A/N
Hey guys I'm back. I'm restarting Fanfiction as I kinda burned myself out of it last time. This is a story I really want to finish and plan to. However, at least until finals or over, updates will be sporadic. Anyway, favorite book and favorite anime X over because why not. Also looking for a beta – also looking for how beta'ing actually works
Oh and I own nothing, it's all JK's
Albus Dumbledore put a light hand on the troubled young man – attempting to usher him out of his – now slightly tarnished – office. The young man in front of him as none other than the-boy-who-lived, although he currently looked like the-boy-with-far-to-much-on-his-plate. Harry looked like a perfect representation of grief – shoulders slouched, legs slightly shaken, blank look on his face, and a storm of emotion flashing through his teary, emerald eyes. He took very shaky steps in the general direction of the exit to Dumbledore's office, using the old wizards hand for guidance. Dumbledore looked at him – sharing in the young boy's angst. There was a lot to think about in the upcoming hours of the night, but getting Harry to rest and properly began his grieving was of the upmost importance at this current moment.
Once the two were outside the office, Dumbledore snuck one more glance at Harry before telling him to return to the hospital wing – and what his saw both shocked and terrified him. In hindsight, it probably shouldn't have been surprising, it was only a natural response to the events that transpired. Within Harry's eyes was the look of grief and suffering – which he wholly expected – but along with those emotions was fear.
Fear
That was what scared him, and he contemplated this while he busied himself fixing his office from Harry's earlier rage. Dumbledore wasn't stupid – he knew he didn't have much more than five years before his old age would be his death if Voldemort and his followers didn't get him first. At that point he expected Harry to take over the role of the leader of light – and defeat Voldemort. Only now did he realize, Harry was a child, not a brilliant wizard with over a hundred years of experience – but a young boy who only knew about the wizarding world for five years. No ready to lead an army, hell he wasn't even ready for some of his OWL's.
Fear
Harry was scared of Voldemort – that alone could be enough to cause the light to lose the war. Harry can't lead, much less fight, against a force he's afraid of. Dumbledore just assumed Harry – being a Gryffindor and what not – would be brave enough to take all the responsibility unwillingly heaped on his now slouched shoulder. Dumbledore quickly reasoned if he died now, next year, or even five years down the road – if things stood as they did -Voldemort would win easily. That had to be avoided at all cost.
Office now repaired, Dumbledore poured himself a glass of a particularly strong brandy and began to drink while continuing to think.
He quickly reasoned through his current options. Dumbledore could personally train Harry; it was possible that after a year of DADA instruction with himself, Harry would learn so many advance spells and proper dueling techniques that his confidence in his own ability would outmatch his fear of Voldemort.
He quickly abandoned such an idea – with all his other duties, as well as the horcrux hunting he planned to start this summer, he'd have no time to teach Harry. Harry also had to focus on his other classes because, while DADA would be most important skill to defeat Voldemort, it wouldn't be the only one he'd need. Dumbledore was certain Harry would need knowledge from his other classes combined with his skill in DADA to actually defeat the dark lord.
His next plan was an all-out attack on the death eaters and Voldemort. This idea quickly fell short as well. Not only did he not know of their location – but he'd have to bring Harry if he wanted to kill Voldemort according to the prophecy – and the battle at the ministry showed proof that Harry wasn't ready for such a confrontation.
Pouring more bandy into his now empty glass, he continued trying to formulate a plan. He needed to find some way to get rid of the fear in Harry's heart. After thirty more minutes, and five more glasses of brandy – he had yet to figure out a way to do so. Admitting his old age had likely left him disconnected from the emotion of youth, he decided a younger opinion would be necessary. Summoning the only man in Hogwarts he'd trust with the nature of this conversation – he summoned Severus Snape to his office.
Snape arrived not five minutes later – draped in a black robe with his pale skin contrasting heavily to the colorful nature of the headmaster's office. He stopped in front of the headmaster's desk and waited to spoken to.
"Sorry to interrupt your evening Severus, you've no doubt been busy – unfortunately I desperately need you input. Please be seated." Dumbledore courtesy addressed Snape, who dully nodded and obeyed – mildly curious as to why he was called to Dumbledore's office.
Dumbledore sighed before he began, "You no doubt have been made aware of the battle at the ministry from Voldemort, correct?" Dumbledore waited for Snape nod. Snape had been summoned along with the rest of the death eater's not 10 minutes after the battle. After nodding, Dumbledore continued.
"I'll be blunt, Harry was scared, terrified, at the conclusion of tonight's events."
"As to be expected." Severus responded curtly. Dumbledore winced slightly – was he the only one that expected differently?
"Well, yes, but surly you see how this can be problematic. Harry cannot defeat an enemy he is to terrified to face." Dumbledore continued.
"I'm not undervaluing the importance of this news, but I fail to see how I, if I even wanted to, can help the Potter spawn with this particular issue." Snape responded.
"Come now Severus, you are as much a master of occlumency as I am – therefore you have a substantial amount of understanding of human emotion. More than likely better understanding than even me – I feel my old age has hurt my grasp on said emotions; especially amongst youth."
Snape sighed, knowing where this conversation was going. He hated being in the same room as the James Potter look alike – much less helping him; but if he was going to continue being a double spy he was going to have to help the boy, again. As if those occlumency 'lessons' weren't enough.
"You want me to get rid of the fear the Potter brat has, correct?" Snape asked, already knowing the answer. After Dumbledore nodded he continued.
"The best way to do something like that is to replace the undesirable emotion, fear, with a more powerful emotion."
Dumbledore perked up, "So you mean something like love?" Dumbledore had always theorized the power the dark lord know not was love, and this would further prove that theory.
"While that would typically work – it's not going to this time." Dumbledore waited for him to continue.
"I meant to report this tomorrow – but the Dark lord wants to end this war quickly, very quickly. He's planning a huge attack as soon as next week before the ministry can properly prepare for war. With Fudge denying the dark lord for the last year, the funding for Auror training is minuscule at best. The dark lord feels if he strikes before they can beef up their numbers - he can win before we even start, He's not incorrect either, if the plan goes as he predicts, this war is over.
As it pertains to Harry, he's going to need to be able to kill Voldemort in a week's time. Needless to say one week isn't enough for him to truly fall in love. Of course I could give him a love potion, but then I fear he'd be too distracted to do much dueling." Snape said the last with a small mental smile.
Dumbledore took a moment to think through all this information before responding.
"Should we not warn the ministry about said plan?" Dumbledore finally answered.
Snape shook his head. "Firstly, the ministry is already likely to start take heavy precaution – no matter what we tell them due to tonight's events. It would only raise question how they we got such information – which puts me in danger. Secondly, we don't know exactly when, where, or how he's going to attack yet."
The situation seemed to be growing more and more troubling. Dumbledore prayed it wasn't a severe as Severus made it seem.
"Are you certain the ministry is that badly equipped to handle such an attack?"
Snape nodded, "If the numbers we were able to ascertain from the insiders we have in the ministry is correct, then yes, even if the order was to interfere – Voldemort would win. Our only hope is to force their leader, the dark lord, to retreat. Meaning, we need Potter to not only be there, but be a serious threat to the Dark Lord's life so that he would run.
"But, if Potter is afraid as you say, we could be in serious trouble."
Dumbledore began to sweat slightly. This situation was dire, He had to somehow make potter overcome his fear, and make him competent enough to face Voldemort; and he only had a week to do it. He also had only a week to find all the Horcrux's, but he opted to focus on one problem at a time.
"I do have an idea" Snape said, interrupting Dumbledore's thoughts. "There are few emotions that can acquired in a week, and be strong enough to overpower the powerful grip fear has."
Snape paused for a second before continuing. "I feel, if we can anger Potter enough at the Dark Lord, we can use that anger as a weapon."
"Do you have some idea on how we're going to give Harry this anger?"
"A disguise – we disguise as a death eater and take the life of his friends."
"Severus!" Albus exclaimed, shocked. Snape seed unfazed.
"Please, headmaster. You preach the 'greater good' correct? What are a few lives if it gives Potter the anger he needs to save the whole world." Snape stated coldly. Luckily, Dumbledore was able to think of a reason aside for morality to not go with such a plan of action.
"You must have been unaware, Harry attempted use his anger to channel the Cruciatus curse a Bellatrix, who had recently killed his godfather. If that didn't give enough anger, I doubt us killing his friends would do more but put the boy in irreversible depression."
Snape contemplated this information for a while before giving an even more sinister plan.
"What if we force Potter to kill them himself."
"What?" Dumbledore questioned – a thousand thoughts going through his head – none of them expecting the outcome of Snape's idea being good.
"A game. You are aware of future parchments, correct?" Snape asked.
Dumbledore nodded. They were an ancient form of divination. It showed the next ten action a person would take. They were even advanced enough to where if you changed your actions based on what you read – the worlds on the parchment would change as well. The ministry banned – and supposedly burned all of them – figuring that kind of power could give one person far too much power. They've been reduced to nothing more than ideas for wizards writing a novel.
"Why are you bringing those up a time like this?" Dumbledore questioned.
"I recently read a rather dark novel with these as the focus – I believe the affects the game played within the novel will be exactly what we need to turn Potter into a ticking time bomb of anger – waiting for us to activate on the dark lord."
Dumbledore was now deeply intrigued, and thus gestured for Severus to explain.
"In short summary – there were 12 wizards. Each had a week to live unless all other participants were killed. They used these future parchments to attempt to outwit and kill one another. In the end it came down to two wizards, who were best friends – and one was forced to kill the other.
"I suggest we make it look like a death eater is forcing him to play this game. Forced to kill friends, enemies, and innocents alike will likely drive the boy partially insane due to his nature, but entirely angry." Snape concluded.
"And if Harry decides not to kill – and is killed in this little game." Dumbledore retorted.
"Easy to counter. We remind Potter he is the only hope for the entire wizarding world – and must win the game – he's to righteous to sacrifice the entire world because he won't kill. We can further incentivize him by having the safety of all those in Hogwarts in question."
"And how do we prevent him from coming to the ministry of magic, or one of his professors?" Dumbledore asked, still trying to counter this plan.
"The death eater reports he monitors what the future parchments say – and if he sees you going to an adult, he'll kill."
"How can we be sure Harry will win?"
"You headmaster – watch out for him, don't be overt in helping him, but be sure to manipulate the variables you can."
"What about future parchments, they are rare if not extinct now."
"I happen to have one – I'm certain you can make copies. Believe me when I say that parchment has kept me out of possible trouble with the dark lord multiple times." Snape responded cryptically.
After a few seconds Dumbledore answered "Give me the full plan, then I'll decide if we should act on it. I don't like the idea of turning Harry into a psychopath but…"
"The greater good." Snape finished
Dumbledore nodded carefully and the two continued their discussion well into the night.
Harry took in his surroundings – horrified. He appeared to be at the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, the darkness of the forest emphasized by the moonless night. He quickly wondered how he was able to see anything until he realized he was casting a lumos spell. The forest itself was scary enough – but the sight in front of him wouldn't be one he'd forget easily.
Hermione Granger – Harry's best friend and constantly revered as a 'know-it-all' was kneeling beside a bruised body of a rather fit boy. He seemed to be breathing heavily, as if breathing was the hardest thing to do in the world. Hermione was looking at the boy – and was the personification of insane.
Her body was ragged, shaking slightly, and her clothes were torn in various areas; so much so it was a wonder that they once were Hogwarts robes. Blood that didn't appear to be hers was haphazardly splashed on her torso and arms, her hands drenched in the substance. A single string of blood trickled down her feverishly pale cheek. Her face was sweaty and her unruly brown hair stuck to her forehead haphazardly. Her eyes bulged, size increased as if she were in a permanent state of shock. The only thing to convince Harry she wasn't was her dilated pupils and wide, toothy grin.
Upon closer inspection, she was holding knife in one of her blood covered hands, which was located at one of the boy's legs. Harry carefully moved his lit wand to see the boy's leg, or at least what were legs at one point. It seemed as if Hermione had simply gone crazy with the knife, stabbing at random on various areas of his leg. None of the skin was visible under the layer of blood, the only thing 'visible' was a bit of white just below the knee that harry guessed was the bone. He then flinched when he saw Hermione raise her knife, as if to stab the poor boy one more time.
For some reason of another, she didn't carry through with the action, she simply tossed her knife away and pulled out her wand. She blankly stared at it for a few moments before she began to chuckle. That chuckle slowly progressed to a giggle which progressed to laughter. It was honestly the scariest thing Harry had ever seen.
Hermione laugh sounded so unnatural, so out place, so…insane. It was if she heard the most sinister joke and was unable to control her laughter at the joke. Harry was about to ask if she was okay when she spoke in a voice that was completely out of place.
"I… I have to protect harry. You got through my blind spot to try and hurt him… my Harry… Eye for an eye right? You go through my blind spot so I make sure I give you a blind spot… permanently." She said the last word just above a whisper. The rest of the time she sounded…normal – too normal. The strangest part was how it seemed like she was talking more to herself than the boy on the ground.
Harry was brought from his musing as he watched her straddle the boy's chest. He heard the boy scream out in a language he believed to be Italian. The voice sounded familiar, but he couldn't quite put his finger on whose it was. He was about to step closer and attempt to find out who the boy was when he saw Hermione move again. She was bringing her arm back, this time holding nothing but her wand. She then brought the wand forward with all her strength – aimed at what Harry was able to guess was the eye.
The boy screamed.
"Wake up Harry!" Came the urgent voice of Hermione Granger, who had been shaking Harry for the last minute, trying to wake him up from whatever nightmare he was having. She was about to urge him to wake up one more time when his eyes shot open, his first sight being her worried hazel eyes.
Hermione hoped the caring gaze of a friend would help Harry calm down from whatever dream he was having – but it served to do the opposite. As soon as he laid eyes on her, he flinched so badly he fell out the side of his bed. Despite his bad vision – he was able to easily figure out who was sitting on the edge of his bed in the hospital wing, attempting to wake him up.
Upon falling to the ground Hermione let out a gasp of surprise and attempted to help Harry up. Unfortunately for her, the second she got close enough to grab he backed away from her on instinct. This finally caused Hermione to pause to consider his behavior. It seemed he was afraid of her, not the nightmare he just had. Or maybe the two were related. She looked at her best friend a confused and a little hurt. Harry meant quite a bit to her, she didn't know what she'd do if he suddenly was terrified of her. She tried to think of why he was reacting like this, but couldn't figure out why? This reaction had to relate to something either the headmaster said to Harry, or the nightmare he just had.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, carefully. She was now cautiously approaching Harry, who had scooted to the wall next to the bed. The scene was not unlike a trapped animal and the master cautiously approaching it.
"I – uh – sorry, I just…you know…nightmare." He said sheepishly. He no longer looked scared of her, but was certainly apprehensive. He steadily rose to his feet. Hermione grabbed his glasses and gave them to him.
Hermione gave him a chance to gather his wit about him and stand before she questioned him.
"What was the dream about, the way you reacted to it was… strange. It was almost like you were scared of me." Hermione asked, still holding a carful tone to her voice.
Harry mentally cursed himself for responding the way he did; it was no more than a dream. The real Hermione was here in front of him, not insane, not killing a boy. Reassuring himself of this fact, he calmed down and put that memory to the back of his mind.
"The dream… oh right, um well… you were in it and – I didn't like what I saw. That's probably why I reacted the way I did." Harry answered vaguely. Hermione noticed he was withholding information pertaining to the dream, but she didn't press him. Partly because it was Harry's business and he'd tell her if wanted her to know. Another part of her was afraid to know what her dream self did to Harry. It either involved her committing dark actions of lustful actions Hermione assumed, and she didn't like the idea of Harry seeing her do either.
"So, where is everyone else?" Harry asked, attempting to change the subject. Only now did he realize the hospital wing was empty minus the two of them, he didn't even see Madam Pomfrey, which was slightly strange.
"Well Ron is still in St. Mungo's, they're making sure those brains didn't cause any long term harm. Everyone else has already been cleared, so they went to breakfast. We still do have classes today so I doubt we'll see them until lunch." Hermione answered as both she and Harry sat down next to each other on Harry's hospital bed. The two of them both looked as if they'd seen better days. They had bruise marks and cuts spread every which way across their bodies, and their robes we're heavily wrinkled with tear here and there.
"Right, sometimes I forget we still have school after OWL's." Harry muttered. True enough they still had just over a week of school left – the day was Wednesday and school let out next Friday.
"So, how are you? You weren't cleared to go so there must be something wrong." Harry asked. Hermione bit her bottom lip a moment, presumably thinking.
"That's just it, I feel fine. Madam Pomfrey didn't even give me a reason why I had to stay." Hermione seemed deeply troubled with this. Harry didn't fault her, he himself was starting to get slightly wary. Usually when he woke up, she immediately checked on him – she certainly would have if she heard him fall to the ground like he did when awoken. She was either ignoring him or not in the Hospital Wing, and both seemed unlikely. Now she was forcing patients to satay without giving reason – there was something happening with Hogwarts nurse, and it didn't sit well with either of the two teens.
"Enough of me though Harry – I'm really worried about you. So, you know, how are you…coping?" Hermione asked changing the subject to one Harry didn't really want to address.
Harry didn't really know where to begin with trying to tell Hermione how he was feeling. He felt numb at the loss of his godfather. He couldn't even think about without a sharp feeling of dread spreading through his entire body. Accompanying that dread was the guilt that seemed to eat away at him – if he had listened to the girl next to him about the trap, Sirius would still be alive. He also felt anger – anger at himself, at Voldemort, and at Dumbledore. Sitting atop all these feelings was fear- fear that the dark lord would kill him, fear that he'd fail to save the world he called his home. Harry repeatedly opened and closed his mouth, trying to form his thoughts into cognizant words.
Harry didn't want to think about these feelings, these issues. He wanted to keep them bottle up, completely repressed. Unfortunately that bottle seemed to be under huge pressure – and the cork finally abruptly popped. Before he knew it, tears were freely flowing out of his eyes, into the shoulder of his best friend, who held him close.
Hermione was afraid Harry would keep his emotions to himself. That he'd keep them to himself and allow the grief to consume of him. She was relieved he was letting it all out, even if it gave her a rather wet shoulder and stiff body – a result from her rather uncomfortable position and Harry's near half an hour of sobbing. Some part of her continued to wonder about Pomfrey's lack of attendance.
Finally, after nearly forty minutes, Harry rose he head from her shoulder and took a shaky breath.
"Thank you." He murmured, finally. Hermione did nothing more than smile at him. A beautiful smile that put a small one on Harry's face – despite how he was feeling. The two merely sat next to each other in comfortable silence, at one point their eyes met. Hermione's warm Hazel contrasting to Harry's cool Emerald. The two had just begun to lose themselves in the others gaze when a large bang coming out of nowhere broke them out of their somewhat hypnotic state.
Harry looked around to see the doors to the Hospital wing open and reveal a figure that made Harry's blood run cold. He immediately rose to his feet and pulled out his wand, anticipating the upcoming battle, Hermione doing the same, albeit responding a bit later than harry The figure was one they just saw last night, and was hoping they wouldn't have to see again for some time. They would be denied that luxury. In front of them was none other than a death eater.
Harry was in the process of yelling a curse when he felt a curse hit his back – causing him too immediately faint. Hermione followed the path of the curse to a corner, where she was able to make out a single figure in the corner of the room, hidden in the shadow. She attempted to look at the figure in close detail when a curse similar to the one that hit Harry hit her from behind. Cursing herself for forgetting about the death eater she turned her back to, she crumpled on the floor next to Harry, his unconscious face being the last thing she saw before slipping into darkness.
The two gentlemen dressed as death eaters quickly dispelled their disguises, leaving the form of Severus Snape and Albus Dumbledore, Snape being the one who was hidden in the corner. Pomfrey then stepped out of here personal office – where she and Albus had been talking for some time.
"You're sure this is necessary Albus?" The older woman asked while looking at the unmoving form of Harry and Hermione warily. The headmaster hadn't given her any real reason to why he took the action he did. He merely stated they were for the greater good. She and Dumbledore had been arguing for the last hour in her office – which is why Harry and Hermione didn't see her.
The argument had been going in circles – Pomfrey repeatedly stating she couldn't allow harm to come to those under here ward, Dumbledore repeating it was for the Greater good. The argument ended when the headmaster stated that not doing so could lead to the death of many if not all of the students in Hogwarts. Though still suspicious she allowed the headmaster to stun the two 5th years.
"I'm sure the headmaster has already informed you these actions taken are completely necessary for the survival of Hogwarts." Snape answered, cutting off Dumbledore. Pomfrey chose to ignore the potions master and looked at Dumbledore – expecting an answer. He, however, offered none and walked towards the two students who were currently lying on one another in a heap of unmoving body parts.
"Why are you doing this?" Pomfrey asked, voice beginning to sound desperate. Dumbledore continued to ignore her and laid hands on Harry's and Hermione's unmoving shoulders. It is common knowledge that all the wards, including the anti-apparition ward, were in control of the headmaster. As such Dumbledore was able to temporarily take down said ward and quickly disappeared with both students.
Pomfrey's eyes opened in shock at the action of the headmaster, so much so she didn't notice the potion master aim a spell at her. She faintly heard the incantation Obliviate, before her vision turned black. Said potions master then retreated the same way Dumbledore did. No one noticed the anti-apparition ward go down, or back up.
Harry woke up with his hands tied behind his back, the ropes pulling on his limbs much too hard for his comfort. He felt extremely thirsty and was unnaturally sweaty, as if he had something like the flu. He squinted into the darkness that surrounded him in an attempt to determine his location, not that it did him much good. There was no light within his sight, not that he could see particularly well currently, as his glasses were removed. Figuring struggling was better than nothing, he began to squirm in a fruitless attempt to rid himself of his bindings. After a solid thirty seconds he had nothing to show for his effort but more sore arms. Laying on his back and no easy way to get up now, he decided to wait; hoping whatever evil mastermind that did this would release him, or at least give him a glass of water.
Now having nothing to do but think, his thoughts retuned to the hospital wing. His first thoughts was how a death eater got into Hogwarts. He assumed it to either be a student, probably a Slytherin, or possibly even Snape – finally showing his true colors. Whoever it was, there purpose was obviously to distract him and let whoever hit him from behind do so. Harry was unsure if this was a small prank by school kids or a serious threat from a huge terrorist organization. The answer he'd get fit into neither of this categories.
Two torches lit on either side of him; he didn't even notice their presence before – likely due to the 'no glasses' thing. Their sudden lighting caused Harry no small start. Though that paled in comparison to the shock he got when Ginny Weasley of all people stepped out of the shadow, looking at him in an emotionless mask. Her brown eyes looked glazed and her robes were disheveled.
"G-Ginny?" Harry questioned, no willing to trust his blurred vision despite her being not a yard away from him.
'Ginny' laughed in response, though her laugh was not her own. It was much more dark and humorless. She sounded as if possessed.
"As if! She doesn't have the brains to pull of such a delicate operation, too bad for her – what she wouldn't do to get her little golden boy tied up in front of her." 'Ginny' answered, once again laughing a humorless laugh. Harry slightly blushed despite the situation. Despite the way she talked, this still looked very much like Ginny.
"Whoever you are – what do you want?" Harry asked, trying to sound angry, but failing to do so.
"Why to play a game of course." An evil smirk crossed her face before she pulled out a parchment. The parchment that would change his future, literally.
Yeah – future diary fans the future parchments will work nearly the same. Even if you didn't see future diaries you should have no problem keeping up with the story. Also future diary fans, I don't plan for the ending to be complete shit. Anyway Review, Follow, Favorite Hopefully I'll be able to update in two weeks, no promises.