Her Frozen Heart

Chapter 8

Harry awoke with a strange feeling that he was being watched. "Harry?" Grabbing his glasses he pulled open the curtains around his bed and saw Dumbledore and McGonagall. "Harry, you need to come with us, now."

"What's going on Professors?"

"Potter, you were told to come along, no questions." McGonagall grabbed his robe and handed it to him. "Get dressed, we'll be waiting in the common room."

Harry dressed quickly and scrambled down the stairs to the common room. Dumbledore and McGonagall were waiting by the fireplace. "Harry, come here." Harry walked over to where Dumbledore stood and noticed that he would not make eye contact with him. "Step inside the fire and take some floo powder."

"Professor, where am I going?"

Dumbledore leaned in close to Harry. "Where you will be safe from those who intend to harm you." Putting his hand on his back he nudged him into the fire. Dumbledore handed Harry some floo powder. "You will be safe at headquarters, Harry."

Harry cleared his throat. "Number 12 Grimmauld Place." With a flash of green flames Harry was gone. McGonagall stood watching the place where Harry had just stood.

"What about Miss Granger?"

"She will be safe here at Hogwarts. The only one she was in danger of hurting was Harry."

Harry stumbled out of the fire and into Lupin. "Hello Harry." Lupin led Harry to the table where there was a glass of pumpkin juice awaiting him. "Now, I'm sure you are wondering why you where dragged out of your warm bed in the middle of the night and sent here. Am I right?" Harry nodded his head slowly. "Well Harry I suppose it wouldn't hurt to tell you."

Harry sat and stared dumbfounded at Lupin as he told him of the plan to use Hermione to get rid of him once and for all. "They were going to have Hermione kill me?"

"Yes, Harry. The potion has already been given to her twice and we feared that whoever is giving it to her would be able to finish the job."

"I bet its Professor Riley. She has access to her, they're always together."

Lupin smiled. "No, Harry. Professor Riley is a member of the Order who has been trying to keep Hermione safe ever since we found out about the potion."

"She hasn't done a very good job has she?" Harry's voice was dripping with bitterness.

"Yes well, Professor Riley has had a lot of ... stuff to handle these last couple of months." Lupin looked away from Harry not wanting him to see the guilt in his eyes.

"What kind of stuff is so important that she would let this happen?" Harry got up from the table and started to pace the floor.

"She was brutally attacked and almost lost her life."

"Well, who attacked her?"

"I did."

Harry stopped pacing and looked at Lupin. "You attacked her. Why?"

"I did not have my Wolfsbane Potion, and on Christmas she came here to give me some information. I had locked myself in my room before I changed not knowing that anyone would be arriving anytime soon. Riley heard me and thought that I was in trouble, so she opened the door, and I attacked her."

Harry stared open-mouthed at Lupin. When he spoke his voice cracked. "Did you ... did you bite her?"

"Yes, Harry, I did. Now she too is a werewolf. So you see she had not intended to allow the Death Eaters to get Hermione again but ..." Lupin stopped mid-sentence and walked away from Harry unable to talk anymore.

Ron awoke to find Harry was missing. "Has anyone seen Harry?"

"Not since last night. Did he go down to breakfast early?"

Ron dressed and made his way to the great hall in hopes to find Harry waiting for him. "Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall had come up behind Ron. "You are looking for Potter?"

"Yes, Professor. Have you seen him?"

"Follow me, Mr. Weasley." Ron followed McGonagall to Dumbledore's office where he discovered Hermione was already waiting.

"Ron! They've taken him away all because of me."

"What are you talking about, Hermione?"

"Mr. Weasley, Miss Granger, do come in." Dumbledore allowed them to enter his office and then closed the door behind him.

"Now, Mr. Potter has been removed from school grounds. There was a threat on his life and we thought it best if he were somewhere that was safer."

"What place is safer than Hogwarts?"

"Anywhere I'm not." Hermione sobbed into her hands confusing Ron even more.

"Er ... Professor?"

"Mr. Weasley, there is a plot to use Miss Granger to dispose of Harry. We thought it best to separate the three of you." Ron looked at Dumbledore and then at Hermione who was still sobbing. Glancing over his shoulder he saw McGonagall standing behind him her head tilted to the side with a look of understanding on her face.

"Is he going to be safe now?" Dumbledore nodded. "Are they going to leave Hermione alone now that she can't get to him?"

"That, Mr. Weasley, I cannot say."

Ron and Hermione made their way to Defense Against the Dark Arts. "I can't believe this is happening. What if they hadn't known what was going on? What if I had killed Harry?" Hermione had still not quit crying completely; she was now hiccupping and wiping away the occasional stray tear.

"Hermione, it's okay." Ron looked very uncomfortable as he tried to comfort Hermione by patting her on the back.

"Miss Granger, why are you crying child?" Professor Montgomery came over from his desk and placed his hand on her shoulder.

"It's nothing, Professor." Hermione rubbed her eyes with the back of her hands.

"Would you like a glass of water or a cup of tea?" Hermione started sobbing again and followed Montgomery to his office which was just next door to his classroom.

"Here, Miss Granger, a nice hot cup of tea should calm you down." Montgomery handed her the steaming cup of tea and sat her down in a chair.

"Thank you, Professor." Hermione took a sip of the tea and found that like last time it had a peculiar taste. "Professor, what kind of tea do you use?"

"My own special blend. Don't tell me you don't like it?" Hermione hesitated for a moment.

"No, Professor, it's delicious." Hermione forced down the rest of the tea and followed Montgomery back to the classroom. "Thank you for the tea, Professor. I feel much better now."

Montgomery took his place in the front of the classroom and looked out over the students. "Today we will be discussing ..." He broke off in mid-sentence; someone was missing. Montgomery's eyes darted back and forth down each table. "Where is Mr. Potter?"

"He left, sir." Ron's ears started to turn red. He hoped that Professor Montgomery did not ask him where he had gone. Dumbledore had given him a story to tell, but he was not a very good liar.

"He left?! He left?!" Montgomery's shouts bounced off the stonewalls. His face turned a deep shade of purple, and he fled from the room leaving the students sitting there thunderstruck.

"What should we do?" Ron leaned over close to Hermione who had finally stopped crying. "Should we wait here?"

Sniffling, Hermione looked at Ron and stated, "No, we should go get someone." Grabbing her bag Hermione swiftly left the room followed by Ron.

To their horror the first Professor they saw was Professor Snape. "What are you two doing wandering the halls?"

"Well, Professor, we were in Defense Against the Dark Arts and ..."

"Why aren't you still there, the class time is not over?"

Well, you see, sir, Professor Montgomery just ran out of the room."

"Yeah, he asked why Harry wasn't in class, and we told him that he had left. Then he started yelling, 'He left,' and ran out of the room." Ron looked to Hermione who was staring at Snape trying to read his reaction to this.

"Go and tell the other students to go back to their common rooms." Snape turned on his heel and headed down the corridor his robe flying out behind him.

Hermione and Ron sat in the Gryffindor common room next to the roaring fire. "I wonder if they found Montgomery."

"I don't know, Ron. I wonder if Harry is all right."

"I'm sure he is. He's probably having a better time than we are." Ron tossed his Transfiguration book on the floor. "You know it seems like just once they would take it easy on us when they know what we are going through. Don't you think?"

Ron looked up at Hermione when she did not reply. "Hermione? Did you hear me?" Hermione seemed to be looking right at him but not seeing him. Ron leaned in close. "Hermione?" He passed his hand in front of her face but she did not blink. Her eyes seemed to be glazed over and out of focus.

Ron jumped back when Hermione stood straight up and started to leave the common room. "Where are you going?" Hermione did not answer him. Instead she just slipped out the portrait hole.

Ron sat there for a moment wondering what had just happened. "The potion!" Several students who were studying in the common room glared at him. Ron didn't care, he grabbed his robe which he had tossed across the back of the chair and ran after Hermione.

Glancing down the corridor he did not see any sign of her. Ron decided to go to McGonagall and tell her what had happened.

"Professor McGonagall?" Ron had burst through her office door and found Professor McGonagall sitting at her desk grading exams.

"Mr. Weasley, what is the meaning of this?"

"Professor, its Hermione. She's acting really weird. Her eyes were all glazed over, and she just walked out of the common room without saying a word. I don't know where she went." McGonagall stood and rushed past Ron.

Reaching the entrance to Dumbledore's office McGonagall stopped and thought for a moment. "Jelly Slugs."

"Minerva?" McGonagall slowly turned around and saw Dumbledore standing behind her. "Did you wish to speak with me?"

"Albus, Miss Granger has received the last of the potion. Weasley has just informed me that she left the common room with a dazed look on her face."

Dumbledore shook his head, when he spoke it was a whisper full of urgency. "I want you to go and tell Professor Snape and Professor Riley this news. They are to meet me in the entrance hall, immediately."

Out of breath, her face red from running from her office to the front entrance, Riley arrived just after Snape. "Headmaster, is it true?"

"Yes, Emma, I'm afraid it is. Severus has told me that he believes the culprit is Professor Montgomery."

"Montgomery?" Riley thought for a moment about this idea. "I suppose that does make sense. Do you know where she is?"

"Not at the moment. We need to search the school grounds."

"I'll search outside and ask Hagrid to help." Dumbledore nodded and opened the door for her.

"Be careful, Emma. If you find her send us a signal." Riley nodded and headed out into the cold.

The snow was coming down fast and she could only see a few feet in front of her. The lights from Hagrid's hut were the only way she could tell in what direction she was walking.

Riley shivered and folded her arms in front of her as she treaded through the snow. As she grew closer to the Forbidden Forest something caught her eye. Squinting she could not tell if there was someone out there, but she could see a blue flame in the distance. Putting her head down she walked against the wind in the direction of the flames.

When she was only a short ways away from the flame she began to make out the outline of two people. "Hermione!" The wind was blowing so hard it drowned her yell. Raising her wand into the air she shot red sparks into the sky, praying that either Dumbledore or Snape would see them.

"Hello, Emma." Montgomery smiled and pulled his hood up over his head. "Looking for someone?" To his left stood Hermione in only her school uniform. Her lips were purple, and she was trembling.

"Montgomery, I suggest you let her go."

"You suggest I let her go? Please, Emma, you can do better than that!" He laughed and grabbed a hold of Hermione's arm. "Even if I did let her go, I can still control her."

"I thought the potion was to give You-know-who control."

"Interesting side effect, my dear. Whoever gives her the potion is the one she listens to. I gave her the first dose in the Three Broomsticks. Clever really, I disguised myself as a witch so no one would recognize me there. Then I gave it to her again during a conversation about an exam. And just today she received the final bit of potion, that is of course before I realized that Potter was gone. You see originally I was just to give her the potion, but now I am forced to play a bigger part."

"Well, you failed. Potter is safe, and you just wasted all that time. I do believe that someone is going to be very upset with you."

"Yes, well he's used to disappointment by now. Besides, I did help them by weeding out a spy among them."

Riley stood there staring at Montgomery. She wanted to turn and look back towards Hogwarts to see if anyone was coming yet, but she was afraid to take her eyes off of him.

"Don't worry, I'm going to wait until the rest of your little group show up." Montgomery smiled and looked at Hermione. "We're going to see just how well this potion really works."

"You do realize that we are not going to let you just walk out of here."

"I know that. I could leave now, but I haven't quite figured everything out. You see I know that either you or Snape is a spy. I just don't know which one." Montgomery looked out past her. "Here he comes now."

Riley turned and saw Snape running to them. Montgomery raised his wand and shouted, "Accio wands." Riley stepped back just as Snape's wand went flying past her head. She looked down at her hand and realized that he had taken hers too.

"Emma, are you all right?"

"Yes, Hermione is not. If she is out here much longer she will freeze."

Montgomery smiled. "Don't worry, Emma. She won't be alive long enough for that to happen."

"Dumbledore is on his way."

"So we best be on with it then before he ruins all our fun." Montgomery laughed again sending a chill down Riley's spine. "Which one wants to admit the truth? Either Snape here has been spying or Emma has." Riley glanced at Snape and saw that he was watching Hermione. "However, Emma did not have access to everything, unless ... of course. Snape told you."

Neither one spoke. Riley saw movement in Hagrid's hut but did not figure that he was aware of what was happening. "Perhaps you were working together. I did find it hard to believe that you cared for one another. I see it now, I understand."

Before she could stop herself Riley opened her mouth. "No, you don't see. I am the spy. I used Snape here to get the information." Snape turned and grabbed Emma's arm forcing her around to look at him.

"What are you doing woman?" His voice was harsh and alarmed.

"Let go of me!" Riley jerked her arm free. "I am not going to lie anymore; I am spying for the Order. Snape had no clue." Riley tried to make her voice sound cold.

"Interesting. I don't believe it, but it's interesting. I like my theory better. The two of you pretended to be a couple. I could always tell by looking at you though, that you despised each other." Montgomery pulled his cloak tighter. "Now which should go first?"

"She's lying, she knew nothing." Snape stepped in front of Riley.

"Even more interesting. You do care about her. I can see it in your eyes right now. Do you love her?" There was a mocking tone to his voice.

Snape stood there for a moment and then stepped beside Riley. "No." There was no emotion in his voice, he sounded dead inside.

"I think you're lying." Montgomery chuckled. "This is going to be more fun than I thought." Raising his wand he shouted "STUPEFY!" Snape was thrown backwards and landed in the snow.

Montgomery turned to Hermione. "Now let's test this potion."

"Hermione don't listen to him. Cover your ears, Hermione!" Riley's voice was shaky and panicked.

"Kill her. Now." Hermione raised her wand and pointed it at Riley. She hesitated for a brief moment giving Riley hope.

"Avada Kedavra !" There was a flash of green and Riley's lifeless body collapsed to the ground.

Snape stood and started to run towards Riley. Red sparks flew past him and hit Montgomery square in the chest causing him to fly backwards into a tree. Montgomery slid to the ground unconscious. Snape did not even turn to see where the sparks had come from. He stopped next to Riley who was lying motionless in the snow. She looked like she was asleep. Snape's legs gave out and he fell into the snow beside her. He placed a hand on her shoulder and rolled her onto her back. Blue eyes stared up at him and her cheeks were decorated with frozen tears. Gently he picked up her hand and whispered, "Emma ..."

Hermione was still standing in the same spot, her wand by her side. A hate so strong rose up through him he could taste it. "Severus." Dumbledore placed his hand on Snape's shoulder. "It was not Hermione's fault." Snape jerked away from his touch.

Dumbledore took Hermione by the hand. "Come with me Hermione." Her eyes still unblinking, she did not move. "Very well." Dumbledore waved his wand and a stretcher appeared. Very carefully he placed Hermione on the stretcher. "Severus?"

"Leave me." Dumbledore nodded and began to make his way slowly back to Hogwarts with Hermione beside him.

Once he reached the main doors he turned and could just make out Snape's form as he knelt beside Riley, still holding her lifeless hand in his.

The End.