A/N: I know that this is another short chapter, but sometimes it just feels right to stop it where I do. This is another of my favorite chapters, as it shows some of some of Harry's deep feelings for Hermione. However, for those of you who thought I was mean last chapter, be forewarned!
Why, oh why. wasn't it me riding that train all those years ago, dreaming about a dark-haired wizard?
Chapter 16
The Battle of Godric's Hollow
"Mihi Pugna Per Quisnam Ago,"* the Death Eaters chanted as they continued to walk towards the house with raised arms.
"What are they saying? What does it mean?" asked Hermione as they fled back into the house and out towards the back.
Lupin shook his head. "Latin, I think. Whatever it is, it's helped them to create a very large ward around the area so we can't Apparate. We need to get away from here. Come on, this way! Use the trees as cover."
They had just reached the first set of trees as the Death Eaters burst from the back of the house.
"Remember, the Dark Lord wants them alive!" Harry heard one of them yell.
A jet of sparks flew past his head and he ducked behind the first tree.
"Ron! Hermione! Harry!" Lupin yelled. "It's time for a pig out! Get outside the ward! You know what to do!"
This was the code they had decided to set up in case of an emergency. It meant that they were to Apparate back to Hogsmeade as soon as possible, and not to wait for the others. Harry looked around to see where everyone was. As much as he understood the reasoning behind Lupin's request, he was determined to make sure everyone got out safely before him. He saw Ron further in by Lupin, and Hermione was two trees over from him. He caught her eye and let her know that he was going to move. She nodded and pulled her wand out, ready to protect him as he ran. Harry zigzagged through the trees and dove behind a large bush as spells flew past him, missing him narrowly. As the first three Death Eaters focussed on him, Hermione took them out with well placed stupefy spells and then she ran to where Harry was hidden. Harry tried not to move too much as the dead leaves and twigs snapped and rustled, giving away their hiding place. He turned and tracked Ron and Lupin's progress through the darkening forest. Suddenly, Ron stopped and turned to see where everyone was. He made eye contact with Harry, nodded worriedly and disappeared. Harry felt a second of panic before he realized that Ron must have been standing just outside the wards. He judged it to be about the length of a Quiddich field and felt they could make it if they moved before the rest of the Death Eaters arrived. He saw Lupin hiding behind a large tree and realized that he was breaking his own rule by waiting for them. Harry turned back to Hermione who was watching the back of the house and then he glanced at the house. He could see movement inside; the Death Eaters were being a bit more cautious now.
"We don't have far to go," Harry whispered to Hermione. "I think we could work together and get there quicker."
Hermione nodded and raised her head tentatively above the bush; only to duck again as a spell fizzed past the top of her head.
"They know where we are," she whispered.
"Okay, on the count of three, I want you to head to the tree on the right. If we split up, they will have a harder time getting us."
At Hermione's nod, Harry counted a silent one, two, three on his fingers and then jumped up and ran. The Death Eaters were thrown off by their split, tried to hex both of them, and failed miserably. Harry made it behind the tree and then zigzagged again to another one when he felt it was safe. He saw Hermione one tree away, and she nodded that she was okay. The Death Eaters were coming out of the house now, as they realized that they were getting away.
Hermione's arm shot out and she sent a stinging hex their way, making them dive for cover. They heard someone curse, and Harry took the opportunity to move to behind the same tree as Hermione. Harry shot another hex towards the group as Hermione began to move away from the tree. Suddenly the Death Eater she hit stood up in the clearing, the frustration evident on his face.
"That bitch is mine!" he snarled.
Hermione froze and turned around. She knew that voice; it was Dolohov, the one who had hexed her at the Department of Mysteries. She stared at him, terrified as he raised his wand at her.
"Hermione, move!" Harry yelled, his voice shaking her out of her stupor. She turned to run, but it was too late. Dolohov was tracking her and he yelled "Stupefy!" hitting her square in the back. His anger was apparent in the power of the spell as she flew through the air to land about forty feet away, behind a large bush. She was just inside the ward. She landed face first, and Harry heard a sickening crunch and knew something had broken. He felt like he was back at the Ministry watching her collapse and thinking she was dead, and it made his stomach churn. He had to get to her. He wasn't going to leave her and have the vision Voldemort gave him come true. He stuck his head around the tree and saw the Death Eaters heading their way, intent on finding her. Obviously they hadn't seen how far she flew, as they had all been hiding. He shot off a few spells and two more dropped to the ground. The rest scattered for cover when they realized they were still easy targets.
Harry saw Lupin trying to get back to him and he signaled for him to stay there. Lupin waved him to come and Harry shook his head and pointed at Hermione. Lupin sighed and Harry told him to wait. Harry leaned around the tree again and shot of a few more "Stupefies" before ducking back, all the while trying to come up with a plan. He needed cover to get to her…Suddenly he groaned out loud at his stupidity. He had packed his father's invisibility cloak at the last minute. He shucked off his backpack and quickly pulled it out. He signaled at Lupin to cover him before ducking back behind the tree out of sight from everyone and disappearing under the cloak. Lupin began to fire spells at the approaching Death Eaters, and under the noise, Harry was able to move quickly, not worrying about being heard.
He ran behind the bush, threw off his cloak and knelt down beside Hermione. He felt for a pulse and was relieved that it was strong. He saw one arm lying at an unnatural angle and realized it was broken. He rolled her over, trying to be careful about her arm. Her face was a mess. She had a long gash down one cheek from eyebrow to jaw and several scrapes and cuts across her other cheek and nose. Her hair was matted with blood at the top of her forehead and Harry realized she must have a head wound somewhere in her hairline. He looked up and saw that Lupin had moved closer and was signaling frantically at him to hurry. He glanced over towards the house and saw that the Death Eaters were getting closer. The three of them were going to be surrounded soon. He looked around but realized that as soon as he moved he would be a target, especially carrying an unconscious Hermione. Once again his "saving people thing" was going to get the three of them in trouble.
He saw an indent under the bush that looked like an old animal's den. If he could get Hermione down there, maybe they could hide. He had to convince Lupin to go, and he knew the only way to do that would be to disappear. While Lupin went on the attack again, Harry picked up Hermione and awkwardly crawled on his knees towards the hole. He placed her in it, none to gently, wincing as she flopped on her side and then he rolled down beside her, curling himself around her and pulling his invisibility cloak over both of them, making them disappear, all in a few seconds. When Lupin looked back and saw them gone, he ran to the edge of the ward, and disappeared with a crack. Harry breathed a sigh of relief as he checked to make sure they were well covered. Being as tall as he was, he had to twine his legs around Hermione's and spoon her body against his. He hoped that with the dark, the Death Eaters wouldn't stay for long, and since they had witnessed Lupin Disapperate, the consensus would be that they were all gone. He watched them as best he could without moving as they poked around. One of them walked by and Harry held his breath, his wand ready. It seemed forever before he could hear them moving off. He stayed there, holding Hermione, listening for any sound or movement. He looked down at her blood-caked face and he couldn't help but worry. He figured that with a normal stupefy spell she should be reviving now, but with the amount of blood loss he saw, he couldn't gage how bad it was. He had to get her some help. He had never Apparated anyone who was unconscious before, but he didn't know if she would wake up without help.
Harry slowly slid from under the cloak, leaving Hermione covered. He took a quick look around and listened carefully before standing up. He crept out slowly, warily, watching. It was too quiet. He couldn't hear any of the usual night creatures. He couldn't leave Hermione, but he was afraid to try and Apparate both of them while she was incapacitated. He hoped that Lupin and Ron had made it safely to Hogsmeade, and that Lupin had alerted the castle about Hermione. As he crept out, he knew something wasn't right. It was too quiet. He could feel it. They were still in danger here. Suddenly Dolohov appeared from behind a tree and pointed his wand at Harry.
"Sectumseptra!" Dolohov yelled, and as Harry tried to dodge, he felt a sharp flash of fire across his chest. He gasped in pain and put his hand to his chest. It came away blood red. He threw himself behind the tree and tucked into a roll, coming up on the other side, his wand pointing at Dolohov.
"Stupify!" Harry yelled, and the spell hit Dolohov in the chest and he flew backwards. Harry collapsed backwards into a sitting position and clutched his arm across his chest. He stayed like that for a moment, trying to find the strength to fight the burning pain. He had no choice now. He had to get both himself and Hermione back to Hogwarts. He was afraid that there were more Death Eaters around, and he didn't have much left in him to fight. He got up unsteadily and made his way back to where Hermione was hidden. He threw his cloak back into his pack and levitated Hermione out of their hiding place. He staggered as he took her in his arms, gasping in pain at the exertion. He reached the edge of the ward and closed his eyes and concentrated, he had never wanted to go to Hogsmeade so badly. He had to get help for Hermione. He wouldn't let her die because of his failure or weakness. He held her close, trying to feel as much of her as possible, imagining a bubble surrounding them, keeping them safe. He focused on that emotion inside of him that he reserved for Hermione, and with a pop, they Apparated.
Harry stumbled forward, almost dropping Hermione as he arrived just outside of the Hog's Head.
"Harry!" he heard Ron call, the relief evident in his voice. "Lupin went back to Hogwarts looking for you!"
Harry just kept moving; afraid he would collapse if he stopped. Ron caught up to him and saw Hermione up close for the first time and his face paled.
"What the bloody hell? Harry, let me help. I'll take her." Ron offered, sensing his friend's fatigue.
"No," Harry croaked, fighting back against the pain of his cramped arms and bleeding wounds. It was the concern for Hermione, the need to protect her that was keeping him going. "Just tell Madame Pomfrey I'm coming and that Hermione has been seriously injured and stupefied."
He didn't say anything more as Ron ran off. It was hard enough concentrating on walking. His chest was burning and he held Hermione closer to him in a desperate attempt to staunch the blood flow before he got her to the castle. It was the longest walk of his life, and one he would do again in a heartbeat to keep Hermione safe. He tried to focus on putting one foot in front of the other. Step, step, step…
Suddenly Harry realized that he was in the school. Everything was becoming fuzzy and it was hard to focus. He got up the stairs, stumbling only once or twice and headed for the hospital ward. He pushed through the doors and headed for the nearest bed where he gently laid Hermione down after carefully taking off her backpack. He was amazed at how she hadn't lost it. He let it drop to the floor with a thud and then he struggled out of his backpack as well, letting it join Hermione's on the floor.
Harry stood back as Madame Pomfrey came bustling over, followed by Ron, her wand already out. Harry heard Lupin and McGonagall burst through the doors, but he didn't turn around. It would have taken too much of his energy. They stopped behind Harry, and Ron looked over and saw the shock in McGonagall's eyes. Harry was focussed on Hermione's face, but he was feeling very dizzy. He pressed his arm against his chest, trying to subconsciously make the pain go away, but to no avail. He heard Madame Pomfrey tisk-tisking as she ran her wand over Hermione.
"Goodness Mr. Potter! What on Earth have you been doing? Miss Granger is covered in blood."
"Head wound," Harry gasped, as he put a blood soaked hand against the wall to stop himself from collapsing. It was getting harder to breathe all of a sudden and he was tired, so very tired…
Madame Pomfrey frowned as she took in Hermione's blood soaked clothes.
"But her clothes-" she said confused, poking at her with her wand, looking for the reason for all the extra blood. Harry swayed and looked down at his chest where his arm was clutched across it again. He watched as a drop of blood hit the floor. He could feel his consciousness slipping away and everything was starting to go black around the edges.
"That would be mine," he shuddered as he felt his body lose its fight to stay awake and he collapsed on the floor.
*Mihi Pugna Per Quisnam Ago: Help me fight the boy who lived.
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