Author's Note: Thanks to those who have reviewed so far. Just a reminder, this story has been rated "M" overall for violence and some graphic adult content. This chapter has some violence in it, but not too graphic. I don't own anything Potter-related, just the plot and some characters, two of which you'll meet in this chapter. Enjoy.
That night, Harry couldn't sleep. His mind was racing with a million thoughts. Most of them were about Cho, but some were about what had happened at the end of the school year last year. The showdown with Voldemort. The death of Sirius. Suddenly, without warning, he plunged into a dark void. He could hear, but he couldn't see. He felt someone was there, but he couldn't see them.
"Who's there?" he shouted.
Nothing but silence answered him. Then a voice hissed through the darkness, "Haaarrrryyyyy…"
The hairs on Harry's neck stood on end. "Voldemort," he said quietly. It was at that moment that the darkness around him vanished and was replaced by a new, more horrifying vision.
It was a battlefield. Bodies were all around him. As he looked at the twisted, horrified faces of these bodies, he felt a cold shiver run through him. These were his friends and classmates. And they were all dead. He looked ahead and saw Voldemort strolling towards him. Harry reached for his wand, but found it wasn't there. As Voldemort drew closer, Harry frantically looked about for any signs of help.
Suddenly he heard Voldemort shout, "Avada Kedavra!" and saw a green light shoot from Voldemort's wand. This was the end.
Harry awoke in a fright. He looked around the room and saw he was still in his room. Harry sighed heavily and laid back down. Was that nothing but a dream? Was it head games by Voldemort? Or was it a sign of things to come? Harry tossed and turned, but couldn't fall back asleep. Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. Harry stood up, threw on a robe, and walked to the door. He opened it a little and saw Hermione standing outside.
"Is everything okay?" she asked, "I could hear you from my room. Sounded like you were in trouble."
Harry looked around his room, then back at Hermione. "Would you believe me if I said I was fine?" he asked.
Hermione shook her head. Harry sighed.
"I had the most awful dream," he began, "It was a battle. Everyone was dead. And there was Voldemort."
"I had it, too," Hermione said.
Harry was dumbfounded. "I think something bad is going to happen," Harry said, "And soon."
"You should get some rest," Hermione said, "We have a big day tomorrow."
Harry nodded and climbed back into bed. He soon fell asleep and didn't wake until the morning.
It was six in the morning when Harry was awoken to the sound of clanging and banging downstairs. Harry jumped out of bed, threw on his robe, and dashed downstairs to see Ron, Hermione, and Ginny amidst of pile of pots and pans.
"Do I even want to know what happened?" Harry asked, trying not to laugh.
"Ron tried to cook breakfast," Ginny said.
Ron's face was red at the embarrassment. "I mixed up a spell," He said.
"I'll say," Hermione remarked, bursting into laughter.
Harry helped Ron clean up the mess. Afterward, he cooked breakfast.
After breakfast, he, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny all got ready to go to London. Mrs. Weasley drove them into London and dropped them off a few blocks away from Big Ben.
"Just give us a call when you're ready to be picked up," she said just before she drove out of sight.
It was ten o' clock. Cho wouldn't be here for another hour.
"Well," Ron said, "What shall we do while we wait?"
Harry began to answer Ron when Hermione cut him off. "Do you hear music?" she asked.
The three of them looked around until they saw two people, and young man and a young woman, off in a far corner of the plaza. The young man, who had slightly untidy brown hair, steel blue eyes, and a long goatee, was playing guitar while the girl, who had long brown hair and blue eyes, was singing. Hermione, drawn by some strange feeling, ventured over to where they were. Ron and Harry followed. Hermione made her way to the front of the crowd that had formed around the two musicians.
"Thank you for your generosity," the girl said.
"They're Americans," Hermione told Ron and Harry when they finally reached her.
"For those who don't know," the girl continued, "My name is Alice Saint and this is my brother, Jason. We're out here playing for any money you can spare. It all goes towards our hotel room so we can stay here another day. Anyways, here's another tune for you. Jason."
Jason nodded and began strumming the strings on his guitar. Alice looked around and saw Ron and began to sing:
I'm afraid it's been too long to try find the reasons why
I let my world fall in around a smaller patch of fading sky
But now I've grown beyond the walls to where I've never been
And it's still winter in my wonderland
I'm waiting for the world to fall
I'm waiting for the scene to change
I'm waiting when the colors come
I'm waiting to let my world come undone
I close my eyes and try to see the world unbroken underneath
The farther off and already it just might make the life I lead
A little more than make-believe when all my skies are painted blue
And all the clouds don't ever change the shape of who I am to you
I'm waiting for the world to fall
I'm waiting for the scene to change
I'm waiting when the colors come
I'm waiting to let my world come undone
When I catch the light of falling stars my view is changing me
I'm waiting
I'm waiting for the world to fall
I'm waiting for the scene to change
I'm waiting when the colors come
I'm waiting I'm waiting
I'm waiting for the world to fall
I'm waiting for the scene to change
I'm waiting when the colors come
I'm waiting I'm waiting
I'm waiting for the world to fall
I'm waiting for the scene to change
I'm waiting for the world to fall
I'm waiting
Jason had finished strumming as Alice finished the final note of the song. The crowd applauded. Hermione was clapping harder than anyone there. Jason looked around the crowd and stopped at Hermione. He saw her clapping and smiled at her. Hermione felt her heart skip a beat.
"Is he smiling at me?" she thought.
Some of the crowd began to move on, dropping money in Jason's guitar case as they went. Some stayed where they were, but began conversations with others around them. Only Hermione, Ron, and Harry kept their attention on the two Americans. Hermione approached the two and dropped money in Jason's guitar case.
"That was lovely music," she said.
"Thank you," Alice remarked.
"My name's Hermione," Hermione said, "These are my friends, Harry and Ron."
Ron and Harry both waved hello. Hermione looked over to see Jason staring at her.
"I'm sorry miss," Jason began, "What was your name again?"
Hermione blushed. "Hermione," she answered.
Jason smiled. His eyes almost seemed to sparkle. "Beautiful name," he said. Hermione grew a deep shade of red.
"So, why are you playing on the street again?" Harry asked.
"Well," Alice began, "We're here on summer vacation and we unfortunately don't have much money. But, the person at the hotel we're staying at agreed to let us pay by the day. So, we pay in the morning to stay another night and we go out and play music so we can make enough to afford to stay another night."
Ron frowned. "What about your parents?" he asked, "Can't they help pay?"
Alice and Jason both looked down at the ground. "We have no parents," Jason said, "They died a long time ago."
Harry felt pained. He knew what it was like to have no parents. Out of the corner of his eye, Harry spotted Cho walking over to them. He turned and greeted her. Before he could even utter the words "hello, Cho", she flung herself into him and wrapped her arms around him. Harry, shocked, eventually returned the embrace. After a moment, Cho released her embrace.
"Sorry," she said, "I just missed you a lot."
"I missed you, too," Harry shyly said.
"Have you guys eaten yet?" Cho asked.
Harry, Hermione, and Ron each shook their head. "I haven't either," Cho said, "There's a nice restaurant down the street. Let's go."
Hermione turned back to Alice and Jason. "Well, my friends and I have to be going," she said, "So, hopefully we'll see you again?"
Jason smiled. He grabbed her hand and kissed it. "One can only hope we do," he said.
Hermione blushed again and slowly walked away, catching up to her friends. As they strolled, Harry and Ron had noticed that Hermione seemed to have almost a skip in her step.
"And what's with you today?" Ron asked.
Hermione shrugged. "I'm not sure," she replied, "I just feel…different."
As they walked on, Ginny noticed a group of men walking some distance behind them. She thought nothing of it and continued on. A few minutes later, she looked behind her and saw that they were still there.
"How much further is it to the restaurant?" she asked.
"Just a few blocks more," Cho said, "Why?"
Ginny quickly glanced behind her. "Because there's a group of boys back there," Ginny said, "And I'm not sure, but I think they're following us."
Concerned, Harry reached for his wand, only to find it wasn't there.
"We left them at home," Ron said, "Remember?"
"There's a shortcut through here," Cho said and turned down a narrow alley.
They got about halfway through when Ginny looked behind her. "Strange," she said, "They're not there anymore."
"They must've walked right by," Ron said.
Just then, the group of men appeared on the other side and grabbed them. Harry and Ron struggled to fight back, but the men were too strong. Hermione, Ginny, and Cho were surrounded by the men.
"Pretty cute, aren't they?" one of them asked.
He reached out for Hermione, but she slapped his hand away. "Don't you touch me!" she yelled.
"Oooo…look at this, gents," the second one said, "Kitty's got claws."
The largest one grabbed Hermione by the throat and slammed her against the wall. "Now you stop fighting us," he whispered into her ear, "And this will be over before you know it."
Harry and Ron tried again to struggle free, but were both struck by a blunt object. Hermione started to sob as the big one began running his hand up her leg. Ginny broke free and started hitting the man only to be restrained by his partner again. The skinny one grabbed Cho and pinned her to the ground.
"Now you just hush," he said, "This won't hurt much."
The man pulled out a knife and began to cut Cho's shirt when out of nowhere, he was knocked off of her. It was Jason, and he had some sort of baton in hand. The guy holding Ginny threw her down and swung at Jason, but Jason ducked and cracked him in the jaw with the baton. The big guy dropped Hermione and pulled out a large hunting knife. He lunged at Jason, but Jason moved and hit him over the head with the baton. Jason leapt onto his back and started choking him with the baton. Harry and Ron managed to break free and punched the other two men, knocking them big man was fading and Jason had him down enough to ram his head into the wall, knocking the big man out.
"Get the fuck out of here!" Jason shouted, "Before I break your fucking skulls!"
The group of men, battered and beaten, pulled their big friend to his feet and ran off. Jason, still seething with anger, dropped his nightstick and fell to his knees. He looked over and saw Hermione crying uncontrollably.
"Hermione," he said, crawling over to her, "Are you hurt?"
She looked up and saw him. In an instant, she flung herself into him and began sobbing. Jason held her tight.
"It's okay, Hermione," he said, "You're safe now."
Harry helped Cho up and held her close. "Are you okay?" he asked. Cho, tears in her eyes, nodded and held onto Harry.
"Ginny?" Harry asked and saw Ron helping Ginny up. "She's fine," Ron said.
"How did you find us?" Harry asked.
Jason helped Hermione to her feet. "Alice and I saw those men following you," Jason said, "So I followed them in case there was trouble."
Alice rounded the corner and caught up with everyone. "The police are on their way," she said.
Jason stood up, then doubled over and collapsed. Harry checked him out and saw a knife wound in his side.
"You've been stabbed," he said.
It was at this time that a police car pulled up and two policemen jumped out.
"Get an ambulance!" Hermione shouted, "He's been stabbed!" Hermione knelt down and held onto Jason's hand. "You saved me," she said, "I won't leave you."
A/N: The song was "Waiting For The World To Fall" by Jars Of Clay...this story will feature more songs, so to avoid any trouble, I'll be mentioning this every chapter that features a song