Hermione cried for a good ten minutes after that, until her eyes were red and swollen. Eventually, she dragged the chair closer to the bed so she could keep watch over Harry while he slept. Sometimes he'd move a little, making small moans of pain but other than those small signs of life, there was nothing. At around noon, Jane came in with some lunch but left quickly thereafter. Eventually, she'd fallen asleep at some point. She knew this because Harry began writhing in pain violently enough to jostle her awake. And then he started to scream in agony at the top of his lungs. The sound was the most horrible thing she'd ever heard in her entire life.
The Maid of Life burst into the room, her eyes wild. She turned to shout behind her, "JAKE I NEED YOUR HELP!"
"ON IT!" a deep voice called back, as a very tall, burly dark skinned boy jogged into the tent. His hair was as unkempt as John's had been and he wore the same kind of square glasses. The only difference was the deep forest green of his eyes.
Jane instructed him to hold Harry down, as she didn't have the strength to. And then she rushed back towards the entrance, bellowing at whoever was left in the dining room, "SOMEONE GO GET VRISKA!"
"What... what's going on?" Hermione gasped urgently, having been hustled away from the bed.
"This is what we've been contending with." Jane looked at her anxiously. "You may want to leave." Hermione shook her head violently. She would not leave. Sighing, Jane turned back to Jake. "Would you mind?"
He also shot a tense glance over to the young witch before easily complying. Harry had been tightly tucked in so that he was already somewhat restrained. Jake merely got on the bed and straddled him, applying appropriate gentle pressure with his legs and arms to keep Harry still. While he did this, a soft white light, almost angelic in nature, suffused the tiny room. A tendril of hope coursed through her entire body, the anguish she felt nearly obliterated by the strength of that hope. Harry screams lessened in intensity but he still cried out, his body writhing in pain. Jane stood with Hermione, her hand absently rubbing her back as she watched the scene unfold.
Several long minutes passed like this until Vriska finally came. She had to duck when she entered the room as she was too tall to be allowed. This was the second time Hermione had seen her and she was no less intimidating now, even though the clothes she wore were quite casual - artfully ripped and faded jeans, a dark green military jacket, and a black t-shirt with the sign for Scorpio on it in cerulean. The Alternian looked at her right then, her strange, mismatched eyes piercing her directly with that same deeply unpleasant smile on her face. And then she turned away, looking at Jane with an extremely disagreeable expression.
"Again?! I just put him to sleep six hours ago," she complained, flipping her tangled mane of hair over her shoulder in contempt.
"I don't know what to tell you. He fights it off like he does everything else," Jane snapped tersely as if she'd heard this argument a million times before and had gone beyond being bored of it.
"Oh, god! Not that thing about his scar again," Vriska shot back, rolling her eyes dramatically.
"It's not his scar," Hermione stated firmly, glaring at the Alternian. "He was the only one to resist the Imperius curse in his fourth year." When all she got was puzzled looks, she clarified, "Mind control, he resisted mind control."
"Huh. Reeeeeeeeally. How interesting." Vriska's eyebrows rose over her glasses in surprise, an appreciative smile forming on her face. It did nothing to soften her sharp features. "Nice to know there's at least one human that ain't a complete waste of space."
"Thanks," said both Jane and Hermione in unison, offense clear in their tone.
Vriska didn't notice, and if she had she wouldn't have cared. She stopped in front of the bed, head tilted curiously as she looked down at the young man as he bucked and yawed. Now that she knew he was resisting not because of some lame-ass magic scar but because he had the willpower to do so, things had gotten more interesting. Up to this point, she'd only been giving him the bare minimum amount of effort, which in the past had been sufficient enough to put most humans to sleep easily. It was time to see what would happen if she flexed her muscles, so to speak.
With a short inhalation, she raised her hands to her forehead and with a longer exhalation, she slowly drew them down. With her left hand, she touched his forehead gently with two fingers and applied the full force of her power. She pushed and he pushed right back - enough to physically force her back a few steps. Grimacing, she took her place again and once her fingers came in contact with his skin she mentally punched, striking back using every bit of strength in her to force him to relent. For a good few minutes he fought admirably, but in the end he was no match for her, submitting to her greater strength. She had to give the kid some credit he had made her breathe a bit harder.
Hermione couldn't quite see what was happening, beyond a bright cerulean light that blazed briefly before slowly going out. Whatever was happening, it seemed to take ages until Harry had finally stopped moving and gone quiet, allowing Jake to crawl off of him. He stepped back to let Jane, and consequently Hermione, to get a good look at him. She could see he was just as pale as before. His scar looked swollen and red. In the middle of his forehead, there was a small blue circle of sorts, with the sign for Scorpio glowing white inside it. It remained there for a number of seconds before sinking into his skin. Vriska smirked and without another word she walked out, ducking her head through the entrance as she left.
Jane took a wash cloth and dripped in a nearby bowl of water, kindly wiping away the sweat from his forehead. Dipping it a second time, she left it there in hope it'd bring down the swelling. She smoothed his hair, looking at him worriedly. Her hand began to glow as her healing fire ignited. She placed it on his chest. It flickered erratically, but did its best to do the job it'd been called for. Once it was finished, Harry didn't look all that much better than before. Even so, it was a small difference - a welcome difference.
Jane swiped her hands through her hair in frustration, which made it stick up oddly in places. "I wish there was more I could do for him," she said with a huff, turning to look at Hermione. "I'm sorry."
"It's okay. I appreciate everything you've done for him so far."
"Thank you, but I can't help but feel like I'm doing more harm than good," Jane replied with a helpless shrug. "Why don't I get you some dinner... you need to keep up your strength."
Hermione tried to disagree, but Jane wasn't having it. She was frog marched out of her own bedroom into the dining room. Before she got much farther, she was enveloped by a pink and white blur. It was Roxy, who was hugging her as if her life depended on it. Holding her out at arm's length, Roxy looked her up and down, as if searching for some injury.
"You okay?"
"Um, I..."
"'Course you ain't. Stupid of me. I went and acted a fool. Your friend's all fucked up. Dirk gave you the third degree, even though Janey told him not to. Sorry 'bout that. I handed him his ass a minute ago when I found out," she blurted all this out in one breath. "Hope you don't hold it against him though. I mean, he's a dipshit, but he's our dipshit."
"Thanks, Rox," Dirk called from somewhere outside the tent, punctuating his comment with the hollow thunk of an axe cleaving a log in twain.
"You're welcome, dipshit," she hollered back. And then she noticed that her new friend was looking at her as if she'd gone mad. "I'm overwhelming you, aren't I?"
"Er, a little," Hermione answered politely. In truth, she was more than a little overwhelmed.
"Sorry, it's just... I got done talking with Rose, Dave, and Terezi and I figured out some stuff and how wrong-headed I was being. I'm, uh, sorry for being an assbutt."
"Apology accepted," she said rather tiredly.
Roxy happily guided her to the tables, sitting next to her on her right side as she chattered away inanely. On her left was Jake, eating an absurdly large sandwich with gusto. In front of her was Jade, no longer dressed in black. She wore a huge oversized blue jumper with an intricate pattern of little dogs and atom signs all over it. Her wild tangle of hair had been tied back into a lazy bun, little white dog ears sticking out the top of her head. One swiveled and flicked at some unseen stimulus. Hermione stared at them, open mouthed. Jade noticed almost immediately.
"Yes, they're real. No, they don't really do anything but move occasionally. And that's the only part of me that's actually a dog," she recited as if all those things were common questions, her Kiwi accent bending the words oddly. And then she bit into her sandwich delicately.
Meanwhile, Jane was preoccupied by the person who'd made an absolute mess of her neat kitchen. "Karkat, did you do all this?"
This was the second Alternian she'd ever seen and he couldn't be more different from Vriska if he tried. His skin was the same color, but that was where the similarities ended. He was short and stout with hair so messy it was psychologically distressing to look at. Nubby little candy corn horns just barely stuck out from the tangled brambles of his hair. He wore an overlarge black sweatshirt with the sign for Cancer on it in dull grey and rumpled looking dark grey pants that had clearly seen better days.
The Alternian in question scowled at Jane darkly, his expressive eyebrows knitting together angrily. "Don't act so fucking surprised, Crocker. Sandwiches are the simplest god damned food to make. You're welcome, by the way."
"And what is it I'm supposed to be thankful for exactly?" Jane demanded with just a touch of hostility, gesturing at the mess he'd made, which was quite extensive. "I'm at a loss for words here. Were you cooking or having a food fight? This inquiring mind would like to know."
He gave her a patronizing look. "I'll have you know I've slaved over this for-"
"A hot minute?!" exclaimed Roxy with a bark of laughter. "Looks like you were trying to make sammiches via catapult. Did you just dump the ingredients in and launch it at the bread?"
"First of all, fuck you," Karkat said, pointing directly at Roxy. "Secondly, I was doing you a fucking favor, you ungrateful piece of shit," he continued rancorously, turning on Jane with an accusatory finger.
Jane's face went carefully blank as she calmly picked up a stray wooden spoon, pointing at him menacingly. "Watch your tone, buster. Now, you're gonna clean this mess up, or so help me god I will wedge this spoon in the most uncomfortable part of your anatomy I can get my hands on, are we clear?"
"Promises, Promises," he sneered. Jane's eyes widened and her lips thinned in fury. He rolled his eyes derisively, snarling, "Do your worst, Crocker."
Wordlessly, Jane twirled the spoon one handed, sharply brining it down right across his knuckles hard enough it make an audible crack. He yelped in pain. Snatching his hand back, he rubbed it. As if by some unspoken cue, they began to shout at each other almost simultaneously.
"YOU WANT ME TO CLEAN THIS SHIT UP? FINE! GREAT!" Karkat had grabbed a towel and then began to furiously rub 'clean' an errant mustard stain on the counter which only served to contaminate the counter with more mustard. "SEE?! I'M FUCKING CLEANING, YOU HARPY! YOU WANT ME TO DRESS UP IN SOME KIND OF INSULTING NOVELTY COSTUME WHILE WE'RE AT IT, YOU FUCKING SOCIOPATH!?"
"I DON'T EVEN KNOW WHAT YOU'RE TALKING ABOUT AND I DON'T WANT TO! AND THAT ISN'T CLEANING, YOU DOLT! YOU'RE MAKING IT WORSE!" She shouted back, throwing her spoon at his head and missing by a country mile.
Their argument didn't slow or quiet down, but everyone else seemed to just ignore it, going back to eating their sandwiches as if nothing was going on. Hermione considered doing a cleaning charm but refrained - for one, she was kind of put out by all the shouting and secondly, she wasn't all that good with household spells to begin with. It suddenly occurred to her that this was what it was probably like to be in the middle of one of her frequent rows with Ron, a thought which she quickly pushed away.
Concerned, Hermione asked Roxy in a very quiet whisper, "Is this a normal occurrence?"
Roxy snorted and rolled her eyes as she pulled one of the sandwiches Karkat had made towards her but didn't answer.
It was Jade who spoke up. "It's an almost daily thing. I have this theory that Karkat might die if he doesn't have at least one argument with someone in a 24 hour period."
Karkat paused in his cleaning/exchanging barbs with Jane to shout, "IF THAT WAS TRUE I'D STOP TALKING JUST SO I COULD FINALLY EMBRACE THE SWEET RELEASE OF DEATH! YOUR THEORY IS BULLSHIT, JADE. I'M LIKE FUCKING TROLL SISYPHYS, ENDLESSLY PUSHING YOU ASSHOLES UP THE STEEPEST FUCKING INCLINE GOD OR MAN EVER CONCEIVED."
Jade tilted her head back and let out a rich, full bodied laugh, getting up to punch him lightly in the arm. She chased him out of the kitchen so she could help Jane, as he'd been doing more complaining than cleaning. He sat down in her place, grabbing a sandwich and shoving in messily into his mouth.
"Ouff gaht um pruhblm?" he asked challengingly, his mouth full.
"Oddly enough, no," Hermione replied with a shrug, watching him eat with an almost wistful expression. "It's kind of comforting, actually." Something occurred to her then. "Do you mind if I ask you a question?" His eyes darted back and forth suspiciously before nodding his assent, his cheeks stuffed with sandwich like a chipmunk. "John said something curious to me once and he said I ought to ask you about it because you'd get the 'joke'."
"Are you fucking kidding me right now... any joke Egbert had a hand in is bound to be awful and a waste of our time. I only include you because that enormous tool somehow roped you into his ill-advised nonsense," he snapped, finishing his sandwich in one bite. Unbeknownst to Hermione, Roxy kicked him underneath the table to force him to talk. He grunted, glaring at her. She grinned at him mischievously, kicking him again - this time much, much harder. "I know I'm gonna regret this," he mumbled, rubbing his shin with his other foot before kicking Roxy back in retaliation. "Just... ask your fucking question."
"Well, he said something about trolling me backwards. I didn't really understand what he meant then, but now I think it has to do with the fact that temporally speaking we've met each other out of regular order. My first meeting with you all isn't your first meeting with me and my second meeting with you is clearly your first, which is a bit confusing, to be frank. And I'm not quite sure how it's funny, but he did say that you'd get it so..."
"JESUS CHRIST! A GUY MAKES THE MISTAKE OF TROLLING SOME LOSER BACKWARDS IN TIME ON ACCIDENT ONCE AND HE HAS TO PAY FOR THAT SPECTACULAR BULGE-BREAKING FUCKUP FOR THE REST OF HIS GOD DAMNED LIFE," he exploded, burying his hands in the wild tangles of his hair in exasperation. And then he glowered at her, speaking more quietly (marginally) while retaining the same acid tone. "The answer to your question is it isn't fucking funny, like at all. It's just more of John's special brand of feculent horseshit that I've been dealing with for more sweeps than I'd like to think about. It's like Dave's stupid fucking stairs meme, it just keeps happening."
He stood up abruptly, giving Hermione a look of pure loathing before shaking his head and swearing quietly to himself as he angrily exited the tent. Hermione was at a loss. Her question had been quite sincere and she was baffled by his reaction. "Did I say something wrong?" She asked Roxy, honestly worried.
"Nah, he's just a really twitchy dude. Also, I think John kinda used you to prank him, timeline-wise. So there's that," Roxy said, biting her lip briefly before she explained further. "The story is that Karkat had this chat client back in the day with a temporal function. It allowed you to talk to people, or even yourself, at different points in their timeline. Instead of having conversations in lockstep with John's current time like a rational person, he talked to him backwards to avoid some dumb awkward conversation they had the first time they chatted."
"So it's just silly, juvenile nonsense."
"Yep, pretty par for the course if we're being honest here," Roxy agreed with a little headshake.
"What's the stairs meme?"
"Oh god, no. Just... no," Jane interrupted as she cleared away some dishes. "Don't open that can of worms. You'll regret it. Just believe me that you're better off not knowing."
"Ignore her, she hates art," Roxy quipped with a devious little smile.
Hermione had the sneaking suspicion that Jane was correct in this particular instance.
It was strange how easily they'd drawn her in again, even though they didn't know her like they had when she'd first met them. The whole situation was beyond surreal. She felt the cognitive dissonance as almost a physical thing. There was the hunt for the Horcruxes and all the despair that entailed; Harry's current condition and the fact that she now had firm confirmation that what she'd long dreaded was true. And then this inane argument she'd witnessed - the absurdity of everything that had happened in the last 24 hours. She should be reeling, instead she felt weirdly comforted. It was as if a warm blanket had been placed on her shoulders. Like the universe was somehow saying it'd all turn out all right. She wanted to believe it so badly...
But she just couldn't. Harry was a Horcrux. She knew it for a fact now and she knew his ultimate fate. Neither can live while the other survives... He had to die. He had face death willingly and allow that monster to kill him. The horror of it overwhelmed her. The laughing people surrounding her seemed to dim, sound and color fading to almost nothing. She quietly excused herself, stumbling into her own room. It was dark and the only sound was Harry breathing softly. Sitting down on the floor, she pressed her back into the edge of the bed. She hugged her legs and buried her face in her knees. And then she cried for the fiftieth time that day, biting her lip to muffle the sobs.
Hours passed and she awoke cold and on the floor, having fallen asleep. Looking at her watch, she saw it was a little after two in the morning. She thought briefly about going back to her own bed, but rejected that idea. Instead, she stood up stiffly, brushing off her clothes. Harry moaned in his sleep, moving restlessly under the covers. She gently brushed the hair from his face.
She leaned down and whispered, "Stop fighting it, Harry. Rest. You're safe."
Hermione didn't know if he could hear her or not. With a sigh, he stilled. It brought her a bit of small hope... perhaps he had heard her. 'Be realistic, Hermione,' she mumbled harshly to herself as she exited. She decided to go into the living area, hoping to get some late night reading done. Most people weren't up this late, and she was expecting that she'd have some time alone.
Walking into the living area, Dirk and yet another Alternian were conversing quietly sitting across from each other. Dirk paused, his head titling subtly at the sound of Hermione's shuffling feet. The troll had also noticed the sound and looked up, her eyes meeting the young witch's unblinkingly. Dirk stood abruptly, back ramrod straight.
"We'll talk more later," he stated tersely, and without warning he left without even looking at Hermione.
"All right," the Alternian woman responded, an eyebrow cocking in confusion at his sudden departure. Her attention returned to Hermione. She smiled politely. "Good morning."
"Um, good morning." Hermione just stood there nervously, unsure of what to do.
The Alternian woman regarded her for a moment and found her to be silent and therefore uninteresting. With a shrug, she flipped open the book she had in her hand to the spot she'd read last. But trying to read when someone else is staring at you and not sitting down is really the most impossible task in the world. With a quiet sigh when Hermione still hadn't moved, she said, "I don't bite, you know." She looked up, peaking through her lashes. "Unless you ask nicely."
Hermione actually took a small step back. The Alternian woman laughed lightly and shook her head, wondering internally what it was about bookworms that thought too much that made it impossible for them to make the first move - thus leaving it up to her. Gracefully, she stood up, her hand curling around her book.
Like Vriska, she was quite tall but unlike her she was willowy, lacking the dense musculature of Vriska's more athletic frame. Her dark black hair was neatly coiffed, elegant horns standing out from the precise curls. She had a lovely heart shaped face with high cheekbones. Her wide almond shaped eyes were complimented by perfectly arched eyebrows that were neat and well maintained. She wasn't rough like Vriska or rumpled like Karkat. She was perfectly poised and put together, her entire bearing insinuating great refinement. Like all of her kind, she wore a simple black t-shirt with an astrological sign on it - hers was Virgo in deep jade green.
The troll herself was rather amused by this new human's curious perusal of her form. Perhaps she'd spent too much time with her Matesprit because she couldn't help find the hilarity in the whole encounter. Without a doubt she was sure the girl was absolutely petrified of her, but also curious.
Rose had said she'd met Vriska and Karkat first, a classic mistake on the human's part. It was never a good idea to let those two be the first introduction to her people. The Thief of Light had mellowed considerably in the intervening years but that didn't mean that she had lost her edge. She was sharp and intimidating, which meant she rarely left a positive impression. And Karkat was surly at the best of times.
Friendly overtures were the best way to make humans feel at ease, it was really that simple and yet they failed at every turn. No matter how many times Kanaya had nagged both of them, neither listened. It was frustrating because even Terezi, who at her best was mercurial in her whims, had the good sense to occasionally appear diplomatic with newcomers. Oh, who was she kidding, Terezi was as big a mess as the rest of them.
She glided towards the young witch, her stride so smooth that it looked like her feet barely touched the floor. Holding out a hand, wrist tipped daintily, she said, "Kanaya Maryam, very pleased to meet you."
When Hermione didn't immediately shake her hand, Kanaya's eyes subtly glanced at her hand and then back at her face, eyebrows lifting expectantly. After staring at her proffered hand for a few seconds, fingers twisting, Hermione shook the Alternian's hand and introduced herself. The young witch was surprised at how soft her skin was.
Blinking slowly, Kanaya sat, gesturing to the space before her. "Please sit." She gently set her book down, patiently waiting for Hermione to comply before speaking again. "I apologize for my compatriot's behavior. Not all of us are so uncouth." Her voice was low and melodic with the slightest hint of an accent of some sort.
"Oh, well, yes. That's quite all right. You needn't apologize," stuttered Hermione nervously. "I'm sure they're just tired from traveling, I suppose."
Kanaya laughed throatily at the suggestion. "Oh my no, Vriska's an insufferable bitch who lives for drama, always has been, always will be. We've all made our peace with it. As for Karkat... he's loud and he is awfully abrasive at times, but it's all of a part of his charm. He'll grow on you. You'll see. Have you met Terezi yet? Which I've heard is a loaded question - to clarify, I mean have you met her recently or in your past?"
"Well, I've not personally met her at all, actually. She did write something on a note Dave left me in the past..."
"Hmm. Well, in a way that's fortunate. She's a bit better at first meetings than Karkat or Vriska, but not by much," confessed Kanaya, shrugging her shoulders. "Since you are likely to meet her sooner or later, I suppose it'd be fair to warn you. Terezi is... well, talking to her can sometimes make you feel quite unbalanced." She thought for a second or two. "Rose used an odd turn of phrase to describe her once that I didn't entirely understand due to vast differences in our respective cultures but perhaps it is applicable in this instance... she said that dealing with her felt as if you were in a final exam for class you hadn't attended all year. Terezi was the teacher that knew you hadn't studied and was eagerly waiting to fail you. I hope it made more sense to you than it did for me."
"She sounds terrifying," breathed Hermione, unaware she'd voiced her thoughts.
"Oh, she is," Kanaya agreed happily, smiling a little at the shocked look on Hermione's face. "But those of us lucky enough to call her friend know there is no one more loyal to them than her. She is vicious in the defense of those she loves and merciless to those who dare to threaten us. You're included in that now, of course. So you needn't worry."
"B-but I've never met her..."
Kanaya's eyes conveyed a warmth that there wasn't before. "Terezi is a Seer, Miss Granger. The Seer of Mind, in point of fact. And she has seen you... she knows you, even if you don't know her yet. When she told us we had to find you, she said you were an ally - a friend. Rose confirmed it. And when both our Seers agree, we are inclined to take their conclusions at face value as they are rarely wrong."
Thoroughly unsettled, Hermione made to get up but before she could even move, Kanaya's hand grasped her own. Her face was grave as she looked at her with those strange eyes - a deep jade green set in bright gold sclera. "I know this upsets you. The truth is not often comfortable, as you well know." She gave her a delicate smile, squeezing her hand gently before releasing it. "I found this book on one of the chairs," she said, holding up 'The Tales of Beedle the Bard'. "It's very interesting. Rose seemed to enjoy the story of the Three Brothers. I found it to be terribly morbid myself. I prefer the one about the Hopping Pot. It was very amusing. I apologize for not asking before reading it. Would it be too much trouble if I borrow it for a bit longer?"
"Not at all," Hermione agreed shakily, hoping that by agreeing this strange conversation could be over.
"Thank you," she replied as she stood up in a single fluid motion and then walked into what was the dining room. Halting at the entrance, she turned and smiled. "Goodnight."
Without further ado, she slipped into the darkened room. Hermione could hear her conversing with someone in low murmurs. There was a sound of rustling fabric as if someone was slipping underneath the covers of a bed and then quiet.
Suddenly going to bed seemed like a very good idea.