Alteration (Book 3 of The Corruption Sequence)

Chapter 9. Visitors

Harry heard the entrance to his room open as he shamelessly hid behind the almost closed bathroom door. He had recovered from Snape's potion, and managed to restore his better mood, but that was rapidly changing again. Jeremy was under instructions to let his visitors in when they arrived, and Harry had been cowering in the smaller room for a good ten minutes.

Quite frankly he was terrified.

"Ah, Harry must be in the bathroom," Professor McGonagall said pleasantly as he listened at the door, "I'm sure he won't be a moment."

Harry swallowed hard and stared at his reflection in the mirror; so different. Would they be able to see him under the physical changes his condition had made, or would they just see this dark creature which stared back at him? The idea of slamming the door home, locking it and screaming for them to go away briefly flitted through his head, but he managed to suppress it ... just.

Biting his lip nervously he reached for the door handle and tried to bring his thundering heart rate under control.

Pulling back the safety barrier between himself and his friends was one of the hardest things he had ever done, and he stepped into the main chamber with all the confidence of a ferret amongst a heard of hippogriffs. His friends were all stood around the library area and appeared to be pretending to look at various book titles as if they were the most interesting thing in the world. Professor McGonagall gave him a supportive smile as he hovered just inside the room. Neville was the first to turn.

His friend's eye went wide and Neville's mouth turned into a little round 'o'. If one thing could always be relied upon, it was Neville's complete inability to hide what he was thinking. Harry almost bolted.

"Harry," the flustered Gryffindor said, which of course caused Ron and Hermione to both look in his direction as well.

Ron just stared, face completely blank. Hermione was the first to move. To Harry's growing horror she hurried across the room. If he hadn't been quite so shocked, he might have reacted defensively, as if was, when she threw her arms around him, he simply froze completely.

"Harry," she said into his shoulder, "we've been so worried."

He was assailed by a confusing influx of instincts which ranged from the desire to remove the threat of the very powerful witch who was embracing him, up to wanting to return the hug. It left him rather shocked and stiff in his friend's arms. Hermione was nothing if not persistent, however, and she held on until eventually he managed to overcome his conflict and awkwardly embraced her back.

"Hello," he said quietly as she finally pulled back.

The genuine smile on Hermione's face rather took his breath away, she seemed so pleased to see him, and he couldn't understand why he didn't horrify her.

"When they took you, we were frantic," Hermione said, "I'm so glad you're back and in one piece."

"With added extras," he said far more bitterly than he had meant to.

For a moment his friend frowned at him and then pursed her lips.

"Yes, well we can help you with that," she said firmly, "I'm just glad you're alive. One reason to be thankful for Voldemort's complete insanity; anyone with any sense would have just killed you."

It was typical of Hermione to be practical and Harry did not quite know how to react. He had expected horrified reactions, fear and a division that could not be breached, but it was almost as if he hadn't changed at all. It seemed that Hermione was still quite willing to express her forthright opinions, and she didn't seem to be remotely nervous of him. In fact, all he could feel from her was a deep curiosity, sympathy and happiness; he was rather at a loss to know how to proceed.