Born From Madness (Harry Potter Fanfic)

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"Do you think Hermione is going to be alright? I mean-- she was still completely out of it when we got home." Harry asked Lupin, who had arrived just as they came back home. He had come to inform them about the plan for tomorrow morning when they would have to go back to school and soon agreed to be the first to watch Hermione and make sure she would be alright. Hermione was now snoozing away after being given a sleeping potion they had tricked her into think was a smoothie or whatever she thought it was in her own mind. 

"Of course, she will, Harry." Lupin assured him, "The spell only makes the person slightly delirious about the world now being something like a fairy tale around them before fading off. A lot of people use it in dark times such as this. She'll be back to our Hermione probably in the morning." 

"How did this happen? How did the person get close enough to cast the spell?" Harry asked. 

"Actually, they wouldn't have to be in the same room as Hermione. They would merely cast the spell then tell it who they wanted it to be on. Perhaps they were even just a few blocks outside the house so no one would notice them." Lupin answered. 

"Do you think it was Barty? Barty Crouch Jr., I mean?"

"Perhaps. Frankly the spell is so easy, anyone could have cast it."  

Harry sighed as he looked over at Hermione, who was turning on her side so her back was turned on them. 

"What I would like to know is why did you not get an adult, Harry? This could have been more serious than a simple kidnapping. It could have been a trap to draw you out and have you killed." Lupin suddenly asked. Harry grunted. 

"I know-- but there wasn't any time. Hermione was moving really quickly and I didn't want to lose her. I didn't know where Mrs. Weasley was and Sirius and Snape were fighting. I-- I just needed to go after her." Harry explained. Lupin lightly patted Harry's shoulder. 

"I understand what you felt, Harry. But it was very dangerous of you." Lupin told him. 

 "Don't blame him, Remus." 

They turned to see Sirius walking in with a tray with three full pints of Butterbeer. 

"It was Snape's and my fault. We shouldn't have been fighting. If we hadn't been doing that, Harry wouldn't have felt the need to go after Hermione by himself." Sirius said while handing out the cups to them. 

"That is very mature of you to say, Sirius. You are learning to take more responsibility for yourself and your actions. I am proud of you." Lupin said then went to take a sip of his drink. 

"Of course, it was more Snivellus' fault than mine." Sirius mumbled under his breath, which earned him a side glare from Lupin and a chuckle from Harry. 

Harry tried to stay away as long as he could to keep an eye on Hermione, but he soon found himself falling asleep. He woke up when a loud thud echoed into his ear. He jolted up from his seat to find Hermione pushing herself up into a sitting position. She groaning in pain as her hands cling onto her forehead. 

"Hermione are you alright?" Harry asked while he stood up from his bed. Hermione groaned again. 

"I feel like I got hit in the head by a sledgehammer." She said while her hands rubbed her temples. After a quick explaining of what happened last night, they walked out of the room and towards the kitchen. As they were eating breakfast, Tonks and Lupin explained how they were going to take the Knight Bus to Hogwarts while everyone was happy Hermione was feeling a lot better. Afterwards, Sirius slipped something into Harry's hands before they hurried out of the house. Lupin shot out his hand and quickly the knight bus showed up not even a second later. As they were hopping onto the bus quickly, the conductor was just about to mention Harry's name when Tonks threatened him while nudging Hermione and Ginny forward. 

They had to split as soon as they got on, Tonks took the three of them up to the top deck, while Remus watched the other in the bottom one near the back. When they reached the top, they had to split, two near the front and two near the back. Harry knew it was silly, but he didn't want to leave Hermione's side. However, Tonks assured him that she would be find and took her up to the front while Ron and Harry sat in the back. Stan showed up a little later and collected their money then handing over their ticket. While he was doing that, Stan continued talking. 

"Just outside Birmingham. You keepin' well, then, Harry? I seen your name in the paper load over the summer, but it weren't never anything very nice. I said to Ern, I said, 'He didn't seem like a nutter when we met him, just goes to show, dunnit?" he said, "Who were those to lovely ladies you were with?" 

"Um-- just some friends." Harry said. 

"The younger lass there... she looks a lot like Hermione Granger. I heard from the paper, she's rumored to be friends with that savage werewolf Greyback and Barty Crouch Jr. You know?" Stan mentioned while the Bus up and swirled violently around. Harry didn't like how he emphasize the word 'friends'. 

"She's not. Rita just said that to be mean to Hermione. She never tells the truth." Harry stated to him. 

"Maybe. But she is attracted to those bad boy blokes, isn't she." 

"She is not!" Ron spat at him. Harry was thankful he had taken the outer seat to because he was sure if he hadn't be in the way of Ron and Stan, Ron would have jumped him and beaten Stan to a bloody pulse. 

"Oh yeah? Take a look at this then," Stan said while handing the paper over to them. Harry took the paper and held it up. The front page title: Hermione Granger Seen With Mysterious Bad Boy at St. Mungo's. 

Harry moved his eyes down at the photo to see Hermione and Scabior standing beside each other, leaning a bit close to each other. From the way the photo took it, it did look like they seemed to be close with each other, but if you were there you would know they weren't seeing each other. 

"Uh-- they aren't seeing each other. They were merely talking." Harry explained before handing the paper back to Stan. 

"Or she hasn't yet told you lot she and him are together." Stan said. Harry grabbed hold of Ron's shoulder to keep him in his seat. Thankfully Stan decided then to move onto someone else. Harry could see Ron's ears turning a bright shade of red. 

"Ron you know she's not dating Scabior. He's too old for her." Harry assured Ron. 

"Who says I care? She can date whoever she wants." Ron mumbled. Harry sighed, knowing this was going to damper on their friendship again. 

Thankfully, they finally arrived at Hogwarts. Lupin and Tonks helped the off the bus with their luggage mumbled their quick goodbyes. All the people were staring down at them, clearly intrigued at the sight of both him and Hermione. 

"You'll be safe once you're in the ground. Have a good term, okay?" she told them. 

"Look after yourselves, and Harry, I know you don't like Snape, but he is a superb Occlumens and we all-- Sirius included-- want you to learn to protect yourself, so work hard, all right?" 

"Yeah, all right." He said. After saying another round of quick goodbyes, Lupin and Tonks made their way back on the bus while they hurried up the slippery drive towards the castle. Harry glanced back when they reached the front of the castle; Harry silently wished he was still on board.