Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
Author Notes: With this chapter, this fic crosses two milestones: the 10,000 words mark - which I seriously intend to take past 40,000, and the 50th review. Loads of thanks to all who reviewed with some special mentions below (If you want to be in this list, then write a review that stands out - it need not be positive) :-
k a w a i i n e s s, dreamer43: Words can't express what it feels to be likened to the great JKR - the one and only one who started it all. You. Just. Made. My. Day. Period.
Emerald Earth: Get a grip, the show has just begun! You ain't seen nothing yet... And no I'm not keen on killing Mr. Weasley .................. yet (ha! Just kidding)
Mella deRanged, The X-Woman: Special thanks for the great reviews.
Dedicated to all the one-liner - hem, hem - reviewers who spent their precious time in Reading & Reviewing this fic. Keep 'em coming. One more thing: This is a feel-good chapter, mostly conversation - what I'd call the calm before the storm.
[Note: Re-uploaded with some punctuational mistakes fixed.]
Harry Potter and The Sacred Alliance
Chapter 3
It was a bright morning - not to mention hot - as Harry blinked in the sunlight falling squarely on his face, swearing at the thoughtful person who'd left the window open without a shade.
"Kids these days," remarked a green-robed wizard with a shrewd face and a pointed beard, shaking his head at Harry from a portrait hung on the wall adjacent to Harry's bed. "A little later and he'd have missed lunch... And hear his creative words! Fancy calling himself a Gryffindor..."
Phineas Nigellus. Harry recognized the past headmaster of Hogwarts - not that he liked him, and part of his dislike for Phineas was derived plainly from the fact that he was wearing Slytherin robes, and like all Slytherins, lost no opportunity in insulting Gryffindors. Evidently, he'd been instructed by Dumbledore to keep a watch on Harry, since he hardly spent anytime in this portrait otherwise.
It was a little late in the morning - 10 o'clock to accurately quote his wrist-watch. Surprisingly, Harry found himself well rested and rejuvenated from his sleep but what was more surprising was the fact that he didn't remember having a nightmare at all - a first, ever since he returned from the third task of the Triwizard tournament. But he did remember having a vague dream - some seashore... but that was it. From what he could recollect, he had had a dream starting and ending with a seashore.
However, as he headed off to the bathroom, the previous night's events came flooding back to his mind - his brain working overtime to enlighten itself with answers to the hundreds of questions plaguing it. It was then that the fact dawned on him - he had forgotten all about Hedwig. His heart nearly stopped for a few moments before he remembered that he had left Hedwig's cage open - presumably she must have freed herself when the fire started. Breathing a sign of relief, he headed off downstairs to grab some breakfast.
"Hey Harry, you sleepy head! It's past eleven and here I was thinking I was a late sleeper!" Ron called out, the lack of his usual animated voice not escaping Harry's notice. He was sitting along with Hermione, Ginny and the twins - looking like they were having a deep conversation.
"What??", Harry voiced his thought aloud. I've been bathing for an hour? But he regained his composure on taking a look at his watch - it was still showing 10:15. Realizing that he'd forgotten to correct its time, he quickly rectified his mistake before joining the group.
However, unlike the usual topics of discussion such as Quidditch, the Order of the Phoenix or some new best-selling invention of the twins, Harry judged - from the five worrisome faces staring at him - that today's topic was much more grave. Probably me, he deduced. And Mrs. Weasley was nowhere to be seen.
"You must be hungry. I'll get you some sandwiches," said Ginny, rushing to the kitchen.
Harry was trying to prepare a convincing speech - the gist of which being that 'I'm alright and you don't need to worry about me' - before he caught the words "Death Eater" on a copy of the Daily Prophet lying on the couch.
DEATH EATER ATTACK ON MINISTRY FOILED; HEAVY CASUALTIES
In what was the worst incidence of violence in the Ministry of Magic since the Goblin revolutions, Ministry officials teaming up with Aurors were able to recapture the Ministry premises after a fierce battle with Death Eaters who had seized it earlier last night.
According to Ministry sources, the Ministry was attacked by a large contingent of Death Eaters, allegedly under orders from He Who Must Not Be Named, just after working hours ended on Tuesday. The increased security arrangements, placed by Minister Fudge after the reappearance of He Who Must Not Be Named, were unable to contain the ambush.
Consequently, Aurors, flanked by Ministry workers, U.S. Enforcers, who were apparated by the U.S. Department of Magic, and the Hogwarts staff, led by Albus Dumbledore, Hogwarts headmaster and Chairman of the International Confederation of Wizards, launched the largest wizarding assault in Great Britain in recent times, to recapture the Ministry premises. 37 people were killed and more than 70 injured in the ensuing battle spanning the whole night, as the allied forces were able to defeat the Death Eaters, who disapparated to their unknown hideout the moment their numbers diminished.
The injured were rushed to St. Mungo's, but sources indicate that the more serious cases were transported to a secret location, which the Ministry refuses to disclose. "The Minister requests the public to stay united in these tumultuous times, and promises that the Ministry will direct all efforts in bringing the wrongdoers to justice," said Percy Weasley, personal aide to the Minister, also squashing rumors about the Minister's resignation.
Coming only a month after the Ministry-acknowledged return of He Who Must Not Be Named and the realignment of the Azkaban Dementors with the Dark side, this new episode has left the wizarding populace in a state of shock. Meanwhile, the international magical community has openly condemned this blatant act of terrorism by the Dark forces, and pledged its full support to the UK in eradicating these perpetrators of evil...
Harry reread the article again, letting the news sink in - the sandwiches brought by Ginny lay forgotten.
"Welcome to the war..." Fred broke into his thoughts, with a tone of finality in his voice, earning a glare from Ginny.
"Dad's slightly bruised but OK if that's what you're wondering," Ron said, "but some Order members were injured pretty badly... At least that's what Mum said before she left for the meeting."
"Who's injured? Lupin? Tonks? Moo..."
"We don't know anything yet," Hermione cut him off.
"Mum refused to tell us much... you know how she is. But it seemed that she knew something as she left pretty hurriedly," George added.
"They're not holding the meeting here?" wondered Harry.
"Apparently not. I think Dumbledore suspects our using Extendable Ears - not that they helped a lot."
"Um... so how's your joke shop doing?" Harry asked the twins, attempting to change the subject.
"Splendidly, sales have been steadily picking up since we set up shop in Hogsmeade," replied George, brightening up.
"And we can't wait for the school term to start..." added Fred, then added in a gloomier tone, "But after this attack, I'm not sure if we'll sell much."
"Yeah... the economy won't take this well."
Their conversation was suddenly interrupted by a sudden knock at the window.
"Hedwig!" he exclaimed, as Hermione rushed to the window and disentangled an envelope from the owl's legs. Hedwig fluttered inside to land on Harry's shoulder.
"She flew in early morning. As the other owls were not here, I used her to send a letter to my parents." Hermione explained at Harry's questioning look.
With a pang of guilt, Harry realized that he had completely forgotten about the Grangers - he was supposed to ask Dumbledore for arranging for their protection. But his thoughts were answered by Hermione.
"Mrs. Weasley already asked Dumbledore to send some security wizards to my house. And they are fine if they could send back a reply."
Harry, having lost his trunk and its contents in the fire at Privet Drive, sent off Ron to find some owl treats, who on his part promptly delegated the task to Ginny, joining his brothers in talk about their business. A few moments later, as Harry and his owl both were engaged in their breakfast, Hermione came over, handing a newspaper clipping to him.
"You might want to see this - my Dad sent it. Its from a Muggle paper about the power cut you said about."
Harry read it aloud for everyone's benefit. Contrary to what he had expected, the Muggle scientists were able to explain the absolute electrical breakdown - apparently they had put the blame on some cosmic radiation emitted by a supernova a couple of thousand light years away. From the expressions portrayed over the other's faces, it was clear that only Harry and Hermione understood what this meant.
"Muggles are that intelligent? And they still don't understand magic!" exclaimed Ron.
"Of course they are. You don't even know about their complex science and technology - they use it to get over the limitation of not being able to perform magic," Hermione replied. "Anyway we're getting off topic here. Harry, what do you think was the cause?"
"Well, my guess is that some witch or wizard - most probably Voldemort - purposefully cast a spell to annoy Muggles."
"That's exactly what I was thinking too... Maybe there's a spell for it. I'll just have to check the library when we get back to school... Or even better I'll check in the one at Diagon Alley." said Hermione, earning an eye-roll from Ron.
Fixing him with a glare, she went back to her letter. Ron on his part asked Harry for a game of chess - his favorite pastime, favorite partly due to the fact that he seldom lost in it. Meanwhile, Ginny agreed to serve as the twins' new tester on the promise that they'd buy her a new broom before the term started.
After a few careless moves - his mind was too preoccupied to dedicate it to the game - Harry looked up to find Hermione gone completely pale in the face, the envelope clutched tightly in her hands.
Ron noticed her too. "Whassa matter Hermione?"
"Wha... No nothing really," she answered, eyes still fixed directly on Harry. A moment later she shook her head and went upstairs.
"What was that about?" Harry thought aloud.
Ron shrugged. "Must be that time of the month..."
"WHAT!?" Harry blurted out, a little too loudly. It couldn't be THAT. In fact he had recognized the look on her face instantly - it was the one she gave him when she was worried about him. And he had a sneaking suspicion on what the reason for her worry could be. However, he didn't feel like discussing that yet, so he dropped the subject.
Ginny, who had evidently heard Ron's remark, was glaring at him with a an expression that undoubtedly redefined the phrase 'If looks could kill'.
"Hey Ron! Harry! What about your OWL results?" called out George suddenly.
"Yeah! What about them? Don't tell me that you forgot the most important step of your life - as the Pig-Head used to call it."
Harry had no problem in deciphering the descriptive epithet Fred used to describe Percy Weasley, who had practically alienated himself from the rest of the Weasley family - in his own words, his loyalty lay towards Cornelius Fudge, the Minister of Magic. What Harry did have a problem was in the fact that he had lost his sealed OWL results (he had agreed with Ron and Hermione to open their results together) along with his other possessions in the fire.
Ron, from his expression, didn't seem too enthusiastic about it. But Hermione, who had supposedly been upstairs, rushed down at the very mention of exam results, all causes of worry forgotten.
"Oh Yes! I almost forgot!", she squealed in excitement, literally jumping up and down - apparently ignoring the fact that such behavior, which hardly suited a supposedly mature girl going on sixteen, would have almost brought the others down to their knees with mirth, if not for the fact that Harry was wearing a dejected expression on his face. It didn't go unnoticed for long.
"Harry! Don't you want to see your OWL results? You two did get them didn't you?" asked Hermione, puzzled.
"'Course I want to see them...", he replied, "But I lost them."
"You lost them?" repeated Ron.
"Perfect! Even me and George couldn't think of such a wonderful excuse!" said Fred, failing to hide the sarcasm in his voice.
"Except for the one in which we tried to hide the whole summer in the Quidditch stadium during the world cup... and then there was the owl repelling charm we tried to use..." added George, racking his memories.
"We thought that was a good idea, until the Hogwarts owls ended up giving the results to our Dad in his office."
"Not to mention that we were cut off from owl post for a whole month."
"Shut up you stupid gits! Isn't it obvious? He lost them in the fire at his relatives' house," stated Ginny, glaring at her brothers.
"Oh well, you should write to Dumbledore to send you another copy. I guess we'll just wait till you get yours," said Hermione to Harry, trying her best to hide her disappointment.
"No... you two open yours. Most probably I'll get mine tomorrow."
"I think we agreed to open them together."
"She's got a point Harry," added Ron hopefully, his expression clearly indicating that this was the first 'right' point she had ever had. "We could wait till tomorrow."
"C'mon Hermione, we are together. I know you can't wait to open yours," persisted Harry, then stealing a laugh at Ron, "Though I can't say that about you, Ron..." He earned a friendly punch for a reply.
"So are you two gonna open or not?" questioned Ginny, quite interested herself, in seeing their results.
Finally - to Ron's apparent dismay - Hermione gave in, rushing back upstairs to get her results, followed by Ron. Meanwhile, Harry borrowed a piece of paper and quill from the Fred, and composing a quick note to Dumbledore, he sent it away with Hedwig.
Unsurprisingly, Hermione had secured all the 15 OWLs that she had taken, 12 of them with Outstanding grades - Astronomy Practicals, Herbology and Ancient Runes being the three in which, to her disappointment, she got Exceeding Expectations. Her announcement of her results was followed by a round of whooping and congratulations, not to mention hugs from Ginny, Harry and Ron.
" 'Mione beats the Pig-Head! 'Mione beats the Pig-Head!" The twins broke into a chant, soon to be joined by Ginny, making Hermione blush to a shade of crimson.
Ron on the other hand, fearing the worst, passed his mark-sheet to Harry without taking a look at it. "I dunno... maybe you should open it mate."
"You're not so bad yourself Ron... 10 OWLs!" said Harry, handing over the mark-sheet to an extremely relieved Ron. He had failed in Astronomy Practicals, Potions Theory, Divination and History of Magic. Harry's announcement was met by pin-drop silence, only broken by the sudden appearance of Mrs. Weasley and Nymphadora Tonks from the fireplace.
"Oh hello Harry. How are you feeling?" asked Tonks, her hair glowing with a bright shade of purple.
"Fine."
Mrs. Weasley broke into a rant, condemning the Dark side's cunningly engineered activities - Harry noting the fact that she had no reservations about spelling 'Voldemort'. Apparently, the attacks on the Grangers and the Dursleys had not been expected even by Dumbledore. Moreover, she informed Harry that his violation of the Restriction of Underage Wizardry and Statute of Secrecy laws had not been recorded by the Ministry, since it was busy battling the Death Eaters at that time. He noticed that she had deftly steered clear of any mention of the Dursleys.
"Dumbledore told Harry that the Dursleys' residence was safe... That's why he had to live there. Then how come Voldemort was able to destroy it?" asked Hermione, as if reading his mind.
"It was," Tonks answered this time, "He wouldn't have been able to touch it if he hadn't taken Harry's blood in his resurrection. The protection diminished after that... It now required at least two people directly sharing his mother's blood to be present at the same house - Harry and his aunt in this case."
Harry didn't wish to pursue the subject: he wasn't ready to discuss the Dursleys' fate yet, nor was he very enthusiastic about telling Fred, George and Ginny about his mother's sacrifice. The others realized this and dropped the subject.
"Mum, did you know that Hermione scored 15 OWLs, and Ron got 10... I can't believe it!" exclaimed Ginny, to be followed by another round of hugs and congratulations - this time the recipients being both Ron and Hermione.
"Young Ronnie got more OWLs than the two of us put together -" remarked Fred, while his mother was ecstatic.
"No wonder they made him a prefect," added George earning a glare from Ron and Hermione each.
"That reminds me Harry. Dumbledore just got your owl a few minutes ago. You'll get a copy of your mark-sheet and list of books by owl tomorrow," stated Mrs. Weasley, then facing her kids, "We'll be leaving after lunch to meet your dad. Hermione and Harry, you can come too if you wish?"
Intruding upon a family affair wasn't too appealing to Harry, even if he and Hermione were practically treated as family members by the Weasleys. Besides, he had a confrontation planned for Hermione, which he would prefer to have alone.
"No Mrs. Weasley, uh... I need to get some homework completed - I lost it all in the fire. And I um... I'd like Hermione to help me with it." he said, earning sympathetic looks from the others.
Hermione just nodded, but raised an eyebrow at him when nobody was watching. You've spent five years in her company, Potter, and you still can't hide a lie from her.
"Later," he mouthed.
* * *
True to his words, Harry had spent the uneventful afternoon in completing his 3-foot long Potions' essay - the one which, in his opinion, he had aptly named "The Essay That Started It All". Tonks had stayed behind after the Weasleys' departure, and now was immersed in the latest edition of Witch Weekly ®. Hermione, on the other hand, had sat engrossed in her thoughts the whole time, her efforts, in pretending to read the newly revised edition of Hogwarts: A History, in vain, since the fact that she hadn't been turning the pages didn't escape Harry's notice.
She was presently correcting his essay, marking out sentences that were irrelevant and adding some of her own. Harry waited patiently for her to finish before speaking.
"There was something worrying you after you read your parents' letters. What was it?"
"What are you talking about?" she said, a touch of irritation in her voice.
"It was the Dursleys, wasn't it?"
That alarmed her.
"How did you... What makes you think so?"
"Look Hermione, its no good pretending okay? I just put two and two together - you were obviously distressed about something your parents had written to you, and the look you gave me clearly indicated that it was me you were worried about. That meant some news from the Muggle world. And what else could it be?"
The look she gave him indubitably said, Since when did you get so smart?, or so he interpreted. But she was silent. Meaning affirmative.
"Are they dead?" he asked, throat going dry.
"Its not just that, Harry. There's more."
"Which mean they are." He could have kicked himself. Why did he have to ask? Only if he had left them last year... Why did he take Dumbledore's ad...
"They aren't," said Hermione, making him look up at her eyes. "Dudley's alive. And its not your fault Harry, so don't go on blaming it on yourself. I can as easily blame it on myself, since I'm the one who left my parents to come here."
"To get Animagus training," snapped Harry, not bothering to keep his accusing voice down.
A look of surprise grazed her eyes, to be replaced by a sudden burst of temper.
"I JUST KNEW IT! I knew you'd be mad about this... but Dumbledore and McGonagall insisted... and it was all for helping you. But I knew you wouldn't understand. Go on now - what are you waiting for - BLAME ME!"
The last thing that Harry wanted now was to have a fight, though half of him would just love to do it. He was extremely annoyed with himself owing to the fact that even though the Dursleys had never treated him as a part of the family, he was still responsible for what happened to them. But he suppressed his anger by staring fixedly at the floor, fists clenched, counting down from three hundred. He missed the tear-drops falling on his Potions essay.
"I'm so sorry Harry," she said, openly weeping now.
When he finally looked up at her, his heart broke on seeing her swollen eyes, tears making glittering paths on her face. He had never seen her cry like this before. He sincerely hoped he'd never have to again. And yet a part of him, to his disgust, felt that she deserved it.
"I'm sorry too. I shouldn't have brought it up now. Its just that... You could have told me. Ron could have told me."
"I know. But I just started last week with Professor McGonagall. Ron was just as pissed off as you - if not even more - when he discovered that he did not have the ability... Anyway, with all this happening, I don't suppose she'll be able to teach me this summer. Once we get back to school, you can get started too."
Silence reigned, as Harry went over it in his head. And then he had to face the fact that Mr. & Mrs. Dursley were no more.
"You said there's more. Did something happen to your parents? Are they all right?"
"No, its not that... they're fine, all thanks to you risking your life." She cutoff Harry from retaliating, "Its... well I'll show it to you but you must promise you'll keep your head cool."
At his confused nod, she went upstairs, only to return with another newspaper clipping - from the Muggle paper The Guardian - which she reluctantly handed over to him. The heading made his stomach drop a few feet below the floor.
2 KILLED IN FIRE: TEENAGER SUSPECTED
Little Whinging, Surrey: A major fire was reported in a residence in Privet Drive, an hour after midnight today, killing two residents Vernon and Petunia Dursley, while their son escaped with critical burns. The authorities have not ruled out arson or homicide, the prime suspect being a 16-year old nephew of the victims, staying with them, who disappeared after the incident. Named Harry Potter, he is alleged by neighbors to be mentally unbalanced and possibly under the influence of drugs. Police officials are working on the case, but refuse to comment further.
Take a deep breath.
BLAST!
Breathe in, Breathe out.
A second gas lamp exploded, sprinkling the carpet with glass shards and oil. Before hesitating for a moment, Hermione pulled him into a crushing hug, and not without effect as a third lamp was spared from a fate similar to that of its two neighbors.
"Calm down Harry, I trust you... We all trust you. I'm sure that the ministry will arrange for some memory charms. And if it comes to that, my parents will testify for you."
Harry wanted to say something. Say that he was OK - not that he was - maybe he could calm himself just by saying it. But his voice seemed to have left on vacation... All he could do was hear his heart beating twice the normal rate, basking in the warmth of his best friend's arms, inhaling the sweet and tranquilizing smell of her shampoo.
Hearing the sound of footsteps coming from the stairs, they had to pull apart - reluctantly in Harry's case. Apparently Tonks, who had been rectifying her lack of sleep last night, had heard the sound of the exploding lamps.
"What happened here?" she demanded, her eyes on the debris of the lamps scattered on the floor.
Harry's voice was still holidaying on some far-off island. Sensing this, Hermione spoke up.
"Harry just got a little carried away... the events of last night and his aunt and uncle's demise. Anyway he's recovered now."
Harry just nodded, desperate to prove his sanity.
"You're right... No problem there, I'll fix them - broke quite a few myself," said Tonks, relieved. Then pointing her wand at the broken glass, she shouted "Reparo!"
The spell worked, but not as expected, as all the broken pieces attempted to rearrange themselves to a single lamp ("OOPS!"), only succeeding in crashing into each other and forming smaller pieces in the process.Five minutes later, with some help from Hermione, the lamps were as good as new.
* * *
If there was one thing in her life that Hermione Granger never attached much importance to - then it was sleep, apart from useless girl-talk and cosmetics of course. Instead of wasting one-third of her life-span dozing in her bed, she would rather spend much of that time in uncovering the secrets of the universe - in other words, reading.
After an uneventful evening of playing exploding snap with Harry, Tonks and the Weasleys, followed by a celebratory dinner in honor of the OWL results, the kids had been forced to go to bed early by an insistent Mrs. Weasley - even her husband had been unable to plead their case. So faking sleep, Hermione silently decided to catch up on some of her reading. The only problem was that her current favorite - Hogwarts: A History revised 1996 edition - was lying on the couch in the living room.
Having made up her mind to sneak downstairs to retrieve her book, she was silently stepping down the stairs when her ears caught the sound of someone speaking - it was unmistakably Harry's voice, and coming from his and Ron's shared bedroom.
"Of what concern is THAT to you, Ron?"
She knew this was wrong, but she couldn't keep herself from eavesdropping.
"Look mate, just answer me OK?"
"Do you Ron? You do like her, don't you?"
"I asked you first. And don't make it such a big deal... A 'Yes' or 'No' would suffice."
Hermione had a sneaking suspicion who the object of the argument, which her two supposedly best friends were sharing, could be.
"Oh! Is that so? And what if I say 'Yes'?"
"Horse-shit Harry! Why can't you just confess that you love Hermione?"
Her heart skipped a beat. I shouldn't be listening to this! But no matter how much her conscience was against it, she could not help hearing the answer.
"FINE! I love Hermione... she's my best friend, and unlike you, she's always been by my side - why shouldn't..."
However, he had no chance to finish, as there was a thud outside of someone falling on the landing. Indeed it was Hermione, who had involuntarily reacted, tripping over the stairs, before her brain had even registered the second part of his reply.
"Hermione?" A pair of wide green eyes behind glasses were staring at her from the door.
Within a moment she had decided that this had to be definitely the most embarrassing moment in her whole 15-year and 10-month old life. Not that Harry was feeling much different, she noted, if his deeply red face was anything to go by. She gulped, getting up, and making a an enormous effort to not blush.
"Did you hear us?"
"I can explain..." And what exactly was she explaining? "I didn't mean to hear you... I was just coming up the stairs." Hope the American Annual Academy Awards ® committee are watching this, a mocking voice in her head remarked.
Her hopes of an Oscar were smashed by the crimson blush creeping up her face. Not to mention that Ron had just emerged beside Harry, equally wide-eyed and wide-mouthed.
"You didn't misunderstand me, did you?" asked Harry.
Frantically shaking her head, she made a rush for her bedroom. The problem didn't lie in understanding him; where it did lie was in understanding herself. The different emotions she had experienced during the two parts of his answer were, to put in plain words, something that she could not, or more appropriately, did not want to explain - not even to herself.
She missed the words that her two best friends spat at each other, both shocked at her reaction.
"She likes you."
A/N: Okay, okay! Enough of the melodrama. Next chapter, we're going to switch back to Action/Thriller mode. Not to mention a few more bombs ;-) Keep reading...