The Only One He Ever Feared

The Only One He Ever Feared

Chapter 2

He was in a dark room, an enclosed space; pitch black area. No, wait...there was a bright light ahead! He ran towards it ...it was the Triwizard cup! He ran into the blinding light with his arms outstretched. Then, he was falling again. He landed with a thump, and looked around cautiously. He got up and started sprinting into more darkness. He heard a scratchy voice talking and stopped.

"Kill the spare."

"No! Cedric!!! NOOO!!!"

"Avada Kedavra!!"

Then, a slimy, bony hand grasped at his throat.

"Say goodbye to your friend, Potter!!"

"HARRY! Harry, help me!" It was Hermione's voice.

"No, not her, she can't die! I..."

"Crucio!!!"

But, it wasn't Voldemort that was cursing her, but he knew that voice from somewhere...but he couldn't recognize who it was. She was twitching and writhing in pain, defenseless against Voldemort and his Death Eater.

"Hermione, NOOOO!"

"Avada Kedavra!!!"

"NOOOO!"

Then, he somehow was transported to the Department of Mysteries. He saw a pile of books on the floor. He ran over to them, and started sifting through the pile and tossing them left in right. He saw a strand of Hermione's hair...underneath them all. He franticly pushed all of the books out of the way and uncovered the rest of her. Her eyes were closed...her brown curls with strands of gold seemed slightly faded...without its usual shine. His heart stopped.

"She's dead Potter, and there's nothing you can do about it!"

"No, you're wrong." Harry's voice was shaking, " I am..."

"Too late. Avada Kedavra!!"

"NOOOOOOO!!!"

Someone was yelling at him.

"Harry! Wake up! Harry please wake up!"

Harry's eyes snapped open. He nearly fainted again, upon seeing Hermione, not only alive, but standing above him. He was in the Hospital Wing.

He was also drenched in sweat and his chest still hurt. He groped around for her hand.

"Herm...He...Hermione?"

"Yes? Oh, Harry I was so worried. Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I think so. What...I thought...oh man."

"Harry, what's going on? Were you having a nightmare?"

"I...yeah...but...you...I...you were...."he trailed off muttering incoherent words.

"I what Harry?"

"I mean....I....I thought you were dead!"

"What!!" Her face now showed confusion, adding to her perplexing and worried look. "Why....what are you talking about?"

"Wait....just a minute..." He was finally starting to catch his breath. "First, why the heck am I here?"

"But, Harry? Don't you remember?"

"What?"

"You were playing Quidditch...and you passed out and fell off of your Firebolt after you caught the Snitch."

Then, it came back to him. "Oh...oh yeah...we won! Where are Ron and Ginny?"

"Umm...Harry...I...well...you guys won but you didn't win the cup and Ron and Ginny are busy and they couldn't come." She said this all really fast as if he wouldn't catch it all.

"But, I caught the Snitch when we were ninety points up! Right?"

"Well, actually, you were only eighty points up. You still won, but Davies scored seconds before you caught it and.... well...you know."

"So...we lost the cup?"

She nodded silently

He could've kicked himself if he wasn't in such bad shape. Instead, he tried to sit up to get a better look at her, but an immense pain seared through his back and he fell back into the pillows and winced.

"Harry don't move! You are really hurt. Madam Pomfery will be back soon to mend your ribs."

She took a wet cloth from the bedside table and wiped his forehead off. Harry shivered, but it wasn't from the cloth.

"Harry, are you cold?"

"No...I...I'm fine."

She went and got a chair and pulled it next to his bed. Her brown curls were wet and frizzy. Her face was red and her deep brown eyes were full of sympathy and concern.

"Why did you think I wasn't alive Harry?"

"I...well...as I said...I...erm...had a nightmare. And...a Death Eater killed you."

She breathed in a shaky breath. "I died? And, Ron and Ginny too?"

"No, just you. First it was just Cedric and me in the maze...I've had plenty of those. But then something different happened. Voldemort murdered Cedric. Then, you showed up. He told one of his Death Eaters to kill you too...and well he did. It felt like when Dolohov used that one curse on you. You were gone...and I couldn't stop it...what if that really happened? I couldn't live with myself for putting you in danger!"

She was at a total loss for anything to say. So, she did what she did best when she couldn't think of something to say. She gave him a hug and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek.

"It's ok Harry. I'm here now. It's ok." She grasped his hand.

He was on the verge of tears but he couldn't cry in front of Hermione. He looked up at her and suddenly, he didn't have to cry anymore. She had never looked so beautiful. Wait...this was Hermione he was thinking about!

"Mione, I..."

"POTTER!"

Harry let out a long, defeated sigh.

"Potter I am ready to cure you, I have just found the charm. But, you will need to stay overnight and till tomorrow after dinner. I still can't understand why they bother with these dangerous games?" She said the last part more to herself than anyone.

"Miss Granger, please leave for now. Mr. Potter needs his rest. You may return to visit tomorrow."

Hermione, slightly flustered from the interruption, just nodded and said simply, "Bye Harry. See you tomorrow." She gave him a reassuring smile, a slight wave, and left.

Madam Pomfery started doing complicated motions over him with her wand.

"This is going to be a long night," Harry thought.