HI! It's me. I'd like to thank one of my loyal reviewers sbmcneil, who pointed out some of the flaws and rips in my story! Thank you so much! i love that you took time from your day to tell mw what's what. So now I can fix it.
-First up!I'm sorry for confusing you all with the animal/human talk scenes. I assure you, that when Harry is talking and everybody except the person he's talking to is referring to him as Nightmare, he is talking to a fellow Animagus. And if he's speaking as a dog, it's not to the people. Sorry for confusion.
-Secondly!You mentioned that it would be unlikely that Hermione would go along with them. Well, if you look at it from Hermione's point of view, she would know that even if she doesn't do it, the boys will. If they were alone at any piont and Death Eaters showed up, the boys would have a disguise, and Hermione wouldn't. It would look very suspicious if the Mudblood that was known to be friends with Harry Potter was sitting alone with two random suspiciously Harry-and-Ron-like dogs. Plus, I'll bet you that she cares more about herself and the boys' safety than the rules.
-Thirdly!You said that Ginny could know their secret because she's good at keeping secrets. Well, they'd be putting Ginny in danger by telling her, because she could be captured and tortured for thier location, or she'd be Veritaserumed and enadanger them all.
-Lastly!You pointed out that Hermione and Ron can be quite blurty with secrets. Hermione doesn't talk to people much, and Ron isn't in
many heated arguments with anyone but Harry and Ginny, who aren't a problem. (Well for the latter, not anymore. the only argument Ron and Ginny ever had that I remember is the one after Christmas.)
Hope that cleared things up! Talk to me about any other flaws you might notice! Thank you all for reviewing, and to any new reviewers, I don't wike fwames... SO NO FLAMES! Enjoy the rest!
LOCATION: TALL GRASS IN THE WEASLEY'S FRONT YARD
PERSONS: GINNY WEASLEY, HARRY POTTER
TIME: 7:00 AM
YEAR: 1996
The first thing Harry noticed when he woke up was that Ron and Hermione were missing. Harry sat up, gazing around him, and then collapsed onto his back when he remembered why he was even this field. Resentment bubbled up inside him and he vowed never to let his friends out of his sight again. He transformed, and nudged Ginny sharply until she awoke.
"Night- Harry? What are you doing?" Harry waved his tail at the empty patch they had been sleeping in.
"Where are Ron and Hermione?" she asked. Harry rolled his eyes. He pressed his nose to the ground and searched for a trail. He trundled along the trail, snuffling Ron's scent and trying to separate it from the smell of dry grass. It took him a second to realise that Ginny wasn't following him. He stuck her with a look. But she was looking in another direction. There was a definite ginger head standing out against the brush.
Harry put his nose back to the ground, nonplussed. Sheepishly, he realised that he was following Ron's scent from last night. He turned back to Ginny, who turned and ran towards Ron. Harry bounded after her, definitely picking up a fresher scent.
"Ron, are you okay?" asked Ginny. Ron turned to them, an oddly sincere smile on his pale face.
"Ginny." He said, sounding extremely relieved, "She's okay. Turns out I don'tknow how to do a pulse-check charm." He shifted to reveal her pale form, still as far as Harry knew, very much dead. He turned himself human again, having no need for his senses anymore. Harry checked her pulse manually. It was faint, but Harry could feel it.
"How did you get over here? And how did you find out she was okay? And how come you didn't already know that last night?" Ginny inquired.
"And why did you not check her pulse manually?" Harry put in.
"When I woke up," Ron started, "she let out a sigh. A tiny little sigh. I couldn't see her breathing last night, it was dark. I don't know how to check pulses manually." he added sheepishly. " Anyway, when I woke up, and found out she was alright, I tried to go to the house to get Mum, but I have no idea where I am. So I tried using my dog senses, but I couldn't get Hermione along with me. I thought about going to get Mum, and leaving Hermione with you, but I would have no idea how to get back without revealing our secret. So I waited for super-senses part 2." Ron finished up his story and stared around, as though he just realised he was here with them.
Harry stood up. He could most definitely not see over the grass.
"Err- okay." he said, and buckled down into his dog form, following his and Ginny's scents back to their patch of grass, than following Ron's old trail back to the house.
"Now this trail is useful." laughed Ginny. Harry could see the faintest outline of the house when he looked up, and soon felt the cold, soothing brush of cold air against his tired muzzle. He stretched and shook out his fur, only now realizing how stuffy it had been in the grass.
Ginny let out a whoop and Ron breathed a sigh of relief. Harry turned human for like, the third time today, and led his friends back to the house, where he was so happy to feel warm air on his face and the smell of bacon on his tongue.
"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?" screeched Mrs. Weasley, coming into view in the doorway of the kitchen. Harry took a step to the side, making Mrs. Weasley stop in her tracks and gape in horror.
"Oh, dear. How did that happen?"She asked quietly, hustling forward and peering at Hermione in Ron's arms. She brushed Hermione's hair aside and felt her forehead. She levitated Hermione into a chair and demanded Ron go get her healing book.
"Ginny, wherever is your dog, dear? I haven't seen him forever." Asked Mrs. Weasley distractedly, waving her wand over Hermione's neck.
Harry stiffened; Ginny let out a little strangled noise and said,
"He's gone."
"Where did he go?" Mrs. Weasley asked, more focused now.
Harry closed his eyes tight as he felt Ginny turn a rock-hard gaze on him.
"I don't know." She said stiffly.
"How did this happen?" Mrs. Weasley asked again, running her fingers over the word Mudblood inscribed on Hermione's neck.
"We were attacked last night. Bellatrix Lestrange conjured that snowstorm to throw us off. Then she ran around slicing our blood statuses into us." Said Ginny.
"Are you hurt, Ginny?" asked Mrs. Weasley sharply. Ginny showed her her arm. Mrs. Weasley let out a strangled cry.
"It's okay Mum, Hermione's worse."
"What?" came Ron's voice. Harry looked up. Ron was looking purely shocked, his face blanched and his grip on the book slack.
"Worse than us, I mean." Ginny said hurriedly.
"Show me your arm, Ron." Said Mrs. Weasley, watching a blue flame flicker over Hermione's wound. Ron obliged and Mrs. Weasley turned to Harry.
"Now you."
Harry stiffened again; he hadn't been branded, he'd been a dog. Harry turned to Mrs. Weasley and said,
"I went ahead, after Hermione fell. I had no idea she'd been caught and I just kept moving. Ron found me later and told me what happened and that the threat was gone." Harry said, forcing an ashmed look and peering at the floor.
"So you haven't been hurt?" she asked. Harry shook his head.
"Good." breathed Mrs Weasley. "You three can go, if you like."
Harry left the living room, followed by Ginny.
"Mum hasn't noticed your broken arm." Ginny said quietly. Subconciously, Harry's gaze drifted to it. Shocked, Harry realised the bandages were gone, leaving nothing but pale skin beneath.
"That's my peace offering." Ginny said. "I don't want to be angry with you anymore, Harry."
"It's not my choice. I don't control your feelings." Harry said stiffly.
"But I do. And I'm not mad at you anymore. I forgive you. And once again, I'm sorry I hurt you."
Harry turned to her. Her eyes were glowing softly. He opened his arms and Ginny rushed into them, hugging him tightly.
"Truce?" he asked.
"Truce."
A/N: Sorry this chapter a) took so long and b) was so uneventful. BTW, I know you're wondering 'Why didn't Hermione fix Harry's arm earlier rather than just bandaging it?' Good question. The answer? Let's just say if you fix it without bandaging and re-aligning the bone, it'll fix crooked and be like that forevah.