I got a review that wasn't too nice, and if I get too many, I might stop writing this fic

~Harry Potter and the Battle of Heirs~

~By Rachie.V.~

Author's Note: Hi! I'm back! Sorry for the delay, but I got a review that wasn't too nice, and if I get too many, I might stop writing this fic. If you want me to continue writing this, please say so in your review. PLEASE, I want nice reviews!! If it was bad, say why. Okay? Thank you. J To the person who said, "That was umm…" - you could have told me what was wrong with the chapter, instead of saying what you did. If you have a flame, then don't expect me to read your fics if you have any, as I have asked over and over to have constructive criticism instead. Sorry to lecture you, but these two particular reviews that I don't like have made me angry. But to the people who have said nice things or have offered ideas and given me constructive criticism, you are the ones who rule. You guys really make me happy, and the more reviews, the faster my chapters come! Thanks to the nice people! **Bows** Oh, and I just broke up with my boyfriend, and he's being a jerk, so that and the two not-so-nice reviews have made me rather cross. Sorry! K Oh, and I have the word "God" in here a couple of times, so if that offends anyone, sorry! Enjoy! J

Chapter VIII

Branches scratched Hermione's face as she ran through the Forbidden Forest. She kept running, but she couldn't find a way out. Everything was dark, but fairies dimly lit up the ground. Suddenly, a gust of wind made Hermione's robes billow out around her, and a voice carried along with the wind. It was soft and gentle, and it wasn't singing, but it was talking in rhythm.

"You're true love is knocking on death's door,

But it is important that you ignore

The nagging feeling in your head

That says your true love will end up dead."

Hermione gasped. Her true love was Harry! But - no, they said that he wouldn't die! Or did they? But still, the song continued.

"You need to believe he has the power -

As harsh as a sword; as soft as a flower

But still - he could die,

Killed by the Dark side

You cannot change the future

But you can help by being a tutor.

Tell him that he can accomplish

What the world has always wished.

By doing this

It shall be bliss

To realize what true love can do

In the face of Dark pursuit."

Hermione spun around and around, but she wasn't able to see anybody. The words kept sending tingles down her spine. "What do you mean?" she yelled into the warm, night air. The voice answered with the last four lines of its song.

"By doing this

It shall be bliss

To realize what true love can do

In the face of Dark pursuit."

~*~

Hermione jerked back to the real world. She had been having a weird dream - she was in the Forbidden Forest - and she heard someone saying a poem. As she strained to remember what it was, she realized that the sun was setting, and she was snuggled up to Harry, who was throwing pebbles into the lake, which was in front of them.

"Harry! How long have I been asleep on you?" she asked, feeling the warmth from his body seep into hers. He put an arm around her shoulders.

"For about -" he checked his watch "- twenty minutes. Don't worry. Nobody's missing us," he whispered, pressing his lips to Hermione's. She shivered.

"Are you cold?" Harry asked.

"How could I be, when I'm with you?" Hermione asked herself, but instead, she answered with a "no".

"Ooh! Somebody's getting cuddly by the lake, aren't we?" they heard somebody squeal from behind.

"PEEVES!" yelled Harry, letting go of Hermione and pulling out his wand. Peeves cackled, popping some chewing gum. Then Harry remembered a spell that Professor Lupin - his Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher in his third year - used.

"Waddiwasi!" he murmured, pointing his wand at Peeves the minute he popped another bubble of chewing gum. The gum flew out of Peeves's mouth and up his left nostril.

"You'll pay for that one, Potter!" Peeves choked, zooming away.

"Well done, Harry, but you'll never be left alone, now!" Hermione giggled.

"Oh well. As long as he pays for spying on us," Harry said, looking at Peeves's back as he zoomed up into the castle.

"Now, where were we?" Hermione asked, pulling Harry to her and kissing him softly again. He squirmed away.

"Harry! What's wrong?" Hermione asked him.

"Somebody's out here," Harry murmured, pulling his wand out again.

"You think so?" Hermione asked, pulling her wand out and clutching Harry's arm.

"No, I know so," Harry answered, looking into the Forbidden Forest. They heard a rustling in the bushes nearby. "RUN!" Harry shouted, pulling on Hermione's arm and sprinting full pelt towards the castle.

"Harry! What are you doing there's nothing there - AAARRRRGGGHHHHHH!!!!!" Hermione screamed as a Death Eater jumped out of the bushes where they had heard the rustling. He ran after them, shooting Unforgivable Curses at them.

"Nyster!" Harry yelled, throwing a curse over his shoulder. The Death Eater fell to the floor, but quickly got back up again.

Harry kept shooting curses at the Death Eater over his shoulder as he dragged Hermione behind him by the arm.

"Get in front of me and run as fast as you can to the castle. If I don't follow you a few seconds after, go and get Dumbledore!" Harry yelled to Hermione, pushing her in front of him. He gave Hermione a quick kiss on the lips.

"Just in case I don't get out of this," Harry said, as he ducked a Cruciatus curse that came at them. "GO!" Hermione didn't want to move, but she did anyway. She ran to the castle, only to see Dumbledore rushing out and down to Harry.

"Help him, Professor!" Hermione shouted to Dumbledore. He didn't answer but continued to rush to Harry, who was having a duel with the Death Eater. Hermione couldn't move. Harry was dodging, ducking and diving away from the Cruciatus Curse and the Imperius curse. He was shooting painful-but-legal curses to the Death Eater. Dumbledore joined them, but Hermione didn't see any more, as an arm grasped her wrist and pulled her into the safety of the castle. Hermione didn't turn around to see who was pulling her, but struggled to get away from the person and to Harry's side. Tears were streaming down her face.

"Harry...Harry...Harry..." she kept on whimpering, struggling to get out of the strong grip of the person who was pulling her to an office.

The person locked the door, and sat Hermione down in a chair opposite a desk. The person sat on the other side of the desk. It was Professor McGonagall. But all Hermione could say was, "Harry…Harry…Harry…"

"Shh! Granger! Calm down! Dumbledore is there! Potter will be fine," Professor McGonagall soothed.

"It's not okay! Harry's out there…" Hermione's voice trailed off as she gently touched her lips where Harry had kissed her before he told her to run.

"Harry isn't dead, and nor will he die! Trust me, Hermione!" the Professor said firmly.

"All – all right. What's going on?" Hermione asked.

"Well, you and Harry were sharing – ah – quality time together," McGonagall began, trying to hide a smile, "but then I believe that a Death Eater came out, and chased you. How he got the nerve to come near a place with Dumbledore there, I'll never know. Anyway, I believe this Death Eater had orders to bring Harry to He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. If Harry didn't have the reflexes he has from being an extraordinary Seeker, then he would probably be in You-Know-Who's clutches by now," Professor McGonagall finished. Hermione was shaking from fright. Suddenly, the door burst open, and Professor Dumbledore came in, dragging a Stunned Death Eater into the office.

"HARRY!" cried Hermione, seeing her boyfriend come in, clutching his right arm. "Harry, what happened?" she asked, looking at Harry's arm. Harry took away his hand, and Hermione gasped. Harry's hand was covered in blood, and his arm had a deep gash in it. His robes (which were torn from the duel) were flecked with blood. "Oh my God!" shrieked Hermione.

"Take him up to the Hospital Wing at once!" Dumbledore ordered. Hermione nodded, put one arm around Harry's waist and helped him to the Hospital Wing. Harry was breathing deeply, but his emerald eyes had a fire in them that Hermione had never seen before.

Once they reached the Hospital Wing, Madam Pomfrey gasped, then sighed.

"Oh, it's always you, isn't it Potter? Just like your father," she said, helping Hermione lower him onto a bed. Despite the searing pain, Harry laughed.

"Well, trouble always seems to find me first, before I find it," he said, then grimaced at the majority of pain that was coursing through his body. Hermione was still crying, and she knelt beside Harry's bed.

"Hermi, don't cry, it's okay," Harry whispered, stroking Hermione's head.

"I know, but…oh, why does You-Know-Who have to destroy the world?" hermione said, crying into Harry's good shoulder.

"He won't destroy the world, believe me, I'll make sure of it," Harry said, clenching his teeth. Hermione looked up worriedly, her tears stopping.

"No, no! Harry! Don't you dare go after him! He'll kill you!" Hermione cried.

"It's my destiny to defeat him, but I won't necessarily die, and if I do…well…at least I did it for the world, especially for you, Mum and Dad," Harry said, closing his eyes, letting Madam Pomfrey tear of the arm of his robes as she worked to restore his arm to it's full strength. Hermione stayed quiet.

"Okay, you're done!" Madam Pomfrey declared after a few minutes. Harry got off the bed, and saw a huge puddle of blood on the floor.

"Er…sorry about that, Madam Pomfrey," he said.

"It's alright, but promise me that you won't need to come in here for the rest of the year!" Madam Pomfrey said sighing.

"I promise," Harry said in between laughs. He and Hermione walked back to the castle, Harry's arm back to normal.

"Hermi, I'm sorry that I scared you by saying 'in case I don't get out of this'," Harry said, as they walked through the castle. Many students and teachers stopped, gawked and gasped at Harry, who was flecked with blood.

"It's alright, Harry," Hermione whispered to him.

"Okay, then, Hermi," Harry said, giving the password (frilly buttercups) to the Fat Lady and entering the common room.

"OH MY GOD!" Ron yelled, seeing Harry in the state that he was in. Harry told them about what happened, and went to have a shower. As soon as he was out of the room, Hermione burst into tears. Ron hugged her, saying everything was alright, and that Harry was fine. Hermione kept on touching her lips where Harry had kissed her before Harry had told her to run, and Ron asked why she kept touching her lips. She explained, blushing, and then Harry came back, wearing jeans and a blue shirt.

"He looks so cute wearing those clothes," Hermione thought to herself, hugging Harry.

Suddenly, the portrait burst open, and Professor McGonagall walked in.

"Harry! This came for you," the Professor said, handing Harry a piece of parchment. It read:

Dear Mr Potter,

                                                We are pleased to inform you that you are the newest Professional Dueller. You have been on our list ever since you attended Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and are now authorized to become a Professional Dueller. You have passed all tests required, and are already in stage ten, out of ten. In this stage, you are a Duelling Champion, and your wand tip will have a different colour. This tells the public that you are a Duelling Champion. Congratulations! Please meet the Duelling Leader, Mr Georgio, in Professor Dumbledore's office on the 14th December.

Yours sincerely,

Dan Harrison.

D.Harrison

"Whoa…you sure that this isn't a hoax, Professor?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure, Potter. Professor Dumbledore is a Duelling Champion, too," McGonagall answered.

"But we've never seen his wand tip a different colour!" Hermione argued.

"That's because his colour is a very, very pale blue. Your parents, Harry, were Duelling Champions, and they had a powder blue wand tip," the Professor said.

"So what colour will mine be?" Harry asked.

"Well, you get the colour that runs in the family, so you'll get powder blue, like your parents!" McGonagall answered.

"Oh…thank you for bringing this to me, Professor," Harry said, stunned at what was happening.

"You're welcome, Harry," she answered, ducking the roof as she climbed out of the portrait hole. Harry looked at Hermione, who was speechless. The whole common room (who had been listening) was speechless. After a few minutes of silence, Ron and Rachel walked out of the common room, only to return with heaps of lollies and butterbeers.

"PARTY!!!" yelled Rachel, and the whole common room started to dance to the Backstreet Boys "Larger Than Life" while it blared out of a cd player, which had been conjured up.

----------~*~----------

Author's Note: Yes, I know that they didn't have the Backstreet Boys in Hogwarts, but I don't know any wizard's songs!

Well, I really hope you liked it, and PLEASE review nicely! Or with constructive criticism. To e-mail me, click here.

THANK YOU to all those people who have reviewed with nice things to say, or constructive criticism. You're the people who need to be congratulated! Some people who I want to point out are:

Professor R.J. Lupin  

Hermione_silver_Potter – (I still can't find you're account!)

~**Twink**~

Starlight

hermione potter

Caitlyn

Jilliana

And many, many more! If you have reviewed nicely or with constructive criticism, thanks a bunch!!

Please, I BEG YOU, please read my original story "The Leprechaun" and it's sequel, "Return of the Leprechaun"! And another great fic I want you to read that has it's own site:

http://www.geocities.com/kim_2000rl/KimFanfic.html

It's really great, and it's a Harry Potter one. If you go and read it, enjoy! J

Enough of my rambling!!

Disclaimer: If you recognize it, I don't own it. It belongs to J.K. Rowling. If you don't recognize it, it's mine. Okay? J

'Til next time!

~~~*~~~ Rachie.V.