Wake The Darkness
By Jewel
A Harry Potter Fanfiction.
Revised Version.
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Standard spoilers apply for books 1 through 5. Set in Seventh Year to Post-Hogwarts.
THANK YOU, everyone, for your patience and kind feedback. As the threat of homework looms on the horizon, my Muse has perversely come back to me... So without further hold-up, I present you with the second chapter of the rewrite. Incidentally it is the first original chapter of the revision. I look forward to your feedback!
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Wake The Darkness
Part Two (2)
(Summer Preceding Seventh Year.)
In the two years that Hermione Granger had been acquainted with number twelve, Grimmauld Place, the house had never evolved beyond the dark, dank, and rotting house Hermione had walked into the summer before her Fifth Year at Hogwarts. For two years the house had remained impervious to Mrs. Weasley's frequent and insistent spells, charms, and potions. Truly the only room Molly had ever been able to salvage was the kitchen. A fact for which Hermione was thankful as she sat for breakfast in the large room. After a restless right of tossing and turning, and fits of sneezing from a sudden cold made all the worse by the dust and dampness of each room in the house, Hermione was ready to move to better accommodations. Namely her own room at Hogwarts.
Ron was already at the table shoveling food into his mouth as quickly as he could. Upon spotting Hermione, he madly waved his toast in the air, beckoning her to sit beside him. "You've missed it, Hermione!" He exclaimed through a mouthful of food. He swallowed and began spreading more jam on his toast. "Dumbledore has just arrived and taken dad and Harry with him to the war room."
Hermione forgot to sneeze and looked sharply at Ron. "Why didn't you come and wake me?"
"It just happened and--"
"Honestly, Ronald! Don't talk with your mouth full unless you want to choke!" Molly admonished from behind her son before turning to pin Hermione with a look worthy of any general.
"You, dear, look like a skeleton, don't think for a second that you two are going to run off to eavesdrop at the door! Hermione, you're going to sit right here and eat a big, hearty breakfast." With that said, Molly began filling a plate with an array of food that quickly began to resemble a small mountain. "This will be enough for starters," the older woman proclaimed, placing the plate in front of Hermione.
Smiling meekly, Hermione picked up a fork and began to push the food around her plate, making a pretense of wondering what to start eating. Biting her lip, Hermione cast a furtive glance at Mrs. Weasley, who had turned her attentions to the sizzling stove. Assuring herself that the woman was not looking at her, Hermione quietly rose from beside Ron and quickly slipped back up the staircase from which she had just descended. The large bit of a muffin that caught in his throat stifled Ron's cry of abandonment.
Above stairs, Hermione silently paced outside the war room, the old formal dinning room that had been filled with maps and books and bright lights. Over the past year Hermione had grown increasingly worried over her own family. In the middle of Sixth Year, the Weasleys had moved into the Black House for security reasons. The Dursleys, Harry's family, were protected by the several witches and wizards and occasional squib, like Mrs. Figg, Dumbledore had set in the neighborhood ever since Harry had been delivered to live with his aunt. And while Harry had spent half the summer with his family, adding even more protection to them against the likely attack of Death Eaters, Hermione's muggle parents remained without protection. Although she had spent almost all of the summer preceding the Sixth Year with her parents, Hermione had decided it would be better worth her time and efforts to remain at number twelve, Grimmauld Place, this summer, devoting herself to helping the Order. But now, with Death Eaters openly taking to the streets and terrorizing wizards and muggles alike, Hermione increasingly thought it a better idea to add some kind of protection to her parents and childhood home.
The more Hermione thought about it, the more convinced she became to ask Dumbledore how to go about shielding her family from any damage Voldemort could cause. It didn't need to be as complex or as big as a Fidelius Charm, but Hermione wanted some assurance that her parents would be safe. Of course, every time she thought to speak with the Headmaster, he was never in residence. Or he would arrive late at night for a brief while before taking off again to where ever it was these days that he dwelled. By standing outside the war room, Hermione thought, she'd be able to catch Dumbledore before he could escape. And so it was with grim determination that she waited outside the old dinning room, alternately pacing and sitting in an unstable chair beside the door. All the while sneezing, until Professor Dumbledore, Harry, Arthur Weasley, Mad-Eye Moody and, of all surprises, Severus Snape, emerged several hours later with mixed looks of anger and weariness upon their faces.
Draco Malfoy stared at his father in complete and total disgust. Lucius Malfoy lay on the floor of his opulent study, staring at the ceiling while whispering a litany of nonsense words. Narcissa had knelt graciously beside her husband and had for the last five minutes held his hand while speaking to him in low tones, trying to bring him back from his madness.
Revolted, Draco pushed away from the doorframe he had been leaning against and stalked down the corridor to his own room. He could never stand to look at his father during Lucius's flights of fancy. One minute the two Malfoy men had been in the middle of a perfectly coherent conversation about Dementors, the next moment Lucius was staring right through Draco while mumbling nonsensical phrases in archaic languages.
Lucius had been out of Azkaban for almost four months, but before his acquittal at trial the older Malfoy had spent ten months in the wizarding prison, tormented by the Dementors. That Lucius had made a deal with the Ministry to secure his absolution for his part in the Fifth Year attack on the Ministry had no effect on him. Although under constant guard from the Ministry, Lucius Malfoy had not stopped his secret plotting to slither back into the Dark Lord's good graces.
And so Draco and Lucius had been in discussion about Lucius's new plan when the madness had come over him. Draco wasn't surprised by it anymore. In the past year the madness frequently overtook his father, sometimes only lasting minutes, other times for days at an end.
Draco closed the door to his room, futile resistance against his father's growing screams of lunacy and pathetic shouts of a deranged man. Leaning his back against the elegantly carved wood of his door, Draco's gaze wondered over to his bed. From the dark counterpane gleamed a gold badge with the letters "HB." He had not even gotten around to telling his father of the honor before his father had slipped into the mental abyss.
"You're going to betray me," Harry Potter said simply and quietly to his bestfriend.
Ron, for his part, looked completely thunderstruck. Hermione opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She shut her jaw and tried again to speak, but she was speechless. There was nothing she could say in response to such a statement.
It was late afternoon and the three friends were gathered in Harry's room. Harry leaned carelessly against his dresser, his arms crossed, while Hermione occupied his bed, her legs folded and her feet tucked neatly beneath her, and Ron sat in the only chair, almost opposite the room from Harry.
Finally finding his voice, Ron shook his head and asked, "How could that possibly help the Order?"
"But Ron would never betray you!" Hermione cried angrily, "Who would ever think up such a stupid idea?"
A muscle leaped in Harry's cheek as he replied, "Snape, of course."
Hermione went silent again, as if rethinking her assessment. But Ron quickly picked up where she had left off. "I always knew the big bat was with You-Know-Who! Of course he would come up with such a--"
"Wait, Ron," Hermione instructed, before turning to Harry. "Why would Snape suggest that?"
Sighing, Harry came to sit on the edge of his bed and angled himself to look at his two bestfriends. "We were discussing the possible advantages to having another spy in addition to Snape. He seems to think Ron would be the "ideal candidate;" his words not mine. Something about Ron being like Wormtail, which is complete garbage. But I told Dumbledore I would ask you guys about it."
"Of course I'm not like Wormtail!" Ron said vehemently. "I would never betray my friends!"
"It might be worth some consideration," Hermione said quietly, surprising the boys. She quickly hurried to explain herself. "It would be much more plausible for Ron to join Voldemort than me or even Neville. Or anyone else from the Order, for that matter."
"And what does that mean?" Ron all but growled.
Hermione had the grace to blush as she replied, "It's just that -- Well -- That is, to say -- Oh, Ron, don't look at me like that! I know you'd never betray Harry, but in some ways Voldemort might see you as Wormtail. Always in the shadow of your friends, waiting for your own glory..."
"That's pretty much what Snape said," Harry intoned.
A minute of silence followed before Ron seemed to resign himself to what had been said. "Okay, say that I pretend to betray you. Why would I do it after six years of loyalty?"
Harry glanced away sheepishly. "Hermione. Her, ah, affections would shift and it would be the proverbial last straw."
Ron looked at Hermione and then at Harry. "I'm going to need some time to think about this."
As Ron rose to leave, Hermione quickly sprang from the bed and effectively placed herself before the door. "If you and Harry are willing to do this, then I guess my part is small enough. It's just that... I know it seems a simple matter now, you pretending to betray Harry... but both of you might want to consider what Dumbledore and Snape are getting you into. And if you both agree to this, then I think you should both sit down and discuss what this will mean. Over the next year, your friendship is going to change, and you will need to understand the difference between what's real and what you see."
Having said all she needed to say, Hermione slipped out the door and shut it behind her, leaving the two boys to talk. Any thoughts of speaking with Dumbledore had effectively been pushed from her thoughts, so Hermione went to her own room, her mind already swirling with plans and ideas and possible complications.
:End of Part Two:
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AUTHOR'S NOTES:
- A big THANK YOU to everyone who gave feedback. Your reviews and e-mails were encouraging. And I would also like to thank everyone for their patience with me. This is the first original chapter of the rewrite and I wanted to make it good. Hopefully I succeeded. School for me is starting back this week, but don't think that means less frequent updates. If anything my habit of procrastinating when it comes to writing papers for my classes means that I will be turning out more chapters in the months to come.
- Music I listened to while typing this: "A Flavor House Atlantic" by Coheed and Cambria.
- Again, thanks for your patience, it's greatly appreciated. The next chapter will also be original to the rewrite and set in the past, so please allow time for me to make it as good as possible for you guys. I look forward to hearing your opinions on this chapter: your reactions will effect the style and tone of the future chapters.
Jewel, (9.12.2004)
