AFTER ACTION REPORT 1
Author's Note: I don't own any of the characters, as if I did then Ron/Hermione would have started far earlier.
Hogwarts
Harry had never really thought about what he was about to do past thinking that it had always seemed to be so far off. He had for so long put all of his strength and effort into defeating Voldemort. He had never really put much thought into what would come after, since for so long he doubted that he would even have an after to worry about. McGonagall and Mrs. Weasley had been asking him about the past year ever since the battle had ended. Harry felt that it was up to him mostly to try to explain everything, as he wasn't quite sure how much Ron and Hermione would want to help. He felt that Hermione would probably be able to explain things much better than he could however in the days after the battle she had mostly locked herself in the library with Ron, researching how to safely undo what she had done to her parents for their own good. For his part Ron seemed perfectly content with allowing Harry to be their voice, with the exception of what had happened during the destruction of the locket in the forest.
He had pulled Harry aside and into Dumbledore's old office to tell him that he felt that Hermione should know what had happened first, but that he couldn't get the words out whenever he tried. As the two had then sat there for what felt like hours a few of the portraits had made subtle nods towards the pensive. And so that night Hermione had followed Harry up the steps into the office and taken her first trip into the pensive, with Ron sitting very nervously at the foot of the stairs and fighting back the urge to bolt. Harry had thanked Dumbledore's portrait for telling him how to get the right memory for the task as Hermione experienced the memory, for both Ron and Harry had agreed that it was a truth better told to her in private lest everyone else experience it right there and then as well.
When she had emerged from the pensive Harry couldn't quite discern her reaction as she looked caught exactly halfway in between her heart breaking with every breath and utter fury, almost as bad as the night that Ron had returned and saved Harry in the pond. Harry had started to say something but she had stormed off down the stairs, grabbed Ron by the scruff of his neck and dragged him off to the first open classroom that they came to, slamming the door shut with all of her might. Harry stood as close to the door as he dared, hearing them both shouting in between fearfully silent moments. After what felt like an hour Harry had noticed that his stomach growling and gone down to the Great Hall to eat. He was almost completely done eating when the pair had finally slipped into the room, looking the worse for wear, worse but happy. Harry thought about asking them how things had gone, their eyes red and still a bit wet, but Hermione had stopped him by asking him to pass her a piece of pie, her lips just as puffy as Ron's.
It wasn't until much later in the common room before Harry could get any of the details, as Ron had been pulled away by a very guilty looking Percy to help to try and cheer Mrs. Weasley up, even if only a little. Hermione had awkwardly explained to him that she and Ron had gone through everything she had seen and more, finally getting seven years of pent up feelings and frustrations out into the open. Whenever harry would push a bit on exactly what that meant she would only blush to the tips of her busy hair and change the subject as fast as possible. Though the next morning Harry had come down the steps from the boy's dormitory to find his two best friends snogging by the fireplace just as they had done during the battle. Harry had thought about interrupting them again but had decided to give them some more time and try one more time to get his hair to lie down. When he had come down to the common room again he'd found them gone and they didn't turn up for several hours, with both very red and they had even finished each other's sentences a few times, something that lead to more than a few chuckles from Ginny. Two days later Harry discovered that he could put it off no longer and so had called them all together and just did it.
"So…where should I start," Harry called out softly with a slightly nervous stutter to his words as he gripped the edge of his seat tightly and glanced around the room, looking at everyone's face and feeling some small bit of relief that they all seemed to be about as unsure of what was about to happen as he was.
"It is usually common for one in circumstances such as this…to start at the beginning Mr. Potter," McGonagall calmly answered as she got herself settled in her seat for a long talk and then tried to steady herself for what she thought that she was about to hear, expecting it to be less than pleasant.
"R…right, I should probably then say that this all comes down to knowing what a horcrux is…Hermione," Harry nervously started to answer as he half turned in his seat to glance over at Ron and Hermione, who were both giving him scared and nervous but supportive looks, before he took a chance.
Harry visibly flinched under the scathing look of shock that passed across Hermione's face as she whipped her head around to face him.
"Huh…what, Harry…fine…a horcrux is of the darkest of magics, a horcrux is simply an object that a witch or wizard has concealed a part of their soul in, usually through murder," Hermione sputtered in complete disbelief before she dug in her heels, took a slow breath try and calm her nerves, and then picked her head up and spoke plainly and clearly, hoping that all would understand. At the end of her words there were more than a few plainly audible gasps of shock and alarm and Professor McGonagall could only close her eyes and shake her head in dismay, fighting back the urge to tear up.
"Dumbledore gave me the mission to find and destroy the horcrux's last year before he…died," Harry explained without really focusing his gaze but rather staring at first George's knees and then Mr. Weasley's before turning his gaze to Kingsley's knees.
"And I am going to guess that due to the length of time that the three of you were gone that Dumbledore did not tell you where these horcrux could be found, or perhaps even how many there were," Kingsley commented with a weary and grim expression as he leaned back in his seat and crossed his arms across his chest and waited for Harry to answer. Harry thought about his answer for a few seconds, noticing that both Percy and George edged forward to the very front of their seats and looked surprisingly interested.
"There were seven….seven that we knew of anyway, before the eighth one of course…me," Harry breathed out with a great deal of difficulty as he had to take a deep breath and let it out as he was finding it very hard to admit to being the last horcrux, knowing that it would probably also bring up bad memories for more than just himself. To say the least Harry would remember the reactions of those seated around him for the rest of his life as they all let out collective gasps and cries of shock and great alarm.
"We had no idea where most of them were…or even what they were, kind of a trial and error thing," Ron cut in across Hermione before she could speak with a nervous shrug of his shoulders and somber edge to his words as he vividly flashed back to their days of aimless wanderings in the tent in his mind. For a few moments Harry glanced at everyone else in the room in an attempt to gauge their reactions, as expect Ginny looked a bit confused while Mr. and Mrs. Weasley appeared to be even more worried if that were possible.
"Which is part of the reason that it took us so long, that and after we had to flee when the Ministry fell and the Death Eaters attacked the wedding…we hadn't planned on leaving so soon," Hermione tried to explain as simply as she could, feeling that the finer details of what had happened during and after their sudden exodus from the wedding was for their memories only unless they all agreed to tell more.
"We had to leave with barely the clothes on our backs, if not for Hermione and her quick thinking we wouldn't have had anything else to wear…we thought that we were safe, but then we ran into a couple of Death Eaters and barely made it out of that alive," Ron added softly as he remembered that Hermione had packed jeans that were almost too small for him and how much trouble he'd had getting his wand out for the fight in the café. He was about to go on when the more than likely new Minister of Magic spoke up.
"What…how…where," Kingsley demanded angrily as he started to hurry up to his feet but stopped when McGonagall put a hand on his arm and coughed loudly with a rather stern look in his direction, seeming to Harry that although she was gravely concerned about the news she was more curious about what had happened afterwards and didn't want the trio to stop.
"After we left the wedding we had to get off the streets and think, we ducked into a café on Tottenham Court Road, and stumbled into them…they came in after us, we had no idea at the time about the jinx," Harry shrugged with a nervous smile before he felt Ginny reach back and lay a hand gently on the small of his back and then lay her head on his shoulder, snuggling up closer to him and not caring who was watching.
"How on Earth did you find out about it though, only members of the Order really knew that it was even possible…," McGonagall demanded while looking none to please that the trio had gone through as much as they did before they'd even gotten their feet wet so to speak as she herself could not fathom the answer as beside her Hagrid pulled out his blanket sized handkerchief and blew his nose loudly.
Harry felt like a lead weight had been thrust into his stomach at the question, knowing full well that the full answer would not be a popular one and not reflect well on Ron without the whole story. He could only hope that he'd be able to explain it all thoroughly before getting a response.
"Well um…," Hermione started to answer before she visibly blanched and looked first to Harry and then to Ron, hoping that she could get an idea as to how they wanted to answer that particular question as the subject of Ron's having left months earlier was something that she'd hoped wouldn't come up until much later in the discussion.
"It was Ron…he told me…after he uh…," Harry quickly declared, though he couldn't help but snap his attention down to his hands in his lap, as he could feel the heat of all of their gazes on him and unasked questions in their throats and sincerely hoped to be rescued from such an embarrassing and potentially volatile moment.
"But why go to Grimmauld Place, surely you must have known that it would have been one of the first places that the Death Eaters would have searched," Arthur cut in, sensing their discomfort and making a mental note to come back to it later, as he sat up straight and laid a hand on his wife's back to calm her as if he could sense the million questions that were building up within her and decided to head her off at the pass.
"We didn't really have anywhere else to go Mr. Weasley…," Hermione answered calmly at first before she threw both Ron and Harry a nervous glance, glad that neither seemed to have an interest in contradicting her in the slightest.
"Hermione, Arthur and I know that you are not really out daughter however after all of these years we feel that you might as well be, a part of our family…especially if you and…well, if you want…that is, we would never dream of trying to get in between you and your…," Mrs. Weasley remarked with a slightly impatient sigh and soft and tired smile as she stood up and walked across the room before she finally came to stand directly in front of Hermione and Harry, oddly not giving much heed to her own children sitting right next to them both, finally leaning forward and laying a hand on both of their shoulders as Ron and Ginny looked on in confusion.
"Thank you Mrs.…Mum," Hermione began to reply with a warm smile before she started to tear up and could barely finish her words as she was interrupted from what she expected to be being pulled into a giant hug by the older woman.
"I hope you know that the same goes for you as well Harry, unless that is you really love staying with your Aunt and Uncle, in which case we would understand…," Mr. Weasley pointed out with a very honest and loving look in his eyes before he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and began to dab at his eyes at the smile that Harry and Hermione sent back his way.
"Oh no, I don't know if I ever want to see my Aunt and Uncle ever again, I brought everything that really mattered with me to the Burrow, and everyone that's ever mattered to me are here right now….except…," Harry rushed forward with as he sat up a bit straighter in his seat before he watched Mrs. Weasley collect herself and then go back and sit down beside her husband, wondering if she should have just situated herself in between Harry and Hermione instead, even if only for the time being.
"I am sure that Remus and Tonks would have been here if they could have helped it but…such is not the case unfortunately…for far…far…too many," McGonagall somberly muttered under her breath as she went as she had started off speaking strongly but her voice then seemed to fail her as she went and she finally had to bite her lip at the end to keep from crying. Harry and everyone else in the room stayed silent for a few moments as they all remembered and silently mourned those that they had lost so painfully before he or anyone else could speak up again.
"For some time we used Grimmauld Place as a hideout, always expecting Snape or Death Eaters to burst through the door at any moment, after a few weeks we started to relax just a bit and get to work planning our next move," Harry jumped right back in as he sat up a bit straighter in his seat for a few moments before slouching again at the knowledge that he had faced a bit of what Sirius had being pent up in Grimmauld Place for those long months. At least he hadn't been alone.
"Watched of course on a daily basis by an ever revolving cast of Death Eaters, they couldn't get it but they'd stand across the street in that small patch of grass and watch the house all day long in shifts, we had to apparate on the top step under the invisibility cloak so that they wouldn't see us," Ron grouched with a shiver as he remembered being pent up in the old house, hating every minute of it, as he felt that had he not had Harry and most especially Hermione there with him he would have gone stark raving mad in a matter of days.
"We found out about Snape being named as Headmaster of Hogwarts there, the Muggle-born Registry…," Harry added with a sincere tone of dread and unhappiness in his words as he remember the anger that had welled up within him the moment that he had seen the news, and at the fear at what it would more than likely mean for Hermione if she had not been with them as all of the others in the room looked still a bit outraged that the Registry had even existed in the first place.
"Ron promised to say that I was his cousin and teach me his entire family tree so that I could pass any test that I was given…before I reminded him that since he and I were with Harry it would never come to that," Hermione furthered Harry's explanation through a small yawn before she glanced briefly at Mrs. Weasley and gave her a smile and then beamed happily at Ron, who nervously smiled back as his ears went red.
"And what happened to one of the horcrux's, turns out it was a locket that we had found while cleaning, we'd had a copy of it but the real one…Mundungus Fletcher had nicked it shortly after Sirius' death, sold most of what he'd taken for whatever he could get for it, we set him as straight as we could," Harry muttered unhappily as he slid forward to the front edge of his seat and set his elbows on his knees to keep himself upright before he felt Ginny's palm on his back making small circles as she looked visibly upset and a bit confused.
"Umbridge had the locket," Ron spat out angrily as the venom in his words made it clear how he felt about his former teacher, a feeling that both Harry and Hermione shared with him on equal terms.
"So naturally the three of you decided to infiltrate the most heavily guarded wizarding location on the planet all by yourselves," Kingsley commented with a rather stern look in his eyes as he crossed his arms across his chest and scowled heavily at the trio, already not really fully liking what he was hearing but knowing full well that there was nothing that he could do about it.
"Well when you say it like that…but yeah, that was the idea," Ron nervously chuckled back as he tried to make it light of the situation while at the same time admitting without actually saying it about how dangerous their actions had been, hoping that everyone else in the room would feel like he did that they hadn't had a choice in the matter at the time.
"We had no choice, we had to obtain the horcrux," Hermione quickly agreed as she struggled to keep the smile at going along with Ron on her face and not allow her true feelings about Umbridge to show up instead, though her composure was about to break when Hagrid spoke up.
"How though," Hagrid exclaimed with a look that told Harry that he was on the edge of his seat and completely enthralled by the story, though also very angry that such a task had been placed on Harry and the others in the first place.
"It felt like it took forever to plan, we didn't know where Umbridge's office was until after we got into the Ministry, then we got separated," Harry admitted with a shiver as he felt his mouth get more than a bit dry before he was bolstered by Ginny giving him a one armed hug.
"But how did you do it Harry, with all of the heightened security that Minister Thicknesse had put in place after he took over," Percy demanded with a thoroughly irritated at the terrible breach in security edge to his words even though he knew that it had been for the best before Ron rolled his eyes and answered.
"Polyjuice Potion, obviously," Ron announced as he sounded as if to him it was the simplest thing in the world, though his amusement was short lived at the sight of the looks of concern and confusion on his parents' faces.
"Second or third time's the charm I guess, still tasted like dirt," Harry joked with a sour smile that he soon noticed that he alone was wearing as the others looked either confused or surprised, as if they weren't sure whether to take him seriously or not. Only Ron and Hermione stood by him and nodded their agreement and support.
"Then…then that would mean that we may have crossed paths…," Mr. Weasley exclaimed as he realized that it could have happened during their assault on the Ministry, and he appeared to be both excited and very worried by the idea, fervently wondering if they had met who Harry had been.
"We did Mr….long enough for you to give me a piece of your mind when you thought that I'd done wrong…it was scary," Harry started to quickly answer with an eager to answer smile before he couldn't help but blush and feel more than a bit awkward at how he would explain the reality of what had happened during their trip into the Ministry all those months ago.
"Blimey," George exclaimed with a total look of shock on his face, which Harry was glad for as ever since the battle the only expression that he had seen on the surviving twins face was one of complete and utter sadness.
"I hope the people we replaced didn't get in trouble for it…I'd hate to think that the bloke that I was…," Ron chimed in with an almost haunted expression as Harry could tell that he was thinking about the fact that Ron had replaced a man whose wife had been put on trial by Umbridge in a sham of a trial and had confused Ron for her husband before the Polyjuice Potion had worn off.
"They made it out Ron, they had to, we gave them as good of a head start as we could," Harry supported him softly as he tried to reassure Ron that the people whose places they had taken had made it out alive and had not been punished for their efforts as Harry smiled a bit at the sight of Hermione laying a hand on Ron's knee and giving it a squeeze. With a nervous smile Ron laid a hand over top of Hermione's and interlocked their fingers as best he could, earning him a subtle blush from Hermione and raised eyebrows from Mrs. Weasley and Professor McGonagall. Harry's smile grew even more when he looked back out at the group and noticed the look shared between the two older women and he had the feeling that both women looked pleasantly pleased about it, though they held their tongues for the moment.
"I don't believe this," Percy exclaimed in a panic as he seemed to suddenly have a bit of trouble breathing, like in someone who just had a terrible shock and was having a hard time dealing with it, though after several tense moments he was able to calm himself down enough to take a drink of water and not choke on it.
"Me either, that was very dangerous Mr. Potter," McGonagall remarked with a skeptical look of disapproval as she crossed her arms across her chest and made Ron and Hermione's smiles instantly disappear under her intense look.
"Yeah…but since when did that ever stop us before," Harry tried to joke with a forced bit of amusement in his voice as he made a doomed to fail attempt at lightening the mood before his old Transfiguration teacher turned her gaze towards him, echoed in Mrs. Weasley's look of disapproval, and he hung his head and went silent.
END OF CHAPTER 1
Author's Note: Thanks again to everyone for reading and reviewing this and the other chapters. As always reviews, comments, and questions are greatly appreciated. This story will take a few chapters and is basically the trio sitting everyone down to tell them about what happened during their time away. The more romantic pairing moments will come later and as always I'm a fan of Ron and Hermione and Harry and Ginny. I don't even read any pairings that pair Hermione with any other guy; it just doesn't work to me. The movies took out a lot of the Weasley family's best moments and a fair amount of the buildup to Harry and Ginny, mostly to push Harry and Hermione as the two stars of the series. I still can't figure out how tall the characters are supposed to be in the end.
I view Harry as being a couple inches shy of being six foot tall, and if he views Ron as clearly taller than him as it appears in the books that he does then Ron would have to be several inches above six foot tall, so Hermione would very clearly be much shorter than him. It's kind of funny in the books how at the start of every year Harry pays more attention to how Ron has changed but doesn't really bother with Hermione other than she still has a lot of frizzy hair. I don't really remember Harry ever actually being angry at Ginny like was with Hermione at times over the years. I loved it when Ginny sent Harry a get well soon card in third year and a lot of Ron's anger is all bluster, as his anger seems of often disappear at the drop of hat at certain points.
I'd think that Mrs. Weasley and McGonagall would be fine with Ron and Hermione together and may have even expected it over the years. I had Mr. and Mrs. Weasley want Harry and Hermione to call them mom and dad if they wanted to as back in the fifth book Mrs. Weasley admits that Harry isn't her son but that he might as well be, she thinks of him as her seventh son already. And Harry and Hermione will technically be her kids when they marry Ginny and Ron anyway. More fun to come. Thank You.