A/N: Season's greetings to all you loyal readers! Thank-you for the reviews, they warm me during this cold season. I apologize for the cliffhanger in the last chapter, but I did warn you, the action is starting, and its tough to find a place to put a break in when our trio is busy. Otherwise, chapters would be 20 pages long! (Yeah, I know you would like that!) So sit back, hang-on, and enjoy reading!
I know they belong to JKR, but there were so many things that she left unsaid, I'm just filling in the gaps.
Chapter 25
The Battle for Hermione
"I can't believe how difficult this is. How am I ever going to find these Horcruxes?' Harry thought.
"Harry-"
"What if it wasn't something connected to the founders or the school? What if we are on the wrong track? What if-'
"Harry!"
"What Ron?" Harry said irritably as he was brought out of his musings.
"Something's happened…"
***** ***** *****
Harry heard the fear in Ron's voice and sat up, looking over to where Ron was standing, blocking his view of Hermione. He jumped up and moved beside Ron, taking in the look of worry on his face.
There, sitting in the chair was Hermione, staring vacantly into space. Harry collapsed onto his knees in front of her, his chest constricted with fear. He knew what had happened, even if he didn't want to believe it. Suddenly, he felt like he was in the Chamber of Secrets again, only this time it was Hermione who was in danger.
"Ron, what happened?" Harry asked. He touched Hermione's hand. It was already becoming cold.
"I…I don't know. Hermione had put the tiara on her head, then…you said the spell, and it had this white glow, and then she just…stopped." Ron reached out to gently touch her shoulder.
Harry had to resist the urge to push him away. He had to help her, had to stop her from dying…
"Is this how Ginny looked? In the chamber? When you found her?" Ron whispered fearfully. He's in there, isn't he? Possessing her…" Ron trailed off.
Harry nodded unable to speak as he was taken back to that dark time in the Chamber.
"No," said Harry sharply as he stood up. "He's not taking her. We need to get her back."
`I won't be able to live without her…' he thought
He reached for the tiara and tried to pull it off.
"It won't come off," Harry said.
He picked her up carefully and headed towards Hermione's bedroom.
"What are you doing? Shouldn't we go to the hospital wing?" Ron asked as he followed Harry.
"They won't be able to help her, I've got to get inside to see if I can find her," Harry replied. "Dumbledore was telling me about this; it was something he was teaching me about. Voldemort is trying to take over her soul, and if he is successful…" he couldn't bring himself to say it.
"What do you want me to do?" Ron asked as he opened the door for Harry.
"You need to stand guard. Last time Ginny started to…to die, Tom's spirit came back. I need you to protect us," Harry explained as he gently laid Hermione on the bed.
"You want me to face V-Vol…You Know Who?" Ron gasped.
"Yes, Ron, but you only need to face his spirit. His spirit, not the…creature he is now. Keep him away from us and your wand." Harry turned to face his best friend. "He won't have a wand and he won't be too sure about what's happening yet. Hopefully I can do something before he becomes too solid."
"Too solid?" Ron spluttered "Harry, maybe I should go get Lupin, or McGonagall-"
"Ron! There's no time! Look at her! She's dying! I have to stop him!" Harry could feel himself panicking at the loss of time so far.
Ron looked over to where Hermione was lying, her face a deathly white, and took a deep breath.
"Okay, but if we can't do this, I get Lupin, agreed?"
"Fine," said Harry as he knelt beside the bed and turned Hermione's head to look into her eyes. It gave him the chills as he saw the dull vacant look and the lack of luster in her golden-brown eyes.
Ron took up a position beside Harry and took out his wand. A fierce protector suddenly replaced the frightened friend.
"Let's do this," he said as he scanned the room.
"Legilimens," Harry said and felt himself being pulled in.
Harry found himself walking through a library with rows and rows of bookshelves, all of them jammed full of books. Harry smiled grimly as he realized this is what he should have expected. As he moved past the rows of books, he realized he could suddenly hear music. He followed the sound towards the back of Hermione's library. As he came around the corner of the last row of books, he stopped. There, in front of him was a large ballroom, decorated in ice sculptures similar to those at the Triwizard's Ball.
As he scanned the room he saw ghostly images dancing with each other, and there, in the middle was Hermione dancing with…someone. As Harry moved closer he took in the dreamy expression on Hermione's face as she gazed upon the dark-haired stranger.
As her suitor spun Hermione around, Harry had a glimpse of him for the first time. Deep down he had already known; he was just hoping he was wrong. As the couple swung by, Hermione frowned at Harry.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "I don't remember inviting you."
"May I speak with you?" Harry asked as he warily watched her partner.
They stopped, and Hermione seemed to ponder his question for a moment.
"No, no I don't think so. Not today. You see, today is a special day, and my friend here," she smiled up at her companion, "has promised me that I could dance for as long as I want."
Suddenly she narrowed her eyes at Harry.
"He respects me and allows me to be who I really am. He knows what I am capable of. Now, if you will excuse me, I need something to drink."
She turned and walked over to a table that materialized out of thin air.
Harry moved to follow her, but found his arm in a vice-like grip. He turned and came face to face with a pair of smoldering eyes and a feral grin. He pulled Harry back the way he had come, away from Hermione.
"Look, I don't know who you are or where you came from, but the lady is mine," he growled at Harry. "And being as such, I think you need to leave."
Harry narrowed his eyes and yanked his arm out of his grip.
"She will never be yours," he said menacingly.
The smile became more sinister.
"Oh, but she is. You see, I already possess her and she gives herself to me freely. Soon, we shall be together forever."
"No!" Harry shouted and turned to run after Hermione.
The hand gripped him again and spun him to face the cold hard features.
"I'll tell her you said good-bye," he smirked as he gave Harry a push.
Harry stumbled and he felt himself falling through the air, flailing his arms as he went. Suddenly he felt the hard floor and gasped as the connection was broken. He collapsed against the bed, breathing heavily.
"What happened?" Ron asked. "You were gone for a long time."
Harry slowly lifted his head and looked at his friend in the fading light, a pained expression at his failure marring his face.
"That's impossible," Harry said, looking around. He had only been gone for minutes hadn't he?
"You were gone for a good two hours, mate. What happened?" Ron asked again.
"He's there, Ron, I saw him, and he's…he's got Hermione."
Ron turned and headed for the door.
"Where are you going?" Harry asked as he jumped up unsteadily.
"To get McGonagall and Lupin," he replied.
"No!" cried Harry. "I need you here."
Ron turned and looked at him, the fear evident in his eyes.
"Harry, I think we need help; someone with more experience. We agreed remember? If you couldn't do it, we'd get help."
Harry closed the gap between him and his friend and put a hand on his shoulder.
"Ron, wait, please. MeGonagall and Lupin don't know how to do this. Let me try one more time. I need to stop him. I need to-"
"Save her. Yeah, I know, Harry," Ron sighed and came back over to the bed as Harry followed. Ron gently brushed a lock of hair out of her face.
"She was right you know," he said quietly before turning around to face Harry.
"About what?" Harry asked. He was getting annoyed by the tenderness Ron was showing Hermione.
"About you. You do have a `saving people thing'."
Harry glared at Ron, his eyes blazing as he was reminded of his failure to save Sirius. He expected Ron to back down and apologize, but Ron just glared back and crossed his arms, standing his ground. Harry finally broke contact and looked down, sighing.
"You're right, Ron, but I need to do this. I got the two of you into this, and I need to make everything right.
"And no one but the great Harry Potter can save her," Ron said frowning.
Harry started to make a retort when Ron held up his hands.
"Look, we're wasting time. We can finish this argument later. If we are going to save her, we need to either get help or have a plan. We should…" he trailed off as he watched a shadowy figure beginning to materialize behind Harry.
Harry spun to see what Ron was staring at.
"No," he whispered. "Not yet."
Harry turned to face Ron again.
"Listen, we're going to have to work together. You need to keep him distracted while I get Hermione away from him. When I give you the signal, you need to destroy the tiara. Use `Everto'."
"Wait," said Ron as Harry knelt down beside Hermione again. "What signal?"
"I don't know!" Harry said frantically. "Just watch for it, okay?" He gently took hold of Hermione's head and locked eyes. "Legilimens!" He said, and Ron was left alone again, facing his worst nightmare. He was beginning to think that spiders were not too bad after all.
***** ***** ***** *****
It was a lot darker this time. Harry scanned the dimly lit room and took in the toppled bookshelves and books strewn everywhere. He heard a crash and headed towards the sound. As he came around the corner he came across a very disheveled Hermione trying to stack books on the shelves and muttering to herself. Harry was shocked to see how frail she looked. He picked up a book and tentatively held it out to her. Hermione stopped what she was doing and slowly looked up at Harry. The confusion was evident in her eyes.
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "You shouldn't be here. There are things…" she trailed off, looking around warily.
"I'm here to help you," Harry said gently as he placed the book in her hand.
Hermione shook her head. "No. No, I have to put this back. This is all wrong. Nothing is in the right place."
"Let me help," Harry said.
"So tired," murmured Hermione suddenly as she sat down on the floor.
Harry watched as another set of books fell into a heap. He was having a hard time following as Hermione's logic broke down.
"I can't…you were right. I'm not good enough, Harry. I don't want to fight anymore."
`Join me Hermione. Join me and be a part of my strength.'
The words seemed to float on air.
"No!" cried Harry as he collapsed beside her, and took her hand in his. He was losing her…
***** ***** ***** *****
Ron watched warily as the ghostly spectre seemed to become more solid with each passing minute. He glanced back behind him and noticed that Hermione looked grey, and Harry was slumped on the floor beside her, looking just as drained as she was. He didn't know what was happening in there, but he did know he would protect them both until the end.
He watched in morbid fascination as the spectre looked around, taking in all the details of the room. Ron could hardly see through him now, he was much more solid than Ron preferred him to be. Their eyes met and Ron shuddered.
A slow smile crossed the ghostly face as he took in Ron's protective stance.
"Have we had the pleasure?" He asked. "I don't believe that we have met before."
"N…no," Ron stammered before he took a deep breath and stood up straighter.
Tom stood looking at him expectantly.
"Just keep your distance," Ron warned.
"Come come now, I am merely trying to make your acquaintance."
"You've already made one too many," Ron growled.
Tom looked past him to the pale figure on the bed.
"Hermione? Yes, lovely girl, quite a strong spirit. Very protective too, of some fellow named Harry. Wouldn't let me see anything to do with him. Are you Harry?"
`That's our girl…' thought Ron.
"No," he answered, refusing to say any more.
"Ah! Must be the bespectacled one I ran across. He too has a strong spirit."
"What did you do to Harry?" Ron asked.
"Nothing yet, one thing at a time. I'm just keeping him busy right now while I… strengthen," he smiled slowly. "Two for the price of one. I didn't think it would be this easy."
As his words sunk in, Ron turned and looked at his friends. Harry seemed to be shrinking before him and Hermione already looked dead. He could hardly see the rise and fall of her chest. He reached out and squeezed Harry's shoulder, trying to give him the strength he needed to fight. He saw a movement out of the corner of his eye and whipped his wand around to point it at Tom.
"I said stay back," he growled.
Tom stopped and smiled again. "I can wait," he said, and took a deep breath. "But I won't have to wait for much longer."
`Hurry, Harry,' Ron thought as forcefully as he could.
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