Free Will and Fate

Harry and Hermione spent most of their breakfast-time the next morning in silence. The moment she'd come down into the common room that morning, he noticed her red puffy eyes and set mouth, the latter a sure sign that she was still upset that he'd all but resigned himself to die and she had no say in the matter. He understood where her feelings lay, but that didn't change the facts. The chance of Snape willingly providing a cure was nonexistent and the chance of the Healers from St. Mungo's being able to create one in the time they had was slim at best. She'd told him the night before that being cavalier about his impending death wasn't going to make facing the possibility any easier. Denial had never served anyone well. But what Hermione didn't know, and Harry wasn't going to tell her, was that he would go peacefully to whatever lay beyond if he got to personally take out Snape before it was all over. Fate owed him that much.

She'd left him the night before without another word, refusing even to eat dinner after she realized she couldn't change his mind about telling Dumbledore the whole truth. Now, sitting next to him, she was half-heartedly forcing herself to eat her meal, oblivious to the concerned looks from the students around them and radiating anger, or perhaps just sadness, at the boy sitting next to her, who watched as she stabbed her fork repeatedly at the plate.

"Will you stop that?" Hermione snapped, turning to Harry.

"I'm sorry?"

"You're staring at me," she said. "Stop it."

"I'm not." Harry glanced up and Ron and Parvati quickly looked away, pretending to be engrossed in a conversation. "I'm just worried about you," he added in a softer voice.

"Well, isn't that rich?" Hermione responded. "Perhaps if you spent more time worrying about--"

"Having trouble this morning?"

Harry closed his mouth, the beginning of his part of their argument going unsaid as Snape stepped closer to their table. Without another thought to how upset she was, Hermione immediately grabbed Harry's hand.

"No, Professor. Just having a spirited discussion," Hermione said, a forced smile tilting her mouth up at both ends.

Snape took in both students with a long gaze. "I suggest a Calming Draught if your spirits cannot be controlled another way. We can hear you at the High Table."

Harry was about to retort smartly, something about how that was impossible since they'd only been arguing for a duration of 10 seconds, if that, when Hermione said, "We'll be sure to keep it down. Matter of fact, I'm sure we've come to an understanding, right Harry?"

Harry nodded, not trusting himself to speak. If he had anything to say to Snape, it would probably be in the form of a jinx that would leave him immobile and helpless...before he got to a few interesting curses.

"See that you continue to control your less-than-favorable impulses," Snape said to Harry before turning to walk away. Hermione's firm grip on Harry's arm was the only thing keeping him from reaching for his wand and aiming a curse at his stepfather's back.

"You may not think it's right, Hermione, but I'm sure anything that man did is irreversible," he said, turning back to her. "I can't force myself to get my hopes up when odds are he's going to succeed. At least with what he did to me." Harry regretted the frank words when he saw Hermione's eyes begin to tear up.

"I know." She wiped at her eyes quickly with her sleeve, forcing her emotions to stay in check. "You might think I'm stupid for wanting to believe things can work out differently."

"I would never think you're stupid," Harry said.

"I just don't want to give you up. I never will."

Harry thought again of how much he desperately wanted to live, in spite of the small likelihood of that happening, if he only to have just a fraction of what he'd be missing. Something he'd been offered and had refused out of some vague sense of unease where their mutual feelings were concerned.

"Let's go upstairs," he whispered.

"Harry, it's a little early to work on this stuff."

"No," Harry said. "Not for that. I think a little alone time would do us some good." As her expression softened, he added, "We could talk. After everything that's happened, I want to be able to just spend time with you. Would that be okay?"

In response, Hermione stood from her place at the table and waited for him to do the same. With one arm around his waist, Hermione led him outside of the Great Hall and towards the stairs. They hadn't made it ten steps when a voice from behind called out to Harry. They turned together, still holding each other close.

"Oh, this morning just gets better and better," Hermione said.

"I have no idea what to say to him," Harry added before waving at Draco.

"I could handle it if you need me to," Hermione suggested.

"No, I'll do it," he whispered as the other boy got closer.

Draco stepped up to them, sweeping his eyes along the hall before he stepped close. "Did you handle what we talked about?" he asked.

Harry sighed. He hadn't had time to come up with a proper lie for Draco and wasn't in the mood to come up with one on the spot. Perhaps some semblance of the truth wouldn't be so bad after all. "The parchment is part of a larger collection of documents, possibly stolen. Ministry notes on a missing person who is thought to be dangerous."

Hermione stiffened against his side.

Draco blinked rapidly a few times. "I hadn't expected that. I knew it was probably something important, but not anything stolen. Is there anything else you can tell me?"

Harry shook his head. "Just that your father and Snape were planning something for the end of the month, but they won't be able to track this person down without the parchment I stole."

Draco looked around the hall again before saying, "That might explain why Aunt Bella has been acting strangely." He beckoned both of them closer before continuing. "I went to see her after dinner last night and she was pacing around in her office, going on about how things were falling apart and something had to be done or they'd all have hell to pay come October."

Hermione and Harry exchanged quick glances. He could tell she was thinking the same thing he was, this new revelation from Draco was either a confirmation of their earlier guesses or terribly convenient in light of what they'd learned so far. It was difficult to tell at this point whether Draco could be trusted.

"That was before she noticed me, of course," Draco said. "When I asked her, she said she was just worried about something Professor McGonagall wanted the staff to do. That's why they had the staff meeting before dinner the other night. Then she asked me if I thought you've been acting strangely this past week. I told her you're fine as far as I know. You've been spending a lot of time with Hermione." He nodded at her. "She asked me to spend more time with you, make sure nothing is...wrong," Draco added.

"She asked you to keep an eye on me," Harry said.

"Not in so many words, but they're watching you. Are you sure you're going to be okay, Harry?" Again, the concern in his eyes seemed genuine. It took Harry by surprise that Draco could be worried about anything or anyone that didn't directly affect his chances of getting ahead in the world. If it was real, it would take some serious getting used to.

He nodded before the question had passed from the other boy's mouth. "That means we're on the right path. Whatever they're doing, they don't want us involved."

"Would that be for the best?"

"The best for whom?" Hermione asked.

Draco frowned but said nothing in response.

"Look Draco, I'm not going to force you to lie to your aunt for me, but I'm going to keep investigating, whatever happens. If you can't help me, that's fine," Harry said. "But I can trust you not to say anything, right?"

"Of course, of course," Draco said. "If you find anything else, you'll let me know?"

"You'll be the first," Hermione said. She held her fake smile until Draco took off the way he'd come and went back into the Great Hall. The moment he was out of earshot, Hermione said, "Now, I'm really confused. I thought we'd agreed he can't be trusted."

Harry shrugged. "This will prove if he can or can't be. What he just told us could be valuable, if it's true. If he's passing information back to either Bellatrix or Snape, what I told him will be enough for one of them to have a reaction. They might get nervous and make a mistake. And, like I told Dumbledore, they can't touch me while I'm at school. We'll still have to watch Draco. If he can keep it a secret, maybe we can get him to help us. He'll have access to his aunt's office where we couldn't, so we won't have to sneak in there. We just need to know if it's more important to him to be honest with me or them. Choosing between the right thing and family is not easy."

Hermione shook her head slowly, trying to wrap her head around Harry's rapid change in plan and the convoluted reasoning behind it. "Okay, fine. I hope you know what you're doing. I suppose we can see what happens with Draco. Can we stop by the dorms on the way to the Room of Requirement? I want to go over a few of these things, now that he's got me thinking about it. Maybe I can stop by the library later. I didn't get any of my homework done and we still need some more advanced Potions books."

"Why don't I meet you in the Room of Requirement?" Harry asked. "I think there's a cabinet of old books in the Potions classroom. I'll bring one or two up with me."

Hermione's mouth dropped open. "Harry, it's dangerous for you to be down there by yourself. What if that woman--"

He shrugged. "What could they possibly do to me?" he asked, backing away a few steps. "I'm already dying."

Hermione flinched at his words, but said nothing as he began walking in another direction and took the closest stairs down into the dungeons. She knew there was nothing worse they could do to him that hadn't already been done, but she didn't want to lose him any sooner than she had to.

Harry walked into the Room of Requirement twenty minutes later with two battered copies of Advanced Potion Making tucked under his arm. Hermione had already gotten started. The stack of parchment comprising Dumbledore's notes was pushed to the far side of the table, a large box was open directly in front of her. She was glancing over the contents with a smile on her face as Harry approached.

"The Daily Prophet got back to me a little early," she said around a wide grin as Harry sat at the table. "Not only did they send me the back issues I asked for, but they dropped in a few issues that mentioned small Ministry break-ins over the past year. They may not all help us, but it couldn't hurt to look through them." Hermione pulled out the first issue on the stack. "This is the one you'll find most interesting."

She handed him a paper with the title Ministry Break-In Leaves Security Baffled. Harry scanned the article quickly. It went on to describe how several high-ranking Ministry officials had come into the office that morning to find their desks ransacked, and many documents of a "classified and sensitive nature" missing, in spite of the extensive security measures taken. The most notable victim was the Minister himself, who had left a mass of personal research in the Department of Mysteries. The article closed with a statement from Dumbledore claiming that the thieves would be caught and punished to the full extent of the law and that public safety was not in any immediate danger.

Harry looked up from the paper to find Hermione still grinning wildly.

"Do you see? This was the first week of August. There may have been smaller break-ins to the Department of Mysteries before this, but they couldn't cover it up when the thieves went pillaging throughout the building. The Ministry spent the next three weeks having just about every house connected to a Ministry employee searched only to find nothing."

"But they never thought to search the house of a Hogwarts professor," Harry said. "That's why Snape was keeping the Key at his house until Gringotts was no longer being watched. It wasn't safe with Malfoy because of his contacts at the Ministry. The rest of Dumbledore's notes had to be moved as well. But why the other documents? What else would they need to steal?"

"They have papers from Auror Headquarters, International Magical Office of Law and the Magical Law Enforcement Squad. If I had to guess, I'd say they want to find out more about the security measures around Britain, procedures and such for how people are apprehended."

"That's kind of a wide guess," Harry said. "I think it's more likely they want to take over the Ministry and need to know what parts of government are least protected."

Hermione frowned. "That's what I just said. They'll be trying to find out where the government is weak so they know just how to strike. The Ministry is not going to change all of it's operating procedures overnight because a few thieves got a hold of their paperwork."

"That's assuming the papers are related to how each of those departments is run. We don't know what they consider 'sensitive' in government."

"Well, look," Hermione said, sighing as she dropped the next newspaper back into the box. "I'm trying. At least I'm trying." Grabbing the first paper from Harry's hand, she shoved it into the box and pushed the entire collection of Daily Prophets onto the floor with a sweep of her arm. It landed on the floor with a resounding thud. "Show me the books."

Harry blinked at her abrupt change in mood, but said nothing. He handed over one of the Potions books. "I figured if I picked up beat up copies, no one would notice them missing. Besides, with the school year already started, most students probably have their supplies already."
"Yeah," Hermione replied absently, opening the book to the first page. She flipped through a few pages before frowning and slamming the cover shut. "Trade with me. Whoever owned this one obviously had no respect for their book. It's got writing all over the pages."

"That makes it okay for me?" Harry asked, offering her a small smile. She glared in response. Wordlessly, he pushed his copy of Advanced Potion Making towards Hermione and caught the one she threw back in his direction before it made contact with his nose. "You know, if you don't want to help me, you don't have to."

"And just let you die?" Hermione asked without looking up. "Not a chance. First, I'm going to find out about those potion ingredients, then I want you to get a list of your symptoms from Dumbledore. If there's a potion involved in the curse, we can probably figure out how it was made. And if there's a way to cure it, I will find it."

Harry was surprised she'd made it through her little speech without dissolving into tears again, but as Hermione flipped through the worn Potions book quickly, he realized she'd merely transformed her sadness into anger at the situation. He wouldn't push her to accept what he thought was inevitable. If she wanted to spend her time looking for a cure, at least she'd have that to hold on to when he was gone. That she'd done everything in her power to attempt to save him before the end.