Curse of the Dark

Ever since summer began, Harry had been bored. He had been confined inside doing chores for the Dursley's and he had had almost no contact with anyone in the wizarding world, save for the few owls he received from Ron and Hermione. Even these were brief and made him feel even worse:

Harry - I'm having the best time here in Ireland. The view is beautiful and it gives me plenty of time to do my homework. Have you started yours yet? You shouldn't procrastinate, especially not in potions. You know that. See you soon. - Hermione

Harry - Guess what? Charlie's here and so is Bill! They both Apparated here and are going to stay for maybe a month. We pulled the biggest trick on Percy. First Fred and George put some Fillibuster Fireworks in his slippers and they blew up in the bathroom when he got out of the shower. Then Bill took all his paperwork and switched it with a list of jokes that Fred and George made up. We've been doing things like that for two weeks now. We're all grounded for the rest of the summer but...hang on. Got to go...there was an explosion downstairs. Probably Fred and George trying a new trick out on Percy. I think I see scales in the kitchen. They haven't stopped since some complete fool gave them money for a joke shop. Git didn't know what they were getting in to. By the way, have you finished Potions yet? I've tried a few but you know how that works. I've already ruined 6 pieces of furniture. Worse than Neville. Bye. - Ron

Harry had, in fact, started some of his homework and found it incredibly boring, though it gave him some attachment to magic. He tried distracting himself in textbooks, but it wasn't the same as when Hermione did it. He usually lost interest inside of a few minutes and later couldn't tell whether he had been reading about colonies of centaurs or charms for drying wet socks. He spent most of his time daydreaming and having fantasies that included Cho Chang, his crush (not those kinds). He imagined times where it turned out that she was moving in next door and they would hang out for the rest of the summer and become best friends like he was with Ron and Hermione but maybe a bit more. After a week or so of this, though, he grew bored and instead tried to imagine what his not-so-imaginary best friends were doing at that particular moment.

He was staring out the window one day thinking about nothing in particular when a furious screech came from downstairs and a cackle after it. Harry jumped up immediately, suspecting the worst (Voldemort?) when Dudley came waddling in to his room, a victorious fist closed around some parchment. His eyes gleamed in delight.

"You're going to get it now! Stupid owl almost killed us and you got a letter from your girlfriend." Dudley stood there, facing Harry across the room who hadn't moved in relief that it was only a letter. "Okay if I read your letter?" He put on a very girlish voice and started mimicking the letter. "Dear Harry..."

"Give it here Dudley," said Harry, strongly reminded of Malfoy.

"What if I don't want to? I think I might just rip it up and leave it in the trash for you to find. But first let's see what your girlfriend has to say. A mushy love note, perhaps?" He began to look down at the page.

"I said give it here. Now." Harry began to slowly advance forward, which had a bit of a different effect than it did when he was 11. Dudley looked up at Harry uncertainly. He had grown taller and through chores and Quidditch practice had become quite...well...buff.

Dudley, suddenly intimidated started to rip the letter in half. "Ha," he said satisfied. With an odd sort of whooshing sound, the letter repaired itself, and Harry, looking furious began to again advance on Dudley. Dudley looked up, terrified, knowing that had been done by Harry who only did telepathic magic when he was provoked. He tried to run, but his legs seem stiff. With a sudden crash that made them both jump in surprise, the hall lamp exploded and flew at Dudley's head. Dudley screamed and with a last look at Harry, ran out of the room.

Harry sighed and leaned back against the wall next to the door. He didn't know why, but every time someone mentioned Hermione in a way that wasn't friendly-like, he lost it and things began exploding. Sighing, he took a deep, calming breath and the shards of lamp flew back together. Picking up the letter, he opened it. It was in fact from Hermione:

Hey Harry - You'll never believe who I ran in to here - Cho! She's been vacationing here, trying to cope with the loss of Cedric. But guess what? I think she likes you. You should talk to her. Hedwig'll find her. So how's life at the Dursley's? I know you hate it, but hang on okay? It will be over in just a little while. Ron said he owled Professor Dumbledore and that he said you could come for the last week of break to Ron's house. I'm going to be there and so are all the Weasley brothers. Ron says they're torturing Percy and guess what else? Some stupid idiot gave Fred and George a thousand galleons to start a joke shop. I hope to see you soon. Miss you. - Hermione

Harry smiled softly to himself before Aunt Petunia came running in brandishing a mop and grounded him for two weeks. He didn't mind. It couldn't be anything worse than what he was doing already.

While he was mopping the floors, he had a lot of time to think. He did miss Hermione and no, he didn't really want to write Cho. He still felt guilty about Cedric and he didn't want to seem desperate. Hermione though. She was another story. He missed her so much. For his birthday, she had sent him a gift certificate to Quality Quidditch Supplies, his favorite store in the whole world. As he filled his punishment, he began to think about her more and more. She was so nice, always helping him with homework and helping him out whenever he was put in mortal peril. Of course Ron was there, but he wasn't thinking about Ron at the moment - which was good because he began to sort of like Hermione. Could it be? Harry shook his head. This was Hermione, not a girl he goggled over. What about Cho? But the more he thought about Cho, the less he liked her, and the more he liked Hermione. He was thinking about this predicament one day, while he was lying on his bead, waiting for supper, looking at the bright blue, cloudless sky when he sat bolt upright. Until then, he hadn't really considered Hermione as a girlfriend. She was just Hermione. But it hit him, just at that moment with the force of a freight train, worse than even Rita Skeeter could. I like Hermione. Was that even possible? He got out parchment and a quill and wrote:

Dear Hermione - I was thinking about what you said about writing Cho, but I think I'm over her. I sent her a letter at the beginning of summer though, to tell her sorry about Cedric. But I don't really like her like that anymore. I have a crush on someone else. I think I'm in love with you Hermione. Harry stopped and looked over the letter, feeling incredibly stupid and at the same time, incredibly relieved. He signed his name and called Hedwig over. He went to find a bit of string to tie the parchment with when there was a flash and a loud crack of thunder. It began pouring all of a sudden and Harry decided to wait until the storm was over to send the letter. Turning back to it, he found that there was a leak directly above his desk and was steadily dripping on to the letter, strangely enough on the exact word love. Odd, he thought, but couldn't bring himself to write another letter. He felt like an idiot for even thinking of being so bold, yet he was sort of hoping that it had worked out anyway. He was caught in conflict for just a moment when Aunt Petunia called for him to come to dinner. Harry looked outside and with a start, saw that it was bright blue again, with just a hint of a cloud overhead and the beginnings of a sunset off in the distance.

After that, the weeks flew by relatively quickly and he was soon off to the Weasley's; the Dursley's were more than happy to get rid of him. Upon arrival, he was greeted warmly by all nine of the Weasleys and, to his joy, by Hermione. She was taller as well, though only came up to about his eyes. Her hair was slicked back like it had been at the Yule Ball, though now it looked more natural. She had never been large, but she had lost all of her childhood baby fat and was slim with a beautiful figure. At his first sight of her, he gave out an audible gasp and she looked at him quizzically for a moment before turning back to the jubilant conversation. Ron was apologizing for not writing; he had been grounded even from writing letters for turning Percy in to a miniature, non-fire breathing dragon, though he insisted he had nothing to do with it. Harry tried to talk to Hermione, but couldn't tell her what he wanted to with all the Weasley's around.

Finally, on the last day of his stay, he got Hermione by herself. Ron was engaged in a fierce chess match with his father, the twins were plotting, Charlie, Bill, and Percy had all Apparated home, home, and work, respectively. Ginny was in her room and Mrs. Weasley was "cooking" dinner. They both walked in to the large yard and began strolling around it, Hermione in a friendly silence, Harry just nervous.

"Um...Hermione?"

"Harry?"

"There's something I want to talk to you about."

"Me too, but you first."

"Alright. See, over the summer, I had a lot of time to think and I decided that...LOOK OUT!" He pulled her down just as a fluffy, misshapen object flew, or rather fell, over their heads. It landed with a thump just a few inches from them. Errol. His scream attracted the whole lot of Weasley's and their walk was soon not-so-alone anymore. Harry sighed. He didn't get any other chances to talk to her alone in the midst of Diagon Alley, nor on the train, nor even in the Great Hall or the Common Room.

The next morning was cool and bright again. Harry had Divination first with Ron. He sat through an hour of being told he was in mortal peril, then an hour of being put in mortal peril during Potions, and finally an hour of learning how to get out of mortal peril in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Their new teacher was a short, plump witch in her 50's named Mrs. Merle who wore too many makeup charms and sunk Harry in to a deep, bored stupor he didn't believe possible. After lunch, he had one class (Charms) and then he traipsed back up to the Common Room. Hermione, of course, having more classes than he wasn't around yet. He tried to do his homework, but couldn't concentrate. Afterwards, he had Quidditch practice on a schedule that had been set up by Wood two years earlier before he left.

Walking on to the Quidditch pitch, he let the light breeze blow his bangs off his forehead. Mounting his broom, he flew straight up and did some speed riding back and forth, while waiting for his other team members.

"Hey, Harry!" called a voice. "Come on down." Harry looked down and saw Katie and the twins walking on to the field. Harry flew down and landed neatly on the grass, holding his broomstick.

Katie grinned. "Angelina and Alicia should be here in a minute. They had a bit of...er...last minute gossip to catch up on." As she said this, the two girls came on to the field, giggling. Harry rolled his eyes. That was one of the things he liked about Hermione. She didn't giggle, nor did she gossip. He gave a small lurch as he remembered her, and decided to talk to her right after practice. Katie was talking though, and his mind gradually became focused on his team again.

"We need a new captain," she was saying, "and a new Chaser. But, personally, I think Potter here would be a fine Captain."

Harry choked. "Me?! I'm not near as good as Wood was. Or as organized. And..."

Angelina cut him off. "I second that. You'd be fine."

"Fine?" joked Fred, mock incredulously. "He'd be great. Besides, if he's Captain, I won't have to be, because you know I would be the next logical choice." He reached out and tousled Harry's hair, which could only have made it neater.

Harry spluttered incoherently, trying to think of something to say.

"It's alright. Think about it. But now we need to get some practice," said Alicia.

"Right," said George. "And as our new captain, you get to set up try-outs for a new Chaser. Now hurry up. My beating club is itching to beat something and right now the closest thing is Fred's head." He swung playfully at Fred's head who dodged and took off. They chased each other around the pitch for a moment before landing again.

"Forgot," started Fred.

"We don't...um...," said George, in a mock embarrassed tone.

"We don't have any new formations yet," finished Fred. "Though we could just try some of the old fashioned stuff or, you know, professional Quidditch moves."

Harry rolled his eyes. "Right. And I'm the best one to teach you pro moves because I've already had an offer from the Chudley Cannons," he said sarcastically before gasping in shock. He hadn't meant to tell anyone that. But over the summer he had gotten an offer to be their new Seeker as soon as he finished school.

The group stared at him for a moment before Fred opened his mouth uncertainly. "Did you?"

Harry blushed. "I...erm...," he tried. He didn't want to lie to his team, yet didn't want to tell the truth either. He looked at the grass and muttered something unintelligible. A call from the stands broke the silence.

"Hey Harry! All right there?" It was Colin Creevey. But the tension was broken and Harry waved gratefully back at him before taking off.

"Come on," he called to his stunned team. "Practice formation of the Chasers #3." With silent nods, they lifted off and followed him in to the air. Harry watched the field as they executed an almost perfect run. Then they insisted upon putting him through his paces. After a wonderful copy off of a Wronski Feint, Harry soared back up above the others, looking around in bewilderment at the clapping coming from his teammates, Colin, and...and HERMIONE! Harry was so surprised he nearly fell off his broom. She caught his eye and waved to him. He could only move his hand back and forth slowly feeling like a total idiot. For the rest of practice he couldn't even pay attention to the rest of the team; he did everything in a robot-like daze. It suited the team just fine though, and they cheered him on, Hermione included.

Afterwards, he landed on the ground as Hermione came walking towards him slowly. There was a light breeze that billowed out her hair and her cloak, making her look like some dream fantasy. His heart felt caught in his throat and when she finally made her way towards him, he couldn't think of a single thing to say, nor did he think he could have said anything if his mind could've been formed in to comprehensible thoughts.

She smiled up at him. "Great practice, Harry."

He swallowed hard and managed to utter a small, "thanks".

"You okay?"

"Yeah, I think so." But she could tell by his furrowed brow that this wasn't the case. She glared at him while he looked at her. She was beautiful to him, even in her anger. "Actually, no," he started. "Can we talk?" The rest of the team was already at the castle as they trekked slowly up the wide lawn, the lake sparkling in the bright sunlight throwing brilliant shimmers over everything.

Harry took a deep breath and tried to be discreet, though gave it up after a moment because it was useless. "Hermione. I've decided that I should just tell you and get it over with."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "Harry...are you gay?"

He laughed nervously. "No, not at all," he quickly assured her. "I've decided that I'm...AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" He shrieked as something jumped on his back, forcing him to the ground. If it's that git Malfoy, he thought, I am going to flat out kill him. But by Hermione's shrieks, he guessed it was something worse. He managed to flip himself over and kick away whatever was on him. Sitting up, he came face to face with a huge werewolf. It had its fangs bared and didn't look like it had dropped by to have tea. Harry gasped and tried to back away, but the animal kept advancing on him. With a mighty snarl, it sunk its overly large canines deep in to his arm. Harry's head began to swim as it let ago. It didn't seem to want to kill him. Harry tried to keep this in mind, but seemed incapable of processing complex thought. Slowly his vision began to clear, just in time to see the werewolf turn and pounce on Hermione. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for a split second as terror swept through him. Then with a shriek as horrible as its bite, the werewolf went flying as if it had been tossed by a charging rhino, though instead of only going a few feet, it flew clear over the Forbidden Forest and landed somewhere miles away.

Harry's vision was getting blurry again as he sat down hard on the ground. He hadn't even realized he'd been standing. Then he could make out a dark shape that seemed to catch his head before it hit the ground and a voice that sounded like Hermione's. "Harry, Harry, wake up. You were great. You saved me from that wolf. You know how you get when you're mad." He could tell she was trying to cheer him up and keep him awake, but it wasn't working. "I don't understand though. The full moon was two days ago. How could that be? But that's okay Harry. Just hang on. I'll get some help. Come on. Wake up." She patted him lightly on the cheek and as she did so, he felt a splattering of tears on his face from her. The strangest thing was that they seemed to glow for a moment, then explode, though not hard enough to hurt him.

Hermione was calling him, though. That was more important. He couldn't stand to hear her in pain and he tried to weakly smile before his body gave a great convulsion. "Hermione," his voice was hoarse. "I'm all right, just tired. I just needed to tell you that...I..."

"Harry, it's okay," she said, cutting him off. "You can tell me later. But I've got to get Dumbledore. Hang on. Look, here he comes now. He can sense your trouble."

Then Harry saw another dark shape bending over him and another voice asking quietly, "what happened?" Dumbledore.

"It was a werewolf," Hermione explained shortly.

"A werewolf? During the day?"

"Will he be all right?"

They were talking to him and each other, but Harry couldn't make out what they were saying. He was trembling all over and pain was stabbing him everywhere. For a moment he thought it was the Cruciatus Curse but then something began to happen. There was a sound like a straining piece of metal and then a crash like glass breaking and both the dark shapes above him were thrown backwards. Harry felt his bones mold and melt and take new shapes and a prickling all over like he was growing fur. His fingers closed together to form huge paws and his nose lengthened to a long snout with which Harry was suddenly aware of a million smells; but he did not have time to ponder this as he felt a long bushy tail growing and he got to his feet. Except that there were four of them. His last thoughts as he took off were: I've received the bite. I'm turning in to a werewolf.

"HARRY," screamed a voice behind him. "COME BACK." Then softer, "please." But he heard it anyway with his extra sensitive wolf ears.

Dumbledore and Hermione stood silently as the last of the tail of Harry Potter disappeared in to the Forbidden Forest; before either of them could utter a spell. And he was gone.