Harry Potter and the Forbidden Passage

Harry returned to the common room that evening prepared to tell Ron and Hermione everything that he'd been keeping in for these long months. Sleep, as badly as it was needed, could wait. This was much more important.

It was time to get his life back on track. There was too much at stake now to keep wallowing in his grief. The mysteries surrounding their new professor were simply the trigger for something he had been delaying for far too long. Now he needed their help and knowing Ron and Hermione as he did, they would surely have found out sooner rather than later about everything he was about to say to them and it was better that the news came from him. Provided that Hermione hadn't already sorted most of it out herself, as she was so apt to do, considering how quickly she'd discovered that he'd been the one that had sent the new broom to Ginny.

"Bouncing Ferret," Harry said to the Fat Lady, waking her from what appeared to be a peaceful slumber.

She yawned and her eyes fluttered open. "Out a bit late again, aren't we, dear?" she commented as the portrait swung slowly open.

Despite all of his rationalizations, he hesitated somewhat before stepping through the portrait hole. An image flashed in his mind of a night of tears, cursing, and shouting. The looming dread that overtook him left him feeling cold and miserable with a horrible aching in the pit of his stomach.

"Well, hurry up then. I'm not going to stay open all night," the Fat Lady called out from the other side.

Harry sighed and stepped through. He had imagined that he would have to wake Ron and Hermione but he should have known that they would be there waiting for his return.

Indeed, both of them were huddled in the same place where he had left them hours before. Though now they seemed quite a bit more amiable. Some sort of truce must have been formed in his absence. They were sitting beside the fireplace side by side. Hermione was intently studying the book in front of her. But Ron had fallen asleep, his head resting on her shoulder.

The portrait closed behind him and Hermione looked up towards the noise. Spotting him, she nudged Ron awake.

"H-Harry," Ron yawned, "you're back. How'd it go?"

"Yes, how was your Occlumency lesson?" Hermione asked. "Is Professor Ramsey a good teacher?"

"Occlumency was…," Harry paused, trying to think of an appropriate word to describe his first lesson with Professor Ramsey, "er…interesting."

He went on to explain everything that had taken place since he'd left them earlier - overhearing the conversation between Snape and Ramsey, his observations in the new defense instructor's office, and the Occlumency lesson itself. He told them about Lupin's letter, warning him to be cautious of Ramsey and alerting him to the animosity between Ramsey and his father. And finally, he told them of the cryptic response to his question of how Ramsey had become a great Occlumens.

"Hmm…Well, he certainly is mysterious, isn't he?" Hermione commented when he had finished. Her brow was furrowed in thought. "That was a rather evasive answer he gave you."

"He said he learned when he was very young, right? Maybe his parents worked with You-Know-Who or something," Ron suggested.

"Oh, don't be silly, Ron," said Hermione with a dismissive wave of her hand. "There are lots of other reasons that one might learn Occlumency that have nothing to do with Voldemort."

Ron still reacted to Voldemort's name, but his reaction on the whole had improved greatly over the past year. He only twitched slightly before responding. "Why don't we talk to Dumbledore, then? He must know the reason."

"Maybe," Harry said, "but Ramsey obviously doesn't want anyone to know the reason, so I doubt Dumbledore would tell us. I mean, look at Snape. We know he trusts him despite the fact that he was a Death Eater and Dumbledore still won't explain why. And besides, Lupin said that Dumbledore doesn't know everything about Ramsey."

"Well, why not ask Lupin then?" Ron suggested. "And I'll write to Bill. They both worked in Egypt so they probably met at some point. The wizarding community in Egypt is fairly small."

"And I can do some research in the library," Hermione added, unsurprisingly. "If Ramsey is half as well known as he seems to be, there must be something written about him."

"If you haven't heard about him, Hermione, then I very much doubt you'll find anything in the library," Ron commented, the corners of his mouth turned upwards into a smirk. "You might try some alternative literature. Judging from the female population here, you'll be more likely to find him in Witch Weekly."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Witch Weekly. Honestly, Ron," she said, irritated. She paused, her brow furrowed in thought. "But actually you may have a point." Her eyes strayed to the Arithmancy book on the table. "Perhaps it's time for me to become a little friendlier with Daphne Greengrass. I heard her mention him the other day in Arithmancy. Maybe she knows something."

Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. They both stared back at Hermione as though she'd gone mad.

"Hermione, she's a Slytherin," Ron said plainly.

"Of course, the Slytherins all seem to know Ramsey, don't they? I'm sure she's the perfect one to ask."

"But…she's a Slytherin," Ron repeated as though Hermione hadn't heard him the first time. "She's not going to talk to you."

"Of course, she will. We talk every day. She sits next to me in Arithmancy. It may be contrary to what you believe, Ron, but not all Slytherins are like Malfoy."

Ron looked rather skeptical and Harry couldn't help but feel some doubt as well. He had never had a positive experience with a Slytherin and somehow doubted that he ever would. The very idea that Hermione was holding friendly conversations with one on a regular basis was something of a shock.

"Well," Hermione said, yawning as she piled her books into her bag, "now that that's settled, perhaps we should get to bed. It's getting late."

Ron stood up to follow her.

"Wait!"

The word escaped Harry's mouth before he even realized it. And now that it was said, there was no taking it back. He had set himself on a course that he had just nearly talked himself out of taking. He had just begun to question whether it was really necessary to tell Ron and Hermione anything more.

The subject of their mysterious new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was so much safer and easier than what would come next. Did they really need to know what had happened on his second visit to the Department of Mysteries that summer? And could any good possibly come from telling them about the prophecy? As it was, he wished that he could forget all of it.

And yet, something had compelled him to stop them - to carry through with his original intentions for that evening.. They had all shared so much together. They were a part of this whether he liked it or not. And he had never kept anything from them before these last few months - before Sirius died. And now it was time for them to know the rest.

"Harry?" Hermione looked at him with concern. "What is it? Is there something else?"

His heart was pounding in his chest.

"Yes," he finally answered after a moment's pause. "Yes, there's something else." He sighed. It was now or never. "I need to tell you…everything."

Hermione's eyes widened as she realized the significance of what he was saying. "Really? Are you sure, Harry? I know I've asked you to open up to us lately, but if you're not ready, we can wait." She sat beside him and looked intently at him, waiting for his answer.

He nodded slowly and looked back at her. "Yes, I'm sure. I've waited too long already. It's not going to be easy, but it's time."

"All right then. We'll stay as long as it takes." She smiled almost gratefully at him.

Before she would let him begin, Hermione prepared cups of tea for the three of them with an Ennervating Potion in them. One sip and Harry felt instantly alert and revived as though he had just awakened from a long night's sleep. He had to remind himself to ask Hermione how to prepare it later.

Now that he had made his decision, the feeling of dread was quickly evaporating, almost seeming to dissolve as the warm tea slipped down his throat. Hermione and Ron listened intently as he began telling them about his return to the Department of Mysteries that summer. Once the words started pouring out of him, he found it much easier than he had first imagined.

Thanks to Snape's interference, they already knew that he had nearly lost his life to the veil. But the revelation of what had caused him to approach the veil in the first place was entirely new. The voices still echoed in his memory as he retold the story. Hermione was clearly trying to keep her emotions in check but a silent tear slipped down one cheek as he finally revealed that it was the voices of his mother and Sirius that had called to him and begged him to join them beyond the veil.

Not allowing himself to succumb to the emotions that memory threatened to stir, he hurried on to explain how Dumbledore had stopped him at the last possible second. After omitting any discussion of the lecture that had followed, he continued and recounted Dumbledore's explanation of the history of the death chamber and the veil as a means of execution. Ron and Hermione both knew something of the history from the Daily Prophet article earlier that week but there was some new information that caught them by surprise.

"You're kidding," Ron said in disbelief when Harry had finished. "Dumbledore actually said that someone passed through the veil and came back?"

Harry nodded.

"Who do you think it could be?" Ron asked.

"That's what I'd like to know," said Harry somberly. "And if that person made it through, then why can't Sirius?"

"But that's impossible. It doesn't make any sense," Hermione said in disbelief. "If Dumbledore said it leads to the afterlife, how could someone possibly return?"

"But they don't know much about the veil, do they?" Ron said darkly. "I mean, how would Dumbledore even know what's behind it unless he's seen it? Wait…you don't suppose Dumbledore's the one, do you?"

"Not unless he was sentenced to execution," said Harry. "Besides, he said that whoever returned from the veil didn't return to the world the way he left it."

"Maybe a ghost then?" offered Hermione.

"If that's the case," Ron said, "my vote's for the Bloody Baron. If any ghost here was bad enough to be executed, I'd bet on him."

They spent a while longer discussing their various theories on who the mysterious survivor might have been. Harry was happy to have steered the conversation away from himself for the time being. But all too quickly for his liking, the conversation died down and the time had come.

With only a moment's hesitation, he continued. "There's something else I have to tell you," he said darkly, not quite meeting their eyes.

"Something else?" Ron asked, surprised. He exchanged a worried glance with Hermione.

"You remember that night in the Hall of Prophecy? Of course you remember," Harry muttered, shaking his head. Who could forget being chased by a dozen Death Eaters? He continued, "Well, you remember how Neville told you that the prophecy broke? And that no one heard what it said?"

Ron and Hermione both nodded in response, each looking nervous and curious at the same time.

"You heard it. Didn't you?" Hermione prompted, her eyes wide as she made the realization.

Harry breathed in deeply, pausing before he answered. "Yes and no. The prophecy did break and no one heard it at the Ministry. There was too much noise all around us. But afterwards - in Dumbledore's office that night - he told me."

He went on to describe how he watched Trelawney's figure rise from the Pensieve and foretell his fate in that eerie voice. Hermione and Ron listened, transfixed as he recited the prophecy from memory. They almost seemed numb, not moving and hardly even breathing as he explained what it meant. It wasn't until he had finished and explained that he was to be either murderer or victim that they showed a response.

Ron gulped loudly. His face was a mask of true devastation. Meanwhile, the tears that Hermione had been holding in finally broke free in torrents. Her shoulders shook with her sobs and Ron awkwardly put an arm around her shoulder in an effort to comfort her.

Harry frowned. He had known that they might react like this, had even anticipated it in fact, but it still made him miserable to see it.

"What are all of you doing up at this hour?"

Ginny Weasley had appeared at the bottom of the staircase to the girl's dormitories. She yawned sleepily as she walked towards them. She couldn't have chosen a worse time to walk in on them.

Hermione sniffed and wiped her tears quickly with the sleeve of her dressing gown.

Ginny frowned as she took in the sight in front of her. "What's going on here?" she asked, suddenly much more alert. She looked with concern at Hermione, whose eyes were still red and puffy from crying. "Hermione, what's wrong?"

"Ginny, go back to bed," Ron ordered firmly. He stood up and took hold of Ginny's elbow to steer her back to the stairs.

She yanked her arm away. "No, I want to know what's going on. What did you say to her?" she demanded.

"It's none of your business," Ron said forcefully. "Leave us alone."

"It certainly is my business. Hermione's my friend and so is Harry. If something's happened, I want to know about it. I'm not leaving," she replied angrily. She folded her arms and glared back at her brother.

Hermione glanced anxiously at Harry before turning to Ginny. "I'm all right," she said softly. "Really, Ginny. I…I was just being silly. You see, I'm fine now." She tried to smile reassuringly at Ginny. "Don't worry, it's…nothing." But as she said this, she glanced over at Harry again and her voice broke with the last word.

"Harry?" Ginny asked, staring directly at him. Her tone sounded almost threatening and she suddenly reminded Harry more than a bit of Mrs. Weasley in one of her tempers.

As his eyes locked with hers, Harry suddenly felt both nervous and guilty. He quickly looked away. He didn't want to burden Ginny with his secrets. It was bad enough that he had told Ron and Hermione. No one was supposed to know about the prophecy.

Ron stepped in before he could respond. "Ginny, if you don't go back to bed right now, I'll…I'll give you a detention with Filch."

"For what?" Ginny laughed derisively. "I haven't done anything wrong."

"I know you went out onto the grounds last night past curfew. And I'll tell Mum too and you know what she'd say about that."

Ginny glared angrily at her brother. She looked back at Hermione and Harry for support. When neither spoke up, she gave them a look of utter betrayal. "Fine," she snapped, "but I will find out what this was about one way or another." She stomped up the staircase angrily, making all too much noise for three o'clock in the morning.

"Someone else might come down any minute after that racket. We'd better go up soon and talk in the morning," Ron suggested.

Harry nodded in agreement and turned to Hermione. "Thanks for not saying anything to her."

"It's not my secret to tell, Harry. But you know you can trust Ginny, don't you?"

"I know," he admitted, "but I've already said more than I should have to you and Ron. Voldemort was willing to kill for the information I've just given you. I've put you both in danger now. I don't want to get Ginny involved too." He shook his head. "I probably shouldn't have said anything."

"Harry," Hermione reached out and touched his arm, "Don't say that. I don't know how you've kept it all in as long as you have. As for me and Ron, you can tell us anything and I expect you too."

He gave her a half-hearted smile in reply.

"Listen, Harry, everything's going to be all right. There's no question in my mind that you will be the survivor - it's your destiny. When the time comes, you'll be prepared and Ron and I will be there to help you."

"Yeah, mate, we're with you all the way. We'll see this through together," Ron said supportively.

And somewhere inside, Harry knew that was true. Just as he was destined to face Voldemort again someday, Ron and Hermione were destined to fight beside him. He had spent so many months imagining that he was all alone in this - that the entire fate of the wizarding world rested on him alone. Suddenly, that view had changed completely.

He had expected to fall asleep that night wondering whether or not he had made the right decision in telling them. But instead he found that a tremendous weight had been lifted from his shoulders. For the first time in so many months, he felt the faintest glimmer of hope.