The Way Things Were - 10
Harry sat with Hermione at breakfast . Ron was missing again. So was , he noted with an odd
smile, Lavender . Hermione was sort of , well , out of it this morning . She didn't even comment
when Harry remarked about how the House Elves must be working up a storm to create a meal
like this ... She just sat there and nodded .
"Hermione ?"
"Yes ?" Her voice sounded hollow .
The Way Things Were - 10
Harry sat with Hermione at breakfast . Ron was missing again. So was , he noted with an odd
smile, Lavender . Hermione was sort of , well , out of it this morning . She didn't even comment
when Harry remarked about how the House Elves must be working up a storm to create a meal
like this ... She just sat there and nodded .
"Hermione ?"
"Yes ?" Her voice sounded hollow .
"Are you alright ?"
"Of course I am ! Why wouldn't I be ?" but she still sat there , staring at the Pumpkin Juice.
Neville shrugged wordlessly to Harry , and then leaned over.
"Do you reckon Hermione's not telling us something ?"
Harry shrugged. It wouldn't be the first time . But ... He was also hiding something too ...
***
"Master ... Master ... Master ..."
8 shapes crawled along the ground, kissing the hems of a stationary man's robes . After, they
stood up, and formed a silent circle around him. This scene had been seen before ...
"Well, well, well. Good evening, my friends. It has been too long. Too long." In truth, it had only
been a day, but as they normally met every few hours or so ...
He smiled a cruel smile, revealing sharp, snake like teeth.
He turned to the tall figure next to him, on his right.
"Has the letter been delivered to the Potter boy ?"
"I believe so. The owl was sent, and Draco said Harry looked ... off... at breakfast today."
"That is no proof."
"I know, master. I will follow up with him later."
"Today."
"Today." Lucius confirmed. "Am I permitted, Master, to ask what the letter is for ?"
"All shall reveal itself in due course."
Lucius just nodded. There was nothing else to say.
***
Draco sat in the shower, letting the hot water cascade over his shoulders and head. He leaned
back against the wall, and heaved a sigh. Well, he had known it was coming. There was no
denying that. He had known forever. His father had always talked about how ' The Dark Lord has
such high expectations for you. Most likely, because you are my son, but maybe he sees
something else in the muddled mind of yours. You will not let him down, do you hear?'
"Of course I hear, father." He said out loud.
His father. The model citizen. The Death Eater. The killer. The giver. The one everyone in the
ministry respected. Well, except for Arthur Weasley. But he had always been taught not to like
him. Draco began to wonder ... Did his father only put down Mr. Weasley because Weasley
knew? Because he could see right through Lucius ? And he could ... Draco knew he could. His
father may be good at disguising, but nobody's that good.
~*~
"Ah ... Ms. Granger. I've been meaning to talk to you."
Hermione looked up from her lunch.
Dumbledore's blue eyes were staring down at her.
"May I see you in my office after lunch?"
She nodded deftly, there were tears in her eyes.
He looked questioningly at her, and then at Ron and Harry, as if to the ask the question 'Do they
know"? She shook her head, and glanced pleadingly up at him. He smiled.
Of course he wouldn't tell. He had never told anyone about Neville. However, he knew this
would get around fast. It always did. Just like Lily ... He looked over at Harry with the thought.
He looked green, and pale. His eyes had dark shadows around them.
What was wrong? But he couldn't tell. And, apparently, neither could Ron, who was looking at
Harry with a mixture of concern and apprehension. Dumbledore turned away, however. He felt
bad enough, keeping the secret from Harry ... The 'thing - that - must - not - be - named' as he
had come to call it.
~*~
"Ah, Ms. Granger. Do step in, take a seat, put up your feet ..."
Hermione came in, and sat down quietly. She certainly did not put up her feet, but rested them on
the floor.
"Pray tell, Ms. Granger, do you know what is wrong with Mr. Potter? He looked a bit ... off,
today at breakfast."
"No, I don't. I know he received a letter, I saw the owl fly up to his window when Harry was the
only one in the dorm, and the owl flew away again empty handed."
"But you didn't see for sure the owl handing the letter to Harry."
"No."
"I see. What color was the owl?"
'It was a black, shiny eagle owl..." She trailed off as Dumbledore sat upright with a start. "Uh ...
Sir, you don't think it has anything to do with, maybe, Sirius?"
"I hope not ... Now, to a more pressing matter of business. I am very sorry, Hermione, to hear
about your parents. Indeed, do you remember Harry's mother?"
"Yes."
"Well, 18 years ago, she recieved a letter. She hated James at the time, he, likewise. And she got a
letter saying her parents had been killed. Now, of course, she was naturally upset about it. But,
she went beyond that. She blamed herself. She told herself that, because she was a witch, they
died. She was strained and horrible, and floated around the school in a daze. I do not want that to
happen to you. You are like her, in a way. You both had top marks, and, before you knew Harry,
you considered him a pompous git. But, you got to know him better, didn't you? And now he's
your best friend. Well, the letter she got brought James and her together. He was the only one
around, the only one she could talk to. Everyone else was on holidays. He was the shoulder to cry
on. So, the point I guess I'm trying to make is, out of all that pain, all that suffering, when one
door closes, another will open. I mean, look at them. They went from hating each other, to being
happily married, successful aurors, and they loved each other until the day they died."
"And then, they got themselves blown up by Voldemort."
Dumbledore looked uncomfortable. Of course ... they didn't get blown up. But he alone knew
that.
"Yes ... they did. But that isn't the point I'm trying to get at. Do you know how they ... died ...?
James died to save Lily. Lily died to save Harry. That's what true love is. And, in a way, maybe, if
she had never gotten the letter, that wouldn't have happened."
"Oh." By now Hermione was very confused. Was Dumbledore trying to tell her to fall in love
with Harry? Well, she had already done that. She blushed. Oops!
"Oh, I think I've made a mess of myself. Ms. Granger ... You can stay here over the summer if
you wish. Please, for your sake and mine, do not get depressed. It's a road to nowhere."
Hermione nodded. And then, tears began to build up at the corner of her eyes.
"There, there ..." Hermione was sobbing into his shoulder by the time Snape barged in. When he
saw them, he jumped back with a look of alarm on his face.
"Ah ... Severus ..."
Hermione jumped away from Dumbledore, and started wiping her eyes with her handkerchief.
Dumbledore looked at her questioningly, as if to say, 'I need to tell him ..." She nodded
resolutely.
"Ms. Granger here has just received unfortunate news. Her parents were killed by ... by Death
Eaters."
Snape instinctively grabbed his left forearm, clutching it so hard, his fingers turned white. Then,
he released it. He moved forward.
"I'm ... I'm very sorry to hear that ... Ms. Granger." He said stiffly. He put his hand on her
shoulder. That, was, Hermione supposed, his way of actually showing her he was sorry. She
didn't care. She didn't want his pity. After a few minutes, she told Dumbledore she should be
returning, that she had to go to classes. He told her to go back to the tower and sleep, that he
would inform all the teachers that she would not be there. She nodded, and escaped.
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "They are one of the first to go ... now, Severus ... What did you
need to talk to me about ..."
"Well, at the moment, it hardly seems important .."
"Well, go ahead anyways."
"A few days ago, I was at a graveyard, and praying at my mothers grave. When, out of the blue, I
heard a man talking on the other side of the tree where my mother's grave is. Well, this man was
talking to 2 headstones, which I had always believed were full. But, this man was saying that they
were empty ... I wonder, how could this be? When everyone in the wizarding world knows that
they fell 15 years ago?'
"You over heard me."
"I was not spying, I have done enough of that to suit my fancy, thank you very much. I could not
help but over hear. If you do not want to be heard, perhaps you should check. I heard you say
that James Potter woke up. I wasn't under the impression that you could WAKE UP from the
Avada Kedavra curse! Had I known that, I would have woken up every damn person I used it
on!"
"You cannot wake up the dead. I have made that very clear. However, he did wake up. See, this
is what happened . As you know, Voldemort came to their house on Halloween. If you did not
know this, Harry, in third year was very affected by the Dementors. Every time they came near
him, he could hear his parents dying. But, while he heard the curse that killed his mother, he
never, I repeat NEVER, heard the curse that killed his father. James Potter woke up, after, I am
supposing he was knocked out by something, or Voldemort did not want him dead, and saw his
wife lying there. He took a fit, and when I arrived, for I was the first to, I saw him alive. I saw him
preform the curse on his wife ..."
~*~
Ron walked in. Harry was sitting on his bed, reading something that was in his hands, Ron crept
up silently behind him, and read it.
... You will be destroyed over Vacation. Or Hogwarts...An owl will arrive on March 7 ...
He read it all. He grabbed it out of Harry's hand, who hadn't even noticed that he was there.
"Ron! What are you doing?"
"How DARE you! When did you get this letter?"
"Yesterday ..."
"And you kept it a secret from me??? It's March 7 ... What did you choose?"
Harry didn't answer.
"When did the owl come?"
"At 4 am."
'Why didn't I hear it?"
Harry shrugged.
'Now it's almost noon! WHAT DID YOU CHOOSE?"
Harry still didn't answer.
"Please Harry, pleas tell me ..."
"Me ..."
Ron erupted.
"You WHAT ?! No! You can't! I won't allow it! Harry, do you always have to be so damn
noble?" He started crying. "No. I won't allow it. You can't die. I won't let you. I'm going to get
Dumbledore."And he ran out of the room.
~*~
It was too late. Ron was too late. There was nothing he could do now. He smiled, half. It was
over. It was all over. No more pain, no more having to live with his parent's death. No more.
Soon, he would be with them again. He saw something black shimmer, and then, the black
skeletal figure of Voldemort was in from of him.
~*~
"Professor! Please hurry ... Professor ..." He panted, as he saw Dumbledore in the hall outside his
office . "Harry ... Voldemort ..."
Dumbledore ran along with him.
"What is it, Ron?"
"Harry got a letter ... he chose himself ... Over Hogwarts ... Voldemort is going to kill him ..."
Dumbledore broke out in an all out run.
"Is Voldemort here?"
"He wasn't .... I don't know about now ..."
They reached the Gryffindor Tower. Dumbledore barged in, and they both ran all the way up to
the boys dorm. They opened the door...
~*~
Harry writhed in pain on the floor. Again, the pain was searing through him. Hot knives, piercing
every single part of him. His scar burned. Voldemort was just having fun with him. Before he
killed him. And it was going the way that Voldemort wanted. Harry couldn't get up to fight, he
was too weak. Harry heard the door open. In the haze, he could see Dumbledore and Ron. He
could see Voldemort's lip curl.
'Why Hello, Albus. Come to see your star student die? There's nothing you can do about it, this
time."
Voldemort raised his wand.
"Avada-"
And then Ron jumped in front.
Harry sat with Hermione at breakfast . Ron was missing again. So was , he noted with an odd
smile, Lavender . Hermione was sort of , well , out of it this morning . She didn't even comment
when Harry remarked about how the House Elves must be working up a storm to create a meal
like this ... She just sat there and nodded .
"Hermione ?"
"Yes ?" Her voice sounded hollow .
The Way Things Were - 10
Harry sat with Hermione at breakfast . Ron was missing again. So was , he noted with an odd
smile, Lavender . Hermione was sort of , well , out of it this morning . She didn't even comment
when Harry remarked about how the House Elves must be working up a storm to create a meal
like this ... She just sat there and nodded .
"Hermione ?"
"Yes ?" Her voice sounded hollow .
"Are you alright ?"
"Of course I am ! Why wouldn't I be ?" but she still sat there , staring at the Pumpkin Juice.
Neville shrugged wordlessly to Harry , and then leaned over.
"Do you reckon Hermione's not telling us something ?"
Harry shrugged. It wouldn't be the first time . But ... He was also hiding something too ...
***
"Master ... Master ... Master ..."
8 shapes crawled along the ground, kissing the hems of a stationary man's robes . After, they
stood up, and formed a silent circle around him. This scene had been seen before ...
"Well, well, well. Good evening, my friends. It has been too long. Too long." In truth, it had only
been a day, but as they normally met every few hours or so ...
He smiled a cruel smile, revealing sharp, snake like teeth.
He turned to the tall figure next to him, on his right.
"Has the letter been delivered to the Potter boy ?"
"I believe so. The owl was sent, and Draco said Harry looked ... off... at breakfast today."
"That is no proof."
"I know, master. I will follow up with him later."
"Today."
"Today." Lucius confirmed. "Am I permitted, Master, to ask what the letter is for ?"
"All shall reveal itself in due course."
Lucius just nodded. There was nothing else to say.
***
Draco sat in the shower, letting the hot water cascade over his shoulders and head. He leaned
back against the wall, and heaved a sigh. Well, he had known it was coming. There was no
denying that. He had known forever. His father had always talked about how ' The Dark Lord has
such high expectations for you. Most likely, because you are my son, but maybe he sees
something else in the muddled mind of yours. You will not let him down, do you hear?'
"Of course I hear, father." He said out loud.
His father. The model citizen. The Death Eater. The killer. The giver. The one everyone in the
ministry respected. Well, except for Arthur Weasley. But he had always been taught not to like
him. Draco began to wonder ... Did his father only put down Mr. Weasley because Weasley
knew? Because he could see right through Lucius ? And he could ... Draco knew he could. His
father may be good at disguising, but nobody's that good.
~*~
"Ah ... Ms. Granger. I've been meaning to talk to you."
Hermione looked up from her lunch.
Dumbledore's blue eyes were staring down at her.
"May I see you in my office after lunch?"
She nodded deftly, there were tears in her eyes.
He looked questioningly at her, and then at Ron and Harry, as if to the ask the question 'Do they
know"? She shook her head, and glanced pleadingly up at him. He smiled.
Of course he wouldn't tell. He had never told anyone about Neville. However, he knew this
would get around fast. It always did. Just like Lily ... He looked over at Harry with the thought.
He looked green, and pale. His eyes had dark shadows around them.
What was wrong? But he couldn't tell. And, apparently, neither could Ron, who was looking at
Harry with a mixture of concern and apprehension. Dumbledore turned away, however. He felt
bad enough, keeping the secret from Harry ... The 'thing - that - must - not - be - named' as he
had come to call it.
~*~
"Ah, Ms. Granger. Do step in, take a seat, put up your feet ..."
Hermione came in, and sat down quietly. She certainly did not put up her feet, but rested them on
the floor.
"Pray tell, Ms. Granger, do you know what is wrong with Mr. Potter? He looked a bit ... off,
today at breakfast."
"No, I don't. I know he received a letter, I saw the owl fly up to his window when Harry was the
only one in the dorm, and the owl flew away again empty handed."
"But you didn't see for sure the owl handing the letter to Harry."
"No."
"I see. What color was the owl?"
'It was a black, shiny eagle owl..." She trailed off as Dumbledore sat upright with a start. "Uh ...
Sir, you don't think it has anything to do with, maybe, Sirius?"
"I hope not ... Now, to a more pressing matter of business. I am very sorry, Hermione, to hear
about your parents. Indeed, do you remember Harry's mother?"
"Yes."
"Well, 18 years ago, she recieved a letter. She hated James at the time, he, likewise. And she got a
letter saying her parents had been killed. Now, of course, she was naturally upset about it. But,
she went beyond that. She blamed herself. She told herself that, because she was a witch, they
died. She was strained and horrible, and floated around the school in a daze. I do not want that to
happen to you. You are like her, in a way. You both had top marks, and, before you knew Harry,
you considered him a pompous git. But, you got to know him better, didn't you? And now he's
your best friend. Well, the letter she got brought James and her together. He was the only one
around, the only one she could talk to. Everyone else was on holidays. He was the shoulder to cry
on. So, the point I guess I'm trying to make is, out of all that pain, all that suffering, when one
door closes, another will open. I mean, look at them. They went from hating each other, to being
happily married, successful aurors, and they loved each other until the day they died."
"And then, they got themselves blown up by Voldemort."
Dumbledore looked uncomfortable. Of course ... they didn't get blown up. But he alone knew
that.
"Yes ... they did. But that isn't the point I'm trying to get at. Do you know how they ... died ...?
James died to save Lily. Lily died to save Harry. That's what true love is. And, in a way, maybe, if
she had never gotten the letter, that wouldn't have happened."
"Oh." By now Hermione was very confused. Was Dumbledore trying to tell her to fall in love
with Harry? Well, she had already done that. She blushed. Oops!
"Oh, I think I've made a mess of myself. Ms. Granger ... You can stay here over the summer if
you wish. Please, for your sake and mine, do not get depressed. It's a road to nowhere."
Hermione nodded. And then, tears began to build up at the corner of her eyes.
"There, there ..." Hermione was sobbing into his shoulder by the time Snape barged in. When he
saw them, he jumped back with a look of alarm on his face.
"Ah ... Severus ..."
Hermione jumped away from Dumbledore, and started wiping her eyes with her handkerchief.
Dumbledore looked at her questioningly, as if to say, 'I need to tell him ..." She nodded
resolutely.
"Ms. Granger here has just received unfortunate news. Her parents were killed by ... by Death
Eaters."
Snape instinctively grabbed his left forearm, clutching it so hard, his fingers turned white. Then,
he released it. He moved forward.
"I'm ... I'm very sorry to hear that ... Ms. Granger." He said stiffly. He put his hand on her
shoulder. That, was, Hermione supposed, his way of actually showing her he was sorry. She
didn't care. She didn't want his pity. After a few minutes, she told Dumbledore she should be
returning, that she had to go to classes. He told her to go back to the tower and sleep, that he
would inform all the teachers that she would not be there. She nodded, and escaped.
Dumbledore sighed heavily. "They are one of the first to go ... now, Severus ... What did you
need to talk to me about ..."
"Well, at the moment, it hardly seems important .."
"Well, go ahead anyways."
"A few days ago, I was at a graveyard, and praying at my mothers grave. When, out of the blue, I
heard a man talking on the other side of the tree where my mother's grave is. Well, this man was
talking to 2 headstones, which I had always believed were full. But, this man was saying that they
were empty ... I wonder, how could this be? When everyone in the wizarding world knows that
they fell 15 years ago?'
"You over heard me."
"I was not spying, I have done enough of that to suit my fancy, thank you very much. I could not
help but over hear. If you do not want to be heard, perhaps you should check. I heard you say
that James Potter woke up. I wasn't under the impression that you could WAKE UP from the
Avada Kedavra curse! Had I known that, I would have woken up every damn person I used it
on!"
"You cannot wake up the dead. I have made that very clear. However, he did wake up. See, this
is what happened . As you know, Voldemort came to their house on Halloween. If you did not
know this, Harry, in third year was very affected by the Dementors. Every time they came near
him, he could hear his parents dying. But, while he heard the curse that killed his mother, he
never, I repeat NEVER, heard the curse that killed his father. James Potter woke up, after, I am
supposing he was knocked out by something, or Voldemort did not want him dead, and saw his
wife lying there. He took a fit, and when I arrived, for I was the first to, I saw him alive. I saw him
preform the curse on his wife ..."
~*~
Ron walked in. Harry was sitting on his bed, reading something that was in his hands, Ron crept
up silently behind him, and read it.
... You will be destroyed over Vacation. Or Hogwarts...An owl will arrive on March 7 ...
He read it all. He grabbed it out of Harry's hand, who hadn't even noticed that he was there.
"Ron! What are you doing?"
"How DARE you! When did you get this letter?"
"Yesterday ..."
"And you kept it a secret from me??? It's March 7 ... What did you choose?"
Harry didn't answer.
"When did the owl come?"
"At 4 am."
'Why didn't I hear it?"
Harry shrugged.
'Now it's almost noon! WHAT DID YOU CHOOSE?"
Harry still didn't answer.
"Please Harry, pleas tell me ..."
"Me ..."
Ron erupted.
"You WHAT ?! No! You can't! I won't allow it! Harry, do you always have to be so damn
noble?" He started crying. "No. I won't allow it. You can't die. I won't let you. I'm going to get
Dumbledore."And he ran out of the room.
~*~
It was too late. Ron was too late. There was nothing he could do now. He smiled, half. It was
over. It was all over. No more pain, no more having to live with his parent's death. No more.
Soon, he would be with them again. He saw something black shimmer, and then, the black
skeletal figure of Voldemort was in from of him.
~*~
"Professor! Please hurry ... Professor ..." He panted, as he saw Dumbledore in the hall outside his
office . "Harry ... Voldemort ..."
Dumbledore ran along with him.
"What is it, Ron?"
"Harry got a letter ... he chose himself ... Over Hogwarts ... Voldemort is going to kill him ..."
Dumbledore broke out in an all out run.
"Is Voldemort here?"
"He wasn't .... I don't know about now ..."
They reached the Gryffindor Tower. Dumbledore barged in, and they both ran all the way up to
the boys dorm. They opened the door...
~*~
Harry writhed in pain on the floor. Again, the pain was searing through him. Hot knives, piercing
every single part of him. His scar burned. Voldemort was just having fun with him. Before he
killed him. And it was going the way that Voldemort wanted. Harry couldn't get up to fight, he
was too weak. Harry heard the door open. In the haze, he could see Dumbledore and Ron. He
could see Voldemort's lip curl.
'Why Hello, Albus. Come to see your star student die? There's nothing you can do about it, this
time."
Voldemort raised his wand.
"Avada-"
And then Ron jumped in front.