Free Will and Fate

Harry shoved food into his mouth mechanically, as he had ever since he found out he was going to die. It had all become tasteless to him, just something to keep him going until the inevitable end. He noticed Hermione watching him anxiously out of the corner of his eye. He knew what she was thinking--Is he upset because I told McGonagall? What does this mean for us?--but he didn't feel the need just then to comfort her. He had enough to consider. Now that McGonagall knew, how long would it be before Snape put it together that he'd been found out? And after that, how long would it take before Harry's own personal clock stopped ticking? He was living on borrowed time and he had no idea how to fix it. No, the last thing he wanted to do was reassure Hermione. What he wanted--and did not dare take advantage of--was her comfort. Even as she held his arm, imploring him with her eyes, he knew it was temptation he had to resist.

"Harry?" she whispered. "We need to think about what to do next."

Harry let his fork fall to the plate with a clatter. He emptied the glass of pumpkin juice next to his plate before he turned to Hermione. "What do you suppose that is?" She winced at his tone. He hadn't meant to sound short with her, but he couldn't help reacting when she looked at him that way.

"There's someone here who can protect you now, but there's still a lot to be sorted through."

He nodded.

"I want to go to the Room of Requirement tonight and try to break the protections on the parchment. I know it's not the priority, but--"

"But it's the reason he tried to kill me," Harry supplied.

"Yes." Hermione glanced around the table to make sure no one was listening to them. "I have Counter Curses for the Modern Age in my dorm. There are a few that I think might come in handy."

"No," Harry responded.

"No?" Hermione asked. "But I thought--"

"Not tonight, Hermione." He shook his head and his eyes dropped to his lap. He was fighting down the sudden urge to scream at her suggestion. "I can't. I'm too tired to even try. Now, if you can help me get a hold of a Pensieve, then I might be up to using it."

She frowned. "I think I've read the name before, but I can't remember where. Why would you need one?"

"A Pensieve is used to review memories. I feel like there's something I need to go over again, something I need to see," he said. "Retrieving memories seems like a stress-free way to spend the evening. Besides, I could show you what happened that night at the Ministry and a lot of the other things I've been through. Show you the kind of enemy we're up against."

"I got a good idea from the stories you told me Monday."

"Hermione, you have no idea unless you've seen Death Eaters in action." Harry thought back to everyone insisting on accompanying him to the Department of Mysteries and scolded himself for letting them all come, for letting himself get caught in that trap. If he'd listened to Hermione that day...

"If what we're into involves the lot of them, you need to see everything they and Voldemort have tried to get to me. It might help us protect ourselves. Or it may just give you an idea what kind of protections could be on that parchment." Most of all, looking at his memories would give Harry a chance to lose himself in things he hadn't indirectly caused for a few hours. A welcome distraction in the guise of giving Hermione background information. He knew she could easily research Death Eater activities without going through his memories with him. He also knew she was dying to see the Harry she was now spending time with, since she was falling in love with him too. He had guessed how she felt, even if she hadn't said it.

"Okay," she said softly. "How do we get one?"

"I don't know," Harry said. It was the flaw in the plan. "Dumbledore used to keep one in a cabinet in his office, but he's no longer Headmaster. I'm sure he took it with him when he left."

"He's only been gone from the school 3 years, maybe he left it to Professor McGonagall. Why would he need it as Minister?"

"If you were his age, wouldn't your head be a little crowded?"

Hermione smiled at Harry's question and they both relaxed a bit.

"Who else at the school might have one?" Harry asked.

Hermione shrugged. "Professor Trelawney? She has all kinds of strange objects in that tower of hers. Maybe she'll let us borrow one."

"I doubt it," Harry said. "I don't think it's the typical request from a student. Still, we can try taking it if she has one." At Hermione's wide-eyed expression, Harry added, "If she doesn't use it, she'll never know it was gone. And we can return it as soon as we're done."

"It still sounds like stealing." At Harry's exasperated expression, she asked, "And if she doesn't have one?"

"I was thinking we'd try the Room of Requirement first. Never know, it might give us one if we ask for it. Or I could buy one."

Hermione nodded. "And then?"

"Then I'll need you to get Magical Devices again. I have no idea how to extract memories and I don't think I can get away with asking a professor for help on this."

Hermione nodded. She looked at her half-empty plate, pushed it away and took a few sips from her glass of water. She turned back to Harry. "Ready?" He nodded and they made their way upstairs.

"It doesn't surprise me," Hermione said as they entered the Room of Requirement. "If a Pensieve does what you say, it would be too easy to get one by conjuring it this way," she said of the unchanged room. "You'll probably have to buy one."

"Or borrow," Harry said. "I still consider that an option."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Fine, we can borrow one. I don't see how we're going to get in and out of the North Tower with something we've borrowed without getting caught. Protected or not, McGonagall will have both our heads if she thinks we've stolen something from a professor."

"She'll never know," Harry said. He grabbed Hermione's hand and walked her out of the Room. They both watched as the door began to disappear and then began walking towards the Gryffindor common room.

"A Disillusionment Charm can only do so much, Harry. Even if it were really good, someone would still see a Pensieve floating along in mid-air if the charm didn't work on it. Unless it would fit under your robes." She paused to consider the option. "Even the castle ghosts are not entirely invisible."

"Hermione!" He hadn't said her name too loudly, but it was enough to stop the incessant flow of words. "I have my Invisibility Cloak, remember? It's big enough to cover both of us."
"And the Pensieve?" she inquired.

Harry hesitated. "I hope so. We'll find out soon enough. If Professor Trelawney even has one." Hermione squeezed his hand and they shared a brief smile before he said, "What I really want to do is get into Snape's office and see if there's any clues about the parchment. I suppose it would be better if we did that over the weekend, when there's more time, but--" Harry stopped as he spotted Professor Snape coming around the corner that lead to the Gryffindor common room with the Ministry employee they'd seen earlier. Harry cursed under his breath.

When Snape spotted them, he motioned the students closer. "Potter, just who I was looking for." He glanced down at Hermione's hand clinging to Harry's and frowned slightly. "I was just telling Ms. Diggory that no one has spent more time exploring the halls of Hogwarts than yourself. And Miss Granger, of course."

Harry found himself staring at the woman's face, trying to determine where he'd seen her before.

"Diggory?" Hermione asked. "Are you related to Cedric? He's a student here."

The woman nodded. "He's a distant cousin."

It was then Harry recognized her. It was Nymphadora Tonks. It was no wonder he didn't know her before. Her eyes were an almond-shaped light gray, her light brown hair worn thick and long. Even her nose was larger than usual, rendering her unrecognizable to anyone who was acquainted with her. Except for her voice. Harry would know her voice anywhere.

"Your class schedule is very light tomorrow, Harry, so I thought you might be available to show Ms. Diggory around the school," Snape said. "She is familiar with the castle and grounds, but she will not be able to access password protected areas of the school without a Prefect to guide her."

"Why would you need to do that?" Harry asked.

Snape answered before she could respond. "The decisions of the Ministry are, as you should be aware, not to be questioned by a 15-year-old student."

Tonks cleared her throat and smiled at Harry. "I am conducting inspections for a list of missing objects at the Minister's request." Harry exchanged a short glance with Hermione. "Because of the dangerous nature of these objects, and the large variety of things I must find, it is imperative that I have access to all private areas of the school, including the student dorms."

Harry made a mental note to hide the bag containing his Cloak and the prophecy, not to mention the parchment sitting on top of the books in his trunk. That is, if that was her real purpose at the school. If Dumbledore had really sent her, there was no way to tell if her job was to inspect the school as Snape had said or to question him, as McGonagall had indicated. Also, there was no reason she couldn't be doing both.

"Do you have plans Potter?"

At Snape's question, Hermione dropped his hand.

"No," Harry said. "I'll be happy to show you around the school," he told Tonks. He smiled at Hermione. "I'll catch up with you later. We still need to go over that assignment."

"I can handle the first part of it alone. Don't worry about it," Hermione said.

Snape watched their back and forth exchange for a few seconds before issuing a short bow to Tonks and walking away quickly. Harry sighed.

"I'll see you later?" he asked Hermione. She nodded and kissed his cheek quickly before walking away, leaving him to deal with the Auror Dumbledore had sent to Hogwarts.