Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter, I am writing this fanfiction for my own amusement and make no profit, all recognizable characters in this story are the property of J.K Rowling, Scholastic, Warner Brothers, etc.
AN: Thank you for the response to the last chapter. That has to have been the best-received chapter I have ever posted.
Number Twelve Grimmauld Place, London, 12/28/1995, 22:39
Tonks was sitting at the table in Grimmauld Place's kitchen sipping a butterbeer as she let her mind wander.
The other order members had been filing into the room for the past twenty minutes, though everyone seemed rather sombre this evening.
The last week had been unbelievably stressful, after the attack on the Abbotts, Harry had become extremely withdrawn.
Christmas morning had been a small reprieve from the depression but as soon as Harry spotted the present he had gotten for Hannah still under the tree, he closed up again.
Ever since the funeral, Harry had spent most of his free time reading through the defence tomes Remus and Sirius had sent him for Christmas or else, he could be found going through physical training out in the snow-covered garden. This had been one of the most depressing Christmas holidays Tonks could ever remember and she couldn't wait for them to end.
Tonks knew that Harry was itching to vent his rage and was simply bidding his time until the break was over and he could begin his magical training again.
She couldn't really blame him for that, Tonks would like nothing more than to wring her cousin's neck for running his mouth. Still, she couldn't let Harry get into it with Draco. With all of the training, Harry had, he could very easily kill the boy if he lost control, even without a wand.
The only person Harry had really opened up to since the attack was her mum who had managed to get him to talk. Her mother had even managed to get Harry to eat with them at meals again. Harry had even begun practising his occlumency with her mother which showed a tremendous amount of trust on his part.
Tonks was just glad Harry was talking to her mother. In the last few days, he had started talking to her and her dad as well, though he would close himself off if anyone mentioned Hannah.
Tonks was still dealing with her own guilt concerning Hannah Abbott and how petty she had been with the girl since Harry had started dating her. She hadn't made it a secret that she didn't like Abbott and now she was regretting all the times she had been so cold to the other girl.
Between keeping an eye on Harry and struggling with her own guilt, Tonks was a wreck and was looking forward to going back to Hogwarts as much as he was.
Tonks was pulled from her musings as Dumbledore and McGonagall entered the room. She noticed that they both seemed much more subdued than usual. Snape came in a few steps behind them looking as bored as ever, though he seemed to be walking with a bit of a limp.
As soon s Dumbledore entered the kitchen, the conversation died down. Snape and McGonagall quickly took their usual seats as Dumbledore made his way to the head of the table and sat down. Albus sat there for a moment and just looked around the table before he finally spoke.
"Good evening, as you all know the Abbott family was attacked last Saturday morning. During the attack, Hannah Abbott was killed and the dark mark was cast over the home."
"This is the second attack like this since Voldemort's return and they were both led by Madam Lestrange," Dumbledore said to the quiet room.
"It was a botched attack at best," Moody grunted.
"One of my students was killed, botched or not it was still a blow to our side, Alastor," Minerva snapped, shooting the aged auror a glare.
"Kingsley, have there been any new developments?" Albus asked looking towards Shack, who was sitting next to Sirius towards the middle of the table.
"We haven't found anything we didn't already suspect. From the information we have, I believe the attack was more of a target of opportunity than anything else. The wards over the Abbott residence were much weaker than other targets we know the death eaters are interested in," Kingsley answered
"Shacklebolt is correct, the Abbotts were chosen because of their connection to Amelia Bones. That fact that Lord Abbott's daughter was involved with Harry Potter was simply a coincidence," Snape explained.
"The attack was a failure though," Sirius pointed out.
"It was, Bellatrix was punished most severely for getting her men killed and failing to accomplish her primary objective," Snape said, looking like it pained him to agree with Sirius.
"There's more to this, Albus. Several family wards have been tested without the owner's permission of late. The Bones, the Longbottoms, the Boots, the Macmillans, and the Browns have all reported someone tampering with their wards in the wee hours of the morning," Moody cut in.
"And you believe they are all connected?" Elphias Doge asked worriedly.
"I am almost certain of it," Moody grunted.
"I have to agree, I fear there will be more of these attacks in the next few months," Dumbledore proclaimed in a grave tone.
"The Abbotts defended themselves surprisingly well. As Snape said, three of the four death eaters were killed in the initial assault. LeStrange managed to incapacitate Lord Abbott and his daughter but they put up a hell of a fight," Kingsley cut in.
"How badly was Sam hurt?" Sirius asked, glancing over at Kingsley.
"LeStrange tortured him with the cruciatus before killing his daughter in front of him. After that, she left him immobilised on the floor until his wife returned from St Mungo's," Kingsley said looking disturbed.
"What do we know of Lord Abbott now?" Albus asked.
"He buried his daughter and left the country for their property in France," Hestia Jones spoke up.
"Then they are safe for the time being," Albus nodded.
"At least until the death eaters make moves across the pond," Moody grunted.
"How is Harry handling the death of Miss Abbott?" Dumbledore asked as he glanced over at Tonks.
"Furious, he doesn't talk much but you are going to have to keep Draco Malfoy away from him," Tonks warned.
"You told him?" Moody exclaimed giving Tonks an incredulous look.
"I didn't have to, Malfoy barged into his compartment on the train and practically told him this was going to happen. Harry is blinded by his rage and I don't think he cares about the consequences of attacking Malfoy," Tonks admitted.
"Can't say I blame him," Bill Weasley muttered.
"I know for a fact that Draco did not disclose anything to the dark lord. He's not allowed anywhere near the death eaters at the manor, Narcissa is particularly firm on this," Snape said, a look of concern coming over his features.
"Well he really stepped in it, Harry will tear him apart if he gets the chance," Tonks muttered.
"It doesn't make sense," Remus said thoughtfully.
"What doesn't make sense?" Sirius asked.
"Why would Draco say something to Harry before the attack, he had to know it would implicate him if the Abbotts were attacked," Remus explained.
"You're not saying you think this was a warning?" Sirius asked incredulously.
"Who was in Harry's compartment?" Remus asked, looking over at Tonks.
"Ron, Hermione, the Brown girl, and I think Susan Bones," Tonks answered, looking thoughtful.
"He threatened Hannah in front of little Susie?!" Moody asked sounding alarmed.
"I think so, I wasn't in the compartment," Tonks admitted shooting Moody a questioning look.
"You had better keep an eye on the Malfoy shit, Susan has been trained in combat magic since she was twelve and has a nasty temper," Moody warned.
"She has?" Tonks asked.
"Yes, Amy trained the girl herself in Defence and Transfiguration. Shack taught her the auror standard hand-to-hand techniques last summer," Moody grunted.
"Transfiguration?! I had to tutor Bones in Transfiguration for the first two months of the term," Tonks exclaimed sounding annoyed.
"Yes, Pomona did mention your alter ego was helping get Miss Bones caught up which surprised me as Miss Bones has always been one of the top students in my class," Minerva answered.
"It sounds like you got played, Tonksie. I bet they used the old divide and conquer method so Abbott could get Harry alone," Sirius snorted.
"Back to the matter at hand, I will make arrangements to protect Mr Malfoy but there is only so much I will be able to do. Short of expelling Mr Potter, I fear it is only a matter of time before he confronts Mr Malfoy," Dumbledore said, getting them back on task.
"I say let him, Malfoy'd probably rather face Potter than Susie," Moody grunted.
"Is there any other news?" Dumbledore asked as he looked around the table.
"I have news, I just got word from my contact in the Welsh pack. Fenrir Greyback has returned to Britain," Remus said gravely.
"Fuck!" Sirius exclaimed all levity from a moment ago vanishing from his face.
"He is already making contact with the local packs. The Wales pack refused him but he will probably get the Northern packs on his side, the North pack alpha is an old friend of Greyback," Remus elaborated.
"Will the Wales pack work with us?" Elphias Doge asked hopefully.
"No, they despise wizards but they don't want to draw their attention either," Remus sighed
"It was only a matter of time before Voldemort's werewolf allies joined him," Dumbledore sighed.
"I have something as well," Bill said getting everybody's attention.
"Go ahead, William," Dumbledore said kindly.
"Fleur Delacour told me that a group of giants have been sighted migrating across France. From the reports, they appear to be heading in the direction of Normandy," Bill said in a nervous tone.
"How reliable is the information?" Moody asked in a sharp tone.
"She heard this from her father, he is high up in the French ministry," Bill shrugged.
"Then we shall have to look into this matter," Dumbledore said giving Elphias a pointed look.
"I'm on it, Albus," Elphias agreed.
"They're going to cross the channel, aren't they?" Sirius asked.
"Yes, I believe they will swim across but I imagine they will wait for spring," Dumbledore agreed.
"This is happening so much faster than last time," Dedalus Diggle muttered.
"His people have been running the government for the last decade, Diggle. The ministry isn't far from collapsing from the inside out," Moody growled.
"And that was before the death eaters got their own swarm of dementors," Arthur Weasley agreed.
"We might have a line on the dementors. I believe they are being kept in a cave system up in Scotland, there are certain signatures in the area that points to a large number of dementors in a single area," Sturgis Podmore spoke up.
"Perpetual rain?" Sirius asked.
"And fog, I believe they may be breeding," Podmore admitted.
"I'll look into it, Amy already forced fudge to sign a destroy-on-sight order for all escaped dementors," Moody grunted.
"You can destroy dementors?" Sirius asked.
"You can destroy anything with fiend fyre, and the unspeakables have a specialized spell for destroying them," Moody explained.
"Be careful Alastor, there are bound to be death eaters keeping guard over the area," Dumbledore warned.
"Way ahead of you Albus," Alastor nodded.
"I believe that we will increase security on the Hogwarts Express for the return trip, I will take any volunteers but I would like a guard on each carriage," Dumbledore said and got many raised hands of volunteers.
"Yes, I believe you will all do wonderfully," Dumbledore said giving the volunteers a grateful nod.
"Nymphadora, I would prefer if Harry goes directly to Hogwarts to prevent any problems with Mister Malfoy on the train," Albus said, giving Tonks a meaningful look.
"No problem," Tonks agreed.
"Good, then I believe we can call it an evening. All of you please stay vigilant," Dumbledore said when no one had anything else to add.
As the meeting broke up Dumbledore and the other two professors left while the other order members began to leave the kitchen.
Tonks got up preparing to leave when Sirius caught her wrist.
"I need a word, cousin," Sirius said as the three Weasleys followed Remus through the kitchen door.
"Alright," Tonks nodded as she retook her seat.
"Andi called me a few days ago, how bad is Harry really?" Sirius asked looking very worried.
"Not good, he blames himself for Hannah," Tonks admitted.
"Your mother wanted me to send him this," Sirius said as he handed Tonks a book that was about the size of a diary and a couple of inches thick. The book was ancient looking and bound in old-fashioned leather.
"What's this?" Tonks asked as she accepted the book noticing that there was no title only a faded Black family crest.
"The Black family spell book, there are some of the most horrific spells ever created in here. If he's going to stand a chance against Bellatrix then he needs to know what he's up against," Sirius said looking conflicted.
"What makes you think he will face her?" Tonks asked.
"If he's anything like his parents he won't stop until he finds her. I just want him ready when they do meet," Sirius said.
"I am not letting him anywhere near that crazy bitch," Tonks exclaimed, looking at Sirius like he was insane.
"He'll find her one way or the other, he's not going to give up on this," Sirius said, giving Tonks a knowing look.
"How do you know this?" Tonks asked.
"It's what I would do," Sirius shrugged.
"I'll give him the book but there is no way I am going to let him go off chasing after LeStrange," Tonks said flatly as she got to her feet.
"Good luck," Sirius sighed as he summoned a bottle of firewhiskey from the sideboard.
"I'll see you later, Sirius," Tonks said as she headed to the door.
"Take care of my godson, Tonks," Sirius said before taking a pull straight from the bottle.
"I will," Tonks said before stepping out of the kitchen.
Tonks made her way out of the kitchen, pleased to see that the hallway was empty. After stepping out the front door into the cold winter night, she let out a sigh of relief.
Things were getting more complicated, the fact that Sirius was giving Harry the Black family spell book worried her greatly. Her mother had told her stories about the spells that the Black family had created and she had reservations about passing the book onto Harry, especially in the state he was in.
She would give him the book but not until he had gotten control of his emotions better, right now he was a ticking bomb and Tonks didn't want to make matters worse by giving him a book filled with horrendous curses.
Deciding she had gone far enough, Tonks turned on the spot and apparated to her flat deciding to take a peek through the book and see how bad it really was.
Hogwarts Gates, 1/7/1996, 14:39
Harry stepped off of the Knight bus followed by Tonks in the guise of Wendy McDonald. Harry was still seething that he was told to take the Knight bus instead of the train but had suppressed his anger with his occlumency. Harry began walking up the packed down path towards the castle with Tonks hurrying to keep up with him.
Harry was glad to be back at Hogwarts so he could get back to training again. He had a ton of new spells he needed to try out and he wanted to keep his mind busy so he wouldn't have to think about... her.
"You're going to the room, aren't you?" Tonks asked when they neared the main door to the castle.
"Yeah, I want to try some new spells out," Harry said in a casual tone.
Harry was leaning on his occlumency more and more of late. The magical discipline helped one mask their emotions but he was using it to bury his. The sadness was surprisingly easy to wall away, it left him with a cold hollow feeling in his chest but that was preferable to actually feeling it.
The guilt was more difficult to push away and he knew it was never really gone, it was always lurking in the periphery of his mind, ready to consume him if he thought about Hannah for too long.
The only emotion he couldn't suppress was the rage, he couldn't lock it away in a box like his sadness, he could force it away like his guilt, it was always there just simmering below the surface and waiting for an outlet.
"Well don't push yourself too hard," Tonks warned, cutting into his thoughts.
"I won't," Harry assured her as they stepped into the entrance hall.
"I'll come and get you if you're not down by dinner," Tonks said and got a nod in response before Harry began climbing the staircase.
Harry ignored everyone he passed, some of them not paying him any mind, others tried to say something to him but he kept walking, focused only on getting to the room of requirement.
When he came to the tapestry he was surprised to find a door already formed in the wall. Curiously he pushed the door open to find Neville practising spells on a set training dummies, his face was covered in sweat and he looked ready to collapse as if he had been here for hours.
The sound of the door opening brought Neville to a halt and he turned to look at Harry with an unreadable expression on his face.
"I hope you don't mind, I was trying to get in some practice with my new wand," Neville said not meeting Harry's eye.
"I don't mind," Harry shrugged as he took off his outer robes and stepped into the room.
As Harry crossed the room, he noted it looked more like the room he and Tonks trained in than the D.A training room. The room was massive with a line of chandeliers overhead casting the room in a bright orange glow.
Harry ignored Neville's presence as he walked to the other side of the room. Harry stopped when he was about fifty feet from the wall.
Concentrating on what he wanted, Harry was rewarded when six animated training dummies appeared across from him. All of the training dummies were dressed in black robes with bone-white masks obscuring their faces, they held fake wands in their hands and stood at varying distances from him.
Harry drew his wand and took a deep breath before saying, "begin."
The dummies started moving, casting jets of green light at him, Harry easily sidestepped the incoming spells before he began chaining piecing hexes at the dummies.
Harry's spells were coming out with precision, the piercing hexes striking the dummies with tremendous force, blasting sickle-sized holes through the dummies' heads and torsos. When the dummies took three curses, they crumbled to dust only for two new dummies to reform in different places around the room. Soon Harry was dodging dozens of incoming green spells, his face covered in sweat as he was starting to struggle to avoid spells raining down at him.
Harry transitioned from piercing hexes to exploding curses that destroyed two or three dummies at a time, sending wooden arms and heads from the dummies flying across the room.
Harry began chaining exploding hexes together sending unimaginable destruction at the dummies. The room kept producing more dummies every time he destroyed one. It got to the point that the room was forced to expand wider to accommodate the small army of training dummies Harry was creating.
Harry was able to finally let out all of the rage that had been building for the past weeks, pushing everything from his mind except destroying these dummies.
Harry kept casting revelling in the sounds of explosions echoing around the room. It got to the point where he was destroying dummies faster than the room could produce them and the floor was littered with smoking craters.
After what felt like only a few minutes but according to the clock, was closer to forty-five, Harry began to feel magical exhaustion setting in.
Harry began to slow down as the drain on his magic began taking its toll. He tried to ignore this even when he began to feel a painful pull in his chest after every new spell he cast.
The pain reminded him of the day he found out about Hannah, it was a similar tearing pain in his chest. Thinking about Hannah opened up the dam, all of his emotions the sadness, the regret, the guilt broke free from where he had walled them away. Harry began to cast faster and with more ferocity, ignoring his body's protests.
Harry kept casting even when his legs buckled and he collapsed to his knees and struggled to draw breath. Harry felt tears streaming down his face as one of the dummies took the form of Bellatrix Lestrange and locked its unseeing eyes with his.
Harry felt white-hot rage build inside him as he screamed out in anguish, directing his wand at the dummy as he looked upon the woman that had ended Hannah's life.
Harry felt his vision go black around the edges as a burst of raw magic left his wand, vaporizing every dummy in front of him before slamming into the wall with a deafening explosion, sending stone and dust into the air, obscuring that side of the room from view.
Harry stayed kneeling on the floor, his wand clattering to the floor as he drew in deep lungfuls of air. The chunks of stone and the thick cloud of dust that the last explosion had created seemed to freeze in midair about ten feet away from him.
Harry watched in awe as the debris seemed to flow back into the wall, looking like somebody rewinding a video, as the wall repaired itself before his eyes.
"H-Harry?" Neville asked warily, pulling Harry's attention away from the magic of the room.
"Y-yeah, Neville?" Harry asked in a raspy voice as he picked up his wand, noticing it was hot to the touch.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Neville asked hesitantly.
"I don't even know how I did that, mate," Harry muttered as he shakily stood up, feeling lightheaded.
"Not that last spell, the other ones," Neville clarified as he watched Harry wipe his cheeks with the sleeves of his robes.
"I can try," Harry shrugged as a tiny table appeared in front of him with a single dose of pepper-up potion resting on it.
"Good, I want to kill that bitch," Neville seethed as the dummy resembling Bellatrix reformed in front of the newly repaired wall.
"So do I," Harry said before draining the vial and setting it back on the table, the table and empty vial vanishing with a soft 'pop'.
"I heard she was the one who k-killed, Hannah," Neville said choking up slightly.
"She did," Harry grunted feeling his stomach starting to twist.
"I had planned on asking her out, you know," Neville muttered softly, as he stared at the dummy.
"What?" Harry asked looking at Neville sharply.
"This year when we came back to Hogwarts, I had planned to ask Hannah to go to Hogsmeade with me," Neville mumbled.
"Oh," Harry said at a loss for what to say to that.
"I was so mad when I found out she was going with you but I got over it, you m-made her happy," Neville continued.
"I wish you had asked her first, she might still be alive," Harry sighed looking at Neville and seeing his own pain reflected on the other boy's face.
"No, she wouldn't," Neville argued, giving Harry a sympathetic shake of his head
"You can't know that," Harry said, wanting nothing more than to believe what Neville was saying.
"They attacked the Abbotts because of Catherine Abbott. She is a muggleborn and that has always offended the purebloods. A sacred twenty-eight family marrying muggleborn put a target on the Abbotts' backs years ago. They would have killed Hannah no matter what," Neville said looking like he was barely holding it together.
"Bellatrix told her that she was a message to me," Harry said, having overheard Tonks and Ted talking about it in the kitchen a few days ago.
Tonks must not have wanted him to know this but in his heart, he knew that was why they had killed her. Voldemort wanted him to suffer and had no qualms about targeting the people he cared about.
"They just want you tying yourself up in knots over this," Neville said as he came to stand in front of Harry.
"Well it's working," Harry muttered as he gave Neville a calculating look.
"Put the blame where it belongs, Potter. Bellatrix LeStrange killed her, and V-Voldemort ordered her to do it," Neville said, stumbling over the dreaded name.
"And Draco Malfoy told them that Hannah was involved with me," Harry added.
"What?" Neville asked sharply.
"When the aurors interviewed Lord Abbott, he told them that Bellatrix found out about Hannah and I dating from her nephew," Harry answered.
"Well we can't get to LeStrange but we can certainly get to him," Neville pointed out, a dark look coming over his features.
"I plan on it," Harry said as he bent down to pick up his robes off of the floor.
"I'll help you," Neville said.
"I don't need help for this but if you want what's left of him then you're welcome to it," Harry said before leaving Neville in the room.
Neither boy knew they were being observed by an invisible spy who watched sadly as Harry left the room.
Albus knew the boy was hurting and it saddened him that there was nothing he could do to help him with this.
Albus watched as young Neville began casting spells at the dummy that so resembled Madam LeStrange and wondered to himself if either one of these boys would come out of this war the same way they went in.
From his observations, something had snapped inside Harry and if he was being honest with himself, it worried him.
Harry seemed to be losing that innocence he had always seen in the boy's eyes.
'I will have to keep tabs on the situation, the last thing we need is Harry going rogue,' Dumbledore thought to himself as Neville cast another reducto with so much force that it snapped the dummy's torso in half.
Great Hall, Hogwarts, 1/8/1996, 07:45
Harry sat down at the Gryffindor table feeling better than he had in weeks, finally getting to vent some of his frustration had helped ease a lot of the tension in his body.
Tonks had him practising strikes this morning and he really got to let loose beating the padded dummies, letting out the rage that had been building since he had found out about... Hannah.
Yesterday had felt good, letting his magic loose and pushing himself to the point of magical exhaustion but it didn't compare to being able to physically hit something, imagining each punch he threw was at Malfoy or Bellatrix LeStrange.
"Harry," a voice to his right called, pulling him from his thoughts.
"Hey S-Susan," Harry stammered as he glanced over at the redhead who was watching him nervously.
"I wanted to give you this," Susan said as she pulled a small present wrapped in scarlet wrapping paper from her pocket.
"What's this?" Harry said as he looked at the tiny present, recognizing the writing on the tag and feeling his stomach tighten.
"It's your Christmas present from... from Hannah. Catherine asked me to pass it along to you," Susan explained as she took a seat beside him, her eyes welling up at the mention of her friend.
"T-thank you," Harry said as he took the present and just stared at it wondering if he even wanted to open it.
"Open it," Susan urged, looking at him expectantly.
Nodding, he carefully unwrapped the paper revealing a plain white box. Taking a calming breath, Harry pulled the lid off of the box. Harry smiled despite himself when he saw the silver pocket watch laying inside the box, it sparkled in the winter sunlight coming in from the great hall ceiling. The watch had an octagonal shape to it with eight flat sides, the front cover was engraved with his initials etched in Hannah's neat cursive writing over an intricately engraved snitch
"I-It's beautiful," Harry said as he pushed the button on top of the watch so the lid popped open revealing a message etched into the inside of the lid.
Now you can be on time for our next date.
-Hannah-
Harry looked at the message for a minute before he gently closed the watch and slipped it into his pocket, fighting back the tears threatening to break free... again.
"It's customary for a wizard to get a gold watch on their seventeenth birthday, so she chose to get you a silver one," Susan said bringing him back to the present.
"I like silver better, i-t's stronger," Harry muttered.
"I told Auntie about what Malfoy said, she even talked to Samuel about it the day before it happened," Susan said as she sipped her tea.
"It didn't do any good," Harry sighed as he began to eat his porridge.
"Lord Abbott was planning to upgrade their wards when school started back," Susan said tears starting to stream down her cheeks now.
"Harry, there you are!" Hermione exclaimed from halfway down the table.
Harry turned to see her and Ron making a beeline for him, Hermione loomed worried but Ron looked like he always did in the morning, half-asleep.
"Hey Hermione, Ron," Harry said, somewhat thankful for them interrupting the conversation with Susan.
"I have to run, Harry but if you need anything don't hesitate to ask, me" Susan said as she stood up.
"I will," Harry promised as Susan wiped her eyes before making her way out of the hall.
"Where have you be-
Hermione was cut off as a shriek of rage cut through the hall. They both turned in time to see Susan punch Malfoy in the chest just below his ribcage.
Malfoy doubled over gasping for air, Susan didn't hesitate and grabbed his head with both hands and bent his head lower as she kicked her knee up hard, her knee catching Malfoy in the chin and dropping him to the floor. Susan then began to kick Malfoy's downed form over and over again while Malfoy curled in on himself as blow after blow struck his body.
Harry watched Susan kick him in the stomach twice before aiming lower, Harry couldn't fight the vicious grin at seeing Malfoy cowering on the floor as Susan continually kicked every part of him she could reach.
Harry heard McGonagall's voice ordering Susan to stop though Susan didn't seem to hear her as she continued to rain blows on the whimpering boy.
It was just after Susan had landed a nasty kick to Malfoy's groin when a red spell struck her in the back and she collapsed to the floor, landing on a cushioning charm.
Harry made to jump to his feet when he saw McGonagall approaching Susan with her wand drawn but Hermione caught his arm pulling him back into his seat.
Malfoy lay on his side groaning piteously, a small pool of blood forming under his open mouth from his busted lip and shattered teeth, tears and blood were streaming down his face, and his nose was bent to the side from a well-aimed kick to the face. Harry watched as Malfoy drew in a deep rasping breath before he vomited all over the stone floor, some of the sick sticking on his robes.
"Mr Malfoy, can you stand up?" Minerva asked as she looked him over.
"She attwacked me!" Malfoy exclaimed hysterically through a mouthful of blood.
"I saw everything Mr Malfoy, can you stand up?" McGonagall repeated.
"Ywes, Pwofessor," Draco said as he shakily got to his feet swaying slightly so that Snape had to rush forward to support him.
"I shall escort him to the hospital wing, Minerva," Snape said as he began guiding Malfoy out of the hall.
"Very well, I will deal with Miss Bones," Minerva said curtly.
McGonagall waited until Snape had led a wincing Malfoy out of the hall before casting an enervate spell over Susan, who woke with a start.
"Miss Bones," McGonagall said, getting Susan's attention.
"Professor," Susan said irritably, looking up at McGonagall.
"You will be serving detention with me for the next three weeks for the unprovoked attack on another student," Minerva said as soon as Susan clambered to her feet.
"It was worth it," Susan shrugged as she made to leave the hall.
"If there are any more incidents between you and Mister Malfoy, I will be forced to suspend you," McGonagall warned, bringing Susan to a halt.
"That little worm gave the other side information that got my best friend killed. Suspend me if you like but this is far from over, Professor," Susan stated in a carrying voice before storming out of the hall.
"Whoa', Ron muttered, staring at Susan's retreating back in awe.
"I do not want on her bad side," Hermione muttered looking a little disturbed.
"She's been trained in hand-to-hand combat, she hit him with a perfect solar plexus strike right off the bat," Harry said having analysed Susan's technique.
"That was just brutal," Ron muttered.
"Yeah it was but it serves the little bastard right," Harry shrugged as he went back to his porridge.
"How are you getting along, Harry?" Hermione asked as she looked at him worriedly.
"I'm a wreck, how do you think I am?" Harry said without any real heat, giving Hermione a reassuring smile that didn't quite reach his eyes.
"I knew you would be," Hermione admitted as she sipped her coffee.
"How was your Christmas?" Harry asked hoping to change the subject.
"Good, I went skiing with mum and dad in France. I didn't hear about the... attack until yesterday on the train ride here," Hermione admitted.
"Why weren't you on the train?" Ron asked looking at Harry curiously.
"So I couldn't get to Malfoy, I expect," Harry shrugged.
"You can't go after him Harry," Hermione warned.
"Of course I can, I just need to arrange things so we can't be interrupted," Harry said matter of factly.
"Harry you can't!" Hermione said, giving him a pleading look.
"I am not going to argue with you on this, Hermione. Draco is going to pay for tipping them off about Hannah," Harry said with finality.
"Just leave it, Hermione," Ron said, sounding unusually serious.
"Fine, but you had better not get yourself expelled," Hermione giving him another worried look.
"I don't plan on it," Harry assured her.
"You seem almost... normal," Ron said looking at Harry critically.
"Thanks mate," Harry said with a humourless chuckle.
"He's right, I figured you would be a lot more emotional, you seem almost well... normal," Hermione said lamely, looking at a loss as to how to articulate what she really meant.
"That's my occlumency, I assure you I am an emotional mess right now," Harry said as he finished his breakfast.
"Can't say I blame you, if it had happened to Lavender I would have lost my mind," Ron muttered, giving Harry a sympathetic nod.
"Let's just hope you never have to find out what it's like," Harry said giving Ron a meaningful look.
"You're going to make meetings hell now, aren't you?" Ron asked Harry in a resigned tone.
"I am," Harry said simply.
"Great, just please don't partner me with Susan," Ron mumbled making Harry snigger for the first time in weeks.
"No, she would probably kick your ass," Harry agreed.
"I'm the group leader, if you make me mad I'll pair you with her," Hermione warned.
"Can you set us up a meeting in the next few days?" Harry asked as he glanced over at Hermione.
"I figured you'd want me to do that. I've already scheduled one for Wednesday after dinner," Hermione said, a hint of smugness in her tone
"Thank you," Harry nodded as the post owls flew into the hall.
"Well I happen to agree that we are nowhere near ready to fight death eaters," Hermione shrugged as she paid the Daily Prophet owl.
Harry refilled his cup of tea and was just about to take a sip when Hermione gasped loudly and a look of horror appeared on her face.
"What is it?" Harry asked worriedly.
"There was another attack last night, the death eaters attacked a family in Worcestershire," Hermione said as she continued to read.
"Which family?" Ron asked warily.
"The Cattermoles, it says the man was a magical maintenance worker at the ministry," Hermione said looking horrified the more she read.
"How bad was it?" Harry asked.
"Bad, it says that the death eaters killed his wife and children. They made him watch before leaving him immobilised in a chair," Hermione said looking aghast.
"Those bastards!" Harry hissed angrily causing silverware to rattle on the table.
"Come on you two, the bell just rang," Ron said looking very pale.
"Fine let's get this over with," Harry sighed as he stood up.
Harry didn't pay much attention to his surroundings as Ron led them to the history of magic classroom.
That news of the attack was an eye-opener, this was not going to stop anytime soon. He had been naive to think that the attack on Hannah's home was an isolated incident. Now he realized it was only the beginning and things were about to get much worse.
It didn't seem the ministry was making any headway at all. Something had to be done about this but he was at a loss as to what.
As he took a seat in the back of the room, Harry began to go over the possibilities of how they could combat these attacks.
"Maybe someone should start attacking the death eaters, see how they like it,' Harry thought to himself as Binns floated into the room through the chalkboard and the class prepared themselves for another mind-numbingly boring lecture on the giant wars.