The Stone

Chapter Thirty

Ron and Hermione had fallen asleep in the dark common room, waiting for them to return. Hermine shot up and banged heads with Bella when she shook her awake and Ron shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook him awake. In a matter of seconds though, they were both wide-eyes as Harry began to tell Hermione and Ron what had happened in the Forest. 

Harry was distressed and he was still shaking out of fear, Bella on the other hand, just couldn't sit down. She paced up and down in front of the fire, occasionally touching her forehead where she had the pain. She still didn't understand why she and Harry felt the same pain, in the same place at the same time...maybe she should speak to Dumbledore?

Harry was rambling to them. "Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort...and Voldemort's waiting in the Forest...and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich..."

"Stop saying the name!" Ron said in a terrified whisper as if he thought Voldemort was listening. 

Bella sighed. "Get over it Ron, It's just a name!" she looked Harry. "Not only do we have that to worry about, but also the fact we share some sort of connection which could either be good or bad"

Harry nodded. "Maybe there's something about weird pain connections in a book?"

"I'm on it!" Hermione cut in and Bella could already see Hermione plan out what books she was going to read.

Harry, acting like he hadn't heard Ron complain, continued speaking. 

"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done...Bane was furious...he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen...They must show that Voldemort's coming back...Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me... I suppose that's written in the stars as well"

"Voldemort is not going to touch you as long as I'm here. He'll have to go through me" Bella promised Harry. 

"Will you stop saying the name!" Ron hissed and Bella stopped her pacing to hit Ron on the back of her head. 

"Man up!" She hissed.

Harry ignored them both. "So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone." he went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off...Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy"

Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort. 

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like a fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic"

Bella sat down next to Harry and placed her hand on his shoulder in a comforting way. "Hermione's right, the centaurs could be wrong. They have been before....and we just need to make sure Dumbledore won't leave this castle"

"He can't stay here forever can he?" Harry pointed out. 

"He just needs to stay long enough for us to stop Snape." Ron cut in and they fell into an unsettling silence. Will they be able to stop Snape?

The sky had turned light before they stopped talking. They went to bed exhausted, their throats sore. But the night's surprises weren't over. 

When Harry pulled back his sheets, he found his Invisibility Cloak folded neatly underneath them. There was a note pinned to it:

Just in case. 

*

In years to come, Bella would never quite remember how she had managed to get through her exams when she was worried about Harry and when she half expected Voldemort to come bursting through the door at any moment. Yet the days crept by and there could be no doubt that Fluffy was still alive and well behind the locked door.