It took Harry a very long time to get to sleep that night. After his
conversation with Malfoy, he went back to bed and stared at the white
ceiling. At least he would be at Hogwarts soon. only four more days and he
would finally have a chance to spend time with someone other than Ron,
Sirius, Malfoy and Hermione. Lupin wasn't around long enough for Harry to
get sick of him. He seemed to be out a lot, and Hermione speculated he was
constantly making sure no strange wizards were showing up in the area.
As the wind blew at the window softly during the night, Harry couldn't help but hope that Ron was innocent, despite the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach that kept him awake. Why else would Malfoy say those things? It would take a lot for Harry to tell Malfoy he was protecting him from anything, and imagined it was the same for Malfoy. If Ron wasn't guilty, there was still a chance that Malfoy wasn't either, like Sirius had said earlier. But, a nasty voice in his head whispered, they could both be guilty, too.
The week passed, and it was finally time for them to leave Lupin's house and go to Hogwarts. The morning was spent packing and loading their trunks into the taxi Lupin had called. Harry noticed Sirius watching him from the top of the stairs as Harry was coming back inside for the last of his things. His godfather was gripping the handrail, and a strange expression crossed his face when Harry caught his eye.
"Come upstairs when you're done?" Sirius asked awkwardly, and Harry nodded.
When Hedwig was in her place in the backseat (much to the disgust of the cab driver), Harry went back inside to Sirius.
He was still gripping the handrail of the banister above the foyer, and Harry climbed the steps, and stood next to him. They were silent, looking down and out the front door. Several times, it felt like Sirius was going to say something, but he sighed and shut his mouth instead.
He finally turned to Harry; "There's nothing I can say," He began, "that can force you to be safe. You are already in danger, and there's not much you can do to change that." Harry swallowed dryly. "But you can easily make it worse, which is what I wanted to talk to you about."
Harry could see where this was going. He'd have to promise to stay out of the forest, out of Hogsmeade, away from everyone except his friends, and never leave their sight.
"Please don't roll your eyes," Sirius sighed, "because I have been thinking about this for a long time. Your parents are counting on me to keep you alive, and I'm not going to be able to keep an eye on you. not that I'd be able to anyway, if you've got any of your father in you. The point is, you need to keep yourself alive, and I think the best way to do that is to stay away from everyone. even Ron and Hermione."
Harry was surprised.
"What do you mean? Why?" He asked.
"You can't trust anybody, Harry, except yourself. Don't trust anything you hear unless your own ears and eyes were there."
"But I can trust-"
"Nobody." Sirius' voice dropped to a whisper as Malfoy came through the front door and disappeared into the kitchen.
"If I can't trust anyone to tell me what's going on, how am I going to know if something bad will happen? Like in Diagon Alley?"
Sirius was gripping the banister very tightly now. "You'll eavesdrop, spy, snoop, break rules. whatever it is you've done every other year to gain information, only this time without your friends."
Harry couldn't believe it. Sirius was actually telling him to break rules and spy on people! But he'd have to do it without Ron or Hermione.
"It's so hard for me to tell you to do this," Sirius continued, "but you're dead meat if you sit around like a good boy, waiting for someone to kill you. You understand, don't you?"
Harry nodded.
"And you can't breathe a word to Hermione or Ron-"
"Okay."
They exchanged a brief goodbye and Harry went down to the taxi, which was ready to go. He squeezed into the back seat with Ron, Hermione, and Hedwig's cage. Malfoy was up front with the driver.
Lupin waved them off, catching Harry's eye. He nodded purposefully at Harry, and then continued to wave as they drove away.
They arrived at the station quite early. By the time they reached the barrier, there was still a full half hour until the train was to leave.
Before they raced through the barrier, Malfoy turned to them and said, "I stayed with my uncle in Germany for the past two weeks. not with you lot."
"Well, it's not like we're going to be bragging about you staying with us," Ron scoffed. Malfoy leered at him, but didn't say anything more.
"Come on, Ron," Hermione said, and they both walked casually into the barrier and disappeared onto the platform.
Malfoy turned to Harry.
"I'm serious. nobody can know I stayed with you. If my father found out he would kill me." Despite his stone-set face, Harry could definitely sense a note of slight panic in Malfoy's voice.
"I won't say a word about it."
"And-Be careful around Weasley."
They stood there awkwardly for a long moment.
"Well, you go through first," Malfoy said in his usual drawl. "I won't go through at the same time as you, Potter."
So Harry nodded, and ran through the barrier, totally unprepared for what met him on the other side.
"THERE HE IS!"
A flashbulb erupted in front of Harry's face as he came through the barrier. Stars blinked in front of his eyes, but still knew he was completely surrounded by people. Slightly panicked, Harry clutched his things and pushed toward the train.
"He's alive!" Harry couldn't tell if the voice was surprised or disappointed, but maybe it was just his imagination.
A man was shoved right at him, and Harry nearly toppled over.
"Stay away from him!" another wizard said, and looked as if he was going to punch the first wizard.
"Everyone step away, please!" A girl with a prefect badge on her muggle shirt managed to disperse the crowd enough to let Harry through.
"They've all been wondering where you've been," Hermione explained quietly as he met up with her and Ron at the side of the train. "Cornelius Fudge was trying to find you, apparently, and you weren't at your muggle family's house. You better come up with a story soon."
"It doesn't look like they're all sending kids off to Hogwarts." Harry observed. He didn't recognize any of them in the crowd, and there were far too few students there for each of them to bring their parents and create such a large group.
But more students were arriving by the minute. Every time one of them caught Harry's eye, they looked away quickly
"Harry doesn't need to make up a story! Just tell them it's none of their business," Ron said severely. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"It would be much easier just to make something up rather than challenge everyone who asks," she reasoned. "And it will seem less suspicious."
Harry agreed, and tried to think of a story. but nothing came to mind. He had no relatives to visit anywhere, not unless you counted the Dursleys. He shrugged at Hermione and Ron. "I've got nothing."
"You can say you stayed with me in Australia," Hermione suggested, "that's where I told my family I went, just in case someone went to my house."
"Sure," Harry said, "as long as everyone knows I wasn't hiding out ---"
"HE'S BEEN HIDING OUT!" a voice cried from behind them. Harry's stomach dropped as he realized that someone had been eavesdropping; a goofy looking wizard with a bad leg hobbled away from them to educate the crowd that whatever alibi Harry could come up with would be a lie.
"So what?" Harry said, boarding the train. "So they'll know I've been hiding out. Who wouldn't if they were in my shoes?"
"I'm just afraid they will figure out where you were hiding." Hermione said, following Harry and Ron down the aisle of the train.
"Yeah, we could put Lupin in danger, and Padfoot." Ron said.
"Hush!" Harry turned around. "Don't say anything else about it until we're alone!"
They chose a compartment, and settled in. It was 15 minutes until the train should leave, and the platform was completely full with students and the crowd from earlier. Harry saw the witch with the camera conducting little interviews, and assumed she worked for the Daily Prophet or Witch Weekly.
"I'm nervous," Hermione said, peering out the window. "I mean, there are so many people around and none of us have been very informed about what's going on."
"What if I went out there and told the reporter a bogus story about where you were hiding?" Ron suggested. "They'd believe me, since they think you're going to lie about where you were."
"Okay," Harry said. "What are you going to tell them?"
"How about you were hiding in the tunnels under Fin Alley the whole time? That's where Sirius was going to hide you anyway. That won't give them any clues, as to where you really were."
"Are you sure, Ron?" Hermione asked.
"You've got a better idea?" Ron retorted, and nodded at Harry as he left the compartment.
"What do you think is going to happen when we get to school?" Hermione wondered.
"I'm going to have to watch out for falling chandeliers," Harry replied, and smiled.
"Don't joke about that!" she said, wide eyed. "I mean it. Do you think Dumbledore is going to help you out?"
"What's he going to do, make a new rule forbidding anyone to kill me?"
Hermione looked down, and Harry could see that tears were forming in her eyes. He sighed.
"Hey. don't worry, Hermione." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yes, I think Dumbledore will do whatever he can to keep something from happening." He pulled out a tissue from his bag and gave it to Hermione. She just held it in her hand without using it, so Harry took it back and wiped the few tears off her face.
She looked up and into Harry's eyes. He felt the friendship between them, as if it was something tangible. They leaned towards each other, Hermione's teary eyes reflecting the light of the train compartment, and kissed.
It wasn't romantic, or breathtaking, and it wasn't very long at all. They didn't love each other; it was much greater than love. They were friends, and Harry knew that she was going to stick with him no matter what. She smiled, and settled back into her seat.
"Gah!" Ron burst into the compartment. "There are way too many people out there! 'Hey Ron, have you seen Harry?' 'Hey Ron, do you know where Harry's been?' 'Hey Ron, have you got nothing better to do than talk to me?'"
"So did you tell the reporter?"
"Yeah, and she believed every word of it. Gave me this," Ron opened his hand and showed them a silver sickle.
"Wow, she must have really been desperate," Hermione said. She didn't even look like she had been crying.
"She was. as soon as I approached her, she was like, 'Aren't you Harry Potter's friend?' and I knew I had her." Ron seemed a bit upset after saying that. Harry knew that Ron was sick of being referred to as the friend of a famous person.
The train left the station, leaving the large crowd behind, and Harry felt much better. Ron said he wanted to say hello to his brothers, and left Harry and Hermione alone for a while.
Hermione fretted about not being able to read any of her schoolbooks since none were assigned. Harry reassured her that she would be far ahead of the rest of the year in no time. Ginny popped in to say hello a while later, looking for Ron, and left when he wasn't there.
He came back around lunchtime, and they were all three quite hungry.
"I don't suppose you want anything off the trolley either?" they were asked. The old lady pushing the cart looked forlorn.
"Three pumpkin pasties!" Ron said happily, and handed her the sickle.
"Oh my!" the lady said. "You are one of few to buy anything. students have no spending money, poor dears."
Ron carefully picked out three pasties, and handed one to Harry and Hermione.
The witch continued on up the train.
Harry's stomach growled agreeably as he swallowed down the pasty. A few minutes passed and the three of them felt much better. The subject of conversation turned to their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
"I hope the new one is as good as Lupin," Harry said.
"What about Moody? He wasn't so bad when he wasn't plotting your death," Ron said. He and Harry laughed and Hermione just ignored them.
"As long as Snape hasn't snagged the job," Harry sighed. "That would be awful."
Ron and Hermione both agreed.
"I think it would be nice to have a female Dark Arts teacher," Ron said, and wolf whistled. Hermione, who was rummaging through her belongings for a cloak, gave him a look.
"Why are you getting your cloak out?" Harry asked. "It's burning up in here."
"You might be burning up. I'm freezing."
Ron looked worried. "Are you feeling sick?"
"Actually, I think I am." Hermione wrapped the cloak around herself. Harry felt her forehead.
"You're really warm," Harry said. "Have you been feeling sick before now?"
"No." She whimpered. "I don't know what's the matter with me." Harry moved to sit on Ron's side, so Hermione could lie down across two seats.
"Do you think we should tell someone?" Harry asked.
Ron shrugged hopelessly. "Who would we tell?"
"Maybe the conductor?"
"What could he do?"
Hermione moaned, and clutched her stomach. Tears of pain started to pour down her cheeks, which were already covered with cold sweat.
Harry felt panicked. She was turning pale very quickly, and he didn't know what to do.
"Go, Ron, you have to tell someone!"
Ron didn't argue, and hurried out. Hermione's breathing sounded labored and shallow.
"Make it stop, Harry," she croaked. "It hurts."
"I'm sorry, Hermione. I don't. It'll be okay." He pulled her sweaty hair away from her face. "It'll be okay."
She convulsed violently, and Harry pulled his hand away, gasping. When it was over, her eyes were shut.
"Hermione, stay awake!" Harry cried, grasping her shoulders. She was no longer hot, but very cold; he could feel it through her cloak. Her eyelids lifted weakly.
"What's wrong with you?" Harry whispered. "Please be okay!"
"Harry?" Her eyes seemed unfocused.
"I'm here."
"That's all-" she gasped for air, "that's all I need to know."
Harry wrapped his arms around her, and cradled her limp body in his arms.
"You will keep me safe." she breathed.
"No. Hermione don't go!" Harry choked through the lump in his throat.
Ron appeared in the doorway with an adult wizard. Neither of them spoke.
"Hermione!" Harry cried. But she didn't answer. Her chest rose one last time, and she exhaled softly; a final tear ran down her face.
As the wind blew at the window softly during the night, Harry couldn't help but hope that Ron was innocent, despite the odd feeling in the pit of his stomach that kept him awake. Why else would Malfoy say those things? It would take a lot for Harry to tell Malfoy he was protecting him from anything, and imagined it was the same for Malfoy. If Ron wasn't guilty, there was still a chance that Malfoy wasn't either, like Sirius had said earlier. But, a nasty voice in his head whispered, they could both be guilty, too.
The week passed, and it was finally time for them to leave Lupin's house and go to Hogwarts. The morning was spent packing and loading their trunks into the taxi Lupin had called. Harry noticed Sirius watching him from the top of the stairs as Harry was coming back inside for the last of his things. His godfather was gripping the handrail, and a strange expression crossed his face when Harry caught his eye.
"Come upstairs when you're done?" Sirius asked awkwardly, and Harry nodded.
When Hedwig was in her place in the backseat (much to the disgust of the cab driver), Harry went back inside to Sirius.
He was still gripping the handrail of the banister above the foyer, and Harry climbed the steps, and stood next to him. They were silent, looking down and out the front door. Several times, it felt like Sirius was going to say something, but he sighed and shut his mouth instead.
He finally turned to Harry; "There's nothing I can say," He began, "that can force you to be safe. You are already in danger, and there's not much you can do to change that." Harry swallowed dryly. "But you can easily make it worse, which is what I wanted to talk to you about."
Harry could see where this was going. He'd have to promise to stay out of the forest, out of Hogsmeade, away from everyone except his friends, and never leave their sight.
"Please don't roll your eyes," Sirius sighed, "because I have been thinking about this for a long time. Your parents are counting on me to keep you alive, and I'm not going to be able to keep an eye on you. not that I'd be able to anyway, if you've got any of your father in you. The point is, you need to keep yourself alive, and I think the best way to do that is to stay away from everyone. even Ron and Hermione."
Harry was surprised.
"What do you mean? Why?" He asked.
"You can't trust anybody, Harry, except yourself. Don't trust anything you hear unless your own ears and eyes were there."
"But I can trust-"
"Nobody." Sirius' voice dropped to a whisper as Malfoy came through the front door and disappeared into the kitchen.
"If I can't trust anyone to tell me what's going on, how am I going to know if something bad will happen? Like in Diagon Alley?"
Sirius was gripping the banister very tightly now. "You'll eavesdrop, spy, snoop, break rules. whatever it is you've done every other year to gain information, only this time without your friends."
Harry couldn't believe it. Sirius was actually telling him to break rules and spy on people! But he'd have to do it without Ron or Hermione.
"It's so hard for me to tell you to do this," Sirius continued, "but you're dead meat if you sit around like a good boy, waiting for someone to kill you. You understand, don't you?"
Harry nodded.
"And you can't breathe a word to Hermione or Ron-"
"Okay."
They exchanged a brief goodbye and Harry went down to the taxi, which was ready to go. He squeezed into the back seat with Ron, Hermione, and Hedwig's cage. Malfoy was up front with the driver.
Lupin waved them off, catching Harry's eye. He nodded purposefully at Harry, and then continued to wave as they drove away.
They arrived at the station quite early. By the time they reached the barrier, there was still a full half hour until the train was to leave.
Before they raced through the barrier, Malfoy turned to them and said, "I stayed with my uncle in Germany for the past two weeks. not with you lot."
"Well, it's not like we're going to be bragging about you staying with us," Ron scoffed. Malfoy leered at him, but didn't say anything more.
"Come on, Ron," Hermione said, and they both walked casually into the barrier and disappeared onto the platform.
Malfoy turned to Harry.
"I'm serious. nobody can know I stayed with you. If my father found out he would kill me." Despite his stone-set face, Harry could definitely sense a note of slight panic in Malfoy's voice.
"I won't say a word about it."
"And-Be careful around Weasley."
They stood there awkwardly for a long moment.
"Well, you go through first," Malfoy said in his usual drawl. "I won't go through at the same time as you, Potter."
So Harry nodded, and ran through the barrier, totally unprepared for what met him on the other side.
"THERE HE IS!"
A flashbulb erupted in front of Harry's face as he came through the barrier. Stars blinked in front of his eyes, but still knew he was completely surrounded by people. Slightly panicked, Harry clutched his things and pushed toward the train.
"He's alive!" Harry couldn't tell if the voice was surprised or disappointed, but maybe it was just his imagination.
A man was shoved right at him, and Harry nearly toppled over.
"Stay away from him!" another wizard said, and looked as if he was going to punch the first wizard.
"Everyone step away, please!" A girl with a prefect badge on her muggle shirt managed to disperse the crowd enough to let Harry through.
"They've all been wondering where you've been," Hermione explained quietly as he met up with her and Ron at the side of the train. "Cornelius Fudge was trying to find you, apparently, and you weren't at your muggle family's house. You better come up with a story soon."
"It doesn't look like they're all sending kids off to Hogwarts." Harry observed. He didn't recognize any of them in the crowd, and there were far too few students there for each of them to bring their parents and create such a large group.
But more students were arriving by the minute. Every time one of them caught Harry's eye, they looked away quickly
"Harry doesn't need to make up a story! Just tell them it's none of their business," Ron said severely. Hermione rolled her eyes.
"It would be much easier just to make something up rather than challenge everyone who asks," she reasoned. "And it will seem less suspicious."
Harry agreed, and tried to think of a story. but nothing came to mind. He had no relatives to visit anywhere, not unless you counted the Dursleys. He shrugged at Hermione and Ron. "I've got nothing."
"You can say you stayed with me in Australia," Hermione suggested, "that's where I told my family I went, just in case someone went to my house."
"Sure," Harry said, "as long as everyone knows I wasn't hiding out ---"
"HE'S BEEN HIDING OUT!" a voice cried from behind them. Harry's stomach dropped as he realized that someone had been eavesdropping; a goofy looking wizard with a bad leg hobbled away from them to educate the crowd that whatever alibi Harry could come up with would be a lie.
"So what?" Harry said, boarding the train. "So they'll know I've been hiding out. Who wouldn't if they were in my shoes?"
"I'm just afraid they will figure out where you were hiding." Hermione said, following Harry and Ron down the aisle of the train.
"Yeah, we could put Lupin in danger, and Padfoot." Ron said.
"Hush!" Harry turned around. "Don't say anything else about it until we're alone!"
They chose a compartment, and settled in. It was 15 minutes until the train should leave, and the platform was completely full with students and the crowd from earlier. Harry saw the witch with the camera conducting little interviews, and assumed she worked for the Daily Prophet or Witch Weekly.
"I'm nervous," Hermione said, peering out the window. "I mean, there are so many people around and none of us have been very informed about what's going on."
"What if I went out there and told the reporter a bogus story about where you were hiding?" Ron suggested. "They'd believe me, since they think you're going to lie about where you were."
"Okay," Harry said. "What are you going to tell them?"
"How about you were hiding in the tunnels under Fin Alley the whole time? That's where Sirius was going to hide you anyway. That won't give them any clues, as to where you really were."
"Are you sure, Ron?" Hermione asked.
"You've got a better idea?" Ron retorted, and nodded at Harry as he left the compartment.
"What do you think is going to happen when we get to school?" Hermione wondered.
"I'm going to have to watch out for falling chandeliers," Harry replied, and smiled.
"Don't joke about that!" she said, wide eyed. "I mean it. Do you think Dumbledore is going to help you out?"
"What's he going to do, make a new rule forbidding anyone to kill me?"
Hermione looked down, and Harry could see that tears were forming in her eyes. He sighed.
"Hey. don't worry, Hermione." He placed a hand on her shoulder. "Yes, I think Dumbledore will do whatever he can to keep something from happening." He pulled out a tissue from his bag and gave it to Hermione. She just held it in her hand without using it, so Harry took it back and wiped the few tears off her face.
She looked up and into Harry's eyes. He felt the friendship between them, as if it was something tangible. They leaned towards each other, Hermione's teary eyes reflecting the light of the train compartment, and kissed.
It wasn't romantic, or breathtaking, and it wasn't very long at all. They didn't love each other; it was much greater than love. They were friends, and Harry knew that she was going to stick with him no matter what. She smiled, and settled back into her seat.
"Gah!" Ron burst into the compartment. "There are way too many people out there! 'Hey Ron, have you seen Harry?' 'Hey Ron, do you know where Harry's been?' 'Hey Ron, have you got nothing better to do than talk to me?'"
"So did you tell the reporter?"
"Yeah, and she believed every word of it. Gave me this," Ron opened his hand and showed them a silver sickle.
"Wow, she must have really been desperate," Hermione said. She didn't even look like she had been crying.
"She was. as soon as I approached her, she was like, 'Aren't you Harry Potter's friend?' and I knew I had her." Ron seemed a bit upset after saying that. Harry knew that Ron was sick of being referred to as the friend of a famous person.
The train left the station, leaving the large crowd behind, and Harry felt much better. Ron said he wanted to say hello to his brothers, and left Harry and Hermione alone for a while.
Hermione fretted about not being able to read any of her schoolbooks since none were assigned. Harry reassured her that she would be far ahead of the rest of the year in no time. Ginny popped in to say hello a while later, looking for Ron, and left when he wasn't there.
He came back around lunchtime, and they were all three quite hungry.
"I don't suppose you want anything off the trolley either?" they were asked. The old lady pushing the cart looked forlorn.
"Three pumpkin pasties!" Ron said happily, and handed her the sickle.
"Oh my!" the lady said. "You are one of few to buy anything. students have no spending money, poor dears."
Ron carefully picked out three pasties, and handed one to Harry and Hermione.
The witch continued on up the train.
Harry's stomach growled agreeably as he swallowed down the pasty. A few minutes passed and the three of them felt much better. The subject of conversation turned to their new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher.
"I hope the new one is as good as Lupin," Harry said.
"What about Moody? He wasn't so bad when he wasn't plotting your death," Ron said. He and Harry laughed and Hermione just ignored them.
"As long as Snape hasn't snagged the job," Harry sighed. "That would be awful."
Ron and Hermione both agreed.
"I think it would be nice to have a female Dark Arts teacher," Ron said, and wolf whistled. Hermione, who was rummaging through her belongings for a cloak, gave him a look.
"Why are you getting your cloak out?" Harry asked. "It's burning up in here."
"You might be burning up. I'm freezing."
Ron looked worried. "Are you feeling sick?"
"Actually, I think I am." Hermione wrapped the cloak around herself. Harry felt her forehead.
"You're really warm," Harry said. "Have you been feeling sick before now?"
"No." She whimpered. "I don't know what's the matter with me." Harry moved to sit on Ron's side, so Hermione could lie down across two seats.
"Do you think we should tell someone?" Harry asked.
Ron shrugged hopelessly. "Who would we tell?"
"Maybe the conductor?"
"What could he do?"
Hermione moaned, and clutched her stomach. Tears of pain started to pour down her cheeks, which were already covered with cold sweat.
Harry felt panicked. She was turning pale very quickly, and he didn't know what to do.
"Go, Ron, you have to tell someone!"
Ron didn't argue, and hurried out. Hermione's breathing sounded labored and shallow.
"Make it stop, Harry," she croaked. "It hurts."
"I'm sorry, Hermione. I don't. It'll be okay." He pulled her sweaty hair away from her face. "It'll be okay."
She convulsed violently, and Harry pulled his hand away, gasping. When it was over, her eyes were shut.
"Hermione, stay awake!" Harry cried, grasping her shoulders. She was no longer hot, but very cold; he could feel it through her cloak. Her eyelids lifted weakly.
"What's wrong with you?" Harry whispered. "Please be okay!"
"Harry?" Her eyes seemed unfocused.
"I'm here."
"That's all-" she gasped for air, "that's all I need to know."
Harry wrapped his arms around her, and cradled her limp body in his arms.
"You will keep me safe." she breathed.
"No. Hermione don't go!" Harry choked through the lump in his throat.
Ron appeared in the doorway with an adult wizard. Neither of them spoke.
"Hermione!" Harry cried. But she didn't answer. Her chest rose one last time, and she exhaled softly; a final tear ran down her face.