Chapter Fifty-Two: Harry's Crazy Plan
Hermione flung herself around her corner, but Harry grabbed her.
"What were you thinking? Now Ron knows that something's up!" Harry exclaimed with a half angry expression on his face.
"I'm sorry! I was just really upset! Besides, we don't have to tell Ron anything, do we?" Hermione asked stupidly.
Harry gave her a 'look'.
"Okay, okay. Stupid question," Hermione said, smiling sheepishly.
"I could tell Ron knew we were hiding something," Harry muttered gravely.
"Well, it's not the worst thing in the world. We could avoid him or something..." Hermione trailed off.
"And make him hate me for the rest of our lives? I don't think so!" Harry exclaimed.
"Okay, okay. Be that way. I'm tired. I think I'm going to go to bed," Hermione decided.
"Good night," Harry said quickly kissing her forehead before she ran to Gryffindor Tower.
~*~
Hermione had no idea where she was going – or why she was going. Somehow she crept out of Gryffindor Tower. It must have been around midnight. She was slowly walking outside of the castle. Then suddenly she found herself edging towards the Forbidden Forest.
Something was pulling her towards the Forest. Her foot pace started going a lot faster and her heart beat was beating quicker. There was a cold wind that suddenly over powered her. Hermione was shivering. How stupid she thought she was – not to bring her cloak in the chilly night. The cold and evil night.
Suddenly Hermione felt a horrible sense of deja vu. She was now walking into the forest and her teeth began to chatter. There was no light source. Only the moon. Only the moon – and even that didn't give much light due to the clouds covering it up. Deja vu...
"Hermione," said a muffled voice.
Hermione looked up. She didn't know where she was. Then she saw the male in the long, lurid, blood red, revolting cape! It was the very same dark, mysterious, and horrid cape from her dream! Hermione took a deep breath and tried to get away from the spot at once but there was ivy tangling around her feet and not letting her move. She was trapped!
"Hermione..." the strange voice trailed off.
"I know who it is!" Hermione exclaimed.
This was not like her dream! In her dream she didn't know who the person was, but now she knew it was Xander! At that very moment, Hermione realized that it was possible to change fate, and she was given the miraculous power to do so! Hermione tried to pull her arms out of the weeds that were wrapping ever so tightly around her.
"It's you Xander! I know it is!" Hermione exclaimed kicking and pushing the wicked plants as rapidly as she possibly could.
"Calm down Hermione. I don't bite," Xander said with a mere chuckle.
"When are you going to tell me something true, huh Xander? I mean, I know about you! I know who you are! I know what you are!" Hermione exclaimed.
"You don't know everything about me yet Hermione. There are many things you don't know about me..."
"So, what are you going to do now?" Hermione asked nervously – speaking with much more courage than she felt.
"Can't you see? Any moment now your stupid little boyfriend's going to come..." Xander trailed off.
"Oh yeah? Well, what are you going to do?" Hermione asked.
"I'm going to kill you of course!" Xander exclaimed.
Suddenly Hermione had her back on a tree and Xander was coming down on her. There was a loud shout behind them.
"I'm not going to let you!" the voice shouted.
Both of them whipped their heads up and saw Harry take Godric's sword and make a large gash through many of the vines holding Hermione in place.
Hermione dropped to the ground. She felt dirt on her clothes and quickly brushed it off.
"Well, well, well," Xander chuckled again though he was clearly thrown off.
"Harry Potter. We meet," he added.
"In the flesh!" Harry exclaimed.
"My fangs are more dangerous than your little sword!" Xander said.
"Godric's sword against evil. I think it's clear who will win!" Harry exclaimed, quite confident.
In the meantime Hermione ran back into the castle to fetch Dumbledore, Lupin, and McGonagall.
"Professor McGonagall! Professor McGonagall!" Hermione exclaimed, banging on McGonagall's door.
Minerva McGonagall ran to the door and opened it at once.
"Whatever is the matter dear child? I know you've heard of Dean, but I sense that it could be something else..." she stated nervously.
"Yes Professor! You must come quick! Bring the headmaster along with you. Professor Lupin as well. Harry and Xander are down at the Forbidden Forest! Xander was attacking me, and then Harry showed up on the spot and now they're trying to kill each other! Xander's a vampire Professor! He could kill Harry any second now! You must do something to stop him from hurting Harry! You must all come as quickly as you possibly can!" Hermione exclaimed breathlessly.
"Very well Hermione. Dumbledore and I are on our way. Lupin has left, er... for a while, but Dumbledore and I will be there at once!" McGonagall exclaimed.
Hermione ran back outside, waiting for Dumbledore and McGonagall to show up. When they finally did, they all ran to the forest and they saw gashes across Xander's shirt and slimy green blood oozing out! Harry had no gashes of the sort, but Xander was doing his best to try and sink his sharp fangs into Harry's skin!
Suddenly Dumbledore looked very fierce indeed. He whipped out his wand and shouted, "Molarsenorious!"
Xander fell to the ground completely knocked out.
Hermione looked at Dumbledore with arched eye brows. "What on Earth did you just do?" she inquired.
"A complex Charm working against only vampires. Their fangs reduce remarkably in size because the charm takes away all the poison in the teeth. Then the vampire becomes so weak that it gets knocked out. Tricky little charm I picked up during a convention in Transylvania," Dumbledore said.
His eyes rekindled their twinkling and there was a mere smile on his face.
Professor McGonagall heaved a sigh, looking quite relieved. Harry ran over to them.
"Great wizards! I'm so glad you guys are here. I thought that I wouldn't be able to take him after a few minutes. I sensed something. Hermione told me about a dream she had so I thought that maybe her dream was coming to life – just like mine – so I decided to come to the Forbidden Forest and see for myself," Harry explained.
"Good thing you did. Ms. Granger had no form of defense and could have been seriously injured. I don't think it was wise that you didn't bring a wand, Mr. Potter..." Dumbledore said with a look.
"Lay off Dumbledore! At least I saved Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, suddenly quite angry.
"True, true," Dumbledore replied, not wanting to stir up an argument.
"Well, come along. Tomorrow's Friday. You've got classes!" McGonagall barked.
"Where did Professor Lupin go?" Hermione asked Professor McGonagall as they were walking back to the castle.
"He went to his home for a while. The battle squad is getting ready to fight Voldemort. Sirius Black and Lupin are the leaders. Soon Harry shall go to them," McGonagall replied wearily.
"Only Harry? Not me?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione, do you honestly think that it is wise for you to go? You are book smart, but how long will you survive with Voldemort?" McGonagall snapped.
"Professor McGonagall! I've had my share of adventures and I think I'm perfectly capable of handling it. If Harry goes, then I go!" Hermione exclaimed.
McGonagall rubbed her temple.
"I have a headache Miss Granger. Please do not ail me now. Tomorrow we shall discuss it," McGonagall said.
It was her way of saying goodnight.
~*~
Hermione woke up a bit late. She woke up late because she didn't hear Cassandra hustling and bustling around. She woke up late because she couldn't hear Cassandra rummaging through her wardrobe for her prettiest robe or searching through her make up for the perfect shade of eye shadow. Hermione missed Cassandra so much! She simply felt empty without her, and now that she was still in the Hospital with shallow breathing and nothing else, Hermione thought it would be impossible for Cassandra to come back to life.
Hermione took her shower and put on a plain, black three-quarter sleeve shirt with snake skin pants. She pulled the top half of her hair up and twisted it around with a claw clip until a few strands of hair stuck up in the back of her head. Then she put on a pair of silver hoop earrings, pale eye shadow, and lip gloss. She pulled on her black work robe and headed down stairs for breakfast.
As Hermione poked at her oatmeal, she saw Harry running towards her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Well, before I say anything else. You look gorgeous!" Harry exclaimed.
Hermione blushed.
"Thanks!" she replied. "So, what's got you so happy?"
"Well, McGonagall gave me the map to Lupin's house. I've got a long way to go. I know McGonagall probably won't let you go – since she doesn't think we should be together – but I figure that if we're going to leave, we should probably leave after a good breakfast!" Harry decided.
Hermione jumped up.
"Are you serious, or are you crazy? It's gotta be one of those. I don't like that look in your eyes! We've got a Herbology test today! I'm guessing that you're crazy!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Come on Hermione! Let's do this now! I want to be trained! Don't you?" Harry asked with his green eyes shining.
"Well, of course I do... It's just that..." Hermione trailed off.
"Know what? You need to eat a really good breakfast. I've already had mine. Then pack a few clothes. Make it real light because I'm taking my Firebolt. Can you fly at all?" Harry asked.
"Well, I suppose I can... but I'm horrible," Hermione replied.
"Well, I'll fly for as long as I can. Then you can steer. We'll have to take many breaks!" Harry said excitedly.
"This is going to be so much fun! It feels kinda romantic, actually... I mean, me and you are running off to who knows where to save our world. Totally adventurous, daring, and it's going to be me and you!" Hermione said sighing.
"Of course Hermione! Me and you, saving the world, one step at a time! Well, go pack some clothes. Wear your cloak. It's chilly. I'll be waiting for you in the common room!" Harry told Hermione quickly.
"Well, okay. Let me have something to eat first," Hermione said.
"You've just given me a brilliant idea! Why don't I go to the Kitchens and nick some food from Dobby? Otherwise we'll be rather starving, and I don't want to be hungry while I'm flying," Harry decided.
"Excellent! Grab some food then. I'll finish up breakfast. Then we'll go grab our stuff and leave! This is going to be tremendous fun!" Hermione exclaimed.
Harry waved with a silly grin as he departed for the Kitchen. Suddenly Hermione finished up her food in a hurry and waited for Harry to return.
When he did they scurried up to Gryffindor tower. Hermione grabbed a few jeans, five shirts, three sweaters, and a few robes. She threw them into a bag. Then she cast a charm on the bag that made it small and feather weight. When she finished she ran over to Harry's bedroom.
"Harry, are you done?" she asked excitedly.
"Almost Hermione. Here, take the map from me. I've packed a few things, but I think it's going to be rather heavy," he said frowning.
"Don't worry Harry," Hermione told him.
Then she quickly put the same charm on Harry's things that she put on her stuff.
"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed.
"Where's the food bag?" Hermione asked.
Harry handed it to her. Hermione repeated the charm again.
"You wouldn't believe how easy this is going to be on me now! I'll be able to fly so much quicker! Do you have the map?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Hermione said.
She put the three bags, and the map in her pocket. Harry grabbed his broom. Then they snuck out of Hogwarts. Everyone else was so busy – getting to the first class of the day that they hardly noticed two seventh year Gryffindors had gone missing at that very moment.
"Are you ready Hermione?" Harry asked with every bit of sparkle in his eyes.
"Quite ready Mr. Potter!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Well, then, let's go!"
Hermione flung herself around her corner, but Harry grabbed her.
"What were you thinking? Now Ron knows that something's up!" Harry exclaimed with a half angry expression on his face.
"I'm sorry! I was just really upset! Besides, we don't have to tell Ron anything, do we?" Hermione asked stupidly.
Harry gave her a 'look'.
"Okay, okay. Stupid question," Hermione said, smiling sheepishly.
"I could tell Ron knew we were hiding something," Harry muttered gravely.
"Well, it's not the worst thing in the world. We could avoid him or something..." Hermione trailed off.
"And make him hate me for the rest of our lives? I don't think so!" Harry exclaimed.
"Okay, okay. Be that way. I'm tired. I think I'm going to go to bed," Hermione decided.
"Good night," Harry said quickly kissing her forehead before she ran to Gryffindor Tower.
~*~
Hermione had no idea where she was going – or why she was going. Somehow she crept out of Gryffindor Tower. It must have been around midnight. She was slowly walking outside of the castle. Then suddenly she found herself edging towards the Forbidden Forest.
Something was pulling her towards the Forest. Her foot pace started going a lot faster and her heart beat was beating quicker. There was a cold wind that suddenly over powered her. Hermione was shivering. How stupid she thought she was – not to bring her cloak in the chilly night. The cold and evil night.
Suddenly Hermione felt a horrible sense of deja vu. She was now walking into the forest and her teeth began to chatter. There was no light source. Only the moon. Only the moon – and even that didn't give much light due to the clouds covering it up. Deja vu...
"Hermione," said a muffled voice.
Hermione looked up. She didn't know where she was. Then she saw the male in the long, lurid, blood red, revolting cape! It was the very same dark, mysterious, and horrid cape from her dream! Hermione took a deep breath and tried to get away from the spot at once but there was ivy tangling around her feet and not letting her move. She was trapped!
"Hermione..." the strange voice trailed off.
"I know who it is!" Hermione exclaimed.
This was not like her dream! In her dream she didn't know who the person was, but now she knew it was Xander! At that very moment, Hermione realized that it was possible to change fate, and she was given the miraculous power to do so! Hermione tried to pull her arms out of the weeds that were wrapping ever so tightly around her.
"It's you Xander! I know it is!" Hermione exclaimed kicking and pushing the wicked plants as rapidly as she possibly could.
"Calm down Hermione. I don't bite," Xander said with a mere chuckle.
"When are you going to tell me something true, huh Xander? I mean, I know about you! I know who you are! I know what you are!" Hermione exclaimed.
"You don't know everything about me yet Hermione. There are many things you don't know about me..."
"So, what are you going to do now?" Hermione asked nervously – speaking with much more courage than she felt.
"Can't you see? Any moment now your stupid little boyfriend's going to come..." Xander trailed off.
"Oh yeah? Well, what are you going to do?" Hermione asked.
"I'm going to kill you of course!" Xander exclaimed.
Suddenly Hermione had her back on a tree and Xander was coming down on her. There was a loud shout behind them.
"I'm not going to let you!" the voice shouted.
Both of them whipped their heads up and saw Harry take Godric's sword and make a large gash through many of the vines holding Hermione in place.
Hermione dropped to the ground. She felt dirt on her clothes and quickly brushed it off.
"Well, well, well," Xander chuckled again though he was clearly thrown off.
"Harry Potter. We meet," he added.
"In the flesh!" Harry exclaimed.
"My fangs are more dangerous than your little sword!" Xander said.
"Godric's sword against evil. I think it's clear who will win!" Harry exclaimed, quite confident.
In the meantime Hermione ran back into the castle to fetch Dumbledore, Lupin, and McGonagall.
"Professor McGonagall! Professor McGonagall!" Hermione exclaimed, banging on McGonagall's door.
Minerva McGonagall ran to the door and opened it at once.
"Whatever is the matter dear child? I know you've heard of Dean, but I sense that it could be something else..." she stated nervously.
"Yes Professor! You must come quick! Bring the headmaster along with you. Professor Lupin as well. Harry and Xander are down at the Forbidden Forest! Xander was attacking me, and then Harry showed up on the spot and now they're trying to kill each other! Xander's a vampire Professor! He could kill Harry any second now! You must do something to stop him from hurting Harry! You must all come as quickly as you possibly can!" Hermione exclaimed breathlessly.
"Very well Hermione. Dumbledore and I are on our way. Lupin has left, er... for a while, but Dumbledore and I will be there at once!" McGonagall exclaimed.
Hermione ran back outside, waiting for Dumbledore and McGonagall to show up. When they finally did, they all ran to the forest and they saw gashes across Xander's shirt and slimy green blood oozing out! Harry had no gashes of the sort, but Xander was doing his best to try and sink his sharp fangs into Harry's skin!
Suddenly Dumbledore looked very fierce indeed. He whipped out his wand and shouted, "Molarsenorious!"
Xander fell to the ground completely knocked out.
Hermione looked at Dumbledore with arched eye brows. "What on Earth did you just do?" she inquired.
"A complex Charm working against only vampires. Their fangs reduce remarkably in size because the charm takes away all the poison in the teeth. Then the vampire becomes so weak that it gets knocked out. Tricky little charm I picked up during a convention in Transylvania," Dumbledore said.
His eyes rekindled their twinkling and there was a mere smile on his face.
Professor McGonagall heaved a sigh, looking quite relieved. Harry ran over to them.
"Great wizards! I'm so glad you guys are here. I thought that I wouldn't be able to take him after a few minutes. I sensed something. Hermione told me about a dream she had so I thought that maybe her dream was coming to life – just like mine – so I decided to come to the Forbidden Forest and see for myself," Harry explained.
"Good thing you did. Ms. Granger had no form of defense and could have been seriously injured. I don't think it was wise that you didn't bring a wand, Mr. Potter..." Dumbledore said with a look.
"Lay off Dumbledore! At least I saved Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, suddenly quite angry.
"True, true," Dumbledore replied, not wanting to stir up an argument.
"Well, come along. Tomorrow's Friday. You've got classes!" McGonagall barked.
"Where did Professor Lupin go?" Hermione asked Professor McGonagall as they were walking back to the castle.
"He went to his home for a while. The battle squad is getting ready to fight Voldemort. Sirius Black and Lupin are the leaders. Soon Harry shall go to them," McGonagall replied wearily.
"Only Harry? Not me?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione, do you honestly think that it is wise for you to go? You are book smart, but how long will you survive with Voldemort?" McGonagall snapped.
"Professor McGonagall! I've had my share of adventures and I think I'm perfectly capable of handling it. If Harry goes, then I go!" Hermione exclaimed.
McGonagall rubbed her temple.
"I have a headache Miss Granger. Please do not ail me now. Tomorrow we shall discuss it," McGonagall said.
It was her way of saying goodnight.
~*~
Hermione woke up a bit late. She woke up late because she didn't hear Cassandra hustling and bustling around. She woke up late because she couldn't hear Cassandra rummaging through her wardrobe for her prettiest robe or searching through her make up for the perfect shade of eye shadow. Hermione missed Cassandra so much! She simply felt empty without her, and now that she was still in the Hospital with shallow breathing and nothing else, Hermione thought it would be impossible for Cassandra to come back to life.
Hermione took her shower and put on a plain, black three-quarter sleeve shirt with snake skin pants. She pulled the top half of her hair up and twisted it around with a claw clip until a few strands of hair stuck up in the back of her head. Then she put on a pair of silver hoop earrings, pale eye shadow, and lip gloss. She pulled on her black work robe and headed down stairs for breakfast.
As Hermione poked at her oatmeal, she saw Harry running towards her.
"What is it?" she asked.
"Well, before I say anything else. You look gorgeous!" Harry exclaimed.
Hermione blushed.
"Thanks!" she replied. "So, what's got you so happy?"
"Well, McGonagall gave me the map to Lupin's house. I've got a long way to go. I know McGonagall probably won't let you go – since she doesn't think we should be together – but I figure that if we're going to leave, we should probably leave after a good breakfast!" Harry decided.
Hermione jumped up.
"Are you serious, or are you crazy? It's gotta be one of those. I don't like that look in your eyes! We've got a Herbology test today! I'm guessing that you're crazy!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Come on Hermione! Let's do this now! I want to be trained! Don't you?" Harry asked with his green eyes shining.
"Well, of course I do... It's just that..." Hermione trailed off.
"Know what? You need to eat a really good breakfast. I've already had mine. Then pack a few clothes. Make it real light because I'm taking my Firebolt. Can you fly at all?" Harry asked.
"Well, I suppose I can... but I'm horrible," Hermione replied.
"Well, I'll fly for as long as I can. Then you can steer. We'll have to take many breaks!" Harry said excitedly.
"This is going to be so much fun! It feels kinda romantic, actually... I mean, me and you are running off to who knows where to save our world. Totally adventurous, daring, and it's going to be me and you!" Hermione said sighing.
"Of course Hermione! Me and you, saving the world, one step at a time! Well, go pack some clothes. Wear your cloak. It's chilly. I'll be waiting for you in the common room!" Harry told Hermione quickly.
"Well, okay. Let me have something to eat first," Hermione said.
"You've just given me a brilliant idea! Why don't I go to the Kitchens and nick some food from Dobby? Otherwise we'll be rather starving, and I don't want to be hungry while I'm flying," Harry decided.
"Excellent! Grab some food then. I'll finish up breakfast. Then we'll go grab our stuff and leave! This is going to be tremendous fun!" Hermione exclaimed.
Harry waved with a silly grin as he departed for the Kitchen. Suddenly Hermione finished up her food in a hurry and waited for Harry to return.
When he did they scurried up to Gryffindor tower. Hermione grabbed a few jeans, five shirts, three sweaters, and a few robes. She threw them into a bag. Then she cast a charm on the bag that made it small and feather weight. When she finished she ran over to Harry's bedroom.
"Harry, are you done?" she asked excitedly.
"Almost Hermione. Here, take the map from me. I've packed a few things, but I think it's going to be rather heavy," he said frowning.
"Don't worry Harry," Hermione told him.
Then she quickly put the same charm on Harry's things that she put on her stuff.
"Brilliant!" Harry exclaimed.
"Where's the food bag?" Hermione asked.
Harry handed it to her. Hermione repeated the charm again.
"You wouldn't believe how easy this is going to be on me now! I'll be able to fly so much quicker! Do you have the map?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Hermione said.
She put the three bags, and the map in her pocket. Harry grabbed his broom. Then they snuck out of Hogwarts. Everyone else was so busy – getting to the first class of the day that they hardly noticed two seventh year Gryffindors had gone missing at that very moment.
"Are you ready Hermione?" Harry asked with every bit of sparkle in his eyes.
"Quite ready Mr. Potter!" Hermione exclaimed.
"Well, then, let's go!"
