Harry Potter: World at War
Chapter 21: Escape From Hogwarts
"Run and get McGonagall," Harry shouted as soon as he saw the silver knife jutting out from Hermione's chest.
Ron stared back and forth between Harry and Hermione's body. "What's going on?" Ron stammered. "Is she—you know—dead?"
Harry shook his head. "I don't know. Go get McGonagall, and send someone for Dumbledore. I'll see what I can do here."
Ron looked over his shoulder. "Are you sure you don't need my help?"
"GO!" Harry roared, gesturing toward the door.
Harry didn't look to see if Ron followed his orders, but instead drew his wand and started casting every diagnostic spell that he knew. Bill had spent a large portion of the summer months making sure that Harry was well rounded in basic Healing arts. As the curse-breaker had put it: "No point in making sure that you can fight if you can't keep yourself in one piece."
Pansy and Daphne came rushing in, wands drawn. "We just saw Ron come running out of here hollering for McGonagall and Dumbledore. What happened?" Pansy asked.
Daphne put her hand to her mouth when she saw her girlfriend's prone form. "Hermione?" She dropped to her knees, stroking Hermione's hair softly. "Is she okay?"
"No," Harry said, shaking his head. "But she is alive. Barely."
His diagnostic charms said she had a heart rate of one hundred and twenty beats per minute, blood pressure of ninety over sixty, a respiratory rate of forty, and based off the blood stains that were growing larger by the second, she was losing blood at a dangerous rate.
"I don't know nearly enough about Healing to even try and work on this," Harry admitted, feeling helpless. "All I can do is put her under a stasis charm until McGonagall and Dumbledore get here."
"Well hurry up and cast it then," Daphne insisted, tugging at Harry's arm.
Harry waved his wand over Hermione's body and cast the charm, only relaxing once he saw Hermione freeze mid-breath.
"It's done." He said, taking a deep breath. "It'll hold here until someone else gets here."
Pansy leaned against him, wrapped around his arm. "You did all you could. It's more than me or Daph could have done."
Daphne nodded, tears flowing freely down her cheeks as she gripped Hermione's frozen hands.
"Do you know what that chalk circle is?" Harry asked, gesturing towards it. "It seems to have runes inscribed in it, but I don't recognize any of them."
Pansy shook her head. "We haven't studied anything like them in Ancient Runes. Maybe Dumbledore will know what they mean."
Harry wrapped his free arm around Pansy's waist. "Then all we can do now is wait."
And so they did. It was only a few minutes later that the door to the Room of Requirement flung open with a BANG!
Dumbledore came running into the room, his beard flung over his shoulder, and his wand at the ready. He strode across the room, and crouched in front of Hermione. "What happened?"
"I don't know," Harry said quietly. "Me, Ron, and Hermione were all supposed to meet here. We've been having some issues ever since I started dating Pansy, and we wanted to get together and talk it out."
He gestured towards Hermione's frozen form with the knife sticking out like an accusatory finger. "When we came in, she was like that. I smudged the chalk runes a little bit when I knelt by her to cast some diagnostic spells, but that was about it."
"Yes, these runes are most interesting. . ." Dumbledore mused, examining them. "They appear to be some kind of power amplification module, but I can't detect who they were focused on. . ."
McGonagall came through the doorway. "Albus! Weasley just came running into my office screaming about Ms. Granger—" She saw the prone body on the floor and brought her hand to her mouth in shock. "Is that her. . ."
"I'm afraid so Minerva." Dumbledore said straightening up. "And we haven't much time. Harry did an excellent job of starting to stabilize her, and placing a stasis over her body. We may still have a chance to save her. Go to Poppy and get a bed set up, I will bring Ms. Granger down myself in just a few minutes."
McGonagall nodded and fled the room, moving faster than Harry would have guessed that she could.
"Hogwarts seal this room!" Dumbledore said, seemingly addressing the walls of the school.
The was a grinding sound, like stone moving across stone, and Harry could feel the magic of the room shift to accommodate Dumbledore's order.
"Ms. Parkinson, Ms. Greengrass," Dumbledore said firmly. "I will need you both to return to your common room. I promise you that we will do everything in our power to help Ms. Granger, but we will need the utmost concentration. We should know by morning how Ms. Granger will fare."
"I want to be there with her," Daphne insisted, clutching to her girlfriend's hand. "She would do the same thing if it were me that had been hurt."
"I understand," Dumbledore said softly. "But I must insist that you return to your common room regardless. Your presence, while beneficial to Ms. Granger, will be a hindrance to Madam Pomfrey and myself while we try and heal her. Please trust that we will do everything in our power to save her."
Daphne looked on the verge of arguing, but instead pressed a kiss to Hermione's fingers, and stood up. "If you think that's what's needed to help her, then we will do it."
Pansy's grip tightened on Harry's arm. "Will she be okay?"
"It's impossible to know for certain," Dumbledore said sadly, shaking his head. "But we will do all we can."
Harry rubbed Pansy's arm comfortingly with his free hand. "What would you like me to do sir?"
"I will need your help transporting Ms. Granger safely." Dumbledore said. "Afterwards, you can head up to my office. Once we finish with Ms. Granger, I will come upstairs so we can discuss the incident."
Harry hesitated. Did he really want to be locked in Dumbledore's office, waiting for the Headmaster to return with news about Hermione's condition. Then he realized that he would probably be in the know more than if he refused and went back to his common room. "Yes sir."
He kissed Pansy's temple, and reluctantly freed his arm. "I'll tell you two as soon as I know anything," He promised.
"As will I." Dumbledore agreed.
Harry kissed Pansy one more time, and watched as she and Daphne slowly walked out of the room. It wasn't until they were completely out of sight that Harry turned toward Dumbledore. "Do you know anything about this?" Harry asked, gesturing at the room around them. "This doesn't look like something Hermione would have set up for a conversation. There isn't even any furniture."
"That was my thought as well," Dumbledore said. "I believe that Ms. Granger came across this room by chance. I would wager that whoever created the room had forgotten to hide the door from others."
"They would have had to move quickly once she found them," Harry mused. "Hermione was only here a few minutes before I was."
"Indeed," Dumbledore said sagely. "It is impossible for us to know exactly what events led to this tragedy without further investigation, but we will find our assailant."
"Thank you," Harry said looking down at Hermione. "How do you want to carry her? Wingardium Leviosa?"
"No, even with the stasis charm we would risk dislodging the ritual knife when we traversed the stairs." Dumbledore said, waving his wand. A large white stretcher appeared beside him, and Hermione's body lifted up a few inches so the foam board could slide underneath.
"Instead, we will levitate the board." Dumbledore explained. "It will keep her body straight, and keep the blade from moving around as much."
Harry nodded. "I'm ready whenever you are."
"Wingardium Leviosa!"
*****HP: WAW*****
Harry checked his watch again as he angrily paced Dumbledore's small office. 9:34 AM. He had been in the room for almost fourteen hours now, and he was still no closer to an answer on Hermione's condition.
Fawkes had been in the room for the first few hours, but had vanished in a burst of flame sometime around 10:00. Harry wasn't sure how to feel about the Phoenix's disappearance. On the one hand, Phoenix tears were incredibly powerful healing agents. Harry knew from first hand experience that Fawkes tears could combat even basilisk venom. On the other hand, if Dumbledore had called for Fawkes' aid, that meant that Hermione's condition had been deteriorating.
Harry sighed in frustration and took a seat again. He had been playing through all the possible scenarios in his head since Fawkes had left, and there was no point in continuing to do matter how much he was worried about Hermione, it did nothing but damage his own mental state.
Harry had just checked his watch for the millionth time, when the office door swung open, and Dumbledore stumbled into his office, looking older and weaker than he ever had before.
Harry leapt up from his seat, and took Dumbledore's arm, guiding the old wizard to his plush office chair.
"How is Hermione?" Harry asked, taking the seat opposite Dumbledore. The Headmaster shook his head sadly, and Harry saw a tear flow down Dumbledore's cheeks and into his beard.
"Fifty years," Dumbledore said quietly. "It's been fifty years since a student was killed on Hogwarts grounds. Until today."
Harry gaped at the Headmaster.
"Poppy, Severus and I worked all night on Ms. Granger." Dumbledore whispered. "Fawkes donated a few of his tears and feathers for the most powerful healing potions in the world. Nothing worked. It seems that although Ms. Granger was still alive when the strength enhancing ritual was used, its effects continued to sap her strength until she had no more left to give."
Harry didn't know how to respond. Hermione was gone. In his mind's eye, Harry saw his bushy haired friend's nervous smile as she introduced Daphne to him and Neville. The gleam in her eye that she had had whenever she solved a particularly difficult puzzle. "She's gone?" Harry whispered in a broken voice.
"I'm afraid so Harry," Dumbledore said. "She passed away early this morning, slightly before dawn."
"Dawn . . ." Harry repeated numbly. "So what took so long then? It's nearly ten now."
"I was in the Room of Requirement, investigating the scene of the assault." Dumbledore explained. "I had guessed that the battered cabinet in the corner of the room had been the purpose of the room's creation. Ms. Granger merely walked in on one of your fellow students experimenting with repairing it."
"The cabinet?" Harry said, recalling the decrepit wooden cabinet that had been in the far corner of the room. "What about it?" He didn't understand why Dumbledore was telling him this. He wanted to know why this had happened to Hermione.
"The cabinet is an old Vanishing cabinet that used to stand on the first floor." Dumbledore explained. "It forms a link with another cabinet somewhere outside the school, but it has never worked properly. I would wager that our assailant was attempting to repair that cabinet, and that is why they were in the Room of Requirement to begin with. Once Ms. Granger saw what they were doing, they panicked and reacted in the only way they could think to do so."
"So they stabbed her?" Harry asked, finally understanding where Dumbledore's story was heading. "But then why the ritual circle? Or the oddly specific pose that Hermione's body is in. She wouldn't have grabbed the knife with both hands before she died. Something more would have had to happen."
"I believe that her unknown assailant merely Stunned her," Dumbledore said. "And once he or she realized that they had no other choice but to dispose of Ms. Granger and protect their secret, they decided to use a power-enhancing ritual to aid them in their task. The Vanishing cabinet is capable of creating a hole in the wards once it is repaired and matched with an existing cabinet, but to do so, our adversary would have needed to be able to override my own protections on the cabinet."
"So they've been trying and failing," Harry reasoned. "But once they saw Hermione, they decided to use her to help them. They didn't know that we would be coming in after her."
"Yes, that was my interpretation as well." Dumbledore agreed. "I have destroyed the Vanishing cabinet and closed off that avenue of potential Death Eater attacks, but it doesn't change the fact that we have a murderer in my school."
Harry was torn, he wanted to run back to his common room and take the time to grieve for Hermione, but he knew that he had to stay focused on stopping this Death Eater threat. "Do you know who it is sir?"
"If I knew who it was, I would be handing them over to the Aurors right now." Dumbledore said firmly. "You are right. The time for endless chances has passed. Voldemort has made it clear that he is willing to recruit even students to do his bidding. But no, I do not know who did this. I have suspicions of course, but nothing more."
"Draco Malfoy should be near the top of that list," Harry said firmly. "He spent most of the past month telling anyone who would listen that he had received some kind of special mission from Voldemort. Repairing the Vanishing cabinets might be that mission."
"I am aware of young Mr. Malfoy's mission," Dumbledore said. "But it does not concern the cabinet, of that I am sure. Severus has told me that Mr. Malfoy's mission is to kill me."
Harry blinked. The way Dumbledore had said that—it was like the Headmaster was talking about the coming winter weather, not casually discussing one of his underage students attempting to murder him.
"You see Harry," Dumbledore said, removing his glasses and looking at Harry. "If there is one thing that Lord Voldemort has never understood, it is my rational acceptance of death. He, like many people, fears death. He fears the unknown of the afterlife, and perhaps most importantly, he thinks that everyone else does too. There are indeed things worse than death, but Voldemort does not see things that way."
"So he sent someone to kill you?" Harry asked, trying to understand the Headmaster's logic. "He has to know that Malfoy wouldn't be able to keep this from you."
"You are correct," Dumbledore said. "I believe, as does Severus, that Voldemort expects me to be distracted by young Mr. Malfoy's attempts, and will falter in my efforts to fight against him."
"Aren't you distracted at all sir?" Harry asked. "I mean, one of your students is trying to kill you."
"Mr. Malfoy was ordered to kill me by Voldemort himself." Dumbledore said, steepling his fingers. "Indeed, it seems likely that the son is being punished for the sins of the father. Lucius Malfoy gave away a piece of Voldemort's soul to discredit a political rival, and then failed to retrieve the prophecy from the Department of Mysteries last year. Arthur Weasley killed Lucius Malfoy during that battle, and Voldemort was not allowed to properly punish Lucius for his many failures."
"So you think that Voldemort sent him on a suicidal mission to get revenge on Malfoy's dad?" Harry asked. That did seem like the kind of petty thing that Voldemort would do.
"I do," Dumbledore confirmed. "Not to be immodest, but the chances of Mr. Malfoy succeeding in killing me are miniscule. I would be far more worried if he was planning to kill one of the students instead. My own higher than average skill aside, Hogwarts' wards would warn me if they thought that I was in danger. Hogwarts protects her Head."
But apparently not her students. Harry knew better than to say as much out loud, and changed the subject. "Could it have still been Malfoy?" He said quietly, trying to sound as if the thought had just occurred to him. "Maybe he was trying to repair the Vanishing cabinet so the Death Eaters could come through the wards and try and overwhelm you with sheer numbers."
"It is possible," Dumbledore allowed. "But not likely: Mr. Malfoy is a Pureblood, and so he would have grown up with stories of Hogwarts and many of these stories include the strength of wards. I would know at once if scores of Death Eaters had entered the school. Mr. Malfoy would know better than to try and bring in Death Eaters to face me. He would have better luck luring me out of the castle and trying to attack me by surprise."
"So if it wasn't Malfoy, then who do you think did it." Harry pressed. "You did say that you have suspicions."
"It could be any number of students," Dumbledore mused. "Mr. Nott, Mr. Crabbe, Mr. Goyle and several other Slytherins had parents among the Death Eaters, and could have been added to Voldemort's ranks over the summer. Ms. Chang has been emotionally unstable ever since the death of Mr. Diggory, and would have been any easy target for one of Voldemort's followers to prey on. Professor Black was married to a Death Eater, and divorced one under mysterious circumstances eighteen months ago. It is possible that any one of them is behind the Vanishing cabinet."
"But some of them were at dinner last night," Harry said, trying to remember who all he had seen. "Pansy and I insisted on eating dinner first, but Hermione left early to set up the Room. Whoever she walked in on probably didn't eat with the rest of us."
"Yes, I came to that conclusion as well." Dumbledore agreed. "But, with over three hundred students in the school, it is impossible to vouch for the locations of each and every one of them. I'm afraid we will have to wait for Ms. Granger's assailant to make another move before we can find them."
Harry stared openly at the Headmaster. He wanted to let whoever killed Hermione kill another student? "Sir, you must be joking. You want to wait until they hurt someone else?" Harry said in shock. "What the bloo—"
Dumbledore raised a hand. "Harry, please listen to what I am saying. I said wait until the assailant makes another move. Trust me when I tell you that I will not let this perpetrator leave Hogwarts unpunished. I will be closely monitoring every single student who I think may have had a hand in this act, and I will personally stop them from ever doing something like this again."
"When you find them," Harry stated angrily. "Tell me. I want to watch them suffer for what they did."
"Revenge is not the answer Harry." Dumbledore said firmly. "But I promise you, that when we find who did this, you can personally deliver them to the Aurors."
"I'd rather put a Piercer between their eyes." Harry growled. "Hermione has been the one constant in my life ever since I got to Hogwarts. And whoever this bastard is, he destroyed that."
"As much as I'd like to, I can't fault your feelings on the matter." Dumbledore said quietly. "I was the same way when I was your age."
"I appreciate your restraint Dumbledore," Harry said. "I'm not really in the mood for a speech on morality."
"If you ever are, I have several prepared," Dumbledore said, a twinkle in his eye.
"This isn't really the time for jokes Professor," Harry said coldly. "If you forgot, my best friend is lying dead in the Hospital Wing. Has anyone even bothered to tell her parents?"
Dumbledore's eyes widened, and Harry shook his head in disgust. "I should have guessed as much. Fine, don't worry about it. I'll go tell them. Can I at least get an address?"
"Harry . . ." Dumbledore said slowly. "I know that you were raised in the Muggle world, but you have to understan—"
"And whose fault is that?" Harry shot back. "You're the one who put me with the Dursleys in the first place! Maybe I would understand if you had bothered to teach me."
"Harry!" Dumbledore said firmly. "Please let me finish. You have to understand that when a Muggleborn child is removed from the magical world—be it through expulsion, long term spell damage, or in extremely unfortunate cases, death—their parents will often lash out at the world that took their child away. It has become standard practice to Obliviate the parents and the child."
"What?" Harry said flabbergasted. "You're going to Obliviate her parents? Their daughter was murdered in the middle of a school they can't even see, and now you are going to take away their very memories of her. How can you even live with yourself? Did you Obliviate Myrtle's parents after Voldemort killed her too?"
"After Myrtle Warren's unfortunate passing, I did indeed Obliviate her parents." Dumbledore admitted. "She was the first student to be killed at Hogwarts since the late 1800's. I was the Deputy Headmaster at the time, and was instructed by Headmaster Dippet to speak with the then Minister of Magic Leonard Spencer-Moon. Minister Spencer-Moon and I spent a great deal of time discussing how to handle the situation, and we decid—"
"You decided to wipe her parent's memories of their daughter." Harry said flatly.
"Mr. and Mrs. Warren were influential people in Muggle politics." Dumbledore said. "And once they found out that their fourteen year old daughter had been killed by a basilisk, they were planning on exposing the wizarding world to everyone. We had no choice."
"Fine, maybe you had to Obliviate Myrtle's parents," Harry admitted, still trying keep from hollering at Dumbledore. "But then why do it to Hermione's parents."
"Harry, you don't understand," Dumbledore said, trying to calm the tension building in the room.
"Then make me understand Dumbledore!" Harry screamed, finally unable to contain his temper any longer. "Make me understand why you would do that! Hermione didn't care about that many people! Do you know who made that list? Her parents, Daphne, Ron and me! That's it. Hermione didn't interact with a lot of people and you want to take her away from two of the only people she cared about!"
"It's the law Harry," Dumbledore explained. "I can't overrule it. After we had a legal precedent from the Warrens, Minister Minchum was able to use it to force the Wizengamot to Obliviate the parents of Spencer Asbury. He was a twelve year old Muggleborn child who was killed by one of Voldemort's Death Eaters during the last war."
"You're the head of the Wizengamot, the Chief Warlock!" Harry bellowed, pounding his fist onto Dumbledore's desk. "Why can't you reverse it?"
"Minister of Magic Harold Minchum was a Death Eater sympathiser," Dumbledore said calmly, ignoring Harry's violent outbursts. "He managed to get a majority vote from the Wizengamot, and not only passed a law mandating the Obliviation of the parents should something happen to the child, he also solidified it into the Wizarding Charter. The only way it could be reversed now is if the Wizengamot can get a unanimous vote to remove it from the Charter and that won't happen in the current political climate."
Harry stood up. "Go to hell Dumbledore. You want me to fight to save a country that wants to erase my best friend from living memory. I don't even know why I want to live here. What have they ever done for me?"
Harry didn't bother to wait for an answer and stormed out of the room, slamming Dumbledore's door behind him.
He couldn't believe that Dumbledore was actually arguing in favor of Obliviating the Grangers. Hell the old man had been responsible for the legal precedent that made it possible! Harry balled his hands into fists and scowled darkly at the gargoyle that guarded the stairs.
Before he knew it, Harry was standing in front of the blank wall that led to the Slytherin common room, he didn't remember walking down the stairs, he didn't even remember deciding to come here, but he knew that he needed to talk to Pansy.
Harry stared expectantly at the wall before realizing that he didn't know the password. "Pureblood," Harry guessed, but the wall stubbornly refused to move. "Mudblood, death to Muggles, Potter sucks, Slytherins rule, All hail Lord Voldemort, . . ."
Harry continued throwing out random words associated with Slytherins, but nothing happened. Harry swore quietly in Parseltongue..
A voice so deep that Harry could barely understand it suddenly overwhelmed him. "A speaker? You are not in my house boy!"
"I need to get in," Harry begged, barely noticing that he was speaking in Parseltongue. "A friend of mine got hurt, and I have to tell the others."
"Very well boy," The voice boomed. "You are a speaker, so I will grant you one hour to speak with your friends. Use it well."
Suddenly, the immense pressure lifted from Harry's mind, and the wall folded in on itself to form an archway. Just past the entryway, Pansy and Daphne were curled up on a plush couch.
Harry slowly walked into the dim common room, and bent over his girlfriend, shaking her awake.
"Go away," Pansy mumbled, wrapping her arms more tightly around Daphne. "We're waiting for Harry."
Harry smiled softly despite the situation. "I am Harry," He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.
Pansy finally opened her eyes. "Harry?" She sat up, careful not to disturb Daphne. "What's the news?"
Harry shook his head. "Not until Daphne wakes up. I don't want to have to repeat myself."
"She only just fell asleep an hour or so ago," Pansy said. "I don't want to wake her up."
"I suppose you're right," Harry said looking down at the sleeping blonde. "I don't want to disturb her with bad news."
Pansy stood up and pulled her hair into a loose ponytail. "Hermione didn't make it did she?"
Harry shook his head. "Out in the hall."
Harry led Pansy out of the common room, and into a small ante-chamber just down the corridor.
Harry sat on the edge of a desk that had been abandoned in the room, and Pansy sat on his lap, leaning against his chest. "Hermione didn't—" He cut himself off, trying to think of how to break it to her gently. "The ritual circle continued to drain her power, even after Dumbledore and the others managed to heal her wounds."
Pansy shook her head softly. "Poor Daphne. . ." She murmured, pressing her face into Harry's shirt. Harry rubbed her back and held her close.
Quietly, Harry explained the rest of the situation: Malfoy's mission, Dumbledore's suspicions, and lastly the fate of Hermione's parents.
"Is there anything we can do to stop him?" Pansy whispered, when Harry brought up Hermione's parents.
Harry shook his head. "I don't think so. I was hoping you had some idea," He admitted ruefully.
"If it's in the Wizarding Charter, we can't do anything to change it without a unanimous vote in the Wizengamot." Pansy said, her face screwed up in concentration. "And even if we could manage that, it would be too late. Something tells me that Hermione's parents are going to get Obliviated sooner than later."
"I thought so too," Harry agreed. "But I'm not going to stick around for it." He felt better as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He had been privately considering leaving Hogwarts since Dumbledore had revealed Hermione's fate.
Pansy smiled and kissed Harry's cheek. "I'm not surprised, I'll write to Father as soon as Daphne wakes up. Unfortunately, I can't withdraw myself from Hogwarts like you can."
"I don't want you to leave because of me," Harry told her. "You have a life here, you want to get your N.E.W.T.s so you can work in the Ministry. I can't take that away from you."
"I'm not asking you to," Pansy said quietly. "I don't want to be here at Hogwarts if you're gone. We can self-study for our N.E.W.T.s, and take them along with the rest of our class in two years."
"We've only been dating a few weeks," Harry pointed out. "Do you really want to give everything up for me?"
"Even if, Merlin forbid, we break up, I wouldn't want to come back here." Pansy said quietly. "I'm an outcast in Slytherin because I don't follow their ideals, I'm an outcast among most of the rest of the school because I'm a Slytherin, and I'm an outcast among most of the straight girls of our generation because they want to date you."
"Well they want to date the Boy-Who-Lived," Harry agreed. "But I guess I understand."
"You're learning not to argue with me," Pansy said with a weak smile. "How sweet." Her face fell. "When are you planning on leaving?"
"Today," Harry said, having just decided. "If I wait much longer, then Dumbledore is going to do everything he can to keep me here."
"Do you know where you're going to go?" Pansy asked with a worried look. "Are any of the Potter properties habitable?"
"I don't know about the Potter properties," Harry said. "But some of the Black properties certainly are. I'll stay at one of them."
"Will you write?" Pansy said quietly.
Harry took a moment to look his girlfriend in the eye. She was trying to hide it behind an innocent question, but there was some genuine fear behind it. "Of course I will." Harry said, pulling Pansy closer to him. "We've been passing letters back and forth for months, why would I stop now?"
Pansy kissed him again. "Because I can't kiss you through a letter. And I don't want you to go looking for them from someone else."
"Not a chance," Harry promised. "Not even a little one."
"I'll hold you to that." Pansy said softly.
"You won't have to," Harry told her. "There's nothing to worry about."
"Go ahead and go." Pansy said suddenly. "I'll tell Daphne about Hermione, we've been friends for years, so it'll be better if it comes from me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes," Pansy said grabbing Harry's hand. "Get out while you still can. We don't want Dumbledore to trap you in the school."
"Ok," Harry agreed. "I'll send you a letter as soon as I get to Grimmauld Place."
"You'd better," Pansy said with a cheeky grin.
*****HP: WAW*****
Harry knocked twice on the heavy wooden door, and it swung open. "Enter," A familiar feminine voice said.
Harry stepped into the dark office, wincing as he saw the vast array of jars lining the walls, each filled with a disgusting Potions ingredient. "How can I help you Lord Black?" Narcissa asked, setting her quill down and looking up at him.
Harry looked Narcissa in the eye, summoning all the authority he could muster. "I am withdrawing from Hogwarts, and I will need to stay at Grimmauld Place for the foreseeable future."
"Certainly Lord Black," Narcissa standing up from her desk. "I'll come with you and add you to Fidelius."
"Thank you Narcissa," Harry said wearily. "I'll explain everything once we are away from the school."
Narcissa picked up a pot of Floo Powder. "The Floo address is Blackest Night, just keep your eyes closed until I can add you to the wards. A Fidelius blur will leave quite the headache."
Harry nodded and took a pinch of powder, tossing it into the lit fireplace. He stepped into the emerald green flames, and said as clearly as he could. "Blackest Night!"
A/N:And we're off! Harry's out of Hogwarts, and Bellatrix is coming in soon. At last we're starting to get into the gritty part of the war. Hermione's death may seem sudden, but she was doomed from the beginning. I hated to tear her away from Daphne because I love them as a couple, but it had to be done.