Harry was visited by three Death Eaters a day for a triple Cruciatus Curse. It hurt like hell and Harry wasn't sure if he could stand anymore. He bore with it, thinking of Hermione and Arabella, trying to overcome the pain. He wasn't sure if he was still alive sometimes. Blood covered his cell, making it smell and taste like metal. He was let out a few times, however, to use the bathroom, which was strange that they would let him do that.
He wondered if Remus and Tonks were coming to get him. He hoped they knew where he was being held. He had a mission to complete. Even if he had to die in the process. He would do it because he loved the Wizarding World. It was his world. And Voldemort could not ruin it.
Something kept striking his mind as he lay in his cell. Before he blacked out for the first time. He had heard his daughter's voice yelling out to him. He wondered why he could hear it, or maybe he was just hearing things his mind wanted him to hear.
But it sounded so real. It was like she knew he was in trouble.
Arabella continued to have strange dreams about her Daddy being attacked and beaten. They came at random. She never told her Mummy in fear of worrying her more. She continued to play the piano. Hermione had given her a baby piano for her to practice on. It was pink and looked just like the black grand piano. She put it in the piano room, so she could practice with her.
Arabella loved to play pieces with her Mummy. Once Arabella got a little faster, they would do a duet of "Heart and Soul", since she recently learned how to play it.
Playing piano was her second to favorite things to do, behind learning how to read. Nothing could surpass books. She was slowly learning to read, as well. She could read the first page of The Velveteen Rabbit.
Hermione was so proud of her daughter learning to read and write. She, however, did notice Arabella's sleepy eyes every morning, signaling that she didn't get much sleep the night before. She was getting a little worried. She knew she was having nightmares. Scary nightmares, it seemed to be. Soon, she could see that the nightmares would change her moods. Instead of being the happy little girl who was always full of energy, she was tired, depressed, scared, and worried all the time.
Arabella did her best not to scream out in her nightmares to wake up Hermione. She loved her too much to be doing that.
Hermione always tried to get her to talk about it. But she would just shake her head and look away. She wanted her daughter back. She wanted her happy again. It saddened her to see her like this.
"Arabella?" she tried one day. The little girl was sitting on her bed staring into space. She was slightly rocking back and forth, as if she needed someone to hold her and soothe her. Hermione did just that. She gathered her in her arms. "Arabella, baby...please, tell me what's wrong." A tear leaked out of her eye, rolling down and hitting Arabella's forehead. She paid it no mind, though.
"I-I keep having these nightmares, Mummy. Scary nightmares," she said finally.
"What are they about?" Hermione stroked her hair back and kissed her forehead.
"D-Daddy. He's always hurt. He's struggling. He's weak. He's beaten by men in dark cloaks," she replied shaking a bit. "I'm scared for him, Mummy. He's in danger."
"Shh, it's okay. Someone will come for Daddy, I promise," she began to sob in grief of her love in danger.
Harry woke up in his cell as he heard noises outside the door. There was struggling, grunts, thuds and spells being shouted. Then the door opened and he heard someone rushing down the stairs.
But there was no one there.
He was confused. "Where are you?" he asked weakly.
Then the two faces he most desperately wanted to see appeared.
"Remus? Tonks?" They had been hidden under two invisibility cloaks.
"Harry..." they whispered in shock of seeing the boy in his current state.
"What have they done to you?" Tonks whispered. Remus walked to him and helped him up. Harry groaned in pain.
"Don't worry, Harry, we're going to get you out of here." The werewolf hoisted him up onto his shoulders and they ran out of the room and away. Far away.
No one followed. No one followed because no one saw. They were that fast.
And Harry felt free again. He greedily sucked in fresh air, loving the taste of it. He felt happy, even for just a moment. And then, he saw darkness again.
But it did not bring pain.
"Daddy's safe," Arabella whispered to herself smiling.
Harry recovered from his injuries quickly thanks to Tonks. And he was ready to get back to work. He smiled when Remus told him they had destroyed Ravenclaw's diadem.
"All that's left is Nagini and...me."
"Harry, we're not going to kill you. You won't die anyway. We can't kill you. Only Voldemort can," Remus said.
"Exactly, once we kill Nagini, he has to kill me and then he'll mortal again. But I'll be gone and no one can kill him but me," he said sadly.
They didn't say anything, fearful of starting an argument with him.
"It's just...Nagini is always around him. I don't know if we'll have a chance to destroy her." Remus and Tonks thought about this. What could they do to distract Nagini or Voldemort? What could they do to get the snake alone?
No one could come up with an answer. So they just went to bed.
Harry lay awake in his cot. Why could he hear Arabella in his mind? Was he imagining things?
"Daddy...Daddy..."
"Yes, Arabella, Daddy hears you," he whispered giving him a sense of deja vu. When they used to talk with their minds. Their bond.
The main question was: why was he hearing her voice in his head?
Was it to sadden him? To make desperate for them? To tempt him to go back and give up, waiting for death to take them? And then soon him?
He wanted so badly to be with them. But to be with them, he had to finish it. He had to finish what he started.
Arabella smiled the next day, happy as a button. She ran to her mother's room waking her up by launching herself onto the bed giggling. Hermione woke up and smiled, hearing her daughter's happy tone. She took her in her arms and hugged her and kissed her head. "Mmmm...I've missed you," she said. What Arabella didn't know was that her comment had two meanings.
"What's with the mood swing, Arabella?"
"Daddy's safe. He's fine," she said simply.
"Okay, explain this to me again."
"I can see sort of like visions of Daddy. It's like when I used to 'talk' to Daddy when I was in your tummy," she explained.
Hermione bit her lip, processing it all in. "I'm so sorry you have to go through with that. No child should see that type of torture," she said sadly running her hand in her daughter's hair.
"I don't really care. It doesn't bother me anymore. It's not as scary as it used to be," she replied truthfully.
Hermione nodded. "You hungry?" She nodded vigorously and they went downstairs to eat breakfast.
It was March. The snow was beginning to melt and Hermione and Arabella went to out to the backyard a lot to play in the snow before it all went away. They were, of course, still being guarded. Arabella liked to throw snowballs at the guards, her Maurader side coming out a bit. They didn't mind. It was harmless child's play. They would just smile down at her.
'Looks like she can charm just about anyone,' Hermione thought as she saw the guards grinning at her.
They threw snowballs at each other, made snow angels, and made a snowman. It was a great relief for Arabella since the nightmares she had been having. She felt at peace with her mother.
They had a blast playing in the snow, getting covered in the white, frozen rain. When Arabella decided it was getting too cold, she said, "Come on, Mummy. It's cold." They went inside and stripped off their wet clothes. Hermione gave the little girl a bath and dressed her in warm clothes. Torry watched her while she went shower herself. Then they cuddled up in front of the fire, with hot chocolate. Of course, Hermione had a mug, while the two year old had it served to her in a bottle.
Hermione rubbed Arabella's arms, trying to warm her up. She was at peace. Nothing could touch her.
"You warm now?" Hermione asked her. She nodded and Hermione just held her tight.
"Mummy?"
"Yeah?"
"What do you think heaven is like?" she asked curiously.
Hermione didn't know what to answer to that. What didshe think heaven was like? "Books, of course. Loads of them. And chocolate. And when it's cold, you feel warm automatically. And when it's hot, you feel cooled off. What do you think it's like, baby girl?"
"Everything you described when you lured me to sleep when I was sick. That's my heaven. Sunflowers, bunnies, you and Daddy, wheat, lamb, and butterflies," she said with a smile. "Why are people afraid of dying, but they want to go to heaven? Why are people afraid of going to something like this?" she asked curiously.
Hermione thought about this. Her daughter thought of the most amazing things. And it made sense. Perfect sense.
"I dunno. Why are they?" she asked rhetorically.
"People shouldn't be afraid of dying. It leads them into a beautiful place where no one can touch them. It's everything they imagined it would be and more. I'm not afraid of dying, although I don't want to die yet," she said intelligently.
Hermione held her tighter. "And I'm not going to let you die yet." She kissed her head. "I love you too much."
"I love you too much, too, Mummy," she replied.
"You're amazing, you know that?" Hermione told her with a smile.
"Yes, I know, you tell me all the time," she said smiling back.
Harry, Remus, and Tonks were finished with finding the Horcruxes. The end was near. They were done with searching for them. Now all they needed to destroy was Nagini and they most certainly were not going to go after her. They were going to let her come to them. So they retreated to Hogwarts and took refuge with McGonagall. Only several hundred students were there at Hogwarts. Most of the parents didn't want to send their child back when Dumbledore was now dead. Now Voldemort had nothing to fear.
They stayed in the Aphrodite Common Room, Harry and Hermione's room for two years at Hogwarts. Harry would pace.
And pace.
And pace.
Remus was afraid he was going to walk a hole in the floor. But Harry didn't care. He had to think of battle plans. Neville, Luna, and Hagrid were with them, helping. "I'm not sure how this is going to work. We don't even know how long it's going to be. We don't even know if he's coming. And we most sure don't know if he knows we're here. It could be hours before he finds out we're here. Or days. Or months. Or even years," Harry said as he stopped pacing and looked at them.
He sighed and closed his eyes. WWHD? What Would Hermione Do? Harry felt as if Hermione was his Jesus. She was always guiding him. But he still had no idea of what to do.
"I can round up some of the Gryffindors," Neville said. "Fourteen and older to fight. They should be old enough."
Luna agreed. "Me, too with Ravenclaws. And I have a friend in Hufflepuff. I'm sure I can get her to get the ones from her House."
Harry nodded smiling at their wonderful idea.
"We'll contact some of the Aurors. But we'll make sure we still have the ones at the Grangers and at the Manor to keep them safe," said Remus.
"An' I'll get in touch wit' some o' me cousins on me mum's side. Th' giants," Hagrid said proudly.
Harry grinned. Giants were perfect. This was perfect. He was glad to have some friends on his side. "What are we to do with the First, Second, and Third years?" Tonks asked.
Harry looked off into the distance. "Room of Requirement. Those who don't want to go onto the battlefield will guard them."
Now they had a plan.
It was the beginning of May, and Hermione had a tingling feeling in her. She felt as if the end was coming soon. Arabella's visions were becoming less frequent and they soon stopped altogether, so they now had no information about the war. The guards were still there, making Hermione still feel safe. And also wondering if they had children and wives that missed them.
She had asked them this one day when she and Kit brought them something to eat.
"I lost my wife and children to Voldemort. I won't let the same happen to young Harry," one named Price said. Hermione smiled.
"My wife is at home with my boy John. He's three and wants to be a Quidditch player," another named Rogers said.
"No wife or kids," Andrews said.
"My family's in America, safe and sound," Volley said after him.
Last was Lynch, "My wife, son, and daughter are in a safehouse, tucked away."
Hermione felt bad for them. They missed their family. She wanted to relieve them of their services. "Go home."
They looked at her like she was mad. "What?!"
"Go home, be with your families. I feel horrible that you have to watch over me and Arabella," she said sadly.
"Ma'am, as much as we miss our families, we can't. We need to stay here and protect you and the little one. You're Harry Potter's family. You're the reason we're going to win. He's going to win because of the both of you. If he knew you were dead, he wouldn't want to go on. Believe me, I know. I felt like that when he killed my wife, my two sons, and my daughter. But I sucked it up and told myself to not let that happen to anyone else. This is going to be Voldemort's last and final walk. I know it," Price said defiantly.
Hermione smiled and nodded. "I'm sorry for all of you. I know what it feels like to not be with the one you love for a while. Or not to have someone to love." She looked at Andrews. "Thank you so much for watching over us."
"You're welcome, ma'am," they said and she and Kit went back inside.
Hermione was getting a little emotional. She went to Arabella, who was playing with Crookshanks in the living room, being watched over by Torry. Torry left as she saw her. The young mother knelt down to her daughter and stroked her cheek. Arabella looked up at her and smiled. "What's wrong, Mummy?" she asked curiously as she saw her wet eyes.
"I just...can't imagine a life without you. Sometimes I think about if you hadn't been born and it sickens me, Arabella. I don't want to think about it. You are here and I can't imagine if you were gone," she said and gently kissed her forehead, lingering for a few more seconds than planned.
Arabella smiled at her words. "Don't worry, Mummy. I'm not going anywhere." They chuckled and played with the cat happy they were alive.
That night after the two ate dinner, they popped in a movie and watched it. Throughout the movie, the tingling Hermione was feeling began to get more noticeable to herself. The movie was over and Hermione brought Arabella to bed. She was still awake.
When they got into the nursery, they heard shouting outside, "Death Eaters!" she heard one of the Aurors yell.
"We must get mother and child out!" Lynch yelled.
Hermione gasped and held Arabella tightly in her arms. She panted frantically. In her right hand was her wand, so she was armed. Motherly instincts taking over, she looked around for a place to hide Arabella, and she chose the closet. She opened the white door. It was one of those doors that had cracks in between the panels and you can see out of it and into it. But it was too dark in the closet and they wouldn't see her.
Arabella was getting scared at her mother's nervousness. "Mummy?" she asked.
Hermione set her down on the floor in the closet, knelt down in front of her, putting her hands on the sides of her cheeks. "Listen to Mummy, Arabella, you need to stay in here, okay? Mummy is going to be right outside. I'm going to keep you safe. Don't worry. And listen, baby girl, no matter what you hear, do not come out of this room, okay?"
A tear dropped down Arabella's face. She wanted to disobey her, just this once. She needed to stay close to her Mummy. She needed to. She nodded anyway. Hermione kissed her forehead. "I love you, Arabella. Never forget that." Her mother was crying as well.
"I love you, too, Mummy."
Hearing someone coming up the stairs, she closed the door and began to walk out of the room, but she was stopped by a Death Eater.
From her safe spot, Arabella watched through the cracks in the door, the man in the black cloak from her dream.
"Well, well, well, Harry Potter's whore." Arabella watched as her mother pointed her wand at him. "And where's your bastard child?" Hermione got angry at him calling her child a "bastard". "Stupefy!" she yelled but he blocked it.
"Silly Mudblood, you can't curse the broad side of a barn," he laughed evilly and yelled, "Stupefy!" Hermione screamed as she twisted almost one hundred eighty degrees. She fell on the ground on her right side, unconscious. Arabella widened her eyes at her mother on the ground. "Mummy," she whispered. Then she looked at the Death Eater with a glare. Her glare made his look like he was laughing.
Seeing him point his wand at her again, the two year old disobeyed her mother's orders and opened the door. She threw herself onto her mother's side, flipping her on her back and shileded her the best she could. "NO!" she cried as a jet of green light came towards her and her mother.
There was a white light surrounding the both of them and the green spell hit the light, bounced off of them, and hit the Death Eater, making him scream, and throwing him into the wall, dead.
Arabella looked up and saw him on the ground. She smiled and looked back at her mother. "Mummy...?" she called softly. She touched her cheek tenderly. "Mummy, wake up." She kissed her mother's forehead. Hermione opened her eyes and groaned. Arabella smiled. Hermione looked at her, happy to see her okay, but a little miffed she didn't listen to her.
"Arabella, I thought I told you to stay in the closet," she said as sternly as she could.
The little girl looked down ashamed. "I-I saved you, Mummy. I saved you. He was going to hurt you, but I stopped him. Look." She pointed to the body on the other side of the room. Hermione looked at it and smiled back at her daughter. "Thank you, Arabella."
"I'm not going to promise I won't do it again. Because you said, I was going to be safe in you arms. But, Mummy, you're going to be safe in mine, too." Hermione sobbed at her words and hugged her tightly.
"I love you, Mummy."
"I love you, too, sweetheart."
"I promise, Mummy, I'll only break the rules for you."
Hermione smiled and rubbed her daughter's back. "Thank you."
Suddenly they heard footsteps running down the hall. They looked at the doorway and saw Lynch panting. "Oh, good, you two are okay. We held them off. They're all dead, but one. One came up here we saw. We don't know where he is," he said.
Hermione sat up and pointed to the Death Eater in the corner. "Is that him?"
He looked and nodded. "Yes, that's him. Nice work, ma'am," he nodded to Hermione.
"Actually, Arabella took him down. She protected me," Hermione protested standing up and picking her daughter up into her arms, holding her close.
"I ran out of the closet and threw myself over Mummy and he threw a green light at us. But a white light absorbed it up," Arabella explained to him.
Hermione and Lynch looked at her with widened eyes. "Why are you looking at me like that?" she asked them.
"You...are the second person to survive the Killing Curse," Lynch said to her.
"Oh, who was the first?" she asked.
"Your Daddy," Hermione replied smiling. And Arabella smiled back.
"Come on, we're going to get you to a safehouse. Your parents were portkeyed there already. They just gave us the news," Lynch said leading them out of there.
Arabella smiled. She fulfilled another part of her purpose. She saved her mother. She hugged her close and never wanted to let go. She wasn't scared of being killed. She was scared that her loved ones would be the one to go.
The white light she conjured accidentally was from her love for her mother. To protect her.
To keep her safe.
In her arms.
TBC...
Well, there's ch. 15.
The part where Lynch yells out to the rest of the Aurors when the Death Eaters, "We must get mother and child out!" was the inspiration for this story, believe it or not. Haha. I basically heard that in my mind one day several months ago, maybe even a year, and I knew I had to write about it. It was more of the idea that struck me more than the inspiration. I got the inspiration from other things. But basically this story was started with that quote that I heard in my mind one day.
The part where Arabella and Hermione talk about heaven, I kinda got the inspiration for that from The Lovely Bones, which I saw yesterday and it is AWESOME! In the movie, you see her version of heaven and so I decided to write a scene about it. And the line where she says, "Why are people afraid to die, but they want to go to heaven?" is so true. We shouldn't be afraid to die, we should embrace it, because we get sent to a wonderful place where there's no worry.