Harry Potter and the Legacy of Merlin

Chapter 15

The Mirror Crack'd From Side to Side

Of the original DA members, only Luna, Neville and Ginny were allowed to enter. Cho avoided Harry as much as possible, and Harry didn't even think of her. His thoughts had moved over to another girl. Every time he would see her, he would be enchanted...he wondered why he never noticed her before. He wondered if she knew...she had caught him staring at her quite a few times, but she never said anything. Harry wanted to ask her out, but he felt too nervous when the time for actual action came.

Minerva McGonagall and Professor Flitwick had joined the Army. The membership now rested at thirteen. Harry didn't think anyone else was suitable enough, though he admitted that there would be more members in the future.

Quidditch was progressing well also. For the first time in his life at Hogwarts, Harry didn't have anything to worry about. Voldemort had not contacted him. So life went on pretty pleasantly - until Christmas.

Christmas morning Harry woke up early. Ron had gone home, but Hermione had stayed back; he suspected it was because of him. For Harry's physical strengths had been decreasing rapidly. He couldn't stand any person yelling at him, it made him faint. They had learnt this when he had tried to interrupt an argument between Ron and Hermione and they had both turned on him and accused him of being biased. As the angry comments hit his ears, he winced. Two minutes later, he had fainted. The same had happened when Cho had shouted at him in the Quidditch Pitch after losing the game. He was getting paler by the day, no one knowing the cause. Hermione found out, though, on Christmas day.

The first gift that caught his attention was a huge black parcel. He opened it and stared...it couldn't be...

He ignored it and went over his other gifts. After he was through with all of them, he turned back to the huge gift. He picked up a note from the wrappings.

"Dear Harry,

Hope you like this gift. I've been very busy procuring this, hence I was out of touch. Sorry for that. And Happy Christmas, my child.

Your loving grandfather,

Voldemort."

Harry stared at the gift. There was no doubt in his mind now, it was the mirror of Erised.

He was still staring at it when Hermione found him.

"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked, concern evident in her voice.

"Voldemort sent me this."

"Don't worry about it, Harry. Get ready, we'll go down for breakfast together. It's only us in the entire Gryffindor Tower, you know."

Harry obeyed wordlessly. Five minutes later, they were in the Great Hall, having breakfast. The entire day was spent decorating and partying. They were very tired by the time they returned at night.

As soon as they entered the Common Room, Hermione caught his arm.

"We have to talk," she said.

"Ok."

They seated themselves comfortably.

"What's bugging you, Harry? Why is your strength ebbing away?"

"I don't know."

"Don't lie," said Hermione sharply.

Harry winced. Hermione realised her mistake and moved close to him. Then she put her hand on his shoulder and said gently, "I'm sorry. But I know that you know. I've been studying you. You are diverting the entire DA's negative inflows towards yourself, aren't you?"

"Not the entire DA, Hermione. And not all negative inflows. I am only diverting Remus' transformation pains...well, and a few other minor stuff as well...I'm not doing it on purpose...it's just that...I don't want the people I love to suffer...Remus and Ron and you are the only ones I have left..." Tears glittered in his eyes.

Hermione hugged him while he sobbed. He regained control soon, however.

"I'm sorry," he said.

"No, Harry, I'm sorry. But you must stop doing this. It's draining you, Harry, you're becoming weak. Your magic might be very powerful, but if you don't have enough physical strength to even stand, how will you fight Voldemort?"

Harry hung his head. "You're right," he said.

"Remus will be ok, Harry. He has been through this all his life. And he has the Wolfsbane potion also."

"He shouldn't have to bear all that..."

"Neither should you," Hermione said, a sharp edge creeping into her voice. She saw him wince, but that didn't stop her. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Harry? You have had enough to bear, more than any human should in his entire life. Why do you add to your pains? You have to live, Harry. You have to live for me. For us. For the world. We depend on you, Harry. We believe in you. Why are you hell-bent on destroying yourself? Are you still feeling guilty? Please, Harry, it was not your fault they died. You could have done nothing!"

Harry had put his hands over his ears to reduce his agony. Hermione, who had risen and pacing while speaking, went over to him and removed his hands from his ears. She lifted his chin. His eyes were closed.

"Look at me, Harry," she said quietly.

He slowly opened his eyes and looked at her. "Promise me you won't harm yourself," she said.

"I can't promise, Hermione, but I'll try my best."

"Ok, then. Let's check out the mirror."

They went up to the dormitory. Harry stood in front of the mirror. He saw his parents waving back as usual. But Sirius was with them. And Hermione was standing next to himself, glowing with pride and happiness. He stepped back. "Your turn," he said.

Hermione stood in front of the mirror, transfixed. Then she stepped back. "What did you see?" Harry asked her.

"I saw Ron and myself sitting together. You were also there," she blushed.

Harry insides contracted. He felt as if he'd been stabbed. The mirror cracked horizontally with a loud sound. Hermione stared at his reaction, as realisation suddenly hit her...

She knelt next to Harry, who was down on his knees, one arm supporting his body. She put out her hand to help him, but he waved her away.

"Go, just go," he said.

"Why didn't you tell me before?" she asked quietly.

Harry laughed bitterly. "What difference does it make?"

"Loads."

"But you like Ron."

"I never said that. I just said that I saw us together. I thought the feeling was only on my side, so I hesitated to tell you the real picture. I'm sorry for that. I'll show you the picture I saw," she said softly and touched his forehead with a cool finger. He immediately saw the image, a balloon of happiness blowing up inside him.

"You've got fever," Hermione said.

"Doesn't matter."

"Matters to me," she pulled out her wand and did something. Harry immediately felt better.

"I love you, Hermione."

"Me too, Harry, me too."