Lily and Remus were curious about the memory they had acquired but stayed away upon Dumbledore's orders. They had delivered it and seen him place it amongst the various vials on the counter.
"Remus, I must ask you to not return this year", he said in the usual monotoned voice. This took Remus by a surprise, clearly, his mind went to his insecurities about being a werewolf.
Albus noticed that and quickly covered up, "the ministry has sent a letter, they want to send a representative of theirs as the new DADA teacher."
Remus relaxed a little and agreed. He already had a lot on his mind and he did not mind spending time at home with his newly engaged fiancé and assist in running Sirius' pub. He was rarely there and mostly had others working but Remus did not mind the idea of spending a little time in Hogsmeade.
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Almost never had there been changes in faculty during the middle of the year. However, everybody saw a new addition to the teachers sit between Snape.
Dumbledore presented her as the new Defence against Dark Arts teacher. Many heads turned around to whisper at the time, everybody wondering about Remus.
"Professor Lupin will not be joining us this semester as he intends to plan his wedding." While this announcement calmed some down, Hermione, Harry, and the twins were not convinced. None of them were informed of this change.
The headmaster caught Harry's eye and through an exchange of a few glances and unnoticeable nods, the message was conveyed that Harry would learn of this later.
Delores Umbridge, the name itself sounded like venom. The thoughts were confirmed when she interrupted Dumbledore. The disturbance shook everyone, she took a step forward to the podium and covered her evil with the words spoken in a honey-like tone.
Harry tuned it all out, why was a worker from the Ministry here? To spy on him and to look for Draco. He was sure of this. She took her seat soon and everybody proceeded with their dinner.
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Even though Harry knew about the situation with Remus he constantly tried connecting with his family. None of his letters got any reply.
All the letters were sent with a similar spell used for the Marauder's map. If it were to be opened by anyone without saying the incantation of 'I solemnly swear I am up to no good', the letter would insult the intruder.
He had not been seeing Draco and started giving huge gaps between his visits as the terror of Delores Umbridge increased.
He looked down at the scar on his hand 'I must not tell lies'. He had made the mistake of raising his voice against the corruption of the Ministry. He saw her smile all the time as she punished children. It started out with fifth years but recently he had encountered more than a couple of crying first years.
They were sitting in the library, while Draco was a few feet away he could not risk blowing the cover. Hermione was next to him and she covered the written scar with her hand. He looked at her and she gave him a smile.
"Let's take a walk Harry," she said and started making her way outside. She didn't give him a chance to resist nor did he want to.
They held hands and walked around the empty Quidditch field.
"We will get through it, I will be there with you at every step of the way", she said fixating her gaze at the place their hands form their bond.
"I know, I have tried coming up with something, anything I can say to stop you but I know I can't and I won't. Really, if it wasn't for you I would have died in the second year" he said keeping his gaze straight.
"Oh, you wouldn't have! You remember what I said to you before you went further to fight Quirell?"
"You told me I am a great wizard," said Harry, and Hermione nodded.
"I wish we could run away. All of us, we can get Draco a small hut full of mirrors seeing as he is always so pleased with his reflection. You and I can have a small cottage. Sirius and Remus can live beside us. We have two huts across our house for our parents. Instead, here I am, endangering everybody I love" he said.
"The storm will come Harry and we will be in just as much danger. Draco and I put our faith and love in you because of the person you are. I will stand by you, no matter what."
They stopped walking and Harry tightened his grip on her hand and she felt a pull. She spun around and he caught her, forming a grip on her waist. Their faces were inches away from each other.
"If anything were to happen to me Hermione, just know that I-"
"Nothing is happening to you Harry, I will protect you with my life." She said cutting her off.
She stopped him from saying what she wanted to say herself. She wanted to yell it out to the world, I love you Harry, all of me, every cell of mine is in love with you. She knew that he loves her too but saying it was too real.
She felt emerald eyes piercing into her own. There was a touch of desperation. "I know Harry", she said then gripped his hair, their foreheads touched and she muttered, "I do too."
Right at that moment, they were all consumed by each other. There was something innocent about it, standing in an open space with their forehead touchings.
Harry brought his lips down to hers. They both tightened their hands on each other. All the self-control he'd exerted over the past weeks went, like water crashing through a broken dam.
His hands flattened against her back, pressing her against him, and she was up on the tips of her toes, kissing him as fiercely as he was kissing her. He flicked his tongue along her lips, opening her mouth under his, and he tasted salt and sweet. She clung to him tightly, curling her hand in his hair and clenching his shirt with the other.
Soon they broke apart, still staring at each other and completely oblivious to the company they had.
Crabbe and Goyle under the instructions from all the death eaters were spying on Harry. Right now they had struck gold. They found out about Draco and had their suspicions confirmed about the couple.
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"Potter? He is with that Potter?" Lucius screamed, the young boys had sent copies of letters to him.
"Narcissa, thi-this is preposterous. What am I going to do? How will I show my face to anyone after they read this." The deep voice echoed around the Malfoy Manor.
While the dark lord resided in that house, he took occasional rounds to the Ministry. It was required for him to cast the Imperius Curse to get the allegiance of the officials.
"We say that Draco was cursed, Imperius curse", Lucius continued talking.
Narcissa sat on a chair nearby, her black gown touching the floor and her back completely straight. Relief had flooded through her when she realized that her son was still alive.
Draco being with Potter was both good and bad. She knew that if Harry deemed it important, the boy would do anything to save those he loves. She also knew that their Lord would stop at nothing to find her son if he has the slightest connection to Potter.
Lucius repeated his lie in his head so many times that now he believed it to be true. His son was cursed and it was Potter's fault, all of theirs. Not enraged for his son, but out of fear for himself he planned his vengeance.
The contents of the letter were soon common knowledge for all of the death eaters.
The dark lord was on his way to the Malfoy Manor. However, the element of surprise subdued his murderous rage. In front of him stood Lucius, Narcissa, and Bellatrix in front of 20 death eaters.
"Explain yourself. NOW!" shouted Voldemort.
"Imperius Curse, my lord, Draco had been behaving awkwardly for weeks. I believe that the Potters have targeted him" Lucius said, keeping his eyes on the ground.
"We are going to get revenge" squealed Bellatrix in her high-pitched voice.
This seemed to convince him, the surprise would be crucial for the plan to work and he had always disliked the fame the family got for escaping him. 'The family that lived' is what people would say.
Not anymore.
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Hermione was reading a book in the Gryffindor commonplace, Harry had his eyes shut as he laid on her lap. He was gazing at her as she tried to keep herself focused on the book.
Soon he drifted off to a peaceful sleep like he usually did with Hermione around.
This time there was no peace as he felt a familiar sensation again. Once again, the links between Voldemort and Harry was activated.
The surroundings were dark, it was the inside of the ministry except it was more enigmatic and gloomy. Hooting and cheerful cries were audible as soon he saw the dark lord. Lucius and Narcissa stood on one side. Then Tom Riddle was pointing his wand down.
The sight before him was heart-wrenching. He tried screaming but he couldn't hear himself. Lily, James, Sirius, and Remus were kneeling on the ground, their hands tied behind them and their mouths shut.
Their heads were bent down, the boy couldn't see their faces. As Lily lifted hers, he saw the green eyes he saw when he looked into the mirror. Soon a flash matching that color struck her down. He could hear his nerves exploding, his heartbreaking. Then every second without giving him a chance to recover, he was seeing those he loves strike down.
He heard the disgusting laughs around him every time the spell was muttered. He was sickened to his gut.
His screams were heard even outside the house's common room. Hermione had been trying to wake him up since she felt his sweat, with every scream she was more worried. Fred, George, and Ron made their way desperately screaming his name to wake him up.
He jerked up and took his surroundings in. He looked at Hermione, his vision blurred because of the tears in his eyes.
"He killed them. Voldemort killed them. Sirius and Remus are dead. My parents are dead. Mione he-he killed them all." he repeated the lines trying to believe them himself. It didn't seem real.
Fred and George emptied the entire room. They all sat around the fire. Ron on one side rubbing his back and Hermione on the other leaning her head on his shoulder. They all stared at the fire, the boy couldn't get the tears out.
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"Done. He thinks you all dead", said Voldemort looking at his newly captured prisoners in the eye. "Legilimency can work wonders if you put it to good use." He was proud and satisfied with his work as he left the room.
Leaving behind the 4 who were now believed to be dead but were still alive, with fear and sadness in their heart for the boy they love.