The Last Time

Chapter 12

"Hurry up, Hermione! We haven't got all day to wait on you!" yelled Ron.

"I'm coming!" she yelled back. Where is my scarf? I can't find it...oh yeah, there it is. She yanked her scarlet and gold Gryffindor scarf from under a pile of library books, grabbed her cloak off its hook, and ran down the stairs to the common room, where Harry and Ron were waiting for her.

"About time," said Ron, taking her hand. "We thought you were going to try to stay up in your room studying instead of coming to Hogsmeade with us. Harry and I were about to come up and drag you out."

"Well, I do have a lot to do - you know we've got N.E.W.T.s this year - and - "

"Oh, come off it already, Hermione," said Ron exasperatedly. "It's Saturday. First Hogsmeade weekend! Who cares about studying today? Right, Harry?"

"Right," said Harry. "And besides, I think someone owes me a butterbeer."

"I still can't believe you had a bet like that," said Hermione, as they left Hogwarts and walked along the path to Hogsmeade. It was a beautiful day; clear and sunny, but a brisk breeze was blowing, and she wound her scarf tighter around her neck and buttoned her cloak.

"First, we're going to the shop," said Ron. "I can't wait for you to see it, Hermione. You won't believe that Fred and George actually manage to run a business. It's incredible."

Weasley's Wizard Wheezes (which had formerly been Zonko's Joke Shop, before Fred and George bought it out) was packed with students by the time Hermione, Harry, and Ron arrived. There was barely enough room to squeeze in the door. Hermione soon found out why. Two huge displays in the centre of the room held their very first creations - Canary Creams and Ton-Tongue Toffees. The walls were lined with barrels and boxes of the most bizarre prank and joke items imaginable. There were fake wands that would turn into rubber chickens or flopping fish when you tried to cast a spell; quills that would explode after writing a certain number of words; lollipops that made your skin turn rainbow colours when you ate them; and a multitude of other things that Hermione couldn't figure out.

"Oy, Fred, look! It's Ron and Hermione and Harry!" shouted George from behind the counter.

"Hey there, you lot!" said Fred. "Sorry, can't stop to talk." He looked over his shoulder. "Angelina! I need another box of Exploding Quills from the back, please!"

"Okay, coming right up!" shouted Fred's girlfriend, Angelina Johnson, a former Gryffindor Chaser. She gave the three of them a quick wave before disappearing into the stockroom.

They spent the better part of the morning hanging around the shop, trying out some of the twins' new creations. By noon, the crowd thinned out considerably, and they got to talk to Fred and George a little over lunch they had brought in.

"You want to come with us to the Three Broomsticks later on?" asked Ron.

"I will, but Fred can't," said George with a smirk.

"Why not?" asked Ron.

"Shut up, George," mumbled Fred, blushing.

"What's going on with you, Fred?" asked Harry.

Fred turned even redder. "I - um - have plans with - um, Angelina later." He looked over at Angelina, who was behind the counter, helping a few Hogwarts students with their purchases.

Hermione was curious. She'd never seen Fred Weasley stammer or be unsure of himself the entire time she'd known him. It was amazing how much he looked like Ron at the moment.

"So? You can both come with us," said Ron.

"Er, no, we can't," said Fred.

"He's got something special planned, don't you, Fred?" laughed George.

"Will you shut up already?" said Fred, glaring at George.

"Oh," said Ron, blushing. "Never mind...you'll be busy..."

"No, you stupid prat. Not that. Not that it's any of your business. If you must know, I'm going to - er - I'm going to ask her to - well, I'm going to ask her to marry me." He looked almost relieved that it was out in the open.

"Oh, that's wonderful!" said Hermione, as Harry clapped Fred on the back and Ron looked at him, goggle-eyed.

"Marry you?" said Ron. "What would she want to do that for?"

"Will you cut it out?" said Fred. "I want it to be a surprise. Which it won't be, if you lot don't keep it down."

"Well, if you chicken out or something, you know where to find us later," said Ron.

"I'm not going to chicken out!" sputtered Fred indignantly.

"Yeah, well, we'll see about that," said Ron. "Come on, let's go."

"Bye, Angelina!" said Harry as they left. "Have fun tonight!"

"What?" asked Angelina.

"Nothing!" shouted Hermione, dragging Ron and Harry out the door.

"They're just being stupid," said Fred. "Don't pay them any mind." He shot them a dangerous look.

"You two!" Hermione sputtered at them when they were outside. "You're going to ruin it! He wants it to be a surprise!"

"So?" said Ron. "If he wanted it to be that big a surprise, he shouldn't have told us."

"That doesn't mean you need to ruin it for her," she said, taking his arm. "It's a big deal for a girl, you know. She'd be mad if she even knew Fred told us before we asked her."

"Can you imagine? Fred - married? Ha!" said Ron.

"What's wrong with that?" asked Hermione. "He's liked her for as long as I've known him. He needs someone like her to keep him in line."

"And your mum really likes her," said Harry. "A lot better than the girl Bill brought home last year at Christmas. I thought your mum was going to poke Bill's eyes out when he walked through the door with her."

"Let's not stand around and dissect my brothers' love lives, okay?" said Ron. "I just can't picture any of them married, and I sure didn't think Fred would be the first one. It's weird, that's all."

Hermione had been to Hogsmeade many times since third year, but being in the only all-wizarding village in Britain never failed to amaze her. The three of them spent the day browsing through all the stores, talking and joking and having a wonderful time. They visited Honeydukes', where they stocked up on Chocolate Frogs, Sugar Quills, and Choco Balls. In Dervish and Banges, Hermione picked up a couple of new books ("How many books do you need, Hermione?" asked Ron), and they all got more ink and parchment. By the time they had finished with all the stores, it was early evening, and getting colder, so they went on to the Three Broomsticks for the butterbeers that Ron owed them.

"You two sit down, I'll get the drinks," said Ron, heading for the bar.

The place was packed with Hogwarts students, as it usually was on Hogsmeade weekends, in addition to the regular Hogsmeade crowd. It was very noisy and warm inside, and they took off their cloaks quickly. Harry and Hermione found a table and sat down.

"I wish I hadn't come," said Harry abruptly.

"What!" said Hermione, dumbfounded. "Why ever not?"

"I hate crowds," he said, picking at a scratch on the table.

"They've never bothered you before."

"I know, I just don't..." Suddenly his hands flew to his head, over his scar.

"What's wrong, Harry?" she asked him anxiously.

He brushed her off. "My scar...it hurts," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm going outside, for some air...stay here...." He stumbled blindly out of the pub, leaving lots of pointing and whispering in his wake.

"Where's he going?" asked Ron, returning to the table with three foaming mugs of hot butterbeer.

"His scar," said Hermione. "He said he was going out for some air...he said not to come with him."

"Damn," said Ron, sitting down beside her. "I was hoping he'd be okay today. He needs a break." He took a sip of his butterbeer. "I'm giving him five minutes, then I'm going out there after him."

They sat in silence for a few minutes. Ron drank his butterbeer, but Hermione just picked at the foam on top.

"That's it, I'm going out there," said Ron, thumping his mug down on the table.

"No, here he comes," said Hermione, nodding towards the door.

Harry came back to the table, his face ashen, and reached for his mug. He drained half of it in one gulp.

Ron and Hermione stared.

"Are you okay?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah," he mumbled into his drink.

"What happened?" asked Ron.

"Nothing. My scar just hurt. That's all," he answered shortly.

"But Harry - "

"I don't want to talk about it," he said flatly. "We're supposed to be having fun, remember?"

They sat there in an uncomfortable silence - Hermione fiddling with her earrings, Ron staring off into space, and Harry staring at his hands, folded on the table. Hermione desperately wanted to know if Harry was all right; he said he was, but she knew he often lied about things that happened to him so that they wouldn't worry. He had gone into one of his dark moods, though, so she knew there was no use asking him anything until he was ready to talk.

"Well, aren't we the quiet bunch," said a voice.

"Fred! Angelina!" said Ron, jumping up. "What are you doing here?"

"Just spreading the good news," said Angelina, grinning and holding out her left hand, where a small but incredibly brilliant diamond ring sparkled on her finger.

"That's wonderful!" yelled Ron, hugging Fred and then Angelina.

"Do you know what you're getting into?" asked Hermione, laughing.

"I'm not sure," said Angelina, sitting down next to Hermione. "I'm still waiting for the catch - you know, that this is really George and not Fred and it's a huge joke, or that the ring is cursed and will turn my hand green, or something." She was teasing, of course.

"Run away, run away now!" teased Ron. "Save yourself, before it's too late!"

"Shut up, you," said Fred, punching him in the arm.

Hermione was relieved that Fred and Angelina had shown up. Their presence helped break the tension, as the conversation turned to possible wedding dates and plans. Even Ron, who thought weddings were "girl stuff", seemed very interested now that it was his own brother taking the plunge. Harry didn't join in the conversation, but stared into his mug as if it held the secrets of the universe.

"Did you have any idea he was going to ask you?" Hermione asked Angelina.

"Well...not really...I knew he was up to something, because he'd been acting kind of funny lately...actually I thought he was going to break up with me," Angelina answered. "I was really surprised."

"Ha!" said Ron. "See, Hermione, I didn't ruin anything."

"What do you mean, you didn't ruin anything?" asked Angelina, narrowing her eyes at Ron.

"Uh-oh," he said.

Angelina looked at Fred. "Did you tell anyone you were going to do this?" she asked.

"Well, uh, just them...they were being nosy..." Fred stammered.

"I ought to smack you," said Angelina with a wicked glint in her eye. "But I won't. I'll deal with you later." She gave him a big kiss.

"Get a room, you two!" said Ron. "I don't want to see that!"

"Get used to it," said Angelina and Fred together, and kissed again.

"Look, it's Hagrid," said Hermione, pointing to the door. "Hagrid! Come on over!"

"Fred's getting married!" yelled Ron, as Hagrid squeezed his massive bulk through the crowd to their table.

"That's great, Fred," said Hagrid, but he wasn't smiling. His beetle-black eyes lacked their usual merriment, which made Hermione very uneasy.

"Hagrid...is something wrong?" Hermione asked.

"Harry, yeh need ter come wi' me. Professor Dumbledore wants ter see yeh," said Hagrid quietly.

Harry looked up at Hagrid. "What's it about?"

"Can' tell yeh, Harry. Best come quick-like. It's important." Hagrid looked at Hermione and Ron. "Yeh might want ter come wi' him, Ron, Hermione."

They grabbed their cloaks and followed Hagrid out into the night, back to Hogwarts.

*****

"Harry, I'm sorry to disturb your outing to Hogsmeade, but I'm afraid I have some rather alarming news," said Professor Dumbledore, when they reached his office. "I think you'd better have a seat."

"I'm fine," said Harry, not sitting down. "What is it?"

Dumbledore sighed. "It's to do with your relatives - Petunia, Vernon, Marjorie, and Dudley Dursley - they're dead."

"Dead? How? When?" Harry asked. He sank into a chair between Ron and Hermione, his face blank and shocked.

"They were found just a few moments ago, at Privet Drive," Dumbledore answered. "We have Order members in the vicinity. Your aunt, uncle, and cousin, along with your uncle's sister, who was visiting, had apparently just sat down to have tea. The neighbours reported a mysterious green light coming from the house, but that is all."

"Voldemort," whispered Harry.

"If they're dead," said Ron slowly, "then that means...."

Dumbledore nodded. "It means that the blood protection - the protection that Harry's mother put on him as a baby and was renewed each summer by returning to his relatives' home - will come to an end."

*****

"I'm going, and that's final," said Harry.

"Please, Harry, stop and think," said Hermione, standing shoulder to shoulder with Ron in front of the portrait hole, blocking Harry from leaving. "The only reason Voldemort did this to the Dursleys is to get you. He wants you to be scared. He's trying to draw you away from Hogwarts - he can't touch you here, so he wants to get you away so he can have a good shot at you now that the blood protection is gone. Please don't fall for it Harry, it's too - "

"Did you not hear what I said?" said Harry. "I said, I'm going to the funeral, and that's it. Now let me through."

"At least let us go with you, Harry," said Hermione. "You shouldn't go alone."

"I can't go, I have to do that stupid detention Tenby gave me for yelling at Malfoy," said Ron. "She won't let me out of it. I asked. But Hermione's right, you shouldn't go alone. What Remus or Tonks or - "

"It's the full moon tonight, so Remus can't go. Tonks would probably show up with purple hair and attract more attention than we need," said Harry impatiently. "I don't want the whole bloody Order swarming all around me - I don't want anyone following me or going with me! So will you two please just get out of my way and let me go!"

"Please, Harry, be reasonable," Hermione pleaded. "I know Dumbledore said it was okay to miss class to go, but I really think you shouldn't. Why put yourself in danger for them? They were horrible to you. They were terrible, rotten people. They locked you in that cupboard for ten years! Do you really think they'd be there for you if it was the other way around?"

As soon as she'd said it, she wished she hadn't. He looked at her with such a cold, hurt gaze that she thought she was going to be sick.

"I hated the Dursleys more than you can possibly imagine," said Harry softly. "They did things to me that I never told you and never will. But I never, ever wanted them to die. They're dead because of me."

"No, Harry, they're dead because of You-Know-Who," said Ron.

"Voldemort," hissed Harry. "Use his name! I'm sick of people being scared to say his stupid name!"

"Okay then, they're dead because of V...Voldemort," said Ron, forcing himself to say it.

"Thank you. Don't you see why I need to go? I have to do this," said Harry.

"You shouldn't go alone," said Ron.

"Fine, if it will make you two happy...Hermione, you have ten minutes to get ready. If you're not back here by then I'm leaving anyway."

*****

Harry and Hermione went to Hogsmeade and travelled to Diagon Alley by Floo powder. They stopped by Gringotts to change over some money, and then went out into the Muggle world through the Leaky Cauldron, where Harry hailed a cab to take them to Little Whinging.

"I'm sorry," he said abruptly, as the cab drove away from the Leaky Cauldron. "I was harsh to you and Ron, and I didn't mean it."

"It's okay, Harry," she said. "Don't worry about it."

"I shouldn't care," he said after a pause. "About them, I mean. You were right. If it were me that was dead...I don't know why I'm doing this. I should have stayed at Hogwarts."

"They were horrible, hateful people, but they were the only blood family you had," said Hermione. "There's no one way you're supposed to feel."

"There's something I don't get, though," said Harry thoughtfully, after another pause. "Dudley - he should have been at school - at Smeltings. He shouldn't have been at home."

"That's odd," said Hermione. "Maybe he got kicked out?"

"I doubt it. And Marge - that's Uncle Vernon's sister - she usually only comes to visit in the summer. It's not like her to be there, either."

"Is she the one you blew up that time?" asked Hermione.

"Yeah," said Harry. "I didn't really mean to. She was saying things - things about my parents, that my father was a bum - " He broke off, staring out the window.

"Harry...." Hermione began, and stopped.

They rode the rest of the way in silence.

*****

Vernon and Petunia Dursley had been very faithful in their church attendance, Harry had told her. Not out of any sort of devotion to God, but out of an effort to appear as "normal" as possible. The Dursleys were extremely obsessed with being normal. They had often trotted Harry out to church, wanting to impress the other members of the congregation with their appearance of generosity and Christian charity. Naturally, they had attended the largest and most socially desirable church in Little Whinging, since matters of theology had taken a backseat to social aspirations.

The church was packed and the service was about to start by the time Harry and Hermione slid into the end of a pew in the back of the sanctuary. The four coffins were already in place at the front of the church, surrounded by lavishly ostentatious floral arrangements that had no doubt been sent by Vernon's colleagues at Grunnings and the various social clubs to which Petunia had belonged, and the organist droned out a mournful tune. Hermione had only been to one other funeral in her life - her father's mother had passed on when Hermione was only five years old, so she didn't remember many of the details and had no idea what to expect. She looked around at the mass of people in the congregation and noticed many of them in school uniforms. Smeltings, she supposed. Near the front of the group of students, a tall blonde girl was crying floods of tears and whispering Dudley's name.

Hermione elbowed Harry. "Harry - look at that girl. D'you think she might have been Dudley's - girlfriend?" she whispered.

The corner of Harry's mouth turned up briefly. "Girlfriend? Dudley? Er - I don't know. Maybe."

"Well, if she was, then maybe she knows why Dudley was at home instead of at school," she suggested. "We could try to talk to her, afterward."

Harry nodded.

Then the service began. Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione could see Harry gritting his teeth when the minister got up to talk about the Dursleys and what a wonderful Christian family they were. Once Harry took off his glasses and wiped the lenses with the edge of the black shirt he was wearing, but other than that, he didn't move. Thankfully, the minister didn't talk too long, and after a few hymns and prayers, the service was over and everyone was filing out to the cemetery behind the church.

There was more eulogizing over the graves, and then the coffins were lowered into the four neat holes that had been dug for them. After a final prayer, the crowd began to disperse. Harry didn't move. He seemed to be rooted to the spot, his eyes wide and glazed over.

"Harry," said Hermione, tugging at his sleeve. "I'm going to go and talk to that girl we saw that might be Dudley's girlfriend."

"Okay," Harry said hoarsely.

Hermione hurried across the grass to the cemetery gate, where the group of Smeltings students was gathered, preparing to leave. Some were talking in subdued voices; others were hugging each other and crying. The blonde girl was standing alone at the edge of the group.

"Excuse me," said Hermione politely.

"Oh, hello," said the girl, wiping her eyes with a tissue. "Do I know you?"

"No, I'm Hermione Granger, a friend of Dudley's cousin Harry," she said.

At the mention of Dudley's name, the girl looked as if she would burst into tears again, but she didn't. "I'm Veronica Smythe-Jones," she replied. "I'm Dudley's - I mean, I was Dudley's girlfriend." Her eyes filled with tears.

"I wanted to ask you something, if it's okay?" Hermione asked.

"Sure. What is it?"

"Er - do you know why Dudley came home? Why he wasn't at school?" Hermione asked carefully.

"He got a message - it was a funny, old-fashioned looking letter - saying that there was a family emergency, and left right away," said Veronica, clutching at her tissue. "He didn't say what it was. Do you know?"

"No, I'm sorry, I don't," said Hermione.

"If he'd just stayed at school! He'd be - he'd be alive still!" cried Veronica, sobbing again. Her tissue was now in shreds. Hermione reached in her pocket for a fresh tissue and gave it to the girl, who took it gratefully.

"I'm sorry," said Hermione, patting the girl's arm sympathetically. "I'll go now. Thank you for your help."

Hermione walked back to the gravesite where she'd left Harry, but he wasn't there. She walked around the cemetery for a few minutes, looking for him and wondering where he could have gone, when she spotted him at the edge of the property. As she drew closer to him, she could see that he was staring at two small, plain gravestones at his feet.

"Harry? What are you doing?" she asked softly.

He didn't reply, but pointed to the stones. They were at the head of two very overgrown graves, and each was inscribed only with a name and dates. Hermione gasped when she saw the names.

James Godric Potter

March 17, 1960-October 31, 1981

Lily Evans Potter

August 29, 1960-October 31, 1981

"They were here, and I never knew," he said in a choked voice. "I was here, in the same town, for so many years...and I never knew they were here. They never told me!" He clenched his fists, looking as if he desperately wanted to hit something. "Look at their graves!"

Harry whipped out his wand, not stopping to see if anyone was watching. Hermione's first instinct was to tell him not to use magic here, but she bit her lip and said nothing. Harry mumbled a spell Hermione didn't know, and the weeds and trash disappeared from the two graves, leaving them neat and clean. He used another spell to transfigure a handful of grass into two crimson roses, placing one on each headstone.

"I don't reckon anyone's ever done that before," he whispered.

Hermione picked up a handful of grass and used the same spell Harry had to turn it into two yellow roses, which she placed beside the red ones. "For Gryffindor," she said softly.

"Right," he said with the barest trace of a smile. "Let's go. There's one more stop I want to make before we go back to Hogwarts."