Linspace

Chapter 8

"You know, I think we are looking at this the wrong way."

Harry closed the book he was currently rereading and got up from his seat, his aching back making a 'pop' sound in the process.

The last couple of days had been relatively uneventful. As Bella had predicted Alice wasted no time inviting Hermione, and consequently Harry, to their house. They had decided on the coming Monday as the chosen date and the bespectacled wizard was not looking forward to it. Don't get him wrong, he didn't have a problem with the Cullens, or vampires in general, but the thought of spending the night being scrutinized by a bunch of strangers made him nervous. He hated being in the spotlight. But aside from that nothing interesting had happened, so Harry had joined Hermione on her research about fire.

They sat in the library for hours reading book after book and they still hadn't made any progress. Harry was sure he had never spent that much time on books, not even at Hogwarts. That was Hermione's thing, he was more for the practical approach. And with that thought he realized that maybe that was the right way to go.

"And what do you suggest we do then?" replied Hermione a bit annoyed, without taking her eyes off her book.

Harry sighed. He couldn't blame her, he was frustrated too and it wasn't even his problem they were dealing with. So he continued calmly.

"Think about it. We have have been going through every book we could find about the subject and we are still at the same point we were three days ago. And that one time with the fireplace... you said it was accidental right?"

Hermione nodded.

"So, what if you wanted to control the fire this time?" he finished.

She seemed a bit reluctant of his idea but eventually relented. Harry had noticed that she had been avoiding the room ever since the incident, probably scared of it happening again.

"I suppose it wouldn't hurt to try." She said with a sigh.

They went downstairs and settled in the living room, Hermione kneeling in front of the fireplace and Harry standing a couple of feet from her. For the first few minutes nothing happened and Harry was about to say it had been a stupid idea when suddenly the flames stilled. They actually stopped moving, thought Harry amazed.

He watched as Hermione brought her hands up and slowly moved them away from each other making the flames break apart, like Moses had done with the Red Sea. It was obviously very tiring, as the next second she let her hands fall back to her sides breathing heavily and with sweat beading her forehead.

Harry helped her onto the armchair before heading to the kitchen to get some water.

"That was incredible!" he said in an awed tone once he was back.

Hermione took the glass from him drinking all of it before replying.

"It was one of the weirdest experiences I've ever had. It was like the fire was part of me, waiting for me to tell it what to do. A bit like when you try to feel you own magic." She tried to explain.

"But it was also incredibly draining."

"Maybe if you tried a bit everyday it would get easier." Harry supplied watching the fire in contemplation. When no answer came, he looked up to see that Hermione had fallen asleep. He chuckled.

"Alright Mia, time for bed." He said picking her up and carrying her to her bedroom.

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Hermione couldn't take it anymore.

She had been screaming for what felt like hours and the cold from the marble floor she was laying on was seeping into her bones. At this point she just wished that Bellatrix would kill her.

The crazed witch suddenly lifted the curse and the pain stopped. But it was short lived as the next second Hermione found Bellatrix's face barely an inch from hers.

"Now mudblood, tell me what have you taken from my vault." She cooed sliding the tip of a knife down her cheek.

Hermione whimpered but refused to answer.

"No? Very well."

Bellatrix took hold of her left arm then and began carving on it with her knife. Hermione didn't even have the strength to scream anymore. She just laid there waiting for the pain to stop.

She thought she was hearing a commotion somewhere but with all the ringing in her ears she couldn't be sure. A moment later Bellatrix was thrown off her and from the corner of her eyes she could see the tell tale red of Ron's hair.

She breathed a sigh of relief but her attention was soon caught by the sight of her bleeding arm. She could make out a strange pattern carved on it that she was sure she had already seen somewhere. But before she could think too much about it her eyelids started dropping and the world went black.

Hermione bolted awake gasping for air. She was covered in sweat and her hair was a tangled mess. She sighed, got up from the bed and headed to the bathroom. She splashed some water on her face to wash away the streaks of tears and then went back to her bedroom. She thought about trying to go back to sleep since it was only 1 am but quickly discarded the idea, one nightmare had been enough.

Looking up at the ceiling she noticed that it was a surprisingly clear night so she decided to go out on the balcony attached to the library. She leaned over the railing and closed her eyes, letting the cool air sooth her.

Her mind drifted to the nightmare she just had. She had dreamt of her being tortured by Bellatrix in Malfoy Manor. It was the most recurrent one so there wasn't anything odd about it. But something at the back of her mind was pushing her to actually think back on it and examine it more closely.

Because it hadn't been like the others. She hadn't woken up screaming like usual and the pain had been different too, less intense. It was as if her brain had wanted her to focus on what was happening rather than what she was feeling. She looked down at the word 'Mudblood' carved on her arm in confusion.

And then it clicked. It wasn't a word in her dream, it was a rune... No, it was not a rune. She thought hard about it but the image in her head got more blurry every time she tried.

The witch sighed, frustrated.

The cracking sound of a twig caught her attention and her head snapped to her right, towards the woods, looking for the cause of the sudden noise. She didn't have her wand on her but she wasn't overly concerned. The wards she had placed were still intact and would warn her if there was someone that wasn't keyed in trying to get through them.

She concentrated on the spot she thought the sound had come from, thankful for her enhanced nocturnal vision, and then she saw it. A huge silver-grey wolf staring up at her with his large brown eyes. And there was something so familiar about those eyes.

Hermione blinked a few times, to make sure she wasn't seeing things, but the wolf was still there. She went back inside and quickly made her way downstairs and out of the house, having the sudden urge to get closer to it.

But when she reached the edge of the wards it was gone. She was sure she hadn't imagined it. It definitely wasn't a normal wolf, being the size of a car. And those eyes, they looked so... human.

She glanced one last time at the spot the wolf had been in, her mind running a mile a minute.

Who are you?