HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATH OF THE OLD RULE
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by J. K. Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
CHAPTER 7
CASUALTIES OF WAR
“I’m telling you, she’s not here!” Krum’s face was livid, both with anger and terror. He knew that this early on a Saturday morning, he was the only one in the building.
It was Karkaroff ” a face that Krum was completely astonished to see again, after his sudden disappearance of a few years back ” who had spoken first. He was accompanied by Maldemort, who was yet unknown to Krum. There was also a young man with them, that looked somewhat familiar, but Krum couldn’t quite remember where he had seen him before.
“Viktor,” Karkaroff spat between his teeth, “I would urge you, as your old Headmaster and friend, to listen to me very closely … This here, is Lord Maldemort ” our new master. And he doesn’t like people who don’t comply with his demands. I strongly suggest ””
Maldemort cut him off, and with a deliberately glacial tone, continued.
“Mister Krum, my people don’t lie … We know that a certain” ” a look of loathing and disdain appeared on Maldemort’s face as he spat the name ” “Hermione Granger has started working for you last week. Now, I will not ask again. Where is she?”
Krum, a successful businessman, was not easily intimidated. But there was something so evil about this man, that he was really fearing for his life, though fighting really hard not to show it.
Maldemort pushed on with an amused smile. “Fear … It’s no use trying to hide it, I can smell it in you, Krum … This is no Quidditch game, now is it? NOW … Where’s the filthy Mudblood?”
“First of all, it’s Saturday today, and people don’t usually work on Saturday. But most importantly, she no longer works here”, he finally answered, seeing that he had little choice. Krum liked Hermione very much, but he had to save his own life for now. “She handed in her resignation yesterday, said she had made a terrible mistake. What do you want with her anyway?”
Karkaroff continued. “Viktor, it would do you good not to ask too many questions … Now, surely your employee records show an address for Miss Granger?”
Indignation appeared up on Krum’s face. “Those are confidential! I can’t just let you have information like that!”
In a blink of the eye, Maldemort had his wand in the air and calmly pronounced the spell. “Crucio!” Krum’s body fell to the floor just like a rag doll, and his face twisted into an expression of sheer agony.
“Now, mister Krum”, Maldemort continued, “I am a patient man … We could stay here for a while, and see how much resistance Quidditch training gives a man. Or, we could get that address, and everybody would be happy! Either way, it’s your choice …”
With great effort, Krum nodded, and the pain stopped.
“Just promise me you won’t hurt her!” Krum pleaded as he painfully got up.
Maldemort snickered. “Don’t worry, mister Krum. She has something we want very much. Once we get it, we will go on with our business …”
As they exited the premises with Hermione’s address, Maldemort turned to Karkaroff. “Kill him, we don’t need any witness.”
A few minutes later, a flash of green light illuminated the otherwise dark corridors.
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Harry was happy to see Ron sitting at the breakfast when he came back from his newspaper “collecting” expedition. He had purchased ten on this Saturday morning; that was not counting, of course, the Daily Prophet, who was delivered directly to Harry’s house by owl.
“Good morning mate!” he said cheerily, as Ron was wolfing down his piece of toast.
Ron was smirking, as if he knew something Harry didn’t ” which, of course, was the case.
“What? Do I look funny or something?”
“No, everything’s fine. I’m just quite happy this morning!” Ron’s looks suddenly shifted to the pile of newspaper under Harry’s arm, eyes wide.
“Can you tell me what have you been doing with all these newspapers, lately? It’s almost like you’re looking for something bad to happen …”
Harry hesitated before he answered. The time would come soon when he would have no choice but to let Ron in on what was happening.
He resolved he would do it that very day, although not during breakfast.
“Well, I’m just making sure the world is safe again, Ron …”
Harry then remembered a fact that could help him change the subject quickly.
“Oh, by the way, you had a visitor last night!” Harry chuckled as he remembered the scene with Luna.
“Oh, really? Who was it?” Ron said between bites of his toast.
Harry looked at Ron, and with a mock-voice that he intended as dreamy as possible, he whispered, “Luna came for you …”
To Harry’s bewilderment, Ron’s ears instantly turned into a shade of crimson red. The color slowly started making its way down to his cheeks.
“Oh … And ” and what did she … What did she say?” Ron was avoiding Harry’s gaze.
“Well, er, she told me to tell you that … that she ” missed ” you … In fact, that she missed you, er, A LOT!?” Ron couldn’t hide a childish, giddy smile, and Harry caught on right away.
“Ronald?” Harry continued sarcastically, “why would she … miss you? I know we’re all close friends and all, but we saw her a couple of days ago at the airport ” well, I didn’t really talk to her much, but I’m sure ””
Ron replied quickly without taking his eyes off his plate. “Well, if you must know, we had ” we went on a date, okay?”
Ron had said this in a low voice, seeming almost afraid to say it out loud. He was also looking left and right to make sure Dobby or some other person was there to hear it.
While listening to Ron, Harry had started laying some of the papers on his side of the table. He stopped with a start.
“A date? With Luna? You’re kidding, right?” Harry had started laughing really loud, and then realized by Ron’s disappointed face that he was serious.
Biting his lip, Harry quickly continued, “Er, I’m sorry Ron, it’s just ” I kind of never thought, you know. But seriously, Luna is very sweet, and can be very cute when she doesn’t look lost in … thoughts.” Harry had wanted to say “outer space”, but had decided that this particular choice of words could be somewhat misinterpreted.
Obviously uncomfortable, Ron tried to offer some form of explanation. “Well, you know, I thought that at first, but we had a really good time, she’s very nice, and ” and ” don’t laugh ” I’m actually kind of growing quite fond of her …”
Harry had managed to retrieve his serious tone.
“Well, Ron, if I hadn’t had Luna to help me deal with the loss of Sirius, I’m not sure I’d still be ‘sane’. She was great, in fact. Good for you, Ron!”
After getting coffee and a piece of toast from Dobby, Harry opened the London Times first, and scanned the cover page. Nothing, other than the fact that England’s Prime Minister had handed in his resignation, one week after the scandalous revelation that he had been secretly conducting illicit affairs with no less than five women.
Harry smirked. “Uncle Vernon must be really glad about this one!” remembering his Uncle’s dislike for anything that went against proper etiquette.
He flipped the second page, and after reading the three or four headlines, felt a stabbing pain in his stomach as his eyes moved across to the top of page three:
“GAS BLAST DESTROYS PROMINENT DENTISTRY CLINIC IN LONDON”
Harry had read about a lot of “gas blasts” in the last few days, and knew they were ” usually ” no gas explosion at all. They were just the way Muggles perceived attacks from Wizards, since the colors of the “explosions” were similar.
But it was obviously something else that troubled Harry, and made him read on; Hermione had never told him where exactly her parents practiced their professional activities. Could it only be a strange coincidence that Dark Wizards had attached a dentist’s office?
Harry, now mortified, didn’t think so.
“It can’t be, please … There are probably hundreds of dentists in London!” Harry said out loud read on, on the verge of becoming physically ill.
Harry’s worried tone of voice caught Ron’s attention, and he also started reading the paper ” upside down. When he managed to decipher the headline, he dashed across the table to read with Harry, and shrieked, nervously combing his red hair with his right hand.
“Blimey Harry! Could it be Hermione’s parents clinic?”
Harry’s face showed panic as he read out loud.
“At eleven thirty P.M. on Friday, a violent explosion” destroyed one of the most renowned dentistry clinic of the greater London area, the ”” Harry gasped, and closed his eyes as a deep sadness welled within him.
He continued in a very low murmur. “” the Granger clinic ...”
Harry’s heart was beating really fast now, and his legs were quickly becoming like jelly. He pressed on his reading:
“Witnesses say that a bright, greenish light preceded the explosion, a fact which leads investigators to believe that a faulty gas pipe could be the original cause of the blast. The Fire Department, called on the scene, could do very little more than control the peripheral fires that came about as a consequence of the main explosion. Sadly, the Fire Department has confirmed as of late last night that at least twenty people were killed by the explosion. The owners of the clinic, Dr. Stephen Granger and his wife, Dr. Eleanor Granger, have not yet been located and it was impossible to confirm at the time of going to press whether they were in the building at the moment of the blast.”
Harry literally fell on the chair besides him, as if he had just been hit by the Hogwarts Express itself. He suddenly felt nauseous, and struggled not to retch his breakfast.
Ron was aghast, and tears were running down his cheeks. “Oh no, oh no …”
Harry suddenly got up; he had to act quickly. This was no gas explosion for sure, and if Hermione’s parents had been targeted, it meant that Hermione was probably in extreme danger.
With urgency in his voice, Harry immediately turned to Ron: “Ron, I can’t explain now, but I need you to get to Dumbledore as quick as you can, and show him this newspaper. I have to get to Hermione right now, she’s in danger.”
Bewildered, Ron tried to argue. “What? What do you mean, in danger? I ””
Harry was frantic now. “RON! THERE’S NO TIME! Just trust me, okay? I’ll explain later. I HAVE to get to Hermione!”
“Okay, all right, I’m going.” Ron rushed through the door.
Harry checked for his wand, and started concentrating really hard; after ten seconds or so, he disappeared from the kitchen with a loud crack.
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Hermione had been awake for a little while, but had remained on her couch. The nice blanket was warm and comfortable, and with Crookshanks purring at her side, it was almost impossible to just give up the coziness of that moment instantaneously. She had unconsciously brought her hand up, and was playing delicately with her necklace.
“Hopefully, I’m going to see Harry today”, she told Crookshanks dreamily, who replied by stretching his front paws and closing his eyes in satisfaction as she pet him lovingly.
She finally got up, and decided to finish her packing. Not that there was a lot to be done, as she had stayed up quite late to prepare for her departure this morning. But there still were a few odds and ends that needed to be taken care of.
She went to the bathroom, took a shower and got dressed, before she really started putting what was remaining to be packed in her traveling handbag.
After maybe fifteen minutes, she was finished. Her trunk was packed neatly, and her handbag was stuffed and ready to go.
A television set stood in the corner of the living room, and Hermione was suddenly taken with the idea of watching the Saturday morning news bulletin, in order to see what was going on in the world. Since her arrival at Krum International, she had been completely disconnected.
She flipped the channels until she got to the BBC, and started listening to the news. After ten minutes or so, she had had enough.
“Nothing worth listening to this morning”, she muttered to herself. She was about to run the dial off when a moving caption flashing at the bottom of the TV screen caught her attention. It said simply “Stay tuned for a special report on the blast in London.”
Intrigued, Hermione approached the TV and sat down on the edge of the small living room table. The images switched a few seconds later to a reporter standing in front of what looked like a ravaged area of London; she could see smoke everywhere, panic-stricken people running around behind the news reporter, mixed with the eerie reflections and flashes of the emergency lights from the fire trucks and ambulances. The reporter was speaking, but she wasn’t paying much attention, focused as she was on the images of the sinister damages.
Suddenly, her heart sank, and she covered her mouth with her hands in surprise: as the camera panned to show the wreckage of what seemed to be the effects of a huge explosion, she noticed what was left of a small coffee-shop, and distinctly saw “Chez Antoine” still hanging from the storefront brick wall … She gasped, and suddenly felt unable to breathe properly as the shock and anxiety of what she was seeing overtook her. She knew this café very well: every morning when she was little, she would have breakfast there with her Mum and Dad ” it was right across her parents’ dental clinic.
Trembling as a leaf, she turned the volume up, and listened more closely.
“Yes Nigel, it was exactly here last night, at around eleven-thirty P.M., that a devastating explosion almost instantly destroyed this building. It was well known to the residents of the London area, being one of the most reputed dental clinics in the city. It is believed, according to investigators, that some kind of gas leak was the main cause of the explosion ...”
Hermione had started crying uncontrollably, her hands grabbing at each side of her face in utter desperation. A weird, horrendous, twisting pain seemed to be constricting her chest cavity, making her heart ache and her breathing extremely difficult.
Hermione managed to get up, trying to grab a hold of herself; she started pacing nervously in front of the television set. “No, no …” she reasoned, in a small, high-pitched voice. “It was late, they had to be gone, it’s not … They are safe, I know they ””
It was the news anchor that spoke next.
“Peter, for the listeners who just tuned in, can you tell us about casualties? Were there people in the building at the time of the blast?”
“Well, Nigel, information is sketchy, because there are a lot of confidentiality issues here. Unfortunately, inspectors for the Fire Department have confirmed that as much as twenty people may have still been in the building at the moment of the explosion ” they are all believed to be dead. Some bodies have already been recovered, but names have not been released to the public yet. But wait ””
Someone had approached the field reporter, and was whispering in his ear.
“We have just learned, Nigel, through undisclosed sources, that both owners of the clinic, Dr. and Dr. Granger, were in fact still inside last night and are amongst the deceased …”
Hermione felt as if the floor had been violently yanked from under her feet. Her knees buckled, and she crumbled to the floor. In the blink of an eye, her entire body seemed to shut down and go numb. It was as if she could no longer feel or move, she was frozen ” her brain seemed no longer able to process anything. She wanted to scream, but the air didn’t seem to want to reach her lungs. Gasping for breath, trying to fight off her dizziness, she finally managed to take in a gulp of air.
A shrieking, howling sound came out of her, but she remained on the floor leaning on her hands, as if about to vomit. She wailed what seemed to be everything she had inside.
“Noooo! Not them! Not Mum and Dad! Oh, my God, I ” I ” I can’t breathe, …”
At the same moment, a thundering cracking sound was heard from the street. Hermione looked up with a start, but couldn’t even stand up to see, feeling as if her insides were dying.
The door suddenly flung open, and from the corner of her eye, Hermione saw a tall, athletic frame crowned with an untidy mess of jet-black hair running towards her, and her name being screamed out loud by a warm and familiar voice; she felt herself being wrapped around the shoulders by two wiry, muscular bare arms. Looking up, she saw her own reflection in two shiny emerald green mirrors …
“Harry …” Hermione whispered, barely audible through her tears.
Harry drew her closer, bringing her head to rest on his shoulder just below his chin.
“Oh Harry, my Mum and Dad, they’re ””
As he had entered the house, Harry had seen the news report from the corner of one eye and Hermione on the floor with the other; he had immediately understood what the desolating scene he was witnessing meant.
He looked at her as she lay on his shoulder, silently crying. She was a mess … He gently bend his own head, leaning his face in her hair. She grabbed his t-shirt with her hand, and suddenly exploded in sobs and started shaking convulsively, crying with no holding back.
“Mum … Dad … Harry, they’re ” gone! Why, why? I ” I ” What did I do?” She was clutching Harry really hard, and her whole body was suffering from the blow.
Harry was now crying himself. “I ” I know, I’m so sorry Hermione. I’m here now, I won’t let you go. Don’t worry … I’m here, you’re not alone.”
They remained on the floor for a long while, Hermione sobbing, and Harry tenderly holding her, silently. There was nothing to say. Yet, Harry felt that if anyone could have a hint of Hermione’s sorrow, it was him.
Hermione was shaking slightly less now, and looked up at Harry, who had somehow managed to lean back against the wall, still cradling her in his arms. His eyes were of shining green, wet from the tears of sharing Hermione’s pain.
Harry smiled faintly as he gazed at her face. Her eyes were red and puffy, her face flustered from all the crying, and she was still shining with tears ” and yet, Harry thought, she was the most beautiful girl he had ever known. Looking at her bright brown eyes, Harry saw for the first time just how vulnerable she was. In his arms wasn’t the strong, courageous and fearsome girl soon to turn nineteen. Rather, he was seeing a frightened and lonely little girl, who had just lost her parents, and who desperately wanted someone to take care of her.
Harry felt a formidable jolt in the pit of his stomach, that quickly became a fluttering sensation. Harry brushed her hair delicately, and murmured softly in her ear: “My timing is awful, as usual, but … I love you Hermione, oh, I love you so much!” Pulling back just ever slightly, he kissed her forehead.
Hermione softly laid her hand on his cheek. She looked at him through her veil of tears, and sobbed back, “Oh Harry ” I love you too, I’ve loved you for so long. You have no idea … I am so ””
Harry put his finger on her lips, as he looked at her intensely in the eyes. His hand moved on hers, and he gently stroke her arm. He then delicately wiped her cheek, and moved forward … He kissed her lips softly as he brushed her hair back … His hand moved gently to the nape of her neck, and he kissed her again a few times, and before long the intensity of the moment took over. Both Hermione’s hands were now in Harry’s hair, and ” if it was at all possible ” seemed to be furiously trying to make it even untidier. They locked in a desperate embrace, their lips fused together as their love and repressed emotions of the last couple of weeks finally found expression.
“WELL! Would you look at that? How very touching!! Gee, Potter, why did you deny it all these years? You DID have a thing for the Mudblood!!”
Draco Malfoy was standing in the doorway, holding a wand menacingly and wearing a smug smile on his face.
Harry reacted out of sheer instinct. He instantly laid down on top of Hermione, and started rolling the both of them towards the living room table, intending to use it as shield ” while at the same reaching for his wand in his back pocket; before he had reached the table, his arm was already extended fully, and he shouted, “Expelliarmus!”
Draco’s wand flew, and before he knew what was happening to him, a red stream of light had hit him in the forehead. He fell flat on his back, completely taken out by the hex that Harry had sent his way.
Harry looked up from behind the table, and knew he only had seconds to spare, seeing a bunch of Death eaters running towards the door.
“Can you fight, Hermione?” Harry’s face was intensely concentrated, and his eyes showed so much anger and determination that for the first time, Hermione felt he was more than just a great wizard. He emanated something, at this very moment, that she had only seen before in … Dumbledore.
Harry looked sideways, only to see Hermione already kneeling in a fighting stand and her wand already in her hand. They had the same instincts, it seemed, despite the emotions or circumstances surrounding them.
“Of course I’ll fight, Harry. Listen, there’s a back door, maybe ””
“No, they’ll have it covered. Our only hope is to get down the basement and apparate out of here. Okay, on the count of three, we start running, and we send stunning spells towards the door. One!”
Two death eaters came bursting in and streaks of fire and light started crossing the room in all directions.
“TWO!”
Harry and Hermione had a slight advantage in the fact that the coming Death eaters didn’t know where they were: they were concealed behind the table, which was itself partially hidden from view until someone moved further into the house.
“THREE!” They both jumped up to their feet, remaining crouched down, and started running towards the basement stairs on the far side of the kitchen area. In almost perfect synchronization, they both sent powerful stunning spells towards the door. Harry’s spell managed to stun the first Death eater, but Hermione’s missed. It was that second Death eater who screamed “Crucio!” ” instantly, Hermione’s knees buckled and she fell down, crashing into a pile of rusted old metal cans that were intended for the trash. She started screaming and yelling, her face twisted in a horrible expression of unfathomable pain.
Harry spun around quickly and screamed, “Petrificus Totallus!” The Death eater keeled over and fell hard, as a wooden board would.
“Oh my goodness that hurt!”, cried Hermione, trying to get up. Harry realized with horror that her knee was bleeding profusely: she seemed to have cut herself badly on one of the cans.
Then ” out of nowhere ” Harry felt something new. It was like a warning bell had gone off inside his head, and all he could hear was “GET DOWN!” Immediately, Harry plunged towards Hermione, and half a second later, he heard it.
“Adava Kedavra!” ” the flash of green light just missed his head, and he knew there would be no second miss. Energized by a sudden jolt of strength, he extended his arm back, gave a quick look to aim and shouted, “Adava Kedavra!”
To Hermione’s horror, the jet of green light took off from Harry’s own wand this time, and hit a tall silhouette at the entrance of the kitchen right in the middle of the chest. Another Death eater had entered, but his slightly pulled down hood showed that he still smiling when his body started falling to the ground. The whole exchange had taken less than one second.
They didn’t have time to dwell on what had just happened. Harry got to his feet, and lifted up Hermione. Her leg was now covered in blood, and she could barely walk. They could hear more footsteps and angry screams coming from outside. Harry just lifted Hermione in his arms, and flew down the flight of stairs more than went down it.
They huddled in a corner, and caught a breath or two before Harry started talking again.
“Okay, we have to apparate” said Harry, panting, “concentrate on Grimmaud Place, quick!”
There was a deafening cracking sound, and everything went black for a moment.
Harry opened his eyes, and breathed a sigh of relief as he saw the familiar surrounding of the kitchen of his house.
“Harry! Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Ron and Ginny screamed and rushed to Harry’s side, both their face horrified at the amount of blood on his clothes.
“Gosh, that was way too darn close, Hermione!” Harry said turning around to look at Hermione.
He gasped and shrieked in horror.
Hermione was not there.