Cry of a Restless Soul

Summary:
Another developing chapter, the reader now gets to see Hogwarts up close. Though when Harry learns that he is Quidditch captain, irriation soon leads to anger. When anger comes... yeah... the antagonist of this tale makes another appearence, and Harry's mind is now wide open. We now see an example of "dramatic irony" which is when the auidence, or reader in this case, knows something that the characters do not. The reader gets a glance at the plot of Lord Voldemort, but is all told?

Chapter 5:

Lost in the Depths of Thought

The rest of the summer passed without much incident, the Boy-who-lived kept his temper under control, educated discussions continued around the household, and Harry slept longer and longer with each new day.

"School's starting tomorrow you know." Hermione told him as he was stretching his arms while walking into the kitchen. "You should have been getting back into the habit of waking up earlier then…"

"Noon," Harry finished, sitting down beside her. "I know I should but I can't really resist. Sleep's always been… hard to get for me. Now that I don't have those nightmares anymore…"

"You can sleep as much as you want." The youngest Granger looked up at the youngest Potter with a wide smile. Harry replied with a slight nod.

Sooner then he would have liked, he was facing the barrier of Platform nine and three-quarters. He waved, one last time, to Hermione's parents and then walked through the barrier, appearing was the train that always lifted Harry's spirits. At that moment; Harry's skipped a beat for he realized that this would be the second last time he would be boarding the legendary train.

"This'll be one of the last times we'll see this train you know." Harry crooked his head to see his friend Hermione looking up at the train with a blissful expression.

"You're really good at reading minds aren't you?" Harry stated moving toward the train with Hermione in tow. "You'll have to go to the prefect's cabin right?"

"Oh – yeah… yeah I do." She said guiltily as they boarded the train.

"Hey, 'bout time," the familiar voice of Ronald Weasley floated into Harry's ears, his gaze traveled from Hermione's guilty expression to the joyful visage of his male friend.

"We're actually not late or early." Hermione said from behind Harry.

"Says you, the meeting's already started come on." Ron beckoned for Hermione to follow him. "See you later Harry!"

"Yeah… sure," he barely heard Hermione's "goodbye" but continued on past his two friends to find an empty compartment. He found one near the middle of the train; he stepped inside and placed his trunk sluggishly onto the shelf above the seats. Seating himself next to the window, he passed the time by counting the many bricks on the side wall, from this side of the train he could not see the platform.

"Hey Harry." Harry tore his gaze from the bricks to see Luna Lovegood staring at him with wide eyes, Harry had to shake his head for a second before seeing her clearly enough. He made a mental note not to count bricks again.

"Hey, come on in." He gestured for her to sit down. "How was your summer?"

"Not as good as most." She said, sitting down across from him and placing her bag next to her. "I found something rather interesting though…"

"Hmm?" Harry said mildly.

"I love your interest, I found this." She reached into her bag and pulled out a necklace, Harry didn't have to squint to see the glint around the silver necklace.

"What is it?" Harry asked with interest, keeping his eyes on the necklace, how did it manage to sway so smoothly like that.

"It's an amulet, I think it's also imbued with something relating to Veela." Harry shook his head to clear away the wanting feeling that amulet was giving him.

"Wait, Veela?" Harry said dumbly and she nodded. "I suppose that would make sense, put it away please." She followed his order, and stuffed it back into her bag. Harry felt something lift from his body and he breathed easier now.

"I thought your friend might have liked it." Harry looked back up to the dirty-blond haired girl. "Ginny told me about his little… Veela liking."

"Ron likes Veela? Oh, you're talking about the Quidditch World Cup?" She nodded. "I was drawn to them as well," Harry said off hand.

"What about your summer?" She asked with full attention.

"Relaxing, I got away from the Dursleys as soon as my birthday came around." Harry said, moving his gaze back to the window.

"How'd you do on your O.W.Ls?" She asked, trying to keep a pleasant conversation going.

"I averaged an "E"." Though Harry had completely forgotten the Ordinary Wizarding Level exams entirely, he remembered his mark since it was, in his opinion, above where he thought he stood on the marking scale.

"That's alright isn't it?" Harry shrugged, but despite that she continued to convey her worries of the upcoming examinations to him, he partly listened to her ranting but kept his gaze on the door; waiting for his two friends to come back. He saw someone poke his head in front of the window; Harry squinted to see Neville Longbottom opening the slide door.

"Hey Harry, hey Luna." He said nervously.

"Neville," Harry nodded to him.

"Hi nobody," Harry couldn't help but laugh at this, Neville's cheeks turned red for a bit when she said this, apparently Luna's memory was pretty sharp.

"Sit down Neville." Harry said, gesticulating towards the empty seats.

"Thanks, I got something for my birthday!" He exclaimed abruptly, Harry frowned at this.

"You usually don't get anything?" Luna spoke Harry's thoughts before he could.

"Well Gran doesn't usually feel I deserve anything because of my… you know…" Harry nodded understandably. "Well I got pretty good on my O.W.L's for one, and I told her about what happened at the end of the year last year."

"The Department of Mysterious fiasco?" Harry turned to see a fellow DA member, Hannah Abbot leaning on the side of the door.

"I didn't know it had a name…" Neville said tentatively.

"Guess you don't read the Daily Prophet eh?" She said, her eyes moving from him to Harry's. "I was just wondering if you were going to start up DA again?"

"Yeah, will you?" Neville said a look of ultimate wanting on his face.

"Er-" in truth Harry hadn't given DA much thought, new events had arisen that seemed to omit DA entirely, he looked at the carpeted floor and noticed the train had started to move.

He thought about all of the exciting DA meetings, the wide smiles everyone wore and that talisman feeling Harry had every time he entered Umbridge's class. He looked up at the three eager expressions and nodded.

"Yeah sure, why not? Since Voldemort's back we mind as well get as prepared as possible." Harry was surprised when only Neville and Hannah cringed at the name, he saw Luna still looking as lost as ever.

"Thanks Harry! I'll go tell everyone else! Or maybe if you still have your coin…"

"Yeah sure, I'll schedule the first meeting for as soon as possible." She beamed at him then left hurriedly, Harry looked away from the, now closing door, and chose to look at Luna.

"Something you need?" She asked, feeling his stare.

"You didn't tremble when I said Voldemort." He and Luna ignored Neville's quiver.

"What's the point of that? He's just trying to create fear in us, yet there are other things we have to fear instead…"

"For instance…?" Harry questioned.

"Blast-Ended-Screwts!" She exclaimed and Harry cringed slightly. Neville seemed to be plotting whether or not to leave.

"Finally, something that exists," Harry's gaze snapped up to the doorway and saw Hermione's familiar figure standing, her right arm on her hip and the neighbor, in a relaxing stance.

"Hermione!" Neville and Luna exclaimed simultaneously.

"Look, some people actually know your name." Harry strained his neck to see his red haired friend behind Hermione. "We're allowed in right?"

"Ya sure, come in." Harry said, gesturing them in, thankful to have some people he can carry a conversation with.

"Thanks," Hermione said seating herself beside him and running a hand through her hair.

"I got a birthday present!" Neville exclaimed again and Harry looked away, a slight grin on his face. He couldn't help thinking exactly like Neville; he himself had never celebrated his birthday until the age of eleven.

"What'd you get Neville?" Hermione asked, feigning interest quite well.

"Er – well… this." He dove into his bag, pulling out a large book which immediately made Hermione's eyes glow. Harry laughed as he watched Hermione carefully, the bright glow in the chocolate brown eyes. "It's a book on different wandless spells."

"Wandless spells? I've never heard of that before." Ron said sitting down in between Neville and Luna.

"I've actually been looking for this book." Hermione muttered to herself but Harry couldn't help hearing it. "Neville, do you mind if I look at that for a moment?" Neville handed her the book and started to talk with Luna and Ron.

Harry felt his interest fall away from the people across from him, his gaze lingered on Hermione's face for a lengthy time, absorbing every expression that came onto her face.

"Oh yeah," she said looking right up at him. "Ginny told me just before I came here that you're going to start up DA again."

"Yeah… yeah I am." Harry replied looking away.

"What's wrong? I think it was a great idea!" She exclaimed.

"Maybe, it's just I – I'm worried that I'm going to run out of stuff to teach…" Harry said lamely, looking back at her.

"Wha-at? Run out of stuff to teach! Harry you are dense, you know there's a library absolutely full of spell books right? You can learn spells like that." She snapped her right pointer and middle fingers together and Harry saw her smile widen again. "You can learn em', say if they're useful and then teach it to us."

"You should be teaching Hermione." Harry stated, looking at Luna who was showing the Veela amulet to Ron, Harry didn't seem to drawn to it now but Ron seemed keen on rubbing his face against it.

"I'm no teacher, you are Harry. You know what we need to know and what we don't need to know. That's better then me, I would just teach everything; the theory, the history, the movement, whatever. You just get to the point." Hermione stated.

"I do?" Harry replied confounded. "I never really noticed, I just… I just well – said what I thought about the spell and just…"

"Said it?" Hermione raised her eyebrows, the right side of her mouth curling slightly.

"Yeah – Yeah I guess." He replied, looking away from his friend.

"Hey, get away from me!" The cry came from outside of their compartment, Harry, alert as ever, pulled out his wand and stood up. The compartment went eerily silent until a scream erupted from right outside. Harry dashed out, fearing for the worst. A young girl, most likely a first or second year, was running right toward him. Harry dodged back into his compartment, letting the girl run past unharmed. Stepping back into the hallway, his eyes met those of Draco Malfoy.

"Potter you…"

"Save the insults Malfoy, what're you doing here? Shouldn't you be hanging around with your Death Eaters, hurting innocent Muggles?" Harry taunted, a sidelong smile appearing on his visage. "I would have thought Hogwarts – no any form of education would be above such a fabulous Wizard like yourself. I mean joining the Death Eater clan is rather difficult is it not? Showing your arm to Voldemort, oh how difficult. Would you permit me to see your arm actually; I was actually thinking of joining them, especially after my good friend Bellatrix came and asked me herself." Harry enjoyed watching the transactions between the different expressions on his rival's face.

"You die here Potter! No Dumbledore's here to save you!" Malfoy lifted his wand. Harry, still smiling, was caught slightly off guard and was prepared to leap back into his compartment, but was saved by several spells that shot Malfoy in all directions.

"Yeah Dumbledore isn't." Harry whipped his head around to see Hermione looking rather disgusted at Malfoy's unconscious form. "But we are." Harry didn't have time to send a grateful smile her way, for other cries of agreement erupted all around the halls.

"I concur!" Harry heard Ernie Macmillan say from a few doors down to the right. "I was the one who used Jelly-legs!"
"My Impedimenta was for Ginny!" Dean Thomas, a fellow dorm-mate of Harry's, cried out.

"Shut up Dean." The Boy-who-lived heard, with a laugh, Ginny say next to him. "My bat-bogey was way better."

"I thought my Blasting charm was pretty good too…" Parvati Patil said from the compartment across from Harry.

"Harry didn't teach that did he? You probably got it from Hermione." Her twin sister said from behind her. Harry saw, from the corner of his eye, Hermione's cheek turn red.

"Thanks all of you!" Harry yelled out, smiling widely at the cheers replying it.

"We should be thanking you Harry!" An encouraging Terry Boot screamed over the loud shouts.

"YEAH HARRY, LONG LIVE DUMBLEDORE'S ARMY!" Both Creevey's screeched simultaneously.

"Quiet!" Harry yelled, suddenly the entire hallway went silent. "Sorry about that, I just need to tell all of you thanks." Cheers erupted again and Harry waited until they dimmed away. "I don't know if the word's gone around already, but DA's going to be starting up again, so make sure you still have those coins Hermione gave you so you can check the time for the next meeting."

"Don't worry Harry!" Ernie cried again. "All of us are devoted enough to keep that forever!" He punched the air, others following his suit and Harry felt himself drifting back into the compartment. He was about to say something to all of the people inside of the compartment when a knock on the window startled him slightly.

There knocking was the first or second year girl he had saved just a moment ago. He got up and opened the door to look down at the thoroughly frightened child.

"Er-" she stuttered, Harry was suddenly reminded of his shyness back in his first year.

"Yes?" Harry said as kindly as he could, crouching down to face her light blue eyes.

"Umm thank you for saving me." She said quickly, blushing deeply. Harry threw a wide smile at her.

"You first year?" Harry asked and she nodded. "We'll look out for you don't worry, you wanna come in?"

"Er sure…" she said, ducking under Harry's outstretched arm and sat down next to Neville.

"So what's your name?" Harry asked her with the same kind voice he had reserved for her as he was seating himself back down beside Hermione.

"Umm Eleanor, Eleanor Cullen," she mumbled looking down at the floor.

"No need for you to be shy, we're here to help you." Hermione said, making her look away from the floor and at her. "Hermione Granger." She added, throwing a smile her way.

"Ron Weasley, yeah I'm part of that poor family." Ron said next.

"I – I've nev-er heard of you." Eleanor squeaked and Ron shrugged.

"That's normal I guess…" he said, looking back out the window with a depressed look on his face.

"Luna Lovegood. I live near him." She said nodding to Ron who looked surprised.

"You do?"

"You didn't know? Anyway, this is nobody." Luna introduced Neville in the same way he introduced himself the previous year.

"Stop saying that, he's Neville Longbottom." Harry told her.

"Oh – oh your poor parents…" Eleanor squeaked quietly, looking over at Neville who seemed to sink into his seat even more.

"Harry Potter, you've no doubt heard of me." Harry said, drawing her attention back to himself.

"H-Harry Potter? I – I never thought I would… meet you-you here of all places…" She said, making Harry lean back into his chair and frown.

"Why is that?"

"Er – I don't know… it's just… you're so nice to me… you're a prefect aren't you?" Harry shook his head.

"Those two are." He nodded at Hermione and Ron.

"Oh, oh it's just… just you were so nic-e to me…" She said, looking down at the floor again.

"Well that guy who was chasing you is a prefect as well." Harry told her, making her face come back up again.

"Real-ly? Why-y."

"I guess he's one of the decent people in Slytherin." Luna said, pulling out the familiar Quibbler magazine and flipping it upside down.

"Very true, Sytherin isn't full of very pleasant people." Harry added to her, ignoring the confused expression on her face. "And if that git's decent; what does that make the rest of the house?" Realization dawned onto her face and she smiled.

"I-I don't want to be in that house." She stated.

"Who does besides Death Eaters?" Ron pointed out and everyone in the compartment replied with a laugh.

"I doubt everyone in Sytherin is evil Ron." Hermione said coolly, looking at him with a frown.

"Really Hermione?" Ron returned equally as coolly. "Anyone I would know?"

"Well no bu-"

"Exactly, now do everyone a favor and shut that mouth of yours." Ron looked away when Hermione was just about to contradict, she opened and closed her mouth at random intervals, frustrated she stood up.

"I'm going to get changed." She stated her aggravation quite clear.

"Hermione the train isn-" Harry started.

"Not now Harry." Her dark brown locks seemed to flash with lightning as she interrupted Harry.

"Alright, go ahead." Harry nodded to her, understanding how she was feeling. She opened the compartment door and let it close soundlessly.

An eerie silence echoed in her wake around the usually lively compartment. Harry tried making a few stabs at a conversation, but between Eleanor's shyness and Ron's dismissive attitude; they didn't usually don't last long. Harry felt his irritation peak at one moment as the train was passing through a forest, trees momentarily were seen in the window and Harry felt himself watching them fly by, a bunch at a time.

He suddenly got up, wanting to mimic Hermione's actions to go look for her. He left the compartment mumbling something about a washroom. He looked around the one lined corridor, searching for his friend. He saw her, just a bit of distance away, pacing the hallway and peering into the windows of all of the compartments she passed by.

Harry rushed to her, tentatively tapping her on her right shoulder; she seemed to know it was coming, for she did not jump at the tap.

"What'd you want Harry?" She asked without looking at him, but continued along the one lane corridor.

"Don't go nuts over Ron." Hermione rotated her entire body so she faced him; Harry noticed a very distinctly angry expression on her face.

"I am not nuts over Ron!" She replied, using Harry's choice of words.

"Hermi-"

"Save it Harry, I'm not angry with you just that insufferable imbecile that you call a friend. You should be going back to him, he'll probably want to talk about Quidditch or whatever with you." Hermione started to turn again, her brown locks swaying slightly with the sharp turn.

"No Hermione." She stopped and rotated her face so it faced him when the front of her body did not. "I don't feel like talking about Quidditch right now."

"So what does the sacred Harry Potter want to talk about!" Hermione turned, her hands planted firmly on her hips.

"Oh come on, you know how much I hate-"

"I know Harry, I know." She let out a long breath of air and looked down at the shaking mat bellow them. "You didn't deserve that, I'm sorry."

"You don't have to be." Her head moved, quite slowly, from the ground to face Harry's. "I've acted like that for a long time, and now I-I can fully understand what it feels like to be on… on the receiving side… I guess." Harry said, blinking a couple of times after.

"H-Harry, you're such an idiot." With that said she threw her arms around Harry's neck, making him stagger quite a bit but his mind seemed to push the slight surprised feeling away and replaced it with a new feeling. One Harry did not recognize, he felt rather… thrilled… careless even. Sudden warmth radiated from the spot where the two friends were connected, Harry's mind bathed in the warmth coming from his friend.

A moment later the feeling was gone, and Harry's eyes opened to face those of Hermione's.

"Y-you don't have to be sorry Ha-harry." Hermione stuttered, apparently she too had felt the bewilderment feeling of the simple, friendly, gesture.

"Oh I do Hermione, I do." Harry said revolving his body so that it faced away from his friend but his right eye was still locked with Hermione's facade. "You coming?"

"Yeah – yeah sure," she answered, falling into step behind Harry.

The rest of the Hogwarts trip passed quite smoothly, the friends all swapped tales about their summers, speaking their wants and desires for this new next year. Soon enough Hogwarts came into sight, the moonlight shinning off of the many lights blinking around the magnificent castle.

Harry watched the majestic castle until it passed out of view behind the station of Hogsmeade, the train halted quite abruptly sending a momentary earthquake throughout the train, causing many people to trip or fall off of their seats.

"Seems like I was the only one bright enough to brace myself," Harry reflected in his mind's eye. The young wizard helped his friends get to their feet. An interesting event was Neville tripping on his robes and falling to the ground again, it was replied with a helping hand from Harry along with laughs from all around. Neville rose from the ground, mumbling thanks, and his cheeks red.

The company left the train in one huge pack. Harry, with a laugh, noticed Malfoy blinking very rapidly as well as hitting himself on the head every few seconds. He pointed this out to his two best friends, Ron and Hermione; who both laughed, though Ron's was much more emphasized. It seemed Hermione was slightly disgusted at the effect of these jinxes and hexes on any human.

"Al' righ' there ye' three?" The welcoming greeting Hagrid seemed to have reserved for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, flowed into Harry's ears as he strained to find his friend.

"Yeah, what about you?" Harry greeted in return while the half-giant shrugged, bumping a short third-year girl in the head, apologizing to her while Harry and Ron laughed merrily.

"Oh I could've been alo' better ye'." He grunted. "Lemme take car' of these firs' years eh, I'll see ye thre' at 'he feast righ'?"

"Oh you betcha Hagrid, I'm starving." Ron yelled to him, Hagrid nodded slightly and continued his call for the first year students.

"Seems less upbeat eh?" Hermione muttered in Harry's right ear making him jump slightly from fright.

"Er – sure," Harry muttered back quite lamely.

The trio soon found one carriage inhabited by Luna and Neville right at that moment, they climbed into, Harry made a move to climb into the carriage but saw Hermione gaping at the…

"You can see the Thestrals?" Harry exclaimed to her, bringing the Witch back from her trance.

"Uh? T-those are-e T-Thestrals!" Hermione stammered, taking a few seconds to lift one finger up and position it directly at one of the Thestral's eyes.

"Yeah they are. They aren't as bad as they look." Harry nodded into the carriage where the rest of their friends were awaiting the two of them. "Come on, Ron and the others are waiting." Hermione took another glance at the Thestrals before climbing in after Harry.

"H-How can I se-see them?" The petrified Witch spoke with a slightly pale expression.

"See what?" Ron called out randomly, in reply to this; everyone ignored his outburst.

"You'd know wouldn't you?" The Boy-who-lived said from across from Hermione.

"I-I suppose, but… wait." Harry leaned back in his chair, doing just as she asked.

"You can see them Hermione?" Luna asked her in the ensuing silence that followed Hermione's response.

"Y-yeah I-I think." The only Granger in presence stuttered again.

"What'd you mean you think? You either can see them or you can't see them right?" Ron said, getting the picture now.

"Ron," Harry looked up at him with an annoyed expression, Ron seemed to take the hint and looked the other way.

"Wait… I-I might've seen S-Sirius…" Harry's head flew upward quickly, looking at Hermione with wondering eyes.

"You were unconscious then, I remember Neville trying to carry you." He pointed his thumb at the quiet boy.

"Y-yeah, but I remember waking up at random points… seeing things… hearing things… I remember hearing your voice actually." Hermione's eyes connected with Harry's. "I-I couldn't make out anything t-though." Her head rotated away from Harry's face.

"How'd you know it was me then?"

"W-well I guess knowing you for five years has helped quite a bit." She smiled slightly at him, bringing her eyes up to face his once again for a second before dropping them down again.

The carriage then stopped, allowing the group of friends to enter Hogwarts, the school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry Potter stepped out of the carriage, Ron and Hermione just behind him; he stared up at the many blinking fires that seemed to dance all around and smiled.

He allowed the smile to broaden even more when he noticed a couple of ghosts floating around the exterior of the castle, chatting quietly, he saw a couple of second years stumble up the staircase and laughed, remembering how new he was to this school when he was that young.

"What's going on Harry?" Ron called, making Harry jump out from the carriage.

"S-sorry about that," Harry said, scratching the back of his head.

"The castle still makes you feel exhilarated eh?" Hermione responded.

"Uh? Oh… sure," Harry replied making Hermione laugh. The DA leader took the lead toward the castle, walking with hands in his pockets and his glasses down on the edge of his nose, he felt his gaze move toward the brilliant lights again, and he couldn't help but scold himself for not noticing the beauty before.

"Mr. Potter?" Harry now felt his gaze move to in front of him, where Harry's transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall stood with her glasses in the mirrored position of Harry's. "Will you please come with me?"

Harry felt his head rotate behind him, where Hermione and Ron stood with curious expressions on their faces.

"Don't worry Potter." McGonagall said briskly, drawing Harry's attention back. "You aren't in trouble, yet." McGonagall flashed him a slight smile which he returned.

"Alright," he said simply, falling into step behind her.

"I just wanted to officially inform you that you're now the Quidditch Captain of Gryffindor." She told him as they entered her office. "I need to tell you a few things before you go to the feast."

"W-wait Professor," Harry held up his right hand.

"Mr. Potter?" McGonagall replied with a questioning look.

"I-I'm Quidditch Captain?" Harry exclaimed bluntly. McGonagall nodded slowly, a disbelieving look on her face.

"I just told you that didn't I?" When Harry nodded she cleared her throat and continued. "As I said before, I needed to tell you a couple of things. One of them being you're in charge of practice dates, also that you're responsible for booking the Quidditch pitch, I've charmed the booklet so that no other person can sign their name other then the Captains of each team. In addition, you are also responsible for replacing the current vacant positions on our team."

"W-what?" Harry replied densely and McGonagall snorted, looking away still disbelieved.

"I thought you would be the perfect choice for Quidditch Captain Harry, but maybe I was mistaken."

"N-No I want the job, it… it's just a lot to take in at once alright!" The Boy-who-lived replied, quite irritated.

"P-Potter… what?" McGonagall was backing away slightly, a look of horror on her face.

"I thought I was the stuttering fool, looks like we've exchanged places eh?" Harry felt a smirk crawling onto his face, he suddenly felt his wand in his grasp, feeling quite comfortable, he lifted it and pointed it directly at McGonagall's face.

"H-Harry w-what?"

"POTTER!" The new voice startled Harry slightly, but he chose to omit it and continued to taunt McGonagall with his smirk. "REDUCTO!" The spell crashed into Harry's back, bouncing off to the side. Harry let a loud laugh out.

"There is only power Aran. Remember that as I kill this pathetic Witch. Crucio." McGonagall's scream erupted throughout the school, making body's get up, making forks drop, making food splatter away. Dumbledore's head came up, a slight frown on his face.

"Voldemort, you bastard!" The older male Wizard called Aran, ran up to Harry, trying to pull him away from the screaming McGonagall, but his body wouldn't move, the laugh continued, the screams continued.

"Harry, what're you doing?' The calm voice entered Harry's ears, echoing like none of the others. He felt his wand drop to the floor, the young Wizard felt his body turn, there facing him was Hermione Granger, her arms planted on her sides with a frown on her face. A light surrounded the girl, allowing Harry to focus only on her.

H-Hermi-one…" Harry fell to the ground, the world around him darkening.

"Harry, you're going to be okay. Don't worry, everything's going to be fine." The voice seemed to float into the young Wizard's head. Lingering and echoing as no other voice did, it held a calm yet stern approach to it. The angelic female voice allowed Harry to lay back comfortably in the small bed of the hospital wing in Hogwarts with relative comfort. His eyes were still closed, leaving his vision black, yet he was now conscious.

"The feast has… cancelled… hear." Harry heard slightly, he recognized the male voice. Yet it sounded rather distant, leaving him wondering who it was.

"… is it be…use of Harry?" The new voice was more familiar, female, stern sounding yet comforting all the same. Harry felt himself rise and his eyes open fully, blurry and distorted now.

"H-Harry!" The voice made Harry snap awake, his vision becoming sharper but he still couldn't make out the figures or the voices. He reached with gesticulation all around him, fumbling for his glasses. He felt someone grab his hand, a gentle grab, yet it made him stay still. He felt the person place something in his grasp, his glasses!

The person let go of his hand and Harry put his glasses on, the world around him coming into view finally. Blurry shapes flowed together, making a clear image of his two friends. Ron and Hermione.

"Y-you're…awake." Hermione blurted making Harry chuckled.

"Apparently," Harry said with equal bluntness and both Hermione and Ron chuckled in response. "So is anyone going to tell me how I ended up here?"

"W-well you lost control of yourself again. It seems V-Voldemort (both Harry and Hermione ignored Ron's tremble.) won't stop attempting to take total control of you." Hermione explained, Harry falling backward in his bed, breathing loudly. "You attacked McGonagall." Harry snapped upward again.

"I-I what!" The DA leader stuttered.

"Yeah no kidding," Ron put his input in for the first time, sitting on a nearby chair. "I didn't think you had the guts."

"Ron, it was Voldemort who did it." Hermione closed her eyes with slight frustration, turning slightly towards him. "Oh, and start getting used to the name will you!" It seemed Ron was still afraid of Voldemort's name. Hermione turned back to Harry, her eyes opening.

"Anyway," she continued. "Aran tried to subdue you, when he couldn't move you at all Dumbledore came and somehow got you to return to normal. You've been out for about two hours now." The know-it-all answered Harry's thoughts.

"Aran? Isn't he that German Wizard working for the O-" Ron shushed him at that moment, looking around. Harry left his mouth open, apparently bewildered that they could not speak about the Order of the Phoenix here.

"Apparently some Ministry Wizards are here right now, so keep quiet about the Order right now." Harry opened and closed his mouth several times, actually looking quite confounded.

"Oh you're up then, that's a good sign." Madam Pomfrey, the slightly ecstatic school nurse rushed over to Harry's side and placed, in his hand, a small goblet full of a navy blue liquid. "DRINK UP!" Harry flinched slightly. "You expect me to tell you, a sixth year student who has come here more than any other student, to drink what I have given you!" She said quite speedily and irritating. Harry felt a rush of anger flow through him, his facial expression changed suddenly, Harry felt rather distant, slowly losing control of his own min-

"H-HARRY!" Hermione reached over and grabbed his shoulders, making his head shake and his eyes return to their normal color.

"W-wha…?" The youngest Potter glanced at her outstretched hands. Grasping, quite tightly, on his own shoulders. She quickly let go and returned her hands back to her lap.

"Sorry, you looked like you were about to… you know…" Hermione left the explanation hanging for she knew Harry understood her without having to say anything.

"What? What happened?" Ron asked, quite confused.

"NOTHING!" The nurse yelled, startling all of the Gryffindors. "OUT, OUT, OUT! THE YOUNG LAD NEEDS CARING! OUT, OUT, OUT!"

The two friends left hurriedly both sending their respective goodbyes to him. Harry lay back, quickly falling asleep without the navy blue liquid inside of him.

"Can you hear me Harry?" True enough the voice echoed as the other angelic one did in his mind's ear.

"Y-yeah I suppose." Harry thought back, surprised to hear his own voice.

"Good, very good, this means we're finally connected Harry. Now tell me, which person do you treasure the most?" Harry found the question innocent enough, the friendly neighbor just wanted to know who Harry's best friend was.

"Er – Ro… no not really…"

"Take your time Harry; think about this, there's no rush." Harry found the voice comforting, making him relax and speak his mind truthfully.

"Hermione," Harry said truthfully, he was surprised by this though. He always considered Hermione a friend, but did he honestly treasure her the most in his life? He distinctly remembered the Department of Mysterious "fiasco" (as it was deemed), he remembered the prospect of her death. The empty feeling that consumed his entire body, the blame on himself, the relief feeling when… who was it? Told him that she was still alive.

"Who is this Hermon?" Harry didn't care that this new friend got her name wrong, though truthfully Harry did not see what was so difficult about the pronunciation of the name.

"Her-MI-O-knee," Harry told the visitor the correct pronunciation. "She's the best person to have as a friend."

"Why do you consider her your most treasured friend?"

"W-well she's got me out of a lot of tight spots. We've always shared this complete understanding of one another… I just can't imagine my life without her…"

"Good…" Harry frowned when the voice changed… it sounded like a hiss was added… Harry's frown developed even more.

"W-wait… who are yo-"

"What can you tell me about this Hermione?" The new question threw Harry off, making him feel blissful yet again.

"She's smart I guess… best in our year probably. Always has this bag strapped over her left shoulder probably full of books too." Harry's frown was replaced by a wide grin.

"What would you do if you lost her?"

"I-I don't know… wait… why do y-"

"I think that is enough for tonight Harry. We'll meet again to discuss this Hermione more at a different time."

Harry felt himself snap upward, his head floating with echoes of random phrases.He shook his head, looking out the nearby window and seeing moonlight seeping through the glass, he felt himself draw back to sleep. Not remembering the odd conversation at all.