FicWad

The Battle of Dumbledore's army


A/N: (evil laugh) You guys really don't know what I have planned...do you? If you're confused, then just hang on to the story, things will reveal in time, don't worry...I do agree with reviewer JustAReader...I don't understand, if the prohecy says that one must kill the other, then why does that make Harry unkillable? or Voldemort unkillable? Well, maybe we are confused, but then again, I'm always confused :-) Hopefully someone can help me out. Anyway, enjoy the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or its other creations

Chapter I
Harry-less

"Hermione wake up! Gotta get ready for Hogwarts!"

"One more minute..." The brown haired girl groaned as she rolled over to face the wall. "One more minute..."

Ginny Weasley grinned as she pounced on Hermione and began to tickle her. Hermione shrieked loudly, but started to laugh as she began to tickle back, throwing a pillow at Ginny. "I'm awake! I'm awake!"

"No way!" Ginny grabbed Hermione's nightdress (which was really Ginny's) and wrestled it off, "Get dressed Hermione! I won again!"

Hermione tumbled out the bed in lengerie, laughing. They usually played like that, and even though it seemed a bit funny, it was they way they played sometimes. "Fine. Why'd you have to do it on a cold day?" She shivered as she stood up and reached for her clothes.

"Sorry," Ginny replied, also taking off her nightdress. "Forgot." She turned her attention to the door as a red-haired boy poked his head in.

"Ginny, could you knock it off? Pig's going..." the boy then widened his eyes at the two girls, frozen and staring. "Mad." He finished in a low voice. Hermione screamed as she grabbed the nearest blanket.

"RON! CAN'T YOU KNOCK?!" Ginny squealed, throwing her old school books at the door, covering herself with a light pink towel. "GET OUT!"

Hermione was staring at the door, face bright red. "That was embarassing."

"For me, it was," said Ginny, "You shouldn't be embarrassed."

"Why?" Hermione asked curiously as she pulled up her blue mini-skirt.

"You're his girlfriend. Didn't you see him staring at you?"

"Am not," Hermione said heatedly, blushing. Just the thought of Ron staring at her in her bra and panties made her blush even more.

"You should be! look at yourself!" Ginny picked up a medium sized mirror and held it in front of Hermione. Her hair was now curly all over, going no further than her shoulders. Her eyes were browner than ever, and had a light coat of lipgloss. "See?" Ginny said with a grin, "You got a new makeover, new clothes, everything! It took you seven years to do this!"

Hermione laughed. "Well, it was time for a change right?" She smiled at Ginny, who also had done a bit of growing up herself. She looked more mature, and her naturally red hair was in twists, all over. Not only that, but she had more girly clothes, which meant more pink in her wardrobe. "Look, I taught myself how to apply makeup by wand." She grabbed her wand from the dresser, waved it at her face and made dark-red mascara, a light coat of black eyeliner and a light red tinge of blush on her cheek.

"Wow!" Ginny was wide-eyed. "I want to learn!"

Hermione spent several minutes trying to teach Ginny. She kept getting funky colors and even a white mime mask on her face, but in the end it worked out for her outfit, which was a pink shirt and some jeans. A knock came to the door soon after. "Breakfast," Ron's voice rang out. Hermione and Ginny began to giggle at the nervousness of his tone. They walked downstairs to see the Weasley family sitting down, eating. Hermione and Ginny sat next to each other. Hermione happened to have been sitting right next to Ron, who glanced at her and blushed again.

"Don't you girls look sexy today?" Fred teased, raising an eyebrow at Hermione.

She giggled. "Thanks Fred." She began to apply food to her plate, her eyes glancing over to one empty seat. She sighed slightly. Harry Potter was the missing friend here. He had went away, to fight evil, leaving his friends behind, hoping to keep them safe. It had only been at least two weeks since his departure, but Hermione felt as if he had been gone for centuries. It had been hard for her, Ron and Ginny to keep this a secret from the Weasley family. They had said that Harry was to go collect his thoughts and travel for a while.

"I miss him too." Hermione glanced over at Ron, who was also gazing at the empty seat. Taking a glance to make sure the rest of the family were in deep conversation, Ron lowered his voice and said, "You think he's still alive?"

"I know he is," said Hermione just as quietly, "Probably still finding the Horucruxes. He's got what, three or four more to look for?"

"Somethin' like that," Ron replied. He looked a bit worried. "We can only hope he can do this by himself."

"He can," Ginny suddenly said to the two. "When Harry gets his mindset, you know how persistent he is. Remember Malfoy? he was telling us all year that he was up to something, then we finally believe him when the bad happens. He's good at Dark Arts, you know."

Hermione and Ron had to take her word for it, and their own personal beliefs. Harry finding Horucruxes, Dumbledore getting killed, Hogwarts being re-opened...The three were pretty sure nothing else would surprise them as much as last year, but they really have no idea what was in store for them this year.

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In relatively good spirits, Ron, Hermione and Ginny boarded the Hogwarts Express Harry-less, and the atmosphere without him was very stressful. No one was talking, joking, or playing as much as they were when Harry was around, but the three decided to get past that fact and try to be content with their year. Other people noticed that Harry wasn't with them, and they began to whisper as the three walked past. Last year's event still hasn't gotten the hush. Hermione sighed loudly as two first years began to whisper and point behind her back. She was getting a heck of a lot attention this year, because she had went all out with the makeup; she wasn't liking it much, but was glad Ron turned around to stop the majority of boys wolf-whistling her and staring at her. Ginny on the other hand, was smiling at boys and waving (but Ron had to grab her hand like a toddler and rush her away). Ginny eventually parted ways with the two to sit with Neville and Luna, and Hermione and Ron made it to the prefect carriage, recognizing two people instantly as they got there.

"Hey guys!" Hannah Abbott greeted them, waving. Ernie gave them a friendly wave from next to her. Hermione and Ron sat across from them, smiling back. Hermione looked around and saw Anthony Goldstein and Padma Patil representing Ravenclaw waving at them. Across from them was Pansy Parkinson, who looked red-eyed and out of it, sitting next to an unknown Slytherin boy, who had long dark hair and a pointed nose. He was staring blankly back at Hermione, who forced herself to look away.

"What the bloody hell is his problem?" Ron said quietly, looking at the boy with long, dark hair. Hermione shrugged; she didn't care to know because he was giving her the creeps. After getting their instructions from their Head boy and girl, Hermione and Ron were about to sit down but were stopped by Hannah and Padma.

"Come quick," Hannah whispered, and without another word the two opened the compartment door and disappeared out of it. Hermione glanced at Ron, who shrugged. She led the way out, following the two closely, and came to a stop inside a compartment that made her gasp. It was full of the old D.A members, a group Harry had made two years ago. Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Susan Bones and Justin Finch-Fletchley and Ginny all smiled at the two.

"Where's Harry?" Luna asked them. She was looking at an upside down issue of the Quibbler, her shark earrings with traces of shark blood shining dryly in the sun. Hermione and Ron met's Ginny's eyes nervously.

"We're pretty sure what happened," Susan said after the long awkward silence, "I've had a tugging feeling since summer break. He went to go hunt after You-Know-Who? Better yet, those Horucruxes?"

Hermione's jaw dropped. "How'd you know about..."

"Gotta thank the Prophet," Ernie told her proudly. "They were sly in mentioning it in the article, sliding the word in and acting like no one would look it up. But I decided to do a little research on it, owl-posted Susan..."

"Then everyone in the D.A, well, almost everyone, managed to know," Susan finished, smiling.

"Hey, we promised with Harry not to tell," Ron told them. "Don't say we told you."

"Done," Susan agreed. She looked around, as if checking for eavesdroppers, and lowered her voice. "Do you two know anything about what You-Know-Who Horucruxes are?"

Hermione and Ronsank into open seats and, with the aid of Ginny, began to inform them of the information concerning the Horucruxes.

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As soon as the Hogwarts Express rolled to a stop, A chill came across Hermione's arms and around her shoulders as she gazed up at Hogwarts, and a panging feeling shot through her chest. She missed Harry very much; she could still feel the kiss he gave her just a while ago. Was he dead? Did he find the Horucruxes? Did he kill Voldemort yet? Questions swarmed around in her head, none that she knew the answers to. She hoped he was safe, so that she could go running back into his arms again.

"Hermione?"

Hermione snapped from her thoughts and saw that Ron looking at her worriedly from across, Ginny also. The others had disappeared. "Yes, Ron?"

"Time to go," He said, still staring at her. "Are you okay?"

"Yes," Hermione lied, standing up. "I'm fine." She felt water come to her eyes and as she bent down to get her bags, she quickly wiped them away.

"I'll see you two at Hogwarts," Ginny said with a sad smile. She rubbed Hermione briefly on the back before exiting. Hermione stood back up and turned, only to bump straight into Ron. She looked up at his apathetic face before bursting into tears and grabbing his shirt for comfort. Ron embraced her back, eyes starting to water.

"I miss him Ron," She sobbed into his shirt, "I miss him so much. I wish he was here."

"Me two, Hermione," Ron whispered to her, stroking her hair. His tears were dangerously close to pouring out. "Me too. But you know what? Harry wouldn't stand to see us like this, crying over him. We should be happy. He's going to decide the fate of the world, even though we should've went with him. We have to trust him. Crying won't bring him back, it would just make us miss him even more."

Hermione's tears eventually hauled to a stop. She looked up when they did. Ron's face melted into a smile. Hermione smiled back, and the two stared at each other, just as they felt a rumble beneath their feet. Laughing, the two quickly gathered their stuff and got off the train, in higher spirits than just those few seconds.