Chapter 1: A Bloody Mess

Hermione Granger was sound asleep when a tapping, at her bedroom window woke her up. Groggily she got out of bed and opened the window. Hedwig, Harry's owl, flew in and seemed in an almost panicked state. There was no letter attached to her leg. She seemed to want Hermione to follow her somewhere.

Sleep finally cleared from Hermione's brain as she realized that Harry might be in some sort of trouble. Quickly she got dressed and grabbed her now unmonitored wand. Thanking God that she found the spell that removed the Ministry's tracking charms on her wand. She knew that she was more than responsible and that it might somehow save someone's life one day.

Once she was ready, Hermione, grabbed a muggle notebook.

"Potrus" she muttered, turning the notebook into a portkey. "Come on, Hedwig."

The snowy owl flew over and landed on Hermione's shoulder, getting a tight grip. It seemed as if she knew what was going to happen. Within seconds the portkey activated and they were jerked out of the home and into Harry's bedroom, at least that was what Hermione assumed, it was but it was so dark she really couldn't tell.

Feeling her way along the wall she followed it to a light switch. She flipped it on and immediately suppressed the urge to gag. Blood was EVERYWHERE. On the walls, the floor, the ceiling, and Harry. He was naked on his bed unconscious.

"Dear God', she whispered as she ran over to Harry. Never had she seen anything like this. 'Those damn muggles', she thought furiously as she began to check Harry's injuries. A broken arm, a broken leg, several cracked and broken ribs, a cracked skull, several cuts, bruises, and welts. There wasn't one part of his body that wasn't injured in one way or another.

Surprisingly Harry regained consciousness. "Hermione?" he barely croaked out.

"Shh, Harry. Don't move! I'll go and get help. Madam Pomphrey will fix you up in no time."

"Nooo ….. Dumble….. Dumbledore… knows….. Help….. Helped them."

"Dumbledore helped those awful muggles do this!?!"

"Yes….. stopped my…… my magic….." He lost consciousness again.

Hermione stared at her friend, scarcely believing what she was hearing. Shaking her head clear, she looked around the room. Everything that Harry owned was ripped, torn, and totally destroyed beyond repair. She began searching for at least the pieces of Harry's wand when Hedwig flew over and began to peck at one of the floorboards. Hermione went over to investigate. She found, to her surprise, a loose floorboard. Inside were Harry's wand, the invisibility cloak, the Marauder's map, and the photo album that Hagrid had given Harry at the end of first year. His treasures. He had hid his most prized possessions.

Hermione quickly gathered up everything. She transfigured a torn t-shirt into a knapsack and placed everything inside. Finding her notebook, she quickly reversed the direction of the portkey and placed it on Harry's chest. Looking at Hedwig, the owl flew over and once again landed on Hermione's shoulder for the return trip home.

Once she got Harry to her own home, Hermione levitated him onto her bed. She was trying to think of who could help her, for she did need help. Obviously Hogwarts was out. As was Headquarters. She knew that the Weasleys would help, but would also report what had happened to Dumbledore. He would probably just put Harry right back with those muggles the next day. No, he was safer here.

One person clicked in her mind but she was hesitant to use him. Deciding to hate herself later, Hermione called for the one she knew would help her.

"Dobby."

A very quiet crack was heard. "Miss Hermy hows can Dobby serves yous?"

"Harry's hurt Dobby. I need your help. No one, especially the Headmaster, can know about this or that Harry is here. Can you keep this a secret?"

"Harry Potter is hurting! Dobby wills help Miss Hermy with whatever Harry Potter needs! Dobby will keep both Harry Potter and Miss Hermy's secrets," vowed the little elf. A golden light surrounded all three. Unknown to either human, they had just bonded with a house elf.

"Thank you, Dobby. You are a true friend to Harry and myself. Now I need some healing potions or the ingredients to make them. As well as some blood replenishing ones and pain and dreamless sleep one for later. I also need some water to clean him with and some bandages, just in case. Food will be needed later."

"Dobby wills gets all those for you. I knows just where. No ones wills knows that Dobby takes them." He disappeared in a flash, leaving behind a container of warm water, cloths, and rolled bandages. As she began to clean up her best friend, she went over in her mind what she would tell her parents, like how to explain why there was a naked young man was in her room.