Chapter 8: Prologue: Denial
Just like that, the ambush force of Pantheon disapparated, minus a few dozen fallen on their side. Harry quickly put up an anti-apparition ward, as big as he could make it and only then realized something – Hermione, Ginny and Ron were still missing. He only hoped that they didn't get dragged into this mess.
However, in the silence that had followed the fight, Harry could clearly hear Ron repeating three words, over and over again. Harry felt the cold hand of death gripping his heart and he broke into a run and then a full sprint towards the sound.
He soon reached the scene where Ron was holding a bloody Ginny in his arms and Hermione sitting beside them, holding Ginny's hands.
The only one that was smiling out of the three was Ginny, as if there were no worries left for her in this world.
He then gripped Ron's shoulder, turning the man forcefully to face him. Harry then roared into Ron's face: "What the hell happened here! Why didn't you protect her?"
Still, Ron only had three words to say, the same ones he had been repeating so far.
Harry's hand once again rose to his chest in a reflexive movement. He didn't care if anyone saw it, he couldn't waste a second. He immediately tried to use the Time-Turner, but as if the world was laughing at him, it bounced back immediately, a clear sign that once again, time was their enemy.
He ripped the Time-Turner off his neck, shattering the chain. He roared: "Useless piece of shit! What fucking good is it if it doesn't work when I need it?"
Harry proceeded to trample on the most expensive and intricate Time-Turner with the heel of his boot as if it was a cockroach.
"If I catch the bastards who did this to Gin, I'm going to make them beg I'd let them die! Those who have been locking down time, I won't let them even beg!", Harry declared.
Harry then took the ring with the resurrection stone off his finger and put it one off Ginny's to keep her soul affixed to her body, picked her up and took down the anti-Apparition ward, then apparated onto the island. Next, he rushed into the hospital – one of the few buildings that had been built aboveground.
One of the emergency rooms was already occupied. In there, a young intern was evaluating a patient that was sneezing frequently and had a terribly runny nose.
The intern finally gave her evaluation: "We've been out of Pepperup potion for a while, there's no cure available. It looks like we'll have to amputate!"
"What, the nose?", the attending healer asked, to find out her student's thoughts.
"Of course not, the infection runs much deeper. We'll have to take off the entire head!", the intern declared confidently.
"Oh, and I assume they'll be just fine without a head since everyone is capable of thinking with their foot just like you?", the healer questioned.
Harry failed to hear that conversation. He was too busy making sure his poor wife got medical attention as fast as possible, otherwise, he might've lost any faith he had remaining in the healers. He located an empty emergency room and rushed in.
He placed her onto the healing table and grabbed the healer on duty by the arm, then shouted: "Fix her!"
The healer took a cursory glance at Ginny's body and shouted: "Lisa! I'm going to need your help with this one!" before casting a few diagnostic spells.
As the door opened and another healer rushed in, the first one turned to Harry and said: "I'm sorry. There's nothing I can do. She has already passed away."
However, Harry had only heard the first three words, the rest had been covered by a ringing noise in his ears. He burst into rage: "You're sorry? Do you know how sick I am of hearing those words? Just fix her and be done with it! That's what you're getting paid for!"
The second healer walked up to Harry, and despite her much smaller frame, placed her hands on his shoulders before looking him in the eyes and saying: "Harry, she's dead."
This time, Harry heard the healer say the words, but they still didn't register in his consciousness. "Just make sure you don't mess it up. Don't take the ring off her or she'll die.", Harry said, his tone a bit calmer. It wasn't known what he imagined Lisa had told him.
As there was still much left to do, Harry returned to his office before he remembered that there was a rescue operation underway. He immediately apparated back to Hogwarts castle. The men were giving first aid to the wounded and apparating those that had fallen or been seriously injured back to the island. It looked like the healers would have their hands full for a whole week at least.
Harry found Hermione and, seeing her condition, pursed his lips regretfully. He asked: "Can you still work?"
Hermione nodded in response. She had cast a bubblehead charm on herself to minimize the risk of infection in her exposed respiratory system.
"Good, let's get those collars off the kids. I think our little surprise drew them away for now, but there's no telling when they'll return. We'll have to hurry."
Harry and Hermione left towards the campus, leaving Ron sitting on the ground and mumbling to himself until one of the Aurors came by, picked him up and took him back to the island.
After some searching the control tablet for the collars was found at the top of the Astronomy tower and with nobody coming to disturb them, Hermione managed to decipher the spell which this time was a fast growth charm for wheat.
Once Hermione was done, she flicked her wand in the air a few times and a message of burning letters appeared in the air. It said: 'Go be with your children, they need you more than we do.'
Harry returned home. Albus Severus was on him a moment later and with a tear-streaked face, he asked: "Why didn't you save her? Where were you when mom got hurt?"
Harry replied reassuringly: "It was an ambush and they had gone away from the rest to check something out. Don't worry, she'll come out of the hospital in two or three weeks at most."
Albus was about to say something else, but James put a hand on his shoulder and shook his head. Albus realized only then that Harry was in complete denial. As long as they brought the topic up, it would never get through to him.
---
A week later, Harry still hadn't left his desk. He was taking glances at the office's door and the tent set up between the bookshelves, still waiting to welcome his wife back. He wasn't doing paperwork, instead, there was an ancient-looking tome with silver bindings in front of him. He was going through it and occasionally taking notes.
However, Dumbledore finally visited him in the office. "Harry, my boy. Denying reality is never a good thing.", he said.
"Oh, and pray do tell what exactly have I been denying? That the world was invaded by what looks like a tribe of giant evil gods? That we have no viable way to fight against them? Or that Ginny is in the hospital after we got sneak-attacked?"
"Harry, Ginny is gone. She's not coming back."
Tears were streaking down Harry's face as he jolted upright from his chair, causing it to clatter onto the floor. He exploded: "You weren't even there! I told you to protect everyone! You couldn't even do that!"
Dumbledore replied with measured words: "I admit that I may have been able to do something if I was there, but Hermione tasked me to specifically keep an eye on the settlement while you were all away."
"If you're done with the pity party, you can go get lost. I have work to do. Merlin knows everyone that's anyone has already been here to disturb me but Hermione, and she's probably too busy working.", Harry said.
"Very well. If you need to talk, you know where to find me."
Hermione was indeed busy at work, except it wasn't just researching ways to better kill the Titans anymore. There was an additional project now. There were ten plastic and rubber devices that had been carved full of runes. There were also multiple books of charms open on her desk that she was occasionally flipping through and referencing.
She finished carving another rune into one of them and after cleaning it with a charm, she placed it into the gaping hole in her throat – it turned out to be a wound from an especially vicious curse that negated all healing other than forming scar tissue at the edges and stopping bleeding.
After a bit, her mouth opened and immediately, a loud screech, like a Banshee's wail came out, causing everyone in the lab to cover their ears lest they go deaf.
"Hermione! Could you please try those things out in an empty room, preferably one with very thick walls? My ears are still ringing from yesterday and now you did it again!"
Hermione simply glared at the offending Neville. He should understand how important her research was, she wasn't just trying to get her voice back, she was also trying to create a new generation of prosthetics that would work the same as the real thing.
Of course, Neville was completely oblivious to what Hermione was thinking, she had never shared her plans and thoughts on the matter with anyone, and nobody was curious enough to wait for her to explain it through a complicated drawing and full documentation. l.
She simply kept working on the devices every time she ran out of ideas on how to improve the spell. Unfortunately, the spell couldn't be tested on the intended target, as it seemed like the Titans had become few and far in between, not to mention that they stayed under the wards they had set up. It was as if something had forced them onto the path of caution.
However, the peaceful day of research wasn't to last for long. One of the Aurors came to her and said: "Minister, there's someone that wants to meet you."
Hermione thought for a moment and then, with a flick of her wand, a message appeared in front of her: 'Tell them I'm busy.'
"I'm afraid I can't do that. They're some high-ranking official from the ICW."
Hermione rolled her eyes at the wizard indignantly but tidied herself up nonetheless and took the latest 'voice synthesizer' prototype before making another message appear: 'Lead the way.'
"Ma'am, she's actually in the Ministry, the lookout team is at a standoff with hers."
Hermione gathered a team of elite Hitwizards for her own security and they apparated into the Ministry.
There were witches and wizards holding each other at wand point, one side behind the various pillars and another surrounding a tall brunette woman in her late thirties.
The woman that seemed to be in charge of the other side started calmly walking towards Hermione. However, wands were quickly pointed at her, including Hermione's. She had even opened her mouth by a bit, ready to use the prototype to its unintended purpose. One of the Hitwizards accompanying Hermione spoke up: "Halt! State your business with the Minister!"
"I'm Elizabeth Ross with the ICW. I'm here to extend our hand in a cooperative partnership."
Words appeared in front of a bland-faced Hermione: 'Why did you come out only now when we can already manage everything by ourselves?'
The ICW lady stared at her for a moment before replying: "Unfortunately, just like every other Wizarding organization, we were taken by surprise. We have been busy trying to liberate our personnel and their families. Just like every other organization, I suspect. However, recently, the enemy has greatly improved their security measures. The consensus was to unify the Resistance to accelerate research on countermeasures."
Hearing that, Hermione had a sudden bout of migraine assaulting her. It was quite obvious that if they were to go through with that proposal, then things would have to change greatly, and she wasn't quite happy with the idea.
'How would we benefit from that cooperation?'
"We're offering you access to all the artefacts in our disposal. I believe you've seen news reports of some of them in action. I can't imagine you haven't thought about studying them."
Hermione nodded subconsciously; she had indeed been curious about how those suits worked. Now more than ever, since she suspected she would get a clue to perfect her voice synthesizer from those things. 'The only problem is the risk of infiltrators in their ranks. I can't be sure they've managed to catch everyone.', she thought.
In the air, Hermione wrote: 'I'm okay with a research cooperation for now. Anything further will depend on the results. Everyone that wants to visit our base will have to be scanned by our man.'
She then made a much smaller message appear behind herself: 'Get Harry here. Tell him whatever you have to.'
One of the Hitwizards disapparated. Five minutes passed and suddenly, Harry apparated in, accompanied by twenty Hitwizards and as many Aurors, with both his wands drawn. A moment later, almost everyone there found themselves unable to move, courtesy of an immobilizing charm cast with the Elder wand.
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