(A/N: "You SAID-!"
Ssh, shh. I know. I know. Just...*hangs head in shame* Review, please, and forgive me for my unacceptable lateness.)
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"You-No. No, no, no." Hermione hissed, instantly turning on her heel to go back to her sleeping bag. Harry Potter was the poster child for insanity, apparently, and she wanted no part of it.
This was shaping up to be another psychotic year, just like first, and second...
"Granger-!"
"No!" she snapped, forgetting to keep her voice down. "No, I won't do this again! You're a curse on this school and I'm tired of getting roped into these things!"
"What are you TALKING about?!" he growled, confusion written all over his face.
Hermione crossed her arms tightly across her chest and glared at a spot in the middle of his forehead. "Every year, something goes wrong because of you and I almost get killed! First it was the Stone, and the troll, and Malfoy blackmailing me about Fluffy-"
"I didn't know-!"
"Then it was second year and being Petrified, and Ron's sister nearly dying, and that was when I barely knew you!" she yelped. Tears clung to her chin, sliding down her neck. "You look for trouble, Harry Potter, and I don't. I'm NORMAL, I'm...I'm...I don't want this! You want to look for Sirius Black, do it by yourself!"
"I thought you were my friend," he snarled angrily. "I guess I was wrong."
"Why? Why are you doing this?! You know he wants to hurt you!" she said. They were right about him. He was a glory hog and a thrill seeker, and she wanted no part of it.
He strode forward and gripped her arm, forcing her to look him in the eye. "They were talking, when they thought I was asleep," he mumbled. "They were talking about making me leave the school until Black was caught. The Malfoys go on Holiday while Draco's at school- I think they're in Germany or something right now. Do you know what that means?" He didn't give her a chance to answer. "I'd have to go back to my aunt and uncle's. It was the same thing last year. I WON'T go back there if I don't' have to. I'll run away before I-" He took a shuddering breath.
She was silent, gaping at him, and he let her go. There was no more anger, just solemn determination. "I didn't ask for this," he said, gesturing at his forehead. "I didn't ask for the bull that comes with it. I don't want people to try and kill me. But I also don't want anyone getting hurt because of me. If I can find Black...I can keep him occupied long enough for the teachers to show up and get him. Then he'll be back in Azkaban and everybody can stay here."
Hermione was speechless for the second time that night. Her lips opened and closed like a fish, eyes glassy with shock. After a second, she blushed in shame at her accusations and her fear, lowering her eyes to her shoes. She had been dead wrong. He was willing to potentially sacrifice his safety for the school's.
Glory hog, indeed. She felt like the biggest arse.
"He...he could kill you." she whispered finally. "I f you do find him...there's no guarantee that the teachers would come in time.
" He smiled grimly. "I'm not defenseless, you know. The Malfoy's taught me a few things. And I have my cloak, so I can just disappear."
"But...but..." Hermione stuttered, pressing the heels of her hands into her eyes. "This is insane..."
"Please, Hermione," he said quietly. "I...I need somebody to come with me."
"Why me?" she sighed desperately.
He was quiet for a while, and when he spoke, it was barely audible. "Because I...I think I...trust you. I don't trust a-anybody...except maybe Hagrid. But you're different than everybody else."
He trusted her? She glanced up at him, and the raw truth he was trying to hide in his eyes. He looked so pathetic. This was insane, this was crazy, this was...
Oh, hell.
"F-fine," she breathed shakily, crumbling. The smile he beamed at her did THINGS to her heart and stomach that she despised.
"Brilliant!"
He was crazy, and apparently so was she. Excellent. This would be the year that finally killed her, she was certain.
Harry held open the cloak and nodded to her. "Come on then." Hermione balked, staring at him first, then the cloak.
"Wait, you mean, under there? With you?"
He sighed loudly. "Yes, Granger, with me. The invisible effect doesn't work outside the cloak."
Tomato red, Hermione edged underneath the fabric and let it settle over them. It was warm and dark, obviously, heated by their mingling breath. The cloak smelled like him, and it was thinner than it looked, letting them see the outside fairly easily. Their shoulders brushed closely. He turned and grinned at her, a flash of white teeth above green eyes. "Ready?"
"As much as I'll ever be." she sighed. "Still think you're crazy."
"Relax, Granger. I've done this a million times."
Merlin. What had she gotten herself into...?
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Half an hour into the search, Hermione had relaxed (slightly). She had expected them to run into Sirius Black as soon as they rounded the very first corner, but it soon became apparent that that wasn't the case. Their search proved as fruitless as the teacher's had been, despite them scouring every inch of the school twice, she stopped seeing it as a suicide mission and actually began to enjoy herself.
Hogwarts was a different place at night, silent and steeped in shadows. Random balls of floating lights darted along the halls and in between their ankles like excited puppies, illuminating the slumbering portraits on the walls. They nearly crashed into a MOVING suit of armor and were almost caught by at least two ghosts, but they didn't find their quarry.
"He's not here," Hermione breathed, clutching at the stitch in her side as they stopped by the entry hall. Sweat soaked her gown and matted her hair to the back of her neck. Her feet and legs ached like she'd run a mile. "He must have left. Let's just go back."
"I don't get it," Harry muttered, looking murderous. "How could he have gotten away?"
"Does it matter?" Hermione countered. "We're going to get caught eventually. We should just go back."
"Maybe, maybe if we search the dungeons again...and we didn't check the astrology tower..." Harry offered, hints of desperation in his voice. Hermione felt pity well in her chest as she turned to look at him. Shadows ringed his eyes, and he looked pale and drawn and frustrated.
She knew he was feeling helpless, and that his desperation was coming from his desire to stay at school and not be sent back to his relatives. His determination had only doubled, driving him forward through his exhaustion, but he wasn't thinking clearly. "Harry," she said slowly, touching his shoulder. "We have to go back. Everyone will be getting up very soon. I know you want to find him, but...there's nothing we can do now."
He didn't reply. She bit her lip, and tried one more time. "Harry, please. Getting expelled won't help anyone. I'll...I'll help you look myself tomorrow, or this weekend."
Once again, those jewel bright eyes focused on her, narrowed in suspicion. "You will?"
Hermione swallowed dryly. "I promise."
He stared at her for a long time, and then she saw the corner of his mouth pulling up into a tiny smile.
A ragged sound by their feet made them both jump a mile. Heart racing, Hermione frantically searched for the cause of the noise.
"WhatisitwhatisitohMerlinMerlin-"
Suddenly Harry hissed out a laugh, grabbing her elbow and pointing. "Look...it's that wretched cat." She looked, and saw Miss Norris padding grumpily down the hall on the opposite side of the corridor. She huffed a snicker of her own, feeling relieved and a little foolish. "Oh...I thought..."
"I'm pretty sure she can't see us." Harry mused. "I wonder..."
She caught the devious tone in his voice and shook her head rapidly. "Oh, Harry no, please..."
"Come on," he smirked, "don't tell me you've never wanted to do it? Just one good, firm kick?"
"Filch will come, he'll murder us. Don't do it." she begged. His grin reached a new level, and she groaned as he yanked out his wand and pointed it at the scrawny cat.
"Furnunculus!"
A jet of bright yellow light erupted from under the cloak and hit Miss Norris dead on. The cat yowled and shrieked in anger and pain as green and mustard colored boils popped into existence all over her body. Harry burst into hysterical laughter and Miss Norris took of down the hall, caterwauling like a siren.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, punching him hard in the arm as he gasped for breath, tears streaming down his face. She let out a frustrated noise and stalked away from him, forcing him to run after her to stay under the cloak.
"T-that was p-p-priceless," he choked, turning the corner. "Hilari..."
They both stopped in their tracks, silence falling on them like a boulder from a precipice. His laughter died instantly in his throat. Hermione let out a tiny, terrified whimper.
Right in front of them, lurking just inside the entrance to the school, was a lone Dementor.
The creature stared at them directly through the invisibility cloak, leaving no doubt to Dumbledore's statement that they had no effect on them. It's rotted breath rasped in and out of it's dark hood with a steady, ragged cadence, like a death rattle, reminiscent of the scent of spoiling flesh where it wafted over their faces. It's very presence seemed to freeze the air and left them shaking uncontrollably.
It was Death personified.
Hermione struggled to breathe as it did nothing but gaze at them. Her chest felt heavy and clogged, like she was drowning, and a sensation like icewater coursed through her veins. A feeling of the most intense morose and awful emptiness weighed down on her, a hundred times worse than on the train during the inspection, and tears sprung to her eyes, but she couldn't bring herself to run, or even look away. She couldn't remember what laughter felt like...or happiness...or...anything.
She could hear her mother sobbing at her grandmother's funeral, remembered her dog being struck by a car when she was six, feel her ankle splinter when she fell from the slide at the park...
She felt a strong urge to lay down, and simply...pass away, stop breathing. Cease to exist.
Beside her, Harry was faring the worst. He had sunk to his knees, clutching his head against shrieks only he could hear and gasping for air that wouldn't come. His mouth was open in a silent scream, and he was clawing at his ears hard enough to leave long, bloody lines in his skin. All the color had drained out of his face, and he was weakening by the second. He slumped against Hermione, mumbling, and it was all she could do to keep standing, barely.
"H-H-H-Harry..."
"stopstoppleasestopstop-"
The Dementor inhaled, and every last bit of warmth was sucked from Hermione's spirit. It began to move forward, drifting closer.
"H-H-H...Har...Harry..."
"pleasepleasepleaseleaveheraloneleaveheraloneplease-"
The black cloak shifted, lifted. One scabbed, slimy looking hand reached out for them.
"HARRY!"
"NOTHARRYPLEASENONONONOTHARRYPLEASE-!"
It's skeletal fingers were inches from her face...her vision was going dark around the edges...she felt Harry slide to the floor silently beside her, convulsing-
"EXPECTO PATRONUM!"
The hallway was suddenly filled with silver light and a loud rushing noise. Just like on the train, the Dementor let out a horrid screech and raced away from the source- Professor Lupin, wand out, looking like a grim, frayed-robe savior.
Warmth and air returned in a wave as soon as the creature was gone. Hermione felt her lungs fill, realizing that she hadn't been breathing. She fell to her knees and turned Harry around to face her, blinking through tears. His skin was icy cold to the touch, and his breath created vapors in the air. His glasses had slipped off. "Harry?!" she squeaked, cradling his head in her lap and trying to rub some warmth back into his wrists.
"Proffesor?" she gasped, head spinning. The thin man fixed her with a stony gaze, holding a finger to his lips. "Listen to me very carefully," he said, "don't say a word. I need you to agree with everything I'm about to say, and we will be having a discussion about this later." Shaken, Hermione nodded.
"Give me the cloak, quickly!" Lupin snapped. Footsteps and shouting were closing in on them fast. Trembling, Hermione gathered the cloak from around their bodies and tossed it to him. He pointed his wand and Banished it- the cloak went zooming down the hallway just as Dumbledore, Snape, and McGonagall stampeded down the hallway in their nightclothes, tailed by Percy Weasely and two other prefects.
"WHAT-IN-THE-BLAZES?!" McGonagall shrieked, purple with rage in her tartan nighgown. Upon catching sight of the prone Harry, she nearly seized, face paling like a sheet. "Mr. Weasely, get Madam Pomphrey at once."
"Y-yes, yes of course!"
"Lupin," Snape snarled, looking like a baited dog as he glared with unrestrained hatred at the DADA teacher. "What is going on? Why is a student of my house unconscious?"
Dumbledore kneeled by Hermione, taking in her shaking body and dilated pupils. "Severus," he said grimly. "These students need medical attention."
"No, I want an explanation!"
"It was a Dementor," Lupin cut in. "Miss Granger and Mr Potter were going to the bathroom when they encountered it. It attacked them."
"Bullshit," Snape growled, eye twitching. "Potter always goes looking for trouble; he was doing something else, I'll have you know I'm not an idiot-"
"Indeed, Severus?" Lupin countered coolly. "Do you see any reason to have another explanation?"
"He's his father's son," Snape spat. "He probably was trying to find Black and apprehend him single-handedly, for the glory I'd expect. And as for you, Lupin...what were you doing here, at this late hour?"
"Are you accusing me of-"
"Enough of this pissing contest!" McGonagall broke in. Hermione choked; in any other moment, she would have laughed at hearing the Head of House curse, and at the two professors being scolded like little boys. "These two need help!"
"Miss Granger," Dumbledore said calmly, fixing her with his x ray eyes. "Can you tell us what happened?"
Remembering Lupin's instruction, Hermione swallowed and blinked, still cradling Harry like an infant in her lap. She regurgitated Lupin's story, not having to fake her terror. "I-I...I w-w-woke up to g-go to the loo...H-Harry w-was l-leaving too, a-and we d-didn't w-want to go alone...it w-w-as just r-right there..."
"You see?" Lupin said. Snape looked homicidal, but said nothing else. At that moment, Percy came back with Madam Pomphrey at his heels. The matron immediately descended on the two students. Hermione let out a small, panicked noise as she levitated his body away from her, and he was raised out of her arms. For some reason, she didn't want to let him go. She grabbed his glasses from the floor and held onto them like a lifeline.
McGonagall helped her to her feet as Harry was lifted away. She only had eyes for his face, white and dead looking.
"Come on now dear, up you get..." They walked on like that, a procession towards the hospital wing, with Snape and Lupin arguing in the rear. As they passed the great hall, Hermione saw that each and every student had been awakened by the commotion and was watching them with wide, scared, disbelieving eyes.
She wrapped her arms around herself, and shuddered, feeling as though the Dementor was right behind her still, breathing its death rattle down her back. Harry's still face floated to the front of her mind, and more tears dripped down her cheeks.