Harry's Christmas was spent surrounded by people he loved, and he soon forgot about his worries regarding Hermione being left alone with the Head Boy. In fact over the course of the first week of the holidays, he barely gave his best friend a second thought. The only time he really thought about her was on Christmas morning, when he opened her gift of a broomstick cleaning kit. Despite the war, he was still the Seeker on the Gryffindor team, and he often flew to help relieve the stresses of being the Boy Who Lived brought about.
Another reason Harry had forgotten about Hermione so easily was down to the company. Not only was he spending time with the Weasleys, a family he'd been welcomed into with open arms, but he was also spending time with his godfather, Sirius Black. Since meeting Sirius in his third year, Harry had embraced his godfather. Spending time with Sirius was like having a little piece of his parents with him, and he knew Sirius also drew comfort from spending time with him as he still grieved for his lost best friend and his wife. Over the years the pair had become particular close, and now Harry was seventeen and had left his home with the Dursleys, he resided with Sirius at the Order Headquarters, Twelve Grimmauld Place.
Harry and the Weasleys split their holidays between the Weasleys home down in Devon, and Sirius's house in London. Since Grimmauld Place was the Order's Headquarters, they encountered several members of the Order while they were there. Most people came and went without staying long, but Sirius's best friend, Remus Lupin often stayed overnight with his girlfriend, the young Auror, Nymphadora Tonks. Harry got on well with both Remus and Tonks, and the nights they stayed were invariably fun filled.
Harry's other fun filled activity over the Christmas break occurred on Boxing Day at The Burrow. The twins, Fred and George, had mischievously hung some mistletoe over the back door and Harry had unwittingly gotten caught under it with Ginny. Of course the twins had enchanted the mistletoe so that Harry and Ginny couldn't escape until they'd kissed. Before then, Harry had just viewed Ginny as Ron's little sister, but stuck under the mistletoe with her, he realised she was quite an attractive girl. The kiss was rather tentative and somewhat awkward, but it suddenly had Harry looking at Ginny in a different light. Suddenly she was more than Ron's little sister, she was an attractive witch, and Harry suspected he was developing a crush on her.
Harry had been unsure of how Ron would react to the news he fancied his little sister, so he kept quiet while he tried to decide about his feelings. However, on New Year's Eve, he decided to confide in Sirius about his problem. Sirius wasn't at all surprised by Harry's confession, and admitted he was surprised his godson hadn't approached him sooner regarding Ginny.
"But I've only just discovered I like her," Harry pointed out.
"Talk about slow," Sirius chuckled. "It's been building for a while now."
"It has?" Harry frowned in confusion.
"Yes, it has Harry," Sirius replied, smiling slightly at his godson's inexperience with girls and recognising his feelings for them. "And if you want my advice, talk to Ron, and then approach Ginny. It might be weird for Ron, but he's your best friend, he'll support you."
"I hope so," Harry murmured, but before he could say anything more a silver patronus belonging to Kingsley Shacklebolt burst into the kitchen where Harry and Sirius was sitting.
"Attack," Kingsley's patronus announced loudly, before giving the name of a small wizarding village and then vanishing into thin air.
"Damn it," Sirius cursed as he jumped to his feet. "That's the village where Tonks's parents live. She and Remus left to visit them half an hour ago."
"I want to come," Harry said as he also got to his feet. "Don't argue, I'm seventeen and I know how to fight."
Sirius looked at his godson before nodding his head. "Pass the message to Ron, and whoever else is upstairs. Meet me in the hallway in two minutes and we can leave."
Harry bolted up the stairs, and quickly filled Ron and Ginny in on what was happening as they were the only other people at Grimmauld Place. Much to Ginny's frustration, Sirius refused to allow her to accompany them when they headed back downstairs.
"Your mother will kill me if I turn up with you in tow," Sirius said. "It'll be bad enough that I'm allowing Ron to come."
"I'm seventeen, you can't stop me," Ron insisted.
"I'm not trying to," Sirius said. "We'll need all hands on deck if this is a bad attack. I'm sorry Ginny, you'll have to stay here."
"Fine," Ginny huffed, stalking off to the front room as Sirius told Harry and Ron to grab onto him and he apparated the three of them to where the action was.
The second they arrived in the village, the trio wasted no time in leaping into action. There was already a fully-fledged battled forming, and from the looks of things most of the Order had turned up to fight. It also looked as though there was a strong contingent of Death Eaters, and Harry was concerned that the witches and wizards in black outnumbered everyone else. However, outnumbered or not, the Order would fight and he was confident they would win.
Even though the war was getting more dangerous by the day, Harry still hadn't reached the point where he could kill, or even severely maim, his opposition, so he battled past Death Eaters using simple spells like disarming spells and stunning spells. Surprisingly the tactics had been serving Harry well, and he'd suffered no more than the odd cut in previous battles. Likewise this battle, he got the odd cut and scrape, but nothing to worry about. That was until he laid eyes on a tall, bald man not wearing a mask.
"Voldemort," he whispered to himself.
Even though Voldemort couldn't possibly have heard him, he turned to face Harry, a smirk on his thin, lips. "I hoped I would see you here," he hissed in his low, snake like voice as he pulled out his wand with a flourish.
"Here, I am," Harry said loudly. "Come and get me."
"With pleasure," Voldemort replied, before he pounced, firing spells rapidly at Harry.
Harry parried the spells and the pair found themselves engaged in a fierce battle. Harry was slightly surprised that the pair could duel one another, as normally their wands reacted strangely to each other as they were connected by their cores, but there was none of that as the pair went toe to toe. In fact Harry began to suspect that Voldemort was using a different wand to battle him, and he couldn't help but feel smug that he'd forced The Dark Lord to abandon his own wand.
Surprisingly, Harry seemed to get the upper hand over Voldemort as the older wizard began to struggle to control his wand, which practically confirmed Harry's theory that he was using an unfamiliar piece of wood. However, Harry was determined not to let Voldemort's troubles affect him and he kept going after the dark wizard. Of course he knew Voldemort couldn't be killed until they'd destroyed all his Horcruxes, which he and Dumbledore were well on the way to doing, but he could be hurt and Harry intended to hurt him. Not that Voldemort was prepared to let that happen, and as he let Harry get close to him he issued a chilling threat to the young boy who could potentially be his downfall.
"Just where I want you, Potter," Voldemort hissed. "Away from your mudblood."
"What did you say?" Harry faltered, his spell shooting over Voldemort's head as dread crept into his stomach.
"Pretty little thing, your mudblood," Voldemort continued. "I would keep an eye on her if I were you. I'm coming after her, and I'm going to get her."
The second Harry stumbled back in shock, Voldemort vanished in a puff of black smoke and seconds later his Death Eaters followed suite. Harry was still standing in shock when Sirius rushed over to him to check he was okay.
"Hermione," Harry whispered. "She's in danger."
"How do you know that?" Sirius asked with a frown.
Quickly Harry told his godfather what had happened with Voldemort. Like Harry, Sirius was concerned, but he managed to calm his godson down and persuade him not to rush off half cocked. Instead the pair remained in the village, checking the damage and helping those who'd been injured. However, once that was sorted, Sirius had a quiet word with Dumbledore and a select group gathered back at Grimmauld Place.
"Tell us exactly what happened," Dumbledore urged Harry once everyone was settled back at Grimmauld Place and Molly had sent Ginny home to The Burrow to help look after Percy, who'd had his arm broken in the skirmish.
Harry repeated what had happened, and by the time he was finished everyone was severely concerned about Hermione. Dumbledore quickly excused himself to check with McGonagall to ensure Hogwarts was safe and nothing untoward had occurred. Once they were sure Hermione was still safe up at school, a discussion got under way as to what was going to happen next.
"We have to protect her," Harry insisted. "Voldemort's got her in his sights, and I'd never forgive myself if anything happened to her."
"Which is probably why he's targeting her," Sirius mused. "Someone's told him just how much she means to you. Most likely Snape."
"Now is not the time to discuss Severus," Dumbledore said with a tut. He knew Severus Snape wasn't trusted by many of the Order, but he trusted him implicitly, but now wasn't the time for a debate on who's side the Potions Professor was really on. "I agree with Harry, we have to protect Miss Granger. I suggest speaking to her and removing her into protective custody. I'm sure we could find her a safe house. Tonks, you could provide security, couldn't you?"
"Of course," Tonks agreed with a nod. "But the fewer people who know what's going on, the more secure we can make it."
"I don't see any reason why we need to mention this to anyone outside this room," Dumbledore said. Currently in the room were himself, Harry and Ron, Sirius, Remus and Tonks and Molly and Arthur. Personally, he didn't think anyone else needed to be aware of the situation regarding Hermione.
Leaving Tonks, Remus and Arthur to find a safe house for Hermione, the others flooed to Hogwarts, landing in Dumbledore's office. Scribbling a note to Hermione, Dumbledore folded the parchment into a swan shape and used magic to send it to the Head Girl. They then settled down to wait for Hermione to arrive. Well everyone settled down apart from Harry, who was pacing up and down beside Ron.
Nearly fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door and when Dumbledore shouted enter, Hermione made her appearance. It was clear she was puzzled by everyone sitting in the Headmaster's office as she slowly entered the room.
"What's going on?" Hermione asked nervously, glancing around at the sombre looking adults. "Is everyone okay?"
"Everyone's fine, Hermione," Molly reassured the young witch with a small smile.
"Then what's with the long faces?" Hermione pressed. It was obvious something was going on and she wanted to know what.
"Why don't you take a seat, Miss Granger?" Dumbledore suggested kindly.
Hermione took the spare seat located next to Ron and waited to hear what was going on. Behind her, Harry had stopped pacing but she could feel the nervous energy radiating off her friend.
"Harry, why don't you also sit down," Sirius stated firmly.
Harry sighed, but he did as his godfather asked and perched on the chair that was placed on the other side of Ron.
"Well?" Hermione looked around expectantly, waiting for an explanation to come.
"We have reason to believe you're in grave danger," Dumbledore said quietly. "We think Voldemort has set his sights on you."
"Does he even know who I am?" Hermione questioned.
"Yes, he knows who you are," Harry growled. "He made sure I knew that."
Hermione was just about to demand an explanation, when Dumbledore gave one to her, telling her all about what had occurred earlier that day.
"Clearly it was a scare tactic," Hermione announced after the tale was told. "It sounds like Harry was winning, and he threw a threat at him to distract him. Let's guess, after he mentioned me, Harry backed off and he disappeared."
"Yes, that's what happened," Harry admitted reluctantly. "But it doesn't change the fact he threatened you, Hermione," he insisted. "You're in danger."
"Aren't we all?" Hermione shrugged. "We're in the middle of a war. We're all in danger, all the time."
Truthfully she was rather perturbed by Voldemort's threat, but she was smart enough to realise it was most likely an idle threat. Given the situation at the time of the threat, she doubted it was a serious one. Voldemort clearly just wanted to rattle Harry and escape the fight they were in.
"Even so, I still think we need to take a personal threat from Voldemort seriously," Dumbledore said. "That's why we've made a decision. Miss Granger, we're going to take you into hiding and ensure Voldemort can't get to you."
"You're joking, right?" Hermione looked around the room, unable to believe what she was hearing.
"It's for your own safety, Hermione," Molly said.
"Look, I appreciate the offer, but I have to refuse," Hermione told the group as she stood up. "The threat was clearly made to rattle Harry, and I see no reason to overreact."
"Hermione, you can't just carry on as though nothing's happened," Harry shouted as he jumped up. "Your life is in danger, you need to be protected."
"I'm perfectly safe at Hogwarts," Hermione retorted. "And once school's over, I'll be with the Order until the end of the war. There's no reason to change anything, and I refuse to go into hiding. Besides, if Voldemort really does want me, going into hiding wouldn't change anything, he would just carry on searching for me. Now if you'll all excuse me, I have some studying to get back to."
Not giving anyone a chance to argue further, Hermione turned and left Dumbledore's office.
"Well that went well," Ron muttered, as everyone was left stunned at Hermione's abrupt departure.
"Bring her back," Harry hissed, turning to Dumbledore. "We'll force her to come with us."
"I don't think force is the answer here," Sirius said gently. "Hermione's right in some respects, she is pretty safe in Hogwarts. I suggest we be patient and try and persuade her to see sense."
"Harry and I can keep talking to her," Ron suggested.
"Make sure it is talking," Molly warned. "That girl is the most stubborn witch I've ever met. Ordering her to go in to hiding won't help. You need to be calm and get her to see reason. You need to use logic to get her to see we've got the right idea."
"In the meantime I can make sure her safe house is ready and waiting," Dumbledore said. "The second she agrees, we can take her into hiding."
"And she will agree," Harry vowed. "I'll make sure of it." He loved Hermione like a sister and he would do whatever it took to make sure Voldemort didn't get his hands on her, even if it meant angering Hermione in order to keep her safe.