FicWad

a/n: To those who see this story as not having a possible happy ending...it wont be ideal, but it will be happy. You'll understand it at the end, you'll have stick with the story, but I will simply say that I am personally against stories that end unhappily.

Chapter 8: Diagon Alley Deaths

Hermione sighed as she sat in a large lazy boy with her legs curled under her. She'd been working on a letter to Harry for days. She'd been spending all of her free time in the room of requirement trying to put her feelings into words.

It had been almost a week since Harry had set loose that spell in the Great Hall. She'd watched it seek out people she'd known for six years and rot their bodies slowly until they died screaming in their own blood, urine, and waste. Malfoy, Goyle, Crabbe, Parkinson, Nott, some younger years and a seventh she didn't know from Slytherin, Ernie from Hufflepuff, several other Hufflepuffs from different years, a surprisingly large amount of Ravenclaws, and a few Gryffindors, to her horror, one of which being Lavender Brown. It was more disturbing than every war tale she'd ever heard. She'd seen a side of Harry that night that made her truly realize that it wasn't Harry in control anymore. It wasn't possible, and power alone couldn't corrupt Harry to create something like that.

“There has to be something more than just the power, not even power can corrupt Harry this much.” She whispered as she chewed on the tip of the quill.

She was unaware that she was being watched by a silvery woman resting just inside the wall behind her. Sympathetic eyes were observing her attempts at a letter and her attempts to figure out what caused such a dramatic shift in Harry's actions.

“Perhaps the boy has more than one face.” The silver woman whispered.

Hermione jumped in surprise and shifted around launching a spell from her hand on a reflex she didn't know she had. Another thing she'd have to get use to with advanced powers.

The spell blasted right through the ghostly woman and blew apart the wall she was hiding in. The ghost laughed as she drifted into the room while the magic of the room of requirement fixed itself.

“Violent reflexes, my dear, always keep you alive, but they are a danger to everyone around you. Learn to control them.” The ghost scolded as she settled herself in a chair across from Hermione.

“You're the Grey Lady.” Hermione stated as she stared at the amused ghost.

“Indeed, and you are Hermione Granger. Should have been in Ravenclaw, but you are too stubborn to be anything but a Gryffindor.” The Grey Lady said as she rolled her eyes.

“I don't see anything wrong with being in Gryffindor. Your house had as many marked students as Slytherin, more actually! It isn't like it's some noble place to be.” Hermione growled out.

“Don't snap at me little girl, that has nothing to do with my comment. I have been around for nearly a thousand years. I have watched dark wizards and witches come from every house of Hogwarts, and I have watched light wizards and witches come from every house. Do not talk about houses producing dark witches and wizards, they are not made by houses. They are made from Societies, families, and simply being a dark person.” The Grey Lady snapped angrily.

Hermione blushed and looked at the floor as she sat back into her chair. She slowly lifted her head as The Grey Lady continued to speak.

“I have seen a situation similar to what your Harry seems to be going through. I have only followed the situation through news paper clippings, but I remember the boy who spent five years here and these things do not sound like something he would have done.

“Perhaps he has more than one face. A person who has many faces must let each face have control from time to time. The goal is not to give back control to one, even with control they will not be complete. You must unite the faces back into a single face and then your problems will be over and the boy will be himself.

“Though the Harry you know may very well have been an incomplete one. There is no telling how long his other face or faces may have been hidden away. I do not know how they could have been created, but he shows many signs of having more than one face. Fix the split and make them one and you will have him back to his true self. That is all the help I will give you. You must find a way to do this yourself. I pray that you are more successful than the last girl in your position.

“Goodbye Hermione, I hope you do not treat everyone who offers help this way because you will not get it that often with such an attitude.” The Grey Lady scowled at the bushy haired girl before falling through the floor.

Hermione blinked and looked at where The Grey Lady had just been.

“Many faces...” Hermione mumbled as she looked back down at the paper in her lap.

“Faces...faces...Personalities!” Hermione finished with a shout.

“Multiple personalty disorder. Maybe...it would explain the extreme violence. People who develop MPD often have a strong agressive personality that protects the others with extreme fanaticism.” Hermione muttered to herself.

Her first impulse was to rush to Dumbledore and explain her theory, but quickly shook herself off of that idea.

“This whole problem started because of Dumbledore's inability to make good decisions in stressful situations.” Hermione muttered to herself.

“I'll figure this out on my own.” She promised as she put the letter aside and went to the bookshelf she just had the room create.

She pulled off two books on mental disorders and one on mind magics. She set herself down at a newly created table and began studying. She would learn as much as she could about this theory before acting on anything.

oOoOoOoOo

Dearest Harry,

I have been trying to get my feelings down in this letter for days. I still don't think I've gotten it out the right way, but I decided to just write what came to me.

I've had trouble dealing with the stories of everything you've done. Terrible things like the deaths of the bounty hunters, the murder of Minister Fudge, and that terrible tsunami you conjured that killed so many innocents. I had trouble dealing with it, but I got through it because I was deluding myself into thinking there had to be another side to it. Seeing what you did to those people in the Great Hall a week ago has made the truth all too clear to me and that hurts.

The truth I couldn't bring myself to face was the fact that there is no other side to slaughter. What you've been doing is terrible and I can't pretend there is some greater reasoning behind it. You may not have joined Voldemort, but you are just as evil and even more destructive. This brought another startling realization to me.

You're not Harry any more, not my Harry at least. My Harry would never have done the things you have. He would've killed, but not indiscriminately as you have. I've realized that, in the words of The Grey Lady, you have more than one face. The face I've known as my Harry is either merging with a more evil face, or is loosing control entirely. You're not my Harry anymore and I can't keep making excuses for you. I have to accept that the face in control is evil.

I want you to know though Harry, if you can read this as your other face does, I will save you. I don't know how yet, but I will find a way to give you back control. I'll merge your many faces into one, and then we will deal with what's been happening. Until then, fight for control my Harry, resist the things you've been doing. I will save you, believe in me.

Forever yours,

Hermione Granger

Harry stared down at the letter in his hands with watery eyes. His hair was flashing from black to amethyst as his eyes flashed from green to amethyst. His expression would also change, from longing and sorrow when his eyes were green and his hair black, to being angry when they were amethyst colored. Finally the cycling stopped with a black haired, green eyed Harry shook his head.

“Hermione...” he whispered as his eyes drifted once again over the paper, “You've always believed in me, I will do the same for you.”

He let out a grunt and then a scream as he dropped the letter and clutched his head with both hands.

“No damn it!” he shouted as he fell to his knees and slammed his head into the ground ignoring the fearful looks nearby muggles were giving him.

Finally after several minutes of pounding his head on the ground and muttered to himself with color changing hair and eyes, his hair settled amethyst with matching eyes. He stopped banging his head, shook it once, and stood up. He heard sirens coming and glared at the nearby muggles causing them to back away in fear.

He bent down and picked up the letter from Hermione and looked it over again.

“I don't want to be fixed. I like the way things are. You've always gotten yourself into puzzles to solve. The Stone, The Chamber, The Tournament, everything. Always trying to find a new puzzle to work out. You wont do that with me this time. I'll kill you if I have to.” Harry said to the letter before crumpling it up and tossing it to the side while lighting it on fire.

He turned and walked away from the burning letter and faded to black mist as the police rounded a nearby corner. He had things to do.

OooOoOoOo

Hermione groaned as she entered her room. Somebody had gotten brave. She'd spent close to two weeks alone since Lavender's death and Parvati's migration to Padma's dorm. Somebody in Gryffindor finally matched the stereotype and went into her room, The Dark Room as they call it, and destroyed everything she owned. Her clothes were strewn around the room torn and ripped, her books were burnt in a pile and everything else she owned, small bits of jewelery and gifts from her parents, were shattered and broken. Tears welled in her eyes as she slid to her knees. She pulled them up and wrapped her arms around her legs, pulling them against her chest and cried. She slowly started to rock forwards and backwards as she looked around the room with tearful eyes.

OooOoOoOo

Hermione took a deep breath and knocked on the office door of her Head of House.

“Come In.”

Hermione cleared her face and with a quick exhale she opened the door and shut it behind her. Her Head of House looked up at her curiously.

“What can I do for you tonight Miss Granger?” Professor McGonagall questioned as she set aside a paper she had been grading.

“Somebody went into my room, which I've spent the last two weeks sleeping in alone, and burned or destroyed all of my things.” Hermione said with a carefully empty expression.

The Head of Gryffindor had a confused look on her face.

“Someone from my house destroyed all of your things?” she asked incredulously.

Hermione frowned and shifted her eyes to the side as she answered,

“It seems it was somebody from our house, and most likely a girl seeing as how the stairs react to guys. They destroyed or burned everything: clothes, books, jewelery, everything I owned. If Crookshanks had been in there at the time, I fear he would have been killed as well. Being a dark witch's cat and all.” Hermione spat out with bitterness.

Minerva frowned as she took in that information. It was disappointing that her own house could do such things.

“Very well Miss Granger. You'll be exempt from lessons tomorrow and I will take you to Diagon Alley to replace what we can. The school will pay for it, as this was done on school grounds and the perpetrator is unknown. I'll come and fetch you after breakfast. Goodnight.”

Hermione nodded and quickly left to return to her room. She spent the hours leading up to curfew cleaning the remains of her belongings and making a list of things she needed.

OooOoOoOo

Hermione toyed with her breakfast as she waiting for it to end and for Professor McGonagall to fetch her. She'd spent the morning avoiding her house mates and was ignoring their comments and glares, thinking they had the right to destroy gifts she'd been given by loved ones.

“Children of the Light, House of the honorable. Ha! And I want to marry Fleur.” Hermione muttered to herself as she thought of her house mates.

Her thoughts drifted to Fleur and her former school. 'Maybe I should go to school in France. They want Harry dead, but they couldn't care less about me. They're not the type to use scape goats.' The brunette shook her head to get rid of the thoughts and sighed gratefully when she saw McGonagall rise from the staff table. Pushing aside her plate she stood and joined the Deputy Headmistress as they made their way to the gates where the professor apparated them to Diagon Alley.

oOoOoOoOo

Hermione was enjoying herself as she drifted through the aisles of the bookstore. One of the places she felt comfortable these days, surrounded by books. 'Merlin, I'm a nerd.' She thought to herself with a chuckle.

Her peaceful browsing was interrupted by an explosion that shook the shop and knocked several shelves of books on top of her. Screams soon followed as well as the sounds of curses and the lights of spell fire filtering in through the windows.

Hermione sat with an aggravated look on her face, surrounded by books, and several bruises forming. She stood up and walked out the door of the store and into chaos.

Death Eaters had decided the morning rush would be a great chance to attack. Lots of innocent victims. 'Savages' She thought with disgust. She looked around at people running, seemingly forgetting that they too held the power to wield magic. 'Cowards' She thought with disdain. Then she saw something that caused her to snap.

A Death Eater was holding a wand on a young boy no older than six, who was looking up fearfully at the masked terrorist while his mother laid before him with her chest cut open. Her hands started to shake and her eyes burned a fiery orange. People around froze and looked at her in awe and fear as her hair shifted to a burning red, brighter than any Weasley. She didn't notice the change, nor her Head of House a few feet away staring in awe.

'Just like Harry's transformation, only she's of age. That night with that strange bird song! I asked Albus but he said not to be concerned. It was her awakening...how strong can she be? A muggleborn who's potential was never tested...amazing' the Transfiguration Professor thought to herself as she stared at her student.

Hermione's vision was solely on the Death Eater. He'd taken that boy's mother from him, just as their master had taken Lily from Harry. It had to stop. They had to be stopped. She couldn't allow this to happen. Hermione Granger had found her resolve to take life. With a flash she was gone from where she stood.

She appeared next to the Death Eater pointing his wand at the boy. She grasped his arm in a vice grip causing him to gasp and let go of his wand. He turned to her and she heard him grunt.

“Mudblood!” He spat through his mask.

Hermione frowned and willed her magic. Flames erupted up the man's arm and in a second he was screaming as the flames consumed him. Her aura flared a red orange as she turned to the thirty or so other Death Eaters filling the Alley and the two giants who were clumsily crashing about.

“None of you filth are fit to live. You're worthless trash and I'll be taking you out.” She said evenly.

With a flash she appeared between three of them. With movements that were a blur to everyone watching she slammed her fist into one's chest, an open palm into the face of another, and let loose a blast of concentrated air with a kick to the stomach of the last. They flew off in three different directions leaving blood and screams in their wake.

The remaining Death Eaters watched her warily as she stood straight where she was in between the previous three. Her movements had been too fast for any of them to follow. Some tried to leave via portkey and apparation, only to find they couldn't. Their fear began to rise and one brave one cast a spell at her. It vanished a foot from her body.

She turned to the one who had cast the spell and smiled innocently. It disturbed everyone who saw it. The man suddenly found himself flying straight towards the glowing girl. Hermione only smiled as she watched him fly towards her. She lifted her right arm let loose a quickly formed fireball straight at him. It connected with him five from her and burst into a column of fire that was several feet wide and twenty feet tall. When it died out there was nothing left.

She giggled and turned to the remaining Death Eaters, who in all their wisdom, clustered together. She ignored them temporarily and formed a rather large ball of fire that caused them to shrink into each other. She vanished and appeared between the two giants holding the three feet wide sphere of fire. She gripped it with two hands and pulled them apart so she had one in each hand. The giants stared at her dumbly as she smiled and spun quickly in a circle releasing the two spheres towards them. The balls connected with the giants' faces and erupted into two identical pillars of fire. She let herself float down and land softly on the ground and stared at the remaining Death Eaters who were wishing they'd been able to get away, but Diagon Alley had few exits and the stores had been locked up with the people hiding inside.

Hermione walked slowly towards the Death Eaters, her hips swaying in the snug black robes she'd bought that same day. Her walk was uncharacteristically sensual as she smiled seductively at the masked crowd.

“Come now boys and girls, there's no need to be scared.” The orange eyed girl mocked.

The group stepped back every time she stepped forwards. She grinned again and a wall of fire erupted behind them halting their retreat. She tilted her head and the wall extended and wrapped around the group until they were all enclosed in a circle of fire that rose thirty feet. She grinned and waved at them.

“Bye!” She said cheerfully as the wall closed in and the Alley was again filled with screams.

She looked around with a sigh.

“It's all right to come out now. They're all gone.” She said, but still she saw nobody come out.

She was about to just flash away when McGonagall came running out of a nearby store where she'd been dragged by a crowd of fleeing people.

“Hermione! My order medallion was set off minutes ago with the most severe alert. Everyone was told that if it went off they were to drop everything they were doing and report to Hogwarts because it would mean that the school was under siege!” She shouted in a panic.

Hermione gasped in surprise and ran to the Professor, grabbed her arm and then she used her powers to flash them to the entrance hall, startling some 7th year students standing guard. She turned and gasped, the teachers and members of the order were just outside the entrance hall facing a large army just outside the gates. The sky was filled with dark clouds blocking out the sun. Hermione would swear there were at least a thousand people in the army. Werewolves, Vampires, Death Eaters, Merlin knows what else.

'What did the Ministry expect?' Hermione thought as she stared at the army. 'They take a third of Magical Britain's population and ostracize them, leaving them no choice but to join Voldemort. Fools.' Hermione knew that the reason the army was so large was because the werewolves and vampires had nobody else to side with. Voldemort's side was the only one that allowed them to live without registering themselves like cattle.

“Merlin help us.” Minerva said as she slowly walked forward to join Dumbledore. Hermione swallowed and looked around at the frightened students. She took a deep breath and stepped out of the doors, ignoring the professor's protests. None of the Professors had noticed Hermione's change in appearance.

Hermione turned and faced the students in the entrance Hall.

“If that army makes it through these doors, forget the laws. Survival matters first and foremost. AK the sons of bitches en masse. All it takes is hate, think of what they would do to your mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins. Think of what they have already done. Murdered innocents. Raped girls, taking their innocence. They're evil, siding with evil. Your lives are worth more than theirs. AK them, nobody will fault you. Tell everyone in the Great Hall the same, assemble them all around the hall on the stairs and floors above. They can't throw hundreds of kids in prison for defending themselves.” She finished, every word demanding obedience.

The kids looked surprised, but most of them hardened and nodded as they stared at her and then the army behind her. She smiled approvingly and then the doors slammed shut and blended into the wall of the castle. The professors gasped behind her. She turned around and stared at them, stopping on Dumbledore.

“They planned a decoy. Diagon Alley was attacked a bit ago. The Aurors are probably just now responding. The Death Eaters didn't expect to be beaten, but I was there and I was angry. They're all dead.” She stopped and stared Dumbledore in the eyes.

“I'm stronger than all of you. You know it. I'm fighting. I'm going to kill them all.” She said this as simple fact.

The professors swallowed and nodded. They all turned faced the army. They readied themselves as they felt the backlash of magic as the wards fell and the army stormed through the gates and walls surrounding the school grounds.

'Harry, if you're out there please come. I need you.'