Author's Note:
So this is the first chapter of what will hopefully be my first chaptered story.
Just a few of notes before you continue reading;
- HBP and DH books are disregarded in this story,
- The timeline of the events at the end of OOP happen a little bit earlier than what has been documented since the story is set at the end of fifth year so I've left about a month or more till the end of term,
- Finally this chapter has not been fully beta'd so forgive any mistakes I might have missed, I would also like to say that anyone who is willing to beta the story is welcome to PM me.
That should be all I have to say so without further ado here is the story I hope you enjoy it...
The Catalyst Effect
Chapter 1: Guilt
Sirius.
Dead.
Two words Harry never thought he would ever have to think about. En-route back to Hogwarts was probably his worst journey to date. Not only was his last chance at a real family gone, but a fair few of his extended family were seriously hurt, all because he fell for one of Voldemort's mind tricks.
'How could I have been so stupid? How could I not have known that it was a set up? The thing I was trying to prevent, happened, Sirius is dead and I am the cause of it,' he mentally berated himself. He had probably come out of that battle with only a few scrapes and maybe a broken rib or two, but his friends that had stood by him and risked their lives for him were a little worse for wear.
Hermione: one near death experience and an array of internal injuries (thanks to Dolohov); Ron: still severely disoriented from being attacked by giant brains and various nasty looking welts, from the same cause; Ginny: one broken ankle and completely covered from head to toe in serious cuts and rapidly purpling bruises; Neville: one broken nose and a sprained wrist, although that was from excessive wrist flourishing when casting defensive spells (even in the most dangerous and terrifying times Neville still managed to be clumsy); and finally Luna, whom he had met only a few months ago, risked her life to save someone she had never met before and had still done it with a slightly dreamy smile on her face. Now she just laid there, her face still, knocked unconscious by one of the Death Eaters (most likely Dolohov, the sadistic git he was). Madame Pomfrey had tried to heal her by magic however was unable to without extensive damage being done to her brain and other vital organs, so, with the aid of a few Dreamless Sleep potions injected into her, Madame Pomfrey was able to put her into a magically induced coma.
'This wouldn't have happened if I had made more of an effort to stop them from coming with me,' Harry thought.
'But then what?' the little voice of reason in his head retorted, 'Then you might be the one dead, and Voldemort would still be at large, but there wouldn't be anyone left with a means to kill him. Voldemort is dead now. Although good people were hurt, he can no longer hurt anyone else. One sacrifice to save the lives of many others.'
'I hope it stays at one sacrifice,' he thought back morosely.
Three Days Later...
Over the last couple of days the Hospital Wing was rapidly becoming the new dorm room for the injured members of the recently disbanded Dumbledore's Army. Madame Pomfrey insisted that they be kept and monitored for at least three days. She wanted to make sure there wasn't any leftover magical residue from all the Dark Magic they had faced which could have caused further problems. Madame Pomfrey found nothing, (as expected,) except for Luna. She was still in a coma, and was showing no signs of either improving or worsening, which was neither good nor bad.
"It's all my fault," asserted Harry as he slumped into an armchair in the Gryffindor Common Room.
"Harry you know it's not. Luna chose to come along knowing the risk. If anything it's Dolohov's fault. He was the one that resorted to physical violence when he knew that he didn't stand a chance against Luna. She is a great witch; you of all people should know that she has something special about her. She is not like everyone else. Isn't that what Dumbledore's Army was all about? Against all odds, we rise to the top, always fighting and never giving up," replied Hermione as she gave him a reassuring hug.
"You've got a point, I guess. But I just can't shake the feeling that she wouldn't be like this, and Sirius wouldn't be dead if it wasn't for me!" blurted Harry as he stepped out of her hug.
"Harry, look, how could you have possibly known that what you saw wasn't real? You saved Arthur Weasley's life because of one of your visions! Granted You-Know-Who..."
"Voldemort..." Harry corrected, trying to look smug and earning a scowl from Hermione. "Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself. You know that."
"Fine. Granted Voldemort had probably planned to lure you there, but that was only so he could get the prophecy. Not only did he not get it, but he is now dead, gone forever. We are free."
"Yeah, but that doesn't bring back Sirius, and I don't know about you but I don't see Luna joyfully skipping through the corridors."
Ron, seeing Hermione struggle, decided to chime in, "Look mate, obviously Hermione isn't trying to say that it had to end like this but it did. Now we have to look forward to the future rather than dwell on the past, because if we don't Voldemort will still have an effect on us allowing him to destroy our lives even beyond the grave."
"I get that. It's just I can't help it! This is easier for you guys to adjust to because Voldemort hasn't wanted you dead since before you were born."
"Harry James Potter, don't you dare say it is easier for us. The constant threat of death was looming over our heads as well, not just yours, and all because we were your friends. But did that stop us from sticking by you every step of the way? No. We were there constantly fighting by your side, so please for the sake of not embarrassing yourself, do not say that it is easier for us to adjust, because that is simply not true," snapped Hermione, clearly getting her confidence back.
"Look, I'm sorry if it seems that I don't care what you guys have done for me but I think I just need some time to myself. I'm going to see Luna," Harry replied sheepishly. He then turned and walked out of the Common Room, going back to the Hospital Wing, seeking a moment of solace with his silent companion.
"I guess we just have to give him some time to get used to this type of freedom," Ron said as he smiled awkwardly at Hermione.
"Yeah, I guess, I'm going to go find Ginny and see how she's doing. See you at dinner." She smiled back while turning and walking up to the Girls' Dormitory.
"See you..." he whispered back, then headed in the opposite direction to the Boys' Dormitory.
Harry wandered into the Hospital Wing secretly hoping to find the blonde patient sitting up and nattering away to herself as she was known to do, his hopes, however, were quashed when he saw her once again laying silently in the oversized bed.
Madame Pomfrey spotting the sombre young man exhaled deeply and whispered, "Mr Potter, I'm sorry but I can't allow you in here, visiting hours are over."
"Madame Pomfrey," Harry pleaded, "all I need are five minutes and I'll be out of your hair, I just needed to see her."
"Fine, make it quick and mention this to nobody," she retorted with her sincerest glare retreating back to her quaint office.
"Yes ma'am," replied Harry failing to conceal a small victorious smile.
He sat down in the seat positioned by Luna's bedside, a place he had frequently occupied since she had been admitted. Looking down upon her peaceful face he couldn't help but feel that she would have been better off not knowing him. However, even in her silent state he still felt that she was the only person in his world that truly understood him and his current emotional turmoil.
"I'm sorry Luna, I didn't mean for any of this to happen, especially not to you. Please just wake up, it will all be better if you wake up."
For some reason he sat there for a couple more seconds hoping for some miracle to suddenly occur. But knowing he was being ridiculous he got up and started to walk away.
"Harry?" That voice, the voice he had been craving to hear.
"Luna? Madame Pomfrey!"
"What is it boy?"
"It's Luna, she…she's awake!"
Harry couldn't stop himself from sounding awestruck he still believed that it was a dream that he would soon wake up from.
"Merlin's beard, I'm sorry Mr Potter but I'm going to have to ask you to leave for now while I attend to Miss Lovegood, you may return after dinner if you so wish."
Harry nodded and returned his gaze to Luna, "I'll be back to see you." Luna blinked in response showing that she understood. Relieved by this small gesture Harry sped off to the Great Hall oblivious to the protests of his fellow students whom he was knocking out of the way. He needed to tell his friends of the good news.
Hermione knocked on the door to Ginny's dorm room to no avail. 'She must have gone to dinner already, strange of her not to wait for me though,' Hermione pondered to herself, 'oh well I'm starving I won't wait any longer'.
As she made her way down to the Great Hall, Hermione found her mind wandering to the events of the past week. She still couldn't quite believe what her friends and she had been through, compared to the events of previous years this had been no comparison, but now there was no denying it, the war was definitely over enough people had witnessed the death of Voldemort that it was 100% undeniable…He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named/You-Know-Who/Voldemort whatever people wanted to call him…he was dead and could never come back.
'I know that he is gone but something still doesn't feel right,' she thought to herself, although she wanted to remain positive about it all she couldn't shake the feeling that all was not as good as it seemed.
"Look who it is, little Miss Mudblood"
'Speaking of bad things', "Ah Malfoy to what do I owe the pleasure."
"Pleasure, don't make me laugh Granger, you don't know the meaning of the word."
"Ugh you know what I meant, anyway I wouldn't be acting so cocky if I knew my father was rotting away in Azkaban."
"Don't you dare talk about my father like that," Draco uttered through gritted teeth.
"Aw what's the matter Malfoy, getting a little touchy aren't you, it's not like what I'm saying isn't the truth now is it," at this point Hermione made the effort to actually look at his face, and for the first time since she had unfortunately laid eyes on Malfoy at the beginning of first year it looked like he was actually feeling something. Hermione couldn't quite work out the expression on his face but at first thought he looked somewhat pained. 'That doesn't make sense, this is Malfoy, smug I'm-better-than-you Malfoy, he doesn't have feelings,' before she think any longer her stomach growled, 'I don't have time for this I'm starving.'
"Right Malfoy, if all you wanted to do was harass me well I'm sorry to disappoint but I've got places to be and food to be eating," with that she stepped around Malfoy and carried on to the Great Hall.
'I don't have time to waste fretting over Malfoy's emotions, right now there are more important things to worry about like dessert.'
As Ginny made her way to her friends at the Gryffindor table she could feel a pair of eyes following her, she glanced over her shoulder and scoured the Great Hall for who it could be but nothing seemed to be out of the ordinary, 'don't be silly Ginny, get a grip, there's nothing there you can stop looking over your shoulder.' She sat down at the table shaking the thought of staring eyes out of her mind.
"Hey is that Harry?" everyone at the table turned to look at what Hermione was pointing at, a mop of unkempt black hair was barrelling through the crowds of students towards the Gryffindor table.
"Guys!"
"Harry, slow down before you knock someone over," Ginny pushed a plate of food before him, "here have something to eat."
"Thanks," he replied while tucking into a spoonful of mashed potatoes, "Huha if alake."
"Would you mind saying that again, I don't think any of us speak pig," Hermione retorted, "well apart from Ron."
"Hey, that's not fair, but still could you repeat that I didn't quite catch the end - what's happened to Luna?"
"I said, Luna is awake, I'm going to go back to see her after dinner."
"Oh Harry that's brilliant, what did I say, she's a great witch and there was no doubt that she wouldn't wake up," Hermione said not being able to conceal the huge smile that adorned her face, 'I knew she'd be okay, still this foreboding feeling won't leave.'
"I know I know, I shouldn't have doubted her abilities, I'm just glad she's going to be okay."
"Yeah, we all are mate its great news and now that's everyone safe and sound," said Ron giving his best friend a reassuring pat on the back, "I've just realised something, we have nothing to worry about, it feels kind of weird don't you think, after five years of having Voldemort plotting to kill us all, the only thing we have to worry about now are Malfoy and his band of daft Death Eater wannabes."
"And our studies of course," added Hermione earning a kind-hearted scowl from Ron.
"Yeah I understand, it is a bit strange but I'm not complaining whatsoever," laughed Harry.
"Harry's right, we should enjoy this freedom for as long as we can and stop second guessing it because knowing our luck it won't last for much longer," Ginny concurred earning nods of agreement from everyone at the table.
Author's Note:
Right so that's the first chapter done, if you have enjoyed it please do not hesitate to leave a review - all feedback is welcome. I'm not really sure where I'm going to with this story but I'm interested to see where it takes me. Anyway as I say I hope you've enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next chapter, hopefully :)