All right! All right! By popular demand, the next chapter. You people are greedy!!! Can't even relax and enjoy hanging on the edge of a cliff for a couple of days.
Let me tell you a little about this chapter. It is chaotic but it supposed to be that way. I tried to imagine the play "Noises Off" when I was writing this chapter - everyone is talking over everyone else, everyone has their own ideas of what is going on, and there are 69 thousand things going on at once. So, if you have a headache at the end of this chapter, it's okay. So does Hermione.
Also, Ron uses the word "hell" many times in this chapter. This is not a word I like to use when I write but, let's face it, it's his personality. Hopefully, no one is too easily offended. I figure if you stuck with the last one, then you're all right. And this will not continue into further chapters. So, enjoy.
Chapter 36
Arrivals
"We'll talk in a second. We've got to get off this step. Come on!" Ron didn't budge, apparently not understanding the seriousness of the situation. Harry tried to get him moving. He bent over to pick up Hermione, the owner of the arm, bushy hair, and wand. "Grab her wand!" Harry could have screamed in frustration at the moment. At least the blasted doorbell had the sense to remain quiet.
He hefted the not inconsiderable deadweight of one of his best friends into his arms and stumbled into the house with her, Ron right on his heels, still stammering something about Dumbledore. "Shut the door - tight. And start locking. NO!" Ron had started to point his wand at the locks as soon as the door was shut. "They're not magical. Just lock them." Harry tried to get Hermione into an easier position for carrying before he stumbled and dropped her. He barely made it in to the couch before his arms gave way and she collapsed in a boneless heap onto the lumpy cushioning. He tried to count as he had heard the locks click shut, but wasn't sure he had heard all six. Ron entered the room, wild-eyed and flushed. "Did you get all of them?"
The red-head nodded in response, seemingly unwilling to trust his voice. Harry took a quick look at the pale face and decided he had better double check them. They were all locked and he stood in the hall for a minute trying to catch his breath. Hermione was a very slender girl and not much taller than Cassie was, but picking her up from the floor and carrying her in that awkward position had about done him in. He turned quickly again, though, to stride back into the living room. Ron was now kneeling by Hermione's head, patting her gently on the cheek. "Come on, Hermione. Wake up. It's all right." He looked up at Harry. "I think it was the shock of seeing you - bloody hell, Harry! What are you playing at?!!"
Harry wasn't sure what Ron meant, but before he could answer, he saw Cassie standing by the door into the hall and he stopped. She looked worried and pale. "Cassie, I . . . .This is . . . ."
"Ron. I can tell. Hi." Ron stood up, looking slightly shell-shocked. " Don't you think we should try to do something with . . . ." she indicated Hermione's still-unconscious form.
"Oh, hell!" Ron turned back to her immediately and Harry was gratified to note that he seemed more protective of her than he had ever previously noticed. Ron picked up her hand and started to rub it briskly. He leaned forward and kissed her on the forehead. There was still no response. He then reached behind him on the floor for his wand where he had dropped it. Harry said quickly,
"She just fainted, Ron. Probably shock. I think maybe . . . . Cassie, could you get a drink of water for her, please? There's some in the fridge." Cassie left the room quickly. "Ron, she wasn't cursed, you don't need to . . . ." There was a brief moan from the couch and Ron rubbed more vigorously at her arm.
"Here you are." Cassie moved quickly across the room with the glass. Ron took it from her and tried to get Hermione to drink a little, but she couldn't or wouldn't.
Ron, sensing that Hermione was coming around, decided to take all his anger about the state of the girl out on the one clearly to blame for the entire situation. "How could you do this to us? All this time! It's been weeks! I can't believe that you would be so . . . hell!" Ron seemed to be unable to find an adjective to describe exactly what Harry was.
Harry felt some serious anger welling up in him as the attack continued. He had often day-dreamed of what it would be like when he saw his friends again. This was not how it was supposed to go. "You think I wanted this, Ron? Are you nutters? I -" But he never got to say what he wanted to, because Hermione's eyes fluttered open for a minute and Ron immediately turned to her again.
"I think she might be in shock. We should keep her warm." Cassie must have been prescient because almost immediately Hermione started shivering and her teeth were chattering. Ron was trying to get her to drink some water but managed mainly to spill it on her robes and this only increased her shivering. "Is there a blanket . . ." Cassie was starting to walk into the back hall as she asked this. Harry nodded without thinking.
"On the bed. Quickly, please."
"Let's just summon it!" Ron was frantic now and Harry didn't blame him. Hermione was looking like death. Her eyes were open but clouded. Ron grabbed his wand again. "Acci-"
"Stop. Cassie'll bring it." Cassie walked in at that moment and strode quickly over to the couch.
"She's really cold. We've got to get her warm." Cassie put the blanket over Hermione and then put Harry's pillow under her feet. Harry started. She'd been in his bedroom with the painting. Well, he couldn't worry about that now. Ron stood up again and Cassie approached him, laying her hand on Hermione's forehead. "Come on, Hermione. It's all right."
Ron, apparently feeling that Hermione's situation was now under control, approached Harry, grabbed him by the arm, and dragged him out into the hall. Harry felt another flare of frustration. They had so many more important things to discuss. He was torn between hugging Ron and punching him in the nose. He did neither.
"Dead, Harry! They all said you were dead!" Ron was using a stage whisper and Harry hoped that Cassie wasn't listening. There was no way she wouldn't hear him.
"Yeah. I know."
"They said he'd killed you. That he'd finally done it. There was a funeral and -"
Cassie came into the hall and motioned to Ron, pursing her lips in concern. " She's not getting warm enough. Uh, Ron, maybe you could hold her or something." Ron dropped Harry's arm and ran into the living room. Cassie pushed Ron toward the chair, kicking the ottoman out of the way, and then, "Harry, carry her over there. No, keep the blanket on her." Harry bent, almost dreading picking her up again, but this time with proper positioning she felt light in his arms. He put her carefully down on Ron's lap. Ron immediately curved his arms around her and Harry thought for a second that this was a move that had been practiced before. "She could really use something warm like tea now that she's conscious." Neither of the boys moved. Ron's eyes glanced down at his wand. He couldn't reach it.
"Harry, maybe you could conjure up a little?" Cassie interrupted Ron's comment.
"No. I'll make it. I think I can find everything, can't I?" She was asking Harry, who nodded again, as she left the living room quickly for the kitchen. Harry felt a little guilty at the relief he felt that she was out of the room.
"Ron. You've got to stop saying -"
"Harry? Is it really you? Are you just a ghost?" Hermione's voice was weak and shaky but she was making sense, at least. She started crying and tried to maneuver off Ron's lap but Ron held her tight.
"It's really me, Hermione. Look, you two, I -"
"I've got the water going. It should just take a few minutes to come to the - Oh, good. You're looking much better already. I thought that might do the trick." Cassie was smiling at Hermione and Ron. Ron was scowling. Hermione still looked horrible. "I'll get some tea for you in just a minute." It was a testimony to the chaos in the room that no one even asked who she was and what she was doing here.
"Any chocolate?" Ron asked quickly. It was always good for what ailed a person, Harry knew. Madam Pomfrey believed in practically force-feeding it to people in the hospital wing at Hogwarts. Cassie scowled. Harry shook his head.
"No. That's not what she needs, anyway. Just empty calories. She needs something more substantial than that. I wish we had shopped today, Harry. We could have fixed a proper dinner." Just then, the kettle whistled and Cassie left the room again.
"She's got to leave now, I think," Harry said, trying not to think of the ache this instantly caused in the region of his heart. Now was not the time to let feelings get in the way of what needed to be done.
"She knows what needs to be done for Hermione!" Ron had his mouth suddenly covered by Hermione's hand.
"Don't scream. It's hurting my head. What happened?"
"Yeah, Harry what happened! You still haven't told me-" Ron apparently could ignore the hand over his mouth, because if anything he was yelling louder.
"I meant outside. I think I hit my head-"
"It was all Dumbledore's idea, believe me-"
"Tea's ready. He's got sugar and milk, no lemon. I think sugar might help a little." Hermione didn't answer at first. Then, finally, sulkily.
"I hate tea."
Three voices answered her at once.
"Drink it to warm you up then."
"She went to a lot of trouble."
"Harry can whip up some cocoa, then. You'd like that better."
They all stopped. Then, again,
"I've still got hot water so if he has cocoa I can make that though I still think it's not good for her."
"No I can't, Ron! Look, you don't understand-"
"What about coffee?"
They all stopped again and stared at each other. They tried one more time.
"I don't think he has coffee. I looked."
"I can't just whip anything up! There's something you don't understand, here!"
"Fine! Just bring the bloody tea. She's shivering again!"
And it was true, Hermione - the main cause of the confusion - had apparently decided that it was too much effort to follow the fragmented conversations and had slipped back into the quiet darkness, shivering almost uncontrollably on Ron's lap. "Oh, hell. Hermione." His voice was soft and his arms tightened around her. "Harry, don't you have anything else we can cover her with? Can't you just get me another blanket?" Harry knew what he meant - he meant for Harry to conjure it and Harry was glad that Ron's wand was so far away from him or he'd be throwing spells right and left.
"All right, Ron, There's another in my bedroom. But I do have a hot water bottle and that might be better for Hermione. Plus we've got hot water for it."
"Where is it? I'll get it." Cassie had once again entered the room, bearing the tea which she handed to Ron.
"Bathroom. Not sure which drawer."
"Just hand me my wand, Harry. I'm sick of this running around. I'll get her a blanket."
"No, not 'till I explain about that -"
"I found it. Just give me a minute to fill it. Good thing I boiled enough for us all to have tea. I'll have to heat some more, of course . . . ." She came and went quickly and Harry thought it was quite amazing how she held up under the strain of this strange evening. He felt like he was going to explode. Ron was trying to get Hermione, who had surfaced once again from the void, to drink some tea and was having limited success as she kept turning her head from it.
Another second later, Cassie came in again carrying the hot water bottle - a Muggle device that Harry had gotten quite attached to since he had been here. "Here, Hermione. This will help. Did you hit your head, do you think?" Hermione nodded slowly, apparently happy to finally talk to someone who was making sense. The boys certainly weren't. "Harry doesn't believe in painkillers, I don't think. I can't get him to take anything when that blasted scar hurts. But do you have a lump?" Cassie stepped closer to feel the lump when Ron erupted again,
"Harry, tell me what the bloody hell is going on around here. Hand me my wand, now!" A second later was another chorus of voices,
"Stop yelling, please, Ron."
"You shouldn't yell, she's got a headache."
"You can't use it here, Ron. If you'll just let me explain!" They all turned to look at Harry, all three with shocked expressions on their faces although Harry thought that Cassie's was the most surprised. She turned and looked down at the two wands which were still lying side by side on the carpet. She was the first one to say anything in the silence.
"Oh. You two have sticks just like Harry's." There was a very long moment of silence and then Ron spoke again, his tone low and controlled but the anger evident in every word.
"Who the hell is this girl?"
"Her name's Cassie and I'd appreciate your not yelling at her or cussing at her. She's trying to help, Ron. She doesn't even know you. I'm sure you're impressing her with your great manners." Harry was trying desperately to regain control of the situation but he could sense it slipping out of his grasp. Earlier, Ron had said that Cassie seemed to know what to do with Hermione, which was true. Neither he, nor Ron, nor Hermione for that matter, knew the first thing about dealing with Muggle healing. They all knew some basic healing spells and could probably have had the girl up on her feet and back to normal in just a few minutes if they could have used them. Harry was pretty sure this was what Ron wanted to do. He was trying to pick the right moment to tell Ron that no one could use magic in the house. He kept trying to send Cassie out of the room for a minute while he did just that; but she always got back too soon to let him finish telling them. What he really needed to do was send her home but he would have to walk with her and for obvious reasons, now was not the best time. He had to get this situation straightened out first. Ron, apparently sick of asking Harry for his wand, then appealed to outside help.
"Cassie. Please forgive me. Could you please hand me the . . ." Ron got a sickened expression on his face and forced out, "sticks?" Harry immediately strode over to Cassie and took the wands off the carpet.
"That was low, Ron . And that was the most insincere apology I've ever heard in my life. Cassie, could you check Hermione's head? You seem to know something about . . . these things." She stepped over to Hermione, not frightened in the least by the nasty glares Ron was shooting at both her and Harry. She knelt down by Hermione, who was still curled up in Ron's lap.
"Do you feel sleepy or anything?" Hermione shook her head cautiously. Cassie looked at her eyes although Harry was not sure why she did that. She nodded, though, apparently pleased with what she saw. "How bad is the bump?" Hermione felt gingerly around to the back of her head.
"It's not really too bad. I'm feeling much better now."
"Good, but look -" Cassie stood up and glared at both Ron and Harry, "-- she cannot go to sleep for a few hours. We've all got to make sure. If she has a concussion that could be bad. Do you all understand?"
Harry nodded. The word was familiar to him although he was not sure of the details. Ron asked, though, "What's a percussion?"
"Concussion, Ron." The two girls spoke at once and then they grinned at each other. Harry felt a small band of tension around his heart loosen a little. Hermione started shifting on Ron's lap. "I'm hot." Both the water bottle and blanket were removed and Hermione tried to stand up, finally managing after only swaying once. She walked over to Harry and grabbed his hands and touched his face as if reassuring herself that he was real. She started crying again, and Harry enfolded her in his arms, patting her awkwardly. Harry decided that now was the time to have a little chat with the two of them.
"Uh, Cassie, this is a really big favor but do you think you could go in and start making dinner? I imagine we're all hungry. You can just heat up the pizza left over from lunch or something." Harry hoped that she would be gone for just longer than 30 seconds so he could explain that no magic could be done in the house. He especially didn't want either of his friends to innocently say something about magic to her. Now that he had all three wands there was less threat that either Ron or Hermione could throw random spells around, but he had seen Hermione once summon her wand to her, he had once lit his up when it wasn't in his hand, and he had even seen Ron use wandless magic once on a particularly vicious bludger. So he was not out of the woods completely. Cassie left without complaint and Harry approached Ron, arm still around Hermione's shoulders, so he could explain the situation in more detail. Unfortunately, since Ron tended to attack problems like a dog attacks a meaty soup bone, he was still trying to get a handle on exactly what Harry was doing still alive and the second he sensed an opening, he pounced.
"Are you ever going to tell us why the entire world thinks you're dead when in fact you are sitting here all comfy in London, laughing at all of us!"
"Ron, that's not fair," Hermione spoke up, holding on to Harry like she was afraid he would disappear again if she let go. "I'm sure Harry has a perfectly good reason why we all thought he was dead." Harry heard a crash of breaking glass and turned quickly to see Cassie standing in the doorway. She had dropped a teacup, apparently bringing a refill for Hermione.
"Dead? Why would everyone think he was dead? You mean, all this time? You, oh!" She seemed more horrified than Harry expected. He stood up and approached her, pulling her away from the glass and tea all over his floor. He would deal with that in a moment.
"It wasn't my idea. That's what I've been trying to tell everybody. I'm in hiding from, well . . ."
"Voldemort?" Cassie filled in helpfully and both Ron and Hermione gasped that she should not only know the name but could say it so casually.
"If you've been in hiding, then, from You-Know-Who" Ron said again, his voice low, speaking each word clearly, "And you couldn't trust your best friends with the fact that you were still breathing . . . ." His voice was loud now, angry again, "Then I have to ask again, Who the hell is this girl that she could know and we couldn't?"
"Ron!" Hermione hissed at him, "That is so rude."
"Dumbledore said I wasn't to tell anyone, Ron. He said that one slip from anyone could be the end of his plan. Look. I really can't explain this right now." Harry paused, again feeling very agitated at Ron. They needed to deal with important issues. Now wasn't the time for extended story-telling. "I need to know how you got here and how we're going to get back. I'm assuming that you came to get me." They both had comprehension cross their faces and Harry thought that he might have laughed if it hadn't been so serious. They both looked back at Harry and nodded.
"We came by portkey and we're going back the same way." Hermione answered this since Ron seemed unwilling to volunteer this information in front of the stranger. "We have to stay here for exactly 24 hours and then go back. We can tell you all about it but it's going to take a while." Harry nodded.
"Okay. That gives me plenty of time, then, to get Cassie back home."
All three sets of eyes turned to her. She sat on the lumpy couch, twisting her hands in her lap. "I still don't understand what is going on. I knew you were hiding from that Voldemort guy but you didn't say that you were pretending to be dead."
"Cassie, this is so complicated. I'll try to explain but it's going to take a while. Do you think that you could go finish dinner? It'll be easier once we've eaten, I'm sure." Hermione stood up again and followed her, realizing that Harry needed Cassie to be out of the room for a few minutes.
"I'll help you, if you don't mind. Then maybe you can tell me how you happened to meet our Harry Potter." Cassie stopped so suddenly that Hermione literally ran into the back of her.
"What did you say?" She turned and stared at Harry. He wanted to scream in frustration. This was a nightmare. A total nightmare. Hermione bit her lip, undoubtedly realizing that she had made a very big mistake although she was not sure exactly what it was.
"I said you could tell me -"
"His name. What did you say his name was?"
"Uh, Harry Potter?" There was no use trying to take it back. It had been spoken, heard, and understood.
"Oh." There was a long silence. No one said anything. "I think, Hermione . . . . I think I'd rather just be by myself for a few minutes, if that's all the same to you." Cassie turned without another word and stepped into the hallway, crossed into the kitchen, and shut the door behind her, leaving Hermione out in the hall.
"Okay," Hermione said to the closed door. She came back into the living room. "I'm sorry, Harry. I didn't know that she didn't know who . . . ."
"I know. You don't know anything. I'm trying to tell you a few basic facts before you mess things up even more. So if you'll just shut up," Harry turned and glared at Ron, "and listen for a minute-"
"How come she didn't recognize you? She knew about your scar and everything." Ron was missing the big picture, that was obvious. All right. He was just going to have to come right out and say it before either of them blew the whole thing.
"She didn't know about me, Ron, because she'd never heard my name before, never heard of Voldemort, never heard of curse scars. It should be painfully obvious to even you, Ron. Cassie is a Muggle!" Ron's and Hermione's eyes both suddenly fastened on the living room doorway and Harry knew. She had come back into the room and heard him. Nothing was going right tonight, nothing at all.