That being said--YEY, I'm back! I sincerely hope that you'll all enjoy this chapter as it took me so long to write it.
Thanks to my Beta for this chapter, Emmarocks--his work is much appreciated.
Let me know what you think!
Chapter 11: Security
Hermione stepped lightly out of the castle, her feet squelching in the muddy ground beneath her. It had recently rained, and judging by the murky sky above her, and the sun's absence although it was early morning, it was going to rain again. Everything was still and quiet as she walked—no birds singing, no students anywhere within sight, even the surface of the lake was still, with no Giant Squid visible anywhere. The only sound was that of the whispering trees as the wind moved swiftly through them.
Hermione inhaled deeply. She had always loved the smell of the earth after it rained. It was soothing to her nerves and calming to her spirit. She almost had an urge to reach down and grab a handful of it, but, smiling, she resisted the temptation. She almost felt like a little kid again. No problems, no worries, just a constant happiness and a sense of security, as if she would never see another bad day in her life; and it was all due to Harry. She thought it was funny how they had only been together for such a little while and already she felt that with him she could face anything. But then again, they hadn't only been together for a week—they had always been together, whether she had realized it or not.
She smiled again. She had done a lot of smiling lately. Just the memory of his emerald eyes burning in his face as he looked at her, his mouth curved in a slight smile before his lips met hers; his hair, messy as always, made her never want to stop smiling.
Looking up at the castle, her smile faded slightly. She had been happy the last couple of weeks, but it was not so for everyone. The death and devastation that Voldemort was responsible for had swept through everything and everyone, leaving only despair in its wake. The only thing that people could do was hold tightly onto the ones they loved, because they didn't know when they might be ripped from them in the cruellest ways. Hermione shuddered—the thought of losing the people she loved was too much to handle and she shook her head to clear her mind of unpleasant thoughts, but the thoughts wouldn't go away.
She thought of how Padma and Parvati had had lost both their parents, who had just recently joined the Order, of Luna's dad who had been gravely injured because of the article he had written in The Quibbler and had barely survived, of Seamus' mom who had been killed by Dolohov, of Orla Quirke and her sister in first year who had been killed along with her whole family. And she could do nothing about it. She could do nothing except watch, hoping that she wouldn't be next. She could do nothing except help Harry through his fight and hope that they would emerge victorious.
She sighed and wrapped her hands around herself as the wind picked up speed.
* * *
Harry sat up in his bed as a particularly loud snore from Ron woke him up. Rubbing his eyes, he promised himself that the minute he had the time, he would go to the Library and find an anti-snoring spell.
Now that he was awake, he thought he might as well get up and do something, so he hauled himself out of bed and started dressing. Looking outside of his window, he saw that the sky was dark and groaned inwardly. He had been planning to fly around today, but with this weather. He thought it was funny that he could still be as anxious about Quidditch as he had first been in his first year. Chuckling slightly, he shook his head and his eyes searched the ground for Hagrid.
It had been some time since Harry had seen him, because Hagrid had been on a trip somewhere.
Probably searching for a lady friend for Grawp, Harry thought, laughing again.
The last couple of weeks he had laughed a lot, and although there was still a sort of constricted feeling in his stomach, a lot of the emptiness had been filled up. There was no sight of Hagrid on the grounds, but as his eyes wandered around, he caught sight of the cause of his happiness walking slowly around the lake, her arms wrapped around herself. For a moment Harry wanted to scold her—it was cold outside and there she was with only a thin cloak around her. Grabbing his own cloak, he hurried out of the Boys' Dormitory thinking of joining her.
Unfortunately, an unpleasant sight met his eyes when he reached the Common Room. His books lay strewn over a table and chair. He painfully remembered having left his Transfiguration essay unfinished. They had Transfiguration first thing that morning and McGonagall was not going to be pleased if he handed her this. Sighing, he regretfully put down his cloak, sat down and pulled his books about him, doing his best to tear his thoughts away from the wandering Hermione. After all, she was the one who had taught him never to neglect his schoolwork.
* * *
Hermione looked up at the window she knew belonged to the sixth year Boys' Dormitory, wondering if Harry was awake yet. Part of her wished that he would come down and see her, and another part of her wanted him to finish his Transfiguration essay. She remembered how she and Harry had had a fight about this last night. A fight that had ended with Harry promising he would finish tomorrow, with Ron shaking his bemused head at the two, with Hermione crossing her arms and looking at Harry defiantly, and with one final kiss on the lips. She smiled.
Making up her mind, she decided to go and help him. He did have a lot on his plate, and it wasn't his fault if he couldn't concentrate properly.
Of course, being the idiot that he is, he's probably still asleep, she thought with a certain amount of fondness.
But just as she made to turn around, her eyes caught movement at the gates of Hogwarts. There was Hagrid, and he was not alone. With him was a middle-aged man with spectacles and a short beard, dressed in Muggle clothing. He was sombre and silent as he walked, barely answering Hagrid's questions with a 'yes' or 'no'. The only emotion he was showing was slight surprise at his whereabouts, and he was concealing even that well.
Hermione's heart plummeted and her breathing quickened as she realized who he was. Running up to him, her face white, her hands cold and her cloak billowing out, she could hardly manage to speak.
"D-dad? What are you doing here? Is everything all right?" she asked, her voice high-pitched and scared.
Hagrid looked awkwardly from the panic-stricken Hermione to her dad, who was simply staring down at her, looking like Hermione had never seen him look.
"He's here ter see Dumbledore," Hagrid said, keeping his voice even.
"But … but why? Dad?" Hermione asked, her voice rising higher still. Suddenly, understanding filled every particle of her body with a horrible sense of dread she had never known, and she asked, her voice deadly calm and cold, "Where is she, dad?"
* * *
Pain such as he had never known was pulsing through his body, shredding his insides, sucking his blood, twisting his skin into a million knots. His mouth was dry, and he was screaming endlessly, waking up the whole of Gryffindor Tower. His limbs were being ripped from his body slowly and torturously, his nails from his fingers and toes—no, he had never felt pain like this is his life.
Suddenly it stopped. It stopped as suddenly as it had started, but unlike last time, now he knew exactly what had happened to him and where he was. Shaking, he looked up at people still in their pyjamas and searched frantically for Ron or Hermione's face. Hermione was nowhere to be seen, but there was Ron, looking pale, his freckles standing out in contrast to his white face. Understanding Harry's look, he shooed everyone away, telling them the most unbelievable lie—that it was just a nightmare.
After they had all gone, he slowly helped Harry to his feet.
"It's completely gone," Harry said, bemused, touching his scar. "It's so strange. I feel nothing. It always prickles after this kind of stuff, but now nothing. I feel nothing."
He met Ron's scared eyes and they spoke one word, "Dumbledore."
* * *
Harry was now climbing the moving staircase alone, having left Ron behind to go look for Hermione. As he knocked and was told to enter, a cold feeling took hold of him, but he didn't understand it at all.
Dumbledore's familiar and serene face met his as he stepped forward. He was surprised to see just how old he looked. As Harry spoke, the wizened face stayed calm, and Harry felt relief wash over him because Dumbledore was not looking worried, but merely content at what he was hearing.
"Well, Harry," Dumbledore spoke as Harry finished. "This is just what I have thought. Voldemort is now performing Occlumency against you. Which means that you will no longer need to bother about your scar, at least for the present."
"But why, sir?" Harry asked, puzzled. The last thing he had known was that Voldemort would try to trick him time and time again, through their connection. It didn't seem possible that Voldemort would want to close the thing that could cause Harry so much pain.
"Tonight he tried to control you, just like he did at the Ministry of Magic last June. But because of your connection, he cannot control you without feeling pain himself. And so he has decided to stop, meaning you shall not feel any more pain, either. He has other ways with which he will try to defeat you." Dumbledore's words were ominous, but he didn't look worried, and Harry took heart.
"So, sir, what ways would he tr—"
Before Harry could finish his sentence Dumbledore's office was filled with people—Hagrid, stooping low, his head scratching the ceiling, a bearded, middle-aged man, who stood silently staring at his surroundings and …
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed, startled, but his expression changed as he looked at Hermione's face—grave and sad but dignified and held high.
"Ah, Mr. Granger. Do, come in," Dumbledore said, inviting the man to sit down, "So sorry to hear about your wife's death. Hard times…"
But the rest of Dumbledore's words were lost on Harry who was looking at the silent Hermione. And as she stood there, not one tear fell from her eyes, not one sigh escaped her lips.
AN #2: Yes, the bit about the Occlumency is from HBP. Just so it doesn't completely out of tune.