Never Alone by ckwright51
Harry landed with a thump just inside the entrance to Hogwarts. He hadn’t expected to return to the school at all, much less this soon, but here he was. He looked at the group of men and women around him. Moody, Dumbledore, and Remus had already started out the door to see where the attack was coming from, with Tonks, Fred and George close on their heels. Ginny stood at Harry’s side, along with Bill and Fleur, who had been at headquarters talking to Mrs. Weasley when the message came through.
Mrs. Weasley had stayed behind to prepare for the wounded, and also to get word of the attack out to the rest of the Order. She had merely nodded at Ginny when Ginny went to grasp the Portkey they’d used to transport themselves to Hogwarts.
“Where do you think Ron and Hermione are?” Harry asked as he started for the door.
“Don’t know…Hermione Floo’d us about the attack, so I assume she is in the headmaster’s--I mean headmistress’s--office. Ron went by Floo, so he is probably there as well,” Ginny stated, following Harry out the front door.
Harry and Ron had entered the kitchen at the same time. Ron, upon hearing that Hogwarts was under attack--and that Hermione was still there--panicked. Before anyone could stop him, he had grabbed a fistful of Floo Powder and raced for the fireplace.
As Harry and Ginny made it out onto the grounds, they saw the bright colors of spells being fired towards the front gates. They ran in that direction and quickly caught up to Remus, who was standing about a hundred yards away from the gates, where no less than forty Death Eaters were attempting to enter.
“They can’t get through; the protective wards on the gates are too strong,” Remus said, smiling. “I thought Voldemort would try something like this. He wants to see if the magic protecting Hogwarts is still strong with Dumbledore de--gone.”
A loud bark sounded behind them and they all turned. Fang was barking at a small group of robed figures coming out of the Forbidden Forest: four Death Eaters had found a way onto the grounds. The ones at the gate also saw their comrades and quickly disappeared. The four Death Eaters who had managed to traverse part of the forest didn’t look like they were up for a fight, but as they saw the oncoming group of Order members; they regained some of their fighting strength and started hurling spells as fast as they could.
The battle began in earnest, with the small contingent of Death Eaters being met head-on by the larger group from the Order. Harry, initially tired from a day of training and Occlumency, felt his adrenaline begin to flow, and his desire to fight was renewed.
He sent a Blasting Curse at one of the Death Eaters, then searched for some cover. Finding very little on the open ground, he fired curse after curse as the Death Eaters took cover behind Hagrid’s hut.
The Order members were exposed, and although they had the numbers advantage, they quickly began to fall back. Remus was hit by a Cutting Curse and let out a howling yell before collapsing. The twins, Shield Hats firmly in place upon their heads, were having better luck, staying close enough to the hut to make effective attacks. The Death Eaters, however, were not pressing their advantage but only holding their ground. It finally occurred to Harry that they were waiting for the rest of their group”the ones who had been at the gate. When they arrived, the Order would be outnumbered four to one. This was not a good situation.
For several minutes the battle continued, the Death Eaters staying behind their cover and firing spells, the Order attempting to get a clear shot, but not having any real effect. Moody went down after being hit by a spell Harry hadn’t seen before. He was lifted into the air and then unceremoniously dropped to the earth. He didn’t stir. Ron and Hermione joined the battle, Ron positioning himself behind a hedge with Harry, while Hermione moved about fifty yards to the left with Ginny, behind one of the Herbology greenhouses. They found that they were no more effective than the rest. They just couldn’t get close enough to get a clear shot at the Death Eaters. Then, they saw movement in the foliage behind Hagrid’s cabin. Eighteen more Death Eaters appeared, taking up position around the hut. Harry was surprised that so few hooded figures emerged from the Forbidden Forest.
Emboldened by the arrival of some of their comrades, the Death Eaters began to advance. This allowed them to take better aim at the Order, but also allowed the Order a chance to get a clear shot at them.
“They should have stayed where they were; they could have taken us out one by one,” Ron whispered to Harry as they crouched behind the hedge.
“Yeah, I was just thinking that,” Harry responded before firing a Stunner at one of the Death Eaters. “It doesn’t matter though; there are too many of them for us to take out before they reach the school, even if they don’t have much cover.”
Harry was about to fire again when two large figures erupted from the forest behind the Death Eaters: it was Hagrid and Grawp, eyes blazing, ready to fight. Hagrid had blood dripping from several cuts on his face, and his moleskin coat was torn. Grawp too was bleeding, from his arm, but he continued to barrel towards the Death Eaters.
Now it was the Order’s turn to become emboldened by the arrival of allies. They quickly began attacking the remaining Death Eaters, taking down three before the Death Eaters realized that they were now being attacked on two fronts. A crossbow bolt struck the leg of one of the Death Eaters in the back of the formation. He yelped in pain and fell to the ground.
Grawp picked up another and was squeezing the life out of him. Harry watched as the Death Eaters were overwhelmed by his friend and Grawp. A loud scream brought his attention back to the other side of the battle; he turned and saw Hermione clutching at her eyes. Ginny was holding her and trying to get her to pull her hands away from her face.
Ron howled in rage at seeing Hermione injured and jumped up from his spot behind the hedge. Firing spell after spell, he slowly made his way towards the group of Death Eaters. He was hit by a Bludgeoning Curse and thrown off his feet, but got up quickly, panting as he continued forward.
Harry came up behind him, trying to cover his friend, who had now lost all sense of safety. He shot a Stunner at a Death Eater who was training his wand on Ron, hitting the hooded figure squarely in the chest.
The remaining three Death Eaters knew the battle was over and attempted to make a break for the forest. One made it, but the other two were caught, snatched up in Grawp’s firm grasp.
McGonagall raced down the front steps with Madam Pomfrey close on her heels. She quickly took in the situation.
“Poppy, go and check on Remus and Alastor,” McGonagall ordered, pointing towards Lupin, who was slowly starting to stir on the ground where he lay. Tonks was cradling his head in her hands. She wasn’t smiling, but she wasn’t sobbing hysterically either, so Harry thought Remus must be okay.
Harry needed to check on Hermione; he turned and started towards her. Ron was already there, standing over her and Ginny, who was smiling as Hermione lay on the ground, trying desperately to keep her hands at her sides. Ron was red in the face; his anger that someone had hurt Hermione was boiling over even now.
“All right there, Hermione?” Harry asked tentatively. He could tell by Ginny’s grin that whatever had happened was not life threatening, and he breathed a sigh of relief knowing that his friend was all right.
“Well, yes and no,” Hermione stated through gritted teeth, her eyes clamped shut. “I got hit with a Conjunctivitis Curse. Who uses one of those in a battle?”
“Ron, are you all right?” Harry asked Ron, who appeared ready to explode. He was trembling slightly as he looked from Hermione to the Death Eaters who were being rounded up by Ministry Aurors.
“No, I am not all right,” Ron growled. “Hermione got hurt, we all could have been killed and the stupid Ministry is just now showing up to clean up. I don’t even know which one hit her.”
Hermione reached up, eyes still closed, and patted him on the thigh just above the knee. “I’m fine, Ron. Everything is all right,” she said, smiling despite the discomfort she was feeling.
Madam Pomfrey finally made it over to check on Hermione, used the counter-curse and quickly bustled off to help get Moody, who was still unconscious, up to the hospital wing.
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Several hours later, Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were sitting in comfortable armchairs in the study at headquarters, as relaxed as they could be after a battle with Death Eaters at their school.
“The Ministry took nine Death Eaters into custody, ten were killed, and the rest escaped,” Ginny said, breaking the silence. “Most of the dead Death Eaters were killed trying to get through the Forbidden Forest. Guess they won’t try that path again. Hermione, how are your eyes feeling?”
“The redness will go away in a couple of days, but the itching has stopped. I’m glad it was nothing worse, though. I still can’t believe that a Death Eater would waste time with such a stupid curse in a battle.
“Yeah, they’re supposed to be killers, not make you slightly uncomfortable--ers,” Ginny replied, smiling at the awkwardness of the sentence.
“It’s a good thing it wasn’t something worse; I thought Ron was going to start throwing Unforgivables at them when he saw you go down,” Harry said, smirking at Ron. Ron, however, was in no mood for this type of teasing; he just grumbled in his chair and stared at the fire. “Anyway, I don’t think those were Voldemort’s main Death Eaters. More likely they were some new recruits--people that he doesn’t mind throwing away.
Ginny shrugged her shoulders, glancing at Ron then back at Hermione. “So, do you think Malfoy was with them? I mean, he might be willing to use that silly curse in battle, don’t you think?”
“Maybe, but they didn’t identify him with the rest of the Death Eaters. If he was with them, he got away. Stupid git,” Harry said bitterly. The image of Snape and Malfoy disappearing just outside the Hogwarts gates flashed into this mind. “Well, that’s it for me; I am going to bed. Hermione, you’re training with me in the morning, if you feel up to it.”
“Oh, I’ll be fine, but I think I’ll be off to bed as well,” she said, shooting a quick glance at Ginny.
“Yeah, me too,” Ginny said, getting to her feet.
Hermione stretched and walked towards the door. “You going to bed anytime soon, Ron?” she called out.
“No, I’m too wound up to sleep. I think I will go and see if there is any food left,” he said with the first hint of a smile on his face. Food always did make Ron feel better.
“Goodnight then,” she said, smiling back at him as she left the room.
“Ron, when are you going to tell her how you feel?” Harry asked, giving his friend his best fatherly look.
“It’s not that easy,” Ron replied, sitting back down in the chair. “What if we don’t make it--what if we decide we don’t want to be together? I mean, if we started going out and then broke up, do you think we could still be friends?”
“Sure--well, ah, no, I guess that would probably be really hard,” Harry conceded, thinking of how well things had worked out being around Cho after their disastrous date. “But that doesn’t mean that you and Hermione won’t stay together. You guys are made for each other, aren’t you?”
“I don’t know, Harry. I don’t know if I can risk our friendship over it.”
“Well, I think you should…and if you don’t soon, someone else may come along and take her away from you,” Harry advised as he walked out the door.
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A/N: I hope you all liked this first taste of action in this story. More will certainly be coming. I am really hoping for more reviews then I have been getting. Remember, I love to hear what you think of the story and any ideas about what you think is going to happen will be wonderful. I have been and will be leaving little hints about future plot points, in the text, if you find them. Some are more obvious then others. Let me know what you think.
Once again I need to thank both my pre betas, Kerrbear and Cableguysmom. I huge major thanks goes to my beta, JenC, for getting chapter together. It was a mess until she worked with it. THANKS!!!
Up next, a wedding and another evil Cliffhanger bwahhh!!!