Sleeping Dragons

Chapter Three: Familiar Faces

By Gemini

Ron and I spent the next fifteen minutes looking through the rest of the house. Everything was either turned over or scattered on the floor, not destroyed, thank goodness. Nothing else was missing besides the Ministry reports that I kept in my desk. Obviously the burglars knew what they were looking for.

"Well, that cinches it," said Ron, sighing. "Your research is all gone."

"I think we should head back to the headquarters," I said.

"Not the Ministry?" He looked at me quizzically.

"No." I shook my head. "Whoever did this has the information. This is more for the U.A.A."

Ron looked grim. "Let's go back, then."

For the second time that night, we went back to the headquarters and for the second time, we got a nasty surprise.

Remus Lupin lay unconscious on his office floor.

* * *

"Ron...? Hermione...? What...?" Remus tried to sit up but I gently pushed him back onto the lab bed. We were still at the U.A.A. but in the laboratory wing. It was usually meant for studying the Dark Arts, but we made an exception for Remus.

Earlier, we had called Dumbledore back to tell him of the attack. He got to his feet as Remus awoke. "Remus, just lay back. Can you tell us what happened?" he asked.

"Malfoy..."

"Draco?" asked Ron.

"No, Lucius... Lucius Malfoy was Sirius..."

We looked at each other, then back down at Remus.

"What exactly do you mean, Remus?" asked Dumbledore.

"Sirius started asking a few questions about the U.A.A. after you all left. He was looking at my books and papers, then he started to change. His looks... he became Lucius Malfoy and that's when he attacked me. I think he must have hit me with a few curses; my body hurts like hell." He did look absolutely terrible.

"Sirius transformed into Lucius?" Dumbledore looked thoughtful.

"Polyjuice Potion!" Ron exclaimed loudly. Remus winced. Ron looked at him ruefully. "Sorry."

"Ron, Polyjuice Potion takes a really long time to make," I told him. I raised an eyebrow at him as if to say, Remember our second year?

"That's where you're wrong, Hermione," said Dumbledore. "The Potion is ready in a few minutes once you add the key ingredient. If you already have the rest of the ingredients, it won't take too long." He looked thoughtful.

"It would make sense though," I said, thinking over the events of the past day. "Sirius was twenty minutes late and he kept on taking drinks out of his water bottle."

"Sirius must have found the hideout but Lucius attacked him," said Ron.

"Why would Lucius bother to show us his hideout, then?" I asked.

"Probably to throw you off the trail," Remus mused. "It's obvious they can't hide there anymore, so he might as well try to get something out of it while he can. But weren't you in disguise? How did he know who you were?"

I thought back to the time before we found the hideout. "Well, he came to the Auror camp and he didn't seem to know what he was supposed to do with us. We were walking along without a clear destination..." That's when it hit me. "I tripped! I tripped and Ron asked me if I was alright. We used each other's real names. That must have been when he figured it out. He seemed a little confused afterward."

"So then..." Ron said, slowly. "The real Sirius is out there somewhere chained up by the Malfoys?"

Or worse, I thought to myself. The others did too, from the looks on their faces. No, don't think like that! Sirius is fine!

Dumbledore exhaled and stroked his beard. "If Lucius was here, then it must have been someone else at your house," he said to Ron and me.

"Which means that he must be working together with other Death Eaters..."

"What can we do now? We don't have information about anything!" Ron exclaimed. "We have no idea of their whereabouts, whether Sirius is alright or not... and Harry still doesn't know!"

"I will deal with Harry now and take care of Remus. I also have a plan for Sirius' situation. You two go home and get some rest. You deserve it," Dumbledore said. I was about to protest but he interrupted me. "Not a word, Hermione. Go home and get some sleep. Ron? I'm trusting you to keep her from doing anymore research for the night."

"I'll try my best, sir."

I glanced at Remus who seemed to be sitting deep in thought. His best friend was missing, possibly dead. I knew the feeling. In fact, I'd experienced it countless times throughout my Hogwarts years. I walked over to his bed, gave his hand a squeeze, and smiled at him. He returned it, faintly. "Get some rest, okay?" He nodded.

Twenty minutes later, Ron and I lay in bed. Not quite sleeping, but not talking either. He hand was stroking my hair, as he always did when we're enjoying the silence together.

"Hermione?" he mumbled.

"Hmm?"

"Do you think he's alright?" I knew who Ron meant.

"I hope so."

"Harry will be upset."

"I know."

"Oh no..."

"What?"

"I forgot to call Oliver about Quidditch practice this morning."

"I'm sure you'll be getting a Howler tomorrow dear."

"I think I will."

"Good night, Ron."

"Sweet dreams."

* * *

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Taptaptap.

Taptap. Taptap.

"What the...?" Ron lifted his head and I groggily peered over his body to where the noise was coming from.

Three owls sat on our bedroom terrace, tapping at the glass door.

Ron let out a groan.

"You get it," I grumbled into his shoulder. "You're closer."

Without saying a word, he slid off the bed and staggered to the door to open it. The three owls flew in instantly and dropped off the letters on our bed.

He came back under the covers and we both sat up to see who they were from.

"No Howlers," he said, yawning.

I picked up one addressed to "Mrs. Hermione Weasley, from Headmistress Minerva McGonagall" and opened it.

Dear Hermione,

I received an owl late last night from Albus Dumbledore stating that Professor Lupin will be unable to teach for the next few days and obviously on the weekend surrounding the full moon. Professor Longbottom will be taking over his class for the remaining time, but you are still welcome to come and speak to his seventh year class for the guest lecture. Why don't you invite Ron and Harry along? We haven't seen them for quite some time now. See you tomorrow morning.

Sincerely yours,

M. McGonagall

Headmistress

"Want to come to Hogwarts with me tomorrow?" I asked Ron.

"Hmm? For that lecture? Sure, as long as I don't have to sit through it." He was half-serious. I rolled my eyes.

"Is that from Oliver?"

"Yeah, at least he didn't send a Howler. He's so crazy," he said, handing the letter over to me.

RONALD WEASLEY!

WHERE WERE YOU YESTERDAY?? I CALLED YOUR FIRE AT NOON BUT NO ONE WAS HOME. YOU MISSED PRACTISE AND WE WERE LEFT WITHOUT A KEEPER OR A SEEKER!

You can be sure that Harry is getting a similar message soon after yours. Next time, MAKE SURE TO INFORM ME IF YOU WILL BE MISSING PRACTISE.

Signed,

Your VERY angry coach,

Oliver Wood

I laughed. This was a classic Oliver stint. I could just imagine him panicking and furiously complaining to the rest of the team members.

The last was from Albus, which we read together.

Ron and Hermione,

In light of the events that happened yesterday and what we discussed, I have decided to do a little work of my own. I won't mention anything in this letter, but please be assured that we are working to the best of our abilities to solve the problem, and I think we will be successful. Harry has been informed.

I think it will be best if you go on normally for now. I will contact you again when we find something.

Have a nice day!

Albus Dumbledore

"Normally?" Ron said angrily. "Sirius is missing!"

"Albus thinks he can find him though. Look at what he says, 'I think we will be successful,'" I pointed out. "That's his way of saying he knows what he's doing."

"I guess..." Ron sighed. "I wonder what Harry's feeling right now?"

"Worried. Upset. Angry."

"Maybe we should invite him out for the day. Try to get his mind off things?"

"That's a good idea. Ginny can come too. I have to go to Diagon Alley anyway and pick up some stuff from Gringotts. How about it? We can treat them to lunch?"

He kissed the top of my head. "I'll owl Harry right away."

* * *

"Isn't this great? It's so beautiful out today." Ginny was beaming at the three of us, unknowing about the events of the previous night. Harry, on the other hand, had bags under his eyes and looked as if he was about to keel over any second. By some miracle of love, Ginny either didn't see anything wrong, or decided to dismiss his actions as male engagement jitters.

The four of us sat at a busy little café that had very recently opened in Diagon Alley. On our table was an assortment of cheeses and breads that I had ordered.

"This is a great place," Ron remarked. "They've got great wizard bakers."

"Merci, Monsieur Weasley." A female voice with a slight French accent spoke up from behind us.

Ron's mouth dropped and Harry's eyes widened a bit from their deadened look. I turned in my chair. "Fleur?"

A familiar blonde-haired, blue-eyed, part-Veela woman smiled down at me. "'Ermione, if I remember correctly? And of course, 'Arry." She frowned at Ginny. "Were you at 'Ogwarts?"

"Fleur!" Ron finally spoke. "Nice to see you again after all this time. What have you been up to lately?"

"Well, I 'ave opened my own café as you can see." She gestured at the lovely, open-air space around her, filled with small white tables and decorated with an assortment of flowers.

"Your English is so much better," Ron remarked. "We haven't seen you since your serving stint at the Three Broomsticks. You still look the same though..." He trailed off.

I was glaring at him. Watch it.

He gave me a pitiful look. I can't help it; she's part Veela!

Luckily, none of the others witnessed our exchange. "I'm a year younger than these three," Ginny was saying to Fleur, warily. "But you can probably tell I'm Ron's younger sister."

"Anozzer Weasley? How many are there?" Fleur laughed annoyingly. "Good looks must run in the family." She pulled up a chair from another table and sat between Ron and Harry, who now looked wide awake. She began to make small talk with them.

Ginny and I glanced at each other before turning back to Fleur.

"Ron and I are married now."

"Harry and I are engaged."

Ron and Harry were oblivious to the silent catfight going on around them.

Fleur raised an eyebrow at us. We nodded. "Well, I shouldn't sit and chat much longer. Must take care of ze other customers. I hope I will see you all again sometime?"

"Definitely," replied Ron.

"We'll visit lots," Harry said.

"See you girls later!" She gave a little wave to me and Ginny, then turned, tossing her silvery blonde hair and attracting the attention of her other male patrons.

Ron and Harry watched as she walked out of sight, then froze as she disappeared back into the building. Slowly, they turned back to us with sheepish looks on their faces. Ginny and I gave each other a knowing look. Men.

Ten minutes later, Ron and I parted ways with Ginny and Harry and headed towards Gringotts.

"What do you have to get from here?" Ron asked me as we walked up the white stone steps.

"I thought I'd take a few things from the Dark Arts Defense Department vault to show the students tomorrow. Maybe borrow a thing or two from the U.A.A. vault too."

"I'm going to visit Bill's office, alright? Come get me there when you're done." He walked off in the vague direction of where Bill's office was located.

"Can I help you ma'am?" A long-nosed goblin peered down at me from over the high counter.

"Yes, I'd like to be taken to vaults two twenty-nine and one thousand seventy-three please."

"Got your keys?" I held them up.

"Follow me, then." He led me to a door on the side and opened it, gesturing for me to go first. He whistled and a cart came rolling up. We both climbed in and departed for the underground caves of Gringotts.

After twisting and turning underground for five minutes, we stopped by a small door labeled "229." This was the Ministry vault. The room was piled high with old relics collected from various Death Eaters. A good portion formerly belonged to Lucius Malfoy. I grabbed some medallions and a few odd trinkets I thought the class might be interested in.

I did the same in the next vault, the U.A.A. vault. This time, the items inside were more dangerous. I figured most of the objects would be a little disturbing for the seventh-years so I pushed aside a packet of papers and just grabbed a black spellbook, an enchanted dagger and then chose one vial from four filled with red liquid - nothing dangerous.

The goblin took me back to the bank's main floor and I set off to find Ron.

I knocked on the door that said "Bill Weasley - Curse Breaker" where loud laughter was being emitted. A moment later, Bill opened the door.

"Hey, Hermione! Ron's right here." I stepped inside and saw Ron sitting in chair in front of Bill's desk.

"Hermione, have you heard? Some joker thinks they saw Draco Malfoy in Bulgaria." Ron looked at me pointedly and pushed The Wizard Enquirer paper that was sitting on Bill's desk over to me. I picked it up and skimmed the article.

Luckily, it contained no more information than what the U.A.A. already knew, and even then, it was a little inaccurate. According to the article, the man who allegedly saw Draco couldn't get an interview with the Daily Prophet, so he called Wizard Enquirer instead. The Wizard Enquirer was not exactly known for its accuracy. In fact, if I remembered correctly, Rita Skeeter was one of the leading editors.

"The things some people believe," said Bill, shaking his head. "They haven't shown their faces for years, why would they do so now?"

I forced a laugh. "It's probably just someone looking for a good way to get famous quick."

We said our good-byes to Bill and Apparated home. I sighed as I looked at the mess that we had left earlier.

"We should start cleaning this up now," said Ron. I nodded. We began to put our home back into order.

* * *

The next morning...

"How are you doing, Harry?" I asked him.

"Okay. I just can't stop thinking about it." The three of us were sitting on the carriage, which took us from the platform to Hogwarts. Ron and I were worried about Harry, knowing how his godfather being kidnapped had affected him.

We lapsed into an awkward silence.

"I think most of the old professors are still there," I said to Ron. The bag containing my show and tell items was in my lap. The train ride had been long, bringing back a few old memories, particularly of cursing Malfoy. "And well, Neville's the Herbology teacher now."

"And isn't Lavender the new Divination teacher?" Harry asked.

"I think so. Well, we'll at least see Neville as Remus' replacement for the week," Ron said.

We were silent for the rest of the ride, until Hogwarts came into our view.