Harry Potter and the Dark Mark

Chapter Seventeen

"Ah," Hermione said as she finished the letter. She moved her hand back to her side and looked at Ron, whose mouth was already set in a sulky scowl, and his eyes were mutinous.

"Wait!" Harry exclaimed, wrenching the letter from her hands so he could finish reading it. When he had done, he raised his eyebrows at Ron. The letter had made it clear that Ginny and Malfoy were to be left alone, and unhurt. Now Harry could see why Ron looked so angry and disappointed. He wouldn't have minded helping the Weasleys to wipe the smirk off Malfoy's face.

"I think it's a good letter," sniffed Hermione. "It shows that they respect Ginny's decisions, and that they are-" here Hermione's tone became harder, "-not treating her like a baby. They're reassuring her that they respect her as a person, and so she should see she doesn't need to shock everyone into seeing that she's not a little girl!"

Harry grimaced. Hermione really needed lessons in subtlety.

"It doesn't make Malfoy any less of a git though, does it? Can't she see he's just using her?" Ron asked, not expecting an answer.

"She knows. She knew in the Library," Harry said grimly.

"Things will fix themselves," Hermione reassured them both. Harry wished he had her confidence.

Ginny took to avoiding the common room, and Ron and the twins took to stalking her through the School, hoping to put Malfoy off. They were not successful. A few days later, Ginny had slipped innocuously out through the portrait hole, when Ron immediately suggested to Harry that they go for a stroll. Harry agreed. Hermione had taken to stalking them in turn, as if to protect Ginny and stop them hexing Malfoy. The whole situation annoyed Harry immensely.

"Nice day, isn't it?" Hermione asked them, as they wandered the grounds.

"No. It's bloody freezing!" Ron answered. Harry shrugged and huddled deeper into his cloak. The January chill was still in the air.

"There she is!" Ron suddenly hissed. He darted forwards, and began jogging in the direction of the Greenhouses.

"Wait... what's that?" Hermione asked in surprise. She pointed out something huge that was lumbering about down by Hagrid's Hut.

"It's Hagrid!" Harry bellowed joyfully, and began hurtling down there, the other two hot on his heels. At the sound of his name, Hagrid turned, and waved at them.

"Ha-hag-grid!" Harry panted. He flung himself at Hagrid, who squeezed out what little breath Harry had remaining with a huge bear hug.

"Alrigh', 'Arry?" Hagrid asked.

"Yeah. You?" Harry questioned. He pulled back and smiled happily up and Hagrid's beetle black eyes and bushy eyebrows.

"Well we've been turrible busy an' the like, but I've bin keepin' well, an' so 'as Olympe," Hagrid rumbled back. His eyes looked suspiciously moist.

"Hagrid! How have your negotiations with the Giants been? Why are you back? Did Dumbledore send for you? How long will you be staying?" Hermione demanded breathlessly.

"Hermione, shut up. Let him answer!" Ron rebuked her. "Hello, Hagrid!" he finished brightly.

"Hallo Ron, and 'Ermione! Come away inside. I've just put the kettle on, an' so we can all 'ave a cuppa tea!" Hagrid stepped aside from the door to his home, and the three teenagers hurried towards it, away from the biting air and stony ground. As Harry was about to step inside, a cloaked form loomed towards him. Harry recognised the figure and cried out in surprise.

"Professor Lupin!"

"Oh!" Lupin paused and smiled at Harry. "I wasn't expecting to see you. It's a weekday, isn't it?" he asked, seeming to feel rather awkward about being bumped into like this.

"Harry, Professor Lupin is right! We have to get back to Hogwarts for lessons soon!" Hermione cried warningly. "We wouldn't want to miss History of Magic now, would we?"

"Oh no, Heaven forbid!" Ron muttered darkly. Lupin and Harry both caught the comment and grinned at each other.

"Remus?" Hagrid asked, raising his eyebrows.

"I'll deliver your report to both Dumbledore and Mundungus and the others. I'd better be going." With a swift glance at the sky, Professor Lupin hastened on his way. He called out his farewell over his shoulder, and then was gone.

"Full Moon ternight," Hagrid said knowingly. Hermione nodded distractedly, and Harry and Ron cringed.

"We'll come back tomorrow. No lessons on Saturday," Hermione declared wistfully.

"The tea'll be ready!" Hagrid announced merrily. "Olympe'll be here too, mind, but... c'mon, off with yer... we don't want Gryffindor ter be losing points now, do we?" He would say no more, but ushered them off on their way to the castle, and it was mainly thanks to that they made the lesson in time. Harry was itching for tomorrow to come.

***

"Do you have your Invisibility Cloak?" Hermione reminded Harry for the sixth time that day.

"Yes," he replied, with what he considered amazing patience.

"There's no need to grit your teeth at me like that," Hermione sniffed.

"I wasn't," Harry snarled through clenched teeth.

"You were! You're doing it now!" Hermione protested. "Ron, isn't he!"

"Yeah Harry, you look like Fang!"

"Sorry," Harry snarled. He swallowed. Hermione seemed to have forgotten her disgust at being snarled at, and was busy slipping her hand into Ron's.

"We have the Marauder's Map too," Ron stated, swallowing slightly as Hermione laced her fingers with his.

Hermione screeched abruptly, "Oh look, Harry!" Ginny is over there. Why don't you ask her along? I'm sure she'd love to see Hagrid again after all this time!"

Harry sighed deeply and closed his eyes, hoping that when he opened them Ginny would have hurried away down the corridor and taken the problem of her friendship with her. He counted slowly to three, and then opened his eyes again. Ginny was standing, frozen, staring at him in a manner not dissimilar to that of Hedwig. Her expression told Harry plainly that she was leaving things completely up to him, and that she did not mind as to what he decided.

He wavered in indecision. If he asked her to come with him, then he had no doubts that Hermione and Ron would pair up and sidle off, leaving them alone in awkward silence, but then again, if he did not ask her to accompany them after such an obvious invitation from Hermione, it would just make things worse in the long run. Harry sighed for the third time in less than a minute, plucked up his renowned Gryffindor courage, and spoke up.

"Ginny-?" Her name hovered in the air for a moment and then seemed to fade quietly into the soft tapestries lining the walls of the corridor. A faint displacement of air brushed Harry's face, and he stared in disenchantment at the place she had just sped from.

He caught Hermione and Ron up and skulked along behind them. Hermione turned imperiously and gave a marked stare at the space beside him, and then questioned Harry silently.

"Mustn't've felt like coming along," he mumbled.

"You mean she was off to see bloody Malfoy," Ron guessed, contorting his freckled face.

"Ron," Hermione said perfectly amiably. Both boys could detect the veiled threatening tone. "What have we just been discussing?"

Ron let out a gusty sigh. "Sorry, Hermione. I forgot. I must always remember that Ginny is my only sister, and that she can make her own decisions." The first part was a perfect imitation of Hermione's 'Teacher Voice' which Ron could mimic precisely. He continued in his normal voice. "But I must also remember that Malfoy is a bloody Death Eater git, and that Harry happens to be my best friend." He nodded firmly, and then took one look at Hermione's stiff posture and ran through everything he had just said. "Besides you, of course."

There was an icy pause.

"And I'll remember your advice."

Silence.

"And follow it!" Ron exclaimed. Hermione smiled, and then pecked him on the cheek.

"Good!" she smirked enthusiastically. Ron had time to roll his eyes at Harry before they paused in the entrance Hall, and he flung the Invisibility Cloak over them.

They made rapid progress across the grounds, although it was cold and the wet grass was slippery underneath their feet. Something in the Forbidden Forest howled, and a Screech Owl uttered the spine chilling cry that earned it its name. As they neared Hagrid's Hut, the outline murky in the fading twilight, there was the sharp, staccato bark of a fox, and then the moon slid out fleetingly from behind a cloud. Then the eerie silence of the night pressed in on them before Harry heard the low murmur of voices from Hagrid's doorway.

"G'night!" They heard Hagrid call. The figures, of which there were two, did not say goodbye, but waved at him. Hagrid shut the door firmly, and the crack of light that had spilled out onto the grass vanished. All chance of seeing the mysterious figures was lost.

"Harry! Hermione! Listen!" Ron choked out. They stood stock still, straining their ears to catch the sibilant sounds from those just outside Hagrid's Hut. The voices were familiar, but because they whispered, Harry could not identify them.

"...most serious nature. We can't have the students in the grounds this weekend, for fear they see or have an encounter with him." This first voice was definitely female.

"When does he depart again?" The second voice was lower, and more sinister.

"He leaves again Sunday night. That is, he is meant to..." The two silhouettes then hurried towards the castle. A slight wind rippled past Harry's side, making the cloak move. His foot was exposed from beneath the Invisibility Cloak. He scowled, and shook it back under.

"Who is it?" breathed Hermione. Harry fumbled in his pocket for the Marauder's Map, and Hermione muttered 'Lumos' and then brought her wand forth to reveal the moving dots on the map.

"Does this thing conceal light?" Ron wondered out loud.

"No idea," Harry answered, squinting against the brightness of the wand.

Hermione gasped a little and pointed with a trembling finger at the Map. There were two dots moving rapidly in the direction of Hogwarts. These were labelled Serverus Snape and Minerva McGonagall. However, the thing that had shocked Hermione was the other dot near themselves, heading in the direction of the Forbidden Forest. It was labelled Lucius Malfoy.