Gathering Dark
A/N: New and Improved!
Another A/N: Reuploaded, but I've only edited it slightly for one line to be more in line with canon. Turns out Ginny was supposed to be in the library. Rather than change a bunch of stuff, I just put in a quick explanation for why she was suddenly at the Quidditch Pitch.
Part 1: Hermione
"Don't look at me like that, Hermione…I'll see you later," Harry assured them and he backed away, then turned around and clambered through the portrait hole. His muffled footstep receded, until she couldn't hear them anymore…until Harry was nothing more than a memory.
Hermione stared after him, mouth half open, and some small part of her wondering if she'd ever see him again.
"Hermione," she felt Ron squeeze her shoulder. "It's gonna be okay. He'll come back, I promise. Doesn't he always? Now, come on, do your coin thing."
Hermione nodded, smiling weakly. She began to rummage in her bag, while Ron sat by her, nervously tapping his foot. She saw him roll his eyes a little as she shoveled stacks of books out of her bag. She hadn't used the coin in forever, so it was at the very bottom somewhere.
"How do they all FIT?" he hissed after she took out her seventh book. She shushed him as she rooted in the corners of her now empty bag, and finally extracted the DA coin with a faint cry of triumph.
She slapped the Fake Galleon the table and it gleamed slightly.
Hermione whispered a spell and gave a complicated twirl of her wand. The coin became hot and glowed brightly, bathing her and Ron in yellow light. It dimmed to show the message: "Hrry nds u meet Ft Ldy", instead of serial number.
Hermione grabbed her bag and Ron's arm, hurrying him out the Portrait Hole. "Come on."
They stood out in the hall, and Hermione looked around furtively "Where's Ginny?" she asked.
"I met her when I went out to get some food from the kitchens a few minutes ago. She'd gotten sick of studying. She told me she was going to go flying to let off some steam and to tell Harry that's where he could find her," Ron said.
"Go find her, then, I'll wait here."
As soon as Ron disappeared from sight, Neville clambered out of the Portrait Hole.
"What's wrong?" he asked, round eyed with worry.
"Harry thinks something's going down tonight, he wants us to man Snape's office and the Room of Requirement," Hermione explained.
"Where is he?"
"He had to…go somewhere. Sorry, we're not supposed to tell," Hermione said apologetically. "The point is he thinks something's going to happen tonight while he's gone. Personally, I'm not convinced, but you know how Harry gets…"
Luna came sprinting up the corridor. "Is Harry being attacked by a Grebnack?"
"What's a-never mind," Hermione sighed, not wanting Luna to waste time explaining whatever new oddity was currently headlining the Quibbler. "Harry's gone; he just needs us to keep watch."
Ron arrived soon after, toting Ginny, who looked furious. "Harry is GONE? And he didn't say GOODBYE?"
"He'll be back, he told us to tell you goodbye," Hermione assured her.
Ron looked around. "Where're the rest?"
"I don't know," Hermione said anxiously. She whipped out the Marauders Map. "I solemnly swear I am up to no good."
"Hermione's been replaced by an evil duplicate!" Luna gasped.
"No, Luna, it's just the password," Ginny said soothingly.
"They're all still in their dormitories," Hermione said anxiously. "We'll have to just round them-oh no."
She scanned the map desperately, but there was no dot saying "Draco Malfoy" and with a jolt, she saw "Gregory Goyle" was outside the Room of Requirement.
"What's up?" Ron asked.
"Malfoy's in the room!" Hermione said tersely, feeling a bit panicked. Honestly, she couldn't see why Malfoy was going to put his supposed plan into action tonight. How would he know Dumbledore had gone? But it seemed awfully important to Harry, and Harry had really wanted them to do it…
"Harry thinks he's going to do something…for the Death Eaters." She held up her had as Neville opened his mouth in shock, Luna looked quite unfazed in contrast. "Harry wants us to guard him, as well as Snape, while he's gone. We have to act quickly. Who wants to guard Snape's office?"
There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at her like she had gone mad. Finally, Luna raised her hand. "I'll do it. I think the real reason Professor Snape is so odd is that there's a Rabnack Grease Fly sucking out his happiness through his hair."
"Okaaaay…anyone else?" Hermione asked. "Come on, we need two."
"He hates me," Ron pointed out.
"I'd rather take on a Manticore," Neville shivered.
"I called Snape a brainless git last week, so we're not on good terms," Ginny explained.
"How many points did you lose for that one?" Ron asked with mild interest.
"Fifty."
"Wow, he must have been in a good mood…"
"Well, SOMEONE has to go!" Hermione cried.
"Why not you?" Ron asked.
"ME? He hates me just as much as you, Ron!"
"Yeah, but you can pretend you want to bother him about homework or something," Ron rolled his eyes. "Like you did first year!"
"Yes, and if you remember, that worked out splendidly," Hermione snapped. The last thing she wanted was to have to question Snape about her nonexistent problems with his homework.
"C'mon, Hermione, we don't have much time," Ginny begged.
"I-I-oh, all right, I'll do it." Hermione grumbled. "Take the stupid Map."
She shoved it at Ron who grinned and said, "Thanks, Hermione. I'll do the next ungodly horrible task."
"You had better!" she snapped. "Now give everyone some Felix."
Ron took out the little bottle full of merrily bubbling gold potion.
"Harry wants us to use this lucky potion he won to…further our odds of success," Hermione told Neville and Luna, who looked mystified. Harry had said just to split the potion between her, Ron and Ginny, but they couldn't well tell Luna and Neville they didn't get to have any potion. After all, Neville and Luna would need some extra luck just as much, if something came up…
"That doesn't look like enough for five people," Neville pointed out.
"Well…Harry did say he wanted the three of us to split it…" she pointed at herself, Ron and Ginny, "but of course, now you're here we ought to-
"You three should split it," said Neville firmly. "That way it will last a few hours. It would run out in no time if we all had some. Right, Luna?"
Luna nodded.
"But-"
"Hermione, we don't have time to argue with them," Ron muttered.
"Oh, all right…." She sighed.
She conjured them three little glasses and Ron gave her and Ginny each a bit of potion. Hermione felt reluctant, like they were wasting it. Harry was probably in a life threatening situation right now, and he'd given this to them, when they were safe at the school.
Mostly to distract herself from worrying about Harry, Hermione downed her bit of potion hastily. Instantly, her anxieties about Harry vanished. He was going to be fine; he'd faced the likes of basilisks and Voldemort and come out all right! Meanwhile, here she was, boundlessly confident. The world was her oyster. Snape was nothing, she could handle him. She had luck on her side.
"The stuff is good," Ron said. "Well, we'd better go."
"Okay," They all split up, Hermione and Luna taking the long stairway to the dungeon. Despite the potion, Hermione still felt annoyed. As sure as she was everything would turn out all right, she'd prefer not to be watching Snape. Ron definitely owed her.
"Stop," Hermione held out a hand to stop Luna before they reached Snape's office. "We can't risk Snape hearing us. I'll need to cast a silencing spell."
"What about that one Harry and Ron are so fond of, that Muffliato one?" Luna asked vaguely.
Hermione wrinkled her nose. She didn't want to use that stupid Prince's spells, not to mention the Felix seemed to be telling her using it on Snape was a bad idea, though she had no idea why.
"No, I think it would be…better…to use an Advanced spell," she explained. "This one will make our voices and any sounds we make silent except to one person. Of course, I'll choose you to be able to hear me, and you'll choose me. That way we'll be able to talk without Snape hearing. We cast it on ourselves, so he shouldn't detect it."
"Okay," Luna said agreeably.
It was a very difficult spell for something that basically had the same effect as the simpler Muffliato, she admitted grudgingly to herself. Still, with Felix, Hermione was sure she could handle it.
"Think hard about how much you want me to hear you, and I'll do the same for you," she advised Luna.
She held out her wand, concentrating hard and muttered the incantation. Then, with a series of complicated wand movements, she pointed to Snape's office, then to Luna and herself. A kind of mist gathered over Luna and Hermione, and she felt a faint rushing in her ears, then it was over.
"It worked?" Luna asked.
"Only one way to find out," Hermione said nervously. She crept up to Snape's dusty office door.
"PROFESSOR!" She screamed at the top of her lungs. "ARE YOU IN THERE? I HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT OUR LAST ESSAY!"
She waited with baited breath. Snape's quill continued to scratch inside.
"Well, that settles it," Hermione said brightly and she sat outside the door. "I wish we had the Invisibility Cloak, but Harry had to take it."
Luna sat down across from her. "Where is Harry?" she asked curiously.
"I can't tell you," Hermione said apologetically. "He's on a mission."
"We never found a Crumple Horned Snorkack," Luna said suddenly.
Hermione was taken aback by this random turn in conversation. "What?"
"When we went to Sweden. Me and Dad. But I'm sure they exist."
"Oh…oh…well, if that's how you see it…" Hermione said. There was a few seconds silence. The Felix was niggling at her to say something to Luna. Suddenly, the words poured out of her mouth.
"Listen, Luna, I wanted to tell you, I'm sorry."
Luna looked surprised. Then again, she always looked surprised with those wide eyes of hers. "About the Snorkacks?"
"No! I'm sorry I was rude to you at first, when we met first you. I'm just…a very logical person, and I had a hard time accepting your ideas."
Luna was listening. Hermione had no idea why she was saying this, but the Felix urged her to continue.
"But in the hospital wing, when I was bored, I had time to think about it. I know what it feels like to be…left out. When I was in primary school with the Muggles, I was the strange one with funny ideas and people teased me. They were scared of me because I could make funny things happen when I was angry. They stole MY stuff as well. When I got my acceptance letter to Hogwarts, I believed it, right away, even before I had any proof. Well I suppose technically the magic I had done was a kind of proof…" she trailed off a bit. Luna was listening intently, so she went on.
"But…the point is, seeing as how there's magic in the world, I suppose lots of strange things are possible. I don't believe in, er, Crumple Horned Snorkacks or anything, but I can respect that you do. Just because we're different doesn't mean we can't be friends."
She stopped. Luna was beaming at her. "So, I guess, I'm sorry…"
"That's quite all right. I know my ideas are odd, even if they…if I do believe they are true. Those were very nice things to say. Thank you."
Hermione smiled back at her.
"People don't steal my stuff anymore, you know. I suppose it's because they know I'm friends with you lot. Or it could be because Ginny threatened to kill them. She does have a bit of a temper," Luna noted.
Hermione laughed. "Yes, that sounds like Ginny."
"The things always came back anyway, I told Harry that. I believe it was due to Blubbernelck Fairies."
Hermione didn't ask, but leaned against the wall, yawning and listening to Snape's quill scratch away. She wondered if Harry was right about Malfoy. She was used to being the one who was right a lot of the time, but that didn't mean Harry was always wrong. The evidence that Malfoy was a Death Eater was overwhelming...of course, Harry didn't believe her about his Prince being a nasty piece of work despite the overwhelming evidence there, so why should she believe him?
This thought gave her vindictive pleasure, but at the thought of Harry, she wondered how he was doing, if he was all right, what he was facing right now---but the Felix once again made her too confident to worry much and she slipped back into comfortable thought.
They sat there for ages and nothing happened except for the occasional conversation with Luna, like:
"Do you suppose Snape is a Vampire?"
"What? No, I don't think so, why do you ask?"
"He's very pale and looks like an overgrown bat."
"True enough. But he goes out in daylight and doesn't seem very active at night."
She listened again to the scratching. "Not to mention he doesn't have fangs."
"Dental treatment and sun repelling charms, obviously."
"I give up," Hermione sighed.
Or:
"Does Harry still want to be an Auror?" Luna asked suddenly.
"Yes."
"Even after what I told him about the Rotfang Conspiracy?"
"He plans to get the Aurors on the straight and narrow," Hermione said with a bit of a grin.
"Oh. Well good for him."
Or:
"You know, I also liked your Quidditch commentary," Hermione commented.
"Really?"
"I don't think McLaggen is possessed by and evil spirit though. I think he's just a troll. A perverted troll," she muttered the last part bitterly.
"I suppose. The clouds were nice that day," Luna said dreamily.
"Yes, they were. No one notices the clouds anymore."
"No, they don't."
Despite these bits of talk, Hermione grew bored. Snape didn't appear to have any plans to go to bed like a normal person. His quill was still scratching away even though they'd been there for hours.
Hermione was a bit nervous about the fact she had no idea if anything was going on upstairs, suddenly, the nervousness increased twofold and Hermione knew the Felix was wearing off. It was very late, and Hermione was about to suggest that possibly Harry was mistaken and they should call it a night, when suddenly Professor Flitwick, looking pale and not well at all, barreled past them into Snape's room.
Hermione and Luna jumped up in surprise. They heard some Professor Flitwick's squeaky voice crying "Severus! The Death Eaters are attacking! You have to come help!"
Suddenly there was a loud THUMP and then Snape came running out of the room. He looked around at them, blinked in surprise, but quickly recovered.
Without slowing down a bit he said sharply, "Professor Flitwick has passed out. Go take care of him," and then he was around the corner and gone in a split second.
Hermione and Luna looked at each other in panic, and then ran into the office. Professor Flitwick was indeed lying unconscious on the floor. There was a large bruise on his forehead, which Hermione assumed he must have gotten from the fight upstairs. She pulled out her wand and knelt beside the prone professor.
"Rennervate!"
Groggily, Flitwick opened his eyes. Luna and Hermione helped him up onto one of Snape's threadbare chairs.
"Professor! What's going on?" said Hermione anxiously.
"Death Eaters in the school…attacking…the Dark Mark…everyone's fighting…"
"The Dark Mark!" Hermione said, horrified. "Oh my God! Ron! And…and Ginny and Neville!"
"Come on," Luna cried and the two of them raced out of the office, leaving Professor Flitwick behind.
Hermione flew up the stairs, her heart pounding like a drum in pure panic. They heard bangs coming above them and raced to the top floor, where they found chaos.
Walls were cracked, plaster was falling in chunks from the ceiling, and paintings were torn and hanging crookedly off the walls. Bloody footprints marked the floor. Hermione immediately located Ron, who was against a wall, fighting a Death Eater. Ginny, was as staring down the hall after something. Neville was sprawled on the floor farther down, but he was clearly alive, as he was groaning miserably. The Death Eater fighting Ron appeared to be the only one there right now, though Hermione thought she saw the hem of a black cloak whip around the corner far away.
The Death Eater fighting Ron ran for it as well, and he tried to shoot a curse at Ron over his shoulder, but Hermione shouted "Impedimenta!" causing the Death Eater to have to duck to dodge the spell and forget about cursing Ron.
The Death Eater ran away from her, and she made to follow him, but Ron hailed her.
"Hermione!" Ron cried as Luna stared at the crack Hermione's spell had made in the plaster. "You're all right!"
"Yes, of course I am, I had no idea any of this was going on! Is anyone hurt? Did anyone die? Is Harry back yet?" she squealed.
"I thought I saw Harry. I don't know if anyone's-"
"BILL!" Hermione suddenly heard Ginny scream.
Ron and Hermione spun around. Tonks and Lupin were crowded around Bill, but Hermione could only tell it was him from the long red ponytail, his face was bloody and unrecognizable.
"Oh no," Ron rushed over looking sick.
"He'll be all right," Lupin said. "It doesn't look fatal. Let's get him to the hospital wing."
"I thought I saw Harry," Tonks said.
"I saw him," Ginny said. Her hands were shaking badly as she looked at her brother, but her voice was steady. "He ran out of the tower. He got a Death Eater off me and ran after the escaping ones."
"He WHAT?" Ron and Hermione said together.
"We've got to find him!" Ron said. He looked at Bill apprehensively, clearly not wanting to leave him.
"I'll do it. I saw where he went. You take care of Bill," Ginny said, turning away from her injured brother with obvious effort.
"But-"
"I'll be right back," Ginny said, and she ran out.
Ron looked completely lost. "Harry…Bill…"
"He'll be all right," said Hermione, though she felt utterly sick to her stomach. "They'll both be."
They followed Lupin and Tonks to the hospital wing.
They laid Bill out on a bed, where Madam Pomfrey checked him over.
"Fenrir Greyback got him," Lupin said grimly.
"He wasn't transformed!" Hermione cried, horror struck.
"No, he…" Lupin stopped looking out the window. "A fire!"
Hermione and Ron looked around. "Where?"
"No, it's just gone out," Lupin pointed at the window.
"That's Hagrid's hut!" Hermione gasped.
"He's all right, I can see him," Luna suddenly spoke up. Indeed, they could see the lumbering shape of Hagrid even from this far away.
Hermione felt like she was about to cry. "But where's Harry?"
Nobody answered her, but Ron looked immensely worried. Madame Pomfrey motioned for quiet as she tended to Bill. Ron watched her, unconsciously wringing his hands in nerves. Hermione rested her hand on his shoulder gently, her stomach heaving and heart pumping.
Five minutes later, just as Ron opened his mouth to say something, Ginny suddenly arrived, along with Harry.
Harry didn't look so good. His elbows were scraped up and a thick stream of blood dripping from his nostrils, and he had a couple bruises and a cut under his eye. But mostly, he looked pale. He was as white as a sheet, and he had a look in his eyes Hermione recognized. She called it "the dead look" She had seen it in the days after he came back from the graveyard, and in fifth year. It was like he had seen too much and that everything behind his eyes had shriveled up and died.
Hermione felt the overpowering urge to hug him and acted on it, he patted her on the back stiffly and she let go.
Ron gave him a weak smile, checking to make sure he was fine, and then turned his attention entirely to his brother.
"Are you all right, Harry?" Lupin asked anxiously.
"I'm fine, how's Bill?" Harry said, looking away. His voice was oddly strangled, as if he was holding something in.
Nobody answered. Harry surveyed him for a moment, then said, "Can't you fix him with a charm or something?"
"No charm will work on these. I've tried everything I know, but there's no cure for werewolf bites," Madam Pomfrey said grimly.
"But he wasn't bitten at full moon," said Ron in a strangled voice. "Greyback hadn't transformed, so surely Bill won't be a-a real-?"
Hermione listened to Lupin's explanation about how Bill might have some wolfish characteristics, looking from Bill, to Ron, to Harry, to Ginny and then back to Harry again. Something was wrong here… The dead look in Harry's eyes…the way Ginny was gripping Harry's hand so hard…their pallid faces… Then when Ron started talking angrily about Dumbledore curing Bill, she saw something in Harry's eyes shift, and Ginny close her eyes as though something had hit her across the face. Hermione felt her heart freeze-
"Ron-Dumbledore's dead," Ginny said quietly.
The world seemed to stop spinning. She looked at Harry and saw confirmation of this in his pained expression…and something died in her as well.