Wizards in Winter
A/N: Title is taken from the music by the Trans Siberian Orchestra.
Genera: Romance/Drama Ships: Harry/Hermione Disclaimer: JK Rowling owns the characters, settings and the bits of dialogue that is recognizable
Chapter 8: End of Term Exams
They had finally got Abigail stopped with Harry hanging limply by one stirrup, his leg twisted at an awkward angle.
"Quickly Wendell, help me free him from the stirrup! Hermione, hold Abigail."
Long minutes later, Harry was set on the ground, Hermione hovering protectively over him. "I, I'm not supposed to do magic in the muggle world, Mum. (She had done magic in Diagon Alley but that was different as it happened in a magical place and she was of age). Can you help him?"
Monica examined the unconscious boy, looking at his vitals. Wendell assisted his wife as a faint groan issued from the green-eyed boy. "He's in shock, but he's alive, thank God! Wendell, we'll have to get him to the hospital, can you dial 999 from here?"
Hermione blinked. "No, he'll have to go to Hogwarts or St. Mungos. Muggle doctors won't be able to sort him out if his magic gets out of control. Dobby!" she called.
With a pop, the diminutive house elf appeared and taking in the prone position of Harry, exclaimed: "Master Harry Potter sir is hurt!"
"He needs to be seen by Madam Pomfrey, Dobby. Can you take him there?" Hermione pleaded.
Grabbing Harry's hand, Dobby and Harry disappeared with a pop.
Hermione suddenly realised that she was here and Harry was gone. "I-I... Mum, Dad, I need to see him!" she panicked.
"Take it easy dear," Monica tried to sooth her daughter. "I'm sure he'll be all right. You've always told us that Madam Pomfrey is the best there is."
"N-no, you don't understand! I need to see him, now! He's... we're still bonding. I can't be away from him at a time like this!"
"Bonding? What do you mean, sweetie?"
"It... it's complicated. Harry and I have started to magically bond. I can't be separated from him for any length of time. The bond is not strong enough yet. A few hours at most but we have to at least be near each other."
Wendell frowned, clearly not understanding. "Is this something like marriage, Princess?"
"No Daddy, it's so much more than that. Once the bonding is complete, the magical world will consider us effectively married, but that's a bit away yet. I-I have to go! Dobby?"
"Dobby is here, Harry Potter's Miss Grangy." The excitable elf suddenly popped up in front of her.
"Dobby, I need to see Harry, can you take me there, please? I'll try to be back before the holiday is over," she confided in her parents.
With a pop, Hermione left with the odd elf, leaving a bewildered Monica and Wendell.
"Well, that was odd," Wendell commented. "Just what was that thing?"
Monica turned to her husband and smirked. "You do read her letters, don't you? That was Harry's House Elf. I didn't realise he could do that though, truthfully."
Hermione appeared in the Hogwarts infirmary and spotted Madam Pomfrey tending to Harry on what had been acknowledged as "his bed". In actual fact, Harry had spent more time in that bed than the rest of the students put together. Rushing over, she was in full stress mode and was wringing her hands, tears glistening in her eyes as she approached him. "Is he...?"
Madam Pomfrey glanced up, seeing Hermione, and replied. "He's had a nasty bump, Miss Granger, but he should be fine. What happened?"
"A horse he had been riding bolted and his foot caught in a stirrup, dragging him. He hit his head before we could stop the horse," she replied agitatedly.
"Well, that explains the odd smell I noticed. I hope the horse is okay. I'll need to keep him here until the morning. He's asleep now, I've mended the bumps and scrapes and his head is a lot harder than most. He has a mild concussion, but by tomorrow, he'll be fine. You can run along now, I expect you'll be hungry, it's almost time for lunch."
"Umm, n-no, I'll stay here, if you don't mind, Madam Pomfrey."
"Don't be silly, he'll be fine, Miss Granger, now run along."
"NO! I need to be with him! You don't understand, we're bonding, I can't be away from him when he's like this!" she stated quite forcefully, startling the mediwitch.
"Bonding, Miss Granger? When did that start? I'll need to check you both. Why haven't I heard about this before now?" She ran her wand down the length of Harry's sternum, whispering an incantation. Numbers popped up along with strange colours surrounding Harry. She smiled at once. "Ahh, yes, so unexpected that I hadn't even thought to check for it," she murmured.
"You should have alerted me months ago, Miss Granger," she scolded as she performed the same scan on Hermione. "The bond is well progressed and has started to stabilize. "I'll have to collect some galleons, I think. When did the bond start?"
"Err, just before Christmas I think. We could both feel something when..." she blushed and continued, "when we kissed," she finished.
"YES!" Poppy smiled happily. "I knew it would happen this year. Minerva and Filius owe me!"
"Owe you?" Hermione queried.
"Oh yes, there was a pool on when you two would get together," she smiled. "Almost everyone was in it. Minerva thought it would be at the end of this year and Filius thought it would be next year."
Hermione blushed heavily. "Y-you bet? Are we the last to know?"
"Well, I'm surprised you didn't find out. After all, the twins started the pool in third year. It's gotten quite large, you know."
Hermione humphed and sat on a chair next to her beloved Harry, stroking his hand.
The next day, Harry awoke early to see a lightly snoring Hermione lying next to him. She had her arm around his waist and was cuddled quite close.
"Hermione?" he whispered softly, his soft breath tickling her ear.
She twitched and snuggled closer. "Mmm, ten more minutes, Harry.
Harry breathed in the wonderful scent of his girlfriend as she slowly opened her eyes.
"What happened, Love?" he asked, perplexed as to why he was back at Hogwarts and apparently in the hospital wing.
She yawned widely and stretched, working the kinks out of her body. Madam Pomfrey had left her sitting in the chair and retired for the evening. It was later that night, as Hermione had started to doze off, that she decided that she belonged next to Harry and scooted up behind him in bed. It somehow happened that they'd both rolled over during the night and Harry spooned her before they once again changed positions and she spooned him. It felt wonderful but was a little cramped for space on the hospital sized bed.
Harry belatedly got up and made for the loo. Hermione groaned at the loss of warmth from her 'teddy bear'. "Hurry back, Love," she called, then realised that Madam Pomfrey would be visiting soon to check up on Harry. She moved off the bed and sat back in the chair just as the mediwitch strode in. Innocence played on her face as Madam Pomfrey faced her.
"Miss Granger, I know where you were, so don't pretend with me. I checked twice last night but since nothing untoward was happening, I let you sleep with him. Don't make it a habit and I won't say a word to the Headmaster."
"Oh," Hermione blushed and quickly nodded her head. "He needed me and I could sense it."
Harry had finished and returned, still wondering what had happened. "Hermione, the last thing I remember was riding, um Abigail. How did I end up here?"
"Abigail bolted when she saw the snake, Harry. You fell and your foot got caught in the stirrup. Abigail dragged you and you hit your head. I had Dobby bring you here."
Harry considered that for a moment before replying. "So, how long was I out?"
"Just a day, Harry, Madam Pomfrey healed you right away but decided to keep you overnight."
"Can we go back to your parents? I really enjoyed meeting them."
"I sent Hedwig with a letter last night and she should be returning sometime today. It should be alright."
Dobby returned them to the Grangers the next day.
The next days flew by as the pair revelled in the feeling of being with those they loved. Monica and Wendell tended to worry about Harry since the accident, but Harry assured them he was fine.
The Easter break ended and the two teens boarded the train back to Hogwarts.
Back at school, he'd remained close to Hermione, studying in the library when she needed to find some tricky piece of magic not covered in class.
The end of the school year was fast approaching and exams were on everyone's mind. Hermione was into full revision mode and Harry was dragged into her need to organize their study schedule down to the finest detail. He'd protested, but Hermione was adamant. This was the end of their sixth year and was an important prelude for their NEWTS.
"Harry, I know you hate the extent I obsess about revising, but you'll need every advantage you can get next year. You'll be of age soon and Mum and Dad want us to have a decent holiday before we get married. We won't have much time to study for next year's NEWTS."
Harry sighed. He knew his girlfriend was right but that didn't make it any easier when the warm sunshine was calling. "Come on Hermione, we can study outside. Remember your secret place you showed me that had this fantastic view? We could go there."
Hermione liked the idea and grabbed their books, shrinking them and putting them in her pocket. "Let's go then, Harry."
Harry smiled, he could see she was enthusiastic with the idea. Maybe they could resume their explorations of each other as well.
In a closely warded place, somewhere in Scotland, a powerful wizard contemplated his next move. The Potter brat was inaccessible at the moment, but soon he would be leaving Hogwarts for his home. The Dark Lord had been waiting for the opportunity to finally get rid of the pesky problem that had befuddled him for years now. The damned Prophesy had irritated him ever since he'd heard part of it and rued the day that he'd prematurely acted on it. That had almost destroyed him, and would have if he hadn't had a backup plan. There was no doubt the boy was powerful, but that wouldn't save him when they next met. He'd been able to locate where the boy was housed during the summer by bribes given to a spy he had deep within the ministry. His spy had not needed the Galleons, but accepted the money anyway. After all, he was dedicated to his master and the money would help to spread the blame for any leak to someone else.
Of course the spy was unaware that Harry was now living with the Grangers. As a Mudblood, living with Muggles, she was seen as a person to be killed when the opportunity arose, but was not really seen as a threat or even important enough to pay any attention to. A tactical error that would eventually prove fatal to Voldemort's plans.
Meanwhile, Voldemort was carefully approaching the Dursley residence on Privet Drive. The blood protections on the Dursley house were now gone, since his resurrection by the ritual that had used some of Harry's blood. His Death Eaters could not see the place, but that was a minor inconvenience. He'd have his minions station outside the wards as he waited for his quarry to arrive back home. Potter would die this time, he was sure of it.
Exam time was stressful for all the students and even though Hermione had prepared herself and Harry by revising for the last month, she was concerned it might not be enough to ensure they both got top marks. Harry, however, had no such qualms, believing in has girlfriend implicitly. He'd taken to giving her massages when she became too stressed, for which she was grateful. Just the touch of Harry's hands had seemed to calm her, and a few intense snogs in quiet places, had left her wondering why she was even worried about exams. The bonding had ramped up, but was still awaiting the final steps: marriage and pregnancy. The marriage had been decided that when Harry reached the age of seventeen during the summer, they would wed.
Monica had taken on the responsibility of arranging everything, happily submerging herself and Wendell in the age old tradition of ensuring their daughter's nuptials went smoothly. She still had to take her daughter shopping for the wedding gown, and time would be short, since Harry became of age at the end of July.
Wendell was tasked with making sure that Harry was appropriately dressed for the occasion. He knew just the tailor and had always been happy with the man's expertise. He had known Jake Jameison for years and depended on his exquisite taste. Harry would be in good hands.
His princess would not be disappointed on their wedding day. Monica would ensure that everything would come together without a hitch.
Luna Lovegood was looking forward to seeing Harry and Hermione married. They were such good friends and were always looking out for her. Of course she could "see" a bit into their future and it looked to be a happy marriage. There was still a bit of concern that might interfere, but that was something both Hermione and Harry knew about.
The wizarding world knew about the new threat from He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and were hoping that somebody else would take care of the problem. The Ministry of Magic hoped that either Albus Dumbledore or Harry Potter would finally defeat the evil wizard, not really acknowledging that it was their own duty to protect the public. Many would die due to their abdication of responsibility.
Luna, however saw it for what it was; simple cowardice on the part of the wizarding public at large. She sighed in resignation. Harry and Hermione would have to be the ones to destroy the evil one and his minions. Her father, Xenophilius Lovegood had tried to warn the public, but they had adamantly turned a blind eye to the problem, hiding in their homes and not daring to venture out at night, even outright refusing to believe that the threat existed. Some even supported and rejoiced at the return of the Dark Lord. Luna smirked to herself; those fools would likely not live to regret their choices.
The exams went smoothly, despite a few witches in their NEWT year that had last minute panic attacks and had to be given calming draughts. Harry and Hermione felt that they had done well and awaited the exam results that would be delivered over the summer.
The remaining days before end of term, were a time of meeting with friends and discussing summer plans. The upcoming wedding plans of Harry and Hermione were a closely guarded secret with few aware of the coming nuptials.
Luna, of course knew, as well as Luna's close friend Padma Patil. Neville Longbottom and Susan Bones also knew and all four were invited on the promise not to tell anyone else. All readily agreed, although Susan and Padma wondered about the secrecy, and Padma wondered why she couldn't tell her twin. They were then told about the bonding and the reason that Voldemort couldn't find out. Padma admitted to herself that Parvati was a prolific gossip and couldn't be trusted not to tell her best friend Lavender. Ron and Ginny were not invited since they also could not keep secrets, especially Ron.
Also invited were Minerva McGonagall and Poppy Pomfrey. The Headmaster was also not invited but had already prior commitments. He would ensure that Harry returned to the Dursleys, taking care to check to see if any changes had occurred. Little did he know that Harry was staying at the Granger residence and the Goblins had warded the house and grounds quite thoroughly, only allowing invited guests to even see the house.
The ride back to London's King's Cross was uneventful, with Harry, Hermione and their close friends sharing a compartment. Ron and Ginny suspected that there was something being kept from them, but couldn't figure out what or why. It was an annoyed pair of redheads that left the train when they arrived back at King's Cross Station. Goodbyes were said leaving Hermione and Harry to greet the waiting Granger parents.
"Princess," Wendell greeted his daughter with a tight hug after she had similarly hugged her mum. Harry repeated the gesture when Hermione had finished. Monica was pleased that the goblins had made their house and grounds safe from intruders. It was amazing really; she had to invite neighbours over for them to even see their house, otherwise they would just walk by and not realize what was missing on their street.
"Lets go," Monica, ever in charge, urged her husband, daughter and fiancé.
Wendell grinned at his wife's take charge attitude. He didn't mind, but sometimes it was a little overdone.
The BMW 7 series was quickly moving through the heavy London traffic and headed home to Broom. An hour later they had arrived and ordered take-away from the local pizza place, forgetting that the delivery person couldn't see the house.
Monica caught on first and went to wait on the sidewalk outside the wards. Twenty minutes later she caught the delivery boy as he was scratching his head, wondering where the address was.
"I'll take that, lad," she greeted him. We just live down the street and forgot to warn you about the change in address," she lied smoothly.
Paying for the pizza, she waited until he left before entering their home, "Dinner's here," she called.
After the family had finished, the two teens were ushered off to bed.
"That was a near thing," Wendell commented. "I'd quite forgotten that the pizza delivery boy was not keyed in. We might have starved waiting."
"Now dear, I remembered in time, so no whinging after the fact," she teased.
The next few days were a whirlwind of activity as the Granger parents prepared for Harry's birthday and the wedding to follow.
Meanwhile, Albus Dumbledore had appeared disillusioned inside the Dursley house, checking on Harry. When he didn't find anyone home, he decided to wait,
Outside, Voldemort had gathered twelve of his best Death Eaters, waiting for Harry to arrive.
When the Dursleys had left to pick up the boy, he'd sent one of his minions to keep an eye open and report to him before they arrived back home.
Vernon, Petunia and Dudley had waited at King's Cross station and missed the boy exit the station concourse. Wondering what had happened, they eventually gave up and headed out to dinner. The boy could look out for himself, after all.
The Death Eater was puzzled. He'd kept an eye on the Dursleys as ordered but missed the Grangers and Harry as they exited the station. Deciding to return to his master, he reported that the boy was not to be seen.
"Fool!" Voldemort roared. "It was a simple task! Must I do everything? Where are the Dursleys?
"T-they left without the boy my lord," the man stuttered in apology.
Voldemort ground his teeth in frustration. "Damn! Where was the boy?" He'd wait around until he showed up. As midnight drew close and the Dursleys returned from dinner, not suspecting that they had uninvited guests awaiting their arrival.
The first hint of trouble was when Voldemort crossed the blood ward with no ill effect and blew in the front door, striding in to an apparently empty house.
The headmaster had seen the Dursleys arrival and noted the absence of Harry. Quickly checking outside, he quickly spotted the Death Eaters and much to his surprise, Voldemort himself. 'Damn!" he thought. 'Best get these three away from here before Tom tries anything. How did he even find where Harry was staying?'
Disillusioning himself, he stunned the Dursley family and removed them to a safe place. Since Harry now owned Grimmauld Place, he apparated there, hoping that Harry had rashly decided to go there instead of returning home. Entering the mouldering mansion, he quickly surmised that Harry wasn't there. However, Walburga Black noticed the intrusion of muggles and put up a deafening tirade.
"Filth of the earth, who dares to bring those filthy muggles into the honourable house of Black? Kreature! Expel them at once."
Albus cast a silencing charm on the odious portrait and bound the aged house elf as he rushed to fulfill his mistress' orders.
Reviving the Dursleys, Albus asked the obvious question: Where was Harry?
Vernon had turned a violent shade of purple when he's spotted the old man and sputtered, "The ungrateful freak never showed up at the station. And good riddance to him too!"
Albus pondered this bit of information for a moment before realizing what must have happened. The Granger girl must have taken him with her! "No! He's not safe! Tom will have no trouble finding him!" he worried aloud. "Now listen Dursleys, your place is no longer safe. You will be tortured and killed if you return there. It matters not that Harry isn't with you, these are killers that have no trouble killing. These wizards are after Harry; I have no idea how they found your home, but rest assured, they will kill anyone associated with Harry, you included. You will stay here until I can find a safe place for you."
"Ridiculous, I'll just call the police and…"
"You don't understand, the police are powerless against these people. They have magic that will kill anyone in seconds. How do you think Harry's parents died? He found them and they didn't stand a chance, and they were a powerful wizard and witch. Only Harry survived and even I am not quite sure how."
Vernon and Petunia shuddered at that thought. Dudley had no clue, but attempted to brazen it out. "Me and my gang beat the freak plenty of times, you people aren't that different."
"Idiot boy! Harry was not allowed to use magic outside of Hogwarts or he would have mopped the floor with the likes of you lot. It was only the blood protection of his mother that protected you pathetic lot. I wouldn't have sent him there if there was a safer place, Albus continued to rant for a few more minutes before apparating away to the Grangers.
He was in for a rude surprise when he bounced off very powerful wards.
"What in Merlin's name?" He prodded the wards with his wand but could find no way to get through. "Damnation, who put those wards up? I can't even see the premises." Carefully examining the problem led him to the conclusion that they were goblin made wards. He shivered at what that would mean. Harry had most probably approached the goblins and discovered his heritage. He would consider the Grangers as his first priority to protect, especially Miss Granger. He knew the Potters were wealthy, but Harry wouldn't have access to the main Potter vault until he turned seventeen. When he thought about it, that would be a little over a month away. "So how did Harry pay for the wards?" he wondered.
The goblins knew that Harry would be good for the cost by his birthday and went ahead anyway, suspecting that several people would try and kidnap or kill him. That just would not do for their wealthiest client, so the wards went up the same day. No one was going to get through those wards, not even the manipulative old bastard. The goblins had never trusted Albus Dumbledore, despite the fact that he could never be caught doing anything blatantly illegal. The Dursleys, however were another story and an accounting was overdue. Just today they had uncovered the wily sneak in their midst and the goblins had taken their revenge. Sliphook had screamed as he was carefully dismembered and fed to the dragons that guarded the high security vaults.
Back at Grimmauld Place, Vernon shivered as he considered that his plans to deplete the Potter vault might expose him to retribution if he was found out. The slimy goblin Sliphook would break under pressure, he knew that for a fact.
(Chapter 8 end)