AN: I'm not dead
Things with Daphne hadn't been easy since the champion selection and their first date. Now, Harry was focused on trying to get some sense of normality in their tentative relationship.
It was a Hogsmeade weekend, and Harry decided to invite the Slytherin girl for a day with just the two of them, calm, quiet and romantic, just like any other couple that went to Hogsmeade. Unfortunately, they weren't just a normal couple, and trouble seemed to stalk the male part of the couple like a cat follows a mouse.
The morning had been lovely, they decided to walk to the village instead of taking the carriages, as Harry still wasn't completely comfortable with the Thestrals that pulled them. He had started to see the creatures after his fateful night with Barty Crouch Jr.
So, as he didn't admit to being able to see the horse-like creatures to anyone, deciding to take keep the secret for now.
had promptly agreed to the idea, even if a significant number of warming charms had to be performed on the teens.
After the mandatory Zonko's stop and the quick, that ended up not being so quick, trip to HoneyDukes, they decided to have lunch at the Three Broomsticks as usual.
This time however, as soon as Madam Rosmerta saw Harry, she almost ran to him in a straight line. Slightly panting, as a woman her size wasn't meant to move fast, she exclaimed.:
"Harry Potter, good to see you. Will you want to make use of your exclusive room today or just stay at the bar?"
Very confused, Harry asked back.
"Exclusive room? What do you mean? Is it the room we stayed in on our last visit?"
"Oh, you don't know?" Was the immediate reply by the Matron, "Your godfather, Lord Black, has reserved the room for the rest of the year, and all the following years until you graduate Hogwarts. Both of you and any friends you wish to grant access to, can use the room as often and as long as you want. All meals and drinks are included, of course."
"But – What… Sirius!" He exclaimed, facepalming himself. "This is so unnecessary and over the top, really?"
Daphne choose that moment to intervene in the conversation.
"Harry, your godfather was trying to do something nice for you. Remember that he came from a family where these kinds of gestures were the only way to show affection. Sirius is different, of course, but he's still a victim of his upbringing. Also, not that I'm complaining, but I would love for us to use the room during lunch, it would be more private" and quietly whispered in his hear, "I can also give you some memories in that private room that would be a problem here in the open."
This was all Harry needed to take Sirius' gift without complaining further, a big red blush threatening his cheeks.
"We'll use the private room in that case Madam Rosmerta, thank you very much."
"Of course, of course" was the reply, "Please follow me."
They quickly followed the nice lady into the same room Harry had been in before.
Once the food was selected and Madam Rosmerta promised to come back soon with it, she finally left the room. Not even two seconds after the door shut close, the fourteen-year-old girl jumped on the lap of her boyfriend.
"Hi" she said, her eyes totally focused on him, her lower lip quickly being chewed by her nervousness. "It's been a while" She added.
One hand caressing her cheek, and the other on the back of her waist, Harry was only able to mumble a quick "Hey" before their lips smashed together and any thoughts that were not of the gorgeous brunette Slytherin in his lap quickly vanished.
Hermione Granger was a miserable girl. This was, without a doubt, the worst year she'd ever had at Hogwarts. In fact, it was probably the worst year of her life.
She had never been a popular girl at school, magical or non-magical, but she had managed to get her group of friends, and she even had found herself a boyfriend.
Of course, she had to be the one to take the first step in their relationship, and the second, and third, and she was almost sure that the biggest motivation for their relationship was her valuable help with his homework, but still, she wasn't alone.
Then, that Veela had come and seduced her boyfriend with her looks and her charm. Poor Ron. It wasn't his fault. She didn't understand the interest the Beauxbatons champion had on him, but the true was that he was completely unable to control himself in her presence. Most guys stared at her, but Ron was on another level. She suspected maybe a love potion was involved. It had been so bad, and they ended up fighting so much that she had been forced to end the relationship. She didn't want it, but it was starting to affect her schoolwork, and that was something Hermione could not tolerate.
Then, her luck seemed to start turning around when Victor Krum, international quidditch star, had shown some interest in her, even inviting her to the Yule Ball. But those dreams of a successful boyfriend, and international star even, had quickly come crashing down on the night of the Ball, when after a pleasant evening, Viktor took her to the Durmstrang ship and his bedroom. For some minutes she actually believed he only wanted to show her his new edition of 'A history of magic', that was supposed to contain the last fifteen years of history, including the downfall of he-who-must-not-be-named, but after arriving at the room and seeing Viktor eyeing her like a piece of meat while he locked the door, it was quickly obvious that his intentions were otherwise. While she was thankful that he didn't force himself on her, her decline of his advances quickly made him lose interest and there hadn't been a second date, or any conversation after that night. Apparently the advice of playing hard to get didn't work.
So, she found herself in Hogsmeade, literally dragged there by Parvati who couldn't take any more of her mopping around in the girl's dormitory.
She had to admit that it felt good to leave the castle for a little while, even if in the absolute freezing temperatures of the Scottish winter.
Soon after she left Scrivenshaft's quill shop, resupplying herself with quills and ink for the new semester, a sensation of fear and dread started to creep up on her body. People all around her started to flee in the direction of the Three Broomsticks, as a couple of dementors could be seen floating in the sky as if searching for something. Not finding it, they attacked the group.
Ignoring the desperate plea from Parvati to flee, thinking she could be of help in the fight against the creatures, Hermione ran in the direction of the cloaked figures. She raised her arm and screamed.
"EXPECTO PAT- "
Before she could finish casting the charm for the first time in her life, someone bumped into her, her wand flying away, lost in the crowd.
Defenseless, she turned around and ran in the direction her housemate had fled just seconds before, but a shiver ran down her spine, completely immobilizing the girl as a dark hand grabbed her neck, pushing her to the ground.
It was too late.
After the tasty lunch that was filled with conversation, laughter and a lot of kissing, they exited the pub with the plan of buying some needed school supplies.
They were about to enter the potion supply shop, when a feeling of helplessness filled the bodies of both teens. Daphne looked around confused, not understanding what was causing those feelings and trying to identify their source.
Harry on the other hand was quite familiar with the feeling, and if there was still any doubt, the faint scream he heard in the back(ground) of his mind, his mother's scream of mercy to the Dark Lord thirteen years prior, dissipated them. Dementors.
'One fucking normal day, is it too much to ask?' He sighed and turned around looking for the robed creatures. He saw a couple of the creatures approaching the village from the north side, a couple more from both the east and the west sides as well, even if further away.
Deciding on the biggest threat, Harry ran closer to the dementors and focused on the memory of the lunch he'd just shared with the beautiful Slytherin.
"EXPECTO PATRONUM" He shouted, waiting for the familiar stag to come out running. However, this time the stag didn't come. A very powerful white mist appeared but struggled to take form. Harry could feel his patronus, Prongs, in the mist wanting to come out, but another presence was also there and was fighting Prongs to become the dominant force. However, neither of the two forms seemed to be able to dominate and materialize from the mist.
'Shit' he thought, what about now? Noticing that Daphne was still beside him, running after him when he went for the dementors, he panicked, and his priorities changed from combating the creatures to getting Daphne to safety.
"Let's go" he shouted, quickly backtracking and dragging her back to the Three Broomsticks. "We need to get help; we need to get Dumbledore quickly."
He didn't like the idea of running back to the headmaster for protection but considering his Patronus seemed to be out of commission at the moment, he felt there was no one better to help than the headmaster.
Running into Professor Flitwick, who had taken the opportunity to relax a little from the recent mood his house had been in since his announcement about the bullying of Miss Lovegood, Harry quickly shouted. "At least fifteen dementors coming from all sides. Please call Dumbledore immediately!"
The half-goblin professor quickly nodded and a quick "Expecto Patronum" later, his sparrow materialized and was quickly sent after the headmaster.
While this was happening, a group of Gryffindors barged through the doors of the establishment. Harry recognized them as being from his year, Lavander and Parvati, together with Dean Thomas.
"HELP" asked Parvati, "Hermione is still outside, and she lost her wand running from the dementors when we saw them."
Harry looked around, hoping to see potential saviors ready to go after the Granger girl. As always, no one came forward. For the second time he sighted. "Fine. Stay here Daph, please".
When the girl started to try to protest being left behind, Harry was quick and incisive.
"Don't be stupid, please. Dementors are a hard problem to deal with, and you don't even know how to cast a Patronus. There will be times when your help will be appreciated, but right now… You would be a distraction and I can't afford to be worried about you. Can you please stay? Please?"
Daphne wasn't surprised by the little speech; Tracy always told her that Harry didn't like to put anyone at risk but himself and she had no arguments to counter him.
"Fine, but please be safe. Don't risk your life otherwise you will have to deal with me."
Harry smiled, knowing how impossible it was for him to make such a promise. Without replying, he just turned around and ran out of the pub in search of the Gryffindor girl.
The dementors were now spread across the village. A couple of Patronuses could be seen around, trying to fight the hoard of creatures, but with little success. Dumbledore was still not around.
Harry quickly ran into two smaller Hufflepuffs, that couldn't be more than second years, surrounded by three of the cloaked creatures.
Knowing he had to act quickly, and without his patronus available, Harry tried to buy some time.
'Ventus fortis' he shouted, and a powerful elemental gust of wind raged around the two girls and the dementors, dragging the cloaked figures away from the Hufflepuffs. The dementors, however, quickly gave up on the two girls and focused on Harry. While it was better than seeing two innocent Hufflepuffs getting kissed, Harry now knew he had three of those creatures after him.
With no one else around, he quickly did the math in his head. There were no obvious exits. No one was coming, at least not yet. He only knew one other spell that could, just maybe, help in fighting dementors.
Focusing all his energy on controlling the infernal flames, he screamed.
"FIENDFYRE".
The raging inferno left his wand straight to the dementors, the cursed flames taking a snake-like form and engulfing the dementors. Harry kept the flames directed at the creatures for a couple more seconds, but he could feel his energy draining faster than ever before. Keeping control of the flames that looked like they just wanted to get out and burn everything on their path, he slowly started to extinguish them.
In the place where the dementors stood seconds before, there was nothing more than a couple of ashes. The three buildings next to Harry were also burned almost to the ground. Despite his amazing show of control of the flames, they were still too powerful and had bled out slightly from what Harry had originally planned. He really hoped no one was in any of the buildings, but he would have to deal with that later. Pointing the two young Hufflepuffs to the Three Broomsticks, he continued his search for the Granger girl.
Tracey Davis and Blaise Zabini were worried.
They had seen the dementors from far away, as they were close to the Shrieking Shack when they entered the village. Knowing they weren't useful against the dementors, both unable yet to cast a patronus, they decided to play it safe and use the secret passage of the Whomping Willow to get back to the school. From there, they ran in search of any professor that could help. They found Hagrid on the way, who greeted them happily.
"Blaise, Trace! It's been so long! How are you guys? How's little Harry?"
"Hagrid!" Screamed Tracey "There's dementors attacking Hogsmeade, we need to ask for help from the professors quickly!"
"Wha – Dementors? Are you sure? Dumbledore wouldn't allow them to get so close to here, for sure."
"What are you talking about? They are there, I can assure you. We need help and fast. People might be in danger, Hagrid!"
Still a bit unconvinced, Hagrid agreed to look for a professor with them. "Lead the way. McGonagall's office seems like the best option we have."
Albus Dumbledore sat in his office quietly stroking the feathers of his companion Fawkes when a Patronus barged into his office. The animal opened its mouth, and the high-pitched voice of Professor Flitwick came out.
"Dementors in Hogsmeade. At least fifteen. Need help urgent. Barricaded in Three Broomsticks."
Jumping to his feet way quicker than his age should allow him to, the Headmaster of Hogwarts and his phoenix exchanged a quick look that was all the mythical bird needed to know what to do. As the Headmaster grabbed one of its feathers, it flapped its wings twice and they both vanished in a ball of flames.
They reappeared in the middle of the village, high in the air as to not get caught in anything on the floor before having time to react.
The headmaster quickly scanned the village and saw most people seemed to be safe or had already left. A big concentration was around the Three Broomsticks as a couple of villagers, seventh years and Professor Flitwick managed to keep the dementors away with their combined patronuses. He also saw a raven-haired boy with green robes walking through the streets looking for someone. Dumbledore observed the boy enter the darker alley, where one bushy haired girl was being attacked by two dementors.
Albus immediate instinct was to intervene and rescue the girl before something serious happened. However, he considered the situation. Harry Potter was about to try to help her. If he succeeded, then no harm would come to the girl, and if he didn't, Albus could come in at the last second and rescue both teens, appearing as the hero and maybe even repairing some of his relationship with the boy.
Yes, he would wait. What was the worst that could happen?
It took Harry Potter a couple of seconds to fully assimilate what he was watching. Granger was laying on the floor, her faced being sucked by a dementor while a second one watched. A small round ball of pure light could be seen on the girl's lips. Very slowly rising in the direction of the dementor.
Harry knew what was about to happen, even if he'd never seen it before. Hermione Granger was about to be kissed by a dementor.
What could he do? His patronus was not working. He was too tired already to cast Fiendfyre again, not wanting to risk losing control and burning down the entire village to the ground.
Acting on pure instinct, he ran in the towards one of the dementors, trying to collide with it and maybe disrupt the kiss for long enough for help to arrive.
Ten meters.
'This is so dumb, why am I about to bump against a dementor? Are they even solid?'
Seven meters.
'If I get kissed because of Granger I swear I'll be so pissed that I'll come back just to haunt her.'
Five meters.
Harry's inner last thoughts were disturbed by a feeling of ice-cold steel in his hand. Suddenly, his arm felt heavier, and keeping it raised became a lot harder. At the same time, a familiar warmth spread through his arm. Internally, Harry smiled. He knew exactly what had just materialized in his hand. When he thought about it, he was the perfect definition of Gryffindors stupid and dumb courage, a perfect embodiments of Godric Gryffindor's spirit. 'How ironic' he thought, 'I have to tell Salazar later'.
Branding the sword of Gryffindor on his hand, Harry thrusted the blade through one of the creatures. A deafening screech left the creature, as light overcame the darkness and the cloaked creature exploded into thousands of pieces of energy.
He smiled. Apparently, the enchantments on the blade were too much for the dementors. 'Awesome'
He turned to the second dementor, when he noticed the girl. The small spere of pure light was not visible anymore. The girl was now laying down, quietly, by the dementor.
"NOOO" he screamed, thrusting the sword against the second dementor as fast as he could. Like the first one, this one also exploded into millions of pieces of light, as the same terrifying scream could be heard. This time however, instead of vanishing into nothingness, a small ball of light stayed in the place where the dementor had just vanished.
Not knowing what to do in this situation, Harry approached the ball of light carefully. As he was about to touch it, the light shot in his direction, getting into his mouth before he could even realize what was happening.
Harry promptly lost consciousness and fell to the floor.
Dumbledore was watching the Boy-Who-Lived. He saw him run into the dementors. At that time, he considered intervening, as physically going against a dementor didn't bore good news. Then he saw the sword of Gryffindor appear in the boy's hand and how the boy killed the first dementor. Surprised the sword could achieve such a feat, Dumbledore decided to wait a bit more to see how the situation unfolded.
He saw the boy slay the second dementor, appearing to be fine.
A little disappointed at having been robbed of a chance to be the hero, he slowly approached the boy when he saw him collapse to the ground. Confused, but also scared for the boy's safety, the headmaster rushed to his side. Noticing he was still breathing, he sighed in relief and with a flick of his wand, both the old and the young wizards vanished in the air on their way to the medical wing.
The headmaster of Hogwarts didn't even notice, or spent a few of his thoughts, on the Gryffindor girl that laid on the same alley, having just been kissed.