The Last Time

Calliope

Story Summary:
When Harry wants to stop the pain he suffers from re-occurring dreams about the death of his parents, it is only the bond he shares with Ron and Hermione that saves his life. The bond proves to be the only thing that saves them all as they face the unimaginable… [written pre-OotP, but partially OotP-compatible]

Chapter 07

Chapter Summary:
When Harry wants to stop the pain he suffers from re-occurring dreams about the death of his parents, it is only the bond he shares with Ron and Hermione that saves his life. The bond proves to be the only thing that saves them all as they face the unimaginable… (Rated PG-13- R/Hr, H/Hr...)
Posted:
01/24/2003
Hits:
3,156
Author's Note:
The Last Time was originally written pre-OotP and then was edited to comply with the new canon. There are still some small things that don’t quite reconcile with OotP but I had to take a bit of artistic license with them, such as the inability of boys to go into the girls’ dormitories, the layout of St. Mungo’s, how people are selected to be Aurors, and a few other small things. I felt that changing them to be totally compatible with OotP would require totally taking the story apart and reworking it.

Chapter 7

Hermione woke very late the next day. She couldn't see a clock, but judging by the look of the sun coming through the windows, she guessed it was about ten o'clock. She sat up slowly, stretching. Madam Pomfrey had given them a nasty tasting Sleeping Potion the night before, and she was having trouble shaking off the after-effects.

"Hey there, Sleepyhead," said Ron from the bed next to her.

"Hey." She looked over to Harry. "Has he woken up yet?"

"No. Madam Pomfrey was looking at him a while ago...she said he seems okay, except for being out cold. She doesn't know when he's going to wake up..."

Or if he'll wake up, was the unspoken end of the sentence that Hermione knew he was thinking, but didn't want to say.

"Ah, you're awake," said Madam Pomfrey, coming in with a tray of breakfast, which she set up for Hermione.

"I'm not hungry," protested Hermione.

"Eat up," said Madam Pomfrey, ignoring her. "When you finish, Professor Dumbledore wants to see the both of you in his office."

Hermione picked at the food, moving it around enough so that Madam Pomfrey would think she'd eaten something, and then stepped behind the curtains to get dressed.

*****

They didn't expect the crowd that was assembled in Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore and McGonagall, they had assumed would be there, but in addition there was Professor Tenby and Professor Snape, along with Remus Lupin and Mad-Eye Moody.

Lupin greeted them with a bone-breaking hug. "I came as soon as I heard," he said, as he let them go.

"I would wish you 'Good Morning,' Miss Granger, Mr. Weasley, but..." Dumbledore made a gesture with his hands, indicating the situation. "Please, have a seat."

Hermione sat nervously between Ron and Lupin.

"Professor McGonagall has given me an account of what happened last night, but I would like for you to tell us all, now, what happened," said Dumbledore gently. "I've asked these teachers and Order members here to hear this, so that maybe they can offer us some insight."

"Well, I came in late last night, after doing detention with Madam Pomfrey," Hermione began. Snape looked at her oddly, but she ignored him and continued. "Harry was sleeping on the couch in the common room - "

"What was he doing down there instead of the dormitory?" asked Lupin.

Ron looked mortified. "I'm not sure, sir, but Harry and I, we...well, we kind of had a falling out the other day, and...er...he's been avoiding me ever since."

Lupin raised an eyebrow, but nodded for Hermione to continue.

"Anyway, he was sleeping on the couch, and I put a blanket on him and made to go upstairs...then I heard him call out for his mum. I guess he was dreaming about her. He said...the day we got back to school, he said he was having dreams about Voldemort again. I think he was dreaming about his mum last night, you know, when she..." Hermione remembered the blood-curdling way he'd screamed, and her words stuck in her throat. Lupin patted her shoulder gently; his face had gone white and strained at the mention of Harry's mother.

Ron took over from there, telling them how Harry's screams had woken him up along with the rest of Gryffindor House, and how he and Hermione had tried to get Harry to wake up.

"It was awful, sir...he was crying something terrible, and thrashing around, and we didn't know what to do for him...we just kept talking to him, and then...I don't know what happened, but I grabbed Harry's hand, and so did Hermione, and she grabbed my hand too...and then it was like...." Ron stopped, obviously confused, and looked at Hermione as if to say, what happened next?

Hermione took a deep breath. "I don't know what it was. Everything went black...it was like we were falling. And we could hear each other's thoughts. I heard Harry, and Ron, and they heard me."

"You heard each other's thoughts?" said Lupin. "How is that possible?" he asked Dumbledore.

Dumbledore shook his head. "I do not know. It does not sound like any form of telepathy or mental communication that I am familiar with. Most unusual." He glanced around the room.

"Perhaps Harry's unfinished Occlumency training has something to do with this?" Lupin suggested, deliberately not looking at Snape.

Snape scowled. "I highly doubt that," he said. "Potter was quite incompetent in Occlumency, and what small bit of ability he does possess is insufficient to allow him to communicate mentally with even a skilled Legilimens, much less these two."

"If you ask me, those Occlumency lessons should have been kept up," growled Mad-Eye Moody. "No reason at all to stop them, and now the Dark Lord's got free access to Potter's mind again. No telling what he'll do with it now, mark my words - "

"Alastor, please," said Dumbledore, interrupting Moody's tirade. "Please, continue, Miss Granger."

She described the experience as best she could, with Ron helping her to fill in many of the pieces, and ended with Harry coming to briefly and passing out again. Lupin looked at them when she finished the story. "While you had this - experience - whatever it was, Harry said he was 'finished', he was 'through'...and he saw a green light?"

"That's right," said Ron. "He told us to go away and leave him alone, but we said we couldn't do that, and he kept arguing with us, insisting we go away."

McGonagall sighed, frowning. "Albus, do you think..."

Dumbledore nodded gravely. "I believe there's a possibility that Harry may have been trying to...well...to kill himself."

Hermione's heart dropped.

"That's ridiculous!" shouted Ron. "He wouldn't do such a thing. Besides, he was just sleeping, and had a nightmare about his parents or something and ..."

"I thought so myself, last night, but I wanted to talk to Professor Dumbledore before I said anything to you. That's why I insisted that this be kept within Gryffindor House for the time being," said McGonagall firmly. "If he was, indeed, trying to commit suicide, the last thing he needs is the entire school knowing about it and pointing to him wherever he goes. It won't be possible to keep it quiet forever, but hopefully by the time it gets out, he'll be well enough to deal with it."

Dumbledore nodded. "A wise decision, Minerva."

Snape spoke up, for the first time. "This morning, I went to see Potter, at Madam Pomfrey's request. She wanted to check for any traces of lethal potions in his system. I checked for every potion that I know of, and I found nothing."

Hermione felt a flash of anger. "What do you care?" she shouted at Snape. "You hate Harry - you hate all of us! You'd love it if he died! You've taunted him since our first day in your class, when asked him all these questions, knowing he wouldn't know because he lived with Muggles and didn't know anything about magic yet! Just because his father didn't like you - you horrible - nasty - hateful - " She jumped from her chair, blinded by fury, wanting nothing more than to claw Snape's eyes right out of his head.

"Miss Granger!" exclaimed Professor McGonagall.

"Sit DOWN, Hermione!" ordered Lupin, as he and Ron grabbed her by the arms.

Hermione twisted and pulled to get away from them, enraged. "Let me go!" She kicked Lupin in a vain attempt to get him to let go, but he was much stronger than her, and he and Ron managed to get her back into her chair. She sat, seething helplessly, as Lupin kept a hold on her arm. The other teachers stared at her, obviously shocked, but she didn't care.

"Yes, Miss Granger, my...dislike...for Potter is no secret," said Snape quietly. "And I have my reasons; whether you believe it or not is of no consequence to me."

"Severus..." said Dumbledore warningly.

"However," Snape continued, "as much as I detest him, and his actions...I do not wish him dead. If you remember your first class with me so vividly, then I should have no need to remind you of Potter's first Quidditch match? Had it not been for me, Professor Quirrell would have succeeded in jinxing Potter's broom and sent him crashing to the ground." He looked at Hermione narrowly, as if daring her to refute his statement.

"And if it weren't for you, we could have gotten Peter Pettigrew to confess and clear Sirius a long time ago, before it was too late!" shouted Ron. "Don't even pretend to be so self-righteous! You almost got Harry and Sirius Kissed! You're always sticking your beak in where it's none of your business!"

"How dare you speak to me in such a way, Mr. Weasley!" Snape spat. "You - "

"That will do, Severus," said Dumbledore, rising from his seat. "Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger - I understand you are upset and concerned for Harry, so this time I will pretend I did not hear you speak to a teacher in such a manner. Please, calm yourselves and listen.

"Voldemort is apparently on the rise again, or else Harry would not be having these dreams. Last night, he must have had a dream so terrible that he did not wish to wake up. Something very unusual happened when the three of you joined hands, something that allowed you into each other's minds, and you made contact with Harry."

He looked at Hermione and Ron; his blue eyes void of their usual good-humoured twinkle. "I do not know how you managed to do this. It is a magic far beyond anything we study here. But I truly believe, had you two not been there, Harry Potter would have died last night."

Ron made a dreadful, choking noise, and Hermione clutched his arm.

"I can't believe this!" exclaimed Lupin. "Harry...why didn't he say something...why didn't I see what was going on! I should have realized, I should have seen it. I'm supposed to be looking out for him."

"Don't blame yourself, Lupin," said Dumbledore. "Given the unusual circumstances he's been living under, I can't say I'm surprised at this turn of events. If anyone should have seen this coming, it should have been me."

Hermione was shocked. She had never heard Dumbledore sound so defeated and sad...and he looked so old, so frail. But he's the one who's supposed to have all the answers...he's the one we go to when we don't know what to do...he's the one who's supposed to fix things.

Hermione was about to learn that everything was not as it seemed.