Chapter 13 – The Worst Christmas Present
Hermione ducked instantly and the flash of light shot right above her, missing her by mere inches, and struck the fence which burst into pieces. She ascended and pulled out her wand automatically.
"What the hell are you doing!?" She shrieked. Harry opened his mouth again with his wand raised, but she was too quick for him, and bellowed, "Petrificus Totalus!" Harry's body locked together, his eyes wide with surprise, and fell to the ground with a thud. Hermione turned around as she heard footsteps closing in on her and saw Ron, Lupin, and Mrs.Weasley running through the heap of snow in her direction. They halted to a stop as they looked down at Harry's still body. Ron uttered a squeal, Lupin looked from Harry to Hermione, and Mrs.Weasley gasped faintly.
Lupin kneeled down to him as Mrs.Weasley yelled, "What did you do!"
"I didn't do anything!" She retorted angrily, "He's the one who went mad and attacked me!"
Before Mrs.Weasley had the chance to cry in protest, Lupin muttered a countercurse. On impulse, Hermione backed up a few steps and brushed off the snow from the top of her head.
"Ugh…What happened?" he groaned and slowly came up as if he had just woken up from a coma.
Something came over Hermione like an unknown force. She charged at Harry like a bull. She couldn't hear the shouts in the background or Harry's helpless voice; all she knew was that she was so furious that she wanted to beat Harry.
"HAVE YOU LOST YOUR MIND!!!" She bellowed, pinning him aggressively to the ground. Her fist was about to make contact with his face but all three grabbed her from behind and pulled her up. Hermione struggled against their grasps, but it was no use. Instead, she just shouted some more, "DO YOU REALIZE WHAT YOU JUST DID?"
Mrs.Weasley let go of her once she knew Hermione would keep still, and tried to spread words of calm, but it was no use. Harry glared at Hermione, "I didn't do anything! Are you crazy?"
Anger erupted in Hermione like lava erupting from a volcano. She struck a furious blow, and once again, Harry fell.
Lupin and Mrs.Weasley grasped her a second time, and with deep breaths, Lupin said, "Hermione, calm down! Tell us what happened."
She trembled and a tear trailed down her cheek. She couldn't believe it, "He used the Cruciatus Curse on me!"
Silence spread through the grounds. They all stared at Hermione with bewilderment. Snow fell on the top of their heads, but they barely took notice.
"No I didn't!" snapped Harry, now looking as threatening and angry as Hermione.
"That's absurd! How could Harry possibly-" started Mrs.Weasley, but Lupin cut in, "Molly, let's go inside first before we all freeze to death."
Lupin pulled Harry off the snowy ground and for a moment, he walked in unbalancing footsteps. Lupin glanced at both Hermione and Harry with a worried expression, Ron looked at her oddly as if he was bursting to say something but stayed quietly nonetheless, but Mrs.Weasley on the other hand, glared at her coldly. Hermione averted all of their eyes.
They walked into the kitchen quietly, and as Mrs.Weasley prepared some hot chocolate, the others took a seat at the table. Hermione hugged herself to get rid of the cold, and as her teeth jittered, she wished Mrs.Weasley would hurry up with the hot chocolate. After about half a minute, Ginny hurried into the kitchen with a concerned look on her face.
"What happened? I heard Harry screaming!" she said, taking a seat next to Lupin. Mrs.Weasley brought hot mugs of hot chocolate to the table and Hermione seized one immediately. She drank it with deep satisfaction.
"So Hermione, tell us."
She started with telling them about Harry and Ron's snowball fight and how, out of nowhere, Harry started screaming. He fell to the floor in pair, and Hermione tried to get him to explain, but the next second, he got up and yelled about how she had betrayed him and then he had used the Cruciatus Curse on her. Hermione, however, didn't mention the negative feeling she'd gotten when she had touched Harry's hands. It just hadn't felt right…it was a dark feeling…it was an evil feeling…
"Well, now it's your turn Harry." said Lupin.
Harry sighed and began, "Just after the snowball fight, my scar started to hurt so badly. Actually, I should say that it ripped open. Then I got these hot flashes, no, burns, in my head, and felt like fire was burning my whole body…and then…I don't remember." His voice trailed off and his face filled with confusion.
Hermione knew that Harry wasn't lying…but still, he had attacked her…of all the people to attack her…
"Harry, can I see your wand for a moment?" said Lupin. Harry held it out nervously and Lupin took it.
"Priori Incantatem!" He articulated, and a cloudy image hovered over Harry's wand in the air. In it, Harry's image held out his wand and shrieked "Crucio!" The jet of bright light struck at Hermione's image, but she ducked. Harry's face was inscrutable as he watched the scene in midair. Ginny clapped her mouth in horror, and Mrs.Weasley's face turned beet red.
"I'm…I'm…er…sorry, Hermione." Harry stuttered, looking puzzled, "but it's impossible…how could I do that without knowing it? And I can't even remember it…"
"Maybe you were possessed." suggested Ginny.
"I don't think that's it-" Lupin started to say, but suddenly, the phone from the living room rang. He got up to get it.
"I agree with Remus," said Mrs.Weasley in a tense voice, "I think Voldemort must have channeled his anger to you, Harry."
Harry thought for a moment, "He's done that before."
"But you didn't start freaking out before!" Hermione contradicted.
"At least the curse didn't hit you, thank god." said Ron, looking at Hermione.
"Then who-" Hermione was about to mention what Harry had yelled outside when Lupin came in "Hermione, you have a phone call."
Hermione raised her eyebrows, "For me? Who is it?"
"Your father." said Lupin.
Hermione made her way out of the kitchen and into the living room. She anxiously picked up the phone, "Hello?"
"Hermione?" came her father's scratchy voice. Someone was speaking in the background and she suspected it was her Mum.
"Dad?"
"Honey, how are you?" said Dad.
"Uh…fine, how did you get this number?" Yeah, like she was going to tell him how she was.
"Mrs.Weasley gave it to me a few months ago. Hermione, we need you to come home today."
Hermione almost dropped the phone in surprise, "Why?"
"Something's come up…we need to tell you something, and I would rather have you here this vacation." He sounded rather flustered, not like himself at all. Was there pain in those words?
"Can't you just tell me on the phone?" said Hermione. She had no intention of leaving this place when one of her best friends was going insane.
"No…it's rather serious."
Something hit Hermione's heart as powerful as a gunshot, "Is everyone alright? Is it Mum?" she said with panic.
"We're fine…Mr.Lupin said he could drop you off this afternoon. I'll see you then, okay honey?"
"Um…okay." They said goodbye and she hung up the phone, both apprehensive and disappointed. Hermione didn't want to leave Grimmauld Place, and she also didn't want to hear what her parents had to say, because from the tone of her father's voice, it was nothing good. Did her father have cancer? Did her mother have cancer? Had someone died in the family? Had they been robbed? Had they lost their jobs?
Thoughts swam inside her head as she entered the kitchen, "When are we leaving?" she asked Lupin.
"Two o' clock, I guess."
"Alright then, I'll go start packing." said Hermione and turned around to leave.
"Packing? What?" said Ron, running after her. He caught up with her midway into the living room, "Where are you going?"
"Dad wants me to come home, says it's important. I'm sorry, Ron…I don't want to leave, but…"
Disappointment was all over Ron's face, making him look like a little lost puppy, "But you won't be here for Christmas."
"I know…" she said heavily, and hugged him, "we'll be together at Hogwarts…I'm just worried about what Mum and Dad have to tell me."
"It'll be alright, don't worry." said Ron, still in her arms.
She let go. "Watch Harry. Don't let him out of your sight, not even for a second." said Hermione seriously.
"Am I supposed to follow him into the bathroom?" said Ron, smirking.
"You know what I mean!" said Hermione, and kissed him.
"For heaven's sake, get a room!" yelled Ginny from the kitchen.
…
Hermione clutched onto her bag with one hand and held her wand loosely in the other, just in case Harry decided to attack her; she went to the entrance door and the rest followed her to say goodbye.
She hugged them one by one. When she came to Harry, she spoke in his ear, "Be careful, and don't do anything stupid." Harry smiled at her, his green eyes twinkling. As she embraced Ron, she said, "Remember what I said."
Hermione and Lupin stepped outside into the cold atmosphere. A sheet of clouds covered the faint sky that moved faster than usual, and the houses that surrounded Number Twelve Grimmauld Place appeared deader than before, if that was even possible. Not a living soul except for them was present, which was odd, since it was early morning. The houses were in rotten condition; rusted paint was chipped off many of the houses and many of the windows were shattered. There was a pungent smell of rotten garlic in the air that clogged her nostrils.
"Are we Apparating?" asked Hermione as she put her wand in her jeans pocket, leaving it to stick out. Because she was going home, she had changed into a fluffy pink sweater and jeans with high-top boots.
"No, it's too dangerous, and plus, you're a beginner so you could get lost." said Lupin. Hermione highly doubted this, because she was such a good Apparator that she could have Apparated to Australia successfully, but she wasn't going to admit that to anyone.
Lupin glanced from left to right and then flung out his wand arm. Instantly, a violent purple triple-decker bus zoomed out of nowhere in front of them. The door to the Knight Bus burst open and a pimply teenager appeared, automatically saying, "Welcome to the Knight Bus, where you-"
"We know, thank you," said Lupin courteously, "You go first, Hermione."
Hermione stepped into the bus and felt sensational warmth spread throughout her body; the bus was unusually warm. After Lupin gave some silver to Stan, they found seats in the second deck of the bus, which was filled with mismatched chairs next to the dusty windows. Hermione and Lupin took seats in the back. Suddenly, the bus blasted off past Grimmauld Place and down the street. Hermione fell forward from the force and groaned as she rose from the floor. Great, here we go again.
She looked outside and all she could see was a blur. Hermione held on to the seat tightly and turned to face Lupin, "Can I ask you a question?"
"Yes, Hermione?" said Lupin, attempting to glue himself to the seat with his wand, and a second later, he succeeded. He pointed the wand at Hermione and a yellow spark hit her. She stopped struggling because her whole body was no longer moving but stuck to the seat with an invisible force.
"Thanks," said Hermione, relaxing her arms, "I know why Harry went mad this morning, but lately he's been acting strange. He gets mad over the littlest things. Is Voldemort transferring his feelings then too? Because technically, it's Harry's anger, not Voldemort's, which makes him act violent."
"He didn't tell you?" said Lupin.
"No." said Hermione stupidly. So Harry was keeping another secret from them. She had the instant urge to give him another punch.
"We found out that Harry shares the same dreams with Voldemort because of their recent strong connection and the connection formed when Voldemort transferred some of his powers into Harry when he was a baby. This connection became stronger when Voldemort used Harry's blood in his potion to bring him back to power. Therefore, they see the same things, although we think that Voldemort started having these dreams or visions about the Forbidden Forest first. The more of these dreams Harry has, the more feelings Voldemort transfers into Harry's mind. I think that Voldemort's doing this deliberately, but we haven't yet figured out why."
"How do you know about Harry's dreams?"
"From Hagrid." said Lupin simply, "And he told us at dinner a few days ago, remember?"
"Then you must know that I'm having these dreams too." she said.
"Yes, and I don't know why you're having these dreams. Maybe you also have a connection with Harry."
From how Harry had been acting these days, she wasn't so sure if she wanted a connection with him.
"If Voldemort can pour his feelings into Harry, then shouldn't that work in vice versa?" said Hermione.
"It should, but it would be difficult since Voldemort is a much more powerful wizard and I doubt Harry could do much by making him feel happy."
Everything was adding up, at least about Harry. He was getting more and more aggressive by the day, and today, his anger had reached the top level, which had caused him to perform the Cruciatus Curse. What would he do the next time?
"Wait a minute. Are you saying that Harry's going to turn evil?" said Hermione, dreading the answer.
"That's what we're afraid of, and if Harry gives in, who knows what will happen."
"And what about me? I haven't been acting insane even though I've had those dreams." But she wasn't so sure of that.
"As to that, I have no idea."
At that moment, the Knight Bus stopped with a halt on Red Oak Drive in front of Hermione's house. Lupin took the spell off of Hermione and then turned to do the same to himself, giving them the ability to move again, and they got out of the Knight Bus. The door slammed shut and the bus took off ferociously and disappeared into thin air.
Hermione was home. She had to admit that it was nice to take foot into as street where it wasn't filled up with crooked, wretched, and broken-glass houses. The appearance of almost heaven was striking with the soft snow on the leafless tree branches and sheets of snow covered the grass, smooth and untouched. Even the wind in this area seemed to have cooperated into being less howling and destructive.
She turned around to look at her own house, which now appeared whiter than before because of the snow. The Christmas lights weren't on because it was the afternoon, but they covered the whole house, and on the lawn there were inflated snowmen, deer, and Santa Clauses. Both of her parents' cars were in the three car garage, with two of the doors open. She noticed that there were dozens of boxes next to her mum's car, closed up and taped, and Hermione wondered what that was all about. Was that the news? Were they moving and getting a bigger house?
Like we actually need to. There were five bedrooms and three bathrooms in the house, a basement with a kitchen, a living room, and three sitting rooms. They had all the space they needed. She had always been one of the luckier ones, having dentists as parents.
"Are you coming in?" asked Hermione, looking at Lupin.
"No, I think I'd better be off. Call the house if you need us, alright?"
"All right. Merry Christmas." She hugged him and then with a pop, he evaporated into the air.
She knocked on the front door, which was decorated with a huge wreath with red ribbons in it. The door opened and in front of her was her mother. She took Hermione in her arms and said, "How are you dear?"
Her Mum let go of her. She was dressed in a red cashmere sweater and a formal black skirt with a pearl necklace clinging to her neck. Her face looked terribly gaunt, as if she'd been crying for hours. Her mother had always been a gorgeous woman with diamond shaped green eyes and full pouting lips, along with her straight dyed-dirty blonde hair (Hermione had gotten her curly hair from her father), but right now she wasn't looking so good.
Hermione stepped inside the house and put her bag down, "Confused," she answered her Mum's question, "Where's Dad?"
"In the office," she said, taking her into the living room, "Come, and sit down. Let me get you something to eat. And where's Crookshanks?"
Hermione sat down on the comfy black leather couch, "Ron's going to bring her, and I'm not hungry. I'll go put my things in my room." She rose from the sofa, went up the curved marble staircase, and walked through the hallway. She stopped to the second door to her right and opened it.
Everything was the same and untouched. Her full size bed lay in the middle, covered with blue sheets and comfy pillows placed on top. Almost everything was normal like any other teenage girl would have, except for some things. When you opened the walk-in closet, you would find school robes and dress robes instead of Muggle clothes, loads of books in her dresser drawers instead of makeup and jewelry, and basically nothing on the top of her dresser because she usually didn't wear any makeup. The walls were completely bare since her Mum had decided it would be unexplainable if one of their relatives or acquaintances had walked in and seen moving posters of magical happenings. This hadn't really bothered Hermione since she barely spent any time at home. She unpacked all of her things and put them away neatly, and went downstairs.
Her father was now in the living room, reading the newspaper, and Hermione marched up to him and blinded him with a humungous hug. She was definitely happy to see her Dad.
A minute later, Hermione's Mum came in with a dish of chocolate chip cookies and sat down in the loveseat across from them, looking at them crossly. Hermione didn't take notice of this oddity.
"So," Hermione started to say after they'd all sat down, and helping herself to a cookie, "tell me what was so important that I had to come here halfway through my vacation?"
"Don't you miss us?" said Dad, with a strange look on his face.
"Of course, but I told you I'll be home forever after this year ends. So what is it?"
Her Mum and Dad were acting very strange. Mum was gesturing to Dad and giving a sideways look to Hermione. Her Dad's eyes widened a bit and then her Mum came into speech.
"We-uh-well, sweetie, we're," her Mum blabbed, and then in a whiff she said, "Erm…we're getting divorced."
Hermione didn't register in what her mother had just said. It had sounded like a jumbled of words.
"Excuse me?"
"We're getting divorced." Mum said more clearly now, and it seemed as if she was holding in her breath.
Yeah right, Hermione thought, and laughed out loud, "Very funny. If this is your way of getting me here, then I have to tell you that-" she stopped dead as she saw the serious faces facing her. Not a hint of amusement was on them.
"You're not kidding." She said as slowly as possible, trying to swallow the whole of the cookie without any milk. A dreading feeling was rising more and more in her stomach as her parents' faces got more serious, and it wasn't from the food.
"Why?" she said with a cracked voice, "You love each other. You can't split up!"
Her Dad leaned forward and clutched his hands together, and not making eye contact, he said, "Time changes things and people, Hermione. We're two completely different and we always argue-"
"What do you mean you always argue?" she fumed, "You never argue!"
"We didn't before, but we do now, and you haven't been around enough to-"
"This is about me isn't it?" she said, coming into dead realization.
"No, of course not, don't be silly." said Mum in an annoyed voice. Even though Hermione wasn't a mind reader like Snape or Lupin, she could tell when her mother was lying.
"Yes it is! You wish I still lived here and went to high school! You don't like me being a witch!"
"That's not why!" her mother said angrily, "we just can't live with each other anymore, and it's got nothing to do with you. I admit I haven't always been thrilled with you running off to school with those two boys for the whole year and don't even come home during the summer..."
Hermione couldn't believe her ears. They had just said that it wasn't because of her and now they were criticizing her and who she spent her time with. She goaded into speech, "I'm seventeen years old! I'm technically an adult! You can't tell me where to live or what school to go to!"
"You're not acting like an adult right now." said Dad in a disappointing voice. She knew she wasn't, but what could she do?
"You want me to stop going to Hogwarts? I'll do it if it ends your fights! Is that what you want?"
"No, no. We don't want that, we just wanted you home in the summer and vacation, but that doesn't matter now." Her mother said with a sigh.
"Your mother is moving out tomorrow and you have to decide who you want to live with." Her father said.
Time seemed to have stopped. She couldn't feel the air or smell the freshly-baked chocolate chip cookies placed on the cocktail table in front of her.
"To-tomorrow? But tomorrow is Christmas!" said Hermione in disbelief.
Her mother looked at her gravely, "I'm sorry Hermione, but I start work at the new clinic the day after Christmas so I have to move everything tomorrow. I would have left a long time ago but I decided to wait until you came."
"New clinic? Where are you going?" said Hermione, absolutely dazed.
"France."
"WHAT?" she sat there, flabbergasted, "France? Are you crazy? That's so far away!"
"I'm sorry honey. You have to decide soon whether you're coming with me or staying here."
Hermione's head whirled crazily as she tried to take in what her parents had just said. A system in her body had turned off with a flick of a switch and she couldn't take any more news.
"Well?" said Mum, waiting for an answer. But she didn't have an answer. How was she supposed to choose?
At that instant, she got up on her feet and stormed out the living room not speaking another word. She heard their shouts behind her, but she didn't respond to them. Up and up she went on the staircase without looking back. Hermione didn't know why she was acting like this, because she usually faced her problems, not run from them. That would be pulling a Harry. All she knew is that she didn't have an answer to their question….she could never decide who to live with…
Hermione entered her room and collapsed onto the bed. She could feel tears coming but held them back with a huge effort, knowing that once she started she wouldn't be able to stop. She just stared ahead at the mirror in front of her, perceiving her image. There were tiny glints in her eyes.
At that precise moment, Hermione heard heavy footsteps coming up the stairs rapidly. Hermione pulled out her wand and was about to utter the door locking curse when the opened door slammed shut by itself. A second later, the door banged.
"Hermione, open up!" came her father's voice, and she responded, "Leave me alone!"
"Stop acting like a little child and open the door this instant!" said her mother heatedly.
Hermione didn't answer to that and she certainly didn't open the door. After a while, the banging stopped and her parents retreated. Hermione issued a sigh of relief and lay down on the bed comfortably with her hands behind her head on the pillow. She gazed up at the blank ceiling in deep thought.
It was her fault. All her fault was what one voice in her said. Maybe if she had come home more during the summer in her earlier years then maybe she could have kept her parents happy. Maybe if she had never gone to Hogwarts in the first place, then her parents would still be together.
But it can't be all your fault, said another small voice in her head. She couldn't possibly be the whole reason why her parents were splitting up, could she? There had to be another motive to it, like one had cheated on the other or something like that. She just didn't want to hear what it was right now.
It actually didn't matter whose fault it was now. What mattered was who she was going to live with. How could they do this to her? A burning pain rose in her heart like red hot heartburn. How was she supposed to choose one parent over the other?
For the first time in her life, she wished she was any normal Muggle going to normal high school and living at home with her parents. Then she would have no worries about her parents, about the evils in the wizarding world, and much more…
Once again, tears were starting to form in her eyes, but she brushed them away and took deep breaths. She was going to be strong about this. No more crying for Hermione.
What was she going to do tomorrow? Would she be spending Christmas in France with her mother or spend it in England with her father? It would surely be the worst Christmas ever, since she would be spending it with only one parent and no friends or relatives.
This was definitely the worst Christmas present she had ever gotten.