Preventive Measures
'Victorious warriors win first and then go to war, while defeated warriors go to war first and then seek to win.' – Sun Tzu, The Art of War.
Genre: Drama/Mystery
Rating: PG-13 (T)
Lead characters: Hermione Granger, Tom Riddle, also feat. Harry Potter
Pairing: HG/TR unresolved
Disclaimer: standard
AN. Hi everybody! This fic is being written as a sort of a challenge for HG/TR pairing and is dedicated to my dearest friend Star Mirage. And this is my first attempt to write a simple unpretentious (and clichéd) time-traveling story, which I always wanted to do! Also, it's nice to take a break from my more serious chaptered fics – and so I hope to have some easier stuff here.
Prologue
The time was coming to midnight, but Harry still was not quite persuaded.
'But is all this really necessary? We have already won, haven't we?' he said doubtfully.
His guest nodded patiently:
'And this is why it is safe for her to go now. Earlier, the outcome would have been unpredictable. The future – your future – was still not defined, and everything might have gone wrong. But now – now it's all different.'
Harry became thoughtful again, but then his face cleared: 'You mean if she goes now, nothing bad will happen to her?'
'I mean that if she goes now, she will succeed,' said his guest with the same patience, as if he spoke to a child. 'Whom can you trust I not me, after all?'
The prospect of his closest friend undergoing the risk so serious was very much disturbing, and he still was not quite sure if he was doing the right thing. But his guest's arguments seemed very persuasive, and then, the very identity of his unexpected night visitor spoke very strongly in his favor.
If only it all were not so strange; the entire situation he found himself in.
'But what if we won't do this? What's wrong with doing nothing, after all? Our action – or inaction – can't really change the fact that we have won. Or can it? Because there is no force that could undo what has already happened – you said so yourself – and so no one can change the past. So what's the point?'
His guest replied, with a rather dark smile:
'Your victory was based on certain foundations. And on certain information that you were given. If not for Dumbledore, you would have never known a thing about these Horcruxes at all. Or that there were precisely seven of them.'
'Well, Dumbledore certainly didn't travel to past to learn all this,' Harry muttered. 'And even if he had to, he would have never sent anyone instead of him.'
'True; I don't think that he would do that,' the stranger agreed. 'Though, if he'd decided that he'd absolutely had to… Well, you'd never know. But one thing I know for certain: now, it is absolutely necessary. If it happens somehow that Voldemort has made not seven Horcruxes, but more, your victory will be very much in doubt. Don't you think?'
'And why would he have made more than seven? Do you have the proof, or what?' And then, a sudden idea struck him. 'Are you saying that you know this for sure? That he will come back?'
His guest signed and crossed his legs: 'But of course I'm not to tell you that. All you are allowed to know – and which I've already told you – is that your friend Hermione has to do something right now to make sure that nothing of the kind will happen in the future. '
Harry was almost convinced, and yet, a vague feeling of dissatisfaction was not leaving him. It all was as if in a dream: this strange night visitor and their bizarre conversation, they were almost unreal.
'All right. I still think you should speak with Hermione yourself and explain her everything. Let her decide herself,' said Harry at last.
But the night visitor just shook his head:
'Unfortunately, this is out of the question. I can't see her now; this would compromise the entire mission. You are the only person with whom I can meet safely. Safely for myself… and for you.'
'Oh, really?' Harry raised an eyebrow skeptically. 'And I somehow used to believe that it was just the opposite.'
There was almost a pity in his guest' eyes – a condescension quite irritating, to Harry's opinion.
'There are things that a man has to do alone,' the visitor said at last, in a quiet and serious voice. 'But of course, you know this yourself.'
Harry lowered his eyes. As if he could forget.
He conquered Voldemort just three months ago.
Thank you very much for reading! Reviews are welcome!