CHAPTER Fourteen
Lara walked along the corridor, acutely aware of how vulnerable she was. She had bewitched her Hogwarts robes to mirror those the Death Eater at the Inspection table was wearing. She was now walking along the corridor of the Department of Mysteries towards a door which would lead her to Voldemort.
She was not one to be easily frightened. But at that moment, she was terrified. And it wasn't because she was about to face Voldemort. It wasn't even because she was about to face fifty of his guards.
It was because of him. Harry.
She strained her ears, trying to see if she could detect the soft footfall of Harry and Draco, who were following her down the corridor in their cloaks. Reaching the door in question, she took a deep breath.
Something about the atmosphere around the door, the way the creatures walking along the corridor seemed to swerve to avoid it, told Lara that her guess as to Voldemorts position had been accurate.
When she opened the door, her presumption were confirmed.
"Hello Larrissa." A soft voice hissed from the high backed chair which had it's back to her. The room reminded Lara of the Gryffindor common room; roaring fire, crimson couches and chairs, a warm rug and a few tables scattered with parchment about the room. But the deadly chill about the room, despite the fire, told her this room contained something a lot more sinister than the Weasley Twin's stash of dungbombs.
Slowly, Lara walked around the side of the chair. The sight that met her eyes was not the one she was expecting.
Sitting on the crimson backed chair was an older version of Tom Riddle. He looked no older than 30 with soft brown hair and sparkling blue eyes, and could've passed for a normal, healthy adult.
"You have changed." Lara said simply, as a way of releasing her shock.
"Since coming to power again, I have gradually regained my health. I now look as I would had the unfortunate event of 16 years ago never occurred."
"You will always be scum in my eyes." Lara hissed, the hatred dripping from her voice.
"That's no way to speak to a man who can kill you with a click of his fingers."
"You would be dead before you raised your hand."
"I am fully aware, Larrissa, that you have the ability to kill me. I am also aware, that you wouldn't dare. Not with the prophecy as it stands." The girl narrowed her eyes.
"If you mess with me Voldemort, I may conveniently forget about that little prophecy."
"Yes, the thought crossed my mind. So I've organized a little entertainment for you while I kill the Potter boy, to keep you from meddling of course." Tom said, rising slowly from his chair and straightening out his brilliant blue robe.
Lara narrowed her eys, ignoring the slight twinge of icy fear in her heart at those words.
*What on earth has he cooked up for me?*
"Ka? I've brought you a little snack!" Tom said in an amused voice.
Ka? Is that his basilisk? He's going to make me fight the snake? I can squash that thing with one spell! What's he playing at?
Suddenly, out of the shadows came a hooded figure. It's molten lava cloak and brilliant red eyes, just visible within the shadows of it's face, immediately identified the creature as Lara's worst fear.
A demon.
"Have you met my good friend Karadryn? He's owns quite a lot of land and power, being the Lord of Hell an all." Tom said in a casual voice that sickened Lara to the bone.
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure."
"No...you haven't." The figure said in a deep voice that shook the very walls of the room and echoed in the very chambers of her heart. "But my sons have. They are now lying dead on that accursed grave yard, felled by your hand. I have come to avenge them, and all of the others who were killed by you on that dark night."
At least I know now how Voldemort convinced the demons to help him this time... revenge. But I wonder how much more powerful he is than all the other demons I've had to fight? Surely he couldn't be too bad?
"Alright, Karadryn. Come and take your revenge. If you can." The demon growled before pulling back his cloak, revealing a dark skinned, dark haired man with glittering red eyes and brilliant white teeth. He could probably be called good looking, if he wasn't surrounded by an auroa of absolute evil.
"Alright Potter, you can come out now. I know you're there. I've been expecting you." Tom said, turning to the corner of the room where Draco and Harry had witnessed the entire event, hidden by their cloacks.
"How did you know I was there?" Harry asked, pulling off his cloak and stepping out of the shadows.
"Invisbility cloaks do not work on demons."
"How come the one down in the Atrium did not stop us then?"
"I told him I was expecting you, and to notify me when you arrived; but not to hinder you." Harry merely nodded. "And now, we shall truly see who is more powerful! The boy who lived, or the most powerful lord on earth!" Tom said, raising his wand. Harry followed suit, pulling out his wand and aiming it at Voldemort, not a hint of fear or weakness in his entire body.
And at that moment, with his dark hair not completely covering his glittering green eyes and his long black cloak framing his figure, Harry Potter truly was the hero of the wizarding world. He had about him an aura of power and purity not unlike that which Dumbledore had.
"You have grown much since we last met."
"Scared?"
"Never!" Voldemort cried. With a twirl of his wand he aimed a curse at Harry. The boy, not prepared for a sudden attack, tried to dodge it. But the curse never reached him. It stopped in what appeared to be mid air.
"Long time no see Riddle." A cultured voice said, as Draco Malfoy removed his invisibility cloak and identified himself as the source of the barrier. He had obviously summoned a defense spell to Voldemorts curse just in time.
"Malfoy." Tom sneered, eyeing the blonde boy with distate. "You have dissappointed me, you could have been great!"
"What can I say? I live to dissapoint my father, and dissapointing daddy means dissapointing you."
"Foolish boy! Yet you have not lost all hope. You can still repent, and join me. I will make you my right hand man, give you all the armies you desire, all the power, all the land!"
"I don't want it." Draco hissed, suprising Tom with the amount of hatred in his voice.
"What else do you want? I can give it to you, anything you desire!"
"No, you can't. All the power and land you own cannot give me what I want, what I crave, what I need."
"And what is that?"
"Love, hope, faith, happiness..."
"Love? There is not such thing as love, or happiness. It's just an illusion created by those with power for those without."
"You're wrong." Lara said, stepping forward to stand by Draco's side. Harry followed suit, standing on the otherside of her.
"Larrissa, nice for you to join us." Tom said, the sarcasm obvious in his voice.
"I'm afraid your entertainment wasn't as enticing as you hoped it to be."
"That does not bother me. The task is complete."
"Task?" Lara echoed.
"Yes, you see, the only reason I made a deal with Karadryn was so that you can kill him."
"Why would you benefit from the death of Karadryn?"
"Get ready to fear Miss Black." Voldemort said, smiling maliciously as he made his way over to the dead body of the demon, where Lara had killed him. He bent over the corpse and placed his hand over the creatures chest, where it's heart would be if it's anatomy was similar to a humans.
Suddenly, the demon began to glow a sickening green colour. As suddenly as the light had illuminated, it began to fade from the demon's corpse and transfer itself across to the crouching form of Voldemort.
"What's he doing?" Harry asked. Lara frowned.
"I don't know." Once the glow was completely transferred, Voldemort stood up, turning to face them. And it was only then, when Lara saw him with his glittering blue eyes surrounded by an aurora of absolute power did it finally click exactly what happened.
"Power, he stole the power from Karadryn."
"He what? So you mean... now we're fighting the Demon AND Voldemort? All in one nice little bundle?" Draco asked, his voice close to hysteria. Lara merely nodded, her face going slightly pale as she felt the waves of power emanating off Voldemort.
"This is not good..." Lara whispered. "We have to get out of here, I can't kill this guy, not alone...." The brown haired girl grabbed the two boys on either side of her, shutting her eyes tightly and concentrating. Suddenly, the trio felt themselves dissolve, a feeling which came as quite a shock to Harry and Draco.
Lara continued her concentrating, ignoring the peculiar feeling of her body dissolving. Suddenly, she felt a strong rush of wind whip around her body before the world straighted itself and they were back at Hogwarts in the entrance hall.
"FAR OUT!" Harry yelled, sinking to his knees. "Can you warn me next time you do that?" He said exasperatedly as he checked his hands and fingers to check he was still in one piece.
"You apparated us? All three of us?" Draco asked the girl beside him, who had already let go of their hands. But Lara didn't answer. She began to sway, the world spinning around her. And then the world went black.
**************************
Lara opened her eyes to find herself in a strange bed. It took her a few seconds to discover where she was and why.
"You're awake." A voice said simply. Lara turned to see Harry sitting next to her on the hospital wing bed she was lying in.
"What happened?"
"You used to much magic, and blacked out. Or that's what Dumbeldore said." Suddenly it all came back, the ministry, Voldemort, the demon and her final desperate attempt at apparating them out of harm.
"I should've warned you."
"That's not my major concern! You almost died!"
"I thought Voldemort was more important than any of our lives." Lara asked him pointedly.
"Yeah...but ... but...."
"But what?"
"I'm not letting you kill yourself."
"Now you know how I feel." Lara said simply. The two remained in silence for a while, immersed in thoughts.
"Do you know why I apparated out?"
"You suddenly felt a suicidal urge?" Harry said sarcastically.
"Harry!" Lara reprimanded him, ignoring her sudden use of his first name.
"What?"
"Don't be a prat."
"Then promise me you'll never do something that stupid again!"
"I can't promise you that. I had to do it. To save our lives."
"We could've taken him."
"No, we couldn't. The power from that thing, you've never felt anything like it."
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"I have to train you guys to do certain spells. Ones that work against demons."
"Can't you just use ordinary hexes?"
"No. That's what I thought you see, and that's why I took so long in getting to the grave yard that night. All the curses I used against the demons did nothing."
"So what can you use against them?"
"They are special spells. They take a lot out of you though, because they take up your life source."
"I don't get it." Lara sighed, sitting up in her bed and ignoring the sudden queaziness she felt.
"Okay, normal spells don't use up our energy. There are special chemicals in a wizards blood that allow for the magic to happen. Demons, however, are far more powerful, and the power made by these reactions isn't enough. These special spells, they use the energy we have to produce spells that are more powerful, and thus enough to kill demons."
"But Voldemort isn't a demon."
"True. But you know that power I said I felt coming off him? It's the same I felt coming off the demon. He's obviously not only aquired the creatures power, but it's defenses as well, in particular it's ability to deflect ordinary curses."
"But, these spells, they take away part of your life source. If you use too much energy then..."
"You die. Yes. That's what I have to teach you. How to control that energy." Harry nodded.
"So that's why you got us out of there." Lara nodded.
"I'm sorry." She said. Harry's expression softened as he watched Lara. She had never said that to him before. Ever. And at the moment she seemed a lot more human. With all her power and arrogance, she was still human.
"Hey, listen." Harry said, shuffling closer to her on the bed. "Don't worry. I understand. You saved us. I should be thanking you!" Lara looked up at the green eyed boy who was leaning extraordinarily close. She watched his lips crease into a smile, wondering what it would be like to kiss them.
Subconsciously, she began to lean forward, decreasing the gap between them. At the same time, Harry leaned forward, until their lips were centimetres apart. She could feel his breath on her lips and felt shivers run down her spine. Her heart began to speed up uncontrollably as the gap became smaller and smaller.
"Lara! You're awake!" A shrill voice echoed through the hospital wing. Both Harry and Lara blinked, instinctively pulling away from each other.
*What on earth just happened?* Harry thought. *We were about to kiss, and I wanted to.... am I.... am I falling for Larrissa Black?*
For some reason, the thought didn't sound that foreign, or unwanted...
"Hey Hermione." Lara said wearily, laying back down on her bed and jolting Harry back into reality. Hermione stopped at the edge of the bed, eyeing Harry and Lara and their slightly shifty expressions. A small smile spread across her lips as her mind realized exactly what had been going on, but she decided not to dwell on it.
More footsteps followed Hermione, and Ron joined the group by Lara's bed. He did not pick up on the tension between Harry and Lara.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Harry told us what happened. You could've died, that spell you did used almost all your life source!" Hermione cried.
"We would've died if I hadn't done it." Lara said simply.
"Why?" She asked.
"It's complicated." Lara said, taking a deep breath before commencing the explanation she had just given Harry.
"So you're going to train Harry and Draco and then go back to fight him?"
"Yeah, that's what I intend to do."
"When do we start training?" Harry asked.
"As soon as possible, and as often as possible. We can't afford to waste time. Voldemort will start killing soon, he'll start gathering more to join his army. The longer that goes on for, the harder it is for us."
"Are we going to miss classes?" He asked hopefully.
"I'll ask, that will definitly speed up the process. But there is only so much training you can do in a day. As I said before, it takes a lot out of you." Harry was about to reply when Madam Pomfrey came bustling in.
"How are we dear?"
"Much better, I think I'd like to go back to my dorm now."
"You only just woke up my dear child!"
"I know, but there's no damage done. All I need is rest. And I think I'll get a lot more done in my own bed."
"There's no way you can get any sleep in the dormitory, with all the noise those Gryffindors make."
"I'm not sleeping with the Gryffindors, me and Harry have our own rooms in another part of the castle."
"You do?" The nurse said, slightly suspicious.
"Yes, they do." A deep voice said from behind Madam Pomfrey. She turned to see Albus Dumbledore, looking very solemn indeed in dark blue robes.
"Headmaster, I didn't see you there."
"Not to worry. But I think I must insist on Lara being moved back to her rooms. There are special circumstances here which require her skills and much haste."
"She's just recovered from a near death experience Professor! She can't do much!"
"I am aware, and I will ensure she does not endanger herself." Dumbledore said simply, obviously not elaborating. Madam Pomfrey sighed dramatically, but knew it was useless to argue with the headmaster.
"Very well." She said, before storming away. Dumbledore smiled softly after the retreating nurse before returning his gaze on the girl lying in bed.
"Lara." He said simply. Hermione, realising her presence was not required, made an excuse to leave.
"Well, I suppose me and Ron had better leave for lunch." She said, grabbing the red head's arm and leading him away.
"But lunch isn't for half an hour!" The boy complained. A quick squeeze and look from Hermione was enough to shut him up until they were well out of the hospital wing.
Lara walked along the corridor, acutely aware of how vulnerable she was. She had bewitched her Hogwarts robes to mirror those the Death Eater at the Inspection table was wearing. She was now walking along the corridor of the Department of Mysteries towards a door which would lead her to Voldemort.
She was not one to be easily frightened. But at that moment, she was terrified. And it wasn't because she was about to face Voldemort. It wasn't even because she was about to face fifty of his guards.
It was because of him. Harry.
She strained her ears, trying to see if she could detect the soft footfall of Harry and Draco, who were following her down the corridor in their cloaks. Reaching the door in question, she took a deep breath.
Something about the atmosphere around the door, the way the creatures walking along the corridor seemed to swerve to avoid it, told Lara that her guess as to Voldemorts position had been accurate.
When she opened the door, her presumption were confirmed.
"Hello Larrissa." A soft voice hissed from the high backed chair which had it's back to her. The room reminded Lara of the Gryffindor common room; roaring fire, crimson couches and chairs, a warm rug and a few tables scattered with parchment about the room. But the deadly chill about the room, despite the fire, told her this room contained something a lot more sinister than the Weasley Twin's stash of dungbombs.
Slowly, Lara walked around the side of the chair. The sight that met her eyes was not the one she was expecting.
Sitting on the crimson backed chair was an older version of Tom Riddle. He looked no older than 30 with soft brown hair and sparkling blue eyes, and could've passed for a normal, healthy adult.
"You have changed." Lara said simply, as a way of releasing her shock.
"Since coming to power again, I have gradually regained my health. I now look as I would had the unfortunate event of 16 years ago never occurred."
"You will always be scum in my eyes." Lara hissed, the hatred dripping from her voice.
"That's no way to speak to a man who can kill you with a click of his fingers."
"You would be dead before you raised your hand."
"I am fully aware, Larrissa, that you have the ability to kill me. I am also aware, that you wouldn't dare. Not with the prophecy as it stands." The girl narrowed her eyes.
"If you mess with me Voldemort, I may conveniently forget about that little prophecy."
"Yes, the thought crossed my mind. So I've organized a little entertainment for you while I kill the Potter boy, to keep you from meddling of course." Tom said, rising slowly from his chair and straightening out his brilliant blue robe.
Lara narrowed her eys, ignoring the slight twinge of icy fear in her heart at those words.
*What on earth has he cooked up for me?*
"Ka? I've brought you a little snack!" Tom said in an amused voice.
Ka? Is that his basilisk? He's going to make me fight the snake? I can squash that thing with one spell! What's he playing at?
Suddenly, out of the shadows came a hooded figure. It's molten lava cloak and brilliant red eyes, just visible within the shadows of it's face, immediately identified the creature as Lara's worst fear.
A demon.
"Have you met my good friend Karadryn? He's owns quite a lot of land and power, being the Lord of Hell an all." Tom said in a casual voice that sickened Lara to the bone.
"I don't believe I've had the pleasure."
"No...you haven't." The figure said in a deep voice that shook the very walls of the room and echoed in the very chambers of her heart. "But my sons have. They are now lying dead on that accursed grave yard, felled by your hand. I have come to avenge them, and all of the others who were killed by you on that dark night."
At least I know now how Voldemort convinced the demons to help him this time... revenge. But I wonder how much more powerful he is than all the other demons I've had to fight? Surely he couldn't be too bad?
"Alright, Karadryn. Come and take your revenge. If you can." The demon growled before pulling back his cloak, revealing a dark skinned, dark haired man with glittering red eyes and brilliant white teeth. He could probably be called good looking, if he wasn't surrounded by an auroa of absolute evil.
"Alright Potter, you can come out now. I know you're there. I've been expecting you." Tom said, turning to the corner of the room where Draco and Harry had witnessed the entire event, hidden by their cloacks.
"How did you know I was there?" Harry asked, pulling off his cloak and stepping out of the shadows.
"Invisbility cloaks do not work on demons."
"How come the one down in the Atrium did not stop us then?"
"I told him I was expecting you, and to notify me when you arrived; but not to hinder you." Harry merely nodded. "And now, we shall truly see who is more powerful! The boy who lived, or the most powerful lord on earth!" Tom said, raising his wand. Harry followed suit, pulling out his wand and aiming it at Voldemort, not a hint of fear or weakness in his entire body.
And at that moment, with his dark hair not completely covering his glittering green eyes and his long black cloak framing his figure, Harry Potter truly was the hero of the wizarding world. He had about him an aura of power and purity not unlike that which Dumbledore had.
"You have grown much since we last met."
"Scared?"
"Never!" Voldemort cried. With a twirl of his wand he aimed a curse at Harry. The boy, not prepared for a sudden attack, tried to dodge it. But the curse never reached him. It stopped in what appeared to be mid air.
"Long time no see Riddle." A cultured voice said, as Draco Malfoy removed his invisibility cloak and identified himself as the source of the barrier. He had obviously summoned a defense spell to Voldemorts curse just in time.
"Malfoy." Tom sneered, eyeing the blonde boy with distate. "You have dissappointed me, you could have been great!"
"What can I say? I live to dissapoint my father, and dissapointing daddy means dissapointing you."
"Foolish boy! Yet you have not lost all hope. You can still repent, and join me. I will make you my right hand man, give you all the armies you desire, all the power, all the land!"
"I don't want it." Draco hissed, suprising Tom with the amount of hatred in his voice.
"What else do you want? I can give it to you, anything you desire!"
"No, you can't. All the power and land you own cannot give me what I want, what I crave, what I need."
"And what is that?"
"Love, hope, faith, happiness..."
"Love? There is not such thing as love, or happiness. It's just an illusion created by those with power for those without."
"You're wrong." Lara said, stepping forward to stand by Draco's side. Harry followed suit, standing on the otherside of her.
"Larrissa, nice for you to join us." Tom said, the sarcasm obvious in his voice.
"I'm afraid your entertainment wasn't as enticing as you hoped it to be."
"That does not bother me. The task is complete."
"Task?" Lara echoed.
"Yes, you see, the only reason I made a deal with Karadryn was so that you can kill him."
"Why would you benefit from the death of Karadryn?"
"Get ready to fear Miss Black." Voldemort said, smiling maliciously as he made his way over to the dead body of the demon, where Lara had killed him. He bent over the corpse and placed his hand over the creatures chest, where it's heart would be if it's anatomy was similar to a humans.
Suddenly, the demon began to glow a sickening green colour. As suddenly as the light had illuminated, it began to fade from the demon's corpse and transfer itself across to the crouching form of Voldemort.
"What's he doing?" Harry asked. Lara frowned.
"I don't know." Once the glow was completely transferred, Voldemort stood up, turning to face them. And it was only then, when Lara saw him with his glittering blue eyes surrounded by an aurora of absolute power did it finally click exactly what happened.
"Power, he stole the power from Karadryn."
"He what? So you mean... now we're fighting the Demon AND Voldemort? All in one nice little bundle?" Draco asked, his voice close to hysteria. Lara merely nodded, her face going slightly pale as she felt the waves of power emanating off Voldemort.
"This is not good..." Lara whispered. "We have to get out of here, I can't kill this guy, not alone...." The brown haired girl grabbed the two boys on either side of her, shutting her eyes tightly and concentrating. Suddenly, the trio felt themselves dissolve, a feeling which came as quite a shock to Harry and Draco.
Lara continued her concentrating, ignoring the peculiar feeling of her body dissolving. Suddenly, she felt a strong rush of wind whip around her body before the world straighted itself and they were back at Hogwarts in the entrance hall.
"FAR OUT!" Harry yelled, sinking to his knees. "Can you warn me next time you do that?" He said exasperatedly as he checked his hands and fingers to check he was still in one piece.
"You apparated us? All three of us?" Draco asked the girl beside him, who had already let go of their hands. But Lara didn't answer. She began to sway, the world spinning around her. And then the world went black.
**************************
Lara opened her eyes to find herself in a strange bed. It took her a few seconds to discover where she was and why.
"You're awake." A voice said simply. Lara turned to see Harry sitting next to her on the hospital wing bed she was lying in.
"What happened?"
"You used to much magic, and blacked out. Or that's what Dumbeldore said." Suddenly it all came back, the ministry, Voldemort, the demon and her final desperate attempt at apparating them out of harm.
"I should've warned you."
"That's not my major concern! You almost died!"
"I thought Voldemort was more important than any of our lives." Lara asked him pointedly.
"Yeah...but ... but...."
"But what?"
"I'm not letting you kill yourself."
"Now you know how I feel." Lara said simply. The two remained in silence for a while, immersed in thoughts.
"Do you know why I apparated out?"
"You suddenly felt a suicidal urge?" Harry said sarcastically.
"Harry!" Lara reprimanded him, ignoring her sudden use of his first name.
"What?"
"Don't be a prat."
"Then promise me you'll never do something that stupid again!"
"I can't promise you that. I had to do it. To save our lives."
"We could've taken him."
"No, we couldn't. The power from that thing, you've never felt anything like it."
"So what do you suggest we do?"
"I have to train you guys to do certain spells. Ones that work against demons."
"Can't you just use ordinary hexes?"
"No. That's what I thought you see, and that's why I took so long in getting to the grave yard that night. All the curses I used against the demons did nothing."
"So what can you use against them?"
"They are special spells. They take a lot out of you though, because they take up your life source."
"I don't get it." Lara sighed, sitting up in her bed and ignoring the sudden queaziness she felt.
"Okay, normal spells don't use up our energy. There are special chemicals in a wizards blood that allow for the magic to happen. Demons, however, are far more powerful, and the power made by these reactions isn't enough. These special spells, they use the energy we have to produce spells that are more powerful, and thus enough to kill demons."
"But Voldemort isn't a demon."
"True. But you know that power I said I felt coming off him? It's the same I felt coming off the demon. He's obviously not only aquired the creatures power, but it's defenses as well, in particular it's ability to deflect ordinary curses."
"But, these spells, they take away part of your life source. If you use too much energy then..."
"You die. Yes. That's what I have to teach you. How to control that energy." Harry nodded.
"So that's why you got us out of there." Lara nodded.
"I'm sorry." She said. Harry's expression softened as he watched Lara. She had never said that to him before. Ever. And at the moment she seemed a lot more human. With all her power and arrogance, she was still human.
"Hey, listen." Harry said, shuffling closer to her on the bed. "Don't worry. I understand. You saved us. I should be thanking you!" Lara looked up at the green eyed boy who was leaning extraordinarily close. She watched his lips crease into a smile, wondering what it would be like to kiss them.
Subconsciously, she began to lean forward, decreasing the gap between them. At the same time, Harry leaned forward, until their lips were centimetres apart. She could feel his breath on her lips and felt shivers run down her spine. Her heart began to speed up uncontrollably as the gap became smaller and smaller.
"Lara! You're awake!" A shrill voice echoed through the hospital wing. Both Harry and Lara blinked, instinctively pulling away from each other.
*What on earth just happened?* Harry thought. *We were about to kiss, and I wanted to.... am I.... am I falling for Larrissa Black?*
For some reason, the thought didn't sound that foreign, or unwanted...
"Hey Hermione." Lara said wearily, laying back down on her bed and jolting Harry back into reality. Hermione stopped at the edge of the bed, eyeing Harry and Lara and their slightly shifty expressions. A small smile spread across her lips as her mind realized exactly what had been going on, but she decided not to dwell on it.
More footsteps followed Hermione, and Ron joined the group by Lara's bed. He did not pick up on the tension between Harry and Lara.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine."
"Harry told us what happened. You could've died, that spell you did used almost all your life source!" Hermione cried.
"We would've died if I hadn't done it." Lara said simply.
"Why?" She asked.
"It's complicated." Lara said, taking a deep breath before commencing the explanation she had just given Harry.
"So you're going to train Harry and Draco and then go back to fight him?"
"Yeah, that's what I intend to do."
"When do we start training?" Harry asked.
"As soon as possible, and as often as possible. We can't afford to waste time. Voldemort will start killing soon, he'll start gathering more to join his army. The longer that goes on for, the harder it is for us."
"Are we going to miss classes?" He asked hopefully.
"I'll ask, that will definitly speed up the process. But there is only so much training you can do in a day. As I said before, it takes a lot out of you." Harry was about to reply when Madam Pomfrey came bustling in.
"How are we dear?"
"Much better, I think I'd like to go back to my dorm now."
"You only just woke up my dear child!"
"I know, but there's no damage done. All I need is rest. And I think I'll get a lot more done in my own bed."
"There's no way you can get any sleep in the dormitory, with all the noise those Gryffindors make."
"I'm not sleeping with the Gryffindors, me and Harry have our own rooms in another part of the castle."
"You do?" The nurse said, slightly suspicious.
"Yes, they do." A deep voice said from behind Madam Pomfrey. She turned to see Albus Dumbledore, looking very solemn indeed in dark blue robes.
"Headmaster, I didn't see you there."
"Not to worry. But I think I must insist on Lara being moved back to her rooms. There are special circumstances here which require her skills and much haste."
"She's just recovered from a near death experience Professor! She can't do much!"
"I am aware, and I will ensure she does not endanger herself." Dumbledore said simply, obviously not elaborating. Madam Pomfrey sighed dramatically, but knew it was useless to argue with the headmaster.
"Very well." She said, before storming away. Dumbledore smiled softly after the retreating nurse before returning his gaze on the girl lying in bed.
"Lara." He said simply. Hermione, realising her presence was not required, made an excuse to leave.
"Well, I suppose me and Ron had better leave for lunch." She said, grabbing the red head's arm and leading him away.
"But lunch isn't for half an hour!" The boy complained. A quick squeeze and look from Hermione was enough to shut him up until they were well out of the hospital wing.