Fire and the Dragon

A/N: I love all of your reviews and advice. I am completely new at this so I am absorbing all of it! Thanks so much! OH, and sorry, but I LOVE cliffhangers, I find they are a nice transition between chapters. Don\'t worry, there will be more Snape soon, just wanted to get a bit of foundation work done first.









Confrontations



Harry trudged the long drive to the Burrow. Never did he think he would ever come to his ‘home’ dreading the visit. Outside of the door were two young aurors, not much younger than himself.



“I’m sorry, Mr. Potter, we’ve been asked to keep you outside until your backup arrives.” The shorter auror stepped in front of the door, blocking his way. “Out of my way, Nathaniel, this is personal.” He raised his wand and tapped the younger man’s chin threateningly. “I’m sorry sir, we have our orders.”



Harry lifted his wand to stupefy his blockade when he heard a friendly voice shouting. “Wotcher Harry! Thought you’d be here this morning” He groaned as the flaming pink hair of Nymphadora “Tonks” Lupin came into view. “Tonks, I appreciate it, but this is not business. It is quite personal.”



“I got it Harry, but I thought it might be a good idea to come in with you so you don’t kill the little bastard…I mean Ron, before we know for sure.” She blushed at her slipped profanity. Harry raised his eyebrows then shrugged his shoulders in defeat. “Come on then, let’s get this over with.”



As soon as they entered the porch, Mrs. Weasley came running over to them. “Harry, Nymphadora, what is this all about. There have been aurors stationed outside for hours and they won’t let Ronald leave the house.” Harry gave her a small, sad smile and asked her where Ron was at.



After learning Ron was in the living room, they immediately closed off the room and placed a locking ward all around. Ron was currently brooding on the sofa, listening to the wizard wireless. He bounced to his feet the minute he matched a glance with Harry.



“Harry, mate..” he began, but Harry just pushed him back in the chair. “Just be quiet Ron, don’t move, don’t argue. Tell me exactly what you remember from last night, and you had better tell me the truth or, so help me, it will be all the worse for you.” He already had his wand drawn, pointed directly at Ron’s chest.



It was obvious that Ron was beginning to panic. Even from a couple of feet away, Tonks could see his heart pounding against his shirt. He looked from Harry to Tonks to the floor. He mumbled something that was too low to hear.



“What was that, Ron?” Tonks asked quietly from the corner. “I said, I keep having these flashes, like visions, but I don’t remember ever doing them. Honest, Harry, I didn’t mean to……”



SMASH



The rest of Ron’s speech was cut off by Harry slamming him into the wall. “You dumb bastard, you LOVED her, she is our best friend!!!” He screamed, all control lost at Ron’s near confession. He planted his fist in the side of Ron’s face.



“HARRY! STOP!” screamed Tonks. “Calm down Harry before I am forced to body bind you and lock you away to cool off” She had finally drawn her slender wand, ready to cast a shield to keep Ron alive.



Harry could barely hear her, but he let Ron drop to the ground momentarily. His glare pierced Ron to the depth of his soul. If looks could kill, Ron Weasley would be but a memory.



Ron just sat on the floor, staring at the wall…refusing to say anymore for fear of losing a couple more teeth. After being beside Harry during the final battle, the redhead knew of his fury and dared not test it. This, however, angered Harry even further.



“So that’s it then, you could very well have killed the woman you love, the best friend either of us have ever had, and you are just going to sit there?” Ron shrugged his shoulders, bad move.



Harry leapt at him, knocking him to his back and began pummeling him with everything he had. “You son of a bitch” he said with each blow “Hermione is laying in the hospital, may never wake up because you beat the hell out of her with one drunken night.” The magic radiating and crackling around Harry prevented Tonks from separating them with magic. She ran from the room to get some muscle.



When she came back in with the two aurors, Ron was to the brink of unconsciousness. The three aurors ran to Harry and pulled him off manually, binding his hands behind him to keep him from going at it again.



“Harry, we can’t do anything to him unless he gives an outright confession or Hermione names him out.” Tonks had her hand on his shoulder, willing him to understand, to remember his training. She hardly recognized the beast before her.



On his way out the door, he turned back to Ron, who was coming around, “You better hope she lives you asshole, if she dies, so do you.” Deep down, Ron knew he was not joking, and it made him shiver inside.



Mr. and Mrs. Weasley ran into the room, stopping to look at their youngest son. “No, Ronnie, please tell me you didn’t do it.” Mrs. Weasley choked out, tears flowing freely. When Ron didn’t answer, she slapped him hard across the face and left the room, Mr. Weasley, who was too angry for words, merely shook his head sadly and followed his wife.



Harry still had a few hours before reporting to work, so he decided to check on Hermione before going in. When he got there, he nodded hello to the assistant healer at the information desk. “Ah, hello Mr. Potter, if you could just wait here for a few minutes, Mr. Snape has not yet left and we have been asked to give him seclusion with Ms. Granger.”



Harry groaned, why oh why is everyone trying to shut me out now! Why was Snape here? His curiosity got the best of him and he decided to push his luck and ask the assistant healer. “OH, he and Healer Jackson agreed on a way to try and bring Hermione’s conscious mind back so she will wake up.” Harry’s attention was piqued.



“How can that be possible?” Never before had Harry heard of such magic. The healer put down her notes and leaned in close to Harry. “I don’t even know if it is legal. But it is dangerous. Apparently, Mr. Snape uses a form of legilimency to enter her mind to try to find her?”



The healer hesitated, almost as though she had said too much, but Harry urged her on. “Well, anyway, if he succeeds, he could help her regain consciousness almost instantly. If he fails…” she waited for a family to pass her. “If he fails, he could become trapped inside her mind with her, joining her in her persistent comatose state. If you ask me, only love could make a man take that kind of risk.”



At that, Harry’s head popped up, Snape love Hermione…ewww. That is impossible. Just when he was about to retaliate, however, a piercing scream came from Hermione’s room.



Harry dashed through the door to find Hermione huddled in the floor, shaking. Everytime Healer Jackson approached her she would shriek and retreat further from him.



“What the hell happened?” Harry demanded, though a bit relieved to see his friend awake again. His eyes met Snape’s. For the first time in his life, Harry saw the potion’s master look weak, tired, with a momentary flash of relief mixed with concern.



Then Harry noticed the color of the healer’s hair: red. Harry shouted out to the healer to come over. “Healer Jackson, is there anyway to request a different healer?” The man looked very affronted. Severus made his way to where the two were talking.



“No, no.” Harry said to the healer, noticing the man’s offended demeanor. “It is nothing to do with your abilities, you saved her life, it’s just…I have reason to believe that her assailant may have red hair.” He swapped looks with Snape as realization struck the professor.



Understanding swept over the healer and he promised to have it arranged as soon as he left the room. When the man was gone, Harry approached the quaking girl on the floor. His heart shattered seeing her in such a state. Nothing of the confident girl seemed present.



“Hermione?” he extended his hand. She just looked at it. “Come on, Hermione, let’s get you back in bed and covered up.” Seeing she wasn’t moving, Snape came over to help.

“Ms. Granger, unless you wish to lose house points, I suggest you remove yourself from my floor immediately.” That did it. She scrambled off the floor and into the bed. She seemed to be getting her bearings as she glanced from Severus to Harry.



“I’m not in school anymore, Professor.” She whispered to the sheets. Harry could have sworn he saw a ghost of a smile pass across the dour man’s face. Harry slowly walked over to her, as if approaching a scared dog, hand held out for her to see. She watched his every move, waiting to retreat to the floor again.



When Harry got to the bed, he brushed her hair out of her face. Hermione seemed to sense that he was not going to harm her. She fell into his arms and sobbed. “Shhhh, it’s ok. I’m here, Hermione.” He stroked her hair soothingly.



Severus, feeling as though he were intruding on something indecent, decided to go get some much needed rest. “Professor Snape?” the use of his title alone shocked him into turning and facing the green eyed boy. “Thank you.” Severus gave a curt nod and left the two friends alone.



When Hermione’s sobs calmed down to silent shakes, Harry asked her who had done this to her. The look in her eyes when she looked at him told Harry all he needed to know: it was Ron. Harry sighed and held the broken girl gently against him.