Chapter Nine

"Harry Through The Looking Glass."

Someone was whispering.

Hermione was whispering.

…. Wait. What?

Harry woke up with his best friend's voice in his ear, muffled through the pillow. His mind was still fuzzed from sleep, but he was quick enough to fling the pillow away and stare down into Hermione's wide eyes, staring up at him through the mirror shard.

"Harry, thank God," she said. She glanced over her shoulder. "Listen, get Dumbledore or someone, now. I think Death Eaters are in my house."

Harry paled. There was no time for questions, yet still they rose to his lips; he thrust them down. "All right," he nodded jerkily, and picked the shard up. He was scrambling off the bed when a loud 'thud' came through the shard. Looking down, he saw Hermione's face drawn and pinched, heard her whispered, "Oh… oh no."

Then a voice, low and malicious, saying, "Crucio."

Then Hermione, screaming.

Then blood.

She must have been clenching the shard tightly in her hands for her blood to have splattered across its surface the way it did, but Harry was beyond thinking rationally; beyond thinking at all. There was no voice in his head saying, 'Get Dumbledore, now, get him NOW.' There was just overwhelming dread and the sensation of his heart being torn in two. His hands gripped the jagged edges of his shard piece and he bellowed, "HERMIONE!" as he felt the sides bite through his palms, and his own blood splash across; and there was a bright light; and a sharp sound; and he was being pulled – pulled through….

He landed on hands and knees over top of Hermione's thrashing body, in time to hear the Death Eater give a startled oath. Before he could wonder what was going on – how he'd managed to travel through a mirror, of all things – Harry had launched himself at the Death Eater. In his unthinking protective rage he instinctively recognized that to save Hermione, he'd have to take out the Death Eater.

It was nightmarish, the feel of the Death Eater grappling against him with bony fingers, the sound of Hermione screaming in the background. Feverish and intense, Harry fought like the possessed. And he was possessed, infuriated; raging and completely terrified. This lent him strength enough to force the Death Eater to his knees and grasp his wand, then snap it like a twig.

Harry felt the magical backlash that came from that simple act slam into him. It was not a light thing to destroy an artifact of power, which all wands were; and the force of it knocked him backwards dumbly. The Death Eater he'd just incapacitated was worse off, limp and trembling beneath his black robes.

Mercifully, Hermione had stopped screaming.

Gathering his wits rapidly, Harry cast a quick, "Petrificus Totalus," on the Death Eater before dragging himself tiredly to Hermione's side. She was pale and contorted but still alive, even if still in pain. She'd passed out after the curse was lifted and it hurt Harry, physically, to see her curled about her middle and her lips colourless and bitten clear through.

Downstairs – he presumed downstairs, though he didn't know the set-up for Hermione's house – came the sound of footsteps thumping about. A boisterous voice bellowed, "Having fun up there? Did the mudblood pass out on you? Feh, they usually can't stand up to much pain." Harry breath quickened. "Oi! Ask the bitch when she wakes where 'er parents are at. Can't find 'em anywhere." Harry dragged Hermione behind what was presumably her bed, out of the line-of-sight of the doorway. Acting quickly, he did the same for the Stunned Death Eater; then he paused, found a suitable place to crouch in shadows, and readied his wand. Adrenaline was pumping through him like electricity through his veins.

Footsteps came up the stairs, and that same hateful voice cajoled, "Hey, answer me already! I know you're enjoying yourself, but if there's no one else about to torture, you're going to have to share." Harry resisted the urge to sick up at the anticipation he could hear in the Death Eater's voice. The footsteps came closer to the door, echoing down the hall. Harry tensed.

The whole world seemed to slow and hum and sharpen to a focused point when the second Death Eater appeared in the partially open door. Like a coil unwinding, Harry's wand arm sprang outwards and he called out his second "Petrificus Totalus" for the night. The Death Eater had no chance against the element of surprise and keeled over satisfactorily.

Harry breathed out shakily. "God," he whispered. His knees and hands were uncontrollably trembling. He couldn't make himself stand, so he crawled to the still wizard and dragged him to join his cohort. He looked about in the darkness for something to bind the two of them with, but could find no convenient pieces of rope. He hastily transfigured Hermione's sheets to cord, mentally apologizing to her, and efficiently tied the Death Eaters' hands and legs together. Neither'd be able to move past a few feet, and then only by rolling.

He was crawling back to Hermione when he heard the low chuckle. He knew instinctively that he was too slow, that he wasn't going to be fast enough as his head whipped to the doorway. There had been a third Death Eater.

The third Death Eater had his wand pointed to him. He said, "Crucio."

Harry managed a brief, grateful thought: "Thank God Hermione's hidden back there." Then the world… exploded.

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The very air was screaming from broken wards, and Snape had never seen Dumbledore look so surprised.

"Harry," the old man said faintly. "He's left the house."

It was early, early morning and the two wizards were only still awake because they'd spent the night through talking. With eyes ringed black from exhaustion, Snape swore. "Idiot boy!"

Lupin skidded into the room with wild eyes. "Harry-" he gasped. Such quick movement was not good for the healing werewolf; Snape watched impassively as almost-healed wounds tore open from the stress of moving too fast and blood leached through bandages. "He's not- he's not-"

"I know," Dumbledore said gently. He frowned. "Give me a moment. I must search for him." His eyes closed as he quietly incanted. Snape meanwhile motioned for Lupin to sit.

"I doubt you wish to die while precious Potter still needs saving," he said. "As such, you might want to stop bleeding all over the place."

Lupin ignored him. He stood unsteadily with fever-bright eyes and disheveled hair, anxiously staring at Dumbledore's face. Snape felt unaccountably annoyed. His first thoughtful, genuine gesture – and it was ignored. Certainly the circumstances were extenuating; and he couldn't deny that he felt a bite of worry as well. However, it was more than likely that the Potter brat had simply decided that he would fancy a quick jaunt down Diagon Alley or some such nonsense, and as such was now panicking all those who cared for him (not including Snape, as Snape did not care for him – unless he was contemplating the many potions ingredients that could be harvested from teenage boy).

Honestly, Potter was so thoughtless.

Dumbledore's eyes snapped open. "He's at Miss Granger's home," he said. "I will set a port-key."

"I'm coming with you," Lupin said immediately, and Snape curled his lip. Gryffindors. Standing there, bleeding, exhausted, and about to fall over – wanting to go on a simple retrieval?

Dumbledore was shaking his head. "No, Remus. It would do Harry no good to see you in such a state." He left unspoken, 'You're no good to me in such a state.' He looked quickly instead to Snape, and Snape nodded at the unspoken request.

Dumbledore's port-key took time to complete as he'd never been to the Grangers' and so had no feel for the destination. He was a skilled enough wizard to be able to manage it, just not easily. Lupin had been watching him with anger in his gaze, but the wizard had enough wolf in him to bow down to whomsoever seemed the alpha of the pack – or maybe enough sense in his head to realize that in case of actual battle, he truly would be useless in his current state; more likely to die or get someone else killed. Snape would've place more money on the wolf though. When did any Gryffindor ever have common sense?

When Dumbledore finally tied the spells to a tea-cup and looked to Snape, Snape breathed a sigh of annoyed relief. It was waiting that he often found most aggravating, when anticipation built crackling like static in the air and he felt the urge to just move. He reached out one spindly hand to touch the edge of the rim while Dumbledore kept firm hold of the handle. "Three, two," Dumbledore intoned. "One."

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It felt like he'd been held under the spell forever when suddenly it stopped.

Harry couldn't pin-point the exact second the pain had ceased, only that cool relief radiated through his body when it did and was followed next by violent shivers. He looked up through blurry eyes (his glasses had been knocked off, he remembered vaguely, during the convulsions) to see Dumbledore and Snape in the doorway, standing over the fallen Death Eater. He thought he could make out grim expressions on both their faces.

"Hel-" Harry gasped out rawly. "Help." He breathed raggedly as Dumbledore hurried to his side, crouching down. "Hermione," Harry managed to get out. "Help Hermione." She'd been all he could think of through the pain – her pale face, her tremors, the fear that she'd suffer the same fate as the Longbottoms, that she'd be lost to him forever- he repeated, "Help Hermione."

Dumbledore stroked his forehead calmingly. "Where is she, Harry?"

"There," Harry couldn't manage to point, but he did move his head in the vague direction. "She's… hurt…"

He saw the black shadow-shape of Snape striding to her, picking her limp body up with careful arms. "She's unconscious," Snape said. "She needs medical care."

Dumbledore nodded sharply. "The Death Eater saw your face, Severus," he said. His statement seemed to contain many meanings. Harry was too tired to decipher any but the most obvious, but Snape clearly understood by the way he nodded sharply.

"I shall take care of it."

"More," Harry said. "Over there. Two." He didn't blame them for not seeing either Hermione or the Death Eaters – it was still dark in the room, after all, and they hadn't so much as twitched since Harry had Stunned them.

Dumbledore and Snape looked at him startled, then thoughtful.

"This requires delicacy," Dumbledore said. "They cannot report back, Severus, else Voldemort will know that Harry was present and that you helped him. Even the deaths of three Death Eaters will seem suspicious… unless I am the one known to have caused them." He paused in plotting thought. "You will take Harry to Hogwarts, and I shall take Miss Granger to St. Mungo's. I will return when her condition is stable."

Snape silently handed Hermione over to Dumbledore, and Dumbledore smiled kindly down at Harry. "Don't fret, Harry," he comforted. "She'll be right as rain in no time." Then he Apparated with a 'pop', and there was just Snape and Harry, staring at one another.

"Er," Harry said. "Not dead." He flushed under the searching weight of the Potions Master's stare. "Death Eaters… stunned. Not dead."

Snape corrected him. "Not yet."

Hehe, I'm starting to think I might need to go to eleven chapters... well, if I can get it all wrapped up in the next chapter, I shall endeavor to do so. I hoped this chapter didn't seem rushed to anyone. Ah, I can feel the end of this 'fic coming near... what a wonderful sensation. Also slightly sad, as well; how strange. Thank you to everyone for reading!

Molly Morrison - Well, I'm afraid you don't get to see the full extent of Snape's reactions and realizations until next chapter. Sorry! But I'll update soon, I promise!

Purple Raveness - Thank you! Glad to please.

Coriel - Your wish is my command - and here's the newest chapter! I hope you like.

laer - You guessed it - confrontation is officially coming up in the next chapter!

Howl - :embarrassed laugh: Well, y'see, I have this thing about movies that I really like, and 'Dogma' happens to be one of them. Sorry if my fanaticism scared you! Oh, and that chapter was dedicated to you because you'd been waiting for the 'Snape finds out Harry's real OWL scores' for so long. Thanks for the comments on my Dumbledore! I do think the dynamic between him and Snape is fascinating, and I like putting my own spin on it. I wasn't sure exactly how to write Moody, but I kind of felt that around other seniour Order members he'd loosen up and complain a bit; also, there's a clue in his dialogue if you can figure out what it is. Oh, and he knew that Harry'd be at No. 12 because he's privy to a lot of Dumbledore's plans, not because of his magic eye. I hope that clears up any questions! Hee, I love that last quote you threw at me - wonderful Douglas Adams. Thanks for being my muse!

Strega - Oh my goodness! You've explained the Remus-Harry dynamic better than I ever could::wild applause: I really do agree with your analysis of their characters, and I'm glad you think that I wrote them in a believable way. I'm not a guy, but I am a teenager, and I know how it feels to be simultaneously pushing someone away while wishing they'd grab you into a tight hug and not let go. I sort of stirred into Harry's character the past of not having any affection or comfort from parental figures to add to his reluctance. I'm so happy you think I've pulled it off! And oh, that would be such a splendiferous scene, if Snape really did come up to Harry and say, "How dare you lie in your personal correspondence!" Now I want to write that. Like, in a spoof or something, because it would be so thoroughly wonderfully awesome. Ah! How wonderful. Oh, and you'll see how Snape sort of unravels that it's not exactly just a prank that Harry's playing on him throughout Ch.10, and how he reacts/deals with it. You'll see... there's a lot of subtle stuff that has to be brought to light; let me just say that it deals back to Ch.1 rather heavily as well.Well, either I've just come off as mysterious or brain-scrambled, I don't know which. And if I could get rid of my conscience, forget Europe - I'd take the WORLD! BWAHAHAHAHAHA! (... thanks as always for the intelligent, thoughtful review!)

Clodia - This is what I meant by action! You'll get the confrontation scenes between Snape and Harry next chapter, promise! I hope this chapter didn't come completely out of the blue for you - I know it was unexpected to have Hermione attacked, and Harry go to her rescue; and I know that it seems plot-hole-ish to have him jump through the mirror like that, but it'll make sense soon! I swear! I'm really glad that my story's affected you that way, so that you don't want it to end. I've got so many ideas for the sequel! It's not going to be exactly Snape-Harry centric, but they will have lots of interactions. I sort of want to develop other characters as well, however, like Luna, etc. I hope this chapter meets up to the rest of your expectations, and that you'll like the sequel when itcomes!

ok... - Heh, no worries, I won't be using any flashbacks at all! And I'm sorry if you really expected this story to go anywhere. It's more written for character interactions and development than anything else, which is why it's listed under 'Humour/General', and not 'Action/Adventure'. Anyways, thank you for your criticism.

Lisa007 - Heh. Thank you. Just what I was aiming for! I hope this chapter is also... interesting.

opalish - Ah! Thanks so much! I adore nice reviews like yours, and I hope this chapter continues to meet your expectations. I'm hoping my characterization doesn't weaken, and I'm really glad you agree with the way I'm manipulating the characters so far. I know this chapter is more on the Action/Drama than Humour, but I hope you'll still enjoy it!

Mademoiselle nom de plume - Oh, don't worry! There will be a sequel! Sooner or later... I'm really happy you like how I write the characters. Out of curiousity's sake, which House do you think I favour? I mean, you said that you could 'barely tell', so I was wondering which one I came off as being. I hope this chapter meets your expectations and that you read the sequel when it comes out! Thanks a lot for your review.

AwesomePossum - Oh no! I've turned Watson into an alcoholic! Woe, woe, woe is me! Poor abandoned Sherlock... Well, as the instigator of the problem, I shall be the one to endeavor to fix it! No more butterbeer for you, Watson! ...Oh dear. Well, I suppose I shall just have to take Sherlock under my wing until Watson sobers up.

Em - You know, I haven't seen PotC for a loooong time! I should watch it tonight... Hm, and as for the Neville debate- it's possible, don't you think? I mean, look at how he does with Herbology... he should have an instinctive feel for plants in the Potions classroom, since a lot of them are used as ingredients... unless what Neville has is a connection with living plants, not dead ones. Huh. That could be a cool plot-bunny-idea. You just hand those out like candy! You're like, my idea-person. Anyways, yes, there shall be a sequel! And I hope you read it! So that I can continue to accumulate plot-bunnies! And perhaps become weaned off of my dependence on the exclamation mark! ... Well, anyhow, yes, I severely appreciate your presence on who else would give me hugs? And I hope that this latest chapter fits in well with the rest of the story and that you like it. :many hugs: