Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter
Fury of the Storm
"Now help me!"
Hermione watched as her family scrambled around trying to pack their things as quickly as possible. They were all up by nine that morning and after a quick breakfast had started packing their belongings. Now, almost an hour and a half later, they were almost finished. They all had things that they wanted to take but knew that they couldn't. That was when Emma voiced her concerns to her husband.
"Dan, we're going to have to buy all new things. We can't take our beds and our dressers and everything else that we can't fit into a bag." As usual, as soon as she said this Hermione came to her family's rescue.
"Don't worry about that Mum, Harry and I can shrink it for you. You won't be able to undo it of course but we can arrange for someone to put them back to normal." Before either of her parents could object Hermione had headed upstairs to make their larger belongings travel size, dragging Harry by the arm. In a few short minutes almost the entirety of the Grangers' bulkier belongings could be fit into just a single travel bag and the rest could be put in the nooks and crevices of the other bags they were already using. The two teens packed everything up and brought it all downstairs, laying it at the feet of Emma, who was opening and closing her mouth like a fish out of water. Less than five minutes later the four Muggles were ready to leave their lives in Britain behind for a hopefully safer one in the States. Both Harry and Hermione knew that the moment was rapidly approaching when Hermione would erase Harry from their memories.
"Do you want me to do it?" Harry whispered to her, making sure that no one else heard him. Hermione shook her head, telling him that it would already be hard enough for her and she couldn't bear it if she let him do it. Harry nodded, understanding her reasons completely, and asked her when she was going to do it.
"I want them to say goodbye to you first sweetheart. They won't be able to after I Obliviate them and I know it won't make a difference in the end but I still want them to tell you goodbye. You're just as important to me as they are and I can't let them leave if they don't say anything to you too." Just as she finished telling him Chris and Amy jumped on her again, as they had the previous day, and gave her another bone-crushing hug. When they moved out of the way Emma quickly moved to take their place. She hugged her daughter as well and told her to take care of herself and to make Harry behave. Dan had trouble bringing himself to say goodbye to her; when he finally did it was a simple hug and a kiss on her cheek.
Harry's treatment was similar to Hermione's. The twins gave him an even bigger hug than the day before, almost cutting off his air supply. Emma hugged him and told him to take care of himself and to watch out for their daughter. Dan hugged Harry as well, surprising the teen, and reminded him that they were letting Hermione stay with him because of how much he meant to her and to not do anything to make them regret their decision. As they all had their backs turned collecting their bags Hermione quickly and silently Obliviated her family, holding back tears the entire time.
"Hermione you be careful over here," Dan told her as he turned back around with his bags in his hands. "Don't do anything too dangerous and watch out for…who's this boy here? Is he a friend of yours sweetheart? The polite thing to do would be to introduce us, you know." Hermione gave her father a watery smile that didn't quite have the exuberance it usually did.
"It's probably for the best that you don't know who he is Dad. You should probably go on. Let me know when you land. Remember your contact from our Ministry should be waiting there for you." With tears finally streaming down her eyes, Hermione took Harry's hand and let him Apparate them both back to Number 4 Privet Drive.
The two of them landed right outside the house, Hermione almost collapsing into Harry. He grabbed her to keep her from falling and pulled her into a hug. She wrapped her arms around him and they stood there holding each other for what seemed like an eternity. Hermione didn't want to let Harry go; she couldn't bring herself to physically let go of her only source of comfort at the moment. Harry didn't mind since he didn't want to let her go just yet either. He knew what this must be like for her and he didn't want to let her out of his arms while she was this vulnerable.
In the shadows of a nearby tree a dark figure watched this display of affection with interest. They were starting to get worried when Harry and Hermione didn't return to the Dursleys the previous night, but they reasoned that with the horrible way the teen had been treated they couldn't blame him for wanting a night away from his relatives. Nevertheless, if Harry hadn't returned to Privet Drive soon they were going to search for him; they couldn't help but be relieved when he appeared outside the house. Even given their apparent interest in Harry, the figure wondered what was causing Hermione to break down like this. They used a Disillusionment Charm on themselves and quickly and quietly made their way to her. Using Legilimency they found out that Hermione had just sent her family to the States after erasing their memory of Harry. It was a bold and selfless move and they wanted to reward her for it. Thinking of only one thing, the figure retreated from the two teens and Disapparated, intending to use their contacts in the Ministry to insure the safety and well-being of Hermione's family.
When Hermione had finally calmed down and the two teens walked inside, the first thing they noticed was the sound of the TV coming from the living room. That in and of itself wasn't unusual, it was Sunday after all, but both of them assumed that the house would be empty when they returned. They were sure that, after Harry's mental episode a couple of days ago, that the Dursleys would be gone by now. Both of them were actually hoping for an empty house, for different reasons. Harry's reason was quite obvious: now that he was almost of age and able to live on his own he wanted nothing to do with the Dursleys anymore. One of Hermione's reasons was the same as Harry's (she couldn't stand the Dursleys either) but she also wanted to be able to live with Harry alone for a while. She knew that this wasn't exactly the best idea right now, since both of them were young teenagers, but that thought didn't register in her mind.
Both of their hopes were shattered however upon hearing the TV. They walked into the living room to find Vernon in his chair and Petunia on the couch watching a television movie. Vernon looked up at the two of them when they walked in.
"I thought you were leaving here boy. What are you doing back?" Harry slightly smirked at his uncle before answering him.
"Sorry to disappoint you Vernon, but I'm rather comfortable here. I may not like you, Petunia, or Dudley and my only memories of this place may be terrible but I'm already settled in here and I won't have to worry about Voldemort until my seventeenth birthday. That seems like a fair trade off to me so I'll be staying for a while longer. I'm going to kindly ask you to not bother us. In return we'll stay out of your way."
"Hah, what makes you think I have any intention of leaving you and your little whore alone to make more freaks like you?" Hearing Hermione being called that word yet again caused Harry's eyes to burn with anger. It would take a fool not to realize the depth of what had just happened.
"I told you to not talk about Hermione like that Vernon. Should I remind you?" As Harry raised his wand Hermione's hand closed around his wrist and brought his arm back down to his side.
"Honey, forget about him. It doesn't bother me and he's not worth it." Hermione took it that her words had the desired effect when Harry didn't do or say anything. Taking his hand in hers, she led the two of them out of the living room and into the kitchen. "I know how much that angers you but please don't do anything terrible for me. Besides I can take care of myself, I promise you."
Before Harry could respond, she put her finger to his lips and continued. "I know that you know that and I appreciate it. Just forget about it for right now. Besides if we're going to stay here for a while then we have more important this to worry about than the insults Vernon Dursley says to me. I think we should put up some more protection, something to let us know if someone comes within the area. The wards Dumbledore set up are definitely powerful but nothing is foolproof. Voldemort and his followers may not be able to come in here but that doesn't mean they can't use someone else."
"I don't think that's something we have to worry about. If Voldemort was interested in doing that then he would've already done so."
"Not necessarily Harry. You have to remember that he didn't have a body again until two years ago and he wouldn't have tried anything like this then because he didn't want anyone to know he had returned. Then last year everyone knew that he was back and was fully alert. If he was smart then he wouldn't take the chance then, especially while he was trying to kill Dumbledore. Now Dumbledore's out of his way and you'll be turning seventeen soon so he's probably getting slightly desperate. If he doesn't do something to kill you now then you may end up beyond his reach. I think his plans depend on eliminating both you and Dumbledore and he'll do whatever he has to to make that happen."
Harry shrugged his shoulders, not caring enough to argue. He didn't exactly agree with his girlfriend's logic, speculating that Voldemort wouldn't go to that much effort when the teen would be voluntarily leaving in just a few weeks and (as far as the Dark Lord) vulnerable during his relocation, but he did think that more security would be helpful. If nothing else it would give them a way to make up for their inevitable numerical disadvantage.
"Alright so did you have anything specific in mind?" Hermione outlined her plan to Harry and they spent the next half hour walking around the Dursleys' property putting up wards that essentially acted as a giant Sneakoscope, temporarily addled the mind of anyone who passed and made their thoughts sluggish, caused them to temporarily abandon all logic, and temporarily made them lose their voice. None of them were very impressive alone but together they effectively crippled anyone who may attempt to attack the teens, all but negating any numerical advantage their enemies may have. When they finished with their task they went back to Harry's room and started going through some of his books on the Dark Arts. At almost exactly twelve-thirty the door burst open and Vernon stood in the doorway, glaring at Harry.
"Our lunch isn't going to cook itself boy. Why aren't you down there doing your job?" Harry cocked an eyebrow and opened his mouth to speak before he was cut off by Hermione.
"Who are you to tell Harry that he has to cook lunch for you? If he doesn't want to eat right now then he shouldn't have to fix anything at all, especially for you."
"You need to keep quiet, you little slut. You're pretty enough that you should be with Dudley, if it wasn't for the fact that you're a freak too. Instead you're with this filth and I'll be damned if I'm going to let the two of you bring any more freaks into this world, not under my roof." Unfortunately for Vernon, this time he had succeeded in angering not only Harry, but Hermione as well. So this time when Harry raised his wand to retaliate Hermione did nothing to stop him.
With nothing more than a mere wave of his wand, black lightning shot out of the end of Harry's wand again and enveloped Vernon. The older man would have let out a blood curdling scream were it not for the quick thinking of Hermione, would had the foresight to Silence the unpleasant Muggle just as Harry used his spell. The two watched in uncomfortable satisfaction as Harry's uncle lay writhing in agony on the floor. It wasn't lost to either of them that Voldemort took pleasure in torturing people helpless to him; the only thing that gave them comfort was that they didn't take pleasure in torturing the man, just that he was finally getting what he deserved after all the years of emotional abuse to Harry. Neither were sure how much time had passed when Dudley came up to the room to find his father.
"What the hell are you doing to my dad Potter," the youngest Dursley demanded, seeing the scene before him. Hermione swore under her breath and Stunned him before he could make a move. Harry ceased his torture of Vernon, who had passed out from the pain just after Dudley's arrival.
"We have to do something about this Mione. Despite the fact that we can obviously make their lives miserable if we want, they continue to harass us like this. We need to do something to make them realize that we're not going to keep letting them do this to us."
"Well we've physically hurt them on more than one occasion now so why not try emotionally hurting them instead?"
"How do you mean?"
"Vernon and Petunia care about Dudley more than anyone else. If we use that to our advantage and focus on him then maybe it'll show them how serious we are."
"That makes sense. I don't like even thinking this but what if we used the Imperius Curse on Dudley? We would have complete control over him and we could make him do things that he would normally never do. It would break Vernon and Petunia's hearts and that'll probably be enough."
"I don't like the idea of doing that either but it is a good idea. Do you think you can do it or do you want me to try?"
"I can do it." Harry's response was so confident that Hermione didn't doubt him for an instant. "We need them to wake up about the same time for this to really work right. Will the Ennervate spell work on Vernon or does it only affect people who are Stunned or knocked out?"
"I don't know, I've never tried using it on someone who passed out from pain. Why don't you go on and put Dudley under the Imperius and I'll try to revive Vernon. If it works we'll revive Dudley too and if it doesn't then we'll just wait until Vernon wakes up on his own." Harry nodded his agreement and pointed his wand at Dudley, confidentially calling out Imperio as he did. He could immediately feel a tingling sensation down his right arm and he knew that he had cast the spell right. Another nod caused Hermione to point her wand at Vernon and attempt to revive him; the older man began blinking his eyes and slowly stirring, causing Hermione to revive Dudley too. Vernon took only a few short minutes to collect his bearings before remembering what had happened just moments before.
"Come on Dudley, let's get these two freaks." Vernon started walking towards the two when he was suddenly met with a fist to his chest, not from Harry or Hermione but from the one person he would have never expected: Dudley. "Dudley, what are you doing?! You're supposed to get these freaks, not your own father! Now help me!" Vernon again tried to attack Harry and Hermione only to be stopped by Dudley. Realization dawned on the large man's face and he glared at Harry. "What have you done to my son you freak?"
"What makes you think I did anything to him Vernon? Maybe he finally realized that what you're doing is wrong and grew tired of watching you. Or maybe I used a spell that puts him completely under my control and he does exactly as I tell him to. I imagine that's the more likely scenario don't you think?" For all his faults, Vernon Dursley was rather cunning and intelligent and it didn't take him long to realize what Harry was trying to do.
"I know what you're doing freak and it's not going to work. Dudley may be doing these things to me but you're the one who's making him do it. This isn't his fault."
"You're smarter than I thought Vernon but it doesn't make much difference. How would you like it if Dudley went around to the neighbors and told them that he had a magical flying broom or that he bullies kids smaller than him or that he was nearly held back because his grades were too low and you bribed the school to pass him. They wouldn't think as highly of your family anymore would they?" Vernon's face visibly paled at Harry's threat but the young Wizard wasn't finished. "You know, your mind might logically tell you that Dudley isn't doing these things himself but would you honestly be alright watching him harm himself? Would it not affect you to see him throw himself out of the window?"
"You wouldn't dare!" Vernon snarled. Harry smirked at his uncle as Dudley walked to the window and opened it.
"Wouldn't I?" Harry questioned as Dudley looked out at the pavement below. "Is that a chance you're willing to take?" Vernon stood grinding his teeth and glaring at the teen for nearly a minute. On one hand he didn't really believe that his nephew could do something like that to anyone. On the other hand if Harry followed through with his threat then Vernon could very well lose his son.
"What do you want?" the man finally asked, anger in his voice but a look of defeat on his face.
"We already told you," Hermione spoke up, "you leave us alone and we'll leave you alone. That means no more ordering Harry to do anything for you, no more belittling either of us, not even a passing grunt as you walk by. We won't bother you either but we're not going to be confined to this room."
"Fine," Vernon responded, though the look on his face suggested he wanted to say something much more menacing and insulting. "Now let Dudley go!" Harry had Dudley close the window and walk back to his father's side before releasing the spell. The larger boy shook his head as he regained his bearings and then turned his attention back to Harry.
"If you ever do anything like that to me again Potter I'll make you regret it." Harry smirked at his cousin.
"Oh really?" He brought up his wand again and a vacant expression appeared on Dudley's face as his eyes glazed over. The young Wizard held the spell for only a few seconds before releasing it, just long enough for Dudley to get the message. "You see, I can do that whenever I want Dudley and there isn't much you can do about it. I can do the same thing to your parents too. As long as you leave us alone though there won't be any need for it. Now I suggest you two go ask Petunia to cook your lunch if you're hungry." He waved his wand and the two Muggles were forced out of the room. A wave of Hermione's wand caused the door to shut and lock behind them.
"You weren't really going to make Dudley kill himself were you?"
"Of course not. They may have treated me terribly over the years but I'm not going to do something like that. Besides that would eliminate a lot of our leverage if I did."
"So what were you going to do if Vernon didn't back down?"
"A fall from a two-story house is only lethal if you land on your neck but let's not forget that there's multiple other bones that can be broken. It wouldn't be the same of course, but it would have gotten my point across."
The next several days were peaceful for Harry and Hermione. With the threat the Dursleys once posed to them, however minor, now out of the way they were free to be two teens in the beginning of their relationship. Of course Hermione still had to cope with the loss of her family, something that Harry was there to help with, but for the most part they were enjoying themselves. Members of the Order still stopped by quite often, usually for no other reason than to "check up on them," though neither Harry nor Hermione truly believed this reason. They weren't complaining though, since they were both being kept up on current events within the Order.
The one thing that astonished both of them was that the Order still didn't have an official leader. They knew that Moody was acting as the "temporary unofficial" leader after Tonks let it slip one night, but it still didn't explain why the Order was currently without a leader. While it was true that the Order of the Phoenix was composed of many powerful and thoughtful members, any organization without a central leader would eventually be torn apart by the members. History had proven this to be true time and again, a fact that the two teens were sure most in the Order knew. So they still had to ask the question of why the Order lacked a central leader. Their many attempts to find out proved less than fruitful; even Tonks wasn't giving them any information, a difficult feat for her. The one thing that they gathered was that the Order did have someone in mind to be the next leader but whoever this person was was in no position to accept the role at the time.
They were both pleased to know that Voldemort seemed to be keeping a low profile after the death of Dumbledore. It took them by surprise, as well as pretty much everyone else in the Wizarding world, but it was a welcome surprise so no one was complaining. Everyone assumed that with the death of Albus Dumbledore it would only be a few short weeks before Voldemort had the entirety of Magical Britain under his control. There were skeptics though who believed that this may play directly into Voldemort's hands, since everyone was now on edge. Of course the Death Eaters still posed a threat and no one was foolish enough to take them lightly, even without their master present. Fortunately, most people were able to at least survive against the Death Eaters and the Order was able to provide at least equal ground for those still fighting.
Relief was also another emotion that seemed to be constant for the two. No more of the Order members had died since Dumbledore's death, despite the repeated attempts by the Death Eaters, and there was no massive damage dealt by Voldemort's loyal followers. They were told that the Order was working hard to do whatever they could to prevent the Wizarding world from falling into further chaos and apparently it was working. The one thing that caused them more relief than anything else though was the fact that Ron was alive and well. It concerned both of them that they hadn't heard from him at all since the summer began.
Now that things were relatively safe for the two, and they weren't confined to the tiny space that was Harry's room, they could have their conversations wherever they wanted. They were also free to finally explore the space the house offered, as evident by the fact that they were presently seated on Petunia Dursley's fine leather couch. Normally this couch was completely off-limits to Harry, since he was such a freak, but he felt it was time to change that. He was relaxing against the left side of the couch, one arm resting on the arm rest while the other held a book. Beside him to his right sat Hermione, her legs lying on top of his. In true Hermione fashion she was also reading one of Harry's books on the Dark Arts. The pleasant silence was broken when Harry began talking about the missing third member of their trio.
"I wonder how Ron's doing now. I know it's only been a couple of weeks since the year ended but one of us has usually heard from him by now. Granted we're always the ones who send the first letter but we've still heard from him."
"I'm sure he's fine," Hermione responded absentmindedly, turning the page back to reread something on the previous page. "You know if it was anyone else I'd say it's odd that we're always the ones who send the first letter to him."
"Yeah I know what you mean. Ron cares about us but he's just too lazy to actually write a letter unless he gets one first."
"Not unlike someone else I know." Hermione had a teasing smirk on her face as she leaned over and kissed Harry's cheek.
"I'm not lazy, I just make the choice not to do something. Having a sociopathic mass murderer after you tends to make things like homework seem less important."
"I can imagine." Harry gave her a look of disbelief. "Don't look at me like that Harry. I may place a heightened priority on school but I know there are other things out there that are more important. I can understand the appeal of putting off your work to spend more time with your friends. It gives you a sense of normality and allows you to relax for a while." The words had barely left her mouth when Petunia walked in. The thin woman took one look at the two teens, blanched, and rushed back out of the room as though she had just witnessed a terrifying murder.
"It's nice to know my relatives can finally stand to be in the same room as me," Harry sarcastically said. Hermione was already immersed back into her book and just made a noise of acknowledgement. Harry closed his book and stretched his back. "Alright let me up babe. I'm going to go get some good to drink." Hermione moved her legs without a word and let her boyfriend go into the kitchen. He came back a few minutes later with a glass of leftover lemonade. The teen sat back down and took a long drink from the glass before passing it to Hermione, who proceeded to drink the rest of it. Harry watched in amusement before he sensed something. He looked at Hermione who had almost dropped the glass.
"I felt it too. There's someone's here." The two of them quickly bolted from the couch and made their way outside. They knew that whoever this was was taking a risk by coming here at this time; nighttime wasn't exactly an effective time to attack a place you weren't familiar with. The two teens had the advantage of knowing the terrain and the intruder had lost the element of surprise, causing them both to breathe a sigh of relief.
"You go around the back side of the house and I'll go around the front," Harry told Hermione from their spot right outside the door. "Whoever it is could be planning anything so make sure that you're on your guard. I know we have those wards set up but we can't take any chances. If you see anything, don't do anything unless you have to. I want to know who or what we're dealing with before we do anything that we may possibly regret later. And if you do actually do something, please keep it at Stunning." Hermione rolled her eyes and pushed Harry towards the front of the house as she went around to the back.
Harry momentarily stopped his search in front of the bushes, attempting to hear anything around him that may be the telltale signs of someone walking around. Not hearing anything, he was about to start moving again when he suddenly felt like someone was behind him in the bushes. He spun around and silently sent a Stunning spell in the general area. It was just luck that the spell hit its mark, something that he wasn't going to reveal to anyone expect for Hermione. He lit the end of his wand to see the intruder and the sight that met him on the ground shocked him into silence. When he finally did find his voice again it was to say only one word.
"Ron?"
