND SPLIT UP!" Harry yelled as he dived down, taking Ginny Weasley with him just as a purple orb flew over their heads. Harry's mind quickly raced to his other comrades. Neville, Luna and Ginny were more or less inexperienced when it came to battle and he constantly was worrying about Ron and Hermione. He has since their first day as a trio.
"Harry...?" Ginny asked for reassurance but he couldn't give it to her in this state. He just began running towards the door. The door he had seen in his dreams. The one that would tell him the fate of Sirius.
Against his strict orders, they all followed him towards his destination. They didn't undertake this quest to fight dark wizards or possibly stop Voldemort. They all did it out of strict loyalty towards Harry. During the year, he had taught them so much at the Dumbledore's Army meets and he gave them a place to go to escape "Toad face" Umbridge. That and Hermione probably would have hexed them all if they didn't help.
Hermione had been one of Harry's biggest allies in the past year. It was a breath of fresh air when the whole school seemed to be against him and Dumbledore. Her loyalty was a bit scary at times... Ron's too. One day he'd be able to thank them for all that they did for him, but he couldn't find the words now. Had it not been for Ron and Hermione being at his side for all these years, he'd have thrown in the towel last year when Voldemort returned. In fact, he was pretty sure he was pretty sure he could see Hermione's face when he was trapped to Tom Riddle Sr.'s grave.
Suddenly Harry felt a sharp pain and he ran right into something in the dark. "Valiant effort, Mr. Potter, but ultimately you came up short." Harry quickly recognized the evil voice to be that of Lucius Malfoy. "Now, if you will please... grab your prophecy." Before finishing, he pointed his wand at the ceiling, lighting all the oil lamps with an incendio spell. He them moved his wand to point at the shelf that contained Harry's prophecy.
"Why does Voldemort need it so much? Wasn't he done with me after the graveyard? Remember, Lucius? You were there." Harry sneered at the father of his arch-rival Draco. Lucius just glared at Harry with a look that would send most normal people to their knees. But Harry certainly wasn't a normal person. He was the boy who lived.
"I will not take your cheek, Boy. You are nothing more than a meddling child, while I am a powerful wizard. It is time someone put you in your place." Harry had been threatened by Lucius Malfoy more times than he could count, but for the first time he was actually scared of what was about to happen. "CRUCIO!"
"NO!" Hermione screamed in shock and terror as the blast from Lucius' wand hit Harry dead in the chest, knocking him to the floor.
"There's nothing you can do for him, Mudblood. REDUCTO!" Lucius threw up his want pointing it at Hermione as he shouted the incantation. The purple blast from the wand hit Hermione and sent her flying backwards into a shelf full of books making it collapse on her. Ron and Neville unsure of who to worry about more, ran towards the bookshelf to help Hermione. Luna and Ginny just stood still as the other Death Eaters approached.
"How does this make you feel, Potter? You've sent all you friend to their deaths. All to save your godfather who was never here in the first place. CRUCIO!" He continued the curse again, this time getting into it moving his wand around as if it were a sword and he were stabbing and cutting Harry.
"Leave some for the dark lord, Brother." Bellatrix Lestrange said in a very spacey voice. She reminded Harry of an evil Luna Lovegood
"You're Bellatrix Lestrange!" Neville shouted in a shock. As a reflex he pulled up his wand and pointed it at her. She returned the gesture and with a nonverbal spell, large cuts started to burst out all over him.
"As much as I'd love to finish my work, this isn't about you... or is it?" Bellatrix laughed in a deranged manner as she walked closer to Lucius.
Lucius continued the cruciatus curse and threw in a couple other random ones that caused Harry to burst out in large open wounds that were creating a small puddle of blood on the floor. "Ah, Potter. How does it feel to have the life that your mother treasured so dearly run out of you?" He ended the curse and raised his wand above his head. "Goodbye, Boy. It's been a fun few years. And may everyone remember this day as the day Lucius Malfoy killed the boy who lived!"
"Don't you ever shut up, Malfoy?" Lucius spun around and saw Sirius Black standing directly behind him. He was accompanied by Remus Lupin, Nymphadora Tonks, Mad-Eye Moody, Arthur, Bill, Fred and George Weasley, Severus Snape, Minerva McGonegal, Filius Flitwick, Kingsley Shacklebolt and Elphias Doge. "Oh and get away from my Godson. EXPELIARMUS!" Sirius shouted with vigor. A powerful white blast came out from the wand hitting Lucius dead in the chest, sending him hurling backwards.
From what Harry could see, which was more or less just wand fire, it was a triumphant battle. One for the history books if it ended well. He looked around from where he was lying and saw Hermione almost in worse shape than he was underneath a bookshelf.
"Mione?" Harry croaked in a dry, cracked voice. He held out his hand in her direction as if to touch her. With all the strength he had left in his body, he began inching towards her, just to make sure she was okay. "Hermione..." He reached out and grabbed her bloody hand with his.
"HARRY!" Sirius yelled in Harry and Hermione's direction. "Harry! Are you okay?" He rushed over towards him to check up on him. "Harry, I need you to keep down and stay out of the way. We'll get you out of here."
"Si..rus... I... sorr...y" Harry tried his best to get out, but the words couldn't leave his throat. "A... m... faul..." Harry's body was starting to grow cold and his grip loosened from Hermione's hand. She felt him slipping and suddenly she grasped harder.
"Harry... don't talk. It's okay, I understand. Severus explained it all to me. I don't blame you... even if I wanted to I couldn't. We're a family and we have to stick together." Sirius brushed Harry's hair out of his face and looked back towards the battle. "Now, I've got to head back, I'll send Ron and his sister back to help the four of you." Harry looked over and saw Neville and Luna lying on the floor bleeding. He didn't even remember them fighting in the first place and he began to hate himself more. "Stick in there, Harry."
"How sentimental." Harry's body completely froze with fear. He didn't need to look up to know that the voice belonged to. It belonged to the same person... no... thing that killed Cedric in the graveyard. "If it isn't Sirius Black. The man who spent 12 years impersonating a Death Eater. As if I'd associate with a blood traitor such as yourself. Insulting."
"At least I'm pure blood." Sirius said with a shimmer in his eye. "But, it's not like I was ever proud of people thinking I was a pawn to the most despicable man to ever walk this Earth." The years in Azkaban had hardened him to the point where he simply wasn't afraid of things like Voldemort anymore.
"Out of the way. Let me at the boy and his Mudblood friend. There's still hope for you, Black... You know not even my followers have the courage to talk to me like that... much less do it while looking me in the eye."
"No. I've spent too long trying to clear my name to become a traitor now. And I made a promise to James that I'd look after Harry. And that's not something I take lightly." Sirius gave Voldemort the look of death.
"If that's the way you want it..." Voldemort slowly took out his wand. "Avada Kedavra!" Sirius flew back and landed next to Harry, dead and unmoving. The twinkle was still left in his dark eye.
"SIRIUS!" Harry screamed out in desperation. Suddenly, his body didn't hurt so much any more. He dropped Hermione's hand and stood up to face Voldemort. "You bastard. Is this what you wanted? To make me feel completely alone? Well, You win. I am alone and I've got nothing to lose." Harry didn't care about anything anymore. Voldemort had single handedly taken away everything from him.
"No, Harry. You're not alone." Dumbledore walked out of the shadows behind Voldemort. "You were never alone." Dumbledore drew out his wand and pointed it at Voldemort's back. "You shouldn't have come here, Tom. You should have accepted the loss 15 years ago. Live out the rest of your days in quiet." Dumbledore looked at the former Tom Riddle with fury.
"I thought I got rid of you, old man." He tried to sound tough, but Harry could detect a quiver in his voice.
Harry quickly tried to think of something to do. The anger was swelling in him, but his wounds were starting to catch up with him again. He looked down and he saw that he was bleeding again. There was an odd blackness to his blood and he felt it flow out of him with each beat of his heart. Now he wished that Lucius did AVADA Kedavra him. It certainly would have been a hell of a lot faster than this. His body was starting to get cold... so cold.
"Today, I will oblige you, Old man. But, tomorrow, I will not be as I nice." He looked at Harry who was doing his best to stand up. "CRUCIO!" He shot Harry in the stomach and he doubled over. Before Dumbledore could retaliate, Voldemort disappeared in a mist taking all of the Death Eaters with him.
"Remus! Alastor! Kingsley! Severus! Somebody help!" Dumbledore yelled as he ran over towards Harry's side. There was a sense of desperation in his voice that Harry had never heard before. Harry knew his death was close and he began to accept it. He would be with his parents and Sirius again... but he would be away from other people that he did truly love...
"Mione..." Harry whispered before he went completely cold.
A/N: Not my favorite chapter, but I think that this is one that I really had to write. I couldn't have started mid action with next chapter. It wouldn't have made as much sense. Well, I hope this wasn't a complete travesty of literature and you stick around for next chapter where things really get warmed up.
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Chapter 2: With or Without You
Hermione Granger knew something was off. The decorations in the Great Hall for the end of the year feast were odd and out of place They weren't the standard house decoractions. Something was somber and disjointed about the decor. Flowers, vails, elaborate banners with Gryffindor emblems on it. She looked around and saw Mr. and Mrs. Weasley sobbing in eachothers arms. Remus Lupin was in the corner with tears streaming down his face and Albus Dumbledore had a grimmer look on than she had ever seen him with. "A funeral... but whose?"
"My fellow witches and wizards, we are gathered here today to bid fairwell to Harry Potter." Dumbledore's voice quivered a bit and he held back a sob before continuing. Hermione couldn't believe what she was seeing. Harry couldn't be dead. He meant way too much to her. This had to be a dream.
"Wake up, Hermione. Wake up!" She pleaded to herself, but there was no change in the scene. Without thinking, she quickly got up and started running towards the door where she was stopped by Ron and Ginny.
"Are you mad, 'Mione?" Ron asked in an almost hurt tone.
"Get out of my way and don't call me 'Mione." She growled at him and pushed him aside with all the strength she had left in her.
"Hermione, we owe it to Harry that we at least attend his funeral. He's done so much for us, can't we just do this little thing, no matter how much it hurts us?" Ginny pleaded with her with tears in her eyes. Ginny had been in love with Harry since she first met him at King's Cross when she was only ten. She was broken up over this, that was obvious, but she hadn't been through what Hermione had with Harry.
"You won't get out of my way... I'll get you out of my way! AVADA KEDAVRA!" The curse hit Ginny in the forehead and Hermione watched the light leave her eyes. Just then the scene changed and she sprung up in a bed in the Hospital Wing. She found herself sweating in large amounts and her heart was beating well above normal.
"It was all a dream?" She asked herself as she wiped her forehead of the sweat.
"It was a testiment..." explained a voice in the darkness that made her jump and grab her wand. It took her a second to recognize the voice to be that of Dumbledore. "A testiment to what you'd do for Harry." He walked over to her bed and sat down in a chair next to it. Hermione was frightened at the images that she had just seen in her head, but for some reason Dumbledore's presence made her feel at ease.
"What do you mean, Professor? I just killed Ginny and I think I was ready to take out Ron too. I don't think it would be a testiment to anything good..." Hermione bowed her head at the thought of killing Ginny.
"Quite the contrary, Miss Granger. It was a testiment of how much you would do for Harry. Now, that's not saying you would kill Mister or Miss Weasley, but you have an odd devotion for Harry that I don't think anyone else has." Has! That means he's not dead, right? Maybe she was reading too much into his use of syntax, but it was enough to give her peace of mind at the moment.
"Wait! You could see my dream?" Hermione was a bit shocked that Dumbledore would wander into her mind like that while she were sleeping. She could have done some worse things than kill Ginny Weasley.
"My dear, Miss Granger. You don't need to be skilled in legilimency to figure out what 'no not Harry!' and 'Avada Kedavra' mean. Now, that's not the point... because of your strange devotion to Harry, I need you to do me a favor." Dumbledore took a small paper cup from her bedside table and filled it with water from his wand and took a sip.
"Anything, Professor." Hermione stretched in bed and sat up a bit to further hear what he wanted her to do.
"I had a feeling you'd say that." He winked at her and stood up to pace the area around her bed, conscious not to wake up Ron, Ginny, Neville, or Luna. "I'm not sure if you are aware or not, but Sirius Black was killed by Voldemort tonight. Right in front of Harry." Hermione's shocked gasp indicated to him that she wasn't conscious through the ordeal, god bless her.
"Professor Dumbledore, that's horrible. How is Harry taking it?" She knew he must have been a mess, but she was just looking for an idication that he was alive, but she didn't want to out right say it in danger of looking like a fool.
"He's taking it quite well considering Voldemort killed the last of his family. The second he gathered his thoughts after he woke up, he went running. No magic in the world could stop him, not that I'd want to. He needs his time." Dumbledore looked solemn as he patted his long silver beard. "I was wondering if you would go to him in the Astronomy Tower. We may have a special bond... more than teacher and student, but I feel he needs more than what I can give him."
Hermione's blood surged up to her face. Had he seen her strong feelings for Harry? Was she that transparent or was he just clever? Or maybe she was crazy and making it up completely. She looked around and saw that she was the only one awake. They all looked to be in awful shape, where she only had a few cuts and bruises. Though, she did have a book shelf fall on her. "Of... of course I will, Professor." She stammered as she got out of bed and saw she was still in her bloody robes. "Wait... what will Madam Pomphry say?"
"She knows as well as the rest of us that Harry needs to make an emotional recovery before he can make a physical one. And she knows you'd probably whip your wand out on us if we stopped you from helping him." Dumbledore winked at her again. He began to walk out of the infirmary, but he quickly turned around and reached into his pocket. "I almost forgot. This might be able to help you." He pulled a bag out of his pocket and handed it to Hermione.
She opened it and inside it was Harry's Invisibility cloak, two small toy trunks, and a letter addressed to Harry and Hermione. "What is all this?" She asked in a confused tone.
"You're not supposed to understand yet, but you will soon... except for Harry's cloak. A simple okay from me wouldn't allow you in at this time of night. The cloak is the safest means of travel." Hermione nodded and walked out of the hospital wing. Hogwarts could be downright scary at night, she knew this well enough after all the years exploring the castle with Harry and Ron, fighting off random dark wizards and creatures. In a way it didn't phase her any more, but then again Voldemort was back for real. The shadows looked a little bit larger and darker.
Hermione reached the Astronomy Tower in about 10 minutes and it took her a while to enter completely. She was scared of Harry and what he would do when she tried to console him. He was alwasy so proud and serious and didn't always let people in. Especially this past year. Voldemort had taken control of his mind and ate him until he cared about nothing. She couldn't help but think that the death of Sirius would only drive him further away from his friends.
"H...Harry?" Hermione whimpered. She wasn't entirely sure of how to approach him now.
"Go away, Hermione... I want to be alone." Those words were as dehabilitation as a punch in the stomach. That was the straw that broke her back and she began to shed tears for the first time all night. Dispite her desires to just go away and die, she continued on into the room where she spotted him sitting on one of the archways looking outside.
"No, Harry. I'm staying right here. What happened was horrible and I won't let you shut me out this time." Hermione walked up to him and put her hand on his shoulder. He quickly gasped and pulled away. The cruciatus curse's effects were still deeply embedded in his body. He had never seen Harry this broken before. The deep cuts and bruises still hadn't come close to healing and he was still in pain, so very much in pain.
"Soon you won't need to worry about me anymore..." Hermione saw a tear go down his face. She knew that he was trying so hard to be strong, but he just couldn't anymore. He was breaking down. "I'm leaving the school in about an hour. Voldemort has killed everyone that's been close to me. I have nothing anymore."
"That's not true, Harry. You still have Ron, Luna, Ginny, Neville, Dumbledore, Hagrid... and you have me," She exclaimed gaining her Godic-esque courage. She moved in and sat next to him on the ledge.
"You know what I mean, Hermione. He killed my grandparents, my parents and now my godfather. I have no more family left. He took them away from me. HE TOOK THEM AWAY FROM ME!" Harry's tone moved from saddened to full on rage. "He took away everything I have and now I'm alone." Hermione inched closer to him and put her arm around him. "Hermione..."
"No, Harry. I'm not letting you leave without me. You're not alone and you need to see that." Hermione pleaded with him. Harry pushed her off and pulled out his wand. She got off the ledge and stepped back.
"One full body bind is all it takes. Look, I'm not doing this to be mean, I'm just doing what I need to to give myself peace of mind." Harry really sounded desperite at this point as he pointed his wand at Hermione.
"Are you that far gone that you really want to try your hand at dueling me?" Hermione scoffed at him. She wasn't arrogant about many things, but she was sure she could hold off Harry in this state.
"Stu..."
"EXPELIARMUS!" She yelled before he could finish his half-hearted spell and his wand flew off into the darkness. She ran towards him and locked him in a vice like hug again.
"Hermione... I can't believe he's gone. He was my source of strength. When I had nothing else I looked to my life living with him, but now that will never happen, because Voldemort took him away from me! Oh God...." Harry burried his face into Hermione's bushy hair. Hermione didn't know how long they were there, but it felt like hours. She just let him cry. It's what he needed most.
"It's all my fault... Hermione... Neville, Ginny, Luna and Ron are all still in the hospital wing and they don't look like they'll recover anytime soon. I'm cursed." Harry lamented as he wiped his green eyes.
"Look, Harry. Like it or not, I'm going with you. I promised Dumbledore I would help you and from the looks of it going with you is what I'm going to have to do." Hermione explained matter of factly. "ACCIO WAND!" she yelled and Harry's wand flew into her hand. She placed it in the bag that Dumbledore gave her and helped Harry to his feet. "So what do you say?"
"Well, I know I can't do this with or without you... but it'll be easier with you." Harry bowed his head and looked defeted. Hermione simply smied and threw the Invisibility cloak over the both of them. She grabbed his hand and began to guide him towards the exit of the school. Scared didn't begin to describe how she felt, but if Harry was going with her, she didn't care anymore.
A/N: Sorry it's a bit short. The next chapter should be a bit longer, because there's not as much of a natural break. Both of these past two chapters ended very naturally, but the next one probably won't. Also, within the next few chapters, you'll get a better idea of who Harry and Hermione are. When they leave the crisis situation, you'll see their real interactions. Believe me, they won't be constantly dueling each other. Well, I hope you enjoy.
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Chapter 3: Running to Stand Still
A/N: Well, I can't find how to respond to reviews, but I would like to explain to Skyraider that this fic is above all about despiration (and of course, friendship). I know it was pretty extreme to have Hermione off Ginny, but it shows her strong feelings towards Harry above all others. Also, the biggest thing that I can't stress enough is that it was a dream. Yes, in literature, dreams tend to be more realistic towards the character's personality, but I was going for the realistic dream. There are tons of things that I do in dreams that I would never do in real life. By showing you the dream, I'm not saying that Hermione would kill Ginny for Harry, but it is an extremity for her true intentions. Now, if that made sense, I'm quite proud of myself. I would, like to just get right into the story, so here it is:
The darkness seemed to stretch forever and the daylight seemed to be so far off in Hermione's mind. She and Harry had just ran away from Hogwarts, the one place that she felt like she truly belonged. She wasn't exactly sure what to make of this, but as long as she was with Harry, she could stay strong. She had to for his sake.
The invisibility cloak was a bit smaller than she last remembered it being. She doesn't even remember the last time they were in it together, but they had obviously grown a bit, since they had to really squeeze together so nothing was left showing.
Their trip across the Hogwarts grounds was done in silence. Neither of them wanted to risk a shouting match or wands being drawn. Luckily, Hermione had taken Harry's wand and hadn't given it back yet. "Hey, Hermione. Do you think I could have my wand back? It's getting kind of dark." Despite her better judgment, she took hers out of the brown leather, so it wouldn't work as well in case he decided to duel her again) and handed it to him up front. "Lumos," He whispered and a small light sparked at the tip.
"Harry... I'm sorry for everything. I shouldn't have forced myself on you. I just worry about you... Dumbledore does too. We didn't want you to do anything that you'll regret later," Hermione said with regret. Deep down she really didn't mean it, but she didn't want Harry to think she was the same old bossy, overbearing Hermione that he met back in first year.
"It's okay... I should probably thank you. If you weren't with me, I don't know what I'd be doing. I'd probably be out searching for Voldemort right now rather than just running away." Harry explained to her. He had calmed down a bit, but he was still quite a bit angry at everything. He wouldn't tell her, but she was greatly helping with that. For some reason, she made him feel better. That's why he went to her when everything was going to hell back at the Ministry. That's why her name was the last he said before he went out cold.
"Please, you don't have to thank me... This is just as much to make me feel better than to look out for you." She laughed a bit. It felt good to laugh again. After that heavy handed conversation that they had in the Astronomy Tower, she was scared that it would take days for the mood to be light again. And to her benefit, she caught him snickering too.
"There's one place I want to stop before we set off... I think Hagrid deserves to know that we're okay..." Harry told Hermione as the walked passed Hagrid's hut. Hermione didn't say anything, but he got her answer when she started to walk towards the hut. When they arrived at the doorstep, they knocked and took off the cloak.
"'ARRY! 'ERMIONE!" He yelled with excitement as he ran up and hugged them. Without another word, he pulled them inside. "s'been two days since you 'er 'urt. I was 'ginnin' t' 'orry." He pulled them in for another hug. Now, what o' Ron and the rest?"
"We don't know, Hagrid." Harry's heart sunk again. He was genuinely worried about Ron, Neville, Luna and Ginny. They never should have been dragged into his plan to save Sirius that ultimately failed anyway.
"You know I wudda come, but that cow Umbridge chased me 'way from the school. Din know wha' happened 'till I got back." Hagrid stated matter of factly. Harry looked up at Hagrid and saw such regret and sadness that he hadn't seen since he had to send Norbert to Romania. Until this point, Harry never realized how much he meant to Hagrid. I mean, Hagrid was always somewhat of a father figure to him since they first met back in July of 1991.
Harry and Hagrid talked about the Battle in the Department of Mysteries and Hagrid's escape as Hermione simply sat by the fire and sipped the tea that the gentle giant had made them. She wasn't entirely sure on why she did what she did. Was it because Dumbledore told her to protect Harry or was it something more? She glanced over at him quickly and quickly glanced back when she caught him doing the same.
"Calm down, Hermione..." She whispered to herself. "It's just Harry... right?"
"Did you call me?" Harry asked as he looked back towards Hermione's direction. Hermione suspiciously didn't answer and continued to drink her tea. "Well, anyways, we better be going. We have a lot of ground to cover before... I don't know... Goodbye, Hagrid." At that, Hagrid grabbed him and pulled him into another rib crushing hug.
"Ya need anything... jus' sen' an owl... Oh 'Arry!" Hagrid sobbed onto Harry's shoulder. When Hagrid let go of him, he turned away and walked out the door without another word. Without thinking, Hermione gave Hagrid a quick hug and ran out the door after Harry. When she got outside of the hut, she saw that Harry had gone into a sprint towards the Forbidden Forest.
Hermione took Harry's wand out of the leather bag. "Accelero" She whispered as she pointed the wand directly at her feet and began running after him. It wasn't working as well for her as it would have with hers. Suddenly, Harry stopped at the edge of the forest and fell to his knees. Hermione reached the point that he was and knelt down beside him. "Harry... Are you okay?" She meekly asked.
"No! No, I'm not Hermione. I have to get away from the people I love because all I do is cause them pain. That's why I didn't want you to come. It's not that I didn't want you to... I'm the ultimate burden..." Harry began to cry. She quickly put her arms around him in an act to comfort him.
"Harry, it's okay. You can't let yourself feel this way. Sirius knew exactly what he was doing when he went after you. He didn't do it for any other reason than that he loved you." It killed Hermione to see her best friend like this. Her best friend.... In years past, she would have put Harry, Ron and even Ginny on equal footing, but since Ron's little charade at the Yule Ball and Ginny's new found popularity, she found herself getting closer to Harry. It seemed completely natural to her. He was always so nice to her and lonely like herself. She never had many friends until she came to Hogwarts and in a way, she felt as if Harry was a lot like her.
"Yeah, he did it because he loved me... Look, I can't get close to a person without hurting them in some way. I'm suprised you and Ron have survived this long and Hagrid... It's not just the people who've died around me... it's everyone who loses sleep over me." Harry stood up and began walking into the forest. "Leave, Hermione. I can't bare to think that I'm causing you harm."
"Harry... I'm awfully sorry about this, but... QUIESCO" She shouted with a bit of regret in her voice. The blast hit Harry and he fell to the ground, dead asleep. "Now... to set up camp."
***
A few hours later, Harry awoke with a start. He was on a couch with a fire directly in front of him, but he couldn't exactly place where he was. The Gryffindor common room, he thought, but that thought quickly passed as he didn't see the standard red and gold decor that was linked with the house of Godric. Harry suddenly felt a sharp pain on his scar and he remembered what woke him up. A nightmare of Voldemort killing Sirius... then sadly he remembered that it wasn't a nightmare... it was a flashback.
The dark of night was the one place where he never felt safe. It was the one time of day that Voldemort seemed to have free reign and that he could come and pluck Harry out of his bed and kill him right there. Just like he did to his parents. Harry sat up on the couch and began to look around the room to scout out the area until he saw Hermione sitting at what looked like a kitchen table reading a book. At the sight of her, he suddenly calmed down.
He walked over to her with out her noticing due to the fact that she was obviously lost in her reading. As he got closer he noticed that she had headphones on and a CD player next to her. He put his hand on her shoulders and she jumped high out of the chair she was sitting in with her wand drawn.
"Harry!" She shrieked as her senses cooled and she remembered that she was with him. "Oh my God, Harry. I completely forgot about you, I was just reading this book that Dumbledore sent along with us, he gave us two trunks, one of our clothes and possesions and one with surrvival tools and books and stuff, he also send a letter, but I didn't read it, I wanted to wait for you, he also gave us this tent, I put it up while you were out... oh my God, I'm a horrible care-giver, a death eater..." Harry put his hand over Hermione's mouth to stop her from turning blue. He soon removed it once he felt as if she had finished. "Harry, I'm so sorry."
Harry simply nodded and walked to the otherside of the tent to find where his clothes were being kept. He found them at the back of the tent near the bed chambers and began to take off his bloody, tattered school robes that he fought at the Ministry in. Hermione turned away to give him privacy, but Harry didn't care one way or the other. At this point, he was beyond modesty. Three nights ago, Voldemort turned his complete world upside down and he was having trouble caring about anything at the current point in time. He simply wanted it all to go away, so he wouldn't have to deal with it anymore, but there was no way he could do that. Everytime he looked at Hermione, he was reminded of what she looked like when she was underneath the bookshelf of prophecies and how Sirius was killed right next to her.
His original intention when leaving the school was to protect his friends and mentors. Everywhere he went, he brought pain and anguish to the people there. He knew that his fate called for him to die at some point, the prophesy even said so, but for the sake of the people he loved, he wanted it to be quick and painless away in some forest somewhere, not at Hogwarts where others could die too. That was all ruined when Hermione caught him in the act and she volunteered herself to go along with him. Normally he would be mad, but for some reason that he couldn't even come close to comprehending, he felt etternally greatful.
"Harry? Would you go completely spare if I asked you how you were again?" Hermione asked meekly from her spot, standing in front of the table.
"Not at all, Hermione. And to tell you the truth, I probably couldn't be much worse, but it relieves me greatly that you're here with me." Harry stated matter of factly, from right behind her. She jolted again after realizing that he wasn't across the room anymore. She responded to his statement by jumping at him and putting her arms around his neck in a vice like hug. He felt a strong feel of strong pleasure, almost euphoria that accompanied her touch. This wasn't the first time he felt it though... he felt it everytime, since second year. For the life of him, he couldn't figure out why.
Hemione let go of his neck, but grabbed his hand imediately afterwards to guide him to a chair at the table where she was originally sitting. "Would you like a spot of tea? I was about to make some." She asked again, meekly to break the silence that was cutting at her with a knife.
"No... No, I'm fine, thank you." Harry sat at the table and looked over at the open book. At the top of the left page, it read, Black Hole Sun: 13 Signs of the Apocalypse, and on the right page it had the author listed as Salazar Slytherin. He decided it was best not to question the book and the author and went right into his next question. "So, you said something about a letter from Dumbledore?"
"Oh yes... I suppose we should read it now... lord only knows what kind of important information he left us." She reached across the table and grabbed the envelope that was adressed to Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. Wordlessly, she opened up the letter, pulled it out and began to read:
Dear Harry and Hermione,
I fully regret that it had to happen this way, but I suppose everything does happen for a reason. No doubt you two are crawling around the Forbiddon Forest trying to find a way out of the castle wizarding territory to escape reality. Not that I can blame you. As a young man, I traveled all around the world after the death of my mother to more or less escape the fact that she died. Now, Harry, I would like you to know that I did some things this year that I am not entirely pround of and I would greatly like to talk about them with you when we meet again.
Your choice to leave the comforts of the school behind you to protect your classmates is indeed a very couragous one. It is quite brave to face times of trouble alone, but it takes an even braver man to face them with their friends. That is why I pointed Hermione in your direction. I hope that you will forgive me one day, but I need you to know that this was for the best. Now Hermione, I need you to keep Harry on the straight and narrow for me. If you do encounter Death Eaters or even Voldemort himself, I need you to make sure he does not do anything that he will in turn regret.
Also, I have thought of a way for you two to do magic outside the Hogwarts grounds and possibly evade Death Eaters too. I will not get into it here since I am not exactly fully convinced on the morallity of it all, but trust me in that it should be quite effective for the time being. It cannot be perminant for obvious reasons, but it should do the job until you both are out of harms way. I have also set up possible safe houses with Remus Lupin and Hermione's parents. So, which ever you choose to reside in for the summer will be secured.
One last thing. I have no idea how long you plan on being away, but recently, the headmaster of Salem Institute for Witchcraft and Wizardry in the United States has cut off all ties with the United Kingdom in light of Voldemort returning. One of our biggest allies in the first war were the Americans, so I fear losing them will make us suffer greatly. If you would, I think that a meeting with the Harry Potter would be enough to sway him. I will make means of travel possible depending on where you choose to end up. I will greatly appreaciate your aid.
Now, I hope to see both of you back sooner than later, but do try to be safe while you are away.
Forever yours,
Albus Percival Wolfric Brian Dumbledore
"No," was the first word that came out of Harry's mouth when Hermione finished reading the letter. "I'm done with the wizarding world. Dumbledore will have to find another way to bring in the bloody Americans. I can tell you that it won't be Harry Potter. Now, if you don't mind I'm going to bed." Harry ranted and he got up from the table and walked towards the bed chambers. Hermione was left in a daze, reading and re-reading the letter until sunrise.
A/N: That's to all who have read and reviewed, though I was hoping for a few more. I came to Portkey, because I felt I could reach a lot more Harry Potter fans than at Fanfiction.net. This story is kind of a love letter to my childhood, since most of my life has been taken up by Harry Potter, so I really desire to learn what people think of my work. Well, I hope you enjoy this segment of the story and stay tuned for the fourth installment which should be out tonight or tomorrow.
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Chapter 4: Shadows and Tall Trees
A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! I hope to get a lot more with the coming chapters.
***
"I've killed Harry Potter." Dumbledore solemnly stated to the shock and surprise of his colleagues. Minerva McGonegal, Severus Snape, Rubeus Hagrid, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Nymphadora Tonks, Remus Lupin and Mad Eye Moody were gathered in Dumbledore's office as none of them had left since the attack at the Ministry. "Not literally, of course, but I need to make it seem like he passed away due to his injuries sustained in the Department of Mysteries."
The entire room was still shocked at Dumbledore's original statement. Professor McGonegal, Hagrid, and Tonks just stood there with their mouths agape, Snape brooded in the corner with a look half angry and half 'he had it coming,' Moody and Shacklebolt seemed to be more worried about Voldemort's advancements than the boy, and Lupin appeared to be angry beyond all belief.
"Explain yourself, Albus!" Remus stood up from his seat in front of Dumbledore and pointed his finger directly in the old wizard's face. "I've always known you were a bit foolish when it came to Harry, but no longer will it go unexplained."
"I plan on explaining myself, Remus... now if you will please calm down." Dumbledore remained calm through the accusations that Lupin was throwing his way. He was never one to get angry and lose his cool, but he also agreed a bit with Lupin.
"No, Dumbledore. With James and Sirius dead, he is under my direct care. You know the will, you helped James activate it." Remus shot at him with growing vigor. Dumbledore simply sat there. He knew well enough not to mess with the temper of a werewolf.
When Dumbledore didn't react much to his threats and anger, Lupin sat down again in his chair next to Tonks. Though he was calming down, his breathing rate was still elevated, as was his heartbeat. For the time being, Lupin began to look less old and shabby and more like a concerned parent.
"Now, I want you to know that I did this to protect Harry. I knew that after Sirius' death, he would need to get away and it would be a very dangerous thing if he were running around England with Death Eaters and Voldemort himself looking for him." Dumbledore paused a second for everyone in the room to grasp the severity of a 15 year old boy alone in the wilderness with the most powerful dark wizard of all time still at large.
"I used a duplication charm and then killed the duplicate... I did the same to Miss Granger who was quite intent on following him." His explication didn't comfort anyone in the room and he could tell by the disgusted looks they were giving him. "It's not like I enjoyed it. It truly pained me to give the Avada Kedavra to two of my favorite pupils, but it needed to be done. This allows them to underage magic undetected as well as hide from Voldemort's radar, to use a Muggle term."
"Is this ethical...?" Professor McGonegal asked in a shocked, yet still authoritative voice.
"Oh not at all, but the ends will in fact justify the means. You will all see in due time... now if you'll excuse me, I think it's time I inform Mr. and Miss Weasley. They will of course want to know. Oh and remember, there are eight people in this room. Only eight people will know about this... well, technically ten... and Hermione's parents will soon find out. But, do not discuss this with anyone." All the people in Dumbledore's office got up to leave and do their jobs as teachers at Hogwarts and inform the students about the "tradgety."
After the teachers left, the only people left in there were Tonks, Moody, Lupin, Shacklebolt and of course Dumbledore. All of them looked a bit apprehensive about the headmaster's plan. "And what if this fails, Albus and he ends up dead in some graveyard somewhere?" Lupin squirmed in his seat a bit at the thought of Harry dying.
Albus looked gloomily at the Sorting Hat on his desk. "I have thought about that and I strongly wish to prevent it. I want the four of you to look out for him. By what ever means you can... especially you, Lupin." Without another word, Dumbledore got up from his desk and began walking towards the hospital wing.
***
The three days that Harry and Hermione had spent in the tent have been uneventful, but very tense at the same time. Harry had been very moody, well moody even for Harry and Hermione could only make idle small talk before touching a subject that made Harry passive aggressive and hard to live with. Those subjects mostly involved Sirius, Dumbledore, or anything magic in general.
After their first night where Hermione had to put Harry to sleep, they only settled about a quarter way into the forest, but after that they moved to the shores of the Black Lake at the center of the forest (not to be confused with the Black Lake outside of the Forbidden Forest). It was a very picturesque setting which was odd in the dark forest. It seemed to be the only area in there that wasn't consumed by darkness and black magic.
"Harry, I think we should think about leaving the forest soon. The lake might look nice, but the evil the lurks in the forest isn't exactly welcoming." Hermione stated as she read '50,000 Deadly Beasts in Hogwarts's Forbidden Forest.' Her brow wrinkled as she did a double take on an article about flesh eating bugs.
"We have no where to go. I'm not going back to that damned school. Hermione, our protective spells are doing a good job, why mess with what's been working for us." Harry scoffed from across the table as he ate one of the muffins that Dumbledore sent along with them.
"My parents live in Amblside on Lake Windermere. It's not all that far from here. I'm sure my parents would be more than happy to have us." Hermione said hopefully. As nice as the wizard's tent was, she would be more than content staying at home for the summer.
"You know... As much as my mind is telling me no, I still think that you're right. We can't stay here for the rest of our lives." Harry stood up and reached for his wand. "But, that being said, I don't want to impose on your parents." Hermione couldn't help but snicker a bit at Harry's last statement.
"Believe me, Mum and Dad would much rather have us at home than running around the forest. Here... I suppose I could sneak into Hogwarts, grab Hedwig and send a post to them asking if it would be okay." Hermione offered the idea to Harry. She knew how important it was for him to escape the wizarding world for a while and there really wasn't a better way to do it then spend time with Muggles... that weren't his aunt and uncle.
Harry's mind shifted to Hogwarts, a place that his mind hadn't gone to since they got the letter from Dumbledore. He began to think about Ron, Ginny, Neville and Luna and wondered if they had awaken from the battle. It had been almost a week since and he knew that if they had not awaken, they probably wouldn't ever. A great swell of guilt began to form in Harry's stomach. Was he being selfish for running off instead of staying by his friends. He wasn't the only person to lose someone to Voldemort. Almost everyone involved in the wizarding world had. Mrs. Weasley lost both of her brothers, Neville figuratively lost his parents to the effects of the Cruciatus curse and Amos Diggory lost his son last year. Maybe he belonged back at Hogwarts where he could be with people who he shared a commonality with. But did he really want to share that commonality? Death isn't exactly something you create bonds with... unless you're Voldemort.
"Harry?" Hermione asked as she noted that Harry was completely lost in thought. "Harry? Are you okay?"
Harry shook his head in an act to become focused again. "Yeah, I'm fine. I was just thinking and I agree, I think you should send a letter to your parents. I know there's no getting rid of you..."
"You got that right."
Harry continued as if she didn't say anything. "...And I don't want to take you away from your family too. Plus, I want to finally meet that little brother of yours." Harry winked at her as she cringed. She and her brother didn't exactly get along all that well, but that was to be expected.
"Harry, you know all year I lie to myself by pretending that I'm the only daughter of Jake and Miranda Granger only to be sourly reminded of his existence every summer. You just ruined it." Hermione whined in jest. She began to think about her family back in Amblside and realized how much easier watching over Harry would be if she was with her parents. Without another word, Hermione grabbed Harry's invisibility cloak and she heard Harry whisper be careful to her as she exited the tent.
Harry sat back down on the couch and began to think of what he needed to pack in preparation for the short journey to Amblside. He knew they probably should do it all in one trip and leave the tent. 'Would that attract Death Eaters? Have them find our path,' He thought to himself. 'Better take the tent.' Before Harry could think much more, Hermione reentered the tent with an oddly shocked and frightened look on her face.
"Back so soon? Did you send the letter?" Harry raised his eyebrow as she walked closer to him without her odd look changing.
"Too many people outside. Couldn't get in." She walked up right to where Harry was sitting and came in for a big hug. Mulciber, Avery, Dolohov... outside... they saw me." She whispered into ear so quietly he could barely hear.
All the blood in his body rushed to his head. His mind began to race and his first reaction was to grab his wand and stand up. "Hermione... I think we can take Mulciber and Avery, but Dolohov is Voldemort's strongest. Bellatrix and Voldemort may have gotten to most of us, but Dolohov took out Ron, Ginny and Luna at the same time and he's the reason we didn't get out before the other two arrived." Harry ran over to the trunks and pulled out some smokescreen potions. "Are you ready?"
Hermione was completely in a daze. She was looking over the Hogwarts grounds when she saw a funeral persession and then suddenly she felt three wands dig into her back. Hoping that it was Ron, Ginny and Neville, she turned around and saw the three Death Eaters staring her down. She shyly shook her head and pulled her wand out of her back pocket. They both moved towards the exit and raised their wands as if ready to attack.
"One... Two... Three..."
"REDUCTO!" They both yelled in unison as they jumped out of the hidden tent. Both of their hexes hit Mulciber, sending him right through a large red oak tree. The other two Death Eaters weren't expecting the young wizards to come out fighting. Voldemort had told them that, the boy would be so broken up from the Death of his Godfather that he would almost go willingly.
"Hermione, you take Avery, I've got Dolohov." Harry yelled as he through a silent spell in Mulciber's direction, just to make sure that he stayed dead or close to it.
"I see our reputations proceed us. I guess they still do teach greatness at that dirty school," Dolohov sneered at Harry as he simply dodged everything that was thrown at him.
"It has nothing to to with your greatness. Even the worst students would remember the names of such despicable, poor excuses for wizards." Harry said with extreme hate. Had it not been for Dolohov, Ginny and the others probably would be still be okay and he wouldn't be worrying like he is. Just then, he heard a small scream from behind him. "PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" Harry bellowed without thinking. The curse hit Dolohov before he could counter it and he froze before he fell over petrified. Harry spun around to see Avery with Hermione in a head lock with his wand at her throat standing in front of the Black Lake.
"Make a move and I kill her." Avery yelled as he dug his wand deeper into Hermione's throat. Avery was a tall, lanky fellow with pale skin and short black hair. He didn't look all that different from Snape, except Avery seemed to know what shampoo was. "The Dark lord only wished you... so no need for her. Avada..."
"AVADA KEDAVRA!" Harry shouted louder than he ever has for a single spell before in his life. The green energy beam came rocketing out of the wand at excessive speeds and hit Avery directly in the middle of his head. The force of the blast was extremely strong so when it hit Avery, it knocked both he and Hermione into the lake full of dark water creatures. "Dammit." Without thinking further, he threw off his overrobe and jumped into the lake to save Hermione.
The second he hit the water, he knew that this whole experience had been a mistake. The water was inherently murky and he felt slimy just from jumping in. He pointed his wand at his eyes and shot a non-verbal fish-eye charm at them. With his new ability he began to look around and saw lots of deadly looking fish swimming around as well as a giant squid. Something told Harry he wasn't as pleasant as the one in Hogwarts' other lake. He looked around more and saw Hermione sinking along with Avery. With all the strength he had left in his body he swam towards her and grabbed her hand. He pulled her to him and began to kick up towards the surface. Harry began to lose consciousness, but continued pushing upwards the tent. As he reached the surface, he began to swim to shore and pull Hermione's body out of the lake. "Hermione... Hermione, please don't be dead." He leaned in towards her face to check her breathing and a pulse, but for some reason, he couldn't find either.
"Oh, God." He put his mouth to hers and gave her two breaths. "Come on, Hermione." He put both his hands on her chest and began to push down to restart her heart. There probably were several charms that he could have done, but hell if he learned them. At this point, he probably couldn't even perform an Expeliarmus. Suddenly, Hermione gasped in a huge breath and then began coughing. "Hermione! You're alive!" He went in and pulled her into a huge vice like hug that normally only she gave. "Come on, let's get you inside."
The night wore on and they just sat on the couch in front of the fire, under a single blanket to dry off and keep warm. Most of it went on wordlessly as they were both scared of what the conversation would inevitably turn to. When they did finally speak, Hermione was the first to initiate it. "Harry... what did you do back there?" She asked almost as if all the shock of what he did came back at that very moment.
Harry hesitated as if he wasn't sure what she was asking, but he knew full well. "What I had to, Hermione. He was going to kill you and he had already started the incantation. I couldn't think of anything else that would stop him from going through with it. And to tell you the truth, I've been thinking of using it for a while on someone like Voldemort. If they can kill so nonchalantly, why can't we?" He dragged his fingers through his wet black hair.
"Harry, you can't mean that..." Hermione said in a shocked tone. "The fact that we don't use it puts us above them."
"Oh, I know. Especially now. Even though it saved you, I don't feel like I gained anything from using it. It was used to take away my parents, Cedric, Sirius and so many others... I don't think I could ever do it again and live with myself, no matter who it was directed at." Harry stared blankly at the the fire and began to mindlessly rub Hermione's neck.
"I want to thank you for what you did... Jumping into the lake and all... You risked your life to save mine." Hermione expressed her appreciation by moving closer and placing her head on Harry shoulder. Harry lifted her head up and looked into her big brown eyes with his green ones.
"It was nothing, Hermione. You know I would always try to save you no matter the consequences. I'd die for you." Those last four words struck a chord in Hermione and she began to tear up. She began to slowly lean towards Harry and she met his lips with hers. Passion began to fire up in both the young teenagers and the kissing began to get more frantic. The passage of time had been all but lost to both of them and their thoughts were silenced. After a few minutes, Harry's mind fell back into his body and he quickly broke the kiss.
"Oh... um... wow... Well, it's getting rather late and I should probably go to bed... maybe read a little before, but um... I'm gonna go get changed... um... good night." Harry frantically said as he jumped up and moved away from the couch. Hermione bowed her head down and began to cry a little bit more.
"Dammit, Hermione... You're such an idiot..."
A/N: Wow... when I started this chapter, I didn't expect half the things to happen that did. It almost wrote itself. Well, I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to review.
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Chapter 5: Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of
A/N: Thanks to all who have taken the time to read and review. Keep it up, so I know what to change, keep or fix!
***
Jake and Miranda Granger came walking through the front door of their lake house with their son Michael after the long drive back from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Jake had a sullen look on his face and Miranda's eyes were swollen and welled. They had just attended their daughter Hermione's "fake" funeral, though to them it was a very real thing. Albus Dumbledore told them to make the other students think that their daughter really had died. They didn't need to do any acting to do so.
"Here, I wish it for you to live among the students for the week. Your daughter is supposed to be dead and her friends will wish to be with you. You may even have her and Harry's beds, it will healing for all of them." Albus Dumbledore told them in a calming, grandfatherly voice. Being around Hermione's friends when they thought she had died was one of the hardest things that they had ever had to do. Ron and Ginny Weasley were extra hard to be around. Supposedly they were two of Hermione's best friends and they blamed themselves greatly for their deaths. Survivor's guilt.
Without words, Michael ran off to his bed room on the second floor while Jake and Miranda flopped onto the oversized chair. They both sat in silence for a few moments, but their silence spoke volumes. Miranda was the first to break the silence. "You know, we might not see our daughter for quite a while."
Jake didn't say a word. He didn't need to. Miranda knew exactly what he was feeling, as she was feeling it herself. Miri was the most articulate of the two and because of this, she generally did the speaking for the both of them. Though Jake couldn't express it the same way, he adored his daughter. They had that special father/daughter relationship that everyone always talks about, but doesn't understand it. When Miranda was pregnant, he desperately wanted a daughter. That was always his big goal. He told her that if he gave her a daughter, she would get to name her. She named her Hermione. A commonality in her family. Naming the children after a character from a Shakespeare work. Miranda's father named her from the charactear in The Tempest, her sister Ariel after the character in the same play and her brother Benvolio (shortened to Ben) after the character from Romeo and Juliet.
"I feel helpless. Every time she tells us of something bad that happened at school, I tell myself that I'm going to take her out, but for some reason I never had the heart to do it. It was all she had, really." Jake remenisced.
"Aye. That would have broke her heart. Harry and Ron gave her something that she seldom had growing up. Friendship. Before them her only friend was that poor boy down the street... Jack Snow... but he moved away to America the year before she went to Hogwarts." Miranda said quietly. She didn't sleep the night Hermione told them that a boy at Hogwarts was killed last term. She was fully prepared to break her wand and have her not go next year, but she relented when she saw that Hermione had framed a picture of she and Harry dancing at the Yule Ball on her bedside table.
"You sure you don't want to come in Harry?" A faint familiar voice asked from the back yard.
"Miri, did you hear that?" Jake asked his wife as he stood up and walked towards the back of the house. Without a word, she followed him and gazed out the window over looking the dock and the lake. Floating on her back was Hermione in her blue and red bikini bathing suit that didn't seem to fit as well as it did last summer and on the dock, reading was who Miranda thought to be Harry Potter.
Neither Jake or Miranda knew what to say and the just stared at the scene for a few moments before deciding what to do. After a few moments, they slid open the sliding glass door and walked on to the dock. "Hermione Jean Granger, I need to have a word with you." Miranda was the first to speak, as she usually was. Hermione and Harry both froze from their positions. To them, it probably would have been better if they were caught in bed together, because at least Mr. and Mrs. Granger would turn away. Their stare was as painful as a knife dancing on skin. Harry could tell from their faces that they were extremley worried about Hermione and now because they spent so much time worrying, the built up emotions turned to anger.
"Mum..." Hermione muttered as she got out of Lake Windermere. Harry looked from Hermione to her parents. Knowing that he wouldn't get much help from Hermione, he looked down at his lap like a punished school boy. Hermione and Mirianda retreated into the house and Harry was left out by the pool with Jake who sat down in the chair across from Harry.
"How dare you... You know full well that a powerful wizard and his cohorts are hunting you and you bring my daughter into it. That is the ultimate betrayal of friendship." Jake's words were like a sword in Harry's side. Dumbledore once told him that he possesed the best traits of all four houses and the one he got from Hufflepuff was loyalty. It killed him to think that he was disloyal to Hermione.
"Sir..." Harry pleaded.
"I'm not finished!" Jake barked. "That giant told us of all the creatures that reside in the forest and you subjected her to that and know that if it weren't for my daughter being infatuated with you, you wouldn't be welcome in my home."
"Sir... do you really think I could get Hermione to do something she didn't want to do in the first place?" Harry asked him in a voice that wasn't much louder than a whisper. That simple question hit Jake in a way he didn't expect to be. Hermione was rather stubborn around the house. It was very possible that she was the same at school.
"Mr. Granger, in my fifteen years of life, I've lost my parents, my godfather, a friend and ally and many others in my life who were important to me. I tried my hardest to leave Hermione behind, but it wouldn't do. Part of me thinks that Dumbledore planned this whole thing. He knew that if it weren't for her, I'd probably be dead in a ditch somewhere." Harry explained to Hermione's father who hadn't spoken since he went off on Harry.
"I'm Harry Potter, by the way." He extended his hand towards Jake.
"Granger. Jake Granger." Mr. Granger spat quickly. He accepted the hand and shook it before getting up and retireing the the house. "Harry, We'll all talk together again when Hermione and Miri are done. If you would wait out here until then." Part of Harry really understood where Mr. Granger was coming from. He thought he lost his only daughter, but then again, Harry saved her life twice in the span of 5 minutes back at the lake. But none of that would have happened had she not gone along with him. Was it really his fault?
Meanwhile, in the Granger home's master, Hermione and her mother sat on the queen sized bed discussing what had gone on the past two weeks. Well, their goal was discussion. No one could really get out any words. "Hermione, why...?" Miranda found herself speechless for the first time in a long time."
"He needed me. No matter how much he protested, I knew that if I let him go, that would have been the last time I saw him alive. I know that it wasn't smart to do, but I acted as a Gryffindor, not a Ravenclaw." Hermione bowed her head and looked at her lap just as Harry did. Every since the summer of first year, Miranda knew that Harry lit a fire in Hermione that no one else was able to. Just now was she finally seeing to what extent.
"But, why was he running? Did you tell me his doesn't have much of anything outside of Hogwarts?" Miranda asked confused. In that respect Miranda always felt that Harry and Hermione were kindred spirits. Neither of them really had any friends outside of Hogwarts and they felt like they didn't belong. Though Hermione had a loving family, she didn't have much else.
"He watched the wizard who killed his family almost kill everyone else in his life... and suceeded with his Godfather, the last true family he had. And the worst part was that they were all there for him. We were all prepared to die... for him." Hermione's eyes let off a single tear from her right eye and then countless tears began to flow. "Mum, I had to show him that it was worth having a friend."
Miranda finally got it and though she was still a little bit angry, her anger quelled a bit due to Hermione's caring nature. She finally made the ultimate choice between what is right and what is easy. Miranda was always proud of her daughter, but never was she more proud of her than she was now. "I love you, Hermione." She hugged her daughter tightly and didn't let go until Hermione spoke again.
"And if that's not enough... he saved my life." Hermione let out a sob as she remembered the horrific tale. "In the forest we were ambushed by dark wizards... and one threatened me... I ended up in the lake... and risking his life he went in after me and pulled me out." Hermione began to sob harder as she burried her face into Miranda's body.
"Hermione, it's all over now you don't have to worry anymore." Miranda pat her daughter on the head and hugged her again.
"But I do... I saw the way you two looked at Harry. You don't want him here." Hermione pulled away and looked up at her mother. "If he goes, you know I'm gone too."
Miranda had feared that. She knew that Harry made Hermione into a totally different person and she wasn't entirely sure if she liked that person as much as her Hermione. Her Hermione was all about learning, books, and spellwork. With Harry, she was more apt to break the rules and go too far out of her normal comfort zone. "Well, I can't speak for your father, but of course he can stay. Your father and I have always wanted you to have one of your friends over for the summer. No better time like the present." Miranda smiled at her daughter and pulled her up from the bed.
"Honey, I'll go talk to your father while you and Harry unpack. He can have the guest room." Miranda walked out the bedroom door leaving Hermione there. She soon followed and walked out onto the deck where she saw Harry, who looked noticibly upset. He saw that her hair was a mess and her eyes were noticibly swollen. With out thinking, he stood up to see if she was okay.
"I guess, I better get my things..." Harry sighed as he stood up.
"Yeah, and move them to the guest room. You're staying with us for the summer. That is... unless you don't want to." All the former joy left Hermione and she bowed her head down again.
"Hermione... I couldn't think of anything I'd want to do more." He lifted her chin with his hand and kissed her on the forehead. "Not even the Burrow." He whispered in her ear. Breaking the quietness of the moment, Hermione squealed and threw her arms around Harry. Despite being taken by suprise, he warmly returned the hug.
"Come on, I'll show you the guest room!" She turned around, grabbing his hand and led him back into the house." The Grangers made the guest room the largest in the house next to theirs, because most of the people who stayed their came in groups or were musician friends of Jake's. It contained a modest sized bed, a bathroom that adjoined with Hermione's bedroom, and a nice piano in the corner by the window. Otherwise, it wasn't anything special, but it was almost four times the size of his room back on Privet Drive.
"Is that a Piano?" Harry asked before he realized how stupid a question it was. Hermione snickered a bit at his noticible embarresed expression.
"Yeah, why? Do you play?" Hermione asked with a bit of a laugh at the seemingly stupid question that she asked. She didn't think that coming from a broken home like the Dursley's, he'd have the luxuery of recieving lessons.
"A bit." He sat down and started playing a lonesome jazz-blues piece. Hermione was taken back a bit at the technique and skill that Harry showed. He looked over at her and saw her jaw had dropped ever so slightly. "During meal times, when I wasn't being fed, I used to play for Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia while they ate. They said it helped with digestion. Oddly enough, I began to enjoy it and when they were gone I used to practice bluesier stuff and some rock. They didn't care as long as I was good enough with jazz to entertain them."
Hermione's shocked and pleased look faded and she began to scowl. "How dare they take the enjoyment out of something like music for you. I could kill..." She froze at her last word as Harry looked a bit hurt. Kill was not something he needed to hear. Instead of apologizing, she felt that the best way to fix things was to end the conversation right there. Well, you'll get along with Dad. He's an ametuer guitarist and singer. Plays in a blues, rock, jazz, pop band. Though, he's still a bit bitter that he's never been invited to join The Beatles... oh well."
"That's good to hear. I needed something to get on his good side. Let's just say, our little talk didn't go well..." Harry sighed a bit and sat down on the bed.
"He's just way too protective of his little girl. The last time I brought a boy home, he lectured him for an hour... and we were 7." Harry chuckled a bit at the thought of a seven year old Hermione on the couch watching her father pace back and forth talking about proper dating practices. "Just give him time, Harry. It'll be fine. Now, I'm going to let you unpack while I talk to my Daddy. When you're done, head to my room. It's right through the bathroom." She walked out of the room and Harry found himself instantly missing her. What would he have done if she didn't help him through this. He remembered the kiss a few nights ago and felt the strong desire to do it again. No! Hermione was just his best friend... his sweet, caring, insanley beautiful best friend...
Harry shook his head, sat down on the middle of the bed and began to unpack. Not long after sitting down on the bed, he layed down and before too long he fell asleep without doing any of his unpacking. The black image in his head quickly became that of the lake with Avery and Mulciber and Dolohov. It was exactly as he remembered it, but the second the curse hit Avery, it started over again when he grabbed Hermione. He had to relive his act of killing another human being. It was his Hell. He couldn't stop watching or listening to the tabooed words leave his lips. He was trapped... stuck in the moment.
"Harry... Harry... HARRY!" Hermione shook him vigorously and with the last shake he sprung awake, knocking Hermione to the floor.
"STUPIFY!" He shouted with his arm stretched out as if he were holding a wand. Hermione shooked her head to get her bearings back and stood back up. "Mione..." She looked at him and to her horror, he was crying. Sobbing even. Worse than she was earlier. Without thinking, she went up to him and consoled him the same way her mother did to her.
"Harry, It's okay... I'm here." She felt that last statement sounded a bit silly coming from her. It's not as if she were Lily Potter... or Cho Chang, but to Harry, that was the little bit of a pick-me-up he needed.
"Mione... I didn't mean to kill him, I mean I did, but I didn't think it would feel this way. I haven't thought about anything else since I did it. It's haunting me. I see it, every time I close my eyes... every time I drift into a dream. There were countless curses that I could have thrown his way, but I did the worst, the one that has no counter... the one that can't be reversed. How can he do it so easily and I can't." Harry sobbed onto Hermione's shoulder.
"That makes you better than him. He represents all that is evil in this world and you all that is good. After the whole year thinking that you are becomming him, this of all things must show you that you and he are no the same." Hermione wasn't exactly sure where she was going with her speech, but she felt it was making sense.
"Shh... It'll all be okay."
"Don't leave me, Hermione... never leave me."
"I won't, Harry. I'd never leave you." Little did the two know, they were being silently watched. Not by Hermione's meddling little brother, not her caring mother, but her father. Jake Granger was the last person Hermione wanted to see this, but he wasn't angry... he was proud. Proud of his daughter and proud of Harry for risking his morals to protect Hermione. He wasn't entirely sure that he liked the idea of Harry staying with them, but he didn't seem to care as much.
***
A/N: That was a really fun chapter to write! Really starting to get into the characters and I hope you will enjoy where Hermione and Harry go next chapter. In the next chapter we will find out about the Death Eaters, Hermione and Harry's journey home as well as a very special appearence by Remus Lupin. Stay tuned!
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Chapter 6: Walk to the Water
A/N: As you probably all can tell from looking at the comment page, I have a strong policy of responding to everyone's thoughts. You all take the time to read and review my story, so I want to in turn thank you for doing that. I really do read and take into consideration every piece of critique I get, so keep sending them in, so the story can get better!
I also give this chapter in memory of Luciano Pavarotti. No, he doesn't have anything to do with this chapter, but a great man as he deserves to be remembered some how.
***
After the dream, Harry didn't sleep for the rest of the night. Hermione didn't want to fully leave him, but he finally got her to leave around 3:00 am. Rather, he carried her to her room and put her into bed, despite the fact that he was still a bit sore from the after effects of the cruciatus curse. He didn't fancy the idea of her father catching both of them in the same bed.
Partly, he was worried about what the stay would mean. He hadn't really said much to her mother, but the words that came from her father seemed to be a hot poker in his side. He would never do anything to actively hurt Hermione. That wasn't who he was, but then again, he hadn't exactly been himself lately. Not since the ministry.
"Harry..." He instantly recognized Hermione's weak, groggy voice from the otherside of the room. "Are you awake?"
"Yeah..." Harry uttered, not fully aware of anything around him. Hermione took his response as an invitation and walked further into the room and sat down on the end of his bed. "You were sound asleep when I took you back into your room." He grabbed his glasses off of the bedside table so he could see her better. She was just in a very light tank top, a pair of grey running shorts and her wild, bushy hair was even wilder and bushier than ever. Harry wasn't used to seeing her like that and he began to feel something going on below the belt that he quickly tried to repress.
"Yeah, well, I rolled over and when I noticed you weren't there, I began to worry," Hermione stated quickly so it wouldn't sound weird, but she felt no matter how she said it, it would still sound a bit weird. Rather than dwelling on that, she quickly changed the subject. "So, my parents are working all day tomorrow, so I thought that we might be able to take the boat and go across the lake. I can show you where I used to run away as a kid. It's where I finally made my decision whether I was going to go to Hogwarts or not."
Harry's ears peaked up at that. Hermione was the brightest witch in their year at Hogwarts. Harry always thought that her choice to join Hogwarts was even more natural than his. "You had trouble deciding?" Harry didn't bother disgusing his shock.
"Yeah. Professor Flitwick came and discussed everything with my parents and when it was up to me to make a choice, I ran away, took the boat and went to my special spot. Then something amazing happened. Dumbledore was their waiting for me and he explained everything. Somehow he calmed me down and got me to agree to go. Before he left, he gave me a copy of Hogwarts: A History, so I could read up on the school before I went." This is the first Harry ever heard of Hermione's connection with Dumbledore. He always knew that she was rather fond of him, but he thought that it was just because of the fact that he was a great wizard, the greatest who ever lived.
"Wow. I never knew..." Harry was truly astonished. In reflex, Hermione looked down at her lap and let out a quick giggle.
"You're the first person I ever told about that. Trying to run away from who I was, isn't exactly a shining moment in my life." Those words hit Harry hard. He knew that she didn't mean anything by it, but they hurt none the less. In fact the worst part was that he knew she was right.
"Nothing to be ashamed of. You have a loving family and a life. If I had this, I wouldn't want to give it up." Hermione realized quickly what he meant. The Dursley's weren't exactly a loving family. He probably would have gone the Neo-Nazi party if that was who was knocking on the door. Harry scooched over to one side of the bed, closest to the wall and he lifted up the end of the covers in invitation. "Come here, Mione."
She was a bit taken aback at his invite. Though they never spoke of it, she did feel that they were closer since the kiss, but she never expected Harry would ever offer his bed to her. Then again, she wasn't all that suprised. Harry did care about her a lot and if she ever was in need, he'd do anything in his power to help. Without saying a word, she shook her head and moved into the open spot that Harry had left her. It took a bit of adjusting, but once her got his left arm around her shoulders and a couple pillows moved to fit both of them, they were completely comofortable.
Out of reflex, Hermione affectionately nuzzled up next to him. Again, his hormones began to react to her female form. Thank the lord, she didn't notice... or didn't care.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you. My mum wants to have lunch with you alone this weekend. To get to know you. She figures that if we're going to be sharing our house with you, she should at least have speant a few minutes with you without me." Harry wasn't sure what he thought about that. Of course he was going to do it for Hermione, but he was scared to death of Hermione's parents. He just took their daughter on a very dangerous journey. If he were in their place, he certainly would be angry too.
Hermione became worried at his lack of response. "Harry...?"
"Oh, sorry. I'm sure your parents are great people, but I can't help but be scared of how they are going to act around me. I haven't exactly done anything to gain their approval." Harry reflected on the past week and a half and he realized that he did nothing he was proud of... outside of saving Hermione, but then again it was he who got them in that mess in the first place.
"Harry... don't be mad, but I told her about the forest and how you saved my life." Harry's heart completely stopped. Not only did he endanger Hermione, but now they knew he was a muderer. "Of course, I didn't tell them about... you know." Hermione could sense his his tension and how it relieved when she fully explained herself. "You're not mad, are you?"
Harry took a few seconds to gather his thoughts. Even if he was mad, it was Hermione. He couldn't stay anywhere close to mad. "No." The conversation was over with that. They really didn't talk a lot after that. They just layed there until they fell asleep, completely unafraid of the consequences and what would happen in the morning.
***
The next morning Hermione was the first to stir. The sun had come over the trees and hit her right in the eyes. Looking over to her right, she saw Harry still fast asleep and that greatly pleased her. She didn't expect him to get much sleep after the incident and the dream. She probably could have stayed there for the rest of the day, but she realized that when her parents got home and they walked in on them, it wouldn't be good.
"Harry... Harry..." She gently nudged him. Harry began to stir and then opened his eyes to see Hermione. "Hi." She smiled at him and he finally remembered why he was in bed with his best friend.
"Hi." He smiled back and stretched his arms and back. He wouldn't tell Hermione, but that was the best sleep he had gotten since before school started, even if it was just for a few hours. Wordlessly, they both got out of bed and walked down stairs to the kitchen to fix themselves some breakfast. Much to their dismay, Hermione's little brother Michael was sitting there playing a Game Boy.
"You two slept together last night..." He sneered. He reminded Harry of Dudley, but he didn't seem to be anything more than a pest, rather than a bully. He found Michael's whimsical attitude kind of humorous, but he wouldn't tell Hermione that. Not if he valued his life. "Mum and Dad wouldn't like it if they found out."
To Harry's suprise, she whipped out her wand and pointed it at her little brother. "That's why they won't find out. Unless you want to be hexed cross eyed for the rest of your life. It's not like we did anything. We were just talking and we fell asleep." Harry always knew better than to cross Hermione, but her brother seemed to be enjoying it. "Now... we're going up to the lake. We'll be back around dinner time."
"So you can snog." He winked at Harry with his mischiefus eye.
"Talk."
"Snog." That was the last straw. She flicked her wand at Michael and suddenly all the mucus came out of his nose, grew wings and attacked him. After being friends with Ginny for all these years, he could recognize the Bat Bogey Hex anywhere. Afterwards, she grabbed Harry by the hand and dragged him out of the house.
"Thank God, he doesn't have an ounce of magic in him. He turned eleven this past April, so if he was magical he'd be going to Hogwarts this year." Hermione jumped into the large party boat. and Hermione followed suit. She cranked it up and they began moving away from the shore.
"How do you know?" Hermione shot him a look that quickly made him shut up. Before he found out that he was a wizard, he didn't really notice anything out of the ordinary. Sure, lots of rather weird things happened to him, but they could have happened to anyone. They say people can exibit special abilities in hightened times of stress. Every time he did something, he was stressed, but then again Hermione was probably looking for exibitions of power.
"Isn't this great, Harry?" Hermione asked as she turned the boat a bit to the right to avoid some rocks. Despite the fact, that he had seen it before when flying over it to get to Hermione's house, it was beautiful to him. He really didn't get a complete chance to take it all it when he was trying to get both of them to her house.
The morning light reflected off of the crystal blue water and went right into Harry's eyes so he had to squint. He didn't mind though. All he had to do was focus on the trees and the rolling hills that surrounded Lake Windermere. When they arrived at the otherside of the lake, they jumped out of the boat and Harry took in the most beautiful image he had ever seen in his life. It was as if the romanticized magical world had come to life. From the looks of it, Hermione built her self a tree house shaped like a castle and the light came through the trees to make it look like it was glowing.
"Welcome to my hideaway." a voice spoke from inside the castle. Unsure of what exactly to do, they pulled out their wands and pointed them at the castle. "Relax... it's just me... Remus..." A very weathered looking Remus Lupin stepped from the shadows of the castle and collapsed under his own weight. Everyone always felt that he had always looked like he was on the brink of death, but now it was really true.
"Professor Lupin! Are you okay?" Harry ran over to the side of the last living friend of his father. The last of The Marauders. Hermione quickly followed suit, throwing her wand to the ground.
"Ambushed... three of us... Death Eaters." Lupin was struggling to speak. He didn't look all that injured. He had a large gash across his face and his clothes were noticibly torn. Watching out for you... they didn't know... ambushed... found you through us..." Lupin was drifting in and out of consciousness.
"Hermione, we have to get him to Hogwarts. Madam Pomphry will know what to do." Harry stood up and began to pace around trying to figure out how to get back to Hogwarts to save his mentor. "Dumbledore turned off our magic. We can try to apperate to school."
"That would work if you want to risk the chance of landing somewhere we don't want to be." Hermione bit her lower lip in worry. "Dammit, what do we do? Why didn't we ever learn how to heal with our magic."
"There is always help for those who have remained loyal to me." A old, calming voice spoke from behind them. They spun around and saw Albus Dumbledore standing in front of their boat. "Hello, it's wonderful to see you two again."
***
A/N: This is the chapter that wouldn't end. Sorry if the ending seemed rushed and abrupt. There was more to it, but it began to get way too long. Some stuff was cut. Some was put into next chapter, but here is chapter 6 as it is now. Please read and review.
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Chapter 7: Mysterious Ways
A/N: Oh dear, it's been way too long since I've last updated. College sucks... :( Now that I've really gotten in the swing of things, I'm going to try to update more often. It's gotten to the point where I almost have forgotten how to write all the characters. Well, I hope you like it. Don't be too brutal. ;)
The halls of Hogwarts looked exactly how Harry had left them and in a way this disappointed him a little. It was exactly the place that he wanted to run away from and he wasn't entirely sure that he wanted to run back just yet. Why was he running in the first place? It was a mere two weeks ago, but it seemed as if years had passed. The time at Hermione's had been rehabilitating in its own way and though her father didn't exactly like him, it was a hell of a lot better than the Dursley's. Though, a party in Voldemort's flat probably would be better than the Dursley's.
The two young wizards sat quietly outside the hospital wing silently with their hands lazily interlaced. "Professor Lupin appears to be doing fine. He's in good hands." Dumbledore walked out out of the hospital wing and closed the door behind before they could get a look. "Now, Harry, I have much that I wish to discuss with you, please join me in my office."
Harry wasn't sure if he wanted to go, but as Hermione got up, she pulled him with her. "Miss Granger, the information that I'm going to give Harry is for Harry's ears only. I'm afraid that you can't join us." Harry's heart sunk.
"Professor, you do realize that I'm going to tell Hermione everything anyways." Harry looked up at Dumbledore and he shot him a semi-threatening look. Dumbledore was certainly a bit shocked at Harry, but he understood.
"Very well. Come, Miss Granger." He turned around and continued to lead them to his office. Unlike the rest of Hogwarts, Dumbledore's office had, in fact changed quite a bit. Harry instantly noticed that it was considerably less cozy than when he had last seen it, before Dumbledore escaped the Ministry officials. The feeling of Dumbledore's eccentricity had seemed to flee with him, but unlike he, it didn't return. It seemed like the room was turned into a headquarters for war planning and espionage on Voldemort and the Death Eaters.
"Professor... what happened here." Harry spoke up noting the drastic change in decor. "If I may be so bold, sir. It looks as if you've been taking decorating tips from Sn... Professor Snape." Harry was surprised that he was able to joke after so long. Was he really getting better?
"We've fallen on black days, Harry. My office is now reflecting the current times. Voldemort's army has just taken out a whole group of Aurors, not to mention what they did to Lupin and his company." Dumbledore's voice was grim as he walked over to the window and reflectively looked out. Harry had seen Dumbledore in distress before, but never like this. It was almost as if he was going to let Voldemort win without a fight. "I fear that this is the end."
Harry and Hermione both gave each other a worried look. "Dumbledore. This isn't something that we can just give up. We didn't lose my parents, Cedric and Sirus so we could stand down." Harry was beginning to get back his Gryffindor courage that he lost when Sirius died. He was never one to question the decisions of Albus Dumbledore, but his claims were just too outrageous to let go.
"I agree with Harry, Sir." Hermione said sheepishly, looking at the floor. She wasn't one to question Dumbledore either and she was still noticeably having trouble with it.
"Oh Harry, Hermione. There's not much more we can do. The ministry is now accepting that Voldemort is back, but I'm still not that popular... and we've lost allies since last time." Harry and Hermione both thought to the letter that they read last week about going to America to regain them as an ally. After reading it, Harry had brushed it off, because he wanted to completely leave the wizarding world. He no longer wanted to be Dumbledore's pawn. Now, he wasn't so sure how he felt. Since then he began to feel a great swell of duty towards the cause that claimed his parents' lives.
Hermione looked at him and grabbed his hand. He knew what was coming next, but he didn't officially want to accept it. "I'll go to America..." Though Dumbledore was supposed to be the cleverest person alive, he truly didn't see it coming.
"Harry... Are you sure?" He turned around and looked the boy straight in the eye. Rather than speak, he simply nodded while looking into Hermione's eyes. "There's something that I left out in the letter. The headmaster of Salem is Anton Szandor LaVey. The wickedest man outside of Voldemort and the Death Eaters. Part of me thinks that he's only pulling out his alliance with us so that he can join Tom in his pure blood supremacy."
Hermione's brow wrinkled as if she were deep in thought and her eyes shifted back and forth as if she were reading an imaginary book. "Anton LaVey... why do I know that name...?" She began to pace back and forth across the room until she stopped dead in her tracks in front of Harry. "I've got it!" She shrieked. "LaVey was the founder of the Church of Satan. An alternative school for sorcery, but a few years back, he decided to become a teacher at Salem so that he could be closer to the mainstream wizarding world."
"Yes. He's certainly not afraid to use the Dark Arts on his students. A truly despicable man and if it weren't for current events, I'd probably call him worse than the Dark Lord himself." Dumbledore gave the two students a half smile and walked towards the window again. "You know that I thought long and hard before I decided to send you. I was originally going to send you and Sirius, but..." Harry's heart ached at the mention of Sirius. He knew that he would be a hell of a lot less reluctant to go if he were by his side. Then again, Hermione was going with him, so that almost made the trip worth while.
"Sir, how can you be certain that he won't use similar measures on us when we as for his help?" Hermione asked him with a bit of hope that he was fully sure that he wouldn't, but when asked, he simply turned around and muttered something neither She or Harry could understand.
"Now, I have to attend to something quickly before I send you on your way. Please while you wait, feel free to explore the grounds a bit. I'd say go visit Hagrid, but he's currently away. No matter, the sooner I get this done, the sooner I can send you two on home." Harry's heart jolted a bit when Dumbledore mentioned home. He still didn't feel entirely at home at The Granger's and he wasn't entirely sure that he ever would.
Silently, the duo exited the office and wandered outside towards the Black Lake. The setting looked oddly like fall even though it was early summer. "Harry... are you okay?" Hermione asked him in a worried tone.
"Not in the least. I'm here again and I think that I actually miss it. Despite all the pain that I'm given, I still feel at home here above all other places." Harry began to walk a bit faster until he got to the lake and looked at his reflection in the water. "Hogwarts is who I am, Hermione."
"Oh bloody hell. I've been saying that since we started." She gave him a playful swat at the back of the head and then gave him a big hug from behind. "I'm glad you're finally listening to reason. Lord knows you don't listen to me."
"I know, I know. Hermione, what would I do with out you? You've saved my life on more than one occasion. Hell, I would have died every year in some way if it weren't for your help." Harry turned around and returned the hug, placing a small kiss on top of her head. He suddenly felt an odd sensation that he seldom felt before this point. He felt a warmth form in his stomach and he liked it.
"Harry... I may have pointed you in the right direction, but it was always you who did all the fancy spell work. You beat Voldemort. You survived in the Chamber of Secrets. You saved... Sirius. You got to the end of the Tri-Wizard Tournament. I just had the books. I never could have done that." Hermione reflected on the past and really saw how poor she was compared to Harry as a wizard.
"Yeah, well, when my biography is inevitably written, half of it better be about you." Harry smiled at her and gave her another long hug. The rest of their time was spent walking around the grounds in silence, except when they went to the Quidditch Pitch to do some flying, though most of the sound their came from Hermione screaming while on her broom. Dumbledore didn't finish for nearly an hour and when he did, the two were already returning to the castle to check up on him.
"Ah. Wonderful. Hermione, these are tickets for the QEII for the end of July. There are five of them. One for all members of your family and Harry. Also, I've enclosed four tickets for U2's upcoming show at Madison Square Garden. That will make it seem as if there's reason to go, so you don't have to mention magic to your parents if you choose not to." Dumbledore explained to them and Hermione took the envelope.
"Professor, how'd you know they were my favorite Muggle band?" Hermione asked.
"I've heard you humming a few of their songs while working before. I have quite a good ear." He winked at her and flashed a bright smile that made her smile too. "They're a favorite of mine too, though I much prefer Genesis."
Dumbledore went over their mission again and then a third time for good measure. Once he had gotten them back to The Granger home, he placed his hands on both their shoulders. "Now, for your safety, I've put several shields on your magic. If all goes well, it will not be detected at all, which will give you an added benefit. Now, I'm not going to lie and say this will be easy, but I will have you guarded... please be careful and I must say that if you succeed, the wizarding world will forever be in your debt." Without another word Dumbledore turned around and disappeared in a puff of smoke.
"Harry... we have until July before we have to do this. I vote we try to enjoy the rest of the summer." Harry nodded and followed Hermione inside the house.
***
Unlike her workaholic husband, Miranda Granger vastly preferred going home for lunch rather than eating at the office while completing paper work. It was never a large lunch, just a sandwich and some fruit, just something to get her through dinner. Michael was usually at a friend's house, Jake was at work, so it usually just ended up being her and Hermione. Though she never told Hermione, she really did value their lunches together and one of her biggest fears was that with Harry here, she'd be eating alone more and more.
"Hermione, I'm home!" Miranda called into the house, but their didn't seem to be an answer. She called again, but still nothing. Just as she walked passed the door that lead to the basement stares, she began to hear the grand piano. She opened the door and saw Harry at the piano and Hermione at one of the microphones singing an old Blues song that only she and her father would know the name of.
"MUM!" Hermione yelled as she stopped singing. Her eyes got wide and all the blood in her body began to flow up to her face. Harry spun around to face Mrs. Granger in a bit of a shock. "I'm sorry, I know we should have asked to use the studio first..." Hermione acted as if Madam Pince had caught them in the restricted section of the library.
Miranda pretended that she didn't hear Hermione at all, like Hermione tended to do to Harry and Ron. "You two sounded good. Now, I have some left over roast left, want me to make a Sheppard's Pie?" Without knowing what to say, they nodded their heads. Rather than getting back to playing, they put away the instruments and sat together on the piano bench.
"You know, I really should talk to your mother. She's the one who let me stay here and I have yet to give her the whole story." Harry said to break the silence. His mind flashed to the conversation with her father and he really didn't want a part two, but for some reason he didn't think he'd get that with Mrs. Granger. She seemed to be the more pleasant of the two, though Hermione was taken with both.
Hermione seemed to think about it for a few minutes before speaking. "Yes. Mum is certainly the more rational of the two. Yes, explain it in whole to her and she'll make Daddy see." Hermione went from agreeing to forcefully telling him to do it. With out another word, she pushed him up the stairs and he turned left to find Mrs. Granger cooking in the kitchen.
"Oh hello, Harry dear."
"Um... Mrs. Granger... I think we... um... have to talk."
A/N: Um... I think I'll end there. I'm not all too happy about where this chapter went, but oh well, this is what taking a break from writing gets you. The next couple chapters should pick up a bit. We'll have more from Hermione's dad, the quest will go into full swing and I believe next chapter I'm introducing a new character that I've grown to love while doing some planning. Well, I hope you enjoy, please read and review. P.S Yes, Dumbledore is a Genesis fan :)
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Chapter 8: Instant Karma
A/N: This is really a milestone for me. When I last wrote an extended fanfiction (Ultimate
Flash for an Ultimate DC Universe site (that's comics)), I got to chapter seven before the
admin took too much power and started making up rules that hindered my creativity. So
now this is my longest fanfiction ever!
Also, It appears that I've lost interest since my break. I hope to gain them back and more as time goes on. Thanks to those who have stuck by!
P.S: Kind of cheating on the title here. It's a John Lennon song, but U2 covered it for the
Instant Karma campaign.
Harry and Miranda stood looking at each other with a bit of discomfort and confusion.
Miranda knew this conversation was going to come, but she wasn't entirely sure how she
felt about it coming. All she really knew about Harry is that he more or less saved the
wizarding world before he could talk and Hermione was deeply taken with him. Though
the first aspect seemed a bit more important, the one she cared about most was the
second. It had been evident since first year when she sent letters describing all her time
with Harry, well, not everything as they both found out about after her fourth year.
Last summer, she came clean with everything that she'd been involved in and frankly, it
frightened both her parents. It frightened them to the point where they almost wanted to
pull her out of Hogwarts all together, but they knew that would probably end up killing her
faster. For the first time in her life, she belonged to something.
For sometime, they also tried to be mad at Harry. He seemed to really be the source of all
the danger that Hermione got herself in, but for some reason they couldn't blame him either.
Or at lease Miranda couldn't. She knew her daughter was as stubborn as an ox and
extremely loyal. No matter what Harry could have told her, she wouldn't have listened and
gone right along with him. And Harry was the first friend Hermione made since Jack
moved to America.
"Of course, Harry. Anything you want to talk about." Miranda swallowed all her doubts
and worry and said affirmatively. Her smile calmed Harry down and a visibly calm Harry
calmed her down too. "The pie has some time to cook, why don't I fix us a spot of tea
while you have a seat at the table."
"Okay... That'd be great." Harry said as he walked towards the table and sat down. Tea
seemed to be a common occurrence in the Granger household. Miranda found everything
as if it were clockwork and there were countless tea cups near the sink for washing.
"So, what's on your mind, Harry?" She asked in the kindest of voices. Harry hadn't spent
anytime with her since they got home two nights ago, it was all with her father, which was
someone he didn't want to spend much time with ever again.
Harry choked on his words. He wasn't entirely sure what was on his mind. He knew she
had a right to know, but he wasn't sure what she had the right to know. "Well, um, I just
felt you had the right to know."
"About what?" She turned around from making tea and looked straight into Harry's
emerald green eyes.
"About me." He shot out without thinking his statement through. 'Damn, this'll have to be
good then...' he thought to himself before going on. "I've caused you all so much trouble,
that I feel you should know more about me than I'm just a friend of Hermione's."
Miranda looked deep into his eyes, studying him and then she smiled again. "Harry, you're
literally the most famous sixteen year old in the wizarding world. I know everything there is
to know about you from reading books and Hermione's novel length letters."
"Did you know that my greatest fear is loss and death of loved ones? Did you know that
while we were in the Forbidden Forest, I barely slept at all, just because I was worried
about Hermione's safety? Did you know that my good dreams are about killing Voldemort
for all that he's done to be and my friends?" Harry began to feel weathered again like he
did back in the forest and everything that Hermione had helped him.
Miranda was completely speechless. She'd read about his hard life in books and Hermione
told her that he didn't live an easy life, but she couldn't even imagine what hid beneath
Harry's skin. "No... no I didn't." She finished fixing the tea and sat down at the table across
from Harry and looked into his eyes the way Hermione always did when she was trying to
read him.
"Mrs. Granger, to be completely candid, I'm dangerous. My magic frequently becomes
uncontrollable and dangerous wizards are out in force looking for me. And I hate myself for
getting all of you into this." Harry looked down at at the floor. "I couldn't live with myself if
the fate of my parents came off on your family."
Miranda had to admit that she was at first a bit worried about that too, but she also felt that
Harry brought something to Hermione that no one else did or could. "I must admit Harry...
I am a bit worried about all of this, but there's one thing I truly know about you and it's
the most important thing. You're a good friend to Hermione and she needs you as much as
you need her."
Harry suddenly felt a warmth in his stomach again. He had never really thought of it that
way. He never really thought that he effected his friends in that way. They were always
there for him, but he never felt he was there for them and that really made him angry with
himself at times. "It's just that I've lost everyone in my life. I can't lose Hermione." Harry
wasn't this used to being vulnerable with anyone, not even Hermione. Somehow he felt
comfortable with Miranda, which he also found odd.
"You won't lose her, Harry. I have faith in my daughters stubbornness. She won't die on us
until she says she is." Miranda smiled widely and Harry snickered a bit. He knew that
Miranda was right. "Now, we'll talk more later. No sense getting all worked up all at once.
I look forward to hearing about the Chamber of Secrets." He got up from the table,
nodded at Miranda and ran off into the rest of the house. Usually Harry wasn't a fan of
telling his stories, but he was somewhat looking forward to telling Hermione's mom about
his exploits. It would probably end up clearing his conscious.
Rather than going downstairs to see Hermione he went upstairs to his bedroom to grab his
wand, which he found himself carrying less and less. Suddenly, the doorbell to the house
rang and almost simultaneously Hermione called from the other room. "HARRY!" She came
running in through the joining bathroom.
"Oh, I thought you were downstairs in the studio."
"Not the problem right now, Harry. The Weasley's are at the door." Hermione screeched
in a frantic voice. "Mum said that she attended a funeral for us as a show for the ministry
and The Death Eaters. To help our magical protection. Did I forget to tell you that?"
Harry's mind was racing back and forth trying to process all that she was telling him.
"Wait... what?"
By this time, Hermione had cooled down a bit and had sat down on Harry's bed.
"Dumbledore figured that if the Ministry and Voldemort thought we were dead, our
magical signatures couldn't be picked up, because our link would be severed. No need to
look for someone who's dead. It's a fairly low-magic technique, but quite effective, but it
can't be effective if too many people know. I'm sure the main teachers know and certainly
Lupin, maybe Tonks and Kingsley and of course our parents, but if everyone finds out, it
just wouldn't work well." Harry really hadn't ever seen someone say so much in such a
short amount of time, well except on another one of Hermione's little rants.
"Hermione... if the Weasley's think I'm dead, I'm not going to let it go on. Ron's my best
mate and Ginny's yours. We can't just do this to them. No matter the intentions." Harry
stood up and started walking towards the door. "If you want to be dead, fine. I'll think of
something to tell them, but I won't let them mourn over me."
Hermione's mind began to race like it did back in Dumbledore's office when thinking about
who Anton LaVey was. She was obviously weighing all the consequences that were
aligned with each decision, but finally, she looked up at Harry. "You're right." Harry
walked back towards his bed and reached out his hand to Hermione. She took it and he
led her out into the hall way and down the stairs where the Weasleys were all facing away
from them.
"Hey Guys." Harry meekly stated to get their attention. At the sound of his voice Molly,
Arthur, Fred, George, Ron and Ginny turned around and stood shocked at the two people
in their pretense. They all stood in a noisy silence for a few minutes before Ginny teared up
and threw herself at Hermione in a vice like hug.
"Bloody Hell, mate. I knew you were clever, but coming back from the dead? Brilliant."
Ron exclaimed as he walked towards Harry with hand out stretched. Rather than accept
the had, Harry greeted him with a short friendly hug.
"Yeah, some of us can do it better than others." Harry spoke in a very melancholy voice
that worried Hermione, but she didn't let it spoil the reunion.
"Harry Potter! How dare you put us through that. You should have told us from the start!"
Molly Weasley walked over to Harry and smacked him upside the head, but then
amended her feelings smothering hugs and kisses.
"I think we should all sit down and we'll explain everything." Harry was the first to invite an
explication, but he looked at Hermione for further permission. When she nodded, he lead
the group to the large assembly of couches and chairs. Naturally, Harry made sure that he
was in the overstuffed chair with Hermione.
Both Harry and Hermione traded off in telling all of the story including what happened with
Dumbledore earlier that day (the first Miranda had heard of it). The Weasley's made a
good audience if not a bit humorous.
"You mean you can do magic over the holiday?" Fred asked in shock.
"Yeah, they never let us do that. Shame, really." George said with the same shock that
Fred displayed. The rest of the group just sat there listening rather intently. Ginny and Ron
looked genuinely interested and seemed to be hanging on every word. Molly sat there
shaking her head, obviously angry that Dumbledore would do such a thing, quite the
contrast to Arthur who found it to be quite intelligent.
"Wait... why are you guys here?" Harry asked curiously. He hadn't really thought about
since they showed up, but now that he thought about it, he didn't hear what they were
talking about to Hermione's mother.
"Damn, Harry. You're really oblivious to everything aren't you." Ginny winked at him and
pointed towards the table that was standing near the door. On top next to the lap was
Hedwig in her cage clicking her beak and hooting loudly and underneath the table,
Crookshanks was lying down with a distinctive purr.
"Crookshanks!" Hermione squealed, running towards her cat and hastily scooped him up
into her arms.
"Thanks... I was worried about her."
"Yeah well, we were going to hold on to him for you, but we figured that the Grangers
would want an owl to keep in contact with the Wizarding world." Ron explained to Harry.
It made sense to him. At this point, he couldn't think of anyone else that he'd trust with
Hedwig more than Mrs. Granger or the Weasleys.
The Weasleys stayed for the rest of the afternoon where the children laughed and joked
about the old times back at Hogwarts. The adults used the time to get acquainted and
explain more things about the war going on to Miranda.
Harry found the time with the Weasleys therapeutic. He barely remembered why they were
here in the first place (the part about their death, not Hedwig). He was completely at ease
for the first time he had been in a very long time. That is until, Ron asked to see Hermione
in private. "What was that about?"
"Ron's been really broken up over her alleged death. He fancies her you know." Ginny
explained to Harry and a quick pain shot through his body that he wasn't entirely sure he
knew how to explain. He looked over into the other room and saw her quickly embrace
Ron and give him a quick kiss on the cheek and they soon walked out and joined the rest
of the group. When they got back to the living room, Hermione lazily flopped back into the
chair mainly landing in Harry's lap.
"Hey." She smiled up at him. He almost felt guilty enjoying this after what Ginny had told
him about Ron, but it's not like they meant anything romantic about it.
Before too long, Molly Weasley came back into the living room with Arthur. "Come on,
we better be going. Have to leave Harry and the Grangers to their lives." They all got up
and walked towards the door, saying their goodbyes but Ron turned around and faced
Harry.
"You know mate, if you wanted to you could spend the rest of the summer with us. You've
been there a lot. Might feel more at home." Ron offered to Harry and a few hours ago, he
might have taken it or at least considered it.
Harry looked back at Hermione and Miranda who both looked a little bit upset. Hermione
probably would have gone with him, but Miranda was upset that she wouldn't have the
chance to get to know Harry better.
"Thanks, Ron, but I'm enjoying myself here quite a bit. Plus, I feel the time has come for
me to spend some quality time with Hermione. It's always all of us, you and me or you and
her. Never me and her. I'd fancy some time alone with her." Ron nodded and rejoined his
family outside the door.
Harry turned around and saw that both Miranda and Hermione were beaming at him. "Oh
Harry!" Hermione sighed and pulled him into a big hug. "You didn't have to say that. You
could have just gone."
"Nope. I meant it. You saved my life this summer." Hermione hugged him again and then
pulled him towards the couch where they discussed anything and everything that was on
their minds while Miranda tended to a effectively burned Shepard's pie.
A/N: Well, I hope you enjoyed this one. I had a lot more fun writing this one then the last two. This one felt more connected than the rest and it flowed a lot better for me writing. I was able to stop and then pick up with out much trouble, which was nice. Well, next issue we get Hermione's grandparents, who take quite a large direction away from what Ann had set up. Hope you all keep reading and reviewing!
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Chapter 9: I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For
A/N: Welcome to the self-titled chapter of my story (I'll usually refer to it at HPU2). This is the one that features the scene that named the story far before I knew that it was going to be based around U2. This is kind of the point where my story started to take shape and become more than just a random Harry and Hermione fluff fic. So, therefore, I hope I can use this chapter as a springboard to go on to better chapters. Hope you enjoy it. Please read and review!
P.S. Just a small warning. There is some questionable content in this chapter. I don't want to move it up to R again, but I may have to. Hopefully, I can get some opinions on it in the reviews. Just be warned.
***
To her surprise, Jake wasn't angry at Miranda for missing the rest of the day at work. He told her that she was right to try to find out what's going on in the wizarding world. They really didn't have any link outside of Hermione and after they overreacted last year, they couldn't even guarantee that anymore. After relaying the story to Jake, the one thing she was surprised about was his reaction to the Weasleys asking Harry to join them.
"Well, why didn't he?" Jake muttered in a grumpy tone as the two got into their pajamas and into bed.
"I'm not sure. He did say that he wanted to spend more time alone with Hermione. Something that he hadn't been able to do in a while." Miranda explained with a bit of a sarcastic tone. She found it to be a very sweet gesture, but not all that shocking. It was obvious that the two fancied each other.
"Wants to get in her knickers is what he wants." Jake whispered lowly. "I know the type. She was the only contact he had for two weeks and now he's attached. I won't stand for this."
Miranda rolled her eyes. "Jake... If you spent thirty seconds talking to him or even read a book, you'd see that he wasn't that way. He's actually quite a good friend to her. We spoke together over tea."
Jake didn't seem all too happy about that one. "Why didn't he come talk to me? I was the one who told him his place."
"He's probably scared of you."
"Good. He's the strongest reason that Hermione's been in so much trouble lately."
"She's always had a bit of spitfire in her, she's just never had a the reason to unleash it. Harry give her that reason." It all made sense to Miranda, why didn't it to her husband? He always was protective of his daughter though. He punched out Will Snow, his long time piano player and friend and the father of Hermione's childhood best friend when he said that Hermione was a bad influence on Jack and she couldn't say goodbye when they moved.
Jake sighed a bit. He know Miranda was right. She usually was, but he hated to concede on things that had to do with his little girl, but he had to let her go sometime. "You're probably right. You said he plays Piano? Maybe that'll be a good conversation starter."
"Yes. It will be." Miranda stated matter of factly in a tone that very much resembled Hermione on her good days. "Just don't be too hard on him. Wouldn't want to alienate your future son in law." Before he could register her remark, she had turned off the light and rolled over to go to bed.
***
The next day, Hermione and Harry got up extra early so they could repeat what they were trying to do the day before; to go down to the other side of the lake and speak candidly. For some reason, every time they tried they were interrupted by Lupin, Dumbledore, The Weasleys... Death Eaters, however they felt that no one new could really interrupt them. At least they hoped.
"Hermione, you know that I'm not asking you to go with me. It may be dangerous and this task was given to me by Dumbledore to do alone..." Harry muttered as they walked down a hill together to go deeper into the woods.
"He never said that." Hermione turned in front of him and they both stopped. "Look, I'd follow you to Hell and back, if it meant I could keep an eye on you." She sweetly smiled at him and he knew there was no arguing with her.
Harry walked off a bit on up ahead of Hermione and stopped by a large oak tree to lean against it. He let out a long sigh as he took in the natural beauty of the English countryside; a sight that he never really had the chance to see. "I left the Muggle World behind because I was missing something in life. But after 5 years, I still feel that void."
Hermione walked up behind him and wrapped her arm around him. "Harry...?"
"I don't know, it's just that I still haven't found what I'm looking for." Harry looked down at his feet and let out another sorrowful sigh.
"Well... what are you looking for?"
"I wish I knew..." Harry brushed her off and walked again. "After third year, I started to feel better about things a bit and then the next thing I knew, it was taken away from me with Sirius, now I'm just as lost as ever. I feel alone."
"Harry not even in the darkest times of the past five years were you alone. You always had Ron, Hagrid, Dumbledore and I."
"I know, but there some things that the the four of you could never give me. This thing with the Order got me excited. I felt that I had something to really fit in with, but then it fell apart." Harry began to look pensively into the wilderness.
"Harry... Sirius wouldn't want you to be this way. He was always looking out for you and this isn't how he'd want to see you in this state of mind. And no matter what you always have someone to turn to. You're never alone." Hermione spoke quite sternly to try to get him out, but it was no good.
"I always have someone to turn to, but as the case with Lupin, they all get hurt. He was sent to look after me and he ended up half dead." Harry picked up a rock and threw it with all his might against a tree. As a child, he never could express frustrations or his Aunt and Uncle would send him to his cupboard without supper or worse, he'd get a lashing from Vernon's spiked belt he got especially for Harry.
"Harry! We've been over this. No one loves you or tries to protect you out of obligation. They do it because they care about you." Hermione yelled, almost at the verge of tears. Harry was distraught at the sadness in her voice and he quickly pulled her into a hug.
"But what would they say if they knew I killed someone?"
"You froze. It happens to everybody. I know for a fact that you wouldn't have killed him if you could think of something else to do." Hermione brushed it off as if all he did was stun him. She did have to admit, it did freak her out a little that Harry was able to do magic like that, but she didn't want to mention it to him. They would have years to have a conversation like that. Today was not that day.
Hermione ran ahead and got into Harry's way to stop him from continuing. "Actually, I was thinking about that. We're more or less cut off from the Wizarding World, so if we get into trouble, what would happen?"
Harry stood their starring blankly at her. Hermione was known to have some pretty off the wall ideas at times. A certain Polyjuice Potion came to mind. "I've been reading some of the books that Dumbledore gave us and there's some really advanced magic in those books. Some stuff that I'm not sure even Kingsley's mastered."
"Then what makes you think we can learn it?" Harry asked his friend as if she were crazy. Kingsley was probably the greatest wizard in the world next to Dumbledore. Good wizard, that is.
"I believe in us. We did some real good with Dumbledore's Army. Helped a lot of people including ourselves. If we do a little bit each night, we might be able to actually make some progress." Hermione smiled proudly at herself. She normally wasn't one to tell people that she could easily accomplish something, but Harry needed it. "We'll have to do it out of the house, under the cover of night, so my brother doesn't bother us... or my father."
Hermione began to walk ahead, until Harry grabbed her by the hand and stopped her. "I didn't agree to this yet."
"Oh, Harry. Come off it. We should probably head back and prepare. Merlin only knows how late we'll be out." Without being able to protest it, she was already half way back to the boat.
"...why do I even bother with her?"
***
Around midnight that night, the two snuck out of their respective rooms and out to the dock. Harry looked up at the sky and saw all the stars in the Muggle skies for the first time in his life. Though he grew up as a Muggle, he never really watched the heavens because he was always more worried about his Aunt and Uncle. The first time he really did take the chance to take in the beauty of the stars was when he got the Hogwarts and it was over powered by magic. The natural beauty of it took his breath away.
"Harry, are you ready?" Hermione gently asked him by putting her hand on his shoulder. He turned to her and simply nodded and they walked to the end of the dock together. "I figured it'd be better to do it here. No sense to start up the boat."
"I agree. We may not be in the wizarding world, but I'd rather not be in the woods after dark." They both opted for the ground facing each other rather than the old white bench that was directly next to them.
"Okay, so rather than sleeping, I decided to read though some of the books and one thing I found that really struck me was a mind link." Harry raised his eyebrow inquisitively. "A mind link will create a mental bond between two people. Not telepathic, but empathic. I will be able to sense when you're in trouble and visa versa."
"How do you think that will help? LaVey probably could use that against us." Harry was generally worried about his friend's well being. He feared that it would make her more of a target to both LaVey and Voldemort.
Hermione's brow wrinkled in concentration, a look that Harry always found undeniably cute. "I'm pretty sure we could use it against him too. Think about it. It's almost if our two minds will act as one."
Harry knew that there was no hope arguing with her and decided to just concede. "Okay, how do we do it."
"That's what I'm not so sure about. It says that first we must bleed into each other, sit in a pentagram from us in our most natural state and recite the incantation 'Duos mens reputo ut unus, duos pectus pectoris pello pepulli pulsum ut unus' in perfect unison." Hermione seemed a bit confused at the description of the spell.
"Well, it appears we need to swap blood through an open wound and then draw a pentagram with it... and sit in it... naked..." Harry blushed at the revelation of what the spell was asking of them. Hermione's mind began to race and she quickly decided that she wanted to back out of the spell, although the thought of it kind of excited her for some reason.
"Um... we don't have to do it, you know." Hermione brushed back her bushy hair that was blowing around in the wind. "But, um... it will be helpful."
"Um... yeah, I agree." Harry quickly shot out. Hermione then went into her bag and grabbed a kitchen knife from one of the pockets.
"Now, it really doesn't specify where to make the wound, so rather than going all Vampire and sucking each others blood, I figured a bloody handshake will suffice." With that, she cut her right palm with the edge of the knife and then passed it to Harry who did the same. "Now, here does nothing." She inched her bleeding hand towards Harry's and they met in the middle. "Ouch!" Hermione pulled her hand back at the stinging sensation, but quickly put her hand back in Harry's.
"Think that's enough?" Harry asked the visibly pained Hermione.
"No... Here, I have an idea, but let's get un-undressed first." Hermione again quivered at the thought, but when they turned away from each other, she knew there was no turning back. With out talking, she took of her pajama pants and then her shirt, leaving her naked to the world, but most importantly Harry. "For this to work, I think we need to face each other."
Harry was worried about that. He was generally comfortable around Hermione, but both of them being naked to each other wasn't his first choice of situations. They both turned around and gazed into each others eyes for a long while, until curiosity was too much to bare. Harry took a quick look at Hermione's chest, which was a little bit larger than what he thought it would be and Hermione gave him a quick elevator eye, noting that his holly and phoenix wand wasn't the only arsenal he was carrying.
'He's just a friend,' She thought to herself. 'It's Harry, not Ron.'
'Come on, Harry, get a hold of yourself. It's just Hermione.'
"Well, I was thinking that we could do both of the directions at once. Cut our other hands and grasp them while completing the incantation." Hermione spat out so she wouldn't concentrate on Harry's growing wand out of the corner of her eye.
"G-g-good idea. W-w-w-what was the incantation again?" Wordlessly, Hermione passed him the book which she had underlined. She couldn't bare to speak anymore.
They two of them together drew the pentagram out of both of their blood and sat facing each other in the center. "Well, here it goes..." Hermione stated as she grasped both of Harry's hands. "Duos mens reputo ut unus, duos pectus pectoris pello pepulli pulsum ut unus," they both chanted at the same time and the pentagram of their blood lit up, forming a barrier of light around them. After saying the spell three times, the light grew to such high proportions that they didn't know where it actually ended. Suddenly, it collapsed and they were left alone on the dock.
"Harry... what's that smell?" Hermione looked around and saw that everything but their wands, the dock and the magic book was completely charred to unrecognizable states. "Oh my God! Our clothes! We've got to get inside before someone catches us!"
Hermione gathered up her stuff and ran towards the house shouting 'alohamora' at the door. "See you in the morning, Harry. We'll see if it worked then!" Before he knew it, he was alone on the dock. He decided to stay there a while at watch the stars for just a little bit longer.
***
A/N: I hope you all enjoyed it. With all the stars and stuff, I'm trying to make Harry a little bit more human and I'm trying to explore the magical world too. I hope that I can strike up a balance soon (I hope it comes next chapter). On the topic of that, I would like to say that finally a favorite character of mine from the plots will be appearing next chapter as well as more of the Grangers (especially Jake and Michael). Hope you enjoy!
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Chapter 10: Where the Streets Have No Name
A/N: I would like to start this chapter by welcoming back Teganii, my first repeat reviewer. I was rather worried when (s)he stopped reviewing for the past two chapters and I'm glad (s)he's back. Well, in this chapter we're going to welcome a brand new character that I hope you all enjoy reading about.
So, I've decided to open up a new plot thread that wasn't present when I first started writing, however, I hope it will enrich the story.
***
For the next few weeks, Harry and Hermione both met at the end of the dock to continue their study advanced magic and lucky for them, none of it involved anymore nudity. Though, it did involve countless complex spells that they had no clue how even start at doing. "Mione, this is crazy. I don't even think Voldemort can do some of this stuff. If he did, I'm sure he'd have lots of fun with the blood boiling curse."
"That just means we'll have an advantage." Hermione looked up and winked. Without missing a beat she went back to reading and waving her wand around saying Latin words that Harry wasn't familiar with. "The Incendia Anor is supposed to be the strongest protective force in our world. If we can figure out how to conjure it, we might just be able to win this war. Too bad the only one that can actually do it is Dumbledore."
Harry shook his head and went back to reading his magic book. He then spotted a spell that seemed that it would end up being useful before the end of the night. "Facio ignavus!" He whispered as he pointed his wand at Hermione.
A tiny white jet shot out of his wand, a beam that Hermione didn't even come close to registering. "Oh well, I'm going to call it a night. Maybe we should give this magic stuff a break for a month or two. No rush really..." As Hermione got up and walked towards the house, Harry smiled to himself and even considered to leave her like that for a while, but then quickly decided against it.
"Finite incantatum." Harry chanted and pointed his wand at her again. "Well there's one that worked." Hermione walked back towards him and looked at him curiously. "It's an idleness spell. It's supposed to make the victim suddenly not care about anything that they're doing and either go to sleep or just loaf around."
"Very dodgy if you ask me..."
"I didn't."
Hermione didn't register the comment and just kept on ranting. "Lazy means certain things to certain people. To Voldemort it may just mean taking over England rather than taking over the whole world. Plus, if we can do it on our first try, it can't possibly be quality."
"You're just upset I tested it on you." Harry flashed her a sarcastic smile. "And it worked."
"Accio fish!" Hermione yelled and then flicked her wand towards Harry. Suddenly, a large fish came flying out of the lake and hit Harry in the side of the face. For a second he wasn't exactly sure what to do, then he picked up his wand and pointed it at her, sending he flying into the lake. "No fair!" She yelled as she came up to the surface gasping for air.
"Was throwing a fish at me fair?" Harry asked her with out missing a beat. With that, she splashed him. He took the hint and jumped in on top of her. Harry was having the most fun of his life at this very moment... not that this moment really had much competition.
They spent the better part of an hour splashing around and laughing in Lake Windermere and being kids for the first time in such a long time. "Harry, we better go inside. I want to have time to work on the vanquishing potion tomorrow before Mum comes home for lunch."
"Agreed." Harry grabbed onto the dock and pulled himself up. He turned around and reached his hand out to help Hermione.
They both gathered up their stuff and walked towards the house together and going to their respective rooms. When he got to his room and bid Hermione a good night, Harry put on his pajamas and layed in his bed thinking about how great a time he had with Hermione. He wasn't used to having this much fun with Hermione... come to think of it, a lot of his best times at Hogwarts were with Ron. Hermione was really only present in times of trouble or extreme need. Truth be told, he did really like spending time with Hermione like this. "Harry?"
Harry smiled a bit to himself at the sound of his best friend's voice. "Yeah, Mione? Couldn't sleep again?"
"Oh no, I was just a bit worried about going to America. Did you find out when the boat leaves?" Hermione asked him as she sat on his bed next to him. In the dark, he could see that she was biting her lower lip, something she always did when nervous.
"Yeah. August 1st. The day after my Birthday. So from this stand point, I'll make 16, but I won't come of age." Harry sadly smiled at the thought of having the same fate as his parents.
"Don't say that!" Hermione hit him and slid away from him on the bed a bit. "Every year since we met, I've sent you off on some journey and wondering if you'd be coming back. Sometimes I was participating and some not, but I can't bare it, Harry..." Hermione's eyes began to well up with tears.
Harry inched closer again and put his arm around her. "Mione, let's get under the covers and get some sleep. I'm having too much fun here to worry about what might happen in the future."
She took his suggestion and got into bed next to him and closed her eyes to try and fall asleep, but she quickly opened them again and turned to Harry. "Hey, do you trust Dumbledore?"
Harry pondered the question a bit. Besides Hagrid, Dumbledore was his biggest contact in the magical world, but for some reason, he was having trouble trusting Dumbledore lately. The whole trip to America and trying to convince Anton LaVey to join the fight against Voldemort was just the nail in the coffin. "I don't know, 'Mione and that scares me a little bit. At one point I thought of him as a grandfather figure, but now not so much."
The two of them didn't talk any longer, but tried to go to sleep. Hermione quickly fell asleep next to Harry, but Harry on the other hand could not. He kept thinking about Dumbledore and how he was losing trust in the man that had been there for him since he was eleven. "Sirius... I need you now... more than ever."
Just then, he heard something ruffle in his trunk. Without thinking too hard about it, he got out of the bed, sure not to bother Hermione and walked over to his trunk. When he arrived at the edge of his trunk he recognized the sound as a muffled human voice. With much fervor, he opened his trunk and began to dig through it. "Harry... it's okay... I'm here." Harry instantly recognized the voice as Sirus'.
"Sirius! Is that you?" Harry asked in pure astonishment. "Where are you?"
"The mirror boy, go to the mirror." The voice called back and Harry knew exactly what he was talking about. He dug through his trunk and found the small parcel that Sirius had given him around Christmas time last year. Once he opened it, he pulled out a small mirror and in the middle of the mirror was Sirius' face. "Good evening, Harry. How are you?"
The young wizard was completely speechless. He thought about every charm and hex that he could think of, but nothing could ever cause this. "What's going on..?"
"Harry, I assure you, it's me. I was a member of the Marauders with the nickname Padfoot. At school my best friends were Prongs, Mooney and... Wormtail. And my death is not your fault..." Harry looked long and hard at the image of his Godfather and it wasn't he trying to prove himself that struck him, it was the fact that he didn't believe Harry was at fault for his death. "I came to fight at your side out of love. There is nothing you could have done to stop me."
"Sirius... How is this possible?" Harry asked in a state of shock.
"Your father and I are still trying to figure that out, but it's clear that the magic of the mirror goes beyond the veil." Sirius responded in a business like manner that Harry never really heard from him in a long time. Not since third year.
"Wait... my father?"
The twinkle in Sirius' eye quickly came back as he smiled back at Harry. "Yes. We're all here. Both your parents, Cedric, your grandparents. Lily and James would be talking, but they don't feel it's the correct time and place." Harry suddenly found tears flowing down his cheeks and he was speechless.
"Harry, right now I don't have the time to talk about everything that you want to. I have come with a warning." Harry shifted and took a seat on the floor. "I'm going to cut right to the chase. By this time next year, the war will be over, for better or for worse. The winning side has not be chosen, but there will be a clear winner before you finish your 7th Year."
"Sirius?"
"Yes... it may seem very unlikely, but it's true. You will end up defeating Voldemort soon, or you may very well be spending a eternity with us far before your time. This year you have to remember who you can trust. That's the key, Harry. Because of all this pain, you have trouble trusting... that needs to end now to ensure your survival." Sirius' tone was all business-like again and quite grave.
"What do you mean? I trust people." Harry said defensively. He either was starting to believe this was the real Sirius or he was too tired to care one way or the other.
"No, Harry. You don't, not that I blame you. Ron and Hermione, especially Hermione will soon become the thing that will make or break the end of this war. If you try and cut them out you will lose. Same with Ginny, Neville and Luna. The five of them went with you to the Ministry for a reason and it's not because they wanted to train. Remus too. He thinks of you as a son, Harry. Accept his love." Sirius looked up at Harry with a strong look of sadness. "I can't talk much longer... your father and I need to get to work, but I wanted to let you know they are so very proud of you."
Harry couldn't hold back anymore. Once Sirius had told Harry his parents' message, he could no longer hold back the tears. "What's it like? Where you are."
"It's beautiful, Harry. There is peace for everyone who wishes it... though there is none for us... at least not yet. Once the war is over, we can rest. Good luck, Harry. And if you ever need me, you know where to find me." Without another word, Sirius bowed to Harry and walked out of the frame of the mirror.
Harry was at a loss for words and he wanted to get Hermione up to tell her everything, but ultimately he decided against it, in fear that she'd reject it as some trick that Voldemort was playing on him. But Voldemort didn't know about the Marauders... or did he?
Rather than debate that, he decided to crawl back into bed with Hermione and go to sleep. He did so and before he knew it, he was out for the count.
***
"Harry... Harry." A voice that Harry could recognize as Lord Voldemort's hissed. "You have nothing... you are nothing. Lily, James, Sirius, Cedric. All dead because of you. The filthy little Mudblood lying next to you. Then her parents. Then those blood traitors the Weasley's... and you brought it upon them..."
"No."
"Yes. Harry. It's all your fault."
"NOOOOO!" Harry screamed so loud that he woke up with a start because of it. "Oh my God." Harry turned around to see if Hermione was still there and to his disappointment, she was gone, but before too long she came bursting through the door.
"Harry! Are you okay?" She rushed to his side at a hurried pace and quickly put her hand on his forehead to check his temperature. "You're burning up."
"It was just a bad dream... but my scar hurts... bad." Harry muttered as he put his head back down on his pillow.
"We were going to go to Grandfather's house today. But, I'll have to stay behind to check on you. I'll go tell Mum and Dad." Harry caught Hermione's hand as she was about to leave the room.
"No you don't, Hermione Granger. You're away at Hogwarts most of the year. I'm not taking you away from that. Just let me get a shower and I'll be fine." Hermione shot him an incredulous look and then finally nodded. "I promise, 'Mione." She nodded again and walked out of the room so Harry could take a shower.
About an hour later, they were on the road and ready on the way to Henry Richardson's house (Miranda's Father). Hermione was reading out of their advanced spell book, while reading Harry's expressions. Though to her surprise, he didn't seem as if he were in pain. He seemed deeply depressed as he stared out the window at the English countryside.
"Harry..." She finally spoke up and touched his hand.
"I'm fine... Just a dream." He didn't dare tell her about Sirius, but part of him felt guilty about that and felt that he wasn't truly listening to what he had been told. All in all, that made him feel worse.
About an hour later, they arrived at the Richardson Farm and all five of them vacated the car and began to unload. "Harry?" He spun around about to firmly tell Hermione that he was fine, but when he did he saw that it was Miranda. "Are you okay?"
"I just had a really awful dream last night, accompanied by something really... strange." Harry wasn't exactly sure what to call it. He was a wizard after all. Not much in his life could really be called strange, but Sirius talking to him from beyond the grave, really wasn't common in the Wizarding world.
"Do you want to talk about it?" Miranda put an arm around him and asked in the most motherly voice that she had.
"The dream was pretty standard. You-Know-Who was saying how he killed everyone that I loved and now he's going to finish, but what happened before is what threw me off." Harry was beginning to realize how odd it was going to sound, but he decided to go along with it. "My Godfather... the one who died before we ran away... he spoke to me through a mirror that he gave me before he died."
"Well, it's normal to dream of those who die right after they pass on. I dreamt of my mother for a good six months after her death." Miranda tried to explain it to him and comfort him at the same time.
"Did it happen while you were awake?"
"No."
"Well, I was. I know for a fact that I wasn't asleep, so I couldn't have been dreaming." Miranda looked absolutely shocked at this and decided not to go further into his account. "We have to get inside, but I really do want to talk to you later about this."
"Okay, but please, don't tell Hermione. She'll over analyze the hell out of it and I've got a feeling that by the end of this, the only solace I'll find in this war is that my Godfather and parents are looking out for me." Harry bowed his head down as he pulled his truck out of the car.
"Of course, Harry." Miranda took her small bag and took it inside the house where her father greeted her at the door with a kiss on the cheek.
"And what do you suppose that was about?" Hermione was standing directly behind him. He jumped a bit at the tone of her voice, but quickly calmed down because it was just Hermione.
"You're Mom asked what was wrong and I told her. I felt it would be easier because she's a Muggle." Hermione thought for a second and reluctantly agreed. She bent down and grabbed the other end of Harry's trunk to help pull it into the house.
"Now Harry, I need you know something that I probably should have told you earlier." Hermione bit her lower lip like she always did when she was nervous. "Um... my Grandfather knows nothing of magic. He's a complete Muggle."
"What!? How the hell were you able to keep a secret like that from him? Why?" Harry asked in a shocked tone. He would have thought Hermione would tell everyone she knew about her abilities and her accomplishments, but her own grandfather didn't know.
Hermione bit her lower lip again and gave Harry a nervous look. "The year before I went to Hogwarts was an awful one. My grandmum was diagnosed with cancer around Christmas time and she died in the summer. A Few days after she died Dumbledore showed up on my doorstep." Hermione let a tear roll down her cheek. "My grandmother always wanted me to be successful in everything I did, so I spent that whole summer learning to be the best witch I could be."
"And you succeeded." Harry smiled at her and she gave him a slightly embarrassed smile back.
"See, my grandfather had a really traumatic year, so we decided it would be best not to drop this bombshell on him. My Aunts and Uncles agreed when we told them, so we never got around to it afterwards... I actually have another cousin in America who's a witch... two years behind us, I believe. He doesn't know about her either." Hermione explained as they entered the house. "Now no more talk of this. You're just a boy from my boarding school."
Harry couldn't fathom not telling his family about his magical powers, especially a family that loved him. But, he would honor Hermione's wishes on this subject. "Harry, this is my grandfather. Henry Richardson." Hermione presented a tall, old grey haired man to her friend. He was the personification of the word grandfather to Harry. In the few movies that he saw grandfathers were always presented as looking like Mr. Richardson did. "Grandfather, this is Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter?" Henry Richardson gave Harry a questioning look and suddenly caught sight of his scar. "Where did you get that?"
Harry wasn't exactly sure how to respond. To say he got it when the darkest wizard of all time tried to kill him would certainly blow his and Hermione's cover. "Um... car accident. When I was a baby. Killed my parents."
"Car accident? I'm sorry to hear that. Well, it's good to meet you, my boy. Hermione speaks very highly of you." He reached out his hand and Harry took it and shook it.
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Richardson." Harry smiled at him and was somewhat alarmed by the analyzing look that he was being given.
"No, please, call me Henry. Now run along with Hermione and unpack your things. You two will be sharing Miri and Ben's old room." The two teenagers ran up the steps with Harry and Hermione's trunks in tow and stopped at the room Hermione entered.
"That was really odd." Harry told Hermione as the two began to unpack.
"What was?"
"The look your grandfather gave me. Questioning my name and my scar... I've never had a Muggle do that." Harry explained as he placed some of his clothes in the chest adjacent to his bed.
"Well, I have talked about you a lot and it is a pretty abnormal scar." Hermione tried to explain her Grandfather to Harry, but to tell the truth, she thought it was a little bit odd too. Her grandfather was always eccentric, but he normally wouldn't question a scar.
"I don't know... it was just... odd"
The rest of the day went on to be normal. Harry and Hermione spent a lot of time working on simple levitating spells to put away their stuff and manipulate the room while her parents and her brother caught up with her grandfather. Everything seemed to be going normal up until dinner when they were called down.
"Oh, Harry, Hermione. I'd like to have a word with you later." Henry stopped the both at the foot of the stairs as they came down for dinner. Harry spent the whole meal worrying about what Henry wanted to talk to the both of them about. Would it be like his conversation with Jake like a few weeks ago?
When they finished with dinner, the three of them went into Henry's cozy den where a fire was raging in the fire place with a kettle of water on it to make tea. "Mr. Rich... Henry... you wanted to see us?"
"Oh yes... I've had a burning question for a while." Henry smiled at Harry with a slight twinkle in his eye. "How is Albus Dumbledore."
***
A/N: Yay for cliffhangers! That last little one will be explained during the next chapter and Henry Richardson will be introduced fully.
What are your opinions of the subplot with Sirius and his parents? The thing I was really worried about was having too much filler between big plot points, so I added this to fill the space. And I did link it into the end, so it will have a point along with a moral.
P.S.
Okay guys, I need your help. What kinds of advanced magic should I feature? I'm kind of at a loss of what to do after the mind link. The rules are that, if featured in Harry Potter it can't have been done by anyone besides Dumbledore or Voldemort. It also can't be inherently dark, because Harry and Hermione will be the ones performing it.
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Chapter 11: Original of the Species
A/N: Here's a short chapter. I'm really sorry it took me so long to come out with something so small. When I was almost finished with writing it the first time, my computer crashed, so I lost everything (luckily I'm posting as I go and not waiting or else I would have lost everything). As a result, I had to start over, thus making this shorter and not as good. Sorry about that.
***
"Um... I'm sorry could you repeat that?" Hermione asked in a state of shock. She thought she heard her Grandfather mention their Headmaster by name, matter how impossible that was. He didn't know that she was a witch, much less the name of her Headmaster.
"Albus Dumbledore. He is still the headmaster of Hogwarts, right?" Hermione and Harry both stared blankly at the man and then Harry looked at Hermione who had an equally confused look on her face. The old man smiled at them and nodded. "You'll be at school when you come of age, so I decided now would be the best time for me to tell you the story of my life."
Hermione quickly shook her head as if to rattle all of the irrational thoughts out of her head, but it was no good. One idea was stuck in her head no matter what she did. "You're a wizard!" She exclaimed.
"In the broadest sense of the word, yes, I am a wizard, but a bloody awful one." Henry smiled at the two and got up towards his bookshelf where he reached behind some books and pulled out what looked like a wand. "This was my wand while I was in Hogwarts."
Hermione wasn't exactly sure what to think about all this. She always found her grandfather to be completely normal, like the grandfathers on TV. "What year? Did you have McGonegal? Was Dumbledore old then? What house were you sorted into?" Suddenly, Hermione asked the best important question of all. "Why didn't you ever tell me?" Hermione went from shocked to hurt.
"Let's not be hasty, my little Hermy." He winked at her and sat down in his big arm chair by the fireplace. "Now, my story begins in the year 1938, when I turned eleven on July 31st and I got my letter to attend Hogwarts...
This came at a huge shock to both my parents because I hadn't exhibited anything that one would consider paranormal. See, I was a half blood. My father was an average wizard and my Mother was a Muggle nurse and they both wanted me to follow my father's footsteps in to wizardry. Now I got my letter and I did everything you do now. I went to the Hogwarts Express on the first of September and went off to the place that would become my home for the next seven years.
I'm sure like the both of you I was both excited and nervous. See, I knew about the wizarding world, but I was more or less raised as a Muggle. When I started on my way, I didn't know anyone, so I decided to find the loneliest person on the train for me to make friends with. That led me to the compartment that only had one person sitting in it. That person was Tom Riddle."
Both Harry and Hermione gasped when they realized that Henry had entered school the exact same time as the boy who would become Voldemort. "Grandfather... you met him before..."
"Yes." Henry shook his head. "Yes, I knew You-Know-Who at that point in his life.
At that point in time, he wasn't a threat... or at least he didn't seem like one. On the train, we discussed our lives before we turned eleven and he explained the horrors of the orphanage that he came from and how he had started using magic. To tell you the truth, it did scare me a bit how much he could do, but I didn't worry about it. I had a friend."
"Yes, but your friend was doing magic that most adults haven't mastered." Hermione exclaimed.
"I know that now, my dear. And I must say that our friendship only lasted the train ride. Hogwarts wasn't enough to give him a sense of belonging. His house did. Andreas Lestrange. Signus and Ursa Black, Jack Prince, Antonin Dolohov, Antoinette Malfoy. All of them were his house mates in Slytherin and all of them went on to form the first group of Death Eaters. They practically controlled the school for that whole seven years. It was not a happy time at Hogwarts, Harry. Especially for Gryffindors like myself." Hermione did have to smile a bit when he revealed that he was in fact a member of her house. Or was she a member of his?
"See, Gryffindor didn't have people like James Potter, Lily Evans, Sirius Black, or Remus Lupin at that time." Henry looked distant as he recalled the state of Gryffindor when he attended the school. "I was quite successful my first year, like most students. I found a great affinity for potions, herbology and simple charms. I also rather loved History of Magic. Back when Professor Binns was still alive. I was good at pretty much anything that didn't involve magic."
This greatly surprised Hermione. she thought that she finally had the answer to how she was as good as she was, even though she was a Muggle-Born. From the sound of it, he was worse than Neville on his worst day. "You couldn't do magic?"
"Barely a lick. I could levitate things and with a lot of effort, I could disarm a person. Stabbing me in the back, Tom reported it to the Board of Governors in our third year and I was officially classified a squib. But, Dumbledore forced the Headmaster to allow me to still attend classes and in the end graduate. This was because I was excellent at potions. Far better than Tom ever could have hoped to be." Henry smiled at himself as did Harry and Hermione when they found out that he was better at something than the great Lord Voldemort.
"By that time I had also adopted a First Year. A young boy who had a strong affinity for very dangerous creatures. You probably know him as Rubeus Hagrid." Both the two wizards looked at each other with a shocked expression.
"You knew Hagrid, Henry?" Harry asked with a tone largely based around surprise. "He's the reason I'm where I am today. He persuaded me to go to Hogwarts."
Henry smiled at the thought of his old friend taking the place of mentor in a young boy's life like he had been to Hagrid. "Yes... He always did have a big heart, even though it was misplaced at time."
They spent the next hour talking about Henry and how he left the world behind after he graduated at how he met Roberta O'Riley while she was a nurse in World War II and he was on the front lines. He told them of how they got married right after the war was over. And how he tried to get back into the Wizarding World to fight the war with Voldemort, despite Dumbledore not wanting him to. "Oh dear, look at the time, it's best we all go to bed. It's been a long day. We'll talk more tomorrow."
Harry was completely shaken at how the night turned from a normal Muggle dinner to a dip into Hogwarts' past. On the other hand, he couldn't even come close to thinking how Hermione felt. "In fear of quoting you... are you okay?" He asked her as they stepped into their room.
"... I'm not a freak anymore, Harry. My magic came from somewhere." Hermione smiled to herself and lazily flopped on to her bed.
"You never were." Hermione propped herself up against the wall that was next to her bed and stared blankly at Harry.
"But Malfoy calls me a Mudblood as if my magic was a complete fluke. Now I can qualify myself." Harry rolled his eyes and decided to just leave it at that. "Okay now, that my grandfather is in on all this, we should continue practicing." She reached for a book and opened it to a marked page and passed it to Harry. "What do you think of trying to become an Animagus?"
Dumbfounded at the complex steps and something abstract called tokening, he quickly shook his head. "This looks like it could take all our focus for the entire summer and then it's not even a guarantee. It took my Dad a year and a half to become one. It may be useful, but not now."
Through the night the two scoured their books for new methods to fight Voldemort with, but everything seemed to be way too standard and just plain not useful. They were about ready to turn in until they found a book at the bottom of the trunk, entitled "Rumors of Merlin's Exploits by Olorin Greyhame."
"My God..." Hermione exclaimed as she read through the book and then looked up wide-eyed at Harry. We learned about this book in History of Magic, Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, and just about everyone of our other classes."
"What is it?" Harry asked genuinely curious until Hermione sighed and shook her head.
"It's only the most important book that's ever been written, yet never seen by human eyes." Hermione explained as she rushed through he pages to the point where Harry thought she was going to rip up the pages. He quickly grabbed it from her, so fast that she continued flip through pages that weren't there.
Harry looked through it and it wasn't making any sense to the 15 year old. Then it hit him and he finally remembered Professor Lupin's lecture on the book. "This is the account of everything Merlin ever did, isn't it."
"Yes. It was found at the turn of the century by Dumbledore who promptly placed it in the Department of Mysteries never to be touched by other witches and wizards. He felt that the contents were too dangerous to be handled by anyone. There were rumors it didn't even exist." Hermione explained as if she were Professor McGonegal. Harry couldn't help but snicker a bit.
Despite having his career meeting earlier that year, he really hadn't thought about where the he and Hermione would end up. He knew that they would remain close friends, there was never any doubt about that, but now he finally saw where his best friend was going to be. She was going to be at Hogwarts. What about him though? His heart quickly sank as he was having trouble seeing himself with a future.
"What's wrong?" Hermione quickly noticed his change in facial expression.
"Nothing, it's just that I don't feel much like Merlin. I keep hearing about all these great wizards. These legendary wizards. How do I match up?" Harry asked his friend who instantly moved her hand to his knee in an act of comfort. "I'm scared I'm fighting a losing battle."
"I know how you feel, my boy." They both turned and saw Hermione's grandfather standing in the door way. "I went to school with some of the greats. Minerva McGonegal was a year a head of me. Filius Flitwick was two. And Tom Riddle was in my year." He walked in and took a seat on the bed right next to Harry and Hermione. "I know it can feel quite discouraging when you're standing in the presence of the stuff of legends, but you can't allow yourself to lose heart... but wait a minute, you're Harry Potter."
"Sir... the only great act of magic that I've ever done, I can't even remember. I was just a baby and it happened because of my mother. I had nothing to do with it." Harry bowed his head and with out thinking, he took Hermione's hand and gave it a limp squeeze.
Henry realized that all of this insecurity lies deeper than Voldemort and put his arm around Harry in a way that he used to do with Hermione's uncle when he was feeling down. "Look, my Boy, you might not have done it intentionally, but you have the potential to be one of the greatest wizards of all time."
"More then the potential, Grandfather." She turned to Harry and forced him to look her in the eye. "I've told you this before, but wizarding isn't all about fancy spell work. To be a great wizard, you have to be thought of as great by the people. There's nothing that makes you less powerful than Dumbledore except you. If you take a charge in this war, people will follow you. You're our modern Merlin."
Harry blushed a bit at the last statement. He knew people thought of him as such, but he never did. "No, Hermione. I'm Harry Potter." Harry looked up and smiled at the both of them. "Thanks, but I really think only some sleep will help this."
Both Hermione and her grandfather gave each other telling looks but decided to leave it alone. Without another word, Mr. Richardson patted Harry on the back and left the room and Hermione left his bed to turn off the light. "Harry, I'm here for you... you know that, right?" Harry didn't answer for he had already fallen into a deep sleep.
***
"Wake Up, Harry." Hermione's voice whispered as she quickly shook him a few hours later. He shook her off and rolled over, until she ripped his blankets off. "Harry, they've taken London."
The final statement registered with Harry and he got up with a start. "What?"
"Dumbledore just owled and told us that Voldemort waltzed into the ministry and took it over. Fudge is dead as are several Aurors." Hermione desperately told Harry. With out thinking, Harry grabbed his wand from the night stand and went towards the door. "Harry where are you going?"
"To help. He wants me, so I'll give him what he wants." Harry exclaimed as he walked out the door. "I know you won't let me go through with this so... PETRIFICUS TOTALUS!" He pointed his wand directly at Hermione, but nothing happened. He tried again and got the same result.
"Incredible. This must be the result of the link we made." Hermione said excitedly completely forgetting that Harry had just tried to hex her.
"Mione, please... I have to do this." Harry pleaded with her. She looked down at her feet and nodded. She knew deep down that there was no stopping Harry.
"I know... but I'm going with you." She looked up and gave him a devilish look. "And before you protest, just know that as there's no stopping you... there's no stopping me either." Harry shook his head and lead the way out the door to the driveway.
"So... how to get to London..." Harry looked around, thinking about their means of travel. He didn't especially want to double up on his broom, but he felt that would be the only way to go about it.
"We hex the car, of course..." Hermione winked at him and pulled out her wand.
***
A/N: The next chapter will in fact be longer. I just wanted to get something out to you guys so you didn't have to wait too long.
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