A Touch of Destiny
On the doorstep of Number 4, Privet Drive sat a rather thin, bespectacled, 16 year old boy with messy black hair and a lightning bolt shaped scar on his forehead . who was this boy? he was none other than Harry Potter- soon to be savior of the Wizarding World. What was this unusual boy doing sitting on a very ordinary doorstep in a very ordinary neighborhood on a very ordinary day? well, he was thinking of none other than Hermione Granger. His best friend. The only one who was there with him through every thing. The first one to show him any affection what so ever.
"BOY! you've chores to do!" merely by the tone of voice Harry knew who had yelled. His uncle Vernon.
"I'm coming!" Harry bellowed right back. under his breath he added " I should've hexed him when I had the chance"
Harry was not yet seventeen, so he could not legally perform magic. That was probably the only thing stopping him from hexing the Dursleys all the way back into the stone-age.
"I'd like to see what Dudley would do without all his electronics" He whispered with a small smile at the thought as he walked into the spotless kitchen "What was that boy?" Aunt Petunia spat." Nothing, Nothing" Harry mumbled.
"Of course it was" Aunt Petunia replied sarcastically "Just do the dishes boy"
As Harry rolled back his oversized sleeves his thoughts once again returned to Hermione. As he started his work Harry said aloud " I wonder what she's doing."
Hermione's p.o.v.
"Mum, Dad! RUN!" Hermione Granger screamed in total desperation. Her family's vacation to Italy was supposed to be relaxing, right now, it was anything but. All she had wanted to do was go to the library and read now that she had mastered some Italian magic. unfortunately the Death Eaters had decided that nothing would ever be easy for her.
"Mum! Dad! c'mon, help get everyone out! I have to deal with the Death Eaters!" Hermione pleaded. Her parents finally turned and ran the other direction.
One of the Death Eaters separated himself from the rest of the group and said in a chillingly familiar voice "Well, well, well. Look what we have here. a fine young Mudblood"
He closed the distance between himself and Hermione and ran a cold hand down her cheek "yes. Very nice. I think we may have some fun with you before we end your miserable existence" Drawled the voice of Lucius Malfoy. His words chilled Hermione to the bone. She had heard stories about what the Death Eaters would do to the women they captured. Lucius continued speaking "Or, you could come with us and serve the Dark Lord, He is greatly interested in that magic you learned"
"Never." Hermione snarled. She whipped out her wand and started throwing every curse she knew at the group of Death Eaters as she turned on her heel and sprinted to the exit.
"Stupefy!"
Streaks of red light began sailing through the air around Hermione. She turned around to make a stand but as soon as she moved Lucius Malfoy took advantage and sent a stunner right at Hermione and sent her flying straight into one of the massive bookcases that the library held.
As Hermione fell to the ground, several large books came down on top of her. The party of Death Eaters laughed at her obvious pain.
Lucius sneered down at her. "you think that's pain." He turned to the other Death Eaters "I think it's time we gave this mudblood a little lesson."
Hermione's chocolate colored eyes widened as she saw each of the death eaters raise their wands. Because of the books piled on top of her Hermione couldn't move. Lucius led the Death Eaters as they all yelled as one "Crucio"
Hermione's piercing screams filled the vast library and she saw the Death Eaters laughing before everything went black.
Harry Potter was fast asleep in Privet Drive as a group of four members of the Order of the Phoenix were revealed as disillusionment charms were removed. the party moved into the light and was thrown into view.
One man was gruff and battle worn, with one electric blue magical eye whizzing around and the other, a watery brown. One was a tall, bald dark-skinned man who seemed to radiate power. yet another man was in view, tired looking, and badly scared and that appeared to hold a heavy burden. The fourth was a young woman with bubble gum pink hair.
"Alright, Remus, Tonks, Kingsley. you know what to do." the gruff looking man growled.
It was Tonks, the pink haired woman who spoke next, "Relax Mad-Eye. We aren't storming You-Know-Who's headquarters. We are simply taking Harry. we don't need a battle plan every time we have to go somewhere."
Mad-Eye turned to glare at her "Do the words Constant Vigilance mean nothing to you?" Tonks rolled her eyes.
"Are we going to get Harry out of there or are we going to argue all night?" said Kingsley in his deep, soothing voice. "Mind, he won't be too happy when he finds out why he is leaving so early." added Remus. Together they walked up to the door and rang the doorbell.
"WHO THE BLOODY HELL HAS THE NERVE TO COME AT 2:30 IN THE MORNING!!" was heard ringing throughout the neighborhood.
Harry sat bolt upright in his bed as he heard his Uncle swearing as he came down the hall. He decided it would be best to accompany Uncle Vernon downstairs as to make sure who ever was calling did not meet a tragic demise on the doorstep.
As Uncle Vernon pulled open the door four figures were momentarily in view before Harry was tackled by something pink.
"Harry! it's so good to see you! we're here to take you away now" shrieked Tonks, waking up the rest of the Dursleys in the process. "umm, Tonks, I'm glad to see you too, but i kinda need some air" was heard somewhere underneath Tonks
a faint sorry was heard as Tonks released her killer grip. "Merlin, You are worse then 'Mione" muttered Harry. " Er, Harry," Remus's calm voice was heard " May we come in, we have a few things to discuss."
"Of course, come in" Harry said as he moved aside to let the newcomers in.
"Vernon? what is going on? who was at the door" Petunia asked from the top of the stairs. Uncle Vernon was just standing there opened mouth as the witch and four wizards walked past to the lounge.
Harry turned around "Now, whats going on? why are you here so early? usually you make me endure a month before you decide to take pity on me."
It was Remus who was elected to deliver the news. " Harry. Sit down , I am afraid we have some bad news" Harry complied.
" Do you know where Hermione was for the past week?" Harry shook his head and Remus continued "She took a family trip to Italy, where she stumbled upon some very deep, very old magic. Magic that hasn't been used for centuries, magic that Voldemort wanted."
At the last statement Harry's blood had gone cold and his normally pale face and gone completely white. "What happened to her?" He asked in a deathly calm voice, "will she be all right?"
Remus sighed," Harry, I think so, but she doesn't look good. She took at least 6 Cruciatus curses at the same time. She was found 3 days ago in a completely demolished library and she hasn't woken up yet. The death eaters who attacked Hermione probably couldn't find her in the wreckage, thats why they left her there. If we had found her any later she would have died"
Harry felt a powerful urge to destroy every single death eater alive. This urge, however, was overrun by an even more powerful desire to see Hermione. Harry felt as if he wasn't in control of his body.
he heard his voice ask, "will I be able to see her?" Tonks supplied the answer, " That's why we're here, Harry. Hermione is at headquarters. The healers want her to be as comfortable as possible when she wakes up." Harry merely nodded and went to collect his belongings. The four adults exchanged glances. As Harry walked back downstairs he murmured "alright, I'm ready, lets go"
A few hours later Harry landed on the doorstep of number 12 grimmauld place. As he entered the house he was surrounded by several people with flaming red hair.
"HARRY!"
Ginny Weasley removed herself from the group of Weasleys as she latched herself onto Harry's arm. "Hi Harry" her sickly sweet voice sent shivers down Harry's spine. "did you miss me Harry?" Ginny batted her eyelashes up at the boy she was hoping would be her ticket to fame and fortune.
"Where is Hermione?" Harry asked for what seemed like the tousandth time that night. Remus put a calming hand on Harry's bony shoulder. Fred and George who hadn't been outside when Harry had arrived came running out of the front door in a simultaneous burst of red.
"REMUS! MAD-EYE!, Hermione's heart rate is soaring" Fred yelled, while George as soon as his twin was finished speaking bellowed just as loudly "and shes starting to have a temperature. Sirius is still up there with her." Remus and Mad-eye ran inside the old house. Harry would have gone inside too if weren't for the 15 year old girl with make-up caked on hanging onto his arm cutting off his circulation.
"Ginny, let go, I want to see Hermione" Harry ordered, at that Ginny pouted "But, Harry, why do you have to take care of Hermione? I'm so much more important!" Ginny held up a hand that had a tiny red spot on it. "look Harry, I burned myself making your favorite treacle tart"
Harry glared at the red-haired girl "Ginny, come on, I HAVE to see 'Mione" Ginny scowled but finally let go of her grip on Harry. As soon as her grip lessened Harry began a mad dash to get inside. As soon as he reached the bottom of the large staircase Sirius Black appeared. "Harry! good to see you, cub!"
Harry looked up and took in his godfather's appearance. Sirius looked less gaunt and looked healthier, he had relented to Mrs. Weasley's wish to cut his hair so Sirius's hair was no longer matted. Sirius looked much more like the handsome young Marauder he was in school then the man Harry had met in the shrieking shack. Harry smiled at the thought that his godfather seemed to be doing well. "Hi, Sirius, how are you?"
Sirius smiled and said, "I'm doing good, cub, but you're not here for me are you?" Sirius grinned as he saw Harry blush. Sirius decided to spare the boy the hassle of asking the question he had been asking almost nonstop. "Come on, kiddo, she's upstairs"
Harry followed his godfather up the many floors of the house. As he reached the 4th floor Sirius turned and walked down the hall, Harry followed. What he found down the hall took his breath away.
Hermione, hisHermione, was covered in cuts and bruises she now had a scar on her arm that ran the length between her wrist and her elbow, her right arm and left legs were both in casts as the healers couldn't risk using magic until Hermione was in stable condition. Her face looked oddly peaceful, as though she was asleep, rather then in a coma.
Remus and Mad-Eye were standing next the window carefully monitoring Hermione's vital signs on monitors placed on a table next to her. Fred and George were sitting on the ground next to Hermione's bed, Harry found this fact rather unusual. Why were the twins here and not Ron? Sirius strode into the room and asked "How is she?" Remus grinned as he responded "I should be asking you that, you haven't left this room since she got here" Sirius smiled sheepishly back at him.
Harry walked over to where Hermione was. Everyone watched in astonishment as Harry took one of her hands in his and bent down to whisper in her ear "Hermione, love, come on, it's time to wake up now" The entire room was in awe as Hermiones fingers twitched slightly. Harry's smile lit up the room as he started to whisper in her ear again.
"Mione, come on, wake up now, you are in a safe place, everyone who cares about you is here. It's time to wake up."
Everyone held their breath as Hermiones eyes fluttered open, exposing her magnificent chocolate brown eyes. She looked momentarily confused but then seemed to remember what had happened "What happened?" she asked. Everyone smiled and gave Hermione a hug and the twins moved from their place on the floor in favor of sitting next to Hermione on the bed. Remus and Moody began explaining how the Order had found her and Sirius told her what had happened at Grimmauld place since then.
During this conversation Harry marveled at the different effects Hermione's and Ginny's voices had on him. Ginny's sickly and fakely sweet voice made him want to cringe away while Hermione's sweet, innocent voice made him smile whenever he heard it.
"Fred, George, why are you here and not Ron?' Harry asked as his curiosity got the better of him. Sirius laughed "The twins and I have been up here since Hermione got here, in fact I think Fred and George even visited her at St. Mungo's"
"Yeah, and Ron's being a git running around with Lavender while one of his best friends is in a coma" Fred piped up, George added "Yes, with Ron snogging Lavender every ten seconds and with Ginny's newfound hatred of Hermione we thought there should be some Weasley representation"
"Thanks Fred, George, it means a lot to me" Hermione said with a pained looking smile. after a couple of minutes of enjoying each others company, Remus finally broke the silence "Hermione, i know this is going to be difficult for you but we need to know what happened" Hermione's face paled visibly and Sirius, noticing this, said in a curiously protective tone, "Come on, she shouldn't have to talk about it. I have a pensive , will that do? "
Remus nodded and Hermione raised her wand and extracted a silver strand from her temple. "Here goes nothing," she whispered.
Hermione took a deep breath and placed the strand in the pensive that Sirius held out. The room went completely silent as Hermione's memories were replayed. Harry noticed that Hermione was shaking with suppressed sobs. He desperately wished to be able to wrap his arms around her small frame and comfort her, but seeing as Fred was holding Hermione from one side and Sirius on the other he couldn't . Harry's eyes narrowed at the sight. 'why on earth are they holding her like that for, I should be doing that, I'm her best friend, wait a minute, why on earth am i wishing it was me, haha, i've gone insane ' he thought.
