All characters depicted here belong to JK Rowling. I own nothing but the pleasure of writing this particular story.

Unprovoked Attack

I learned what Quidditch was about three weeks after I'd started at Hogwarts. I finally worked up the nerve to ask about it. Ron, Harry and Ginny had all stared at me like I'd lost my mind.

"Well, how would she know?" Hermione demanded, glaring at the three of them.

"I know, but…she's read half the library and she hasn't found one book about Quidditch?" Ron answered.

"I haven't read half the library," I protested, laughing.

"Close enough," Ginny said, also laughing. "Quidditch is our sport." She went on to explain. I sat back and listened, transfixed, as she told me about the three hoops, the scoring, the positions and the four different balls.

"And it's all played on broomstick?" I asked.

"Yes."

"That's amazing! When is your next game?"

"Next weekend," Harry answered. "Saturday."

I wrote it down in the little organiser Hermione had given me. I had been so happy when she'd given it to me, because I'd always kept track of things and had felt somewhat lost without one. I glanced up to find them all watching me.

"What?"
"Ever since you got that book, you write everything in it," Ginny answered. "Why do you keep track like that?"
I laughed. "It's a habit I picked up at work."

"What did you do?" Hermione asked, leaning forward eagerly.

"Nothing exciting, I'm afraid," I answered. "I worked as the receptionist at a building company."

"A what?" Ron asked, looking confused. Harry chuckled to himself.

"She answered telephones and booked meetings and appointments and greeted people," Hermione explained quickly. "Basically."

"I started there when I was twenty one. A friend started it and asked me if I would be interested in working. I had no experience, but he figured I could learn easy enough and I was cheaper than someone who knew what they were doing. And I needed a job.

"I was good at it. I enjoyed it too, but Noah didn't like me being around the men every day, so he made me quit. I was there for just over seven years."

"What did you do after that?"

I smiled bitterly. "Sat at home. Got fat and lazy. Shaved my head completely bald for charity. Actually, that was fun, so I don't regret doing that."

I saw them all look at my shoulder length dark hair and knew they were trying to picture me bald.

"I looked like a white bowling ball."

Hermione giggled as the image floated across her mind. I let her laugh at me for a moment.

"How come you and Noah didn't get married?" Harry asked quietly.

I sat back, studying him for a moment. I'd been expecting the question, but still didn't have an answer for it.

"We weren't really together all that long," I answered slowly. "Not quite two years. It started off okay. We met through a mutual friend, one who knew that I had my grandmother's house and that he needed a place to stay, so we started out as roommates. We started dating not long after. All my friends thought we were a great couple, but soon I started seeing less and less of them. Noah didn't really like my friends, so we didn't hang around them. He also didn't like for me to be around his friends because he felt they were all trying to…get together with me, so we stopped seeing them as well. I should have seen that as a warning sign, I suppose. But at the time, you don't really think too much of it. I didn't anyway.

"After about a year, we started fighting all the time. We got into a stupid argument and he hit me. I ran out and when I came back, he apologised. He was crying so hard that I felt bad and I told him that I would stay, but if he hit me again, I was gone. I think…now…I know that that's when I knew I would never marry him. I don't care if it was a one time thing…my trust for Noah was gone that night.

"But I stayed and it didn't happen again. Well, except for one day when we were playing football and he smacked me in the mouth, but he swore it was an accident."

"What happened the night that you met Remus?" Hermione asked quietly.

I shook my head. "I don't know. We were fighting. I wanted to go back to work because I was bored. I'd been stuck at home for so long…just over a year. My hair had even grown back by then. But he told me that there was no way in hell I was ever going back to the building company. I said something sort of nasty to him because I'm…not all that bright sometimes…and he slapped me. I pushed him away and then he beat me up."
I looked at my hands, not wanting to look at them. I hated feeling their pity and I didn't want to see proof of it in their eyes. I hadn't meant to tell them my sad story. It had just come pouring out as soon as I'd mentioned my job.

"Did you want to be a receptionist?" Hermione asked. I looked up at her, grateful for the subject change.

"No," I said with a chuckle. "I hated the entire idea of being a receptionist to start with. I didn't like the idea of answering telephones and always having to have a smile on my face. But like I said, I turned out to be pretty good at it. And after I knew what I was doing, I really enjoyed it."

"What did you want to do before that?" Ron asked.

"I wanted to be a teacher." I smiled. "I didn't know what I wanted to teach, but I always wanted to be a teacher."

"How come-" Harry stopped speaking, his head snapping around. The portrait had suddenly swung open so violently that it bounced off the wall. We all turned to stare, watching as Remus, Sirius and Professor McGonagall entered. All three of them were ashen faced. Ron and Ginny were on their feet in an instant.

"Is it Dad?" Ginny demanded, the colour slowly fading from her cheeks. Professor McGonagall shook her head. She looked directly at Hermione as they advanced across the room.

"Miss Granger, we must speak with you," she said softly. I could see a couple other students staring at us from the other side of the common room. Hermione turned stark white and seemed to shrink into her chair.

"What is it?" Ron demanded, moving over to stand behind Hermione's chair. "What's happened?"
Hermione started to tremble. I reached over and took her hand. Her grip was painful, but I didn't say anything. Ron pulled a chair over and sat next to Hermione, his hand on her shoulder.

"Mr Weasley, we need to speak to Miss Granger alone."
I stared up at Remus, who remained silent. His jaw was set and he looked as though he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He didn't look my way.

"I can't," Hermione whispered. "No, please, I can't hear it."

"Miss Granger, you need to come with me."

"No," Hermione said again, a little louder. "I can't stand it. Please; I don't want to know."

Sirius crouched down in front of her and looked up into her face.

"Hermione, there is something we need to tell you and I don't think it's something you wish to learn in front of the whole of Gryffindor house."

Harry, Ron and Ginny were on their feet in an instant and moved as one to the other side of the room. I heard Ron tell a younger student that he had to leave the common room. I watched, amazed, as people packed their bags and left, one by one.
The three of them moved back to us. Hermione was nearly crushing my fingers, but I stayed quiet. Her teeth had started to chatter.

"There, nobody can hear you," Harry told Sirius furiously. "Tell her."

Hermione shook her head, her eyes wide and panicked. There was no question of whether Harry, Ron or Ginny should leave. The grip that Hermione had on my hand made me think that she didn't want me to leave either. Ginny moved beside her and took her other hand.

"It's your parents, Hermione," Sirius whispered. I held my breath and closed my eyes, hoping…

"They have been attacked by Death Eaters."

I heard Ginny gasp as Hermione gripped my hand even tighter. I felt a searing pain shoot up my hand and figured that she'd just broken at least one of my fingers.

"Are they okay?" she asked mildly.

Remus shook his head. "Your father has died, Hermione."

"But…my mum…What about my mum?" Hermione asked. Her face showed no emotion. Her eyes remained clear. Only the grip she had on my hand and on Ginny's hand showed her true feelings.

"She is alive," Remus said quietly, pulling a chair closer and sitting across from Hermione. "She is in very bad shape, but she is alive."

Hermione nodded slowly.

"Did they use the Cruciatus Curse on them?"

"Yes," Sirius answered.

"What about the Imperious Curse?"

Professor McGonagall nodded.

"And I suppose my father died by Avada Kedavra."

I knew that they couldn't believe how calm she was being, how she just asked questions. I also knew that if she didn't ask questions, she would probably fall apart and that was the last thing she wanted to do in front of all of us.

Remus shook his head.

"No," he said softly. "He didn't die by Avada Kedavra."

"Then how-?"
"I think that's something that can wait," Professor McGonagall interrupted sharply. Hermione ignored her. She turned her eyes to Sirius and gave him a beseeching look.

"How?"
"The Cruciatus Curse," Sirius answered after a moment, his voice reluctant. Hermione stared at him and her eyes finally filled with tears.

"They tortured him to death?" she asked, her breath catching on a sob. "Why? Why them? Whatever did they do? They're dentists!"

She pulled her hands back and covered her face. I could hear her take a deep breath. Nobody said anything.

"Because I am a witch," she answered herself softly. "They were tortured because of me. Oh, Daddy, I'm so sorry."

She stood abruptly and pulled her hands away from her face. I had to look away. Her eyes were dry again, but blazing with hate and rage. "Who was it?"
"Bartemius Crouch, Jr," Remus answered. "Rabastan and Rodolphus Lestrange. We suspect…" He didn't finish. He looked at his hands.

"Peter Pettigrew," Hermione finished for him. She stood stock still for a moment and then, as though in slow motion, fell to her knees. She gasped and the flood gates opened. Ron started toward her, but Harry reached her first. He pulled her into his arms and she buried her face against his shoulder.

I stood and moved toward Remus, wiping the tears from my eyes as I did so. I couldn't bear to look at Hermione. Her anguish washed over the rest of us like a cold rain.

Remus took my hand when I reached him. There were tears sparkling in his eyes. I wrapped my arms around him and he held me close for a moment.

"When did it happen?" I asked softly.

"Last night."

I nodded, looking over at Hermione. She was clutching the front of Harry's robes, still crying against his shoulder. Harry slowly rocked her, whispering words that the rest of us couldn't hear. Ginny had moved over and taken her brother's hand. Ron, too, had tears in his eyes.

"Why did they do it?"

Remus looked down at me. He sighed and took the hand that Hermione had maimed. I cringed as his fingers closed lightly around it.

"Because we are at war," he answered. "And because they don't fight fair." He glanced over at Hermione and Harry then lowered his voice even more. "And because Hermione is Harry's friend."

I stared at Remus, my mouth hanging open. I closed it with a snap.

"What? They attacked her parents because she's friends with Harry?" I couldn't believe that.

Remus nodded. "Voldemort is trying to bring Harry out. Molly and Arthur are going into hiding, as are the rest of the Weasleys. However, as Arthur is Minister for Magic, it will be harder to keep him safe. We might have to place a Secret Keeper Charm or a Protector Charm."

I opened my mouth to say something else when Remus gave my hand a squeeze. I gasped out loud. He frowned and looked down at it.

"What happened to your hand?" he demanded. I shook my head.

"I was holding Hermione's hand when Sirius told her," I answered quietly. "I don't think she realised how tight she was gripping."

He brought my hand up to peer at it intently. He gently moved my pinkie finger. I grimaced. Remus winced with sympathy.

"I can't believe she broke your finger," he muttered incredulously. "I wouldn't have thought Hermione would have that sort of physical strength."

"It's alright," I said.

"Let's go down to see Madam Pomfrey. She'll be able to fix it for you."

I shook my head. "Let's stay and see if we can't help Hermione first."

Remus looked at me for a moment before nodding. He pointed his wand at my hand.

"Ferula." he muttered. I watched the gauze wrap itself tightly around my two fingers before I turned back to Hermione. Ron had moved and had now taken her into his arms. Harry had climbed to his feet and was moving toward us. He was absolutely livid.

He didn't stop when he reached us, but grabbed Remus by the arm and moved toward the portrait hole. Remus still had hold of my good hand and wouldn't let go when I tried to pull away, so I had no choice but to follow. Harry also grabbed Sirius by the arm as we passed.

"What's the idea, Harry?" Sirius demanded crossly when Harry followed us through the portrait hole. Harry glared around at the three of us.

"Her parents were attacked because of me, weren't they?"

Remus and Sirius both looked away from Harry. I saw pain flash in Harry's eyes briefly before it was gone again.

"What does he want?"

"He wants you." Remus returned his gaze to Harry's. "He is trying to bring you out from under Dumbledore's protection. He's trying to force you into a confrontation."

Harry's jaw clenched. "So he's going after the family of my friends. Have you let Arthur and Mrs Weasley know?"

Sirius nodded. "They should be at…my house by now. Bill and the twins are also on their way there and Charlie has been notified."

I hated seeing the pain in Harry's eyes; hated the haunted look that was starting to creep into them.

"This isn't your fault, Harry," Sirius said softly. Harry glared at him.

"I wish people would stop saying that!" he snarled, the aura of power that I could always sense around him spreading. "You weren't my fault, Hagrid wasn't my fault and now this isn't my fault. And yet it is all because of me, isn't it?"

"It is because you are the only person who can defeat Voldemort, Harry, that much is true and I'm sure he knows it, but it's not because of you," Remus answered quietly. "It is because Voldemort is hungry for power and will stop at nothing to get it, and you pose a threat to him, a threat that he wishes to eliminate."

I stared at Remus. I couldn't believe he was saying that.

"Well, what does he need to do to stop him?" I asked before I could stop myself. "What do we need to do?"

Remus swallowed before answering. "That's just it, Jules. We don't know."

*

Remus went with Hermione, Ron, Ginny and Harry to the funeral for Hermione's dad. He went to protect them and also to offer his support to Hermione. They had asked me if I wanted to come, but I thought I should stay behind to attend my classes. I needed to learn everything I could if I wanted to help defeat this sadistic wizard.

Sirius stayed behind to teach the classes and to help me with my studies. He sighed at the end of our Tuesday lesson and sat on the desk.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

He shook his head. He was absently rubbing his arm that I knew had been burned when the hospital had been destroyed. I started packing my books into my bag.

"When I was here, as a student, the most we worried about was what we were going to do at the next full moon," Sirius said suddenly. I stopped packing my bag and looked up at him. "We knew about Voldemort, of course, but he wasn't all powerful then and we weren't too worried about him. 'Dumbledore can handle it', we'd say. But here it is, more than twenty years later and he's still here. Granted he wasn't really here for a very long time, but he wasn't vanquished either."

He turned to me, eyes blazing. "I want him gone, Julianne. I want to end the threat of terror. For the sake of the world. But mostly for Harry's sake. This war is killing him."

"Then we have to find a spell that will bring him down," I said calmly. "Do you think there might be something in the library?"

Sirius shook his head. "I doubt it. They tried to bring him down the same way they brought Grindelwald down. He was the most powerful dark wizard ever, before Voldemort. But Voldemort laughed and just brushed that curse aside."

"Why is he coming after Harry?"
"He is coming after Harry because he needs Harry out of the way. With Harry's death, Voldemort will be immortal, invincible. Harry is the only one who can vanquish Voldemort."

"Then while Harry is away, we should see if we can find something. They said you were a prisoner of war. How did you get out?"
Sirius raised his eyebrows at me. "I wasn't really a prisoner of war. I was trapped in limbo."

"Limbo?"
"The plane between alive and dead."

I stared at him. "The what?"

Sirius scoffed. "I fell through a veil that didn't kill me, but didn't keep me alive either. I was stuck in limbo for a year until Remus, Harry, Ron, Ginny and Hermione got me out."

"How?"

Sirius' forehead creased as he thought about it.

"I don't remember," he answered. "I…collapsed not long after and I don't remember much of anything from that night."

I wasn't too sure what to say. I knew Sirius wouldn't want my pity any more than I wanted his.

"Anyway," he said a moment later. "We'll have to ask Remus how they brought the veil down when he gets back. He plans to be back the day after tomorrow."
"What about the others?"

Sirius shook his head. "I don't know, Jules. Hermione might be off for a while."

I nodded. "I figured that."

"I know Harry is eager to look in the library again. He said they've searched before, but didn't find anything. I am not entirely sure what a second search will find, but who knows? We might get lucky."

I smiled grimly. I somehow doubted that.

I raised my eyes to Sirius' troubled blue eyes.

"Is there any chance of success, Sirius?"

He studied me silently for a moment and then slowly shook his head.

"Not likely."

*

Remus returned a few days later. I was wandering up an aisle in the library when he suddenly wrapped his arms around me from behind. I whipped around, my hand out in front of me. He smiled at me.

"Remus!" I cried, hugging him. "How is Hermione?"
He shook his head. "She's hurting, Jules. She's very angry."

"I don't blame her."

"I don't either." He sighed and rested his chin on top of my head. "She's gone to be with her mum for now. She's in a Muggle hospital, but we're hoping we can have her transferred here. Albus said something about bringing in one of the surviving Healers from St. Mungo's. I'm sure Madam Pomfrey could handle it, but Albus would prefer somebody with more expertise in Curse injuries."

I nodded. While I had no doubts about Madam Pomfrey's abilities; she had mended my broken finger in half a heartbeat; I could see where Albus was coming from. It would be better to have a professional.

"Harry and Ginny came back with me, though," Remus was saying. I blinked up at him.

"Sorry?"

He chuckled. "I thought you'd tuned me out. I said that Ron had gone with Hermione and Ginny and Harry came back with me. Harry is eager to get into the library. I'm actually surprised he didn't come here first, but he did have some things to put away."

"How did you even know I was here?"
"Sirius told me that you'd been in here before and after every class, searching for something that would help."

"I haven't found a thing," I admitted sadly.

"I know."

"I'm not even sure where to begin."

"I've been fighting him all my life," Harry said, coming around the end of the row. "And I still don't know where to begin. Don't worry about it, Jules."

"I want to help though."

Harry smiled. "I know you do, and I appreciate it." He turned to Remus. "I just talked to Professor Dumbledore. He said that he spoke with a Healer and Mrs Granger will be transferred here as soon as possible."

Remus heaved a sigh of relief. "Good. I think a magical Healer would know how to deal with Mrs Granger's injuries better than a Muggle doctor."

Harry nodded in agreement. I started to wander down the row again, searching in the books.

"We might have better luck if we looked in the Restricted Section," Harry said suddenly, watching me search. He turned to Remus. "What do you think?"
"I think it couldn't hurt," Remus agreed. He went to find Madam Pince, leaving Harry and I alone.

"How are you?" I asked him, not sure what to say. He smiled tightly.

"I've been better. I can't help feel so guilty about Hermione's parents."

"Harry, it-" I had been about to tell him it wasn't his fault, but something stopped me. Maybe it was his reaction from the other day. "It is a part of war," I said instead. "Innocents get attacked. Innocents die. It's something that you have no control over and it's why war is wrong." I gritted my teeth. "It's why Voldemort must be stopped."

Harry looked at me, his eyes narrowed. "I know he has to be stopped." He growled in frustration. "I want to know how. I also wish Professor Dumbledore would help me find a way."

"Well, Remus will help, and Sirius will help. Albus said that Sirius was the best student Hogwarts ever saw, and he said Remus was a good student too, so maybe the two of them will be able to come up with something."

Harry chuckled. "Maybe."

We both wandered over to a table to wait for Remus. He wasn't gone too long. He came back with a few books, but nothing that sounded too helpful.

"Well, what did you expect?" he asked sourly when Harry pointed this out. "A book called How to Bring Down Voldemort? We have to find it, it's not going to be handed to us."

Harry glowered at Remus but pulled one of the books his way and started flipping through it.

"I just think that we're overlooking something," he complained a while later, slamming the book closed. "I think it's something so simple, so obvious but we can't see it because we're searching for something big. And it's driving me mad!"

Remus sighed and closed his book as well. I kept flipping through mine, but it wasn't helping me at all.

"What do you think we're overlooking?"

Harry growled angrily. "I don't know, that's just it. I wish Dumbledore would help us. He's got experience against dark wizards, look at what he did against Grindelwald."

"Harry, Professor Dumbledore is doing everything he can do to help us. He is fighting Voldemort every day. And his experience with Grindelwald didn't help us in the fight against Voldemort."

"Well there must be something he knows; some way that he could help us." Remus opened his mouth. "Help me then. Help me find a way to bring him down."

"I'm sure if there were some way, Harry, Albus would be doing it," I said quietly, finally closing my book. "He doesn't strike me as the kind of man who would sit back and let innocent people die."

Harry turned to look at me, the anger slowly draining from his eyes. He nodded.

"You're right," he agreed softly. "He wouldn't do that." He stood and slid the book back into the pile. "I need to take a walk. Maybe that will help me think. Can you bring the books you find helpful back to the common room?"

Remus and I both nodded. Harry turned and left the library.

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Yay, I kept my promise of within the week!! Thanks for the reviews (and the puppy tips) everyone. The next one might take a bit longer because I'm stuck again. It will be up before the end of the month though. (I'm finding if I give myself deadlines, it helps…haha) Anyway, please enjoy (as much as you can, it's kind of sad) this chapter and let me know what you think.