Chapter Two - The Dementor
Harry sat on his bed in the hospital, his knees pulled to his chest as he read his copy of the Daily Prophet, that he had laying in front of him on the bed, while also keeping one ear on the conversation that was happening around him. Tonight would, hopefully, be his last night in the hospital. He was ready to leave, it had been just over a week since he had awoken from his coma, and he should have been discharged five days ago. However, every time Healer Kristoffer and his adoptive fathers went to sign the discharge papers, Harry would have (what he was calling) an 'attack' that would trap him in his mind for however long it took them to get his mind healer.
From the tension in his adoptive parents and the healers, everyone was ready for his attack to happen at any moment today. However, Harry was hoping and praying that he didn't have an attack and that he got to leave either tonight or early tomorrow, seeing as tomorrow was the day they were supposed to return to Hogwarts. And Harry was determined to join everyone on the train and start school on the first day like everyone else instead of coming in late and causing even more rumors about him to start.
With the help of his new fathers (and Draco), Harry had not only gotten his new schoolbooks and supplies (bought and picked up by his dads) but a whole new wardrobe (that was a 'gift' from Draco) ordered. Everything was already packed and ready to go, Harry just needed to be discharged by not only Healer Kristoffer but also Mind Healer Rose.
Harry winced and sighed as the noise suddenly grew in his private room as Hermione and Ron suddenly started yelling. Harry pulled his knees closer as he fought the urge to tell everyone to either shut up or leave. They were there to not only visit him, but to make him feel included, and he appreciated them for that. But he was starting to get a headache and his social battery was getting dangerously low.
"So, how're we getting to King's Cross tomorrow, Dad?" Fred asked as Crookshanks, Hermione's new pet cat, chased Scabbers across the Daily Prophet. It was now clear as to why Hermione and Ron started yelling as Hermione tried to catch the two pets, while Ron just stood near the door and glared at everyone. Harry just sighed and fixed the newspaper.
"The Ministry's providing a couple of cars." Arthur Weasley announced as he begun to try and help Hermione and his wife try to catch either Crookshanks or Scabbers.
"Why?" Percy asked curiously as he stood as far as he could from everyone, as if trying to distance himself from either his family or the ruckus that was happening.
"It's because of you, Perce," George told him in a serious tone, as he tried to catch Scabbers who had ran passed him and Fred, "and there'll be little flags on the hoods, with 'HB' on them-"
"-for 'Humongous Bighead'" Fred finished as he barely missed catching Crookshanks. Harry chuckled at the two of them causing the older twins to smirk at him. As Scabbers and Crookshanks made it back to Harry, he quickly scooped the two of them up without looking up from the newspaper. He threw Scabbers (who had tried to bite him) at Ron before handing the purring Crookshanks to Hermione.
"Oh, thank you, Harry." Hermione said as she hugged her cat closer to her, petting him. Harry watched her, missing both of his pets, but knew they were in good hands with Draco who was no doubt spoiling both of them.
"Oh dear, you didn't have to trouble yourself with catching them," Molly told him, as she ran a motherly hand through his hair, "we could have caught them. You should just focus on getting better." Harry had to fight the urge to roll his eyes. He was better, what he had to do was figure out a way to not have an 'attack' today. As if hearing his thoughts, Harry caught Severus sending him a look, mentally telling him to bear with it for just a little while longer.
"Molly," Remus started with a slight growl as he quickly made his way from beside Severus to sitting next to Harry, "from everything Healer Kristoffer has told us, Harry's body is perfectly healthy." He said as he wrapped a protective arm around Harry and pulled him into his lap, and away from Molly. Harry didn't say anything, knowing how close it was to the full moon, and actually enjoyed the comforting feeling of being in his dad's lap. "So, catching a few animals won't hurt him." Remus finished kindly, however there was a clear undertone of 'stop mothering, my son'. Molly's face quickly drained of color, alerting Harry that she knew Remus's secret, and quickly backed away. Harry felt the bed dip and turned to find that Severus had sat next to Remus.
"It takes a village, Remus." Severus told the man softly earning a low grumble from Remus who just tightened his hold on Harry.
"A village?" Arthur asked looking confused. "Are you taking Harry to a village? Why? What for? What village? And for how long?" Glancing at Severus, Harry could tell that the man was embarrassed and slightly uncomfortable.
"It's a muggle saying." Harry quickly jumped in. "The full saying is 'It takes a village to raise a child', meaning a child has the best ability to become a healthy adult if the entire community takes an active role in contributing to the rearing of the child. Its also another way to remind someone that it is okay to ask for help to raise their child when they need it." He explained.
"Fascinating. Tell me more about muggle sayings." Arthur said, his eyes shining with excitement to learn more about Muggles. Harry just smiled and shook his head as he caught the calculating look that Hermione had on as she watched Severus, who (from the way he was avoiding looking at Hermione) was pretending not to notice it.
Harry shifted in Remus's hold so that he could comfortably continue reading his newspaper. As he turned the page, he felt the man tense up and glanced at him only to see the man staring intensely at the photo of the escaped Azkaban prisoner: Sirius Black. He quickly read the article about the prisoner before glancing at Remus, who was still staring at the picture, and then to Arthur Weasley, before stopping on his brother who was petting Crookshanks while whispering to Hermione. It didn't take Harry very long for him to put the pieces together.
"It's because of Sirius Black, isn't it." Harry suddenly asked causing the room to fall deathly silent as all of the adults looked at him in shock (or, in Severus's case, pride). As the silence continued, Harry looked from his now very confused brother to Arthur who looked as if he had seen a ghost with how white he had turned.
"Wha-what? What's this… what's this about Sirius Black now?" Arthur asked out, stuttering as he tried to force himself to look calm. Harry, knowing just from that reaction that he was correct, gave the man his full attention.
"The reason that the Ministry is letting you 'borrow' some cars to take us to King's Cross is because of the recently escaped Azkaban prisoner Sirius Black. Why does the Ministry want to keep us, or should I say, Haiden protected from Sirius Black? What does Sirius Black want with us? How is he connected to us?" Harry asked, stopping only when he felt Remus began to tremble. He looked away from Arthur to look at Remus who looked as if he was about to break down crying. Severus had also taken note of this and was calmly rubbing the man's back.
"I… I don't have any idea what you're talking about…" Arthur said trying, and failing, to sound confident. Harry went to continue questioning Arthur when Molly stepped in between them, gaining Harry's full attention as she gave him a tight smile.
"Oh, you're just so imaginative, Harry. There is no connection between Black's escape and you and your brother. Arthur was just able to pull some strings at work and with all the extra hours he's been pulling lately they lent him a couple of cars, knowing that we no longer have one." Molly told him. The tone she had taken with him, talking to him as if he were a toddler caused a wave of anger to crash into him. Harry looked back at the picture of Sirius Black who was either laughing or yelling at the camera, he closed his eyes and took a few calming, deep breaths while he balled up the newspaper. When he reopened his eyes, he gave Molly a hard stare that caused her and Arthur to step back. He quickly slid off Remus's lap and grabbed his dream journal before making his way to the door.
"It's time for my meeting with Mind Healer Rose, and I think I'll take that meeting in her office today." Harry said without a hint of emotion in his voice.
"Harry, I-" Molly started only to stop when he looked at her.
"With how badly the two of you lie, it makes one wonder how Fred and George ever learned how to lie as well they do." Harry told her before opening the door to his room. "I hate when the people I thought I could trust lie so blatantly to my face." With that said Harry left, shutting the door behind him. As he walked down the corridor, he heard the roar of Remus yelling at Molly and Arthur and felt a strange sense of satisfaction.
– Lock Me In Your Heart –
Harry smiled and stretched as he stood outside, face tilted towards the sky to get as much sun as he could as he ignored the ruckus that was going on around him. Harry had been discharged early that morning with just enough time for him and Remus to get picked up by the ministry cars that the Weasley family had been given. The only condition that Harry had to follow was that he continued to write in his dream journal and meet with his Mind Healer Rose once every two weeks. Which Harry was happy to do if it meant he could start school on the first day alongside everyone else.
After his stretch, Harry turned and looked at the cars that the ministry had let them borrow. They looked like any ordinary black cars, except Harry knew for a fact that they were slightly larger on the inside and had an enchantment on them that allowed them to slide through gaps that a muggle car would not have been able to. After getting picked up, it had taken the cars no time at all to get all of them to King's Cross with twenty minutes to spare. The Ministry drivers that had come along with the cars had quickly hopped out, found them some trollies, and were just now finishing unloading the trunks from the cars. Harry watched as they touched their hats in a salute to Arthur before hopping back into their cars and drove away, he was not surprised when the cars managed to jump to the head of an unmoving line at the traffic light.
Movement beside him caught his attention as Molly made her way towards Harry, only to be blocked by Remus who gently moved Harry along while giving Molly a hard look. Harry pushed his trolley through King's Cross with Remus behind him and Molly hovering around them, Arthur kept very close to Haiden. Harry smirked at that; it was just more proof that he had been correct.
"Right then," Arthur said as they came to the entrance to Platform 9 ¾, "let's do this in pairs, as there are so many of us. I'll go first with Haiden; Harry will then go with Mo-"
"I'll be going with Harry, as he is my son." Remus growled out causing Arthur to pale slightly before he coughed to try and cover his reaction to Remus."
"Right, yes, of course, and then Molly and Ginny will be after you two, followed by Fred and George, leaving Percy and Ron to finish us off." There was a grumble from Ron, but other than that everyone else seemed to accept the order.
Arthur strolled towards the barrier between platforms 9 and 10, pushing Haiden's trolley and appeared to be very interested in the InterCity 125 that had just arrived at Platform 9. With a meaningful look at Haiden, he leaned casually against the barrier, Haiden quickly imitated him. And then it was Harry and Remus's turn. Harry felt Remus gently place his hand against his lower back and give him a firm yet gentle push. After making sure that the coast was clear, the two of them easily passed through the barrier.
The moment Harry's eyes landed on the Hogwarts Express (a scarlet steam engine puffing smoke over the platform packed with witches and wizards seeing their children onto the train) he froze as a feeling of dread suddenly enveloped him. Remus, who had removed his hand from Harry's back, had only taken a few steps away from Harry before he realized that Harry had stopped.
"Everything okay, Harry?" Remus asked as he turned to look at him. However, before Harry could have the chance to respond to the man, he was hit in the back by Ginny and her trolley rushing through the barrier.
"Shite!" Harry cried as he was sent crashing to the ground with Ginny and her trolley on top of him.
"Harry!"
"Oh god, Harry!"
"Good going, Weaselette!"
"It wasn't my fault!" The sound of people yelling and the fact that his head had bounced off the concrete platform gave Harry a headache. He groaned as he felt the metal trolley being yanked off of him. Harry felt a familiar hand run through his hair and he opened his eyes, that he hadn't realized he had closed, to find a worried Draco kneeling over him.
"Are you okay? Do you hurt anywhere? Can you stand? Do you need me to carry you? Do we need to call for your healer?" Draco asked before taking a single breath. Harry coughed out a laugh as he sat up, with Draco quickly helping him.
"I'm fine, Draco. It was my fault for stopping right in front of the barrier like that." Harry said and went to stand up when Draco quickly picked him up, impressing Harry with how much stronger the boy had gotten over the summer break. "I-I…" Harry stuttered before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. "I can stand, you don't have to hold me." Draco blushed and looked to the side and tightening his hold on Harry for a split second before setting Harry back down on his feet. By that time the rest of the Weasley family had made it through the barrier, and everyone else in their group had made it to them as Hermione help Ginny finish picking up her stuff while Myari and Luna had just finished collecting Harry's stuff.
"Right, I think it's time to take this party a safe distance away from the barrier." Remus said with a teasing smile. The group quickly moved away from the barrier and over to Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy. The second Harry had gotten within arm's reach of Narcissa, she pulled him into a tight hug.
"It's so good to see you again, Harry. That was quite a nasty tumble you took, are you sure you're alright?" She said before pulling away and checking him over with her eyes. Harry smiled and stepped away from her before slowly turning in a circle to show her that he was alright. It was only then that Harry noticed that Remus and his trolley had vanished. Knowing that it was getting close to the time for the train to leave and he wanted to say goodbye, Harry began to scan the platform for Remus.
"Harry," Arthur had come over and gently took Harry by the wrist, "come over here for a moment please." He said quietly before gently leading Harry away, earning a suspicious look from both Lucius and Narcissa. Harry allowed the man to lead him over to a pillar, stopping just behind it. With how nervous the man was acting, and how he was constantly checking to make sure no one was listening, Harry had a feeling of what Arthur wanted to tell him. "There's something I've got to tell you before you leave." Harry staid silent and let the man gather his courage. "You were right."
"I usually am." Harry said with a smirk, not willing or able to stop himself, earning a sigh from Arthur. "It was clear to anyone who actually looked at all the evidence. I'm sure most everyone in your family had already figured out why you were able to get those cars lent to you. What I want to know is why is Sirius after Haiden?"
"Sirius isn't just after Haiden, he's also after you as well." Arthur told him.
"Why?" Harry asked and Arthur looked away. "Why is this man after us? What did we do to him? Is he actually a Death Eater like the Daily Prophet claims?"
"I…"Arthur began to ring his hands. "I'm not allowed to tell you." He whispered and Harry rolled his eyes.
"On who's orders are you not allowed to tell me about something that involves not only me but my brother?" Harry asked.
"The Minister." Arthur muttered.
"Oh, just the Minister. Just someone who doesn't know me or my brother. Just someone who doesn't have any say on how me or my brother live. Just someone who has only met me once. That makes perfect sense, it's not as if this potentially dangerous man is after me and my brother. Not as if this potentially dangerous escaped prisoner may or may not want to kill me or my brother. What right do me or my brother have to even know that we may or may not be in danger? What right do we have to know about this potentially dangerous man and be able to get prepared to possibly defend ourselves." Harry began to rant, growing louder with each sentence. Arthur quickly tried to calm him down by trying to reach out to Harry, only to be pushed away by Harry's magic. "You know what, screw you, screw the Minister, screw Sirius! I don't need you or anyone to help protect me and my brother! I will do it myself!" With that said, Harry turned and stormed towards the train, only to be stopped by a cane. Harry turned and glared at Lucius who just gave him an unphased look.
"Don't allow those weaker than you to know that they got to you. Put them in their place, yes, but don't allow your emotions to take over. Only let your mask drop once you're in a safe place with the people you trust." Lucius told him before placing a hand on his shoulder. Harry took a few deep breaths, calming himself.
"You're right, I'm sorry." Harry said.
"Nothing to apologize for, you're young, it's only natural that you'll slip up and make a few mistakes, that's how you learn." Lucius said before pulling him into a quick hug. "Never be afraid to ask your parents for advice against a foe you know nothing about." With that said, Lucius gently pushed Harry towards Narcissia for her to hug him goodbye.
"Now, dear, I better not hear anything about you having to go to the hospital wing for anything more than a sniffle." Narcissa told him with a kiss to the forehead. "You have a great year, Harry." Harry smiled before quickly bidding Molly goodbye while wondering where Remus had disappeared to.
Harry quickly jogged over to the train and jumped through the closing door. He gave the adults a quick wave through the window as the train began to move before he began to search for his friends. It didn't take him very long to find them split between two different compartments across from each other. He glanced between the compartments noting that Draco, Myari, Luna, and the Weasley Twins were in one, and Haiden, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Remus was in the other. It didn't take Harry long to realize that his friends wanted to stay close to him but were not willing to share one compartment.
"What did our father want with you, Kitten?" Fred asked, spotting Harry from his spot in George's lap.
"Nothing much, just wanted to check up on how I'm feeling one last time before I left for school." Harry easily lied before motioning to the two compartments. "What? One not big enough?"
"Not enough space for both Ron's attitude and Draco's ego." George joked as he shifted to be able to see Harry around Fred. Harry had to quickly dodge as a wad of paper flew from Haiden's compartment and hit Fred on the chest.
"Ow, I've been hit!" Fred cried before falling over and pretending to die.
"No! Fred! I shall avenge you!" George vowed before conjuring up some more wads of paper. "This means war!" He cried before him and Luna began to toss the wads of paper towards Haiden's compartment. Harry laughed as he easily dodged all of the wads of paper.
"Harry, help us!" Haiden laughed out as Hermione quickly pulled Harry into their compartment.
"Hey! No fair! Harry belongs with us!" Myari cried out as she snatched a wad of paper and threw it at Hermione who barely dodged it.
"Not anymore! I've stolen him away! He belongs with us now!" Hermione joked before playfully laughing evilly.
"Oh no! Draco, help me! I've been stolen away!" Harry cried out playfully as Hermione sat him on the ground in front of Remus who was laughing and quickly conjured up some wads of paper for their compartment.
"So annoying." Ron grumbled as he shifted so that he was curled up against the compartment door in an attempt to not be hit with any wads of paper. When he saw that Harry was looking at him, Ron glared at Harry who just rolled his eyes before going back to the 'war'. Throughout the day, after the first 'war' ended each group would take turn in 'kidnapping' Harry and igniting the 'war' again. Afterwards they would sit and just talk and enjoy each other's company. And when the trolley came around Haiden, Harry, and Draco bought everyone (but Ron and Remus, who had politely declined) treats from the trolley. They had also learned that the reason Remus was on the train was because he had been asked that morning to be the new DADA Professor.
The fun came to an abrupt stop when the train suddenly came to a screeching halt, sending almost everyone to the floor. "Why are we stopping?" Hermione asked as she stood up from the floor with the help of Haiden. "We can't be there yet." Harry got up off the floor with the help of Draco and stepped out into the corridor to try to find out what was happening as other students began to poke their heads out of their own compartments.
The train jerked violently, knocking everyone off balance and closing every compartment leaving Harry, who had once again fallen to the floor, in the corridor alone. The lanterns lining the train corridor flickered and Harry quickly scrambled to his feet as his feeling of dread creeped back up. "Harry!" Both Haiden and Draco yelled as they tried and failed to open their compartment doors, however, something was keeping them shut. Harry had a strong feeling that it was his magic that was keeping all the compartment doors closed in an attempt to save everyone from whatever had just boarded the train.
"There's something moving out there." Harry's suddenly very sensitive hearing caught Ron whimpering as a cold wind blew the lanterns out. The train jerked again, and Harry was barely able to keep himself from falling to the floor as his body began to shiver from both the cold and fear. The train grew colder, and every other student slowly began to panic and freak out as they realized that they were now stuck in their compartments. Harry's body fell into a defensive stance as the train jerked once more, allowing Harry to remain standing. Harry watched as a cold darkness crept along the corridor closer to him as ice began to form on everything the darkness touched. A shiver ran down Harry's spine as a strange sense of Deja vu crept up his body, that cold darkness called to him and reminded him of a place he once called home.
"Bloody hell! What's happening?" Ron yelled as something slowly came out of the darkness, something that Harry could only describe as his worst nightmare. Harry stood, staring in horror as the creature drew closer to him. He could hear his friends screaming at him, begging him to move away, to run; but he couldn't. The creature had not only taken away all the heat from the area, but also Harry's ability to move.
"Harry, listen to me." Remus's voice called, cutting through Harry's fear. "You need to move away from that Dementor!" Even though Harry wanted to listen to his dad and move from this creature, this Dementor, he couldn't. "Move Harry!" All Harry could do was watch with large, fearful eyes as the Dementor crept closer to him. "HARRY!" Remus yelled as he began to try and force the compartment door open, but every time he got the door even a fraction open, Harry's magic would slam the door shut again. "God damn it Harry! Let me out! I can protect you! I can fight the Dementor!" It was too late. The Dementor was now floating right in front of Harry.
They stared at each other for what felt like a long moment. And as Harry stared into the dark, empty hooded face of the Dementor, a voice whispered in the back of his mind that the creature wasn't supposed to look this way. He didn't know why he felt that way, he just did. The creature was covered by a long, torn, black cloak. Movement drew Harry's eyes from the hooded face downward, and what he saw made his stomach contract. There was a hand protruding from the cloak, and it was glistening, greying, slimy-looking, and scabbed, like something dead had decayed in water. However, as though the creature beneath the cloak sensed Harry's gaze, the hand was suddenly withdrawn into the black cloak.
And then the creature beneath the hood, whatever it was, drew a long, slow, rattling breath as though it were trying to suck something more than air from its surroundings. An intense cold swept over Harry, who felt his own breath catch in his chest. Images flashed across his mind too fast for him to catch. As the cold slowly crept deep within Harry, the images blurred and many different voices began yelling, and screaming, and begging. The cold was inside his chest, inside his very heart and soul…
Harry's eyes rolled into his head. He couldn't see, couldn't feel, couldn't move. He was drowning in cold darkness. There was a rushing in his ears as though of water. He was being dragged downward, the roaring growing louder… he was going back home…
And then, from far away, he heard screaming, terrible, terrified, angry, pleading screams. He knew though screams, heard them before… He wanted to help whoever was screaming… He tried to move his arm, but they wouldn't obey him… A thick, white fog was swirling around him, inside him… and along side it was a strange sense of Déjà vu…
– Lock Me In Your Heart –
Remember.
"I think he's breathing again!"
Beware the Dog.
"He's coming to!"
Befriend the Wolf.
"Harry! Harry! Are you all right?"
Harry groaned as he opened his eyes. There were lanterns above him, and the floor was shaking – the Hogwarts Express was moving again and the lights had come back on. He closed his eyes again as a wave a nausea swept over him. He could tell that he had been placed on a compartment bench. He opened his eyes once more and the first person his eyes focused on was Remus, and then Draco followed by Haiden, and then everyone else who were behind them. Harry felt very sick but knew he needed to sit up, otherwise he'd never get the energy to do so.
"Careful." Remus told Harry softly while helping him sit up.
"What happened?" Harry asked before the memory of the Dementor flashed through his mind and his head whipped over toward the door to the compartment. "Where's the creature… the dementor?" The fuzzy memory of someone's terrified scream floated to the forefront of his mind. "Who screamed? Are they okay? Did they get the help they needed?" Harry asked as he scanned everyone, searching for the person who had been screaming. The group glanced at each other in confusion.
"No one screamed, Harry." Myari told him. "We were all yelling, but no one screamed." By looking at everyone, he could tell that she was telling the truth. Ginny looked as pale as a ghost, Hermione looked terrified while clutching the back of Haiden's robe, Myari and Luna looked shaken up, Haiden looked very worried, Remus looked torn between being angry and being worried, Draco had managed to climb onto the bench and was now wrapped around Harry, and though Ron was trying really hard to hide it behind boredom, Harry could see the fear in his eyes.
"But… I'm sure that I heard someone screaming…" Harry muttered, his words fading at the end. A loud snap made all of them jump in fright. Everyone looked towards the sound to find that Remus was breaking an enormous slab of Chocolate into pieces.
"Here, this will help." He said handing Harry a particularly large piece before handing everyone else a piece of chocolate.
"It's a good thing you were here." Hermione muttered as she began to nibble on her piece of chocolate.
"Yeah…" Remus said distractedly as he began to check Harry over, examining his eyes and checking his pulse.
"What was that creature?" Draco asked, tightening his hold on Harry who was happy to soak up the warmth Draco was giving him.
"A Dementor." Remus growled out as he finished his examination of Harry. "One of the Dementors of Azkaban, no doubt looking for Sirius." He explained as he stood up. "Right, all of you stay here, I'll be right back. I need to have a chat with the driver, excuse me…" He stormed out of the compartment, his eyes flashing gold. It was silent in the compartment for a long minute.
"Remind us never to piss him off." The Weasley twins said with a shiver.
"What happened?" Harry asked before taking a small bite of his chocolate.
"When that Dementor-thing appeared, you magically locked every compartment door to keep us away from it. It looked at you (or I think it did, I couldn't see its face) – and you… you…" Haiden started, gripping Harry's free hand.
"It looked as if you were having a fit…" Draco whispered, his arms tightening around Harry slightly. "You went rigid before collapsing. You began to twitch… but the doors didn't unlock until this small half white half black ball of… something… floated out of your mouth…"
"That was his soul." Myari muttered from her spot curled up to Luna. "The Dementor sucked his soul out of his body. I've heard about them being able to do that, but I've never saw it happen until today." She shook her head as if trying to rid herself of the memory. "It would have continued to suck the soul into itself had Remus not acted as fast as he did. I've never seen anyone move as fast as he had, not as angrily… It reminded me of the stories my Papa used to tell me about his great grandfather during the hunts…" She trailed off.
"She's right. The second Remus could, he bolted from the room and stood over you with his wand out. He told the Dementor that 'none of us are hiding Sirius Black under our cloaks' before ordering it to leave. But the Dementor didn't move, so Remus muttered something and a silvery spell shot out of his wand at it. Only then did the Dementor turn and sort of glided away…" Hermione finished the explanation.
"Is everyone all right?" Harry asked, allowing his eyes to scan over everyone in the room, he didn't know what he would do if any of them had been injured when he wasn't able to protect them.
"We're fine Harry, you should focus on resting." Hermione told him softly.
"And you're sure that no one was screaming?" Harry double checked, the haunting sound of that scream echoing in his mind. "None of you heard the scream?"
"No one screamed, Harry." Luna told him. Harry glanced out of the compartment, he was so sure that he had heard someone screaming and that they had been close to him, so close that he could have reached out and touched them had he been able to.
The rest of the trip to Hogwarts was filled with tense silences and jumping at every sound. Once Remus had returned from his chat with the driver, he had taken Harry from Draco and held him tightly in his lap, back against the wall, facing the doorway, as if making sure nothing could sneak in and harm any of them. The group of them stayed in that one compartment, packed together, but at that point in time, no one minded, rather, they felt safe and protected. No one left the compartment alone, when it was time for them to change into their robes, the girls left all together, huddled close protecting each other.
As Harry stared out the train window from his dad's lap, he had the foreboding feeling that (with how his third year at Hogwarts was starting) the rest of the year was only going to get worse.