I do not own Harry Potter, the Wizarding World, or any canon characters.

The Family that Chooses You

Chapter 42 – Loss

"Hmm, this can't be good," Oliver murmured.

Harry had to agree. The way that Professor McGonagall looked right now did not bode well. She had a serious look on her face that was more intense than usual. It was a seriousness created from circumstance, and it had concern and worry laced through it.

"Quidditch is cancelled," she said without preamble. "All students are to return to their common rooms, absolutely none are allowed out for any reason. Prefects, lead them back. Now."

"You're cancelling Quidditch?" Oliver asked out loud, his face incredulous.

"Quiet Wood," McGonagall said forcefully. "This is no joking matter."

"Is...is everything okay?" Harry asked, his heart beating painfully for some reason. He started to feel worse somehow when the professor looked at him. Her concern was amplified and she had the distinct look of someone bearing bad news.

"Perhaps you should come with me Potter," she said slowly. "This…concerns you to a degree. You too Mister Weasley." She looked directly at Ron.

Harry and Ron looked at each other.

She hesitated. "Miss Bell, I think you should come as well."

Harry felt better and worse at the same time. If Katie was coming, then he and Ron were not in trouble. As far as he knew anyways. Yet for the life of him, he had no idea why McGonagall would want him, Ron, and Katie to follow her. He could only follow his Head of House as she walked back to the castle with Ron and Katie following close behind.

"I wonder what's that all about," Oliver said, his eyes following the odd quartet.

"I don't know, but I have a really bad feeling," Angelina said.

-0-

Harry thought the entire time they walked through the castle. He thought long and hard about what the professor could possibly want with him, or whatever 'concerns him to a degree', whatever that meant.

He wondered if it had to do with Ginny. She had really started to look worse after the Holidays. She was thin and pale, even more shy than she was when he was at the Burrow. No, not shy, something worse than that. She had opened up to him towards the end of the summer, growing comfortable with talking and doing things with him. At the beginning of the school year, she had been more or less the same.

As the year went on, she seemed to regress a little. She did not talk as much, did not hang out with them despite him trying to include her when he could. When they did interact, there were times she would be like the smiling girl from the summer. Most of the other times however…

There were times where Harry thought he recognized a look on her face. A face that showed when the mind was elsewhere, lost in thought or memory. He did not know why he recognized it, but it felt horribly familiar to him. It reminded him of times at the Dursleys for some reason.

He had mentioned it to her brothers and they tried to tease some kind of response from her. It worked about as well as he expected. She and Ron played a bit of chess but that was it. She got mad at the twins' attempts. Percy was met with stiff resistance. Percy had mentioned he was going to write home and to talk to McGonagall.

If it's about Ginny, then why is only Ron here? Why aren't Percy, Fred, and George here?

He finally realized they reached their destination. McGonagall had led them to the Medical Ward. The beds that housed Colin and Justin had their curtains drawn and as they walked in he saw an older girl he did not recognize being checked over.

"We found her with Penelope Clearwater," McGonagall said thickly. She led them to another bed. "They weren't too far from the library. I was hoping, since you and Mister Weasley are her closest friends, you may know why she was there and why she held a small mirror."

Harry looked down at Hermione.

She was petrified. One arm was outstretched, the other down with a hand clenched. She did not look like she was in pain, her typical look of determination frozen on her face. She laid there utterly still.

"H-Hermione?" he whispered.

Ron gaped, his face growing pale.

Katie felt sick. She happened to like the second year girl for the most part. They were not that close but since the girl was one of Harry's friends, Katie tried to treat her well. This hit far closer than when they found out Colin had been petrified. She felt a stab of shame when she realized it now, but she tried to tell herself it was because she did not know Colin as she did Hermione.

Then Katie realized why McGonagall had asked her to come. She looked at Harry and her heart shattered.

Harry was holding Hermione's clenched hand in both of his. He rubbed it, pulled on it. When that did not illicit a response, he started to shake her. "Hermione, please wake up," he whispered. "Please."

Katie went to him, tried to pull him away. "Harry, they're going to take good care of her. They're making the Mandrake potion for everyone and there will be more than enough for her."

He resisted her touch, ignored her words. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. This is my fault. Please wake up Hermione. I'm so sorry." He began to sob.

"What do you mean it's your fault," McGonagall said sharply.

"Hermione, she uh, she was talking to us before the game," Ron said quickly. "She then said something about going to the library. She ran off before we could stop her."

"Oh, of course." McGonagall looked slightly ashamed. "You cannot blame yourself for that Mister Potter."

He ignored her too. "Please?" he wept brokenly. "I'm so sorry Hermione. Please wake up."

Katie managed to break his grip, wrapping her arms around him and pulling him away. Tears hung heavy in her eyes. She could feel Harry's pain. "Harry, this isn't your fault. None of this is your fault. Don't blame yourself."

He continued to sob. He did not try to struggle, to break free from Katie. He stared as Madam Pomfrey drew the curtain around Hermione's bed, hiding her from plain sight.

The Matron pulled the Head of Gryffindor House aside. "Why on earth did you bring the boy here without preparing him," she hissed.

"Because I thought it would be better if he saw her without alarming him beforehand. You knew why I had to bring them here. He and Mister Weasley are her closest friends. If anyone knew anything about this, they would," McGonagall hissed back. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment.

"You didn't think this would be something deeply upsetting to him?"

"I didn't think it would be this upsetting! How would I know he would react like this?" McGonagall paused. "You knew."

Pomfrey stared at her.

"You knew," McGonagall accused. "This is why you suggested I bring Miss Bell along."

Pomfrey just snorted. "Good thing I did or else things would be far worse right now." Leaving a flabbergasted McGonagall staring after her, she approached Harry. "Mister Potter," she said gently. "Rest assured; I will take very good care of her. The Mandrake potion will be finished soon. She will be fine."

Harry nodded but continued to cry.

Pomfrey looked at Katie. "Let me know if he needs a Calming Draught or something later. Send word along, students are going to be kept in their common rooms and won't be able to walk about without an escort."

The girl nodded. "Thank you. I'll keep an eye on him."

"I know you will," Pomfrey said warmly, patting Katie's cheek.

McGonagall had Harry, Katie, and Ron wait at the doors for her before she turned back to Pomfrey. "I'll be back and we will have a talk," she said firmly.

"I look forward to it," Pomfrey said just as firm.

-0-

"Explain yourself Poppy," McGonagall said when she returned to the Infirmary, after escorting her three students back to the tower.

"I am not one of your Gryffindors to bark at, Minerva," Pomfrey replied pertly.

"I do not bark," McGonagall replied almost sulkily.

"Fine. Growl menacingly or treat like a student hiding a secret. Take your pick."

McGonagall rolled her eyes. "Fine. How did you know that Mister Potter would react so strongly to seeing Miss Granger like that? Also, why did you ask Miss Bell to come with them?"

Pomfrey sat back in her chair, choosing her words carefully. "Mister Potter is a very…sensitive…young man. As in he feels things strongly. It is only natural that he would react very strongly to seeing one of his closest friends petrified.

"And I'm sure you recall the incident last year with the Slytherins attacking him in the hall?" She continued at McGonagall's nod. "Miss Bell and Miss Johnson were with him and he was very distressed, they helped keep him calm. Their presence soothed him. He's quite attached to them, more Miss Bell by a scant bit if I had to guess."

"Hmm, do you have any idea why?"

"They are teammates and friends. Miss Bell has shown an interest in his wellbeing." She coughed, thinking something over. "Do you know of Mister Potter's home life?"

If she felt any surprise at the change in conversation, McGonagall did not show it. "I know he lives with his aunt and uncle. His mother's sister if I recall. Muggles."

Pomfrey caught the look on her friend's face. "Muggles?" she asked, feeling something inside her twist. "Did they seem…suitable to take care of Harry?"

McGonagall shrugged. "I never met them, officially. I only observed them a little." She shook her head as if to drive the memory away. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, let's just say I've noticed Mister Potter relies heavily on his friends, and cares very much for them. Thus, I knew he would be very upset seeing one of his closest like that." Pomfrey lapsed into silence for a moment. "Minerva, please tell me that we're close to solving this. Tell me that there won't be any more victims."

"Please don't ask me to lie to a friend," McGonagall said tiredly.

-0-

The mood inside Gryffindor tower was somber. Conversations were held in whispers and people walked about quietly, and never alone. At first there were mutters of anger. Their house had lost the most to the petrifications after all and more than one noticed that Slytherin had remain unscathed. The anger became fear as others discussed who would be next.

Harry had tried to hide in his dormitory but Katie had prevented him from doing that. He was despondent. He kept repeating that it was his fault and he tried to leave Katie and the others, saying his presence was a danger to them.

It took a while for them to calm him down, to assure him that they felt no fear around him.

That they would not abandon him.

He cried himself to sleep and slumbered fitfully on the couch, surrounded by the team. Katie held his hand while he slept, brushing his hair when he whimpered or shook.

Fred and George came back, having went to the second year boys' dormitory to talk with Ron. Katie, Angelina, Alicia, and Oliver looked at them expectantly.

"Well, we learned something," Fred said tiredly, slumping into a chair.

"Turns out the reason Harry thinks it's his fault is that Hermione went to the library based on a comment he made." George slumped into another chair. "Harry's been…hearing things apparently."

"Hearing things? What does that mean?" Oliver asked.

"Well, according to Ron, Harry sometimes hears a voice out and about in the castle. He can hear someone talking, but it's all muffled. And when it's clear, it's nothing you want to hear." Fred looked a little uncomfortable.

"Took a while for Ron to tell us. He was being very tight lipped about it," George said with a hint of pride. "Protecting Harry's secrets and all."

"I don't blame either of them for not saying anything," Alicia said. She looked very upset. Out of everyone on the team, she was the closest to Hermione, not counting Harry of course. Even she was surprised how hard she was taking the news. "That's not something you want to go about saying."

Katie looked surprised. "Wait, I remember Harry mentioning that before. He asked me once. We thought it was a ghost or someone hiding or something."

"You didn't hear it though?" Angelina looked thoughtful. "Huh, weird. Did Ron say how long Harry's heard the voice?"

"Only this year," George replied.

"Should we mention it to one of the professors?" Fred asked.

Oliver shook his head. "I don't think it'll help. With how magical and ancient Hogwarts is, you could explain hearing anything really. And unless we know exactly what Hermione was looking for, it could mean anything."

"So we can only sit and wait," the twins grumbled at the same time.

Harry whimpered again in his sleep.

"Poor Rabbit," Angelina said, stroking his hair. "I wish he wouldn't blame himself."

"It doesn't surprise me that he went to pieces," Alicia murmured. "Or that he feels responsible."

"He's very sensitive to his friends. Protective too. To have someone just taken from him like that, even temporarily," Oliver grunted and shook his head again. "Especially with his past, he probably takes loss a lot harder. Let's just do what we do best, watch out for each other and take care of each other, especially him."

"Even if we have to protect him from himself," Katie said sadly.