To Have and to Want

Hermione and Ron spent the trip back to the common room arguing over Harry's plan, Hermione complaining that she, as a Muggle-born, should have come up with it herself and Ron thinking the whole idea was crazy. Harry didn't butt in.

Ginny was waiting for them. "Where's Parvati?" Harry asked.

"Hospital wing," Ginny said. "Pneumonia. Padma went to visit her."

"I better do the same," Harry said, and, quickly running upstairs and taking something from his dorm, departed.

"Hi, Parvati," he said, entering the room. "Hey, Padma."

"Harry!" Parvati said hoarsely, but clearly happy to see him.

"I'm sorry you caught pneumonia," he said. "It's a bad time."

"Why?" Padma suddenly asked.

"I have to leave. Again," Harry said. "Don't look at me like that, Parvati. I've told you, it'll be like this as long as Voldemort exists."

"And I can't come..."

"Not with pneumonia, you can't. I'm sorry."

"You're not," Parvati said. "You're glad you have an excuse to keep me safe."

"Maybe I am. But his time, it's not an excuse, it's a reason. I would take you otherwise."

"Is everyone going--"

"No. I'm sorry, but--" he looked at Padma-- "you and Ginny should stay behind this time. As soon as Parvati gets well, you three are going to be the rescue team--we might need one."

"So--"

"Myself, Ron, Hermione, Theodore, Daphne, Professor Lupin, and Hagrid," Harry said.

"That's a big team."

"It's a dangerous place."

"Where?"

Harry whispered it in Parvati's ear. She looked terrified. "You can't!"

"I have to," Harry said gloomily. And since I may not be here the day after tomorrow, I better give you this now," he said, uncovering a package he brought.

A small box revealed two lockets in forms of golden phoenixes on golden chains. The eyes of the phoenixes were small rubies.

"It's February 4^th, not 6^th, but as I said, I may not be around then. Happy birthday!"

"Oh, Harry," Parvati whispered. "Why two?"

"One's for me," Harry explained. "As long as we wear these,when one of us is in great danger, the eyes on the other locket will flash. Also, you can make them flash yourself." Harry twisted the tail of one phoenix and the eyes on the other lit up.

"Thank you, Harry. I'll watch this constantly, you know."

"So will I. Now," he said, "I didn't forget Padma." He reached into his back and produced a book. "Ginny said you wanted this, but couldn't find it in the library." The book cover read, Atlantis: Ancient Magic or Ancient Myth?

"Thanks. If you don't mind, can I ask you something?"
Harry was surprised. "Sure, why not?"

"How do you tell us apart? Or... do you?"

"Padma!" Parvati exclaimed.

Harry chuckled. "I don't mind. The answer... it's the hair."

"What? We have the same hair!" Padma said. "We even wear it in the same style."

"Not your hair," Harry replied. He reached and pulled a loose hair out of Padma's head. "Take a look."
"What? It's a hair."

"It's red," Harry said simply.

Parvati chuckled. "Harry!"

"What?"

"How do you really tell us apart."

"I told you--"

"We get it. A good joke, but you don't go looking into our heads for Ginny's hair every time you meet one of us."

"You may not like to hear this, but you are identical as long as you sit still and keep quiet. Since neither of you does that very often, it's not hard to tell you apart. Ginny worried about this when--"

"When the two of us dated," Parvati said, embarrassed for both of them.

"Recover, Parvati," Harry said quickly. He smiled at her. "I'll come before leaving, don't worry. Good luck."

He first went to see Professor Lupin. "Hello, Harry," the Defense teacher said.

"Professor, I'm going to Transylvania."

Lupin looked him over. "I thought you might. Can--"

"Voldemort clearly hid something important there, Professor?"
Lupin nodded. That's what it looks like. You want me to come along."
Harry nodded. "You know more than anyone else about Fenrir Greyback, and what he might have done."

"It's full moon in two days, so I won't be able to travel. I'll join you there," he said.

"You don't have to do this, Professor," Harry said.

"I do, Harry. For your parents... for Sirius... for Dumbledore.... I have to do all I can against Voldemort. I trust you, Harry."

"I know. But after..."

"I know you feel responsible for Neville's death. I felt responsible for your parents'. I will come with you."

"Thank you, Professor. In Romania, then?"

"In Romania."

After leaving Lupin's office, Harry proceeded to visit Hagrid. "Hello, Harry," the half-giant greeted him. "What're you up ter?"

"Hagrid, I need your help. Remember last year, when Dumbledore was traveling everywhere?"

"'Course I do, Harry. Why?"

"I've been continuing that. He's been looking for items Voldemort hid, which we need to recover if we're to defeat him."

"You never told me any o' that," Hagrid said, disappointed.

"Sorry. We think we found another item like that. It's now in a very dangerous place, and we need all the help we can get."

"Where're you plannin' on goin'?" Hagrid asked.

"Transylvania," Harry replied, hoping he wouldn't have to explain further.

It didn't work. "Not Dra--"

Harry nodded.

"Harry, yer can't go. I forbid--"

"I'm an adult, Hagrid. I'm going, no matter what."

Hagrid looked at him. "And--"

"Ron and Hermione are coming--I wouldn't be able to stop them. I will ask Daphne Greengrass and Theodore Nott--"

"Nott!" Hagrid exclaimed.

"Hagrid, it's okay. He's explained exactly what he thinks of his father, and I believe him."

Hagrid shook his head. "Yer are asking--"

"Please," Harry said.

"All righ', Harry. Jus' 'cause it's yer. And I think I'll take a detour--"

"That wouldn't be to France, would it?" Harry asked.

Hagrid looked both angry and embarrassed. "I don' know what you're talkin' about," he said. "Where do we meet?"

"On Charlie Weasley's dragon preserve in Romania," Harry said. "In three days."

"All righ'," Hagrid agreed. "But I warned yer, it's--"

"Hagrid, I'm not doing this for fun."

"I know yer are not. I'll meet you. And good luck."

"Thanks, Hagrid."

XXX

Persuading Nott and Greengrass to go to Count Dracula's castle was a lot easier than persuading them to use Muggle transportation to do it. Nott was even shocked that Muggles had a way to fly a t all. Greengrass, who had taken Muggle Studies, was more informed, but she was also very reluctant. Ultimately, Harry had to tell them that he had no intention of any of them getting detected, so they would either go by airplane, or not go at all.

Harry spent the next day setting up the trip. Hermione was the only one of them who had a valid Muggle passport, and Harry thought he'd have to try to buy fakes, when Greengrass suggested they duplicate Hermione's ID by magic and change the necessary details. After a good deal of effort to get Ron's picture to stop moving, the five of them had a set of travel documents, and Harry could buy tickets to Sophia, Bulgaria, for tomorrow evening.

"I still think you're nuts, Potter," Nott said after inspecting his passport. "Muggles don't carry around broomsticks and wands--"

"And neither will we. Broomsticks, I mean," Hermione explained. "We'll pack them and turn them in as luggage. Same for the robes. As for wands, we'll keep them in holsters--we're not likely to need them. Muggle scanners will only register wooden sticks."

"Are you sure--"

"I've traveled with my wand before," Hermione said. "Don't worry."

Once everyone was ready, dressed in Muggle clothes and packed, Harry went to the hospital wing. Parvati was getting better, but still too weak to come along. "Sorry for giving you such a birthday present," Harry said.

"Don't worry. But if I see these flashing--" she held up the locket he gave her-- "pneumonia or not, I'm coming after you."

"Parvati, can I talk to you in private?" he asked, giving Padma, who was sitting nearby, a glance.

Padma nodded and stepped out. "What's going on between us, Parvati?"

"What's going on is whatever you want to go on," she said.

"That doesn't answer. I've told you exactly why--"

"Do you want me to apologize, Harry? I can, but will that mean anything--"

"Damn. I dug my own hole, didn't I?"

Parvati smiled at him. "Harry... you'll come back, and we'll still have time to figure this out."

"What if I don't come back?"

"You will. If don't, I'll kill you."

"A threat?"

"A promise. And I don't break any promises. Good luck." She kissed him on the cheek.

Harry departed happier than he felt at any time since Neville's death. He met his four companions at the edge of the Hogwarts grounds at Hogsmeade.

"Everyone ready? All right. Next stop, Heathrow Airport in London." He Apparated.

XXX

Harry, like everyone else except for Hermione, entered an airport for the first time in his life. But he, at least theoretically, knew what everything was, and the chaos was nothing compared to Hogwarts. He could only imagine what someone like Ron, Daphne, or Theodore felt. Nott, however, didn't show the slightest interest in the place.

"It's a mess," he said, pointing at pieces of paper lying on the floor.

"Hogwarts would be a mess if it weren't for the slave labor of--"

"Hermione--"

"Right," she said. "If I weren't here--"

"Hermione, it'd be more helpful if you helped us," Daphne Greengrass said diplomatically.

"Fine. See what it says on our tickets? Terminal 1, gate 38. British Airways flight 739. That's where we board the plane. But first, we go to the registration counter an turn in our luggage. Just do what I do."

They got into a queue. Hermione presented her ticket, and placed her luggage on the conveyor belt. Harry watched as the attended glued a sticker on her bag and handed her a piece of paper. Hermione stepped away and smiled.

Harry got gotten himself through as easily as she had, although the woman who took in the bags raised an eyebrow at the long thin package that contained Harry's Firebolt. She passed it down without comment, however, and handed Harry his luggage receipt and boarding pass.

Daphne was next, and passed without trouble. Ron and Nott took great care to copy the girls and especially Harry, since they both had the same long packages.

The woman's patience was tested to its limits with the third such package. "What do you have in these?" she asked Nott.

He was dumbstruck, and for a moment it looked like their trip was over before it begun. But Hermione quickly found a way out.

"Theodore!" she shouted. "Hurry up, we'll miss the flight!" She glared at the airport worker's direction.

The woman understood, and silently took the bag in with the rest. "Theodore!" Hermione shouted again. "Your boarding pass!"

Fortunately, Nott was smart enough to understood what this meant, ran back, took the card from the now-smiling woman, and joined the rest.

"Did you have to--"

"Yes, I did," Hermione said. "I had a perfect excuse for the long packages, but I forgot to tell you."

"Oh, thanks for informing us now," Nott said.

"What's the excuse? Some Muggle--"

"The excuse is a ski trip, in case you wanted to know. We're lucky it's still winter, or it wouldn't work."

"Sure it would," Harry said. "In the summer, we'd just say they were water skis. Come on. What's next?"

"Security check," Hermione said. "They'll scan us and our belongings, and check our documents."

"If they ask you why you're going, tell them you're taking a ski trip. If they ask why you aren't at school, tell them your school has holidays now. I'll go first, then Nott, Ron, Daphne, and Harry at the end."

"Why like that?" Ron asked.

"You saw what just happened. It's best if the two of us who know the most about Muggles to be at the ends. It's like hiking. Strongest people at the front and back of the group."

"So I'm weak?" Ron asked angrily.

"When it comes to Muggle travel--yes!" Hermione retorted. "And Nott, and even Daphne. It's a fact. So watch and learn." And with that, Hermione approached the security checkpoint.

She placed her carry-on bag on the belt and walked through, picking up the bag on the other side. She turned and glanced at Nott.

The Slytherin boy awkwardly stepped up and repeated Hermione's actions. The security guard patted him on the sides in several places, and told him to go on. He immediately approached Hermione and began demanding something.

Ron and Daphne went through without problems, although guards did frisk both of them. Harry was already imagining how, for once, everything was working, but, when he stepped under the arch, alarms sounded.

"Do you have anything metal on you?" the guard asked.

"No... wait," he remembered, and took off the locket he wore on his neck. A quick glance told him Parvati wasn't in danger, and he handed it to the guard.

The jewelry was scanned, but since it did its work by magic, rather than technology, nothing registered. Harry stepped through and was about to go on, when the guard stopped him.

"Excuse me, Mr.--"

"Potter," Harry said.

"Potter," the guard agreed. "Where did you get that scar? I never saw one like that. Is that a--"

"It's not a symbol--I got it in a car crash."

"Car crash," the guard said. "When?"

"When I was a baby. You can look in my passport, I've had this forever."

The guard inspected the passport, comparing Harry's picture with the real thing. He finally shrugged, and not finding anything wrong, let him go.

"Great," Harry said once they departed out of range of the guard's hearing. "Even the Muggles want to know about my scar."

The story repeated itself at the boarding, but they finally entered the airplane and found their seats. Nott and Ron complained that there wasn't enough space for their legs, and found the idea of seat belts strange. "How long will this be?" Nott inquired.

"The flight lasts three hours fifteen minutes," Hermione replied. "It's on your ticket."

"Three hours sitting--"

"You're lucky we aren't going to Australia or America. That'd take at least ten hours. And we might have needed to change flights. That's a pain, too."

"How's it going to fly? Will the wings flap?" Nott asked.

Harry managed to quickly cast Muffliato, and so no heads turned. "Of course not," Hermione said. "Now stop bothering me. People usually read books on long flights." She took one out and sank into it.

Finally, the plane had left the terminal and began the trip. Nott and Ron actually enjoyed the takeoff, but Daphne looked sick, and Nott clenched her hand the whole time. Once the plane leveled, they quickly got bored looking out the windows, which showed nothing but clouds below. Ron commented that broomsticks couldn't fly this high.

"Or this fast," Hermione interjected and went back to her book.

Not even Hermione had a word of defense, however, about airplane food. They ate because they were hungry, but it felt hart after the excellent Hogwarts cooking.

There was little trouble once they landed, except for the repeated inquiries about Harry's scar. But once they received their luggage and exited outside, a surprise waited for them.

"Hermione!" a voice yelled.

"Viktor!" she shouted with joy. And, before Harry could stop her, ignoring or not noticing Ron's clenched fists, she dropped her bags, ran downstairs, and embraced him.