Chapter Two: Brick by Brick
"Get him to the hospital wing!"
"Nice to see you too Professor McGonagall.."
"Oh, Hermione dear, you know I'm delighted to see you again but, he needs to be healed!"
Hermione helped Harry hobble up to the hospital wing and sat with him as Madam Pomfrey healed him. Although the woman was very lucky to still be alive, she looked worse for the wear, as if life had been drained from her and yet she still breathed and moved as a mortal person. Worry lines were all over her face and she looked like she might break down and cry at any moment.
"Harry, you're all done, I'd like to keep you here for the night, but there is a meeting just about to start in the great hall. I suggest you go there" she said in a weary voice.
"Madam Pomfrey, are you all right?" Hermione asked somberly
"Please dear, just go" she said, not looking at Hermione. Hermione nodded and left the room with Harry. As they walked down the hall they could hear the woman's sobs. Hermione shoved her hands in the pockets of her trench coat again and felt the knife.
"Give me it Hermione" Harry said, looking at her covered hand
"Give you what?" she asked innocently
"The knife, I want it" The pair stopped walking and just looked at each other for a few moments, trying to stare each other down.
"Now, Hermione" Harry demanded, sounding a lot like a parent or older brother.
"How did you-"
"How did I know? I was trained to protect wizards, that includes knowing when someone is hiding a weapon, I knew you had it the whole time" he looked at her with a slight smirk. She took it out of her pocket and gave it to him.
The pair made their way, in silence, to the great hall. Professor McGonagall sat with some of the teachers that Harry and Hermione had once known including: Professors Snape, Lupin, Trelawney, Flitwick and Sinistra. There were others that the two didn't recognize.
"You're going to let him in here after all his relatives have done to our kind?" asked a cruel voice while pointing at Harry.
"If Voldemort himself walked through those doors, I'd welcome him. Unless the few of us that have survived do not stand united, then there is no hope for any of us. It is not Harry's fault for the actions of his relatives, Draco" scolded Professor McGonagall. Many flinched at the name Voldemort and were appalled at her bold statement. Hermione noticed that Harry was receiving both kind and venomous glances from the people in the room. Inadvertently, she glanced up at the ceiling. Now that she looked at it, she realized she hardly remembered the beauty of it. The stars glistened brightly in the sea of midnight blue. Hermione hadn't felt so at home in a long time. She then glanced around the room. There were few faces that were familiar to her, though one stood out amongst the others. A young woman of twenty or so, looking very pale under loads of freckles with short, fiery red hair, seemingly staring into oblivion. It was Ginny Weasley. She turned her head to see what all the commotion was about. Her and Hermione's eyes met and Ginny smiled a sad smile at her. She then stood up and walked over to Hermione, stopping within two feet of her. They stood there for a minute or so when Ginny began to hysterically cry and threw her arms around Hermione.
"Shh, its all right Ginny, it'll be all right" Hermione comforted, though she two had tears spilling down her cheeks and onto Ginny's green blouse. Ginny pulled away from Hermione.
"It'll never be all right Hermione, it will get better, but the scars will never heal" Ginny said sagely
"I know" Hermione whispered. Ginny then turned to Harry and hugged him too, still crying.
"Welcome home everyone," McGonagall began "for here I guarantee your safety, but you must earn your keep. Professor Dumbledore and I have worked long hard hours to try to gather as many of the living wizards in the UK as possible here, as numerous other countries have been doing. We are here to rebuild our world, brick by brick we should be able to save our world from complete and utter destruction, but we must work together. I ask those of you who have fought endlessly in the past to now work together for a much greater cause," she gave a pointed look at Harry and Draco "Dumbledore has requested to see each of you, please wait until I call your name, then you can follow me to his office, Ms. Abbot, please follow me"
At the end of the speech, 'Ms. Abbot' followed McGonagall out of the room. Harry turned to say something to Hermione only to find Draco Malfoy in her place. Though he kept his poised manner, the seemed much less collected than he had in their days at Hogwarts. He was still easily recognizable as the boy Harry had known in school, Draco still had platinum blonde hair, pale skin the color of the moon and was very well dressed. He and Harry were roughly the same height, though Draco was more muscular than Harry. When they looked at each other Draco extended a hand towards Harry. He took Draco's hand, they were now on the same side.
"This isn't easy for me you know" Draco said nastily
"Trust me Malfoy, I know"
"My parents were murdered by you're family's followers, you'd think you could be a little kinder. But then, you've always detested my father, so, I hope you're happy. He suffered a fate you believed he deserved" Draco said, never wavering.
"I'm sorry to hear that. If I could have prevented it, I would have. No person of our world deserved to suffer the fate that they received"
"This doesn't mean that I like you Potter"
"I never said that I liked you either Malfoy"
"Harry, Hermione, Draco, Ginny, please, follow me" Professor McGonagall said, surprising both Harry and Draco.
"Ok, Professor" the four said together. Heads bowed, they followed their ex-professor to a room, where Dumbledore lie in a bed, looking as old as ever.
"Welcome my children, welcome" he said, his eyes still twinkling after so many years and hard times.
A/N: I hope you are enjoying my story so far! For those of you who asked about the Weasleys, well, Ginny is still around, to find out about the others, you'll have to tune in for the next installment. Anyway, one line of this story is from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" I changed it a little, but it is still recognizable, pretty gold stars for the people who find it and write what it is in the review. I need a name for a character that will appear in the next chapter, so if you get the line right, I'll use your name!! J Please review even if you don't know! Reviews make me write faster! Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last two parts!
"Get him to the hospital wing!"
"Nice to see you too Professor McGonagall.."
"Oh, Hermione dear, you know I'm delighted to see you again but, he needs to be healed!"
Hermione helped Harry hobble up to the hospital wing and sat with him as Madam Pomfrey healed him. Although the woman was very lucky to still be alive, she looked worse for the wear, as if life had been drained from her and yet she still breathed and moved as a mortal person. Worry lines were all over her face and she looked like she might break down and cry at any moment.
"Harry, you're all done, I'd like to keep you here for the night, but there is a meeting just about to start in the great hall. I suggest you go there" she said in a weary voice.
"Madam Pomfrey, are you all right?" Hermione asked somberly
"Please dear, just go" she said, not looking at Hermione. Hermione nodded and left the room with Harry. As they walked down the hall they could hear the woman's sobs. Hermione shoved her hands in the pockets of her trench coat again and felt the knife.
"Give me it Hermione" Harry said, looking at her covered hand
"Give you what?" she asked innocently
"The knife, I want it" The pair stopped walking and just looked at each other for a few moments, trying to stare each other down.
"Now, Hermione" Harry demanded, sounding a lot like a parent or older brother.
"How did you-"
"How did I know? I was trained to protect wizards, that includes knowing when someone is hiding a weapon, I knew you had it the whole time" he looked at her with a slight smirk. She took it out of her pocket and gave it to him.
The pair made their way, in silence, to the great hall. Professor McGonagall sat with some of the teachers that Harry and Hermione had once known including: Professors Snape, Lupin, Trelawney, Flitwick and Sinistra. There were others that the two didn't recognize.
"You're going to let him in here after all his relatives have done to our kind?" asked a cruel voice while pointing at Harry.
"If Voldemort himself walked through those doors, I'd welcome him. Unless the few of us that have survived do not stand united, then there is no hope for any of us. It is not Harry's fault for the actions of his relatives, Draco" scolded Professor McGonagall. Many flinched at the name Voldemort and were appalled at her bold statement. Hermione noticed that Harry was receiving both kind and venomous glances from the people in the room. Inadvertently, she glanced up at the ceiling. Now that she looked at it, she realized she hardly remembered the beauty of it. The stars glistened brightly in the sea of midnight blue. Hermione hadn't felt so at home in a long time. She then glanced around the room. There were few faces that were familiar to her, though one stood out amongst the others. A young woman of twenty or so, looking very pale under loads of freckles with short, fiery red hair, seemingly staring into oblivion. It was Ginny Weasley. She turned her head to see what all the commotion was about. Her and Hermione's eyes met and Ginny smiled a sad smile at her. She then stood up and walked over to Hermione, stopping within two feet of her. They stood there for a minute or so when Ginny began to hysterically cry and threw her arms around Hermione.
"Shh, its all right Ginny, it'll be all right" Hermione comforted, though she two had tears spilling down her cheeks and onto Ginny's green blouse. Ginny pulled away from Hermione.
"It'll never be all right Hermione, it will get better, but the scars will never heal" Ginny said sagely
"I know" Hermione whispered. Ginny then turned to Harry and hugged him too, still crying.
"Welcome home everyone," McGonagall began "for here I guarantee your safety, but you must earn your keep. Professor Dumbledore and I have worked long hard hours to try to gather as many of the living wizards in the UK as possible here, as numerous other countries have been doing. We are here to rebuild our world, brick by brick we should be able to save our world from complete and utter destruction, but we must work together. I ask those of you who have fought endlessly in the past to now work together for a much greater cause," she gave a pointed look at Harry and Draco "Dumbledore has requested to see each of you, please wait until I call your name, then you can follow me to his office, Ms. Abbot, please follow me"
At the end of the speech, 'Ms. Abbot' followed McGonagall out of the room. Harry turned to say something to Hermione only to find Draco Malfoy in her place. Though he kept his poised manner, the seemed much less collected than he had in their days at Hogwarts. He was still easily recognizable as the boy Harry had known in school, Draco still had platinum blonde hair, pale skin the color of the moon and was very well dressed. He and Harry were roughly the same height, though Draco was more muscular than Harry. When they looked at each other Draco extended a hand towards Harry. He took Draco's hand, they were now on the same side.
"This isn't easy for me you know" Draco said nastily
"Trust me Malfoy, I know"
"My parents were murdered by you're family's followers, you'd think you could be a little kinder. But then, you've always detested my father, so, I hope you're happy. He suffered a fate you believed he deserved" Draco said, never wavering.
"I'm sorry to hear that. If I could have prevented it, I would have. No person of our world deserved to suffer the fate that they received"
"This doesn't mean that I like you Potter"
"I never said that I liked you either Malfoy"
"Harry, Hermione, Draco, Ginny, please, follow me" Professor McGonagall said, surprising both Harry and Draco.
"Ok, Professor" the four said together. Heads bowed, they followed their ex-professor to a room, where Dumbledore lie in a bed, looking as old as ever.
"Welcome my children, welcome" he said, his eyes still twinkling after so many years and hard times.
A/N: I hope you are enjoying my story so far! For those of you who asked about the Weasleys, well, Ginny is still around, to find out about the others, you'll have to tune in for the next installment. Anyway, one line of this story is from "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" I changed it a little, but it is still recognizable, pretty gold stars for the people who find it and write what it is in the review. I need a name for a character that will appear in the next chapter, so if you get the line right, I'll use your name!! J Please review even if you don't know! Reviews make me write faster! Thanks to everyone who reviewed my last two parts!