Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: So sorry! I know that it's been far too long since I've written on this story. Hope the chapter makes up for it!
Chapter 7: Planned Protection
The next morning, Harry woke eager to find Hermione to begin his plan. He dressed quickly before hurrying to the common room.
"Hermione, I need your help," he said, plopping into the chair next to her.
"Of course, Harry. With what?"
"I need to find out what happened to Violet. Can we somehow research it?"
"It could take a while since we don't know anything specific. Let's get to the library. We can go through Daily Prophet articles to see if we can find anything." After leaving a note for Ron, the duo headed to the library. They gathered all the Prophet articles that were printed during the war. Three hours later, they were still searching. Harry sighed and thunked his head on the table.
'We're never going to find it."
"Not with that attitude, Harry."
"C'mon, Mione. My eyes hurt, my brain hurts, and I'm hungry. Let's go to lunch and then start back after."
"Fine. I know you'll be useless until you eat. I swear, sometimes you're worse than Ron." Harry chuckled, slung an arm around her shoulders, and together they walked to the Great Hall. Upon entering, they spotted Ron already making his way through his first plate. Hermione settled next to him while Harry took the seat across from them next to Neville.
"Hey Harry. So how did last night at the party go? Did you get to talk to Violet?" Neville asked as Harry filled his plate.
"Oh yeah. Did she succumb to your heroic charm?" Seamus asked with a smile.
"Yes I talked to her, and no she most definitely did not fall for my heroic charm. She's still running hot and cold. Mione and I did some research this morning going through Prophet articles to try and find what happened, but so far we've got nothing. It's killing me not being able to fix whatever I did. I'm wearing her down but she still doesn't trust me."
"How about this? I'll try to talk to her and see if I can get anything from her. We bonded a little in class over the best way to achieve nonverbal spells," offered Hermione.
"That'd be great. Then I can focus on who's trying to hurt her. She said that the attack in class wasn't the first."
"What? Why would someone attack her?" Dean asked, "She just studies all the time."
"That's what I've got to find out. Will you guys help me protect her? Just keep an eye on her when I'm not around?"
"But of course mate! Got to help you protect your lady," Seamus said with a grin. Harry smiled as the others quickly agreed. Lunch passed easily after that. Later, Harry returned to the library while Hermione forced Ron into doing homework. As he rounded a corner, he saw Violet up ahead. He sped up until he was next to her.
"Violet, we need to talk," he said as he fell into step with her. Startled, she whirled around, her wand clutched in her hand. The panic in her eyes triggered Harry's protective instincts.
"Whoa. It's just me. I'm not going to hurt you," he said gently, lowering her hand so that the wand was no longer pointed at his face.
"Sorry," she let out a shaky breath, "I've been a little on edge lately.'
"Why? Has another attack happened?" Violet simply handed him a crumpled piece of parchment. It only said Next time I won't miss. Anger filled Harry at the threat. It struck him that he had found Violet alone in a corridor. "You get something like this and then wander the hallways alone?! What were you thinking?! Do have no sense of self-preservation at all?! What if someone had attacked you?!"
"I was looking for you!" Violet shouted back. Harry froze, eyes wide. "You promised that you'd help, so I thought you'd want to see it. I heard that you were in the library, and was on my way there, when you found me."
"Oh," Harry said stunned. Violet crossed her arms and looked away. Shaking himself, Harry reached for her hand which had a death grip on her arm. "C'mon. Let's find a place to talk." He pried her hand off of her arm and led her to an abandoned classroom. After putting up locking and silencing charms, he transfigured a desk into a comfy couch. He sat next to Violet who had once again wrapped her arms around herself.
"Hey, relax. It's going to be okay," he assured taking her hand again, "We'll figure this out and catch whoever is behind this. Now, I need you to tell me everything." She nodded before taking a deep breath.
"The first attack was after our Hogsmeade visit. I was on my way to the library when my bag burst open. It had smoke coming off of it, and I noticed the edges where it split were curling like they had been hit with acid. I looked around but didn't see anyone. Then the bell rang, and people left class so I couldn't see anyone specific. The next one was in class, and today I got this. It was on my bed, on my pillow. I'm not even safe in my dorm. Do you think it's someone in my dorm? What if they try an attack when I'm sleeping? What if-"
"Violet, stop. Nothing is going to happen to you. Hermione's in your dorm, right? She'll have your back and look out for you, and I'm right in the next dorm. I don't want you walking anywhere alone, okay? Find me or someone you trust to walk with you to classes or to the library. If anything happens I want to tell me as soon as you can." Violet nodded and stood, removing her hand from Harry's grasp.
"I have some homework that I need to finish up. Will you walk me to the library?"
"Of course. Let's go."
After that day, Harry and his friends walked Violet everywhere. She had even recruited Draco Malfoy to be her study partner for the long hours in the library. The Golden Trio joined them when Hermione could rope the boys into doing homework, and an uneasy truce was formed. While Harry enjoyed the extra time spent with Violet, he was frustrated at the lack of clues about her attacker. He had cast an assortment of spells on the note to try and find out who left it but there was no trace of a magical signature. Two weeks into the new schedule of protection, Harry was walking with Violet to the Great Hall after a study session in the library. He was half listening to her explain why stirring clockwise after adding lacewig flies was important. Her eyes glow when she's excited. Harry mused. Maybe one day she'll look like that when she talks about me. Slight movement caught his eye as a flash of red light rushed towards them.
"Violet look out!" he shouted, diving in front of the spell. Harry heard her scream as searing pain lanced through his back before his world went black.
