Chapter 4

Things had progressed quickly, so quickly that Harry didn't fully comprehend what was happening, even as it was happening in front of his eyes. But he didn't need to, he only needed to continue to act. He needed to continue to stand in front of the Grangers, hand in hand with Hermione, only needed to feel the panic in his heart, only let it surge out in magic and let it swirl and burst with Hermione's to form a half sphere in front of them. Through the translucent shifting blue of their shield, he could see him, the monster, standing with his wand at his side, looking almost relaxed.

He couldn't think about how he should have left right after he threw up the second time. He couldn't think about how he knew that the monster knew where he was, but he had still lingered at the Granger's trying to help Hermione explain magic to her confused parents. The guilt was real, resting as a sickly substance in his stomach, but he had to focus on his panic. He knew from some instinct if he lingered too long on how they got here, his shield would become weaker in his remorse.

"Harry Potter. It is you, after all these years. You grew up to look just like your father. Except with your mudblood mother's eyes. I had watched them grow dark once, I shall enjoy watching them grow dark again. But first, I have use of you. Come with me, Harry Potter, the-Boy-Who-Lived. Put down your shield, and I shall spare these...people, their lives."

Harry could hear his heart pounding in his ears. He didn't know what to think. He had watched his mother's eyes grow dark? Then he had watched them die? They had died in a car crash, they had died...Did he kill them? I need to protect the Grangers, the monster made an offer, but he shouldn't trust it, he doesn't know…

"Don't you dare, Harry. Stay here. You can't believe him." Hermione hissed from behind his shoulder.

"Ahhh, the mudblood speaks. But it should not." The monster twitched his wand, a yellow light shot towards them, bouncing off the shield and hitting the wall, leaving a black mark. The monster let out a slow breath.

"Your shield is...remarkable, considering. But it will not last forever. Do not die a coward, Harry Potter. Do not die knowing you caused their deaths. You have a choice. I kill your friends and take you, or you leave with me willingly and I spare their lives."

"You talk a lot for a murdering monster. Are you going to continue your villain soliloquy or kills us already?" Hermione bit out from behind him, her voice unwavering.

Many things happened at once. The monster gave a soft smile of amusement and shot off a red light, which again bounced off the shield. Unlike last time, the shield made a deep sound of a gong and split, sparking away in a rapid retreat of blue light. The spell bounced towards the ceiling, which caught fire. The monster flung out his wand and yelled "Avada Kedavra." A bright green light went straight towards Hermione. Harry felt a calmness sweep over him as things seemed to slow down. He knew that light, he knew it. Seen it before. It was death, he was sure. He looked towards Hermione's face as the light grew closer, the steely resolve mixed with and then overcoming fear. He felt an intense affection in his strange calmness and smiled as he turned, putting himself between the light and Hermione, their hands still clasped. He felt its icy touch hit his back, then nothing.

He thought death would be quieter, somehow. Why did he think he was dead? He felt so light headed. He felt warm, but there was something cool on his forehead. He just wanted to go back to sleep, but he couldn't, there was too much noise.

He groaned in annoyance and the noise abruptly stopped, only to increase in volume a few breaths later. A spot of noise was closer, louder, it was making words, what…?

"Harry please, you have to get up, please wake up. I need you right now, please, please, please." It wasn't noise, they were voices, he knew that voice, it was…

"Hermione." The voices quieted again.

"Harry, oh god, Harry."

"Hermione." It was definitely Hermione, was she dead too? He wanted to check, but his eyelids were heavy.

"Ron." A deep male voice said after a beat of silence. He heard a slapping sound and a gruff huff.

"God, Ron, you have to make a joke right now?" He heard a younger female voice hiss out. He heard a faint snicker from somewhere further away and a muttered, "Sorry, sorry."

He felt Hermione put her hand in his. The warmth traveled up his arm, a little spark that allowed his eyes to slowly open.

Hermione was leaning over him, illuminated by a soft light on the wall behind her, which was covered in darkly patterned wall paper. She looked tired and pale, tears were in her eyes, but she still managed to give a watery smile. Slowly, more people started to stand behind her, looking down at him. He couldn't make out their blurry faces, but he saw a lot of bright red, which he thought must be their hair.

Hermione shifted and reached to get his glasses, putting them on his face. A crowd of red haired people came into focus behind Hermione. There was at least seven of them. Most of them men, two women, all wearing different facial expressions, except for what appeared to be twins, staring at him with identical small smiles, a strange light dancing behind their eyes.

"Hullo." Harry muttered, glancing at Hermione in confusion. He heard a chorus of hellos, greetings, and a 'just sparking to meet you" from the twins. He made eye contact with Hermione again. They had been doing something important. They had been at the Grangers. The Dursley had been…

Harry sat up, his eyes wide, staring at Hermione. Memories of the long last day came back, rushing towards him all at once. Bodies, monsters, the Dursleys, the Dursleys, no, the Grangers so confused, the monster standing before them, magic, a green light…

"I died." Hermione nodded, looking away, her lips shaking as she let out a long breath.

"Why am I not dead then?" Harry asked. looking at Hermione's sad face as she opened her mouth to answer, instead shaking her head, her hand finding his again.

She swallowed, and whispered, "I don't know. I don't know. You were gone, then you were back, all of sudden, breathing again. When the light hit you, you just crumpled, just fell over." Hermione let out a small sob. Harry moved closer, still looking into her face, grasping her hand tighter. "Then that man, that thing, fell over too, twitching. He screamed and there was a crack, and then he was gone."

Harry leaned in closer to Hermione and whispered, "Who are these people?"

She spoke quietly, but not bothering to whisper said, "They showed up a minute after he disappeared. They stopped the fire with their..wands. They grabbed you, me, and my parents and we...there was a strange, awful feeling of being shoved into something too tight, and then we were on a street. They told me this name, and this building appeared. My parents couldn't see it, I don't know where they are. They brought me and you up here and…"

"Here we are," Harry finished for her. She looked tired enough to fall over. They hadn't slept all night. Was it just yesterday that they saw that family? Just hours ago that the Dursleys… Harry stopped his thoughts, overwhelmed. He instead looked around at the red heads again. A voice right behind him, on the other side of the bed, spoke, causing Harry to jump and whip his head in that direction.

"We are the Order of the Phoenix, Mr. Potter. I'm sure you and…"

"Hermione Granger."

"Ms. Granger, have many questions for us. We have some for you as well. Hopefully we can help each other."

Harry stared up at the tall, older, severe looking women. Her hair was up in a tight bun, black but streaked liberally with white. Her face was unreadable, her lips a little pinched. Behind her were three people, standing or sitting in chairs scattered about that side of the dark room. A hardened, scarred man with a bizarre eye and woman with bright bubblegum pink hair who was holding the hand of a haggard, pale looking man. The woman smiled and gave him a small wink. The man stared at him with a strange intensity. Harry looked back up to the severe looking woman.

"The Order of the… Okay, okay. Uh, first…"

"Where are my parents?" Hermione interrupted, suddenly standing. Harry noticed that the red headed family behind her suddenly looked very grave, looked away from her, stuffing their hands into their pockets.

The severe woman's expression became, if possible, even more closed. In her calm tone she said, "Your parents have been obliviated and relocated for their own safety. After ... peace….is restored, you may see them again."

Hermione stared at her, confused and scared and angry. Harry watched as anger won over the other feelings, her face hardening.

"My parents have been obliterated?" Hermione spoke through her teeth. Harry stood up slowly, standing next to her.

"Oblivated. It is a charm to make people forget things. Your parents believe that they never had a daughter and are planning to move to Australia very soon. They will be catching a plane any minute now, in fact."

"Au...Australia? Forget they have a daughter? W-Why? Why?" Hermione swung around to look at the family behind her, who all avoided her sharp gaze. Harry stepped up to the bed, glaring at the woman now.

"Are you with him? That monster? Why are you doing this?" Harry snapped out, his voice getting louder as he spoke.

"I assure you, Mr. Potter, that we are not 'with him.' That monster is why we are doing this." Hermione turned back around and stared at the woman along with Harry. "That monster is named...V-Voldemort." She grimaced, it was the first emotion Harry had seen on her face, and it was quickly brushed away. He heard quiet gasps and choking sounds from the family behind them. "His name is cursed, so do not say it. It was a risk saying it just now, even here. Call him You-Know-Who or He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. He is an evil wizard, who hates you and your kind. We fight against him. Or we use to. Now we aim to protect those who are left. We are trying to protect you and your parents, Ms. Granger. Think of it as…" The woman paused a long moment as though looking for the right words. "Think of it as the Magical Witness Protection Program?"

Harry and Hermione were silent. Harry suddenly felt how surrounded they were by all these people. Glancing around the room he realized that there were no windows, and the man with the strange eye was blocking the door. He moved closer to Hermione, grabbing her arm.

"We don't know you all, so why are we still here? Why wouldn't you just obliv… make us forget too, and go with Hermione's parents to Australia?"

"We can't do that Mr. Potter. You and Ms. Granger are magical."

"So? We will go be magical in Australia."

"You-Know-Who can also go to Australia. He is after you, no?"

"F-fine, but what about Hermione, why isn't she…"

"Because we need her here. And we especially need you here, Mr. Potter." Harry started to feel the chest tightening feeling of dread return to him again.

"You aren't going to let us go, are you?" Hermione's voice was only just above a whisper.

"I'm afraid not, Ms. Granger, no."

That night, Harry remembered death the way that daydreams come into being. The thoughts were already half there, floating in his subconscious. It felt almost like he was making it up, but he knew he wasn't. Daydreams didn't feel like death, the way this one did.

He remembered coming into being in the Winchester of all places. It was clean. Too clean. The kind of clean that Lauren, the night manager, wished that it would look like at the end of the day. Harry went to sit at the table that the Grangers always sat at, the same table where they would have their staff meetings. Harry felt relaxed, probably more relaxed than he had felt in his entire life. He no longer tasted vomit in his mouth, his clothes didn't smell of smoke, and there was no ache in his head, not even a little, as it seemed there always was. He felt like he was waiting for someone, but he wasn't sure who. He didn't mind and leaned back into his chair, not focusing on any one thing in particular.

Staring at the ceiling, his head resting on the back the chair, he heard a strange sound from behind the bar. He lightly got to his feet and walked over, leaned over the edge, glancing curiously, but without urgency, for the source of the sound.

He recoiled in disgust, pushing away from the bar, breathing heavily. It was a creature, humanoid, but terrible. It looked almost like a warped, raw baby, but with a hideously old face. It looked to be in great pain, the strange sound Harry had heard was its brief short gasps and mewls of agony. Harry heard the bell on the door ring as it opened, he snapped his head around to look, moving further back from the bar. He felt strangely guilty. Like he didn't want anyone who was coming in to think that he had anything to do with the creature behind the bar.

Despite his disgust and guilt with the creature, everything still felt calm. This was only a small matter. When his year nine English Literature teacher came into view, walking down the steps of the half level, he felt only vaguely surprised. Mr. Alberic gave him a small smile and gestured towards the table.

"Don't worry about that poor thing, Harry, there is nothing you can do for it." His voice was as smooth and calming as Harry remembered it being. His grey eyes still crinkled at the corners, his tan skin still made his teeth look impossibly white by comparison. Harry sat down and stared at him for a while.

"I've really missed you, Mr. Alberic, you know."

"And I you, Harry."

That sat in an unrushed, companionable silence for a time, until the creature made another light gasping sound. Harry looked towards his teacher and asked, "Do you know what it is?"

Mr. Alberic adopted a thoughtful face, looking mildly puzzled. "It is a warped soul. I have seen a few, but this is beyond anything I have encountered before. I cannot imagine what this person has done, but it clearly wasn't good."

Harry felt thoughtful as well. Maybe the monster had somehow died with him? He wasn't sure, that didn't seem entirely right.

"What is this place?"

"I am not sure what you see."

"The Winchester."

"Really? That is strange. But we all see different things."

"What do you see, sir?"

Mr. Alberic just gave him another small smile and shook his head. "What did I say about calling me sir, Harry? It isn't important what I see. What you need to know is that this place is temporary. You must decide to go back, or to go forward."

"Sorry, sir, um, A-Amaro. What is forward?"

"Ah, that is for me to know, and for you to find out."

"I can go back? Back to life?"

"Yes, this is rare, but not unheard of."

"Will I be a ghost?"

Amaro Alberic chuckled, "No, Harry. You will just go back and continue forward from there, rather than from here."

Harry nodded, thinking. It felt very nice here. If Mr. Alberic was from wherever he could go next, it was probably a nice place. Maybe he could even see his parents. He doesn't even know what they look like. That would be nice…

But Harry sighed. He knew he had to go back. He had left everybody in quite a lurch. And while it would be nice to see his parents, it wouldn't be right to leave them there. Besides, he wouldn't be able to see Hermione. It felt important to go back to her, it felt like he needed to learn something important from her, something only she could teach him.

"Will, Harry, I think you know what you will do. I'm sorry, by the way, that I got distracted and didn't help as I should have. It was good to see you again."

Harry felt puzzled. "What do you mean, didn't help me? And it was good to see you too, sir."

Mr. Alberic snorted and reached over, ruffling his hair.

"Amaro, Harry, Amaro, for the last time."

Harry laughed, "Maybe a few more times, Mr. Alberic."

Amaro rolled his eyes and gave a small wave, as Harry suddenly heard just so much noise, he thought death would have been quieter…

Harry turned away from his thoughts and looked at Hermione, who was sitting on the foot of the bed, while he rested his back on the headboard. There was another bed he hadn't noticed until the room emptied against the wall, but Hermione hadn't made a move towards it, even though she looked exhausted.

They had sat in silence as it slowly sunk in that they were being held captive. After the severe women's admission, the red headed mother burst out in a flurry of guilt. She tried to tell them that it wasn't like they were being held hostage, or that they were kidnapped. They just had to stay awhile. In this room, just this room, until they trusted them more.

At Harry and Hermione's angry stares, she looked highly uncomfortable and started to shoo everyone out, promising and then giving them warm soup, bread, cheese, water and juice. Leaving the food on a bedside table, she told them to get some sleep and that they would all talk more later. Before she closed the door, she cast one more look of guilt towards Hermione, and then a long, wide eyed look at Harry that he didn't really know how to interpret.

The food remained untouched on the table, Harry and Hermione sitting in silence, lost in their thoughts. Harry cleared his throat.

"When I died, I met my year nine English teacher."

Hermione looked around at him, a little open mouthed, obviously confused.

"What?"

"He had died as I was starting year 10. He had rapidly moving aggressive leukemia. He was diagnosed and then died within 3 months."

"Oh, that's… And you saw him? When you died?"

Hermione's face was still very open, even in exhaustion. She was obviously wondering why he would see his teacher, of all people, when he died.

"Maybe I couldn't see my parents because I don't know what they look like? I'm still not sure that what I am remembering is real. But, maybe I saw him, thought of him, because he was… He was the first person who cared. He helped me a lot, just with everything. He thought that I was bullied, because of the bruises. He didn't pressure me about it though. He just would offer to eat lunch with me in his classroom, or made me try to enter essay contests. He helped me join the football team, and he got me the job at the Winchester. Lauren is his niece. Before him, I was just sort of floating along. He made school a place for me to be part of something. When he found out that I wasn't necessarily being bullied at school, he was furious. He was going to report my uncle the next day, though I don't think that there was really a lot to report on. But then he received the news about his health that night, and, well, there were more important things to worry about."

Hermione was staring at him with watery eyes. Harry realized that she was going to burst into tears just before she actually did. He stared at her in panic. He moved down to her end of the bed and patted her on the shoulder, feeling immensely awkward.

"It was, of course, very sad Hermione, but it was a few years ago, and I'm still close with his family, he's well loved and remembered still… Um, so, there, there."

Hermione, face red and glistening with her tears, just shook her head and wrapped her arms around him tightly. She sobbed into his shoulder, taking deep gasping breaths. As Harry rubbed her back, it dawned on him that she was probably crying for more than Mr. Alberic.

Harry felt a strange tickle on his noise. He tried to brush it away, but it just kept coming back. He finally opened his eyes in annoyance and realized it was hair, an abundance of light brown curly hair.

Hermione was asleep on his chest, dried tear tracks still visible on her cheeks in the dim lighting. They had fallen asleep while Hermione cried, leaning against him. Harry felt his heart beat speed up, seeing her there, but he couldn't, wouldn't, move her. She needed sleep. He also just didn't want to.

Hermione had always been a bit of a dream for him. Pretty, smart, nice girl from a well off family of doctors. They were always nice to everyone, even to him, who was just their server. But despite some mild flirting, he supposed that they would always be from different worlds, at that would be it.

But they weren't from different worlds. They were very much from the same one. The only other person from his planet he had ever met. In just under two weeks she had gone from acquaintance to kinsmen, from stranger to of the same tribe. She was his friend. Shortly after she became his support. He didn't understand why she didn't run away when it was revealed how big of a freak he was, but he wish she had. She would have been much happier. No he didn't. He was glad, in his most secret, most selfish heart, that she was here with him.

He realized, with certainty, that he did not think that he was at all foolish for stepping in front of that green light. Dying for her then was maybe the most right thing he has ever done. She had stayed when she didn't need to, offered help when it all became scary. His stepping in front of her was obvious, instinct.

Hermione's brow furrowed and she groaned, stretching against him for a tantalizing moment before she open her eyes, looking confused and then stared up at his face. Her face turned a light pink and she moved to roll away from him, but he grabbed her shoulder to keep her there. She stopped and stared up at him again. They stayed that way, their breaths getting faster, for a few moments until the door burst open and the tall red headed boy from earlier walked in.

"Oh, uh, well." He looked them, his mouth a little open, his ears turning a bright red. Harry and Hermione moved away from each other, sitting up.

"So, yeah, dinner's ready and we thought you all might want to come down, ask some questions and figure things out. I know it doesn't look too good right now. What with us bringing you here, forcing your parents to forget you and move, and locking you in a windowless room… Blimey, we sound like right berks, really. Sorry about that." He looked embarrassed again, and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. He cleared his throat.

"I'm Ron, by the way, Ron Weasley." Hermione stood up and looked at him critically before nodding, moving towards the door.

Harry followed, looking up at the tall boy's expressive face. He certainly didn't seem evil, really. Harry sighed, "I'm Harry Potter."

Ron flushed and nodded, looking for a long second at his scar. "I know." Harry looked at him curiously then, but Hermione brushed past Ron at that moment and stood in the doorway.

"Hermione Granger. You've got a bit of dirt there, on your nose, you know?" She said touching the side of hers before flipping her hair over her shoulder and moving into the hallway.