A/N: The story continueth. Once again, many thanks for your reviews! For those of you who are authors as well as readers, you know that reviews are food for the spirit. There is nothing better than checking my email and finding new reviews waiting.
I wanted to make a comment about Harry's personality in this story. Yes, he probably is a bit too grown-up, but this is a sort of backlash from me against his character in Order of the Phoenix. Before it came out, I thought that Dumbledore was going to let Harry in on the workings of the resistance against Voldemort. (I started this story a year before that book was published; one of the very first things I mention is Dumbledore's decision to give Harry more information than he has received in the past.) I was very surprised when this didn't happen. I was not satisfied with the eventual explanation as to why, either. I felt that it was a contrivance so that we could have Whiny Harry for a whole eight hundred pages or however long the book was. In Phoenix, Harry was a source of constant irritation for me while Ron was more adult about most things. In my story those roles are reversed a bit, but for my own reasons. True, I suppose most fifteen-year-old boys are not this levelheaded, but then I am not a boy and I have no brothers. Harry could have taken either track – the whiny one or the more levelheaded one, and it's a lot easier for him to take the latter when Dumbledore's not keeping him in the dark. And now for a few quick reviewer responses:
Jedi Buttercup: Glad you like Maturing Harry. Sirius does seem the type to speak first and think later. And thank you so much for your continuing feedback (although I will completely understand if you choose not to comment on every chapter)! I love reading your clear and insightful reviews. That kind can be rare.
PhoenixTearsp322: Aha, I reply to you yet again! Excitement! :-) I'm so glad you're enjoying the story, and it's nice to know that a few of you like Prof. Thornby. The idea is that she's been single-minded in her devotion to Dumbledore since her family died, but with Harry and Lupin around, she gets to thaw out her heavily-guarded heart a bit.
totallystellar: It's great to see a new reader tuning in! Sorry, no Parseltongue in this chapter, either. I guess I could have just tossed a great snake in the room that Harry would have to talk to in order to – you guessed it – save the day, but it didn't fit just now. Take heart – if the opportunity arises, Harry will hiss and spit, hopefully to your heart's content. :-) P.S.: We'll see Snape next chapter.
Chapter 24: Cries in the Dark
The day of the return to Hogwarts dawned as bright and cheery as a summer morning, but the mood inside Alverbrooke was less than happy. Now that he had the goal of becoming an Auror, Harry found that he was actually excited to get back to class. Sirius and Lupin, on the other hand, were very glum. Sirius was clearly sad to see Harry go. "Now that the search is back on, I don't think Dumbledore will want me to leave, even in disguise," he lamented. "I'll be stuck here while Remus has all the fun." Harry wanted to make him feel better, but he didn't really know what to say.
Lupin seemed sad to see Harry leave, too, but his attention had mostly been on Professor Thornby during the last days of the holiday. The two of them seldom showed affection when they were around the others, but Harry had glimpsed a few quiet moments between them. One morning he had looked out his window to see them taking a walk in the snow, their gloved hands clasped together. Once he and Sirius had made up, Lupin had seemed perfectly at peace. Sirius remarked that he hadn't seen his friend so contented even during his days at Hogwarts. But then the morning of the professors' departure came, and Lupin grew just as depressed as Sirius.
To make matters worse, that morning the Daily Prophet finally reported what they had all been dreading: Dumbledore had been removed as Chief Wizard of the Wizengamot. According to the article, he had been ousted by a combined effort by the Minister of Magic, the Assembly, and the Wizengamot itself. Harry tried to follow the legal mumbo-jumbo but eventually gave up as no one was contesting the constitutionality of the move anyway. He hadn't been feeling too low about leaving Lupin and his godfather, but as he absorbed the grim news, his spirits sank considerably until he was just about as unhappy as they were.
Finally Harry was packed and ready to go. Everyone congregated in the breakfast room to say their farewells. Harry hugged Lupin and Sirius, and Bellaton shook their hands. In an unusually unreserved moment, Professor Thornby and Lupin embraced, and she gave him a chaste kiss on the cheek. After one last goodbye, she Disapparated with a pop.
It had been decided that Bellaton should disguise himself as Harry's uncle this time, as Professor Thornby wanted to be on the train and the Polyjuice Potion would not wear off fast enough to allow her to do both. Bellaton picked up a glass of sickly pink sludge from the breakfast table. Grimacing, he downed the potion. In moments his skin was bubbling and changing. His body grew fat instead of muscular, his height dropped, and a bristly mustache appeared beneath his nose. Vernon Dursley soon stood in his place, Bellaton's clothes ripping around his bulk. With a wave of his wand, Bellaton was wearing in Vernon's usual tweeds.
Bellaton caught sight of himself in a mirror and sighed. "If this man doesn't lose some weight, he'll never see sixty," he said. "Well! Time is growing short, so we'd best be off."
Lupin and Sirius gave them a morose farewell as Harry and Bellaton reached forward to touch a Portkey together.
The two of them reappeared in the same alleyway from which Harry and Professor Thornby had left before. They hurried around the corner and back into Kings Cross. When they neared the barrier between platform 9 ¾, they saw the Weasley family standing with Hermione and her parents.
"This is where I'll leave you then," Bellaton said in Uncle Vernon's gruff voice. "I don't want to fake your uncle's first meeting with the Grangers."
"Okay," said Harry.
"She'll be on the train, but you won't see her," said Bellaton softly. "Safe journey, Harry." He glared menacingly at the others, turned, and stalked out of the station.
After accepting a hug from Mrs. Weasley, Harry found himself face to face with Hermione's parents for the first time. They smiled at him, showing rows of perfect white teeth. Harry realized that he was supposed to have met them before when he was supposed to have been at Hermione's house, but he couldn't think of anything to say. Luckily for him, Mr. and Mrs. Granger stepped in before Ginny or the twins could get suspicious.
"Good to see you again, Harry," said Mr. Granger, shaking Harry's hand. He was a tall man with shiny brown hair, narrow spectacles, and an easy smile that seemed to say 'Nice to meet you'. Harry liked him immediately. His wife was a woman of middling height with eyes and hair exactly the shade of Hermione's. She too greeted Harry with a handshake and a warm smile. They were both so friendly that Harry thought it might have been nice to have actually spent Christmas with them.
Standing there with the Weasleys and the Grangers, Harry felt a stab of jealousy against his friends. Hermione's parents couldn't come through the barrier and were already hugging and kissing her goodbye. There were a few shining tears in Mrs. Granger's eyes as she gave her daughter one last embrace and bid her be careful and study hard. Harry knew how the Weasleys felt about him and he always had Sirius and Lupin, but they couldn't replace a mother and father. He would have given anything in the world to be saying farewell to them while his friends did the same with their own families.
All the magical members of the group passed through the barrier, and the students began loading their trunks onto the train. Mrs. Weasley fluttered around, giving her children, Harry, and Hermione hugs while trying to shoo them aboard at the same time. While she and Mr. Weasley were helping Ginny with her trunk, George rounded on Harry and began to question him. "So how was your Christmas at the Grangers'?" he said slyly.
Harry looked up and saw Ron not ten feet away being similarly questioned by Fred. So Ron had been right; the twins were trying to get them to tell different stories. What they didn't know was that Harry, Ron, and Hermione had spent a very enjoyable two hours making up their visit with the Grangers. "Oh, it was fine," Harry said airily, busying himself with his own trunk as if George's question didn't bother him in the least.
"Yeah? So what's it like to live with dentists, anyway?"
"They have a big house," said Harry. "Dentists do pretty well, I think."
"What color was it?"
"Red brick," said Harry, still using his offhand tone.
"So it's just the three of them, is it?"
"No, they've got a dog named Dexter. And before you ask, it was a Cocker Spaniel, light brown with white markings, and it gets on well with Crookshanks. We had ham for dinner the first night and Ron and I shared a blue room. Satisfied?" Harry crossed his arms and looked George in the eye.
George looked at him sourly. "For now," he said, and walked away.
Minutes later the train was speeding away from Kings Cross. Harry and Ron, irritated at the twins' continued interference, chose a compartment with Hermione at the opposite end of the train from them.
Harry suddenly remembered what he had promised himself a few days before. When Hermione moved to sit down, he spontaneously reached over and gave her a great big hug. He let go and saw that she was blushing furiously.
"What was that for?" she stammered.
"For saving our skins," Harry said. "You were right about the chocolates."
Her eyes widened. "I was? Oh, no… I would rather have been wrong."
They looked up to see Ron's reaction and were surprised by the black expression on his face.
"What's the matter with you?" asked Harry.
"What? Er… I was thinking about Percy," said Ron, not too convincingly. Harry and Hermione exchanged glances, but neither commented.
"Well, what happened?" said Hermione, shrugging off Ron's evasiveness. She waved her wand to create a ward against eavesdropping, and Harry told them about the chocolates, the Dursleys' role, and the fight between Lupin and Sirius.
"Maybe after this Dumbledore will forbid me to go back to Privet Drive ever," said Harry when he finished his story. "I could live at Alverbrooke over the summer. Or maybe at the Burrow!" He looked up at Ron, who had remained very quiet while he talked, staring out the window.
"Ron, haven't you been listening?" said Hermione.
Ron turned on her with a sour expression. "Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful for your saving my life and all, but I really can't get Percy out of my head. I'm going to go see Fred and George; maybe they know what to do about him. I'll see you back at school." Before his friends' astonished eyes, he quickly left the compartment.
"What was that all about?" said Harry.
"As if they wouldn't have discussed Percy over the holiday," scoffed Hermione. "No, we've done or said something to upset him and he's not going to tell us what it is."
"Idiot," said Harry. "Where did he learn this if-you-don't-know-what's-wrong-I'm-not-going-to-tell-you thing? It's so like a girl."
Hermione raised her eyebrows.
"Sorry," Harry said placatingly, "but Aunt Petunia did it to Uncle Vernon all the time."
Hermione shrugged. "Lavender and Parvati do it a lot, too." She grinned at him.
"How was the rest of your Christmas?" Harry asked conversationally.
"Well, apart from seeing a lovely play in town, not so great," she said. "I wanted to tell you both, but if Ron's going to be stupid he'll just have to get it secondhand because I'm not going to say it twice." She drew a deep breath. "I had another dream." Harry listened as she described it. It was different from the one she'd had before; this time, it was Ron who perished after being cursed in a language she couldn't understand. "There were dozens and dozens of people around, and no one could help him," she said softly. "But the worst thing was that I just knew there was someone in the crowd who could have saved him, but they decided not to. I don't know why anyone would do such a thing, but all anyone did was watch." Her hand trembled a bit in her lap. "You're the first person I've told. Even mum and dad don't know, since I didn't wake up screaming this time. It wouldn't do any good to tell them anyway – they'd just worry."
"You are going to talk to Dumbledore this time, right?"
She nodded. "As soon as I get the chance, I will. I'd never have thought it, but… I don't think I can handle this on my own."
They fell into a melancholy silence, thinking of nightmares and Ron's departure. Harry eventually pulled out the chess set Ron had given him for Christmas, and they spent the rest of the afternoon focusing on a game. It required a good deal of concentration, too, because the chessmen were suspicious of the players and didn't want to do what they were told.
Ron rejoined them once the train arrived at Hogwarts, but he was in a foul temper and said little to either of them. He sat next to them at dinner but spent most of his time talking to Dean, Seamus, and Neville. Even when they went upstairs to their rooms, Ron remained reticent whenever Harry said anything. When Harry finally tried to call Ron on his cold attitude and Ron was unresponsive, Harry had had enough.
"Fine! Act like a stupid child for all I care!" he shouted. Dean, Seamus, and Neville looked between the two of them apprehensively. "I don't know what either of us did wrong in the first place, and since you won't tell me, you can just sod off." He climbed into bed and angrily drew the curtains closed around him so he wouldn't have to look at Ron's stubborn face any longer.
**********
Harry was roughly awakened by the sound of pounding on the door to the fifth years' dormitory. Once again no one else rose to answer, so he rolled out of bed and staggered to the door. Leonard Fidemont stood there holding a candle. "Hermione again?" Harry said in surprise.
"Yeah," said Leonard. "Parvati's waiting for you."
Harry pulled on his dressing gown and met Parvati at the bottom of the staircase. "I'm really worried," said Parvati as they walked across the common room. "It's worse than last time. She didn't even ask for anyone, she just sat there sobbing. What's going on?"
"I don't know," Harry lied. "Ron's been a right prat today, but maybe we should get him too."
Parvati looked at him as if he had grown an extra head. "No," she said, sounding as if it should be the most obvious thing in the world.
"Why not?"
"She wouldn't want him to see her like this."
"But I'm about to see her."
"That's different."
"How is it different?"
"Harry, you may be doing well in Potions this year, but you can be really thick sometimes."
They joined the same group of girls who had escorted Harry up last time – Ginny, Lavender, Katie, and Alicia, who escorted Harry up the staircase without incident. Hermione's other roommates, who were sitting outside their door, all looked disgruntled. Lavender sighed and sat down beside them, but Parvati laid a hand on Harry's arm. "We'll be out here if you need us," she said softly.
Harry pushed open the door. The sounds that had been filtering through were suddenly magnified fivefold. They filled the entire room. Hermione wasn't even sitting up this time; she was lying on her side, facing away from Harry, trembling beneath her blankets. She was sobbing as if mourning the death of everyone she loved.
Harry paused. This was not the Hermione he knew. She was far too… logical… to allow mere dreams to disturb her so. She had to know that that was all they were. Didn't she?
He turned and looked at the members of his escort. They looked back at him with wide eyes, just as worried as he was. "Go on," whispered Ginny.
Harry entered and pushed the door closed behind him. Hermione did not look up or cease her crying as he approached, but then she might not have noticed him at all.
"Hermione?" he said softly. He put a hand on her shoulder.
Hermione let out a fresh wail as full of despair as anything she had uttered before. Harry decided to do what he had done last time and sat down next to her, trying to pull her up from her prone position. "It was just a dream," he said in what he hoped was a soothing tone. He really was no good at this mothering stuff, he thought. He would have felt less awkward if Ron were there, even though he was a blithering idiot. At least he would have had someone to feel foolish with.
"W-worse than ever," she blubbered.
"Tell me what happened," he said, and was surprised when she did just that.
"D-Death Eaters and m-monsters... teeth and c-claws… attacked… p-parents… dead!"
"Whose parents?"
"Mine!" she moaned. "And R-Ron's too…"
"Okay, okay," said Harry, sensing that she was going to start wailing again. "Hey, c'mere." He pulled at her sleeve, trying to get her to sit up. He thought he had an idea of how to calm her down. "Let's think about this. You're good at reasoning through things." To his relief, Hermione sat up partway and leaned against him, still sniffling.
"This must be another one of your… special dreams," said Harry, starting at what he hoped was the most basic level of logic. She nodded. "Three has to be more than a coincidence. I guess the professors were right about you," he said. She nodded again. "They feel that real?"
"Very," she whispered.
"But they aren't actually real," he said, trying to lead her. "You wake up and things are different."
"It will happen soon," she said. Her shoulders began to shake again as new tears fell. "I know it. I don't know how I know it, but it will. They're going to die. There's nothing I can do. I can only watch."
Harry stared down at her. This did not sound like Hermione at all. Hermione was resourceful in the face of overwhelming odds. Yet she sounded so sure about this!
"How soon?"
She shook her head. "Very soon."
"Tonight?"
"Maybe… I don't know!"
"Then you'd better not wait to tell Dumbledore now. But it can't be something that you saw happening when it happened," he said. "Why would anyone have a talent like that? That's just sick. It has to be a warning. That's what the professors said. We can do something about it."
Hermione blinked and looked up at him for the first time. "Maybe…" she said softly.
Hope blossomed in Harry's heart. At least she had stopped crying and taken the bait. "I'm going to go get Professor Thornby," he said. "She'll know what to do."
Hermione suddenly threw her arms around Harry and hugged him so tightly that he thought his ribs would crack. He reciprocated awkwardly, thinking of how bad it would look if someone took that moment to walk in, but the words she spoke made him forget that line of thought entirely.
"I wish I'd had a brother like you."
For a moment Harry was very still. He had no idea what to say to something like that, so he merely tightened his grip around her and held on.
"Are they all going to be so terrible?" she murmured.
Harry nearly sighed with relief at the change of subject. "I sure hope not," he said.
When Hermione finally let him go, Harry stood up to leave. She didn't say anything, but the way she drew her arms and legs closer to her body told him that she didn't want to wait alone. Harry went to the door and opened it, motioning for Ginny to come inside. "Stay with her," he said. "I'm going to get a teacher."
"Shouldn't you take someone with you?" Ginny frowned.
"Fine, I'll make Ron come, but I'd better get going. I wouldn't be too happy if I were one of Hermione's roommates right now."
Harry hurried down the staircase without stopping to answer any of the others' questions. He headed across the common room with every intention of going to wake Ron up, but to his surprise, he found Ron seated in one of the squashy armchairs.
"So she asked for you again and not for me," he said flatly.
Harry was in no mood for this sort of thing. "Shut up and come with me," he said. Without waiting to see if Ron followed, he turned and walked out of the portrait hole. He didn't know whether he was glad or irritated when Ron fell into step beside him.
"Where are we going?" he asked coldly.
"To get Professor Thornby. And Professor McGonagall too, I guess."
Silence fell for a few blessed moments, but then Ron spoke up again. "So she had another dream about you?"
"Not about me. About her parents. And yours."
"So why did she ask for you, then?"
Harry wanted to grind his teeth. "She didn't ask for anyone this time," he snapped. "They just came to get me."
"Still, I don't see why she would rather talk to you than to me. Is she afraid I'd laugh at her pillow hair or something?"
"Oh, leave over," Harry groused. "That might be just the reason for all we know." But this wasn't entirely true; Ron's bitter feelings and Parvati's words had made a tiny suspicion arise in his mind. No, it was preposterous. Harry quashed the idea as quickly as it had come.
Harry and Ron walked in silence until they reached Professor Thornby's office door. Harry raised a hand to knock, but the door opened before his stroke could fall. "I've been expecting you," said Professor Thornby.
"We need you and Professor McGonagall and some Dreamless Sleep potion, I think," said Harry.
Professor Thornby nodded as if she had been thinking exactly the same thing. "Wait here."
A short while later the four of them were climbing the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Under the astonished eyes of Hermione's roommates, the two professors slipped into the room. Parvati pulled Harry aside to speak to him. Ron glared, but Harry ignored him.
"Ginny hasn't come out," she said, "but I looked in to see how they were doing. I think Hermione's gone to sleep."
Harry, Parvati, and Ron pushed the door to a bit so they could see inside. Ginny was sitting on the far side of Hermione's four-poster, humming what sounded like a lullaby, for the moment looking far older than her fourteen years. Professor McGonagall was gently trying to wake the sleeping girl up. Hermione woke grudgingly and jerked a bit in surprise when she saw them standing above her.
"Easy, dear, easy," said Professor McGonagall. "Drink this and you'll have no more dreams tonight."
"I have to see Dumbledore!" Hermione gasped, trying to sit up, but three pairs of hands pushed her back down.
"You need to rest for the night," said Professor Thornby gently, but Hermione would not be dissuaded so easily.
"But it will happen soon! You said it was a warning! What good is it if I don't tell anyone?"
The professors looked at each other. Ginny, like Parvati outside, was absorbing the conversation with wide eyes; neither of them had heard any of this before.
"Who killed who?" said Professor McGonagall, cutting right to the chase. "Details can wait until tomorrow."
"Death Eaters," said Hermione, her voice trembling again. "They killed my parents, and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley too."
Ron and Ginny jerked, and Parvati gasped softly.
Hermione did not seem to think that she had made the urgency of her message clear. "Please, I have to see him now! I couldn't bear it if –"
"I will tell him," said Professor Thornby, straightening up. "Right now. The Headmaster will see to it that both your parents are safe this night," she said, looking pointedly at both Ginny and Hermione.
"Thank you," said Hermione, sinking back down on her pillow.
Professor Thornby was halfway to the door when she stopped dead in her tracks. "Did you hear that?" she said quietly.
Everyone was silent, listening. Harry didn't hear anything, but the people inside the room must have, because Ginny and Hermione both gasped and Professor McGonagall froze.
Professor Thornby strode to the window, threw open the curtains, and stood bathed in silvery moonlight. "Full moon," she hissed. Hermione began to weep softly.
And then Harry put two and two together. Death Eaters and monsters... teeth and claws… it will happen soon!
Professor Thornby threw the curtains closed again and fairly ran from the room. Harry, Ron, and Parvati scrambled to get out of the way. She hurtled down the staircase as fast as she could go, not bothering to move quietly.
When she had gone, Professor McGonagall made Hermione drink the Dreamless Sleep potion. "There's nothing you can do," she said firmly when Hermione protested. "The Headmaster will take care of everything, and all will be well."
Hermione had no other option, so she drank it. Mere moments later her eyes drifted shut, and Professor McGonagall tenderly tucked her in. "Poor dear," she murmured. She exited with Ginny and sent Hermione's roommates back inside. The only person who didn't grumble darkly was Parvati. She gave Ron a wide-eyed, sympathetic stare before closing the door between them, and Harry realized that they'd have to have a talk with her soon. He hoped that she was sensible enough to hold her peace until then.
Professor McGonagall sent Ginny back to bed with every promise that her parents were being seen to, and then led Harry and Ron down to the common room. "You two need to get back to bed, too," she said firmly.
And then they heard it, faintly and far off, through one of the common room windows – a cold, wolfish howl. "But – mum and dad!" said Ron plaintively.
"They will be well," she reiterated. "I expect Professors Thornby and Bellaton will go themselves until the Headmaster can summon some Aurors. And if either one of you sets just one toe out of your rooms again tonight, I will personally set Professor Snape to guard your door, and he won't like that one bit."
"We wouldn't –" Harry began, but she cut him off.
"I wasn't born yesterday," she said shortly. "Anytime someone is not handling a situation to your liking, you go haring off to do it yourselves. Thank heaven Hermione can't go anywhere until morning, at least! You did well in coming to get us," she said, softening her tone, "but you must leave the rest to me now." She looked at the windows where moonlight was filtering in. "Get back to bed, both of you. I need to hurry." And with that, she turned and hurried out the portrait hole.
Ron and Harry obeyed and returned to their own dormitory. Neither of them said anything as they climbed back into bed. Harry pulled his curtains closed until he was lying in complete darkness. Professor McGonagall was right - there was nothing he could do that the professors could not, especially not tonight, but that didn't really make him feel any easier. He lay awake for a long time before he fell asleep again, and the lack of snores from Ron's four-poster told him that his friend was doing the same. Harry's last thought before finally drifting off was that there was only one thing going right this year, and that was his classes. Everything else seemed to be going sliding downhill fast.