Assumptions – Rating M

Chapter 02Harry's Observations

Warnings – Contains swearing and violence within the story. Please note that rape and scenes of sexual activity are mentioned in this story. Some of the cast may appear OOC from Canon. Some scenes may be upsetting to some readers.

-Assumptions-

A field outside Godric's Hollow, Cheshire, England

26th December 1997

Boxing Day is a day of celebration, of fun and games, of leftover turkey and visiting relatives. It is a day in which Muggles would go and spend their daytime hours watching football matches and massive sales on clothes and electrical goods. It would also be the day where people relaxed and watched television with their families, not worrying about working for another day.

However, for two people, camping in a tent in a field outside of Godric's Hollow in Cheshire, suffering the stress of hunting for Horcruxes, a container of which is carrying the soul of Tom Riddle, also known to people as Lord Voldemort, stress which was getting to the pair of them.

Harry Potter had just woken up and was in pain. 'The Horcrux…Nagini…what happened to me?' He struggled to get out of the bed that he was in and headed into the dining area of the tent. He noticed that Hermione was sitting there, looking tired.

"How long ago did we leave?" Harry asked, his head hurting him. He moved closer to Hermione, holding her hand. "It feels like ages since we were in Godric's Hollow."

"Hours ago. It's nearly morning." Hermione replied, not noticing her hand being held.

"And I've been...what, unconscious?"

"Not exactly," said Hermione, uncomfortable about the conversation that was in hand. "You've been shouting and moaning and…things," she added in a tone that made Harry feel uneasy. What had he done? Screamed curses like Voldemort, cried like the baby in the crib?

"I couldn't get the Horcrux off you," she continued, and he knew she wanted to change the subject. "It was stuck, stuck to your chest. You've got a mark; I'm sorry, I had to use a Severing Charm to get it away. The snake bit you too, but I've cleaned the wound and put some dittany on it."

He pulled the sweaty T-shirt he was wearing away from himself and looked down. There was a scarlet oval over his heart where the locket had burned him. He could also see the half-healed puncture marks to his forearm. "Where've you put the Horcrux?"

"In my bag. I think we should keep it off for a while."

He lay back on his pillow and looked into her pinched gray face. "We shouldn't have gone to Godric's Hollow. It's my fault, its all my fault, Hermione, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, I wanted to go too, I really thought Dumbledore might have left the sword there for you."

"Yeah, well... we got that wrong, didn't we?"

"What happened, Harry? What happened when she took you upstairs? Was the snake hiding somewhere? Did it just come out and kill her and attack you?"

"No," he said. "She was the snake...or the snake was her...all along."

"W—what?" He closed his eyes. He could still smell Bathilda's house on him. It made the whole thing horribly vivid. "Bathilda must've been dead a while. The snake was...was inside her. You-Know-Who put it there in Godric's Hollow, to wait. You were right. He knew I'd go back."

"The snake was inside her?"

He opened his eyes again. Hermione looked revolted, nauseated. "Lupin said there would be magic we'd never imagined," Harry said, "She didn't want to talk in front of you, because it was Parseltongue, all Parseltongue, and I didn't realize, but of course I could understand her. One we were up in the room, the snake sent a message to You-Know-Who. I heard it happen inside my head, I felt him get excited, he said to keep me there...and then..."

He remembered the snake coming out of Bathilda's neck; Hermione did not need to know the details. "...she changed, changed into the snake, and attacked."

He looked down at the puncture marks. "It wasn't supposed to kill me, just keep me there till You-Know-Who came." If he had only managed to kill the snake, it would have been worth it, all of it...Sick at heart, he sat up threw back the covers.

"Harry, no, I'm sure you ought to rest!"

"You're the one who needs sleep. No offense, but you look terrible. I'm fine. I'll keep watch for a while. Where's my wand?" She did not answer, she merely looked at him. "Where's my wand, Hermione?"

She was biting her lip, and tears swam in her eyes. "Harry..."

"Where's my wand?"

She reached down beside the bed and held it out to him. The holly and phoenix wand was nearly severed in two. One fragile strand of phoenix feather kept both pieces hanging together. The wood had splintered apart completely. Harry took it into his hands as though it was a living thing that had suffered a terrible injury. He could not think properly. Everything was a blur of panic and fear. Then he held out the wand to Hermione.

"Mend it. Please."

"Harry, I don't think, when it is broken like this—"

"Please, Hermione, try!"

"R-Reparo." The handling half of the wand resealed itself. Harry held it up.

"Lumos!"

The wand sparked feebly, then went out. Harry pointed it at Hermione. "Expelliarmus!" Hermione's wand gave a little jerk, but did not leave her hand. The feeble attempt at magic was too much for Harry's wand, which split into two again. He stared at it, aghast, unable to take in what he was seeing...the wand that had survived so much...

"Harry," Hermione whispered so quietly he could hardly hear her. "I'm so, so sorry. I think it was me. As we were leaving, you know, the snake was coming for us, and so I cast a Blasting Curse, and it rebounded everywhere, and it must have—must have hit—"

"It was an accident," said Harry mechanically. He felt empty, stunned. "We'll—we'll find a way to repair it."

"Harry, I don't think we're going to be able to," said Hermione, the tears trickling down her face. "Remember...remember Ron? When he broke his want, crashing the car? It was never the same again, he had to get a new one."

Harry thought of Ollivander, kidnapped and held hostage by Voldemort; of Gregorovitch, who was dead. How was he supposed to find himself a new wand? "Well," he said, in a falsely matter-of-fact voice, "well, I'll just borrow yours for now, then. While I keep watch."

Her face glazed with tears, Hermione handed over her wand, and he left her sitting beside his bed, desiring nothing more than to get away from her.

A field near Pooley Bridge, Cumbria, England

23rd January 1998

Harry was confused. Over the past few weeks he had seen his friend, Hermione, acting in a weird manner whenever she was around him. He had woken up that morning to find that his pyjamas were dishevelled and all over the place. He would have asked Hermione for her opinion but he was worried about how she would react.

'What if Hermione blames me for what her mood is like? Why has she been so weird with me? It is so confusing. I will never understand women!' he thought, gathering the clothes that he was intending to wear.

Harry cast his mind back to the events of a week ago. The two of them had visited Hogwarts, under the cover of darkness. During their visit they met up with Luna Lovegood, Neville Longbottom and Ginny Weasley, who assisted in getting them in and out of Hogwarts.

All of the time that the two of them were there, hunting for any Horcruxes, Ginny was insisting on making an approach towards Harry, hoping that he would get back with her. This, however, was despite the joint efforts of Harry, Hermione and Luna to dissuade her.

Following a suggestion that was made by Luna, Harry and the blonde Ravenclaw headed to the Ravenclaw Tower, the location of a bust of the Lost Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, which was stolen by her daughter, Helena Ravenclaw. They headed to the Room of Requirement, where they found a potion stores, holding amongst other things, four vials of Basilisk venom, which is used to help destroy Horcruxes.

Having got dressed and completed his morning ablutions, Harry headed into the living area and sat down at the table, watching Hermione take her turn at doing the morning laundry. 'Why did I ever take the words of Ron seriously about him fancying Hermione. I should have admitted to him that I was in love with her, and not even looked at Ginny. I am a bloody fool!' Harry looked at Hermione and smiled. Little did he know what was going to happen to him in a couple of weeks…

Weavers Wharf Retail Park, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England

2nd February 1998

Hermione had asked Harry earlier in the day if he was willing to obtain some supplies for the two of them whilst she did some work in the tent. Harry agreed and, using a Midland Red bus from their camping spot in the Wyre Forest, went to get some shopping from the retail park in nearby Kidderminster

He couldn't, however, shake the feeling that Hermione wanted him out of the way for some obscure reason. 'What is Hermione up to. I think I should confront her when I get back to the tent, see why she is all weird around me. I know it isn't the time of the month for her, but I just can't wonder why she is sending me off on my own when I am meant to be Undesirable Number 1.' He thought, heading into the supermarket that the retail park hosted.

Suddenly he froze. 'Is that Dudley and Aunt Petunia doing here?' he thought, seeing the unmistakable hair that his Aunt had. Heading to the stores toilet, he knew he shouldn't approach the two Dursleys in his current state. Casting a glamour charm onto himself, he made his hair blonde and hid the scar on his head, in order to make his appearance not stand out as much.

He headed through the store, following his Aunt and cousin, but keeping a safe distance from the two of them in order to avoid getting caught, he purchased the required supplies and left, heading back to the tent and Hermione.

Rhydd Covert, Kidderminster, Worcestershire, England

2nd February 1998

Arriving back at the tent, he removed his glamour charm and went into the Kitchen area to find Hermione, who was walking back in from her 'bedroom'. "Here you go Hermione. I have got the shopping from that Muggle retail park that you suggested," he said, inhaling the vanilla and cinnamon scent on her hair that he loved. "I had to put on a glamour charm as Dudley was in there with Aunt Petunia and I couldn't let them see me!"

"What are they doing out and about?" Hermione asked, taking the shopping from Harry's hands. "I thought that the order had them hidden from You-Know-Who?"

"Unless they had a hidden Order escort?" Harry replied, still confused about why Hermione had sent him shopping in the first place. "Listen Hermione, we need to talk."

"I am busy at the moment so I cannot talk right now." Hermione replied, worried about what the topic of conversation was going to be about. "Can we talk later about things?"

"Sure 'Mione. Sure." Harry replied.

Once they had put everything in the tent in the correct places, they packed the tent up, ready to move to the next location. By the time Hermione was ready to talk to Harry, he had forgotten his doubts as his mind was occupied with things to do with the Horcrux hunt.

A field near Studley, Warwickshire, England

4th February 1998

Harry woke up, his arms and legs were feeling sore. He sat up, noticing that his pyjama bottoms were slightly lower down compared to the height he had pulled them up the previous night. 'That's weird. I don't remember getting up to go to the toilet in the night.

Lifting himself off the bed, he started to get dressed when he heard Hermione whisper a spell from her 'bedroom' part of the tent. 'Examen Gravditate? I don't recognise that spell.' He thought, confused about what she was doing. 'Could it be something that Hermione was confused about perhaps?'

Getting dressed, he heard the sound of things being moved around the tent. Lifting the flap that was covering his bedroom, he saw Hermione summoning things to her bag. He noticed that the things were items belonging to her.

"Wait, Hermione, what have you done with all of your stuff?" he asked the bushy haired girl that he was in love with, confused about what she was up to. The next thing that Harry knew, Hermione had hit him.

Watching the girl that he loved leave the tent, he fell onto his knees in tears and confusion. 'What have I done to deserve that? Why did she leave me?' he thought, unable to move. He didn't know what events Hermione had set in motion a mere week earlier!

-Assumptions-

A/N – Based on characters and themes introduced in the Harry Potter series by JK Rowling and A Sleep walkers mistake by Broomstick Flyer. Some of the text in this chapter is adapted from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. Both authors rights are respected.

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Coming Up in Chapter 3, Hogwarts and the wider Wizarding World reacts to an article by the Daily Prophet...