Disclaimer:Own Harry Potter I do not. (Sadly, Yoda I am not either.)
Written for Destiny for a gift as part of the Fiction Net Gift Exchange. Hope you enjoy it, loffly!
Every year, as the clock struck midnight, signalling the boundary between Halloween and All Saint's Day, as the veil between life and death was at its thinnest, someone disappeared.
The staff had done a good job of covering it up. Nothing had ever been written in any records, newspapers or books about the famous school of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Even the most detailed book- Hogwarts, A History- only held passing mention of a fanciful rumour, started by a prefect as a ghost-story. Nothing tangible, no concrete evidence, just a brief rumour. Even Hermione had missed it, the first ten times she had read the book.
But that didn't explain the voices she'd been hearing for the past week. The Founders will be satisfied. Blood shall cleanse the sins of the future. Harry had dismissed it as a sign she'd been doing too much work, and dragged her outside to relax. Ron had shuddered, and suggested she see Madam Pomfrey for a stress cure. 'You work too bloody hard,' he'd said firmly.
She hadn't gone, though. She'd left for the Library, instead, and had found the dustiest, oldest row of books there. The table before her was filled with old tomes and ancient scrolls as she hunted for an answer. Was she going mad? Or was this rumour, her only clue so far, something to do with it?
Every year, on Halloween, someone disappears. No one knows where they go to, and no trace of them has ever been found. It's a mystery, how a student in a school as secure as Hogwarts could just up and vanish, but it happens.
The testimony of an old Head Boy, found in a book from the 'good old days' before Voldemort, before Grindelwald, in the calm of the Victorian era. Hermione found herself shivering, and she closed the book slowly. Perhaps Professor Binns, or one of the older members of staff could help her. Anything to get out of the suddenly claustraphobic air of the Library.
'I'm sorry, Miss Granger, but you aren't making sense.' Professor Binns had been surprised to see her voluntarily visit him outside of class, especially since she had chosen Potions over his subject. Her hurried babble and enthusiastic, worried tone of voice had brought him to attention, and he stared at her in as much confusion as his ghostly face could muster.
'Professor, I found this rumour in the Library.' Hermione started again, determined not to leave without more information. She picked up a quill off one of the desks, and scribbled the rumour on a piece of parchment. Professor Binns stared at it, and she stepped back and waited while he read the words.
'I was wondering,' she began as his eyes travelled over the parchment for the second time, 'if you knew anything about this. You taught us about the Chamber of Secrets, when no one else would, and you know everything about the history of magic, and of Hogwarts.' Binns turned to her, and sighed heavily.
'Miss Granger, as much as I would like to be of assistance, I'm afraid I simply cannot help you. This appears to be an idle piece of student gossip, nothing more than hearsay. Best to dismiss it as such.'
'But Professor-'
'I must leave, Miss Granger, or I will be late for a staff meeting. Goodday to you.'
'Professor-' Hermione stared in desperation as the ghost silently floated through the ceiling. 'It is true,' she muttered defiantly, leaving the classroom. Nobody seemed to believe her. Would no one help her? She sighed, scrunching up the parchment and hurling it in a bin as she made her way back to the common room. Someone had to help her, or another student would leave. She knew it as well as she knew how to transfigure a fork into a spoon. Halloween was only a week away. She had to hurry.
The common room was empty. Hermione stared around, momentarily lost. Where were Harry and Ron? The chess set had been discarded, the white queen shouting angrily about the indignity of being kept a square from victory. Sunlight glinted off the chess pieces, and a distant cheer echoed through the window.
A cheer? Hermione rushed to the window, almost tripping over Trevor in her hurry. Yes, now the emptiness made sense. Broomsticks hurtled through the air, and the watchers laughed as Harry caught the snitch again. Quidditch practice, she remembered, massaging her temples. Why was no one here when she needed them? Her head was aching.
You cannot stop us. We will have our payment for the injustices we suffer.
She managed to stumble to the nearest chair before she passed out, and the last thing she heard was the bloodthirsty voice laughing.
She dreamt.
The forest is cool and fresh under her feet, and she is waiting to save the chosen student. Rain is pouring from the blackened sky, but she is ignoring this. It's keeping her awake, anyway. She crouches lower in her hiding place. The voices have been getting worse all day, louder and more excited. She wonders why.
The moon is hidden by a blanket of cloud, but still a shaft of moonlight shines through, casting a glow on the silhouette walking down from the castle. It sets the scene, she supposes, and tries to make out who the figure is. But every time she manages to focus on its face, her vision blurs. The voices reach a crescendo. Their victim is here! She was able to make out the words, last week, but now all she can understand is the tone. Hunger.
The victim is here. It- he? She thinks it might be a he- enters the forest, and he is absolutely drenched. She is tempted to run and save him now, but curiosity overwhelms her. She has to see what happens, just a glimpse, but she will make sure to save him in time.
Everything goes dark, and she almost jumps up from her hiding place. It is definitely a boy, and his voice, sounding hypnotised, as if he was under the Imperius curse, speaks out.
'I am here.'
'Do you accept that you have been Chosen?' The word seems to capitalise itself, booming with importance. One voice rings out above the others, and she fumbles for her wand. Light, let there be light, and she would take his hand and run away.
'I do.' Why was he so calm?
'Do you confess to the crimes you have committed?'
'I do.' Her wand was slippery and she was holding it the wrong way. Why was he not saying what the crimes were? Why couldn't she get any light?
'We find you guilty.'
'Lumos!' She makes light, and the victim turns to face her as the forest itself seems to come alive and bind him. The rain intensifies, trying to create a sheet of water between the two of them, and the boy meets her eyes. Her heart goes out to him, this lonely looking boy, and she runs to try save him. The voices are confused and don't know what to do. No one has ever tried to save a victim before. She casts spells to cut through his bindings and clasps his shaking form to her chest, but as she does, he turns into blood- running through her fingers, staining her robes, someone is screaming, the blood of an innocent is on her hands and now she must pay.
The darkness swallows her.
'Hermione? Hermione!'
Someone was shaking her. They'll be getting blood on them, she thought drowsily, sitting up to push them away. 'I'm fine,' she said, not liking how her voice quavered on that last syllable. 'What happened?' Quidditch practice must have ended. Harry had been shaking her, Ron calling her. Ginny hovered anxiously between them, and the other Gryffindors watched with wide eyes.
'You were screaming,' stated Harry, releasing her shoulders. 'We came in and thought you were asleep, but then you just started screaming.'
'Loudly,' put in Ron. 'I thought my eardrums were going to break.'
'Really?' For a moment she was going to tell them all- about the rumour, the dream, the voices- but then Harry's worried green eyes met hers and she smiled comfortingly. It was too dangerous for him to venture out into the Forbidden Forest, more so at midnight, and on Halloween? Unthinkable. The war was intense, Hogwarts a safe haven from it. She wasn't going to put their lives at risk.
'I must have had a nightmare. Too much work,' she joked, and gave a small sigh of relief as Ron shook his head, ordering her outside with them, and Harry laughed and agreed.
'Tomorrow you're not allowed near a book,' ordered Harry. She nodded, saluting to keep the mood up. Halloween is only a few days away. I need to speak to Dumbledore before then. He can't know of the rumour, or he'd never stand for it. Although he stood for leaving Harry with the Dursleys, and never telling him the truth... She ignored the nagging doubt, and settled herself at the chess board.
'A game?' she offered, smiling as Ron took the seat opposite her and set up the pieces. The white queen was still angry, and he spent a few minutes apologising before they could play. The image of the boy was still lurking in her mind, but she shook it away and focused on the board. There was enough time to worry tomorrow.
Wasn't there?
Did the staff even know?
Hermione stood outside Dumbledore's office, quietly waiting for the Headmaster to arrive. She'd already asked Professors McGonagall, Flitwick and Vector if they knew of the disappearances, but they'd looked at her in confusion and sent her away. Was it a cover-up? She wasn't sure... but she was determined to find out. Harry and Ron were in detention- Snape, as usual; he seemed more vindictive than normal this year- and she'd made the most of the chance to do some more research.
Not that she'd got very far. Nobody knew anything that could help her, and it was driving her crazy. There was nothing to prove that the Curse- she'd dubbed it that, after she hadn't been able to sleep for the voices- existed, except for that one piece of evidence, the one that had started this off.
'Every year, someone disappears. Every year, someone remembers.' Hermione looked around for the speaker, and then realised that she had said the mysterious words.
Someone remembers? Remembers what?
'Miss Granger.' The magical staircase had carried Dumbledore to his office door without her realising he was there. He gave a mild smile and opened the door.
'What can I do for you?' he asked kindly. Hermione met his innocent blue eyes and her words stuck in her throat. She shook her head.
'Nothing, Professor.' Why wasn't she telling him about the Curse? 'I thought I needed advice, but I don't think so any more.'
'Ah, excellent. Nothing clears the mind more than peace and quiet, I find. Good luck to you, Miss Granger.' He swept into his office with a twinkling smile, as if he knew what she had come to ask. She kicked the wall angrily, and then limped back to the library. Maybe if she tried the Restricted Section, she would be able to find out more, before it got too late.
Halloween was only two days away.
Once more, she dreamt.
'We find you guilty.'
'Guilty of what?' she asks, but nobody hears her voice. The roar of their hunger is deafening even themselves. 'What do people remember?' She is nearly screaming with rage.
The lonely boy turns to look at her, and his mouth moves, but she can't make out the words; and then a hand is put on her shoulder, and she turns to face Godric Gryffindor.
'The Founders are satisfied,' he says with a smile that reminds her of Dumbledore, and then the forest melts into blood and-
-she wakes up.
'What am I meant to do?'
And then, without warning, she woke up and realised it was Halloween, and she didn't know any more about the Curse. She dressed distractedly, didn't eat breakfast, and for the first time in her life she'd forgotten to do a piece of homework.
'Miss Granger,' Flitwick asked squeakily, concern evident in his voice, 'is everything okay?'
No, she wanted to say. No, everything is not okay, because tonight someone is going to disappear, and nobody cares – except me.
But instead she gave a tired smile and nodded. 'I'm fine, Professor.' He didn't believe her, she could tell from his eyes, but he turned away. The moment he did, Ron placed his hand on her forehead.
'She's got a fever,' he announced solemnly to Harry. 'We should take her to see Madam Pomfrey.' Harry snickered, and Hermione swatted Ron's hand away.
'You two,' she sighed, but her mind wasn't on their antics. Who is going to disappear? she asked herself, glancing around the classroom. Everyone seemed perfectly normal, completely unaware of the Curse that was hanging over them. There was always the chance that she had imagined it, but-
someone remembers
-Hermione Granger just didn't imagine things, especially not ones as serious as this.
Someone was going to disappear. And she knew where, and when; the dreams had shown her that much. And she would have to do something about it. Oh she'd thought more about telling Harry and Ron, but they weren't there, in her dreams; they had nothing to do with this. She knew that, deep down. She was the only one who could do something to help.
And, she determined, staring off into space as Ron waved his hand in front of her face, she would do something.
But for now, all she could do was wait for midnight to come.
'Lumos.' She slipped down across the grounds, hidden under Harry's Invisibility Cloak. The forest looms ahead of her, dark and forboding, and she could hear the howls of wolves as they celebrated the night. It made her shiver, but she kept going. Someone had to stop the Curse.
Hermione paused before entering the forest. She thought back over her dreams, and then bit her lip. Someone disappears. This year, they wouldn't disappear; not if she had anything to do with it.
The forest was cool, and surprisingly fresh under her feet; there hadn't been rain, yet it was damp and refreshing. Her feet seemed to know which way to go. She kept her wand raised, and every now and then a shadow would dart away, startled by her light.
'Where are you?' she asked in a low mutter, and then the trees parted and she came across a small clearing. At the moment it was empty, but she knew it wouldn't be for long.
'Nox.' Her light was extinguished and she leant back in the dark, hiding between the trees. After a few moments, it started to rain, and in her head she thought she could hear the voices of her dreams begin to chatter excitedly, and she knew she had found the right place.
'I won't let a student go,' she whispered. The rain intensified, pouring down on the Invisibility Cloak, but a quick spell took care of it, and she waited, completely dry. In her dreams, she had been soaked by the rain. Things were already going differently; she could do this. She had to do this.
The shadows in the clearing grew, and a cloud settled over the moon. Footsteps could be heard slowly crunching their way through the forest and Hermione tensed. This was where it started.
The figure, drenched from the rain, entered the clearing. She gasped. The shock of white blonde hair was easily recognisable. Draco Malfoy! Her feet move, as if to run and save him, but she held herself back. A part of her was desperate to see who it was behind the Curse, who it was that made the students disappear.
Draco's voice sounded hypnotised, Imperiused, when he spoke. Just like in the dream.
'I am here.'
The shadows erupted, forming four outlines around Draco. Hermione shivered, clutching her wand tightly.
'Do you accept that you have been Chosen?' And now it was following her dream too closely. The voice boomed around the clearing and she began to shake so much she dropped her wand. Oh no! She knelt and scrambled around to find it. Light, if she had light she could destroy the shadows and save Draco, break the Curse.
'I do.' Oh Draco, she thought desperately, you fool! Don't be so calm! She found her wand but it was slippery, she couldn't get a grip on it; when she managed to pick it up she realised she was holding it the wrong way.
'Do you confess to the crimes that you have committed?'
'I do.'
What crimes? Hermione fumbled with her wand to get it around the right way, to run in and stop this before it went too far. There were no crimes!
'We find you-'
'Lumos!' Hermione has got the wand properly, and light exploded into the clearing as she ran forward.
'-guilty!'
'No!' she screamed. One of the shadows melted away, and a hand clamped down on her shoulder. She turned to find the face of Godric Gryffindor. Just like in her dream.
'The Founders are satisfied,' he said with a cheerful smile, and she reached out with her other hand to punch at him, but he melted around her hand, shadows flowing into the floor. The forest seemed to come alive, shadows darting forward to envelop Draco, and the rain poured down even harder, a sheet of water between them.
'I won't let this happen!' she screamed, pushing forward as the shadows bound Draco tightly. His eyes met hers, and she could see that the hypnotism was still there; her heart went out to him, poor Draco Malfoy, a sacrifice to the Founders for crimes that had never happened-
-no! She could still save him! An extra push, and Hermione broke through the rain and the shadows, and wrapped her arms tightly around Draco. The voices that haunted her dream started to speak, as they had when she slept, and they sounded-
-not confused. Pleased. What-?
Draco was shaking in her arms and when she looked down she could see that there were shadows between her hands and his skin, and they were burning him. A chanting started as she tried to pull him away, but he was held fast in the centre of the clearing. The chanting rose to a crescendo; a spell, she realised-
His head turned to her, and Draco managed to speak.
'Remember,' he whispered, and then the spell was finished and Draco fell limp, she could see the life draining out of him and into the air itself, into the trees and the shadows. He started to dissolve, to turn to blood in her hands; the blood of an innocent was on her hands, she remembered with panic and horror, and now she had to pay.
'You are cursed,' said a voice from behind her, and as the last of Draco Malfoy ran away, she turned to see Dumbledore behind her.
'Professor! What- Draco- I tried to save him!' she cried desperately. Dumbledore knelt next to her with a grave face.
'I know,' he said sadly. 'In my year, I tried to do the same, and now I bear the curse too.'
Hermione looked up at Dumbledore's sad eyes, and then started to cry.
'Every year, someone disappears. It is the price we pay for something that happened a long time ago.'
'What happened, Professor?'
'Hogwarts had opened for its first year, and a Dark Wizard, wanting to claim the school for his own and use it to raise an army, infiltrated as a teacher. The Founders were unaware of his indoctrination, and, to cut a long story short…'
'Yes?'
'The students rose up against the Founders. Three were cast out; Salazar Slytherin retreated to his Chamber of Secrets. But he was found by the Dark Wizard and they duelled. The other Founders returned as Salazar was killed, and destroyed the wizard, returning order to the school; but at a price. As they used up all of their magical strength to cleanse the school, they set a curse upon it, that each year a student would pay the price for themurdercommitted bythe first generation.'
'But that's not fair! Draco Malfoy hadn't done anything-'
'Draco Malfoy?'
'Yes!'
'To my memory, Miss Granger, no one named Draco Malfoy has ever studied here at Hogwarts.'
'What! But Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, their son-'
'They have never had a child.'
'What!'
'This is the second part of the story, Miss Granger. The curse was common knowledge at first, and several tried to stop it happening; as you can understand. The Founders were displeased at this, and altered the curse. And to this day, every year at Halloween, a student disappears; and there is only one person to remember them.'
'But… why?'
'I must confess, Miss Granger, that I do not understand it. All of the student's existence is wiped from the world, and he or she is absorbed by the forest. Only one person is left, and they witness it. Perhaps it is to ensure a reminder, of the crimes committed in the past. In my day, it was our Head Boy, and yet the next day it was as if he had never existed. Only I knew, and to this day I remember him.'
'So… that's the true curse.'
'Some might say so, Miss Granger. To remember someone in this way is far worse than to never have existed at all.'
'And that is how we pay for the past.'
'I believe so. Perhaps sleep might help, Miss Granger. I suggest you return to your common room.'
'I… Draco.'
'You will never forget him, Miss Granger; and so in a sense, he will always live on.'
'I suppose so… I tried to help him, Professor.'
'As I tried to help our Head Boy. In the end, it was equally futile, and now all we can do is honour their memory.'
'I… yes. Thank you, Professor.'
Hermione got up and left, and when she went to her dormitory she stared out of the window at the Forbidden Forest, and made a solemn vow.
'I'll never forget you, Draco Malfoy. I promise.'
Every year, as the clock struck midnight, signalling the boundary between Halloween and All Saint's Day, as the veil between life and death was at its thinnest, someone disappeared.
And every year, when someone disappeared, there was only one person to remember them, and from this the Founders gained their satisfaction for the next year, and continued to watch over the school… until the next Halloween.
Ginny woke up with a start.
Halloween was only a week away, and she wished it would hurry up and pass, so that her dreams would stop.
Fin! Hope you enjoyed, Destiny, and everyone else who read it!