Cry of a Restless Soul

Summary:
Chapter three of the first in the Legacy Chronicles. The plot starts to come into view here, a dark object appears in an unlikely person's hands, the reader is introduced to Hermione Granger's parents as well as an unlikely antagonist. Depressed people come in and out of this chapter, and a "friend" is disgregarded. Enjoy!

Disclaimer:
See last chapter... i'm getting tired of copying and pasting...

Chapter 3:

Perfect Warriors

Coming out of the mist, making the ground shake slightly, was Rubeus Hagrid. His beardy face truly lightened both of the Gryffindors spirits, making them both breathe easy and go to greet him cheerfully.

"Hagrid!" Hermione exclaimed, not bothering to conceal her shock. Hagrid laughed cheekily at this.

"Come on ye two. Molly's had a real fit she has." He said, Harry and Hermione nodded, putting away their wands and following Hagrid.

"Have you seen Ron, Hagrid?" Harry asked his older friend.

"Yea, he was right disappointed, kep' saying how stupid he was." Hagrid replied, his tone using the same dynamical range. Harry looked at Hermione's expression and was surprised to see it the same as before. It seemed Ron's safety did not trigger anything inside of Hermione.

In truth, Harry wouldn't have been surprised if Hermione was relieved he, and along with a lot of other people, thought the two of them would eventually start fancying each other, Harry felt himself look at the ground. If those two got together that would probably start to push him away from them. Truthfully, the sole Potter would not enjoy anyone else's company over those two, he looked back up in front of him and was surprised to see both Hermione's and Hagrid's eyes on him.

"What, something wrong?" Harry felt his eyebrows rise and Hermione frowned.

"You were muttering again," she stated.

"Was I? Well, I didn't notice. It probably wasn't anything important anyway." Harry said dismissively, making a slapping gesture with his right hand to indicate to his friends to forget about it.

"Whatever ye say 'Arry," the half-giant said, turning back to start marching onward. The rest of the journey was peaceful enough, the mist didn't part at any point yet Harry got used to it, he kept his wand tucked in his belt so he would have quick and easy access to it, his dark emerald eyes darted all around his line of sight, making sure nothing was approaching them.

Soon enough, the original party that departed from Privet Drive was in sight. All of them look relieved at the arrival of Harry and Hermione, even Aran who seemed quite worried that Death Eaters would turn up before Hagrid got to them.

"I don't know I can thank you Hagrid." Harry heard Mrs. Weasley say to Hagrid as she gave both Hermione and himself hugs.

"Don't ye worry about thanking me Molly, just keep em' safe," he grunted, then turned and left without saying another word.

"Wonder why he left so soon." Hermione said when Mrs. Weasley had left the two of them and went to go talk with her husband.

"So many questions," Harry stated suddenly. He turned away from Hermione when he felt an arm grasp his shoulder.

"Sorry about that mate'," it was Ron apologizing for running ahead. "I made it back fine, but I was thinking about l… other things." Harry frowned at this but he just shook his head. "I just got distracted, so I lost track of you two."

"Thanks to Hagrid and Harry I'm still alive." Hermione said, beaming at Harry. Harry snorted, which made her beamed expression changed sourly.

"I let us get into this situation Hermione." Harry told her truthfully. "I could have easily let you suffer because of cramps but I had to be that noble id-"

"Don't say that Harry." She interrupted firmly. "It's what makes you, you, none of us can ask for more then that." She frowned but then let it disappear and replaced it with a smile. Harry couldn't think of anything to say to his female friend, so he curved his body and looked back at his male friend.

"Ron-" Harry started but Ron held up a hand to stop him from saying anymore.

"I – I owe you something now Harry." He told Harry, moving back to his trunk to find anything of worth.

"Ron no I-" It seemed that Ron would not let Harry say anything.

"No Harry! No modesty needed here! I give you something, you accept, we go on with our lives!" He didn't look at him, but when Harry saw Hermione's look of admiration, he knew he had touched a nerve. "Yes!" Harry tore his eyes from Hermione and looked back at Ron whose head was stuffed into his trunk.

"Ron what're you doing?" Harry asked, unable to hide the grin now spreading over his face.

"Like I said, I'm giving you something of worth!" His head then rose out of the trunk, quite abruptly, hitting his head on the roof of the trunk.

Harry couldn't hide his laugh after Hermione quietly giggled. Then, triumphantly, he presented a bag. Harry, his grin disappearing quickly, gazed at the purple bag, even though it fit perfectly in Ron's palm, he couldn't help but notice it seemed to float above his grasp.

"Ron-" Hermione spoke unexpectedly making Harry's eyes fall instantly into hers. "Where did you get that?"

"Fred, he said the old owner didn't want it anymore, and that he didn't want it either. No one will buy it for some reason. So he gave it to me." Ron answered truthfully.

"How can you tell what's in there without even looking inside?" Harry asked Hermione intriguingly, she moved her stare into Harry's and for a moment that, in reality, lasted a second; their eyes were locked together.

"Well, I've read quite a bit on the subject of Dark objects-" she said quickly, moving her chocolate eyes back to the dark purple satchel resting in Ron's outward hand.

"That's not surprising," Harry said mildly, and then added. "Wait, you said Dark objects?" She nodded.

"Inside of that satchel is… is something not good," she stated lamely and Ron let out a laugh. "How the previous owner of that store came about it is another story, but you, Harry, cannot accept that." She said quickly, moving her eyes back to his emerald ones.

"Is the Dark in it that great?" Hermione shrugged.

"It is called the Stone of the Damned, I don't know if that sounds very Dark to you." She said, crossing her arms and looking away, her brown locks moving with the slight wind.

"Sounds pretty cliché, care to tell us what it is?" Ron said irritated.

"I'm getting to it alright!" She uncrossed her arms and frowned, looking at seemingly nothing; she continued. "When the holder of the stone k-kills someone it absorbs the victim's – the victim's soul."

"That's it?" Ron said suddenly in the ensuing silence.

"Well, if the Stone starts to hold too many souls, it will release them all and the souls, being as corrupted as they are because of the stone, will – will…" Hermione stopped, looking at the ground.

"What will they do Hermione?" Harry asked, no anger or impatient behavior hinted in his voice but a curious tone seemed to cling to his words.

"I don't know." The know-it-all Witch said for the first time. Harry was taken aback.

"Hermione doesn't know something!" Ron exclaimed, a smile broadening on his face.

"It hasn't happened before." She said quickly, a red shade appearing on each of her two cheeks. "Once the holder of the stone dies the souls just… they just… disappear. Leaving the stone empty for the next master. Never has one person murdered enough people, cruelly enough because that's what you're supposed to do to keep the soul intact and restless inside of the stone.

"Never has one person ever murdered enough to release the souls into the world. The last person to come even close was… thought to be a Muggle."

"Really? Goes to show you don't have to have magic to be evil." The Boy-who-lived said bluntly. "Who was it?"

"Jack the Ripper." The name it self ran shivers down Harry's spine. In his mind's eye; he cursed the Dursleys again from keeping him in the dark.

"Jack the Ripper… who was he?" Harry asked quietly and slowly.

"I don't know how long ago, but London was tainted with a series of brutal killings, they never found the killer, but he left notes everywhere saying he was called Jack the Ripper.

"A theory," Hermione continued. "Of how Jack actually died, was his obsession with the stone, the theory states that he was so consumed by the prospect of releasing all of those souls into the world actually consumed his own soul, the stone swallowing his demented soul."

"So Jack the Ripper became soulless? That's why he stopped killing people?" Harry mumbled to no one in particular, choosing to stare at the ground.

"It's a theory," Hermione answered. "He probably killed himself because of his soulless existence, but he WAS a Muggle, all of the bodies proved that, a wizard would have done worse. The Ministry didn't want to get involved with Muggle murders so they let Jack go on." Hermione said, walking forward and avoiding the eyes of her two friends.

"The Ministry let him kill more people!" Harry exclaimed, outraged. Hermione stopped and turned back to him and nodded.

"Harry, that was the past, this is the present. The Ministry has never had a high reputation and it will continue unless we can get someone who we can count on to make a significant difference." Hermione told him firmly, Harry nodded mutely.

"We should get going, oh and Ron, I suggest you keep that safe." Harry said, leading the way to the rest of the party who had seemed to forgotten about the trio of sixth years.

"But Harry-" Ron started to protest but Harry held a hand up.

"Come on, keep it safe." He said simply, leading his two best friends, their trunks in tow, to Hermione Granger's house.

Hermione's house anything but spectacular, it had, Harry thought, a pleasing feeling more then the Dursley's house could ever conjure. As the party approached the house, Harry couldn't help but notice the enjoyable atmosphere that seemed to surround the house. Harry stopped, panting slightly from the weight of his trunk, and wondering why they didn't ride their respective brooms here, and looked up at the brown and red bricked house.

From the outside, it looked like it had two floors, no doubt there was a basement as well, and Harry thought of the cold air that always came free with any basement and resolved to move his bedroom down there, with Hermione's permission of course.

"Well, welcome to the Granger residence!" Hermione said, startling Harry for a moment. Harry gave her a smile, which she returned with an even wider one.

"I guess first impressions aren't always the best," Harry said shyly, trying to be as polite as possible. "But from the looks of it, it looks… well… it looks better then the Dursleys could ever." He finished, letting Hermione's smile blossom even more.

"You two coming?" Harry tore his gaze from Hermione's revealed pearly teeth and looked up to see Aran; the newest wizard to enter the life of Harry Potter.

"Yeah – yeah we are." The Boy-who-lived said uneasily, something about Aran kept Harry wary and alert whenever he was around him. Aran turned swiftly, his cloak billowing behind him, for a moment Harry was reminded of Snape. Harry frowned at the resemblance between them and glared at Aran's retreating back.

"He reminds me of Snape." Hermione said as if reading Harry's mind.

"I swear you would make a great Legilimens you know." Hermione blushed but continued to walk toward her house, Harry noticed everyone else was already inside.

"Why would you say that?" She asked, trying to hide her pride.

"I thought the same thing. I thought you would realize that much Hermione, but maybe the know-it-all title doesn't fit you anymore." Harry said, grinning down at his shorter friend. True Harry was not a tall person, but he was still tall enough to have to look down on Hermione.

"Ah, Mr. Potter and Ms. Granger have finally decided to join us." Harry wasn't expecting this newest voice. The voice of, possibly, the most powerful wizard on the planet.

"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry spoke quietly; he heard a slight chuckle and stood face to face with an old man, Albus Dumbledore.

"I have been called that many times yes, may I have the pleasure of introducing you too Mr. and Mrs. Granger?" Harry nodded slightly, still surprised at Dumbledore's presence. Seeing as Dumbledore tried his best to avoid Harry the last year, then again, Harry still had the threat of Voldemort looming inside of him.

"This is Joshua Granger, the father of your young friend." He said indicating a tall man with short brown hair. Harry could see some resemblance of Hermione in him, though tall, he was fairly thin and had the same face and head shape as Hermione. Harry nodded to him, raising a hand.

"Hi-" Harry said lamely, Ron could help but laugh a bit; Harry shot him a glare, Harry was suddenly reminded of the way he was acting back in his first year, so blissful. Harry smiled to himself, hoping this little interaction meant something in the long run. He could hear his greeting being replied by Mr. Granger.

"And this," Dumbledore continued. "Is Mia Granger." Now Harry could see a total resemblance in Hermione, her curly brown locks were identical to Hermione's and her light brown eyes seemed to be a less powerful version of Hermione's, though, looking back at her father, his eye color was identical to his wife's, so it was possible Hermione took the full brunt of both eye colors.

"Hello." Harry said, not as lamely. She smiled slightly and replied with a cheerful sounding "hello."

"Mr. and Mrs. Granger, this Harry Potter; a devoted friend of your daughter who has assisted her in several occasions," Harry couldn't help but look away from the many eyes placed on him.

"I could say the same thing about Hermione." Harry heard himself say; he couldn't help but agree with it. This response was greeted by a few laughs.

"Now Harry, you must be wondering why I have chosen to leave you here of all places." Harry shrugged at this.

"I wouldn't mind an explanation." He said honestly and Dumbledore's smile lengthened.

"You really know how to bring humor in the darkest of times Harry." Dumbledore replied proudly, Harry looked up at his eyes, hidden behind the half-moon spectacles he was wearing. Harry couldn't help but see him as more of a father or friend than a professor in those few seconds of eye contact; he knew Dumbledore cared for him more than other students, and he himself had felt a certain fatherly bond between him and Dumbledore.

"I try my best." Harry replied looking away from the old wizard, he could hear Dumbledore's distinctive chuckle again.

"Now then, I thought Voldemort," he, Harry, and Hermione ignored the shivers all around them. Harry, out of the corner of his eye, noticed that Aran did not tremble. "Would least expect you to come here, he does not know of the Muggle-born Ms. Granger's existence just yet, though I believe young Mr. Malfoy has informed the enemy of your close friendship."

"Will the family be protected though?" Harry asked making Dumbledore's grin diminish.

"Of course, along with you as well, Order members have been stationed around the house as well as numerous protection charms, this house could not be more protected then the previous headquarters, which is being evacuated as we speak."

"Because of Hermione's letter?" Dumbledore nodded slightly.

"Though, long before she sent the letter, Bellatrix Lestrange legally inherited the house. Even though she is in a Dementor free prison she most likely has, like young Mr, Malfoy, informed her master of the residence." Dumbledore explained. Just as the Boy-who-lived was about to open his mouth to ask another question, someone else spoke up.

"We should be leaving soon Albus." It was Aran; Dumbledore nodded and motioned to the Weasleys to exit.

"See you later then." Ron said briefly to the two of them. "Oh, I actually think you would take better care of this rock thing." He took out the purple satchel again and handed it Harry who, with a reluctant sigh, accepted it. It felt weightless, though he noticed it still seemed to float just over his palm. He felt something inside of him stir quite profoundly, but the Boy-who-lived ignored it, quickly stuffing it clumsily into his right pocket.

"I'll see you soon, don't worry." He repeated, running outside to wait. It seemed each person wanted to say goodbye to him individually for, out of the corner of his right emerald eye, he saw Mrs. Weasley approach.

"You're going to be ok Harry. I just know it." Harry saw Mrs. Weasley's face rather close to his. He felt himself back away slightly but then she gripped him tightly, it didn't hurt, but it was just a way to get him to stand still. "You've got to take care of each other, understand me? We'll come by every now and then but the way things are right now…" She left the sentence hanging, instead kissing him on the forehead and moving to Hermione, she mirrored her previous actions on her, and then waved to both of them, straining a smile.

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley." Harry and Hermione both said in unison, smiling, she followed Ron. The youngest, and oldest, Potter then looked away from the person whom he considered his own mother, to face her husband.

"Like Molly just said, you two'll be ok; we'll come around as much as we can you hear? I heard from Albus that you were rightly mad about being in the dark last year. We'll make sure to keep you up-to-date with everything in the Order." Harry could tell he was speaking both of the sixth year students present, for his eyes jumped back and forth between the two of them.

"Does that mean we're in the Order?" Harry chuckled slightly when Hermione asked this, not bothering to hide her agitation.

"Not exactly, you two are, quite possibly, the most skill children, who are still at Hogwarts, we have on our side. So you're important to us, and all of the members have agreed to keep you in the light." Mr. Weasley grinned. "You'll both be inducted into the Order, officially, soon enough along with Ron as well. Don't worry. Keep yourselves busy now, goodbye." Mr. Weasley waved to them both, leaving the house with his back turned to them.

Then out came Dumbledore, who shook both of their hands and wished them luck, then followed the rest of the Weasley family. Harry noticed Fred and George didn't bother coming in, he wondered why but was interrupted by someone clearing his or her throat. Harry turned around to face Hermione's parents who were both smiling.

"Both Hermione and Mr. Dumbledore have spoken quite highly of you Harry." Mr. Granger said fondly, Harry didn't know what to say to respond this praise. "My wife and I have wished to meet you in person for a long time now."

"That's interesting; I don't deserve that…honor." Harry said quietly.

"Why not? The way Hermione tells it, you sound like a good hero who believes in everyone's well being." Mrs. Granger intervened calmly.

"That's the way Hermione tells it, she probably hasn't mentioned that huge portion of luck that was involved." The foyer of the Granger residence suddenly turned rather quiet, even Crookshanks, who had just entered to see what all the commotion was, was mute.

"You're a very skilled wizard Harry; you don't need to rely on luck at all." Hermione said slowly, Harry turned to face her, his face dark.

"I'm not anything special Hermione; you'll see that in time." Harry looked at the ground, away from the disbelieving stares from all around, his gaze lingering on the tilled floor.

"Harry-" Harry looked up at her, completely omitting everything else unconsciously. "Harry can you hear yourself?"

"Hermione – I'm not trying to be noble or anything, but this is my fight, I will fight it the best I can but I can tell I won't come out of it victorious, but I will weaken him severely, you people just need to finish him off alright?" Harry moved right in front of his friend, putting each of his hands on each of her shoulders. "Let's forget about Voldemort though ok?" She nodded, her mouth open in surprise. Harry nodded, flashing a slight grin at her that told her he appreciated the response.

He let go of his shoulders, feeling something fall out of place inside of him, he ignored the feeling though, turning to her parents.

"I feel that I must apologize for all of this…" Harry said quietly to them. "So so-" but to his surprise, Hermione's short mother cut him off.

"You're going through much more than all of us can comprehend Harry." Mrs. Granger said turning him around and crouching down, putting her hands on his shoulder she looked into his eyes. "Don't ever think we're not here for you. True we've just met, but the way Hermione's eyes just glow whenever you're mentioned…"

"We were picky at first on who Hermione should call friends. We didn't want our daughter to be hurt you see." Mr. Granger walked behind Hermione and wrapping his arms around her. "Last time she tried to make a friend before she went to Hogwarts…" Mr. Granger left his speech hanging; Harry looked over Mrs. Granger's shoulder to see Hermione looking down at the floor with a gloomy look on her face.

"What happened?" Harry couldn't help but be curious; the young wizard couldn't comprehend why no one would like Hermione. Then again, he remembered her behavior back in their first year. The constant mumbling in the background that was issued by Hermione; the know-it-all, Harry couldn't help but grin slightly at his memory of the young Hermione.

"Well it star-"

"I think Hermione would do a better job in telling it Josh." Mrs. Granger interrupted, letting go of Harry finally. He opened and closed his mouth several times, then nodded.

"Yes, yes indeed you're right. Off you go then." He nudged Hermione forward and she stumbled somewhat, having relaxed in her father's grip. Harry chuckled and Hermione glared at him.

"Come on, I'll show you to your room." To Harry's mute delight, his room was in the basement, the cold air shot at him as he followed Hermione down the stairs, Harry got used to the dark atmosphere quickly, though when Hermione turned on a few lights at once, he was caught off guard. He held a hand to his eyes for a second and widened his eyes, letting them get used to the bright light. Harry heard Hermione giggle.

"Sorry about that, I usually spend most of my time down here reading during the summer. See over there?" She pointed behind him; he turned around and saw a comfortable looking chair with a tall lamp set next to it. He let his trunk fall from his grasp and he sat down in the comfortable looking chair. He relaxed for the first time in the summer, suddenly an uncomfortable feeling came from his thigh and then he remembered about the stone Ron had given him, he lazily took it out of his pocket and threw it to the ground. Letting his eyes close, he felt himself fall, quickly, asleep.

"Harry?" The voice sounded saintly in Harry Potter's ears, a sound of salvation from the darkness he was walking through at the moment. He squinted to find the owner of the voice; the echo was still ringing in his ears. He waved his arms through the darkness randomly, trying to find the beatific sounding girl.

"HARRY! WHAT'RE YOU DOING!" Harry's eyes shot open to see Hermione's staring right back into them.

"Oh sorry," Harry said, dropping his arms, he must have been flailing around because of the dream. "Just a dream gone bad,"

"It wasn't one of Voldemort's placed nightmares was it?" Hermione asked sternly.

"No, no it was something stupid." Harry said, though Hermione didn't look very convinced. "So you were going to tell me about that "friend" of yours right?"

"Oh yeah, she was… well I thought she was nice. It was before Hogwarts, as you know already, she was… sorta nice I suppose. Oh I'm repeating things over and over again!" Hermione exclaimed.

"Don't worry Hermione, just relax, here." He got off her favorite reading chair and motioned for her to sit in it. "Go ahead, I don't mind sitting on the floor."

"Whatever you say Harry," she said, flopping down on the stuffy chair, she let out a long stream of breath, Harry sat down, cross legged, on the carpeted floor. "Anyway, I think her name was April or something, it's been a while. I must have been five or six. Er – all I remember was that we got along pretty well. Then she started taking advantage of my lunch money."

"You had lunch money? Such a privilege! The most money I got from the Dursleys was ten pence, which I gave to Ron who was somewhat fascinated by it. I expect he passed it on to his father…" Hermione laughed wholeheartedly at this.

"Well yes I had lunch money, since my parents are dentists they earn quite a bit. Though they never really liked big houses, so they just got a normal sized house, since they're only the three of us," she spread her arms wide, indicating the entire house which much larger than the Dursley's.

And a lot more pleasant, Harry thought with a smile.

"Anyway, she started begging for some of the money everyday, being five or six; I didn't grasp that she was actually taking advantage of my money supply. I started to come home with my pockets empty and my stomach rumbling, I didn't understand how much I actually gave her everyday, but it seemed like more and more with everyday.

"Then one day I saw her giving the same money to people I thought were blithering idiots. REALLY I mean it!" She exclaimed because Harry had started laughing. "Oh come on it wasn't that funny…"

"No Hermione," he said with a wide grin. "I-it's just I've never heard you say – blithering idio-ts before." Harry grasped his chest and breathed loudly.

"What's wrong with me saying blithering idiots?" Hermione asked frowning.

"There's nothing wrong with it, other then the fact that it's a direct insult, I've just never imagined you saying that." Harry said, looking her right into her eyes.

"I can imagine you and Ron saying a lot of things." Harry's best female friend said crossing her arms. Harry chose to laugh again. "Now what's so funny!"

"It's so typical of you, the way you're acting!"

"So first you're laughing about an uncommon Hermione, and then you're laughing at a typical Hermione?" The Witch raised her eyebrows and Harry nodded. "Pathetic," she muttered and Harry Potter started to laugh again.

"Well whoever this Apple was-" Harry said wiping his watery eyes. "She's missed out on quite a lot!" Hermione snorted.
"I guess the same can go for your cousin Dudley, he's missed out on a lot about you." Hermione said, her frown disappearing. Harry grinned again, he had, yet again, unconsciously omitted about everything except Hermione, and because of that, he knew this was going to be an enjoyable summer.