Wednesday 3rd November
Daniel Granger pushed his vacuum cleaner around the carpet in his living room, and he was pushing it in such a manner as though the carpet had done him a personal wrong. He was at home alone today while his wife covered a shift at their dental practice. So he was alone in the house when the doorbell rang;
He was a little surprised to see Director Bones, the very same one who had visited their house in the holidays, on his doorstep.
"Director Bones! This is an unexpected surprise. Please, come in. I doubt anything you are here to talk about is fit for the doorstep. Can I offer you a cup of tea?"
"That would be welcome, thank you," the Director accepted.
Daniel led the witch to the kitchen, then busied himself making the tea, "So what can I do for you today? Is this about Harry's case?"
Daniel almost wished he hadn't asked that last question. His daughter and his ward were attacked by an escaped convict, the head of the DMLE informed him that they had been so badly burned that even with the miraculous healing abilities the magical world had at their disposal, they were still in the hospital. He was comforted slightly by the fact that Director Bones' description of how they were during her interview; if they were out of bed and giving witness statements then they were well on the road to recovery.
However, the news of Director Bones' memory wipe, possibly not long after she had left this very home, had been rather disturbing, more so when he considered that all the paperwork she would have had about her side of the case seemed to have gone missing. And, the only reason that the convict had escaped was because the paper for the shift rotation at the wizard prison had also gone missing.
Daniel spent the next hour showing Bones the paperwork she had sent him and Emma and going over what Harry had said in his interview there the day after his birthday.
He thought about discussing his own investigations into the Dursley's but decided against it. Director Bones may not have much sway outside the Magical world, but she was still a cop. At least after a fashion. She probably wouldn't approve of his borderline illegal search of the papers on the Dursley's desk.
Now Daniel was on his own, again he had nothing to do but try and put how much he was worried out of his mind. But with his daughter and her boyfriend in hospital, and the fact that he would need to inform Emma when she got home, meant that he wasn't doing a very good job of putting his mind at ease.
As he put the vacuum cleaner away one thought he had struck him as particularly worrying. Had they taken Harry's papers while targeting the prison paperwork, or had they taken the prison paperwork while targeting Harry?
--- ϟϟϟ ---
Thursday 4th November
Madam Pomfrey had finally let Harry and Hermione out of the hospital wing on Thursday afternoon and they were headed back to the common room, just like they had a few days ago, "God, I don't remember there being this many stars this time last week," Harry grumbled loudly, as the two battered teens struggled up Hogwarts numerous stairs.
"We spent a week in bed Harry, so of course our muscles atrophied. Trust me, my legs are feeling it as much as yours."
He looked at her quizzically, "Atro- what! ?"
"Atro- phied means that your muscles get weaker from lack of use," Hermione replied.
"Oh...I didn't know there was a word for that."
The pair of them reached the portrait hole to the Gryffindor common room. They went up to the portrait to say the required password, only to find that instead of the fat lady that usually guarded the entranceway, there was a portrait of a knight sat astride a small Pony, "Who goes there! Speak your name and Quest!"
Hermione looked at Harry, puzzled. He just shrugged his shoulders and gestured for her to speak, "Um...Harry and I want to get into the common room."
"So seek ye entry to the sacred halls I am sworn to protect? Then speak ye the words of peaceful intent or be prepared to duel to the death!"
Harry was more than a little confused at the attitude and speech of the portrait but spoke the password so he could get into the common room, putting down the heavy bag of Hermione's books he was carrying.
"You seek to hoodwink me!? naive well have at ye," the knight drew his sword and started to swing it about, as if he was trying to hit Harry through his portrait, "Fear not young maiden, I shall save you from this brigand! Umph," the knight tried to step forward and strike at Harry only to get caught in the pony's reins, causing him to fall forward, landing flat on his face. He immediately jumped back up and began attempting to attack Harry again, "You think you have bested me?! I fight on!"
During all this, Hermione and Harry stood there with a dumbfounded look on their faces, watching the knight until the portrait hole opened and Neville stepped out, "Harry, Hermione!" Neville threw his arms around the two of them, "I was so worried. You faced off against Bellatrix, and then Madam Pomfrey wasn't letting anyone visit you and I-I thought…" it was at his point Neville realised that he was half-strangling Harry and Hermione in their prolonged hug. He quickly disentangled his limbs from around the two of them, "Uh...sorry, I didn't mean…uh sorry," his face was bright red from the show of affection.
"It's Ok Nev, we get it. I was just as worried when Harry first woke up," Hermione comforted him.
Neville looked at them both. Harry could see he wanted to ask what Hermione meant but was afraid he already knew the answer. Neville was saved from having to decide when Harry and Hermione's return to the common room was spotted by the rest of Gryffindor house.
A cheer rang out from everyone in the common room as Harry and Hermione were pulled into the room and swamped by the rest of their housemates. As visitors had been kept away from them during their stay in the hospital wing there where a lot of rumours around what had happened.
Some said that Harry and Hermione had gone looking for LeStrange and that was why they weren't at dinner. Some had thought that LeStrange had kidnapped them earlier in the day, and that was why they weren't seen all day. Some thought that Harry had killed the crazy Azkaban escapee in one of the most epic duels of the ages. while some were surprised to see Harry and Hermione alive, having heard that they had burned to death.
Harry and Hermione were pressed into telling and retelling the story from their point of view over and over again. And while Harry considered his spell work in the duel amateurish and ineffective, but listening to their fellow lion's, you would think it was a contest to rival the legendary duel between Dumbledore and Grindelwald.
They finally got a break when the rest of the Gryffindor Quidditch team walked through the portrait hole, and with them, the two people that Harry and Hermione considered the real heroes: Fred and George Weasley.
Hermione did something that she hadn't done for anyone except Harry and Neville for a long while. She ran up to the twins and threw her arms around them, hugging them both even though she was a lot smaller than the two of them, "Thankyouthankyouthankyou! Idon'tknowwhatwould'vehappenedifyouhadn'tcomewhenyoudid," she said this all very quickly and in one breath, her face getting redder and redder as she spoke.
The twins where a little taken aback to suddenly have a lot of bushy brown hair attacking them but they quickly realised who and what was happening.
"You need to calm down Hermione," the twin on Hermione's left said. She couldn't tell them apart so she didn't know who was talking.
"Yeah, my less intelligent brother here can't understand you when you talk so fast," grinned the other twin.
"And my less good looking brother is not used to pretty girls running up and hugging him." Hermione couldn't help but start laughing as the two twins bantered back and forth.
"I just wanted to say thank you. If the two of you hadn't come along when you did, I hate to think of how much worse it could have been," Hermione kept on thanking them.
Harry watched as his girlfriend gave the twins one of her bone-crushing hugs. Harry had had lighter hugs from Hagrid than some of the hugs Hermione could give. He didn't know how she pulled them off, she didn't appear like she would be that strong. He had considered asking her once or twice but was afraid to make her self-conscious. He really loved her hugs after all.
"Hermione is right guys, if the two of you had come along and pulled your hero routine, I'm not sure either of us would have survived. Thank you, you really saved our asses."
--- ϟϟϟ ---
Hermione was watching Harry as LeStrange hit him again and again with that curse, that same bolt of light causing her boyfriend immense pain over and over. She heard Bellatrix's crazed voice, happily cackling as she inflicted this pain onto Harry, "This time, I don't care if you scream Potter. I'm just going to hurt you. Again, and again, and again. Hurt you until your little fragile mind breaks. Until your nothing, nothing but a mindless shell of a person, just like the precious Longbottoms."
"Crucio!" She giggled as she watched Harry's body writhe in pain. But he was silent.
"Crucio!" She began to laugh as his body spasmed and twitched involuntarily. And still, he did not scream.
"CRUCIO!" She laughed maniacally, wholeheartedly, finding happiness and pleasure through Harry's pain. But his mouth was tightly shut. He did not scream, or cry, or beg for a release from the pain.
Hermione was trying to get to him, but she couldn't move; she was frozen to the spot, forced to watch the torture of her boyfriend. There was nothing she could do, nothing but watch on in absolute horror as Harry was hit, again and again, taking the brunt of Bellatrix's rage and anger.
She could feel her blood racing as she tried to move, tried to fight, tried to do anything to stop the crazy witch from hurting her Harry. Then she was suddenly plunged into darkness, a weight pressing down on her. She tried to shift it, she had to get to Harry, she had to save him before LeStrange killed him. Or worse, broke him. There wasn't a lot of time left.
"Hermione! Calm down!" she heard a voice speaking, to her, it seemed. It didn't matter. All that mattered was stopping Bellatrix, saving Harry, protecting him. She didn't have time to be calm, she had to get to her Harry.
"Hermione, you're having a nightmare. It's Ok, calm down!" Hermione then recognised the voice as Lily Moon, one of her dorm mates. But…Lily wasn't there when she and Harry were attacked.
"Lily? What?" Hermione was confused and frightened, she needed to find Harry, to hold him, to know that he was safe.
"It's just a nightmare, Hermione. Here, let me help you, you got yourself all tangled in your blankets." She suited action to her words and soon Hermione was sat on the side of her bed, not paying attention to her surroundings, her mind still focused on the thought that Harry was in danger. She blinked twice, before looking around, seeing the comforting and familiar environment of her dormitory, her panic fading, but still there. It was now joined by embarrassment as Hermione imagined that she must've been quite loud in her nightmare, "I-I'm sorry for waking you Lily, but thanks for waking me up."
Lilly shook her head, "You didn't wake me up, too much pumpkin juice before bed woke me. Also, don't be silly, after what happened you are entitled to a few bad dreams. Now, I need to go take care of the pumpkin juice, will you be OK till I get back?"
Hermione nodded, "I'll be fine, I just need to remake my bed."
With that Lily smiled warmly at Hermione and left to take care of her call of nature. Hermione straightened her sheets and blankets, she had made a right mess of them in her thrashing about just after she had awoken. By the time she was finished, Lily was back from the bathroom.
"Will you be OK now?"
Hermione gave the girl a small smile, "Yeah, I think I will be. Thanks again, Lily."
"No problem. You gonna try and get some more sleep?"
Hermione thought for a few seconds, then went and grabbed her bathrobe, "I just need to go check on Harry first. I know it's silly, but in my nightmare…"
Lily stopped her before she could recount what she'd seen, both in real life and in her nightmares, "I get it. Don't worry. Night, Hermione."
"Night, Lily" Lily gave Hermione a wave as she headed back to her own four-poster bed. Hermione slipped out of her dorm, her bare feet barely made any sound at all on the stone steps as she crept down to the common room.
The common room was empty as she crossed from the girls' staircase to the boys' once. The room was lit only by a few dying embers in the fireplace. At the sight of them, a shiver ran down Hermione's spine and the hairs on her tail stood on end, but she ignored it as she reached the steps that lead to Harry's dorm.
Her way up these stairs was just as quiet as the way down from hers, only this time her feet started to complain about her lack of slippers, the freezing stone slabs making her feet ache and tremble. She found the door to the room Harry shared with some of the third year boys and opened it as quickly as she could. As soon as the door was open Hermione wondered why she had bothered being quiet at all, with how loud the snoring was.
'And I thought Fay could snore,' Hermione thought to herself.
She made her way along the beds, most of them having their curtains drawn. Probably a defence against the chainsaw Ronald was running in his nose. Hermione couldn't see Harry amongst the beds with open curtains and wondered how she would find him. She didn't want to open the curtains at random, it would be an invasion of privacy, besides, she didn't know what she would see. She looked around for something of Harry's to indicate which bed was his. Her eyes fell on Harry's trunk at the foot of one of the beds.
When Hermione peeked through the curtain she found Harry. Her heart leapt as she saw him, judging by how restless he was, he was obviously having a nightmare of his own. She made up her mind, then she slipped past the curtain and out of her robe, letting it fall on the floor. She then crept into the bed next to him.
"Mione?" Harry hadn't awoken, not fully, so she just whispered to him, "Yes, Harry, it's me. It's OK, now go back to sleep."
Harry, who had spent the last few nights sharing a hospital bed with Hermione, just accepted it and went back to sleep, unconsciously shifting up to make room for her. She snuggled against Harry and they both slept a lot better for the rest of the night.
--- ϟϟϟ ---
Saturday 6th November
"And here we have it folks, the opening game of the 1993-94 Hogwarts Inter-house Quidditch Cup.
Opening for the Hufflepuff team we have Smith, Macavoy, and Applebee playing for the Quaffle, Fleet guarding the rings, Rickett and O'Flaherty are holding the bats, and last we have Hufflepuff's Captain and Seeker, Cedric Diggory.
Will this be the team to take the Cup this year, or could it be the Lions of Gryffindor? We have Spinnet, Johnson and Bell, three of the best chasers Gryffindor has ever seen. We have Weasley and Weasley, the twins are almost like bludgers themselves, the way they shoot around the pitch. Guarding the rings against all comers, the Gryffindor's have Captain and Keeper Oliver Wood, and lastly, the Seeker who has never yet failed to catch the snitch in a game he's played in...the one the only Harry Potter!"
Harry felt his gut clench as his name was called out, walking down onto the pitch with the rest of the team. He was more nervous about this game than any, since his first-ever Quidditch match. He had spent so much time in the Hospital Wing, and with homework and his magical exhaustion, he hadn't flown in over a week. He was really worried how the 5% change in his magical ability would affect his flying. On top of that, the conditions for the game were not great. In fact, they sucked for him. While the heavy rain from earlier in the week had disappeared, a heavy mist had settled over the area, and without bright light to glint off the snitch, it would be a lot harder for him to find the snitch.
The two teams met at the middle of the pitch, where Madam Hooch was waiting, "OK you lot, I want a clean game, Captains, shake hands." Wood and Diggory stepped forward. While Diggory shook hands with Wood, his eyes never left Harry, as Diggory sized him up for the match, just as Harry did the exact same with him. Diggory was tall and well built, better suited to be a Beater than a Seeker, in Harry's opinion.
"Everyone mount your brooms." The two teams of seven followed Madam Hooch's orders as she let out the snitch and bludgers. The three balls shot into the air, getting ready for the game to begin.
"Let's have fun everyone. Three, two, one!" The quaffle was up in the air and the game began. Harry started circling the pitch as he looked for the snitch, hoping for a lucky break so that he could end the game quickly, but he wasn't that lucky.
" Bell takes the ball first. Smith tried to steal but Katie manages to keep position, " Harry could hear Lee Jordan's commentary of the match, and he listened to it with idle interest as he searched for the snitch,
"Bell makes her way down the pitch for an early shot at goal, but keeper Fleet manages to stop it. He passes the ball to Applebee, but the pass is intercepted by Spinnet. She tries to keep the ball and make her way to the scoring area...ooh! She's been hit by a bludger from Rickett, that looked like it hurt! Applebee catches up and takes the quaffle, she passes to Mcavoy. Mcavoy starts towards the Gryffindor end of the pitch, but is intercepted by Johnson. Johnson moves back to the Hufflepuff end of the pitch. She dodges a bludger by O'Flaherty, and Smith intercepts as she tries to pass to Spinnet. Smith passes to Mcavoy, who passes to Applebee. who tries to take on Wood. but wood saves. Smith picks up the loose quaffle and tries again for the goal but Wood is on rare form today. Wood passes to Spinnet, but it's intercepted by Mcavoy, who takes another shot at the right hoop," The Gryffindor stands went wild, "and that is the reason some say Wood is the best keeper Hogwarts has seen in years, fokes. Johnson accepts the pass from her Captain. Look at that girl fly. she dodges Applebe, Smith and that bludger. She takes a shot at the center hoop, and it's 10 - 0 to Gryffindor!"
If the Gryffindor stands had been loud at Wood's save, they were practically deafening now as they chanted a mix of "Johnson", "Gryffindor" and "first blood."
" Mcavoy picks up the quaffle on the restart, but soon loses it to Bell. Bell gets hit with a bludger and fumbles the ball, sorry I didn't see who hit it. Mcavoy picks up the lost quaffle and passes to Smith. Smith dodges a bludger from Weasley. Impossible to tell which one from here, but it let Spinnet catch up and steal the ball. Spinnet is in the scoring area, she shoots right, but it was a feint, and Fleet fell for it! It leaves the left hoop open, making the score 20 - 0 in favour of the Gryffindor team."
The stands went wild again with more students joining in this time as people from other houses got caught up in the game, even though their houses weren't even represented. It was mostly Ravenclaws, but there were a few Slytherins who were known as Quidditch nuts as well.
"Johnson takes the quaffle on the restart. Passes to Spinnet, who gets hit by a bludger from O'Flaherty. Mcavoy picks up the loose ball and avoids a tackle from Spinnet, who seems to have shaken off the effects of the bludger in record time. Mcavoy passes to Smith, and Smith tries to pass to Applebee, but Spinnet takes the quaffle in mid-flight."
Harry realised he had spent the last few minutes watching the match and not searching for the snitch. He looked around and checked on Diggory. Luckily the Hufflepuff Seeker was still looking for the snitch and hadn't found it while Harry was distracted. Harry sped off and started circling the pitch, hoping against hope to see the small glint of gold that would indicate the snitch. However, the heavy fog kept him from finding his target. There were even some moments where all Harry could see was white, billowing fog and only gravity told him which way was down.
He began to lose track of the game, only the occasional snippets of Lee's commentary reaching him through the thick fog. "50-30 to' Gryf-" The thick blanket of fog absorbed the rest of Lee's commentary, but it seemed that Gryffindor was ahead. Suddenly, a bludger came out of nowhere, headed directly for Harry. He dove to avoid the bludger and narrowly avoided hitting one of the Weasley twins, who came out of the fog pursuing the ball.
"Hey Harry," either Fred or George swung his bat at the bludger, sending it back into the fog, "How you holding up?"
Harry changed course so that he was flying next to twin he thought might be George, "I'm fine, but don't count on me catching the snitch. I can barely see anything in this fog."
"Diggory is in the same boat. Just hope you get lucky or we could be out here for quite some time," with that the twin darted off after the bludger.
The game was turning into a long slog. From the commentary, Harry knew they were neck and neck, with only 30 points in it. It seemed that this was a game destined to be decided by the snitch. Harry had all but given up on finding the snitch and instead was marking Diggory, hoping that being small and speedy would let him win the chase. Diggory had faked seeing the snitch and gone into a dive twice, only to pull up again when he was close to the ground in an attempt to throw Harry off, but Harry had a sharper turn than Diggory, his smaller mass able to shift direction with less effort.
Diggery was off again and Harry was right on his tail. They went up and up, Diggory pushing his broom to its limit. Harry couldn't see the snitch and he briefly wondered if Diggory was faking again.
Harry heard screaming in the distance. A woman's voice. Had someone be hit with a bludger? But Harry had seen the snitch and his team was counting on him. He pushed more power into his broom, willing it to go faster. He was soon neck and neck with Diggory and was closing in on the snitch a bit faster than his rival seeker.
There was more screaming, "No! Please, no! I'll do anything, please!" What was he doing? He should be trying to help the woman who was screaming. But what could he do?
He was just a worthless freak. He couldn't save her.
There were shape moving in the mist. Lots of them. Too many for both Quidditch teams combined. Before Harry could decide what to do, one of the shapes came flying out of the fog and Harry was confronted with the black, tattered and rotten cloak of a Dementor.
"No! Please, no! I'll do anything, please! Not Harry! Not my Harry!" was what he heard in his ear.
Then he blacked out.
--- ϟϟϟ ---
Harry was looking up at a red haired witch. He looked around the small sitting room they were in; it was decorated with some cheap muggle Halloween decorations, paper pumpkins and bats cut out with some orange and black streamers.
"It's getting late love," the voice came from somewhere behind the witch in front of Harry.
The witch turned her attention back to him, "Is that so? Is it getting late? Is it time for my little pumpkin to go to bed?" The witch picked him up and started to carry Harry upstairs.
They had gotten about halfway up when Harry heard that same man's voice again, this time a lot louder and a lot more panicked, "Son of a bitch! He betrayed us! Lily, run! It's him, I...I'll hold him off, keep Harry safe." Tears flooded the eyes of the red-haired witch as she started running up the stairs. They went through one of the three doors at the top of the stairs and found a nursery, the walls were blue with paintings of animals on them. The witch tried turning on the spot, as though that would do something.
The witch then pulled open a cupboard and threw the stuff in it all over the floor, "Where is it? Where is it? Yes!" She pulled out an amulet and put it around her neck, then held Harry so that the amulet was sandwiched between them, "Mischief managed," nothing happened, "Mischief managed! Mischief managed! Son of a bitch," then the witch grabbed a broom leaning against the wall and tried to open the window, but it wouldn't budge, "Fuck! Fuck! FUCK!"
She reached into her pocket, looking for something else, "Dammit, i left my wand downstairs. Accio wand! Accio wand!" She waved her hand as though it was a wand. She was trying to summon her wand.
There was a sound from downstairs, "AVADA KEDAVRA!" followed by a crash and a thump, then the sound of feet slowly coming up the stairs.
The witch turned Harry to face her, and despite the tears flowing down her face she tried to remain calm, "Harry, pumpkin, whatever happens, I want you to remember something, OK? Can you be a big boy and do that for mummy? You need to remember, whatever happens, that mummy loves you. I need you to remember that. I need you to remember that I love you more than the whole world. And whatever happens, mummy will always be there for you, OK? I promise mommy will always be with you, no matter what happens. I love you, Harry."
The door to the room burst open and Harry's mummy dove into the corner of the room with Harry pressed right into the corner as she shielded him from the intruder. Harry tried to see what was happening but his mummy wouldn't let him.
"Not even a wand...pathetic. Get out of the way girl."
"No! Please, no! I'll do anything please! Not Harry! Not my Harry!"
"You're pathetic! You worthless mudblood, just get out of my way and I'll spare you."
"No, I'm begging you, please take me, kill me, but please leave Harry alone."
"Thrice I ask...get out of my way!"
Mommy tears were making Harry's pumpkin costume wet. His mummy pulled him close for the tightest hug she had ever given him, "thrice I say and done. No. I'm sorry Harry. Remember, mummy lo-" she never got to finish those last words. The man who had followed Harry and his mummy into Harry's room shouted " AVADA KEDAVRA!" There was a lot of green light and his mummy had fallen down, silent and still.
Harry was scared now, mummy wasn't moving. Harry gripped her top and started pulling on it, "Mummy. Mummy up. Mummy up."
The man looked down at Harry, "I wonder what was so special about you? No matter." Then he waved his wand and shouted that same spell again, " AVADA KEDAVRA!"
The green light hit Harry right above his left eye. It hurt more than anything little Harry had ever experienced, then the green light hit the wall behind the scary man and the wall exploded. There was a lot of noise and there was dust in the air. The scary man was screaming, but Harry was in too much pain to be worried about that.
Harry began pulling on his mummy's top again. Between his tears, Harry was sounded like any toddler in pain, who just wanted his mother to make the pain go away, " Owie, mummy owie, mummy up, owie, mummy owie. Mummy up. Harry wants up."