Life isn't easy. It's full of ups and downs, rights and lefts. And sometimes you'll probably have to U-turns. But no matter what goes on, it happened for a reason. And you might not realize it now but someday you will. Someday you'll wake knowing what's going to happen and what you have to do. But for now…rest…enjoy everything around but because even the happiest moments can not last forever. And you might not realize it now but someday you will; someday you'll wake up knowing what's going to happen.

Chapter 9---Hermione's Bursting Point

Behind him was someone covered in black. Harry couldn't tell whether it was a male or female due to the fact that he/she was dressed in a black cloak, tightly clipped, and its hood covered its face. Its thin bony hands were held out reaching for Harry as he backed away; afraid. Harry's hand moved around him until he got a hold of his wand, hoping he wouldn't have to use it. But before he could pull it out the person's two hands were grabbing a hold of his neck. Harry could feel its long thin bones groping his neck as he try to free himself.

"Get off…" Harry tried but it was too difficult. He was losing air and it seemed as though he was dying. He tried to fight the armed fingers around him but the harder he tried the more it pained him.

"Stop…" he tried again. Why was it taking the others so long to get here, Harry thought angrily. So this was how he was going to die; alone with a stranger, in horrible pain, murderer.

In a distant voice he could hear the croaking horrible laugh crackling like a dying fire. Harry didn't know if it was hallucination or reality, all he knew was the fact that he was dying.

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"Is he awake yet?"

"Not yet."

"It's my entire fault."

"What did you do?"

"It was me who told Harry to go first."

"It's not your fault Luna."

"Yes it is."

"Forget it Luna. Just hope Harry'll be fine."

"Dad says he will."

"Yes but its been a long time…"

The conversation he was hearing was at first hard to make it out but then…he knew who it was coming from. He fought his eyes to open them and at last he did get it to open. Standing beside him was Ron and Luna and Hermione was sitting at the edge of the sofa looking quite scared.

"Harry! Thank goodness you're alright," Hermione breathed.

"W-where are we?" Harry asked looking around at the almost familiar place.

"In Auntie Jessie's home," Luna smiled dreamily.

"W-what happened?"

"Well…you sorta fainted after th-that lady choked you." Ron said uneasy.

"Who was that lady?"

"Auntie Jessie," Luna smiled.

"Then why was she choking me?" Harry asked angrily seeing that it almost killed him.

"She thought you were an intruder." Luna replied.

"Are you feeling better?" Hermione asked still worried in the face. Her face was as pale as a corpse but it seemed to getting colored. And her eyes were tired but at the same time concerned and deeply in thought. Her hair was messy around the edges and puffier than usual.

Harry forced a smile, "I'm fine. Where's Mr. Lovegood?"

"He's talking with th-that lady," Ron said still uneasy.

And looking around, Harry knew why. Everything was dark and there was no sunlight or light in this room. Or any other room in the house, Harry guessed. Now that he looked carefully, Harry could see that the curtains were stapled to the wall and chimney was probably blocked at the top too.

"Why is it so dark in here?" Harry asked, now uneasy.

It seemed as thought it was a place full of madness, full of blood and painted memories that weren't suppose to be visited.

"Auntie likes it that way," Luna smiled.

"Why?" Hermione asked.

Luna shrugged, "I suppose she doesn't like the sun. She never leaves this place and daddy never tells me why---."

"Harry! Good you're up! For a moment I thought you were a goner!" Mr. Lovegood said loudly walking into the room.

"I thought I was one too…" Harry said quietly to himself.

"I apologize for my sister Jessie. It seems she thought you were an intruder and so I guess she got carried away," he chuckled, "hope she didn't give you quite a scare, did she?"

"Of course she gave Harry a scare! She nearly killed Harry!" Hermione seemed to burst out. It seemed as though she had reach her boiling point.

"Hermione…please calm down…" Mr. Lovegood said, "the important thing is Harry is fine now, right Harry?"

"Right," Harry said nodding although he could still feel the pain around his neck.

"I'm sorry but we have to leave." Hermione said getting up angrily, "and thanks for the lift here. We really appreciate it."

Hermione headed to the door and pulled it but the door remained shut. Hermione tried again and still it remained shut.

"What's wrong with this door?"

"Well…Jessie doesn't want the doors to open so she nailed them and locked them." Mr. Lovegood said.

"How are we suppose to leave?" Ron said loudly.

"You'll have to wait until Jessie falls asleep so she won't notice that we opened the door."

"WHAT!" Hermione stormed.

"When does she fall asleep?" Harry asked, although he knew it was a dumb question.

"Whenever she feels like, I guess." Mr. Lovegood said, "In the meantime I'll make us some lunch."
And with that he left.

"I can't believe it! We'll have to stay in here until ugh…" Hermione said furiously.

Harry too didn't want to stay here. It had such a horrible feeling to it and Harry did not like it. It felt like a place where he was the only living thing and everything else was dead.

"This is a mad place if you ask me…" Ron said quietly.

"Not really. Once you get use to it it's quite interesting," Luna said dreamily.

Hermione ignored her and sat down, her face covered with her hands.

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They had finished dinner when Mr. Lovegood went into the other room for some cleaning where he left the trio and Luna alone in what seemed to be the living room. They all sat there looking at the floor or either looking at one another while the other one wasn't looking. Harry knew Hermione and Ron wanted to say something to him but he knew they couldn't seeing that Luna was here. A few moments passed silently then something clucking came in. They all turned to find a thin lady with a long back cloak. The hood was down and now Harry could see her.

She was probably around her late forties and her nose was slightly crooked. Her eyes were a chocolate brown and she had thin curvy lips. There were creased lines under her eyes and it seemed as though her eyes were popping out. She had black hair that was falling on the side of her. She walked over and sat next to Luna, who was across from Harry. Harry felt uneasy and even a bit afraid.

"Hi Auntie Jessie," Luna smiled.

"Hello my little pumpkin. You brought along some friends?" she smiled a huge wide smile.

Luna nodded, "Yes, this is Ronald, Hermione, and that's Harry."

"Harry Potter?"

"Yes, Auntie."

She turned to look at Harry with full eyes as Harry sat there trying to look at her. He was scared and he hated the fact he was being stared at, especially by someone who almost killed him.

She again smiled and almost crackled, "Harry Potter…yes…I know you…I know about you…I know you more than you think I know…yes…I know you very well…"

Author's Note: Sorry it's been such a long time since I updated. Seemed like an eternity. Lols…well I hope you enjoyed this story and yes I'll have more action in the next chapter. This chapter was kinda foreshadowing, if you can see them. They are all hidden in here. Anyways please review!