A/N: Well, here goes another chapter... hope you like reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it!
Cheers!
Hermione was too awestruck to do anything. She just stared, mouth agape, at Harry's limp body for several agonizing moments, unable to regain control of her muscles and start doing something useful.
Just when she finally started trodding in his direction she remembered she couldn't do anything, for she was inside a memory. She halted once again, and found herself watching helplessly as the great doors of Hogwarts opened and let out several teachers, all running in Harry's direction.
Hermione Granger helpless and unable to do anything. How ironic. She had always been at Harry's side, always there whenever he needed her. It made her proud to be the one person Harry knew would always be at his side, protecting him – mostly from himself in her opinion – and cutting some of the weight from his heavy burden. But now, Harry's most desperate hour, she was somewhere else, probably still on her way to the castle.
Suddenly she felt Dumbledore grab her arm and squeeze it gently.
"Professor?"
"Are you alright?" he asked softly.
"I- I… I don't think so…"
"Let's go back" he said.
Just moments later, Hermione was back in Dumbledore's office. But she still didn't feel she was in the real world. She felt numb and… empty. It seemed someone had created a big hole deep within her, one which would start corroding her inside-out. It still felt like she was in a big nightmare, not still herself.
Harry lying on the floor, not moving… But he wasn't dead… he couldn't be, Dumbledore had told her so! He was probably just unconscious, that's all.
Nevertheless, it hurts seeing him… numb and motionless…like he was really dead…
"I believe you're searching for some explanations?" Dumbledore's voice woke her from her reverie. She had been staring into the distance for some seconds, she realized.
"Wh- Oh... sorry, professor…"
She turned to look at him and saw he had already a calm mask over his expressions again. She didn't like it. How in the seven hells could he be so calm! The indifference killed her.
"As you see, Miss Granger, I have much to apologize for." Dumbledore paused and sighed. "Well, ask out" he said, looking directly to her eyes.
Hermione blurted out the question that had been burning her tongue for so long. "Is Harry going to be ok?"
"I assure you Harry is getting the best treatment possible. Madam Pomfrey is the best Healer I know and I trust she will do whatever she can to make sure Harry gets better. However, his injuries are more than serious." Dumbledore gazed at her for a few seconds. "I do not wish to lie to you, Hermione. However good Madam Pomfrey may be, she might not be able to be enough."
Hermione muffled a sob with a hand over her mouth and watched Dumbledore shift uncomfortably in his seat. She felt her eyes welling up and all her hope crumbling down like a castle made of cards.
"The spell he used on Voldemort," Dumbeldore kept on "was very powerful and very old, and it takes a lot of energy to cast. It practically depletes one's energy storage. Harry may be very powerful, but he is young and he hasn't reached his maximum potential yet. He risked a lot in casting that spell against Voldemort, because all his energy could have been insufficient. Judging by his potential he would have a good chance of injuring Voldemort, but not killing him. I think that I'm right to believe he didn't use only his power to defeat the Dark Lord. He also used a good fuel – love."
Hermione could almost swear she saw Dumbledore smile.
"Had it not been his love and he'd probably be dead, without any energy left, and only a stunned Voldemort at his feet." Dumbledore got up and walked to the door, where he turned to face her again. "His love killed Voldemort, but it wasn't just some regular, common kind of love, it was love, as deep as it gets Love for someone he treasures more than his own life, I reckon. Love for you."
The doors opened and he stepped outside, leaving Hermione staring after him, her mouth once again agape. Not two seconds later, Dumbledore reappeared at the door. "Please, come."
"Where?" she asked.
"Why, to the Hospital Wing, of course."
Hermione restrained herself from jumping off her seat and running like crazy towards the Hospital Wing, and got up slowly, taking little steps towards Dumbledore.
"Come, my dear. Harry's love saved us all, now it is time for your love to save him."
Hermione stopped short. She could only stare dumbfounded at him. How could she possibly save Harry? She was no Healer!
"I know, you're thinking how you can possibly save him. You're not a Healer." Dumbledore said, with a hint of a smile. He took Hermione's hands in his own. She could feel the power emanating from them. He looked once again directly to her eyes with a penetrating glare, but his voice spoke softly. "Don't be afraid. I know you care for Harry more than you like to admit to other people. I know you love him. That's why you were able to contact him when you were being held hostage."
Hermione frowned. How did he know about that!
Dumbledore let out a real smile this time. "I have my ways to know these things. Actually, I was beginning to wonder when your connection would happen."
Has Professor Dumbledore, the great Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, gone crazy? Connection?
"You see, magic surrounds us, binding things together, forming connections. Unconsciously, all of us tend to establish connections to everything around us at all times. Consciously, all we do is pull some strings in ways that serve our needs. However, there are different types of connections. Emotional connections are the hardest to pull, and of those, love and hate are the strongest. Thus the all too familiar duel: love and hate. Hate is easier to handle and is quicker to master, making it a weapon more practical to use, but at the same time not as resistant. Love, on the other hand, is harder to come to terms with, turning it into something we somehow know is there but never acknowledge it. It is harder to notice and much slower to use, however it is much more powerful than hate. The power hate uses to destroy is weaker than the one love uses to build. There's nothing stronger and more resistant than a connection of love."
Dumbledore paused for a few moments, letting the words slip in. Hermione said nothing as the words plopped onto her mind, slowly turning Dumbledore's words into something that made sense.
After a moment's worth of awkward silence, Dumbledore continued his speech. "You and Harry share a connection of love. And I dare say it is the most powerful one I have ever witnessed in my whole life. Usually, when two people make a connection of love they tend to think alike and react alike. We tend to get along very well with people we can relate to and share common things with. However, you and Harry are very different from each other. Normally, two different auras turn hostile towards each other, thus attracting a hostile connection between them, but your case is a whole lot different. You complete each other. What one lacks, the other compensates and vice-versa. When two people like that love each other, they form the most powerful bond known, unbearable for hate. You and Harry share that unbreakable bond, and it was that bond that destroyed Voldemort. It is that bond that will make you save Harry, I'm sure of it."
Hermione stood silent for several more seconds, thinking about everything Dumbledore said. It all made perfect sense. Just one thing didn't quite seem right. "But, how am I supposed to help? I know very little about treating serious injuries, especially when they were caused by a spell I didn't even know existed!"
"You will know when you get there, I assure you. Don't worry about the spell. It carried all of Harry's emotions deep into Voldemort's soul and it destroyed him. However, it drained almost everything Harry had for energy, leaving just enough for him to breathe and simply be. It hasn't been used for centuries. I doubt anyone even recalls of hearing about it. I just know about it because… well, being Headmaster has its advantages…" He coughed softly and grinned.
"I wonder how Harry knew it…" She suddenly felt very embarassed. Harry had learned a spell she didn't even know about.
"That just shows how strong your connection is" was Dumbledore's simple response.
Hermione blinked and looked at him for a few seconds, her eyebrows shot up. "What to do you mean?" she said after several moments of silence.
"He knew he had to reach for his soul and his emotions in order to defeat Voldemort. In doing so, with the help of your powerful connection, he was in contact with every living and non-living things. He was one with the Universe and he found what he needed to do as naturally as he loves you." Dumbledore smiled openly again, with a warm look in his eyes.
Hermione couldn't help but smile too.
Dumbledore started to make his way to the Hospital Wing, and Hermione followed him.
"Professor," she said, walking at Dumbledore's side "there's another thing I want to ask you."
Dumbledore stopped and turned to her, his expression unreadable.
Damn, that mask again! Why does he have to look expressionless all the time?
Quit nagging! Speak!
Shaking her head from her internal arguments, she breathed in heavily. "I… I saw someone apparate inside the school grounds…"
If Dumbledore was surprised to hear this, he did a great job of covering it up, for his facial muscles didn't move a single inch. "Apparate? Inside the school grounds?"
Hermione looked around. Students were starting to fill the corridors with life again, and she didn't want to talk about what happened with prying ears all around her. "I think it is better to talk in private" she said, motioning to the crowd that was starting to gather around Dumbledore. Surely, many students wanted to know what happened from the mouth of the Headmaster himself.
"Very well, then." Dumbledore looked around and motioned her to follow him into a deserted classroom. After both of them were inside, he magically sealed the doors against any intruders – including extendable ears – also casting a silencing charm around them. He turned back to Hermione, and kept his emotions at bay. "Who did you see apparating inside our grounds?"
"Nicholas Malfoy, sir."
This time Dumbledore did nothing to hide his surprise. "Nicholas Malfoy you say?" He seemed to frown a little, probably thinking, but after a few seconds, much to Hermione's surprise, he just chuckled. "You say you saw Nicholas Malfoy apparate inside Hogwarts' grounds."
Hermione nodded.
"No one can apparate inside school grounds, and Nicholas Malfoy is no exception."
"But- But I saw him just appear in front of you during the fight with all the Death Eaters!" she protested.
"He didn't apparate, my dear." Dumbledore gave her a sympathetic look. "He's an animagus. He turns himself into a fly. What you really saw was his tranformation from fly to man. If we can call him a 'man' " he added, as an afterthought.
"Oh" Hermione said, as the information sinked in. It seemed she was having a little problem processing all the information she had received in the last minutes.
"I never thought he'd go so far as to do what he did." Dumbeldore said, and his eyes narrowed "I always knew he played a dangerous game, but I never thought he'd really change sides."
Hermione eyed him quizzically.
"Nicholas Malfoy was a double agent. He worked for both Voldemort and me. That's why I never let him near Hogwarts." he said, before Hermione could even express her surprise. "Malfoy was born with a very powerful mind and he took a lot of pride in it. He earned the respect from Voldemort, who tried to convince him to offer his services in exchange of unthinkable power and wealth. But Malfoy didn't need wealth or power. Although he lived in Bulgaria, he was Lucius Malfoy's brother, so he had a very comfortable position in life. Secretly he worked for me, and so he came to me, asking for advice. I told him we could use as much spies inside Voldemort's army as we could, so he accepted Voldemort's offer. I guess all that time working for Voldemort corrupted his mind and made him change sides…"
Dumbledore didn't look at Hermione during this piece of information, and by the way he was looking, Hermione was rather glad of it. Dumbledore seemed like he could burn holes in her head if he looked her way. Suddenly, his angry face became expressionless again, and he looked back at her. "So, you see, I have much more to apologize for than you ever imagined."
Dumbledore exited the classroom and headed for the Hospital Wing, with Hermoine silently following behind.
