A/N: WOW! I want to thank everyone who has reviewed and favorited and alerted and just WOW! I rain cookies down upon you all! ~ Your feedback means so much to me! Now ON TO THE ANGST!
~Hunnysuckle
A school wide search for Hermione uncovered nothing. She was nowhere to be found. Harry paced the length of her infirmary room angrily muttering to himself about how impossible it was for a girl to simply just vanish into thin air. Ron was too busy comforting Ginny to notice Professor McGonagall briskly walk into the room.
"Mr. Potter, the Headmaster would like a word with you, Mr. and Miss Weasley." She said softly. Harry paused in mid-pace and closed his eyes desperately hoping Hermione would be in her bed when he opened them. The guilt in his sad green eyes was obvious as he realized this wasn't some awful hallucination brought on by stress. Ron and Ginny followed Professor McGonagall into the corridor as Harry looked around the room once more and shuffled along with his friends.
"I wonder why he wanted to talk to Ginny first." Ron mused aloud as the boys sat outside Professor Dumbledore's office. "It probably has something to do with what went on with Hermione's wand. Weird that is. Not to mention what you saw Harry, I think this might have something to do with Voldemort." Harry snorted and slouched farther into his chair, arms crossed. All he could do was look at the floor and stew in his own tortured thoughts. How could Voldemort do this right in front of his face and he not even notice? How long was Hermione trying to tell him what was really going on? Why couldn't he protect her? The opening of the door disrupted Harry's darkest of inner battles.
"He wants to see Ron next." Ginny sniffled and hurriedly ran out of the room. Ron looked at Harry's still bowed head and gulped before heading through the door into Professor Dumbledore's office. Now alone, Harry stood and continued to pace thinking of what he could possibly say to explain his enormous mistake. He should have seen this for what it was. He should have been more careful. Mostly, he should have been close enough to Hermione to have known she was in trouble before any of this even happened. The ache in his head brought him back to his body. There he was, sitting on the floor. His hands grasped his dark, more than usual unruly hair, trying to pull all the self- loathing out of his mind. It was useless though, no amount of self- inflicted pain could tear the hatred out of his heart.
"Uh, mate?" Ron said curiously, "You're up." Ron looked with great concern at his best friend. Harry nodded, pulled himself up slowly, and turned to face his irresponsibility. He took a deep breath and stepped into the office. A quick look around showed that all of the portraits were empty, a sign that they had been sent away so as not to overhear any important piece of information given or received. Dumbledore sat at his desk, eyes on Harry as he sat down in the chair across from him. Harry trembled as he spoke.
"You wanted to see me Professor?"
"Harry do you know what is going on here?" Dumbledore asked kindly.
Harry looked at his feet and whispered, "He's kidnapped Hermione hasn't he." He bit his lip. Dumbledore sighed and took off his half- moon spectacles.
"Harry in this world there is both great evil and great good alike. Lord Voldemort is unfortunately the great evil of our time, but where is the good dear boy? This has been a fantastic mystery to me. It's the force that empowered your parents to save you, and it empowers you to save us all. I don't doubt that Voldemort has some part in this, but it is the forces of good that are behind Miss Granger's disappearance." Harry stared at him in confusion and anger. How could Hermione's suffering be a good thing?
"What do you mean Professor?"
"I mean Mr. Potter, that it is no accident the two of you became friends. Your destinies are intertwined. Harry what I tell you here today must only remain between us, do you understand? Not even a word of it to Mr. or Miss Weasley. Miss Granger must be protected at all costs." Harry swallowed hard and nodded. "You know of the prophecy many people believe to be about you. There was one other prophecy made that day." He stood and walked to a table and among the many gadgets lifted an orb that looked similar to what he was given the last time he and Professor Dumbledore talked. This one was shimmering so white it looked like it would freeze in his hand. As Professor Dumbledore put it in Harry's hands its warmth showered over him, putting him into a dream like haze as he listened to the thick syrup-like words change his life.