Harry dashed to the window, stumbling slightly over some boxes along the way.
For some reason, his heart was in his throat, and his hands trembled ever so slightly as he removed the envelope from an unusually still Hedwig▓s leg.
The pain and blood respectively in and on his head all but forgotten he resisted tearing wildly into the envelope, instead reading the small neat handwriting carefully.
-Harry Potter Number Four Privet Drive Surrey-
He couldn▓t help but laugh. It was just like Hermione to put a detailed address on a letter being delivered o him by his own personal owl.
Still smiling he opened the envelope to withdraw the piece of parchment that would hopefully contain the solution to his nightmares.
To his amazement another smaller note fell from the envelope as he withdrew the letter.
Putting the note from his mind he read her letter.
Dearest Harry
Don▓t worry I▓m sure that there▓s nothing to be afraid of in dreams, things are Deathly quiet here. Just relax before bed and practice your Occlumency and I▓m sure you▓ll be fine.
With all my love
Hermione.
Harry starred at the letter incredulously. That didn▓t sound like Hermione at all!
Bending down to pick up the note he was dumbstruck.
It was a picture, from a muggle magazine, it had a picture of a puppy from an animal shelter on it above which was written in large red letters- S.O.S
Why on earth would Hermione send him that? Had she given up SPEW in favor of animal rights?
He regarded the letter again, it was certainly her handwriting, he▓d copied enough work from her the years to be an expert on the matter, however the way in which the words were put together didn▓t match her usual way of communication. Not even close, and why had she spelled deathly with a Capital D?
Then it hit it him.
DEATHEATERS!
Without thinking twice he spun in the act of apparition, underage magic and license be damned. He didn▓t know where he was going, he▓d never been to Hermione▓s house before, but he had seen a picture of her in her room once or twice. He just hoped it would be enough as the awful feeling of being pressed through a rubber tube set in.
With an almighty crack he landed┘ somewhere.
Oh very well done Potter yes indeed, not only do you apparate halfway across England but you make such a bloody fuss that every deatheater in twenty miles would hear! He thought bitterly to himself.
The very first thing that he noticed was that he was outside.
Not good since he was aiming for Hermione▓s room, but considering that he▓d somehow managed not to splinch himself he was rather grateful. He peered around carefully in the misty gloom of the setting sun. The area seemed to match what Hermione had told him of her home over the years┘
▒Avada Kedavera!▓
His train of thought cut off as a bolt of sickly green light blasted from the shadows with a hellish whooshing sound.
Rolling to the right he barely avoided the killing curse but lost a goodly amount of skin on the rough tar of road on which he still stood.
Coming to his feet Harry cast about for anything that might work to his advantage. It didn▓t look too good. He had his wand, he was facing an unknown number of deatheaters and even better he was doing it in the middle of muggle suburbia. This day just kept getting better and better┘
Hearing a grating sound behind him he spun and cast the first spell that came to mind,
▒REDUCTO!▓
The blue bolt sprang form his wand casting an eary light over the immediate area, as it sped towards the source of the sound, a booted foot, concealed beneath a robe, the owner of which was currently hiding behind a garbage can.
The sound of the spell hitting the garbage can was thunderous, the great boom echoing through the now dark night air. The moon had not risen quite yet so it was very dark but Harry didn▓t mind. He▓d been wanting a chance at revenge for his Headmaster since that night on the Astronomy tower.
The can was gone, blasted into a thousand metal pieces. The deatheater was lying a few feet away, stunned by the sudden explosion and more than a little cut up by flying bits of debris.
▒Incarserus, Petrificus Totalus▓ Harry waved his wand as he scanned the area more carefully. The street seemed empty but he wouldn▓t take any chances, one close brush with the killing curse was enough for one night thank you very much.
The house before him was exactly as Hermione had described it. Two storied, with a nice little garden and a neat lawn. The house itself was painted white and the roof was tiled.
The front door stood ajar. Never a good sign in these troubled times. Harry walked slowly towards it, his gaze never stationary as he scanned his surroundings for any possible threat.
▒Bombada▓ came a cold drawl from inside the house and the heavy wooden door was blown into outwards flying splinters.
Harry barely had time to mutter his hasty ▒Protego▓ before they hit him. Most of the splinters were diverted or stopped dead by the shimmering bubble of protection but one or two got through before it could form fully, shredding the boys faded jumper and giving him a nasty cut across the shoulder.
▒Well, well, well, if it isn▓t the Chosen One.▓ Harry knew that voice, it was an older version of the ferret who had been in the kitchen this very morning. Looking up he regarded the tall figure of Lucius Malfoy with utmost loathing. Ripping his wand in a whip-like motion Harry shouted,
▒Stupefy!▓ however instead of the solitary bolt he▓d been expecting Harry was greeted a transparent wave of red light, roughly the size of a car speeding towards a shocked Malfoy.
Barely avoiding the strange spell Lucius fell to his left as he cast the mainstay of the deatheaters repertoire of magic,
▒Avada Kedavera!▓
The green bolt flew with deadly accuracy towards the spot where potter had just been standing but found only grass, as it blasted a small crater into the Grangers lawn. Potter was gone. But where did he go?
Even as Lucius thought about it the answer revealed itself as a silently disillusioned Harry sprang from the darkened bushes to his right casting another stunner, this time in its usual shape. The bolt took the elder Malfoy head on as it crashed into his temple, throwing him violently to the ground.
This is not possible! Was the last thought that crossed the deatheaters mind as he blacked out.
Again Harry bound and petrified his defeated adversary before creeping into the house at last, he would deal with them later, right now he had to find Hermione!
At first glance the house seemed to be something of a larger version of Privet Drive but as he stalked carefully from room to room Harry soon realized that the two places could not be more different. Privet Drive was a Prison, this place was a Home.
At last he had finished with all the downstairs rooms and he crept up the stairs idly wondering why no aurors or order members had shown up yet.
He came to a room, the door tightly sealed with a powerful caloportus and obviously under the effects of a silencing charm.
▒Alohamora▓ he intoned. The door briefly glowed blue but nothing more happened.
Frustrated he kicked at the door. He couldn▓t use something like Bombada incase someone was directly behind the door.
Slashing his wand at it again and letting all his frustration and anger born this ruinous day flow into it, he all but screamed,
▒ALOHAMORA MAXIMA!▓
The blue glow was blinding this time but still the door would not open, however a great crack had appeared across its surface.
Clearly the Caloportus was very strong but perhaps if he could dispel it rather than breaking it by force┘
▒Fenite Incantatem▓ he growled annoyed at his own stupidity for not trying it in the first place. The door literally fell off its hinges as the spell holding it in place dissipated.
Looking into the room Harry barely had the time to register its contents before being knocked over by a slight frame with curly brown hair wrapping its arms around him in a fashion that suggested that they would not be letting go anytime soon.
It took Harry a moment to recognize Hermione. She was thin as a rake her ragged clothes hanging of her frame like bags, her face was gaunt and hollow, it also showed a black eye and a still healing split lip. Clearly the deatheaters had had her for a goodly while.
The sight of her shocked him to his core, his beautiful friend reduced to this all because him? It was his fault! Malfoy was right!
This was His war.
Hermione was crying pressing her face into his shoulder and holding him for all she was worth.
▒Harry! I was so scared, please don▓t let them come back they hurt me and┘ and my parents! Harry where are my parents!?▓
His stomach dropped. He▓d seen no sign whatsoever of the senior grangers on his initial search of the lower story.
▒Lumos▓ Harry said in a careful voice wanting better light so as to check Hermione for further injury.
Strangely she shied away from him, covering her face with her hands.
▒Hermione?▓ He asked confused.
▒Please Harry, don▓t look at me just now! I▓m fine I promise.▓ Her voice sounded anything but convincing.
▒Hermione please let me see what wrong? I have to make sure your okay before I can look for your parents, please?▓ she still seemed reluctant but allowed him to come closer again.
Gently pulling her hands away from her face Harry saw what she had been hiding. He couldn▓t stop his angry intake of breath.
Lucius Malfoy was a dead man.
There, along the side of her neck running up her cheek and nearly reaching the corner of her left eye was a cut. A deep one. It would probably leave a nasty scar. Why she would try and hide it from him though, he couldn▓t fathom.
▒It▓s alright ▒Mione it▓s just a little cut, it▓ll heal up right quick you just wait and see▓ he said trying to be comforting. She looked up at him and began crying again a buried her face in his shoulder once more. At that the sound of car doors closing came from the yard below┘
Chapter 4: The Imperious Undone
Instantly alert, Harry carefully shushed Hermione whilst disentangling himself from her vice like grip. Wand at the ready he slowly made his way downstairs.
The house was too quiet, the only sound he could hear was that of footsteps coming down the path towards the front door.
Training his wand on the doorway he was preparing to let fly with his strongest stunner when the sound of apparition directly behind him made him drop to his knees and roll to the right whilst turning and bringing up his wand, straight into the face of Madeye Moody.
The electric blue of the old aurors strange eye contrasted sharply with the faint glow of his wand light as he spoke in his gruff voice
▒Nice work Potter, but you can lower your wand now. Its just the grangers▓ the mans grim tone of voice made Harry turn to see Hermione▓s parents walking in with glassy eyes and vacant expressions. They silently went to the kitchen and sat around the table, never making the slightest sound.
▒It▓s the Imperious▓ Moody said at Harry▓s incredulous expression. ▒It was never meant to be used on muggles, I honestly don▓t know what we can do for them.▓
Furious Harry cast about for the bound form of the elder Malfoy. With a look of total rage Harry curtly said, ⌠Accio Malfoy▓s Wand!▓
The black wand flew at him like an arrow only to be plucked from the air by his finely tuned seeker reflexes.
Without even looking at the slender wand or at Moody for his advice, Harry abruptly snapped it over his knee.
▒People like him should not be allowed any magic, much less a wand▓ he said in the old aurors direction before stalking angrily up the stairs.
His mind was spinning, thoughts of anger guilt and extreme relief colliding violently in his skull.
Hermione was alive, two deatheaters were captured but she had suffered badly at their hands and her parents were cursed, all because of him!
He came to her room at last, where she sat shivering and crying on the floor. Harry had to fight the ugre once again to go downstairs and use the Avada Kedavera on the bastardly Malfoy. He settled for sitting down behind her and wrapping his arms tightly around Hermione.
'It's okay Moine', he whispered for lack of anything better to say, things certainly were not 'okay' but what else could he say to her?
Barely seeming to hear him she just kept crying, leaving him to look around her room from their prone position on the floor.
As he had imagined, there were books everywhere, most with clearly magical titles but a goodly few muggle volumes as well. The room was decorated in Gryffindor colours of red and gold, the furniture was a rich dark wood, clearly the Grangers were not hurting for money.
He mentaly kicked himself for thinking something like that!
It didn't matter whether they were royalty or poorer than the Weasleys! Hermoine was his best friend!
Finally she calmed down enought to speak and look around at him.
Her face was red and swollen from all the crying but it struck Harry that she was indeed very beautiful.
Hangon! Where'd that come from Potter? He thought to himself.
At last she spoke, bringing he back to their current situation.
'Haryy! I was so scared! They just showed up one day and stunned us all! They wanted to know where you were, but I wouldnt tell them! They hurt me, so badly! When I still wouldn't tell them they tried the imperius! I fought it as hard as I could! I even beat it a few times, but in the end I had to tell them! I'm so sorry!' She broke down and started sobbing again.
Harry really couldnt care less. He wished that she'd told the the moment they came! Perhaps that would at least have spared her the torture they put her through, and her parents! he still had no idea how he was going to tell her about her parents!