Darkest Before Dawn

Disclaimer: Harry Potter and all related material are copyrighted to J. K. Rowling. The fic is on a "fan fiction" website for a reason, kiddies.

Summary: After a long disappearance over the summer, Harry returns to Hogwarts. Physically, at least.

What's kicking? Allow me to explain in further detail... this is going to be a Magus fic. But not a normal one. Oh, no, I'm not one for sappy heroes. I prefer psychotic villains, if you catch my drift. While Harry WILL be against Voldemort (you know, he did murder the poor kid's parents, the chances of an alliance of any kind between them are about as likely as hell freezing over), that doesn't mean he's automatically Gary Stu on steroids.

Speaking of the steroids, believe me when I say it. Nearly every Magus fic I've ever borne witness to involves Harry becoming some kind of humongous ball of muscle within one week. It's disturbing. We're going to leave Harry's body damn well alone, because I don't understand what having muscles has to do with magic. It just doesn't make any sense! Crazy Magus fic writers...

Well, just go on and read.

Chapter 2

Back Again

Hermione Granger and Ron Weasely were two of Gryffindor's prefects. After having spent a good hour being briefed up in the front cabin of the Hogwarts Express, they were glad to get out and start patrolling the hallways between cars. Hermione absently curled her fingers into her curly brown hair, while Ron left his own bright red hair on its own. Both exchanged glances for a moment. They'd had an awful summer, losing Harry and discovering a bunch of unfortunate repercussions. Then they hurried along, the other prefects in their wake.

Ron broke their silence with a few words. "So... school again."

"Yeah," Hermione agreed slowly, "I bet you're just itching for the final exams, aren't you, Ron?"

He put on a show of horror, and both broke out into laughter.

Hermione casually glanced into one of the compartments to check on the one person who was in it. Through the blurry glass she had seen a figure staring out of the window. She assumed they were a loner, and sympathized. Opening the door, she smiled and said, "How is the train ride for you?"

Hermione blanched as soon as she saw their face. Messy black hair. Green eyes that glittered with defiance, rimmed by round glasses. A lightning-bolt scar. His voice had some sort of friendly mocking quality to it. "It's fantastic."

Hermione held on to the door for stability, stuttering his name in a whisper. "H-H-Harry!"

His expression suddenly became distant. "Yes?"

"You're alive! You – I – we thought something terrible had happened to you! We were searching all over... no one knew... oh god..."

He looked back out of the window at the scenery that raced by. "Sit down and close the door."

She did so, quickly. Something was terribly wrong, and she feared that she would now find out what. She tried grabbing one of his hands between her own. He mumbled something.

"Say that again?"

"I killed them."

She nearly dropped the hand in fear. "What?"

"The Death Eaters. There were seven of them... I murdered them all and I don't even know how. I was being attacked, and it was all I could do to stop them until I just... there was so much magic there, I think it strangled them. I couldn't have."

Hermione's brown eyes were filled with pity as she stared at him, gripping his hand even harder between her own. He turned around to look at her again, and the effect of the memory was drastic. His eyes were nearly as wide as hers with some echo of disbelief.

"I spent the rest of the summer hiding out in different places. Nothing profound. I'm scared, Hermione. If I don't know what happened that night, it could happen again."

She was hoarse. "Harry..."

He pulled his hand away. "Get out of here. I don't want to take a chance."

"No! The last thing you need is to be alone right now. Harry, they were Death Eaters. It's better that they're nothing more than... than dead bodies. They won't be able to take any more lives. Just calm down." She gave him a small smile. "I'm sure Professor Dumbledore knows what's happening to you, just try to get through the train ride without worrying."

At the mention of the headmaster's name, Harry's lip curled slightly, but he said nothing of it.

For the longest time they sat in silence. Hermione continued to stare at Harry, shocked that he was right there in front of her. The Boy-Who-Lived stared at the wall adjacent. Every once in a while he would turn, meet her gaze, and both would hurriedly look away.

Disjointed voices murmured outside the compartment door. She realized who they were. Harry jumped up and seized his Hogwarts robes from his trunk, lay down on the other set of seats, and threw it over his head and upper body hastily. The door slid open, and Ron Weasley, Ginny Weasley, Luna Lovegood, and Neville Longbottom walked in.

All four noticed Hermione's stressed look as they sat down in various places in the compartment.

"Something wrong, 'Mione?" Ron asked.

"Nothing, nothing. I was just thinking. It's really nothing."

Harry feigned sleep, protecting himself from being recognized. Both he and Hermione knew what kind of hell would ensue if Harry were to simply reappear to all of his friends right then, without warning. Ginny nodded toward the inert form, "Any idea who that is?"

Hermione was holding her forehead in one hand. She had to think fast. "Just a student. They said they weren't feeling well, so I stayed until they, er, felt a little better. It's just motion-sickness."

Luna's wide eyes looked up and down the person who lay across the chairs. She started to open her mouth, then stopped at a quick throat-cutting motion from Hermione.

Neville took a seat on the floor of the compartment. "I wonder what happened to Harry."

Hermione coughed.

Luna shook her head slightly in disbelief. This is going to be a long train ride.

Luna's right... now REVIEW!