Dark Days

Dark Days Chapter Ten – The potion

Authors Note: - Sorry that this chapter has taken so long. Those of you that know me know what HELL I’ve just had with coursework. But thankfully as I write this I have just finished the last piece and so am now free to continue with my story and stop leaving you hanging on waiting for more (which I hope you have!). I also apologise for the short length of the chapter but the next one will be back to normal and there wasn’t really another way of doing this concisely.
Thanks to everyone who’s reviewed me, it means a lot. So I shall keep ye no longer, enjoy the chapter, keep reading and review if you be feeling kind. :D
Also I know that Sirius is supposed to be dead, but I started writing this pre book five and so he’s staying in now. Sorry if I’ve just ruined the ending for someone.


Hermione woke up shivering with cold. The stone floor on which she had slept was neither warm nor yielding and her neck hurt as she tried to move. The debris of the previous night’s violence lay all around her, and her flesh was broken and bleeding in many places from the tiny shards of glass that she had slept on. Oddly enough she felt more refreshed than she had done in months; probably the result of a night without the dreams that had haunted her nights.

Slowly she hoisted herself off the floor and sat on the bed, her head in her hands. She hated herself for what she had become, and emotional wreck, a mere shadow of her former self. Silently she sat, her thoughts making no pattern but skipping from one painful image to another. She had alienated all around her, even herself.

Suddenly she sprang to her feet a fierce fire in her eyes, now determined to stay here no longer. She had to get away, to get free of this place, these insubstantial yet binging chains which stopped her from living, from being true to herself. Almost absently she healed the cuts on her body, the mess on the floor she left, hardly noticing it as she pulled on travelling clothes and stout walking boots and filling a canvas bag with clothes and books. Then without a backwards glance she strode from the room and left the castle, unseen by all.

* * * * * *

Ron and Harry stood in shock beside the door, trying hard to not cry out in their amazement and so be caught. Cautiously Harry indicated to Ron to move back up the passage away so that tmighmight speak without fear of being overheard. On silent feet they crept back up the passage, glad of the engulfing darkness which seemed now a friend, hiding them from those they would not meet.

“Holy Shit!” Ron cried as loud as he dared. “What the fuck are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” Harry murmured.

“Well I’m bloody shocked, that git was actually innocent the whole time, didn’t expect that!”

“We have to get him out of there,” said Harry firmly.

“How? You have any brilliant ideas then please do share. We can’t possibly get him out without them knowing about it. And there are still just two of us! Nobody’s come to join us since earlier when you wanted to fight the entire dark army alone! We can’t fight them all off, he’s in no fit state to move, or apparate for that matter. There’s nothing we can do, we need to go and get help and reinforcements.”

“We can’t just leave him here Ron!”

“We have no choice!”

“But…”

“But nothing. He’s survived this long he’ll be okay for a while longer. And besides, you heard Voldemort, he had no plans to kill him just yet.”

“Yeah well I trust Voldemort about as much if not less than Draco Malfoy! And if we leave him here we condemn him to more torture and despair.”

“He’s strong. He’ll cope.”

“That’s a hard thing to say Ron,” said Harry more loudly than he should.

“What was that?” The deep voice floated back up the passage towards them, followed swiftly by the sound of feet hurrying towards them and an ever encroaching light. That ended the argument, they were discovered and as one they turned and fled back down the corridor.

It took them over an hour to get back to Hogwarts. And as they could not apparate inside the grounds they were forced to go to Hogsmeade and walk the rest of the way in the constant downpour. Their invisibility cloaks were now discarded, to reveal faces pale and shocked, and weary bodies caked in mud and weather beaten. They trudged up the hill towards the castle as quickly as their tired feet would bear them. They were silent now, no words could possibly be sufficient to explain the shock they felt and the concern they were feeling for Hermione. How would she react when the truth was finally known?

It took a surprisingly short time to reach the Headmasters office and as ever he seemed to have known that they were coming and that they had important news. He sat perched on the edge of his chair, he hands lost in his billowing great beard as he leaned his chin on his hands. His eyes were not twinkling as they usually did.

“What is it?” he asked, his voice calm and reassuring.

“We have…news,” Harry said slumping into a chair with evident relief.

Ron quickly followed suit. Neither one looked at the headmaster, both unsure what to say.

“Is it about Severus?” Dumbledore enquired.

Harry nodded mutely.

“He’s a prisoner,” stated Ron simply.

A lot of life seemed to drain out of Dumbledore then, but it was only briefly so that one might believe that they had only imagined it. “But he’s still alive?”

They nodded. “We couldn’t get him out alone,” said Ron then. “It would have been too risky.”

“Agreed,” Dumbledore said, “And in any case I want Hermione to be present when we release Severus. I believe that only seeing him as he is at present will encourage her to believe that he is not the murderer that we had thought.”

Harry and Ron nodded again, words were passed them now and they thought longingly of their beds.

“I suppose we should tell Hermione,” said Harry with a profound lack of enthusiasm.

“You’ll have a job,” said Sirius as he came in then, “Headmaster, boys, Hermione’s gone!”

“Gone?! What do you mean gone?” asked Ron in outrage.

“I mean she’s not here, she left. Buckbeak saw her leave the grounds and kicked up a fuss. I got out in time to see her leave the grounds and disappear, with a rather large travelling bag!”

“This is not good,” moaned Harry.

* * * * * *

It did not take Hermione long to lose herself as she had wished. She did not want civilisation. She did not want people or interruptions. All she wanted was to be alone with her thoughts and to have some peace and quiet for a while. The place that she found was perfect, there was not a living soul for miles, maybe hundreds of miles. The mountains around her soared away into the sky, their lofty heads lost in perpetual cloud. Blues and purples and the pale grey of the clouds filled the sky above her and the air was filled with the sound of birdsong the rustling of trees and the faint music of water.

Hermione lay back, her back against the mossy surface of the cliff wall behind her and gazed up at the sky. The clouds formed pictures and she was content to merely watch them, not thinking of anything but the shapes that they made and listening to the sounds of nature around her. She was not usually one for roughing it in the forest but for once she’d make an exception. She definitely did not want to be disturbed. The cave nearby would provide ample shelter, there was plenty of dead wood for a fire and a steam nearby for bathing. It had taken her hours to get here, being on the other side of the world she could not apparate the whole distance at once. But it was worth it. Some time to herself would be just what she needed to get herself together again.

As the sky darkened above her she gave some thought to building a fire and motivated herself to move and gather firewood. Soon she had a respectable pile and plenty more stacked to add later. Then with a sharp stab of her wand she ignited it and the crackling flames began to hungrily devour the wood. She pulled out her cloak, wrapped herself in it and settled down to watch the dancing flames. Above her the stars began to appear one by one to continue in their stately dance across the blackening sky

The flames were soothing and she watched them, hypnotised by their dancing colours and shapes, and gradually drifted off to sleep.

Several days she spent in this way, watching the world go by, watching the fire, hardly eating, barely using magic and definitely not thinking about anything. It was a peaceful sort of solitude and she was completely unaware and uncarin the the fact that thousands of miles away there were people looking for her and worried about her and completely incapable of finding her.

It could not go on forever though and after about a week of doing nothing, she began to get bored and look for a project. Almost idly she flipped through her spell books to find something suitable. Her eyes rested on a page which had a great many illustrations of people changing from human form into animals. It was a rare book not easily accessible to the general wizarding population, but Hermione had of course managed to get her hands on a copy.

“Of course…” she murmured “It’s perfect.”

There was a long list of ingredients by the side of the pictures, most of which she did not have. Pulling on her cloak she strode to the edge of the woods to a clearing on the edge of a great cliff which looked out over a vast forest, and beyond that, scarcely visible was the faint smoke of a village. She knew that it was a wizarding village and so apparated there immediately. On the edge of the clearing she cast a disillusionment charm over herself, and then ambled into the town, unfearful of being seen or of having to talk to anyone. It was rather liberating to be able to walk through a busy place and to be seen by no-one at all.

It did not take her long to find the shop she needed, nor all the ingredients required, so she slipped them into her bag and promptly left the shop. The large black cat in the corner looked mildly curious as she noticed several ingredients floating along by themselves but luckily the owner did not, and the cat didn’t make an issue of it.

Somehow she felt better than she had in weeks, maybe it was the fact that she was finally doing something productive, or perhaps it was just exhilaration that came from stealing and getting away with it. She had never once even considered it before, but yet at this moment she didn’t even care. She took her time getting back to the camp, there was no particular hurry after all, and it was really rather pleasant to wander aimlessly through ancient forests, to feel dwarfed and insignificant by the immensity of the t. Th. The rest of the world could slip away unnoticed here, the troubles of man small concern. Far away and petty they were, and the trees did not care. They would remain as they were untouched save for a few to live out endless years in the race towards the sky.

Her fire had burned low when she returned, only a few smouldering embers now remained. Dusk burnished the sky above her and the few patchy clouds were pink and gold. She tucked her ingredients safely away in a dry corner of the cave and set about rekindling her fire. She slept once more outside under the stars and did not wake until the dawn, shivering in the early morning gloom.

She hummed to herself as she stoked up the fire once more and set her cauldron in the centre of it. The book lay open on her lap and the ingredients lay around her in neat meticulous piles.

“First, bring half a pint of lavender oil to the boil and simmer gently.” She opened up a small purple bottle and measured in half a pint. “Oh that smells strong,” the scent made her eyes water.

“Add three unicorn tail hairs, a dragon scale and murtlap, stir constantly for five minutes.”

The potion turned silver as she threw in the unicorn hair and lost its strong scent, a faint mist of silver rose up from it and filled the air with the faint sound of unicorn song. It changed again when she threw in the dragon scale. Now it was the deep scarlet of the dragon it came from and a fierce music filled the air. The murtlap turned it orange and it grew too bright to look at, flashing golden rays back at the sun. She turned her head away quickly, but there were still dancing lights in front of her eyes.

A strand of her hair went in next and the light dimmed. Swirling colours laced the surface of the liquid and beads of light seemed to dance around the rim of the cauldron.

The dried flobberworms hissed and smoked as they entered the potion and the eye of salamander turned it bright red once more, but this time thin stands of gold laced the surface. More and more ingredients were gradually added to the potion, toe of newt, rose petals, vervain, crushed spiders, mugwort and phoenix feather. It took all day and well into thght ght before it was even nearly finished. And then it had to stand for a week before being bottled, and could only be drunk on the night of the full moon. That took it to a fortnight away, and though Hermione was impatient to try it she knew better than to take it early or without the correct conditions. So she waited. Not always patiently but she waited. It was cold and clear on the night of the full moon and the forest was oddly quiet, the only noise was the faint clicking of crickets in the background.

Hermione stood silent and still looking out over the vast primeval forest that had become her home. Her hair hung loose down her back blowing in the breeze, strands catching in her mouth and getting in her eyes. She turned towards the north, raised the bottle in tribute to her homeland and downed the contents in one. The bottle was cast aside uncaringly and she stood for several long moments unsure as to whether or not it had worked. Then out of no-where a blinding pain raced through her body, freezing her limbs and bringing tears to her eyes. She cried out and fell to the floor.

Fur rippled across her hand, silky, soft black fur that whispered in the breeze. Her eyes, sharpened and suddenly infinite details were clearly visible to her. But then the fur changed and feathers covered her body in its place, her face bulged out and hardened into a beak and her fingers melted together with her arms into wings. But this ce die did not last either. Suddenly she was shrinking at an alarming rate, a think tail sprouting from her lower back and her ears moving up her head into those of a rodent, a mouse. She cried out and with a great mental effort forced herself back into human form.

“What the fuck?” She cursed as she lay exhausted on the floor.

* * * * * *

Harry and Ron sat in Sirius’ rooms holding mugs of ale although they weren’t really interested in them. It had been well over a month now since Hermione had left and there was no sign of her anywhere. Sirius had gone back to the last place he had seen her and hadn’t returned yet either.

“Where the hell had she gone?” asked Ron, his fear and concern turning to anger.

“God knows,” sighed Harry. He felt bone weary. Worry it seemed was more tiring than battle.

“What the fuck does she think she’s doing running off without a word and leaving us all to worry.”

“She wasn’t thinking at all, that’s the point.”

“And what about Snape? Dumbledore still won’t let us go get him. Not that I’m desperate to set the bastard free but it does seem slightly shitty to leave the poor bugger there.”

“Ron, you know why Dumbledore doesn’t want us to get Snape. He wants Hermione to be there when we do,” said Harry.

“Even so…” Ron never finished his sentence. At that moment Sirius stepped in followed closely by a tall blonde girl about their own age.

“Sirius,” they said together.

“Any news?” asked Harry.

He shook his head and closed the door rather violently behind him. “It’s ridiculous, how can she have just disappeared like this?”

They looked at each other, they knew very well hoe coe could have ‘just disappeared. After all that’s what apparating does, and Hermione was a powerful enough witch to be able to conceal her whereabouts without much difficulty. But they chose not to mention that fact and sat in silence, awkwardly aware of the girls’ presence and neither wanting to break the silence to ask her name. Eventually Ron did,

“Well Sirius aren’t you going to introduce us to your friend?”

He shook his head as if coming out of a daze, “I’m sorry. Boys this is my girlfriend Joanne, Joanne this is Harry and Ron.”

“Pleased to meet you,” she murmured.

“You too,” they said in unison.

“Hey Sirius, I think we all could do with more drinks, come help me get them will you?”

“I will,” said Joanne stepping forwards.

“No you won’t,” said Harry firmly. “This is Sirius’ house and therefore you are a guest and for once he can be a polite host and get his guest a drink.”

“I like him all ready,” she said grinning at Sirius and settling herself down in the armchair by the fire.

Moaning, Sirius pulled himself out of his chair and stumbled into the kitchen after Harry.

“Girlfriend?” asked Harry inquiringly when they were safely in the kitchen out of earshot.

Sirius grinned a very boyish grin, “Yeah.”

“Erm, just how old is she Sirius?”

“23.”

“Which makes her a year older than me! Sirius you’re old enough to be her father!”

“So? Harry I thought you’d be pleased for me.”

“I am, but have you really thought about this? I mean, you’re 24 years older than her, when you hit 50 she’s only going to be 26!”

“I know that, and so does she. We don’t care, I love her.”

“You love her? How long have you even known her?”

“Two years,” he said.

“And when did you start seeing each other?”

“Two months ago, what’s with the third degree?”

“I just don’t want you to make a big mistake that’s all.”

“Harry I appreciate your concern, but really, it’ll be fine. We’re good. Jo’s really nice, you’ll like her. Now let’s take them some drinks before they start to think we’ve died or something.” He picked up some glasses a bottle of firewhiskey and a butterbeer for Joanne and left the room. Harry followed him slowly, feeling quite jealous that his godfather now had someone else in his life other than him and was immediately ashamed of those feelings. Forcing a smile on to his face he sat back down in the sitting room and took several large drinks of whiskey.

* * * * * *

In the forest Hermione curled up in a protective ball on the floor clutching her aching limbs, a deep weariness in her bones. And far away in a dank prison cell Severus mimicked her action, curling up in pain to avoid seeing the next blow coming from the death eater who taunted him at the moment, his thoughts filled with her face and his heart with despair.