Different Paths

Chapter 2: Decisions

"What do you mean he left?!" a voice thundered from within the Three Broomsticks pub. The voice belonged to a man in his mid thirties. He was tall at around 6' 2", had long, shaggy, black hair that was pulled back into a pony tail, and eyes that carried the haunted look of a man imprisoned in Azkaban Wizard Prison for a crime he had never committed.

Although Sirius Black was officially a fugitive from the law, he had been given unlimited sanctuary within Hogsmeade village and Hogwarts. It was already a known fact, at least in Hogwarts and Hogsmeade after the return of Voldemort, that Sirius was indeed innocent of the crimes he was accused of all those years ago, of betraying his best friends to Voldemort and killing twelve mugglesafterwards. However, Fudge had refused to withdraw the charges against Sirius, believing them to be more delusions of that pitiful boy, Harry Potter. However, he had finally given in to sheer pressure and had granted Sirius asylum. As long as he remained in Hogsmeade, no auror could touch him.

Some of the men in the pub quelled at Sirius's glare. After all, this was the man who at one point had been rumored to have been Voldeort's right hand man. "We're only repeating these small rumors," said one of the men. "Apparently, Harry Potter left Hogwarts after Fudge was killed. They say he went after You-Know-Who."

Sirius drained his tankard of butterbeer down his throat and slammed the empty tankard onto the counter. "Why didn't you tell me Harry," he muttered to himself. "Then again, what more could I have expected from James's son." What really got to Sirius was what Harry had done would've been the exact same thing James Potter, Harry's father and Sirius's best friends, would've done if he were in the same position.

Still muttering angrily to himself, Sirius stormed out of the Three Broomsticks, only to butt heads with a young red head, around the same height as him.

"Owe!" Ron Weasley exclaimed as he rubbed the newly formed lump on his forehead. "Bloody Hell, Sirius, next time watch where you're going!"

"Ron?" said Sirius, while rubbing his forehead. "Has Harry really left Hogwarts to go chase after Voldemort? Why aren't you with him?"

"First of all Sirius, Harry left two days ago," said Ron, flinching a little bit from Sirius's use of the Dark Lord's name. "And secondly, I would've gone after him except that I didn't want to leave Hermione in the state she is now."

"What? What's wrong with Hermione?"

"She's depressed," said Ron with a sigh. "She hasn't left her room for the past two days let alone her bed. Just last night, I walked by her Head Girl room and I could hear her crying in there. It's even worse then when her parents were killed by Death Eaters a year and a half ago. At least back then, she had Harry's shoulder to cry on."

"Is she really that bad?"

"I've never seen her like this before. Usually, she'd be the first one packing her bags and going out chasing after Harry, but not this time. I think something happened between the two of them the night before she left. Through what I've managed to piece out, Harry said 'good bye' to her in a way that he was expecting that would be the last time the we ever saw him. Bloody git didn't even say 'good bye' to me."

"What more could I have expected from James's son." Sirius sighed and said, "You're going to have to take care of her Ron."

"You're going after Harry, aren't you?"

"Well, of course I'm going after Harry. He needs all the help he can get."

"Don't be foolish, Black. You'll end up as nothing more than a hindrance to Potter," called a familiar oily voice from behind the two. Surprised, Sirius and Ron spun around to come face to face with none other than SeverusSnape.

"You?" Sirius and Ron both exclaimed at the same time. Severus Snape, the former potions master of Hogwarts had resigned from his job shortly after the Slytherin Revolts, taking responsibility for the radical students that were members of the house he was head of. He had completely disappeared during the year since then, until now apparently.

"What are you doing back here?" Sirius said with a groan. "Things were so peaceful with you long gone from the halls of the castle."

Snape gritted his teeth, the old hatred between the two former classmates stirring up again. "You're lucky you have asylum here, Black," he hissed. "Otherwise, I would've had you arrested and turned over to Azkaban."

Ron snorted and said, "Ha! What authority do you have to do that?"

"Are you fools blind?" Snape said incredulously. It was only then when Sirius and Ron recognized the robes Snap was wearing: it was the blue and black uniform of an auror.

Sirius's mouth dropped. "You're an auror?" he asked slowly, digesting in the fact. If anybody had suggested the concept of Snape being an auror on an earlier date, he would've laughed out loud.

"What so you think I've been doing this past year," said Snapewith a huff. "Some members of the Ministry, unlike Fudge, recognized that a war was brewing against the Dark Lord. They wanted aurors, who knew as much about him as possible. Hence, after my resignation as potions master, they asked me. I've been spending the past year training, and now here I am."

Sirius grimaced at the thought that if he ever left Hogsmeade, Snape would be after him. However, that really wasn't the pressing concern at the time. "Leaving all that aside, what did you mean by I'd end up a hindrance to Harry?"

Snape raised an eyebrow. "It's really quite simple," he said. "You're a wanted fugitive as well as a prominent opponent of the Dark Lord. If you leave Hogsmeade, you'll be hunted down by both aurors and Death Eaters. Ergo, you'll end up a hindrance to Potter since he'll spend valuable time protecting you when he should be spending his time fighting the Dark Lord. Really, that foolish boy is far too ridiculously noble for a job of this sort, just like his father..." Snape stopped there since Sirius had just slugged him in the face.

"You can insult me all you like, Snape," hissed Sirius through clenched teeth. "But you'd better not insult James's son in front of me again."

Snape angrily wiped away the blood that had started to trickle down his chin. "Fine," he said. "Get yourself killed. It would do the world a favor. But I'm warning you, if either one of you gets involved in this battle against the Dark Lord, the Ministry will not be there to help you. You'll be on your on. Don't say I didn't warn you!" With a dramatic swish of his robe, Snape walked away.

"Thanks for the warning professor," Ron shouted out rather sarcastically as Snape left. "But I'm sure that you're fully aware that we're going to go after Harry. So don't give us warnings we won't even heed! I'm going after Harry and I am not going to be a bloody hindrance to him! If I'm not strong enough, then I'll just get stronger, even if it means going through all those books Hermione's been urging me to read. So get one thing straight! This is not going to be the last time you see us!"

Sirius was rather impressed by the way Ron was able to shout back at his former potions master. Sirius turned to him and said, "I'm going after Harry. You should probably stare here and look after Hermione but as soon as she comes to her senses, come after us. Harry may not admit it but he needs you both."

Ron beat his fist on his chest and said, "You can count on me, Padfoot. And don't worry about Hermione. After I beat a little sense into her, we're both going after Harry as well." Sirius grinned at Ron's use of his old nickname. He transformed into his animagus form, a huge bear like black dog, and wandered away.

Ron starred at the way Sirius had gone before he turned around and started to make his way back to Hogwarts. 'OK now, how the heck am I going to get Hermione out of her depression? I wish Harry were here, he's far better at dealing with Hermione's emotions than I am. Then again, the whole reason why she's depressed in the first place is because Harry's not here.'

"Ron," called out a voice from behind. Ron turned around to see a beautiful, black haired young woman come toward him. Cho Chang had graduated from Hogwarts the previous year. The former Ravenclaw QuidditchSeeker was now a Medi-witch in training, currently residing in Hogsmeade though she was working to move to London and work at St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries.

"Ron," said Cho. "What are you doing here? I thought you and Hermione would've gone after Harry by now."

"Hermione's still here," stated Ron, his tone even.

"What?" said Cho. "How come?"

Ron sighed and said, "Come with me, it'll be easier to show than to explain."

* * *

Hermione hadn't left her Head Girl Room for the past two days since Harry had left. If people didn't know better, they would've sworn that she had never left her bed during that time. All she ever did during the day was lie in bed starring at nothing in particular, while she spent her nights crying herself to sleep.

At present, Hermione looked like a mess. Her bushy brown hair was in far more disarray than usual and her eyes were puffy and bloodshot from crying so much. Her former roommates, Lavender Brown and ParvatiPatil were vainly trying to cheer her up.

"Here, you may have these," said Parvati holding up two items. "An autographed 'Magical Me' by Gilderoy Lockhart and an autographed picture of Viktor Krum in full Quidditch gear. These are amongst my most treasured items but if they help you feel better, you may have them."

"No thank you!" Hermione said rather harshly. Parvati was petrified in shock, the only thing going through head now was, 'Hermione rejected my treasures, Hermione rejected my treasures, Hermione rejected my treasures...'

Lavender sighed and said, "Hermione, saying that's like a taboo to Parvati." She tried to place a hand on Hermione's shoulder but Hermione angrily brushed her away. "Come on, Hermione," said Lavender. "Can't you at least get out of bed?"

"Leave me alone!" Hermione shouted, causing Lavender to jump back in surprise. She pulled her blankets over her head and turned away.

"Yes, leave her alone. She obviously doesn't need anybody?" Hermione and Lavender looked up in surprise toward the doorway to see none other than Cho Chang there. Parvati was still petrified by the shock of Hermione rejecting her most treasured items.

"What are you doing here?" Hermione asked a little too harshly.

"I'm here to see how the mighty have fallen," said Cho was she walked into the room and smirked. "Seeing how Harry has finally chosen and left the pathetic muggle-born behind."

Lavender and the recovered Parvati were shocked by Cho's words. Hermione simply became angrier. "You have no right, saying that to me," she hissed.

"I have every right," said Cho. "Harry doesn't deserve some one who loses the will to live just because he decides to leave."

"You don't understand," said Hermione. "You don't understand what it's like to suddenly be told 'good bye' out of the blue. You don't understand what it's like to be abandoned by some one you've been in love with for years!" She screamed the last part out.

Something must have struck a cord with Cho because she suddenly raised her right hand, intending to slap Hermione. Hermione however, grabbed Cho'shand before it could come close. "Don't underestimate me!" she hissed.

"No, you should be the one who shouldn't underestimate me," said Cho. She moved her free left in a move to slap Hermione. Caught by surprise, Hermione closed her eyes and braced herself for the stinging pain on her cheek. When it didn't come, she opened her eyes only to see that Cho had stopped her hand right before it had contacted Hermione's cheek.

"I know exactly how it feels," said Cho. "Unless you've forgotten, three years ago I used to date one Cedric Diggory." Hermione blinked in surprise while Cho continued. "He was taken from me, from all of us by You-Know-Who. I never had the chance to even say 'good bye' to him, never even dreaming that the last time I'd ever see him would be right before the third task of the TriwizardTournament. Do you think that was something I was able to get over easily?" She put two fingers under Hermione's chin and tilted Hermione's head upwards to stare into her brown eyes. "That's why I abandoned a potential career in Quidditchto become a Medi-witch. I vowed to become someone who could save as many lives as I could, so that no one eslse will have to suffer the way I suffered, having someone leave without a proper 'good bye'. It was Harry who showed me this road and Harry who taught me how to travel it. Do you understand how lucky you are that Harry even said, 'good bye' to you?" Cho'seyes started tearing up; talking about Cedric was still too painful for her.

Hermione felt ashamed as Cho turned away to hide her tear filled eyes. "Cho, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have..."

"That doesn't matter," said Cho with wave of her hand. "That's not your job now."

"Job?" said Hermione.

"You know what your job is," said another voice from the doorway. Ron Weasley walked in, all dressed up for travel. "Your job is to go after Harry and convince him to come back. If he won't come back than to stay by his side as he goes into battle."

Hermione blinked. "But Ron, I, I don't..."

"Don't you bloody get it?" said Ron. "You're the only person Harry even bothered saying 'good bye' to. That means that you're the only who can convince him to come back if need be. You're the only who can influence him, tell him to come home. You're the only one who can take care of him. Do you get what I'm saying? Harry bloody needs you badly!"

Hermione remained still as she contemplated what Ron had just said. "I...I...I..."

"Just say it Hermione," said Lavender. "Just say it."

"Just say how you feel," said Cho a lot kinder than her previous tone. "Just say what you want to do."

"I...I...I..." apparently, the damns had burst and Hermione burst into tears.

"Hermione?"

"Hermione?"

"Just say it Hermione," said Ron once again. "Just say it."

"I...I...I...want...to see...H-Harry...a-again," Hermione chocked out between sobs.

Those words alone changed the entire mood of the room. Lavender and Parvatismiled, realizing that Hermione had recovered from her depression. Cho was also smiling, though hers was slightly melancholy. "Ron grinned and said, "Well then, let's go see him."

* * *

Cho sighed sadly, as she walked toward Hogwarts the following evening. Ron and Hermione had left just that morning, taking off after Harry. The truth was, Cho very much wanted to go after Harry as well, but it wasn't her place to go after him. No, Hermione was the one Harry had said "good bye" to. That meant that Hermione was the only one, who could truly go after Harry. 'If it were me, I would've gone after him myself,' she thought bitterly.

As she made her way toward the front gates, Cho caught sight of somebody standing there. "Harry?" she wondered out loud. The first thought that crossed Cho's mind was, 'He's come back!' Hoping it was Harry, Choran toward the main gates only to stop short when she saw that it wasn't Harry.

Instead of raven black hair and bright green eyes, the man had platinum blonde hair and pale gray eyes. He was dressed in weather worn grey robes and had a wand holstered in his belt. But what struck Chomost of all was the cold, emotionless yet pain filled look in his eyes.

"Oh my God," Cho whispered. For it was someone she hadn't seen in years. Someone she would have never expected to see at Hogwarts after the Slytherin Revolts. Someone whom had apparently changed so much during his absence, he was virtually unrecognizable now.

It was Draco Malfoy.

To be continued...

A/N Mu ha ha ha haha!!! Like it? I sure hope so. Tell me what you think. And all of you RK fans, tell me which character is which character, I want to see if you're correct. Next: We see more Draco, more Seth, and more Harry.