May 16th 2000
Smoke filled the small car, waking Hermione with a jolt. She panicked, trying to open the door but her fingers slipped off the handle. Holding up her hand, she could see the glistening red blood that was dripping slowly off her fingers.
She panicked again, trying to work out where it was coming from. It made her head spin. The logical part of her brain - and, she guessed, her survival instinct - kicked in before she passed out from the smoke. She lifted her left hand, which she noticed had started throbbing rather painfully when she moved it, and pushed down on the steering wheel.
The horn sounded loudly. And again. Her head felt heavy. She tried to push it again, and keep her eyes open, but she couldn't. Her head dropped forward onto the wheel, her body slumping forward as she sunk quickly into unconsciousness.
July 16th 1980
Sirius had just finished 'adjusting' the old house when he heard the crash. Scowl fixed firmly in place, he marched outside to confront whoever was trying to desecrate his new home.
Half-way down the drive, he noticed a small car that had indeed knocked down most of the front wall. As he got closer, a nasty sense of unease passed over him. Something just didn't feel right. He ran the rest of the way, desperately trying to work out what the bad feeling was.
The horn sounded three times, very loudly, which was a slight comfort to Sirius. Whoever was in the car had to be alive to press the horn three separate times, right?
'Who is in the car?' A voice most definitely not his own whispered through his mind.
All thoughts of the wall disappeared as he made his way round to the driver's side door. Pulling on the handle, he pulled it open.
Smoke billowed out of the door, so thickly that for a moment Sirius was unable to do anything but cough. As the smoke began to clear a messy thatch of long curly brown hair became visible. It covered the steering wheel so Sirius could only assume that the person belonging to the curls had passed out. Definitely not good.
Quickly taking out his wand, he performed a spell to check that they had no serious injuries, and it was safe to move them. He reached into the car and tugged at the seatbelt. It didn't move. He tugged it again, trying not to injure the person further. Still no movement. He took out his wand again and used another spell to cut through the offending piece of fabric, which now hung limply by the side of the unconscious person.
He carefully removed the person from the car, moved a safe distance away, and gently lowered them to the floor, slowly, so he didn't cause any further damage.
The messy thatch of curls enveloped the face of the person, with blood covering most of it, dripping slowly onto the ground.
February 23rd 1995
'The second task is tomorrow.' Was all that circled though my mind as I flipped through Weird Wizrding Dilemma's for the third time. "Oh this is no use." I said, slamming the book shut and reaching for another. "Who wants to make their nose hairs grow into ringlets?"
"I wouldn't mind." Said Fred, appearing rom behind a bookshelf. "Be a talking point, wouldn't it?" George emerged from behind Fred,smiling and nodding his head to show that he compltely agreed with his brother, as always.
"What are you two doing here?" Asked Ron, looking slightly bemused by his brothers presence. They never usually came into the library, unless it was to cause mischief, and they really didnt need that right now.
"Looking for you." Said George. "McGonagall wants to see you Ron. And you Hermione."
I tried thinking of reasons she may need us both. Had it just been Ron, it would have been missing/copied homework related, but I had no work to be given in, and certainly no copied work.
"Why?" I asked, still unable to think of the answer myself. I didnt want to leave Harry alone, we still hadn't worked out how he would do the second task and he looked like he needed our help still.
Fred shrugged. "Dunno..." He said, flicking Ron' ear absentmindedly. "She was looking a bit grim though."
"We're supposed to take you down to her office." Said George, trying to swipe the book that Ron had been reading, and succeeding as Ron was no longer paying attention to the book. He was staring at me, almost willing me to work it out. I turned to look at Harry, Ron' eyes bulging as he followed.
Had McGonagall noticed how much we had been helping Harry, when he ought to be working out how to do the task on his own?
"We'll meet you back in the common room." I told Harry as I stood to leave with Ron. "Bring as many of these books as you can, ok?"
We left the library, with Harry looking rather pale as we departed. Maybe McGonagall wanted to tell us how to help him? Highly unlikely, but she had always surprised us in the past. I was still debating with myself the likelihood of this thought, when we turned towards the large oak door that lead to McGonagalls office. We knocked once, and waited for a reply.
"Enter." McGonagall's voice echoed through the door. Ron gulped, looking a little pale himself. He pushed the door open slowly, trying to delay whatever was about to happen.
"Miss Granger, Mr Weasley. Please take a seat." The Professor spoke fluidly from behind her seat. Fred was right, she did look grim.
"Professor, we're well aware of the rules regarding the Tournament, but as I'm sure you'll agree, Harry being picked while he is still young is rather an odd event, so we just thought that he might benefit from some help and we didnt mean to break the rules we just don't want to see him get hurt or..." My babble was cut short as she held up her hand and gestured for us to sit.
"Miss Granger, although you are correct, that is not why you are here." She stated which completely threw me. Now I had no idea what was going on, and I didnt like it.
"Why are we here then?" Ron asked his voice slightly higher than normal.
"I have no doubt that Harry has shared with you the riddle within the egg?"
"Yeah, that song thing, from the mere-people in the lake he said." Muttered Ron, still unsure what was going on.
McGonagall looked straight at me. "Do you remember the song, Miss Granger?" She asked.
"Well, yes. Are we in trouble, Professor? Should he not have told us?"
"Recite the song, Hermione." She said, looking down at the desk, staring intently at her wand.
Confused, I did as I was asked.
"Come seek us where our voices sound,
We cannot sing above the ground,
And while you're searching, ponder this:
We've taken what you'll sorely miss,
An hour long you'll have to look,
And to recover what we took,
But past an hour - the prospect's black,
Too late, it's gone, it won't come back."
I stopped just as she opened her eyes again. As she stared at me, I said something that rarely passed my lips. "I don't understand." And it was true. What did the riddle mean? And why was Professor McGonagall looking so worried?
"The second task requires extra students to be involved."
I gasped, suddenly realising what she meant. "Professor, you can't!"
Ron squeaked beside me. "What?"
"It's us Ron. The Mere-people want to take us, so Harry has to find us. We are what he'll 'sorely miss'."
"You are half right Miss Granger. Mr Potter must find Mr Weasley, but it is Mr Krum' task to find you."
"Krum?" Ron barked.
"You can't do this, what if they don't find us?" I continued, choosing to ignore the girlish side of my brain that wanted to squeal about being sorely missed by Victor Krum. "They say after an hour we won't come back. Surely Dumbledore wouldn't allow it?"
"I'm sorry Miss Granger, but Professor Dumbledore insisted the task be taken seriously. I can assure you, you won't be harmed." She raised her wand and whispered a spell that I didn't recognise. I started feeling sleepy. My head felt heavy on my shoulders.
"Professor, please stop." I pleaded, but she had already turned away from us. I felt myself slip down in my chair, my head dropping to the side onto my shoulder and I surrendered myself to sleep.
July 16th 1980
"Come on love, wake up."
I heard a voice whispering to me, but I didnt recognise the person. It was a male voice, that much I could tell. But it was deeper than Ron' or Harry', so it couldn't be them. It didn't sound like any of the teachers either.
"You need to open your eyes."
I still couldn't tell who it was. And I couldn't seem to do what he was asking. I tried, I really did, but my eyes did just not want to obey me.
My head started to ache, and I have the strongest urge to cough. 'It must be the water from the lake.' I thought, suddenly wondering who had won the task? 'He obviously found me on time. I'm still alive, aren't I?'
I opened my eyes just as my body heaved forward, and I felt as though I was coughing up a lung. My mouth was dry, my eyes were stinging and my skin felt like it was on fire. 'This can't be right.' I thought fleetingly as I leaned forward to cough again.
Strong arms wrapped around me, lifting me so my upper body rested back against something solid.
"That's it, let it all out." The voice rumbled behind me. He starts patting my back as I cough again.
'I'm not a baby!' My mind shouts. 'I can cough without assistance, thank you very much!'
I try to turn around and tell this person what I had just been thinking, but I moved too quickly. Pain shoots through my entire body. I recoil back against him, and promptly throw up all over myself.
Nice.
"Ok, we should get you inside and clean you up." He says behind me. "Can you walk?" He slides out from behind me, and tries to slowly pull me up to stand in front of him. My legs feel like jelly, and with a whimper I fall back to the ground. "I'll take that as a no."
My head feels funny again. I turn to look at him as he wraps my arms around his neck, but my eyes are behaving badly again, and they drop shut before I can see who it is. He lifts me bridal style and starts walking. My head falls against his shoulder, and my eyes open again. I look behind us, expecting to see the lake or at least Hogwarts grounds.
We're walking away from a smoking car, down a long driveway, in the middle of the countryside.
'What the hell?' This has got to be some weird dream.
Pain shoots through me again as he manoeuvres me through a door. "Sorry." He mumbles as he kicks the door shut, jarring me again.
'I thought you couldn't feel pain in your dreams?'
He places me on a large sofa, and I sink into the comforting softness of the cushions that surround me.
I hear clattering behind me, and what sounds like a cupboard opening and closing, then more clattering coming closer. He sits in front of me, holding two small bottles. One has a shimmering red liquid inside; the other is a dull green. He takes the lids off both and hands me the green one first.
"Here, this will help." I hold out a shaking hand to take it from him, and sniff the contents. It smells foul, and I try to push it away but he gives it back. "Trust me you'll be thanking me later. Just drink it."
I take it back reluctantly and swallow the contents quickly. I'm still recovering from the taste when he hands me the red one. I don't hesitate, the warm red liquid passing my lips quickly. He takes both bottles off me and stands up, leaving the room. My head stops aching, so does my chest and the rest of my body. I sit up slowly, pushing my hair back from my face. I stop suddenly, feeling something wet over my forehead. I pull my hand away, looking at the blood on my fingertips.
Just then, the man enters again with a bowl of water, a pack of cotton balls and a wad of bandages. I'm still staring at my hand, transfixed by the coating of blood.
He wipes my hand clean then moves to lift my head, his hand gentle under my chin, as he tilts my head to examine the wound.
I'm looking straight at him, not wanting to believe what I'm seeing. Sure, I've seen the pictures enough around Diagon Alley, but somehow he looked different.
There was no mistaking who he was. Sirius Black; notorious mass murderer and escapee from Azkaban. Lily and James Potter' killer.
A scream passes my lips and I jump away from him. "Get away from me!" I shouted, looking around for my wand which I usually kept with me at all times.
"Calm down, I need to check that cut." He reaches for me but I slap his hand away and climb over the back of the sofa.
"Stay away from me." My voice sounds stronger than I'm feeling right now. I step back as he moves towards me. "Stay back!" He doesn't stop. I look around for something, anything to protect me, but there's nothing.
"Hermione, will you please just sit down. I need to clean that cut."
"How the hell do you know my name?" I step back again, bumping straight into the wall.
He stops and stares at me, a bemused look on his face. "You're drivers licence fell out of the car."
I stare at him blankly, not really listening as I look out of the corner of my eye at the door. 'If I run, could I get out before he gets to me?'
"Just let me clean that cut and then we'll figure out what to do with you. I think I know someone who can help."
He steps towards me again but I jump away from him, running as quick as I can towards the door. I pull it open, and run back out onto the drive.
"Hermione, stop." He's shouting after me, but I don't, why would I?
"Leave me alone!" I shout back, still running towards the large black gates. As I approach them, they slam shut. I try to climb up them to get over and I scream as he wraps his arms around my waist, pulling my back down.
He whispers something that's sounds familiar, and I feel myself falling quickly into unconsciousness.