Hermione stumbled and fell, scraping her knee. Instead of getting up like she had the other times she had fallen. She would've liked to stay there and cry, but that woman was catching up to her.
Hermione wasn't sure how long she had been running, but it had felt like years. She knew that if she stopped running, or even paused for more than a few seconds, the woman would catch her. And who knew what would happen to her then.
The footsteps behind her had stopped momentarily and she could hear heavy panting. Good, she was wearing her down. Even though Hermione wasn't sure how much longer she could keep this up herself.
She was spared knowing when she heard the woman shouted, "Accio girl!"
Before she could even resist, Hermione was flying backwards through the air into the woman's outstretched arms.She struggled in midair, trying to continue running, but it was no use. Hermione could feel her panic mounting higher as the woman came closer and closer.
Vernon Dursley was awakened by the telephone ringing at one o' clock in the morning.
He tried to ignore it, but it continued to ring. Vernon finally turned over and picked it up, about to berate the person on the other line.
"Who the hell do you think you are-"
"Mr. Dursley, I am not in the mood," replied the person on the other line.
"Neither am I! Do you know what time it is?"
"Mr. Dursley, this is Dr. Garris. There has been an-accident."
Vernon noticed the nervousness in Garris' voice. Breathing suddenly became very difficult and Vernon had to struggle to get the words out of his mouth.
"What kind of accident? Is Petunia okay? What's happened?" he asked hurriedly.
"Just get over here, Mr. Dursley." The line went dead, but Vernon's heart was racing.
Dr. Richard Garris was no stranger to wizarding society. Hs whole family was magical, except for himself. It had been a hard blow to Richard when he had discovered he was a Squib. He had always wanted to be a Healer, but he had had to settle for a doctor. Tonight was one of the many nights when he wished he had been magical. Maybe then he would've been able to do something.
When the Deatheaters had arrived, there had been immediate panic, but Richard had realized he was the only person in the whole hospital who knew who these men in masks really were. That meant he was the only person who could get help.
He had quickly contacted his sister (who was an Auror), but most of the damage had already been done.
Richard clenched his fists tightly. Many of his patients had died or were being treated in St. Mungo's. Petunia was one of the latter, but Richard knew it was too late. Petunia had been tortured with one of the Unforgivables.
The Cruciatus Curse,he thought, shuddering, Not even she deserved that.
The torture had triggered a heart attack. Petunia had only been in the hospital for a week and her recovery had been going very slowly. It was doubtful that she would make it.
Richard hadn't the heart to tell Vernon Dursley about his wife's condition.Even if he could, Richard wouldn't tell him that Healers were doing the best they could on his wife, but magic couldn't solve everything.
It wasn't as if the Dursleys were the only one that would lose a loved one. Richard would be charged with the task of telling families that they would never see their loved ones again. The other doctors didn't know the truth. Their memories would be erased and they'd forget how the whole thing happened.
Richard couldn't forget though. He'd have the memory of this night branded in his memory until he died.
Damn those Deatheaters, he thought. All of them. I hope one day they do catch them; sooner rather than later. I hope they suffer all the pain they've caused families.
Seven-year-old Ron Weasley crouched on the stairs with his older twin brothers, Fred and George in front of him, and his little sister Ginny behind him. All four were listening to their parents below who were conversing with a man none of them had seen before.
"…hope they give him to me," Ron heard the stranger say. When Ron had glimpsed him, he had seen a tuft of black hair hidden beneath a cloak. The rest of the man's face had been obscured.
"You've practically dropped off the face of the Earth," said Mum. "You don't have a job and considering your history-"
"It's better to give him to me than leave him with those Dursleys," the man growled.
"It may take months for you to gain custody of him."
Fred turned around to look at his red-haired twin. "What d'you reckon?" he whispered.
George shrugged. "Guess it's some bloke trying to get his kid back. Uninteresting?"
"Very," replied Fred. "No fun here."
"Goodnight," said both at the same time, heading back up the stairs as quietly as possible.
"Maybe we should go to bed too," mumbled Ginny. "We don't want Mum to catch us up here."
Ron nodded in agreement. No one wanted to suffer the wrath of his mother. Besides that, he was tired as well and sitting here for the rest of the night didn't appeal to him.
As he followed his sister upstairs, Ron caught a few words that sounded like 'illegal'and 'orphanage'. He was too tired to sort through the words for them to make sense and was already half-asleep when he reached his room.
By the next day, Ron would have completely forgotten the conversation and wouldn't think about it for a long time.
"Please, I really need your help."
"Isn't this the girl the Ministry is looking for?"
"That's besides the point. You owe me." The first speaker said this confidently.
"It's not right. If the Ministry ever finds out…"
"If you use the right methods, the Ministry will never have to know."
"I have a family to think about."
"As do I."
The two stared at each other for a moment.
"I'll provide everything you need," said the first speaker. "All you need to do is keep her. The Ministry believes that she is a Muggle, they won't search very hard for her"
The second speaker nodded. That was true. The Ministry wasn't overly concerned about the welfare of Muggles.
"It's too risky. I don't want anything to happen to my family."
"If they find out, I'll take care of it. I'll keep your family out of danger. I won't leave until you say yes."
Harry had been startled, and a little annoyed, when Mrs. Figg awoke him at five o' clock in the morning a week into his stay at her house.
"Wha's happen'ng?" he said sleepily. He sat up in his bed to see Mrs. Figg better. His glasses were still broken.
"Harry," said Mrs. Figg slowly, "something has happened to your aunt. It's not looking good and there's," Mrs. Figg stopped a moment to sniffle, and Harry saw that her eyes were shining.
"There's a good chance," she began again, "that your aunt won't make it."
The only thing that Harry could think of to say was "Oh."
He couldn't bring himself to feel any sadness over his aunt. She had never said a kind word to him, had never respected him or fed him properly. She had always treated him unfairly and had forced him to do all the housework. He hadn't wished she would die, but he felt no love for her.
"Wh-what happened?" he finally asked after a silence which was occasionally broken by Mrs. Figg's sobs.
Mrs. Figg's eyes flickered with fear for a moment. Harry was surprised. Why would she be afraid of telling him what happened? It couldn't be that bad.
"They said she had a heart attack," said Mrs. Figg after a while. "She was overexerting herself while she was in the hospital. She was trying to recover too fast and it was just too much for her."
Something in Mrs. Figg's tone made Harry suspect she was lying. She didn't even seem convinced by her own story.
As Mrs. Figg wiped her eyes dry, she mumbled, "I'll leave you alone to think about your aunt." She got up and walked slowly out, still sobbing.
Harry laid back against his sheets, his mind going over the events of the past few minutes.
Harry wondered what would happen to him now. Uncle Vernon disliked him more than Aunt Petunia did. He was certain his uncle wouldn't want to keep him since they weren't blood-related. There was no hope that Dudley would plead for Uncle Vernon to keep him. And Harry was glad of it.
I may never have to see them again.
This put Harry in a better mood as he continued to repeat this to himself before he fell asleep.
She's pacing.
Why? Father's here.
But Mum's not. She's worried.
About your mom? I don't think so.
You have a point.
Are you worried?
Nope. Whatever Mum's doing, it's her business.
Ask your sister if she knows anything.
No info. She says don't worry about it.
Is she pacing?
Yes.
Then she's worried.
Obviously. Talk later.
Scrimgeour laid his head on his desk. The only thing on his mind was going to sleep. He had been at work for the past ten hours and it didn't seem as if he would be leaving very soon.
His eyes were just drooping when Amelia Bones walked in. She had been at work longer than himself and she didn't look sleepy at all. He sat up straighter in an attempt to look as if he hadn't been about to go asleep.
"Any word on the girl yet?" asked Bones, setting her hands on his desk. She picked up the reports on the desk and started to look them over.
"No ma'am. The Obliviator Squad is still out looking for her." The Ministry had received a description of the girl from a nearby neighbor who knew the Muggles.
Bones' eyes narrowed and he knew she wasn't happy.
"How difficult can it be to find a seven-year-old girl? She can't have gotten far and she should have magical traces on her from the house."
"All magical traces have disappeared. Whoever had killed those Muggles cleaned up after themselves. The ones that we had found at the house were so mixed up, it would've been impossible to track the killers."
Bones sighed in exasperation. "If the girl isn't found by tomorrow, pull everyone back. We'll issue a Muggle Watch if I can get it approved by Fudge. She'll have to turn up eventually."
She looked at Scrimgeour and her eyes widened. "Scrimgeour, you look like you've just had a run-in with a dementor. Go home and get some sleep. I'll find someone to take over for you."
Scrimgeour wanted to nod his head gratefully and head home to where his bed was waiting. But a bit of stubbornness persisted in him. He had been disappointed when he hadn't caught the Deatheaters. Every last one of them had escaped.
I'd expect no less since no one placed Anti-Apparition wards on the hospital.
The fact that the Muggle girl was still missing was just adding salt to his wound. A seven-year-old girl, and a Muggle at that, was hardly expected to survive a night alone by herself. There was little hope that they would find her, but Scrimgeour had to at least try.
"No thank you, Amelia. I'll think I'll stay for a few more hours."
Bones looked surprised, but shrugged. "If that's what you think is best. Just don't overdo it. I can't afford to lose anybody tonight."
A/N: That's the end of chapter five. I hope you didn't think that Harry was too unfeeling about his aunt's death, but there's not a lot to say about it. Tell me if I'm moving too fast with the story. Might change it, no guarantees, already typed up the other chapters. I'll take guesses on Hermione's new guardian.