Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and Whatnot

We landed on another hillside. It was dark and still snowing. I sat up quickly to see the other two there, as well. I breathed a sigh of relief, but that didn’t last long as I noticed Harry having some sort of fit.

“Hermione!” I said, “Hermione, there’s something wrong with Harry. It must be his scar again.”

“Oh dear, oh no, how could we – “ she was still shaking.

“Hermione, we need to do something! What’s happening to him?”

Harry was twitching on the ground, his face contorted, and he was moaning things, things we didn’t understand.

“Hold on, just watch him while I set up camp.”

I sat cross-legged next to Harry. I reached around in my bag until I found a cloth. I put snow inside the cloth, trying to melt it with the heat from my hand. I brushed the hair away from his forehead and tried wiping it. It didn’t seem to help any, and his scar looked terribly red. He started shouting things, it sounded almost like curses.

“Hermione,” I said shakily.

“I’m almost done, just hold – there. Alright, let’s get him in the tent.”

The two of us half dragged, half carried Harry inside and laid him on the lower bunk.

“Oh no,” I said, bending down to pick up the wand that had fallen out of Harry’s hand.

It was split in two, barely held together by a strand of the phoenix feather.

“What happened to it?” she asked.

“It couldn’t have been when we fell.”

“Oh, oh no, it was that Blasting Curse I did. It must have hit his wand when it rebounded.”

I looked down at Harry, then gasped, “He’s still wearing the Horcrux.”

“Quick, get it off him!” she cried.

The Horcrux was stuck to Harry’s chest, we couldn’t get it off, so Hermione used a Severing Charm. Then, she grabbed a chair and began tending to the wound he had that looked like a snake bite. I didn’t know what to do so I paced for a while.

“What happened? Why was the snake there? How did it get there? How did he know?” I kept muttering.

“I don’t know, Caroline, please calm down, you’re making me nervous. We’ll have to wait until Harry wakes up to know what happened.”

“But when will he wake up? Look at him! He’s not…unconscious necessarily. And what’s he saying?”

She looked down at Harry worriedly “I don’t know, I can’t tell.”

“I’ll make some tea,” I said suddenly, just to have something to do.

It was early morning when Harry finally came to.

“No,” he moaned.

Hermione and I glanced at each other, then back down at Harry.

“No…”

“Harry?” I said.

“No…”

“Harry, it’s all right, you’re all right!” Hermione said.

“No…I dropped it…I dropped it…”

“Harry, it’s okay, wake up, wake up!”

He opened his eyes then.

“Harry, do you feel all – all right?”

“Yes,” he said.

He didn’t look alright.

“We got away,” he said then.

“Yes. We carried you in here. You’ve been…Well, you haven’t been quite…You’ve been ill. Quite ill.” She said.

“How long ago did we leave?”

“Hours ago. It’s nearly morning.” I said.

“What happened, Harry? What happened when she took you upstairs? Was the snake hiding somewhere? Did it just come out and kill her and attack you?” Hermione asked.

“No,” he said. “She was the snake…or the snake was her…all along.”

We looked at each other, stunned.

“W-What?” Hermione stuttered.

“Bathilda must’ve been dead a while. The snake was…was inside her. You-Know-Who put it there in Godric’s Hollow, to wait. You were right. He knew I’d go back.”

“The snake was inside her?”

The idea was revolting. That giant snake living inside a dead woman’s body.

“Lupin said there would be magic we’d never imagined. She didn’t want to talk in front of you, because it was Parseltongue, all Parseltongue, and I didn’t realize, but of course I could understand her. Once we were up in the room, the snake sent a message to You-Know-Who, I heard it happen inside my head, I felt him get excited, he said to keep me there…and then…she changed, changed into the snake, and attacked.”

Harry got up, then, saying he would take over the watch and that we should get some sleep. Then, he asked for his wand. He looked devastated when Hermione reluctantly handed him the pieces.

But all he said when she started apologizing was, “It was an accident. We’ll – we’ll find a way to repair it.”

“Harry, I don’t think we’re going to be able to,” Hermione said, tears starting down her cheeks. “Remember…remember Ron? When he broke his wand, crashing the car? It was never the same again, he had to get a new one.”

“Well, well, I’ll just have to borrow one of yours for now, then. While I keep watch.”

Hermione handed over her wand and Harry left us sitting by the bed, to go sit outside the tent’s entrance.

“It’s alright, Hermione,” I squeezed her shoulder, “It wasn’t your fault. You were marvelous, getting us out of there. It was just an accident.”

She nodded, tears still running down her face. I went and brought her a cup of tea.

“Should we…should we show him the book?” I asked.

She nodded again and we went outside to where Harry was sitting.

I handed him a cup of tea and Hermione said timidly “Do you mind if I talk to you?”

“No”

“Harry, you wanted to know who that man in the picture was. Well…I’ve got the book.”

She pushed it onto his lap. He was surprised at first, but then we saw a flash of anger across his features. I didn’t know if it was us he was angry with, or perhaps Dumbledore who smiled serenely out of the cover, or someone else entirely.

Skimming through the book, Harry found the picture of the man he was looking for. We discovered it was Grindelwald, the wizard Dumbledore had defeated in a duel many years back. Apparently they had been friends and had been into some types of Dark Magic when they were our age. Rita suggested in her book that it was Dumbledore’s fault his sister, Ariana had died and that maybe she was the first one to die ‘For the Greater Good,’ Grindelwald’s motto that he used to justify all the cruel things he did. According to the book, Dumbledore gave him the idea in a letter.

Harry looked astonished, angry, and hurt. I, myself, was shocked, thinking that if this was the truth, then did any of us ever know the real Dumbledore? Sure, maybe he was younger then, but he was our age, and we were fighting on the opposite side. Even if this was true, he had definitely changed his mind, but how far had he gotten in these ideas before that happened?

Harry and Hermione began arguing about it, whether or not these stories of Rita’s were real. Whether or not Dumbledore had changed. I tried to intervene and stop them, but I was ignored as usual. Why did I always try to be the peacekeeper when it never worked?

“Harry, I’m sorry, but I think the real reason you’re so angry is that Dumbledore never told you this himself.” Hermione said.

“Maybe I am! Look what he asked from me Hermione! Risk your life, Harry! And again! And again! And don’t expect me to explain everything, just trust me blindly, trust that I know what I’m doing, trust me even though I don’t trust you! Never the whole truth! Never!”

His voice cracked at the end and then they stood there, facing each other, not saying anything for a long while.

“He loved you,” she whispered finally. “I know he loved you.”

“I don’t know who he loved, Hermione, but it was never me. This isn’t love, the mess he’s left me in. He shared a damn sight more of what he was really thinking with Gellert Grindelwald than he ever shared with me.”

I looked at Harry sadly. He had loved Dumbledore, too. It tore him apart that Dumbledore never seemed to trust him. He had the most rotten luck with father figures.

“Thanks for the tea. I’ll finish the watch. You two get back in the warm.”

I picked up the tray and went back to the tent silently, with Hermione following. Neither of us spoke as we sat at the table. We just sat there, completely absorbed in our thoughts.

A few nights later, we were camping in the Forest of Dean. Everywhere we went, the nights made us feel uneasy, and no matter who was keeping watch, they felt as if they had heard or seen someone. We had taken to Disapparating under the Invisibility Cloak. Harry decided he would keep watch that night, making me and Hermione go to sleep. I usually had trouble falling asleep, but tonight, for some reason, I didn’t. My dream was pleasant, although I had no idea what it was about. I just seemed to be following a bright, gentle doe. It was like a Patronus, but no one was casting it. It kept leading me further and further into the darkness.

I awoke suddenly when I heard more than one pair of footsteps enter the tent. I sat up quickly and saw both Harry and Ron, standing at the entrance, dripping wet. Ron was holding what looked like Gryffindor’s sword. I didn’t even think to question them, I just hopped up and ran to hug Ron.

“Thanks for coming back,” I said quietly.

He gave me a weak smile and Harry tried to wake up Hermione. He said her name several times without success.

“Hermione!”

She sat bolt upright, then said quickly “What’s wrong? Harry? Are you alright?”

“It’s okay, everything’s fine. More than fine. I’m great. There’s someone here.”

“What do you mean? Who – “

She noticed Ron then, and moved towards him slowly, her eyes wide. He gave her a hopeful smile and raised his arms a bit. Then she launched herself forward and started punching every part of him she could reach.

“Ouch – ow – eroff! What the - ? Hermione – OW!”

“You – complete – arse – Ronald – Weasley!” she accented each word with a punch.

I just sank into a chair and started laughing. I was crying too, but I didn’t know if it was actual crying or crying from laughing. I was just glad he was back, and this was one of the funniest things I’d ever seen Hermione do.

Ron was backing away from her, trying to shield himself.

“You – crawl – back – here – after – weeks – and – weeks – oh, where’s my wand?” she shrieked.

Harry, who was still holding her wand, yelled “Protego!”

The invisible shield sprang up between them, and I laughed harder. I didn’t know why I thought it was so funny, I couldn’t seem to stop, it must have been so much time without humor had begun to drive me mad.

“Hermione! Calm –“ Harry said.

“I will not calm down!” she screamed. “Give me back my wand! Give it back to me!”

“Hermione will you please –“

“Don’t you tell me what to do, Harry Potter! Don’t you dare! Give it back now! And YOU!” she pointed at Ron.

He took a few steps back.

“I came running after you! I called you! I begged you to come back!”

“I know,” Ron said, “Hermione, I’m sorry, I’m really –“

“Oh, you’re sorry!” she laughed and she looked demented now, it was quite scary. “You come back after weeks – weeks – and you think it’s all going to be all right if you just say sorry?”

“Well, what else can I say?” Ron was shouting back.

Man I wish I had some popcorn right now.

“Oh, I don’t know! Rack your brains, Ron, that should only take a couple of seconds –“

“Ouch” I muttered.

Harry interrupted her with “Hermione, he just saved my –“

“I don’t care!” she screamed. “I don’t care what he’s done! Weeks and weeks, we could have been dead for all he knew –“

“I knew you weren’t dead!” bellowed Ron, actually drowning out her voice. “Harry’s all over the Prophet, all over the radio, they’re looking for you everywhere, all these rumors and mental stories, I knew I’d hear straight off if you were dead, you don’t know what it’s been like –“

“What it’s been like for you?” her voice was so shrill, I could barely make out what she said.

“I wanted to come back the minute I’d Disapparted, but I walked straight into a gang of Snatchers, Hermione, and I couldn’t go anywhere!”

Huh?

“A gang of what?” asked Harry, voicing my question out loud.

Finally, Hermione was quiet long enough for Ron to get out his story of eluding the Snatchers by telling them he was Stan Shunpike, then trying to find us on the riverbank, but we’d already gone. He told us how he found us tonight, with the Deluminator. He heard Hermione’s voice through it because she was the only one who’d said his name a couple days ago, then he clicked it and an orb of light led him to where we were. However, it took him a few days to track us down because of the enchantments we used on our campsite.

Next, he and Harry related their story of the doe Patronus, like the one in my dream, the sword in the lake, Harry jumping in and Ron saving him, then Ron stabbing the Horcrux and killing it. Hermione and I were in shock through their story; it seemed as if someone was trying to help us out, casting the doe and all. And having another Horcrux gone was a tremendous relief.