Harry and Hermione -- Their Sixth Year II

Chapter XV

Thursday, November 1, 1996

continued

"NO!" Luna nearly screamed.

"Calmly, Miss Lovegood," Dumbledore said. "First, Miss Granger, I want you, Mister Potter, and Miss Lovegood to draw up a complete, minute by minute, account of Miss Weasley's day last Saturday, from the time she left the castle until the time she boarded the carriages."

The three students glowered at him. "But either Luna or I, if not all three of us, were with Ginny all day," Hermione protested.

"It must be done, if only to close out the possibility," Dumbledore said simply. "The three of you are excused from classes tomorrow, should you need that much time. Severus, please see if you can find anything out." All four nodded, and the meeting broke up.

"Where can we work?" Luna asked as they walked away from the Headmaster's office.

Harry and Hermione looked at each other, communicating silently. Harry took off his tie, and Hermione wrapped it around Luna's eyes. "We'll take you to some place we can work in total privacy," Hermione said.

"I understand. I trust you."

Luna was very impressed by Hermione's hide-away, and promised not to reveal its existence. Harry rang and asked Dobby to bring them hot chocolate, and they set to work.

By midnight, they had most of Ginny's Saturday charted. There was one short gap of at most two minutes missing at Honeydukes, and a ten to fifteen minute interval when Ginny had gone to the girls' toilet by herself at The Three Broomsticks. The missing two minutes at Honeydukes was irrelevant, since Ginny had certainly not left the store and, unless Voldemort had the type of connection with Ginny he had with Harry, he would have had to have been in the store with them. The ten minutes at the Three Broomsticks would have to be investigated, just in case someone thought the time interval might actually be long enough to reestablish the type of possession in question. Ginny would have had to have been portkeyed away, possessed, and portkeyed back. Even with a time turner, it would have been a tight window.

"What do we do now," Hermione wondered.

"You go and talk to Ginny," Harry said.

"Harry, it's after midnight," Hermione pointed out.

Harry showed them the Marauder's Map. Ginny was pacing in the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione took a deep breath, and left.

"Do you really think she'll be alright?" Luna asked.

Harry merely pointed at the Map, showing he was keeping track of her. Luna nodded and drank more hot chocolate. Then, she looked up. "We might as well start on all the others."

"We might as well. There will be huge holes, but we'll sic the Lavender gossip network on them and see what we can fill in. Maybe we'll get lucky, and some one saw something."

Luna smiled in hope.

"Hi," Hermione said softly.

"Hi," Ginny said morosely.

"What's up?"

Ginny looked about ready to run and hide, but then steeled herself. "I'm trying to remember if there are any blank spots where I might have been possessed."

"The good news is, Dumbledore believes anyone who was possessed would have had to have been Saturday. You were with Harry, Luna, and myself all day. We're only missing ten or twelve minutes or so, which is almost certainly too short a time to be repossessed. Still, let's see what you remember."

Friday, November 2, 1996

A tired Hermione made her way back into the hide-away at 2:30 am, having dropped off a copy of Ginny's time-line for Dumbledore to read in the morning. She felt she had proved Ginny was out of things, at least. Ginny had been talking to a group of Third years the entire time she'd been away from their table.

Hermione was a bit surprised to see her classroom empty. Peeking into the bedroom, she saw the fire was burning, casting light on the open-curtained bed. Harry was sleeping in his usual spot (on his left side, on the left edge of the huge bed) while Luna was sleeping on her back in the center. Hermione shrugged, took off her clothes except for her socks, put her work robe back on, and curled up next to Luna.

Luna woke up, warm yet sad. The warmth hit her first, and for an instant she was back in August, waking up to Ginny's eager kisses. She leaned over to kiss Ginny first.

Then she remembered where and when she was, and opened startled eyes to see she had been kissing Hermione, and feeling her rear-end.

Luna tried to pulled back and apologize, but Hermione held her closer and continued to kiss her. It was then that Luna realized why she had woken up feeling sad.

Harry was behind her, his arms wrapped around her, sobbing into her neck.

Hermione released her liplock, and whispered, "Don't say anything. Harry's not awake. His Occlumency keeps his temper level during the day and Voldemort out all the time, but some mornings he wakes up crying or thrashing in anger. He'll wake up in a minute or so."

"All right." Luna hesitated, and then said, "Sorry about the kissing and the touching."

"I've learned to be more open, more accepting, of affection," Hermione said as she stroked Harry's hair. "Harry has, too. We care for you and Ginny and Colin, and know you care for us. We talked a lot last month about it, in fact, and decided that at times we could likely be affectionate with one or more of you. Affectionate, not sexual."

"Not Ron or Dean?"

"We care for both of them, of course, but Ron is still too possessive, and we're still waiting to decide on Dean. He cares for Colin, but hasn't actually said that he loved Colin. They're obviously more than casual lovers, but he's still a bit shocked at himself for coming out."

Luna nodded slightly, and went on to another obvious target of Hermione's famous anger. "We were tired, and, well. . . ."

Hermione smiled again. "Neither Harry nor I are the jealous type. That's Ron. Harry's starting to wake up."

Harry had stopped crying with a small choking sound. "Sorry, Angel," Harry said a few seconds later.

"Which angel are you addressing, Harry?" Hermione teased.

"Huh?" Harry then realized he was holding Luna in a rather explicit way. "Sorry, Luna."

"You're about the only male I not only don't mind touching me, but whom I enjoy having touch me," Luna said. She twisted around and hugged Harry. "Thank you for trusting me enough to show me your inner struggles."

"Err . . . you're welcome."

Hermione leaned over and hugged Harry. "What was upsetting you? Casting those curses yesterday?"

Harry rolled onto his back. "Yes."

"Considering the crowded conditions, you had very little choice, Harry," Luna stated firmly.

"Exactly," Hermione agreed.

"It still means I killed an intelligent being, and one that was to some degree self-aware," Harry said. "I HATE having done that, I HATE having had to use THAT spell, and I LOATHE the feeling of power I got from using them."

"Very few wizards would have any qualms in killing trolls, fairies, gnomes, pixies, and the like," Luna told Harry.

"Then I think they're wrong," Harry said firmly.

"Most wizards would probably have few qualms about killing giants, centaurs, merpeople, goblins, or elves," Hermione said drily, "not to mention vampires . . . or werewolves."

"I wasn't stating my opinion," Luna replied. "I was merely pointing out that, legally, Harry should not be in a precarious position."

"Do you really think it will be that easy?" Harry asked.

"No," Luna said simply.

Hermione stretched. "Let's get ready and face the day."

It was nearly 9:00 when they approached the exit at the mirror. Dobby was waiting for them.

"Master Harry? Headmaster Dumbledore told Dobby to tell Master Harry to come to the conference room off the Great Hall."

"Fudge?" Harry asked.

"No, Master Harry." Dobby hesitated, then said, "Madam Amelia Bones has arrived, with a group of aurors and hit wizards."

Harry squared his shoulders, and the trio marched off to the Great Hall, with Dobby following.

It was clear from the crowd of students that all classes were still suspended for the day. The entire staff was present. Harry split off from Hermione and Luna when they reached the dias. Hermione and Luna went to present the incomplete time tables they had on the other students' movements in Hogsmeade, and some information gleaned from Dobby, to Professor Dumbledore. Harry went over to the door where two men in black robes were standing.

"Yes?" one asked dismissively.

Harry smiled inwardly. After all he'd been through, it would take a bit more than a wizard with a black robe, deep voice, and snotty manner to intimidate him. He merely pulled his hair back to reveal his scar.

"Your wand," the wizard said.

"No."

"No one sees the Minister armed."

"Then the Minister does not see me." 'Minister?' Harry thought. 'Interesting.'

"Look, kid, give me the wand, or I'll take it."

"Voldemort and thirty Death Eaters tried two years ago and failed," Harry answered, looking into the man's eyes. "She wants to see me. I don't care if I see her."

"Let him in," the other wizard said. The deep-voiced wizard gave them both a dirty look, but opened the door and followed Harry in.

"The Potter boy," he announced. "He refused to give up his wand."

"That's alright, Harold. Harry and Dumbledore are two exceptions."

Harold made a small noise of contempt and left, shutting the door.

"Should I offer you my congratulations, Minister?" Harry asked.

"I'm not certain yet," she admitted, adjusting her monocle. "I was only appointed last night around Eight." She sighed. "Why the hell couldn't it have been Law and McGonagall, or Powell, who cast those curses? No, it has to be you and a werewolf."

"Just emphasize he's a Defense teacher," Harry said. "Werewolves have to be kept track of, of course, but this recent set of rules is ridiculous."

Bones smiled. It was nothing like the pretty, warm smile of her niece. "So speaks a young man who adopted one werewolf as a brother, and who is the protege of another."

"We're going to get those regulations changed sooner or later," Harry said simply, yet with conviction.

"Perhaps, if you defeat You-Know-Who." She gazed at Harry a moment. "Dumbledore told me the Prophecy."

"Then you know, if I lose, you lose, too. You're better off backing me and helping me than harassing me like Fudge."

"So I should back you in whatever whim you have, young man?"

"You'd be the first adult to do so," Harry retorted.

"Technically, I can have you and the werewolf arrested," Bones said off-hand.

"You could. Why would you? For our saving the lives of the students? Even Fudge would have had a hard time selling that one."

"True," Bones admitted. "His announced intention to do just that is what got him ousted last night. So, I couldn't touch you on this even if I wanted to. I could pull Lupin from Hogwarts easily enough, but I won't. Despite his . . . condition, he is a good teacher and a worthwhile consultant here. The werewolf legislation stays until the current dark werewolves are destroyed."

"Or surrender," Harry said.

"Or surrender on their own," Bones amended. "If they surrender in their human form in any type of fight, they still go down."

"I understand," Harry said, regretfully.

"When you win, the last group of laws will go."

"And what do you want from me?" Harry said. He knew that a Minister of Magic did not normally make political deals with a sixteen year old, not even with the Boy-Who-Lived.

"I want a statement of support and confidence in the Ministry. Not necessarily of me, but of the Ministry. You can send it to The Quibbler or The Daily Prophet, as you please."

Harry thought about it. Bones misinterpreted his silence. "What else would you really want, Mister Potter?"

"Maybe just some information. What happened to Mister Weasley?"

"He has my old job."

Harry smiled. "Can Mister Lovegood get his Ministry Press accreditation back?"

Bones frowned. "I thought he already had. If not, then yes."

"Just three more people to ask about then. Percy Weasley, Dolores Umbridge, and Minister Fudge."

"Fudge has retired, Umbridge was retired on a reduced pension in September. Arthur had his boy assigned to his old job. Any problems?"

"Umbridge did set dementors on me and my Muggle cousin last year."

Bones nodded. "I believe she did, but the only evidence we have is your and your friends' word. She was fired for her actions here, and on a greatly reduced pension because of her use of that damn quill!"

"May I assume there will be more cooperation with the Headmaster on the fight against Voldemort?" Harry was glad to see that, even if she didn't use the title, she didn't flinch at it.

"He is NOT going to run things on his own, living legend or not," the Minister said, "but yes."

"I'll have to talk to a few people about how to word any statement," Harry said.

"It might seem more natural if you sent it along with a small piece about yesterday's events," Bones offered.

"I'll talk to them about that, too."

"Is there ANYONE at Hogwarts, student or staff, you don't have confidence in?" the Minister asked.

"There must be at least one, whoever snuck the portkey targets in," Harry said. "It wasn't the usual group of suspects, because two trolls would have killed them if I hadn't stopped them, and there was no way anyone could have known I'd be there to save them."

"Fair enough. Dumbledore mentioned you and some friends were researching at least one of the students. Any evidence?"

"We cleared her. We also learned that the elves sweep the Great Hall every morning at Five forty-five. So, whoever laid the targets did it yesterday morning. If anyone who was in the group that could have planted the targets in the students' robes is known have to been in the Great Hall, we'll have a suspect. Miss Granger is informing the Headmaster, in case he wasn't already aware of it."

Bones sighed. "He probably was. Now, when we dumped Fudge, Arthur insisted you be rewarded somehow. We all agreed."

Harry blushed.

"Have you heard of the Dark Arts Defense League? Professional and amateur Dark hunters, scholars in fighting the Dark Arts, and professionals, such as aurors, are all eligible. Invitation only for full membership. Arthur offered to pay your membership dues, but the Membership Board agreed on my recommendation, along with Alastor Moody's, to give you a free lifetime membership." She stood. "Professor Law, seconded by Professor Powell, are in charge of Hogwarts' defense. I have no doubt they will follow Dumbledore's lead, but it's best that he has some room to work in. I am also sending three aurors. Any prefrences?"

"Tonks."

"Why?"

"She's young enough to blend in, and I trust her. Not Harold at the door."

"Harold is a hit wizard. Tonks and two others will stay here. If they want to name a student coordinator, it will be you. Report to Law and Dumbledore." Bones glowered at Harry. "Shoo, boy!"

"Yes, Minister." Harry stopped half way to the door. "Thank you for telling me at least some of what's going on."

"Potter!" Bones called just as he reached the door. "In traditional families, we listen to our elders. Might not follow their advice, but we listen. Mistress Merry vouches for your character and your ability, and that of Miss Granger. When she and Dumbledore agree on something, I pay attention."

Harry smiled.

"Just one more thing."

"Yes, Minister?"

"If you can . . . keep an eye on Susan."

"We'll do our best. She's our friend."

"Thank you." Bones bent down to her reports, and Harry left the room.

And found himself facing Snape. "Come along, Potter. You're in demand this morning." Harry followed the professor out to the faculty lounge, where Professors Dumbledore, Law, Powell, and Lupin were waiting. Snape left the room.

"We just felt you should know. . . ." Dumbledore started, but he couldn't go on.

"We're stuck," Powell finally said. "None of the students who could have planted the portkey targets on the students had been in the great hall. That means there are at least two students involved. We don't like it, but it's best to face reality."

"Your DA is in all four Houses, to some degree," Law said. "You have some degree of trust amongst most of the students. Therefore. . . ."

Dumbledore roused himself. "Sorry, Harry. Yesterday was quite a blow. You are now the School Security Prefect. Do you have the Map with you?"

"Yes, sir."

"Please hand it to Professor Lupin."

Remus smiled reassuringly. He took the map over to Dumbledore, who laid it on a stack of parchment. They murmured over the map for several minutes, after which the pile glowed in multiple colors. Remus handed the original to Dumbledore. Ten more minutes of incantations were said, and then Dumbledore handed Harry the map back. "Go with Professor Lupin," he said weakly.

Remus took Harry to his office. Harry could barely restrain himself on the walk. As soon as the door shut, Harry asked "What's wrong with the Headmaster?"

"He hasn't slept since about three yesterday morning. At his age, it's hard to keep going full out for thirty hours on three hours sleep. And he has been expending a lot of power, testing the wards. Now, I'm going to teach you how to really access the map."

"You mean I haven't been?"

Remus smiled. "You haven't accessed it's full power. Only four people could do that. Now, there will be a fifth."

"And the copies?"

"They have the same information as the original. Dumbledore, Law, and I will each have a copy." Remus smiled. "I did cut out the password to the passage to your little hideaway on Law's map."

Harry flushed a little.

"I also checked it out again. I knew part of the tunnel had collapsed. Checking from the Hogwarts end, I figure there's at least fifty feet of collapsed tunnel, and at no place it is easily vulnerable. I set up wards in all the tunnels to Hogsmeade, including yours, so we'll be warned."

Harry nodded his understanding. "But there are at least two spies here. We have to be on our guard."

"We all will be. Voldemort is being careful. He's likely not to strike again until he's ready."