Thanks to my beta reader Ashley Killen who helped me with this chapter and to the nice reviewers!!!
Hermione figures out and the rescue:
She flew over the countryside, the letter from her master in her grasp. She was worried, or at least as worried as an animal could be.
With every wing stroke, she got nearer to her destination: Hermione's house. There, she would deliver the letter, that on the one side was soaked with blood because the letter was written on the freshly bloodstained floor, where Harry had recently been beaten. But her master hadn't noticed, hadn't noticed at all because he was too weak, too weak to even see right.
But not weak enough to give in and tell Hermione. No, probably only in death would he ask for help, but maybe not even then.
Hermione was reading a book, but she couldn't concentrate on what she was reading. The letters got blurry and in resignation she closed her book and went to the window.
She knew why she couldn't concentrate on what she was reading; it was because she was worried. Worried about her best friend Harry.
She knew something was wrong, and she didn't mean that he was grieving for his godfather, no. Grieving about someone's death was normal, but he had always been so distant, not telling anything. Normally, he complained about the Dursleys, that everything was boring, and asked more then once if he could stay with Ron and if Hermione could speak to Dumbledore and explain everything to him. Of course, Hermione always told him that it would be safer for him to stay with the Dursleys and that she would write him everyday so that he would not be so bored.
And of course, Hermione had, every time she had wrote to him, known that not one of her letters could take away what Harry really felt every summer he spent with the Dursleys. The loss of his parents.
But although she knew all these things, she was worried about his safety and begged him to stay every summer with the Dursleys, but nowadays, she wondered if Harry was really better with the Dursleys.
A single tear rolled down her cheek. She shook her head to drive them away. And then she saw her: the little white spot in the air moving in her direction. Without a doubt, it had to be Hedwig, so Harry had returned her letter immediately. This could be a good or a bad sign. It could mean that he was finally going to tell her the truth and was glad that someone was asking, or it could mean that he was trying to expel all her worries. But if he was going to try that, she wouldn't believe him.
Hedwig landed on Hermiones bed and the latter hurried to the letter and read it as fast as she could.
Well, the letter wasn't that bad. After all he had admitted that something was wrong, and if she would just guarantee him that she wouldn't tell Dumbledore or Ron, than he would tell her eventually. So all in all, she had a very good feeling as she sat down at her desk to return the letter and ensure him that she wouldn't tell Dumbledore or Ron.
That lasted until she moved the letter from Harry to her desk and her eyes fell on the backside of the letter. The letter was brown with a tingle of red. At first, she wondered where Harry had got that funny paper, but as she removed her hand, she noticed that the red had stained it. With a shocked gasp, she let go of the letter and smelled the almost dried liquid on her hands.
Blood!
There was no doubt, it was blood and since the whole letters backside was soaked with it, it had come from a very big wound.
Her brain started to work. She was pretty sure that it was Harry's blood. But if she was thinking about telling something, although Harry had begged her to not do that, she wanted to be sure.
Only recently, she had read about some test potions, which could distinguish the blood of wizards or muggles. After checking if she had all the ingredients she needed, she began to brew the potion. After one hour, in which she was on the edge to just run and inform someone because she was so worried, she finished the potion. With trembling hands she let one drop of the potion fall on the backside of the letter, and waited.
Exactly two minutes later, the paper, where the drop had fallen turned green.
Green meant wizard's blood. Okay, Harry was the only wizard in the Dursleys house, so is had to be his blood. But to be sure that the potion hadn't failed, she took the knife she had taken from the kitchen earlier, when the potion was brewing, and cut her finger. One drop of the liquid fell on the white paper and she poured another drop of the potion onto it. After two minutes it tuned purple.
So the potion was right. Purple meant muggle born wizard.
The whole time she was brewing the potion, she was thinking about what she would do if her assumption was right. She didn't want to contact Dumbledore or Ron because Harry had specifically asked her to not do so. But she knew that Dumbledore was on holiday and so McGonagall was in the headmaster's office because some of the teachers always stayed in Hogwarts to make sure that nothing happened. So Hermione went to the oven and used her just recently bought Floo powder.
She knew she shouldn't use it if her parents weren't at home but she had no time. So she threw the powder in the oven and screamed "Hogwarts headmasters office" as she stepped in the green flame.
The swirling sensation took over her and as she landed on the other side. She felt so dizzy, that she fell down. After a few seconds she opened her eyes and saw a black wall, which, as she realised after another few seconds, was no black wall but the black cloak of the one and only potion master: Severus Snape.
"Miss Granger, what a pleasure to see you in my well earned holidays." His voice almost dripped with sarcasm. "So tell me, Miss Granger, what gives me the pleasure?"
"Professor Snape," Hermiones voice shook almost as much as the letter in her hand that she had brought with her, "I thought Professor McGonagall..." with a whisper she trailed off. The well-known smirk on Snape´s face appeared, "Well Miss Granger obviously..." but he couldn't end this sentence because he was interrupted by Hermione.
"Professor, we have no time for this. Please, I wanted to speak with Professor McGonagall, but since she is not here I suppose.... well, it is urgent, so please, I need your help!" The smirk on Snape`s face grew bigger, "Ohh, if that is not a wonderful sight worth a picture. Miss Granger, one of the best friends of Harry Potter, kneeling on the floor in front of me, shivering like a leaf and begging me for help!" Now getting angry, Hermione stood determined, and faced Snape. Her voice still shook, but not with fear, with fury, "Professor Snape, make whatever smart remark you want to make. After this is done. But now, listen. All of Harry's letters I got this year were awfully nice," she saw that Snape wanted to say something, undoubtedly about Harry, but she stopped him, "No Sir, I said no interruptions! So normally, he does complain about how boring it is with the Dursleys and that Dudley is taunting him; that they are calling him names and so on..." Snape nodded; something in Hermiones voice, probably her determination had silenced and scared him a little bit. He knew, after all, that Hermione wouldn't be scared easily. He knew what she meant, for he had seen the taunting in Harry's memories during the occlumency lessons, " So this summer his letters were just nice, always asking us how we were doing and never complaining. Only in the first two letters he wrote that his uncle Vernon knew, somehow, about Sirius death, and that this summer would be the worst ever... but after that, in the third letter he just, well, acted as if he had never written it. So, I wrote to him and confronted him, his answer back was this...." she gave the letter to Snape who read it, and raised one eyebrow in question. "But Miss Granger," his voice seemed almost soft, "in this letter, everything seems normal, like he just had a little fight with his relatives."
" Yeah!" the shaking in Hermiones voice had vanished, "I thought that as well, but now turn it around...come on turn the letter around!"
A gasp out of Snape´s mouth was heard.
"It is Harry ´s blood, I have checked it with a potion. Professor, I don't want to betray Harry, but I need help. Something is definitely wrong with him."
* * Harry stood in the bathroom and tried to wash himself in the shower. His aunt Petunia had insisted that he would wash himself because he was dirty and smelled awful. She told Vernon that something like that could not be in her house. So Vernon had entered Harry's room and screamed at him. But Harry hadn't moved or shown any reaction at all.
So Vernon had kicked Harry down from his bed. That was the moment when he had seen Hermiones letter. He picked it up and read it. His face got a purple shade and he looked down on the waking Harry and screamed at him that he should go to the bathroom and wash himself. After that said, Vernon had kicked Harry one more time in the ribs, and left.
Unsure, Harry looked at the mirror, his stomach was blue all over and he looked terribly thin. Some of his ribs had to be broken, he felt them with every breath he took. Somehow, when he had been kicked from his bed he had broken his left wrist and on his head was a laceration which connected with a concussion.
On his legs were several cuts from Dudley's new knife and his right ankle was sprained. But his worst injury's were 3 deep stab wounds.
On in his shoulder, on his arm, but the most dangerous, and from Harry's point of view the only life-threatening injury, was a stab wound in his stomach. It was not a deep wound and it hadn't hit any important organs, but it was very painful and had lead to a great blood loss, which made Harry tired all the time.
With slow movements, and painful gasps and moans, Harry dressed himself. After 12 minutes, he was ready and left the bathroom. He had just gone up the stairs, and wanted to enter his prison called a room, when his uncle screamed from the kitchen, "Freak, when you are ready come down and make us dinner!" Harry turned and started the long and painful way down the stairs and just as he reached the last step he felt the dizziness overwhelming him. He tried to stand but all his injuries, and the sleep withdrawal had taken his toll and he broke down unconscious.
After apparating into Privet drive, Snape and Hermione walked to number 4, the house where Harry should live. Just as they stood in front of the door and Snape wanted to knock, they heard a noise like a body hit the floor. A curious look crossed Snape´s face and he held one hand high to signal Hermione to stay quite. After a short pause, they heard heavy steps and then an angry voice, "Ohh Petunia, Dudley come here. The freak has broken down. I think it is unconscious. Now it can't even do the work for us…"
The angry voice faded and soon they heard a sound like a foot connecting with a body in full force and the mumbled words "useless freak, not good for anything"
That was all that they needed to hear. Hermione had tears in her eyes at what she saw after Snape had opened the door with the Alohamora spell and knocked Harry's relatives out. And even Snape looked shocked as he knelt down by the broken body of the child that was called the saviour of the wizard world.
A/N: So what did you think about this chapter????
Ohh and once again Thanks to my beta reader Ashley Killen who had the imense work to correct my mistakes!
So Hermione will stay in this fic and I wanted to hear your opinion about Harry and her, should they share a friendship or a romantic relationship?
So send me your opinion!