Chapter 2

Hours later, he walked into St Mungos carrying two packages. One had the guest gifts or "trinkets" as Ron called them and the other some documents he needed to look over regarding his accounts and investments that he'd received after his meeting at the bank. He was pretty sure he wanted to stop the wedding at all costs but that didn't include messing up the errand he'd undertaken to help out. He hadn't done it to help with the wedding; he'd simply done it for her and despite his suspicions, he had no proof the she'd been tricked into drinking a love potion like he was. For all he knew, she might really love Ron. That thought sent a shudder down his spine and made him more determined than ever to prove his suspicions were correct.

He made his way to the correct ward and soon was examined by a healer. The healer cast a diagnostic spell on him and he waited a few minutes until she gave him the results.

"It appears Mr. Potter," she began. "That you have indeed been a victim of an illegal love potion. Its one that wears off after about six months and I would say its been administered to you several times although not in the last three months or so."

Harry thought back to the guy's nights with Ron and all the drinks he kept bringing him. Nights that stopped once the wedding planning went into high gear and rage once again welled up inside him.

"Can you cure me?" he asked.

"Certainly," she said confidently. "This will just take a few minutes."

She waved her wand and spoke the proper incantation and he felt a warm sensation come over him and soon he was himself again. Suddenly he was inundated with sixth year memories that he hadn't had before. It took him a few minutes to process the flood of lost images and feelings until he had them at least in some semblance of an order in his mind. Like the first five years of school there were numerous moments of affection between him and Hermione, in fact, they were closer than they'd ever been. He saw clearly now, moment by moment, how they ended up sharing a kiss that night in the common room. He could also see the radical difference starting the next day, as they were both strangely fawning over the two youngest Weaselys and hardly paying attention to each other. He opened his eyes to see the healer looking at him with concern.

"Are you okay Mr. Potter?" she asked

"I'm fine," he said quickly. "But..."

"What is it?" she encouraged.

"Well," he started. "I seem to have a lot more memories than I did before you cured me. Is that normal?"

She pursed her lips in distaste.

"Unfortunately, with this type of potion it is," she responded. "It's a dastardly concoction that doesn't merely make you think you're in love with someone else, it changes not only your feelings for the one you actually do love, but also changes your memories of them so you forget you ever cared about them at all. I think I'll go call an auror so you can have the vile minx that did this to you arrested"

"That won't be necessary," he said quickly.

She stopped short as she was reaching for the doorknob.

"But a grievous crime has been committed against you!" she said incredulously. "I have a duty to report it."

"I understand," he replied. "But I'm not the only victim. I believe the girl I fancied at the time was given the potion as well. I have to free her first and make sure she's safe before I confront them. Please," he begged her. "Let me handle this in my own way."

"Sounds like you still care about her a great deal," she responded.

"I do," he said simply

"Very well," she agreed. "Just make sure you don't let them get away with it!"

Harry assured her he had no intention of doing any such thing and then asked for what he really needed from her.

"Can you teach me how to diagnose and cure her?" he said desperately. "There's no way for me to get her here. In four days she's supposed to marry the git that probably did this to her and I've got to save her before it's too late."

"I'm afraid they're both rather complicated spells that take a long time to learn," she replied regretfully. "I have other patients and don't have the time to teach you, but if you'd let me call an auror, they can accompany you to where she is and do it for you."

He shook his head.

"I can't risk him doing something worse to her if he got wind of it," he responded. "Not that I'm certain he would but I never would have thought him capable doing what he's already done so I'm not putting anything past him. You said an auror can do it?"

"Yes," she said. "I believe its part of their advanced training."

"That explains why I haven't learned it yet then," he replied. "I won't start that for another month."

"You're in auror training?" she asked in surprise. "I'd have thought, after what you did, they'd make you a full auror immediately and be done with it."

"They offered but I wanted to earn my way to being an auror like everyone else," he answered her. "Plus there was a lot I didn't and apparently still don't know yet. If an auror can do it, I think I know someone who can help me."

As he left St Mungos, he had two trains of thought running through his mind; one was sifting through his new found memories trying to bring them into as clear a focus as he could, the other was running through possible scenarios to get back at the two youngest Weaselys for doing this to them in the first place. He let go of the second train as the first one got to the kiss. He remembered every detail yet it still seemed fuzzy if only there was a way to make it three-dimensional so he could walk into it. He thought of something he'd seen in an American television show that he'd watched with Hermione once at her parent's house. It was a science fiction show that had something called a holodeck that allowed someone to interact with three-dimensional, computer-generated images. He remembered telling her it was a lot like when he was in Dumbledore's pensieve. 'The pensieve,' he thought to himself. He could walk into his own memory and witness it first hand. The only question was if Professor McGonagall would let him use it.

He decide to take the chance and head to Hogwarts but he didn't want to take Hermione's package with him so he called Kreacher and ask him to take it to the burrow and tell them he would be busy for the afternoon but should be there in time for dinner. He made sure to order Kreacher not to tell anyone he was at St Mungos. Kreacher bowed to him then disappeared with the package.

Harry apparated to the gates of the school and walked to the castle from there. He was immediately allowed up to the headmistress's office and was greeted warmly by his former head of house.

"Harry," she said smiling. "It's good to see you. How have you been?"

"Not very well Professor," Harry responded.

"Harry," She chided. "I'm not your teacher anymore. But I hope you consider me a friend. Don't you think it's time we were on a first name basis?"

Harry smiled and nodded.

"Of course I consider you a friend," he replied. "I would be honored to call you Minerva but it may take a while to get used to it."

She smiled warmly again.

"Very well," she said. "What brings you to Hogwarts today?"

"I was hoping you might let me use the pensieve," Harry started. "I have some memories I need to review. Something happened to me during my sixth year that I just recently became aware of and I need to get a handle on it."

She nodded her head and immediately walked over to the cabinet behind the desk, opened it and put the pensieve on the desk.

"Take all the time you need," she said. "I've got a class to teach. I'll tell the gargoyle not to let anyone in and, if you're not done when I get back, worry not I can find something to occupy myself until you are."

"Thank you Minerva," He said gratefully.

"My pleasure Harry," she answered. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Actually yes," Harry replied. "Could you have someone contact Kingsley and ask if he can meet me here in a couple of hours?"

"Certainly," she responded. "I'll see to it personally."

With that she headed out the door leaving him alone in her office. He approached the pensieve and found it was empty. He took a minute to steal his nerves before placing his wand up to his temple. When he pulled the wand back, two long white hair-like strings came out of his temple with it. He used his wand to guide them to the pensieve then stirred them with his wand. When they were ready he stuck his face into the penseive and felt himself being pulled into it.

He quickly found himself standing in the Gryffindor common room staring at a slightly younger version of himself and Hermione sitting together on a couch near the fireplace. He knew where he'd come in. Ron had just gone to bed after only barely finishing the transfiguration homework they'd all been working on. Hermione had finished hers days ago and was now helping Harry with his. He was just finishing another rewrite after she'd given him some pointers. Harry walked up to the back of the couch and watched closely as scene unfolded.

"Done," his younger self said with satisfaction as he passed it to his best friend to look over."

Hermione giggled as she took it from him and began to read it.

"Let's see what we have here," she said with a smile.

She read for a few minutes before looking up and fixing him with a look of disappointment.

"Well Harry," she said sadly. "I never thought I would say this but..." his face dropped and she broke into a grin. "This is practically perfect."

He got the biggest smile on his face.

"Really?" he asked.

"Really Harry," she replied. "Keep this up and you won't need me anymore."

"I'll always need you Hermione," He responded. "Without you I'd never have gotten to the sorcerer's stone or into the chamber of secrets. I'd never have rescued Sirius or completed the first task of the Tri-wizard tournament. Without you I'd probably be dead several times over. I might get to the point that I can do my homework without you but I'll always want and need you in my life."

She gave him a warm smile as her eyes filled with tears before she flung herself at him and pulled him into a hug. The hug lasted longer than normal as neither one seemed to want to let go. From his vantage point behind the couch he heard her chuckle as he held her and saw her breath cause the hair on his neck move slightly while his face was almost completely covered by her hair and understood why he'd reacted the way he had the night he hugged her to congratulate her on her happy news. As they pulled back, their cheeks lightly grazed each other and it caused them to stop, their faces close and their eyes locked onto each other. They just stared at each other for a moment then Harry brought his hand up and caressed her face. Almost unconsciously he started pulling her head towards him and suddenly they were kissing. It was a soft and tender kiss as most first kisses are with both people slowly feeling their way through this new experience. There was no groping or hard snogging; they just held each other while experiencing a kiss that Harry had thought would be the first of many.

Movement across the room drew his attention away from the new couple. He looked up and saw Ron on the steps to the boy's dorm. He looked anything but happy as he turned and headed back up the stairs. The couple never noticed him there as they continued kissing. 'He knew', he thought to himself. 'He knew we'd kissed and still he gave us the potion' rage boiled in him as he realized that Ron did it because he knew. He did it to keep them from being together. He turned back to the couple and saw that they were now heading toward the stairs. They stopped, kissed one more time and went their separate ways. The scene changed to the main stairs. He was following himself and Hermione again. They were walking down the stairs holding hands.

"He's our best mate," Harry told her. "We owe it to him to tell him first and in private. He may well fancy you himself and if he's just with us he can vent all he wants without being embarrassed publicly because let's face it. It's Ron; I doubt he'll be able to control himself."

"You're right," she said smiling at him. "But if he thinks he can pout and make us break up, he's got another thing coming."

As they approached the main hall, they reluctantly let go of each other's hand. He remembered how cold and empty his hand felt at that moment. Once they entered the hall he moved ahead of the couple towards their table to see what he could find out. Ron was sitting there with a plate full of food (no surprise there) and positioning two glasses across from him as he saw them approach. They sat down and Ron greeted them in a friendly manner then asked if they finished their homework.

"Ron," Hermione chided. "You know very well I'd finished it days ago, however Harry did quite well last night."

There was a flash of anger on Ron's face but they were looking at each other and missed it. Harry noticed that they had taken hold of each other's hand under the table. Ginny walked in a few minutes later and sat beside Harry. She gave her brother a pointed look and he gave her a slight nod. Again the new couple missed it because they were focused on one another.

"I took the liberty of pouring you both a glass of pumpkin juice when I saw you coming," Ron said. "It's what you usually drink with breakfast."

"Thank you Ron," Hermione said sounding touched. "That was very thoughtful of you."

Harry remembered thinking it was odd but figured he was trying to make up for upsetting Hermione the night before over their homework and leaving Harry to calm her down. They both trusted him completely and would never think he would deliberately do anything to hurt either of them. He was their best friend after all. As much as he wanted to stop what he knew was coming he knew he could only watch. The couple filled their plates with food and started eating. Soon enough the moment he'd been dreading came as they both picked up the glasses of juice that Ron had prepared for them and took a drink.

The change was almost immediate; their hands came apart and they virtually started ignoring each other. Harry started giving Ginny all his attention while Hermione started treating Ron the way she'd just been treating Harry. There it was, he now had irrefutable proof that their best friend had betrayed them. The rage inside him boiled over and without thinking he threw a punch at Ron's head, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"You were our friend!" he screamed while still trying to attack him. "You knew how badly we wanted to be loved. I always felt no one could look past the boy who lived and love the real me while Hermione never thought she was pretty enough to have a guy really be interested in her! Then we both finally find what we were looking for with each other and you took it from us because you were jealous!? I hate you!"

Unhappy that punching him had no effect and still crazed from anger, he tried to jump on him. He fell through him and out of the pensieve and found himself quickly on the floor of the Headmistress' office. He felt horribly violated. This was far worse than anything Voldemort had tried to do to him and hurt him more deeply than ever before. He had an almost irresistible urge to kill his supposed best friend at that moment but before he could do that, he had to rescue his other victim first. Hermione needed him and that was more important than revenge. He took a few minutes to calm himself before returning the memories to his head. He put the pensieve back in the cabinet, left the office and headed down the stairs. When the gargoyle opened up, McGonagall was standing there with Kingsley Shacklebolt the current minister of magic.

"Hello Minerva, Kingsley, thanks for coming," he greeted them.

"Is everything ok Harry?" McGonagall asked concerned. "Did you find what you're looking for?"

"Unfortunately I did," Harry responded bitterly. "Thank you again for the use of the pensieve and your office, I'm finished with both now."

"Anytime Harry," she said smiling. "What are friends for?"

He smiled back but couldn't help thinking 'for stabbing you in the back at least, that is, if you're Ron Weasely.'

"Well, I have some school matters to attend to," She continued. "Unless you still need my assistance?"

Harry shook his head.

"I've bothered you enough Minerva," He responded finding it easier to use her first name every time he said it. "But I appreciate the offer."

"Anytime Harry," She said smiling then she disappeared behind the gargoyle as he turned to Kingsley.

"Thank you for coming Kingsley or should I call you Minister?" he said as they started walking.

"I prefer my friends to address me by my name rather than my title Harry," he responded. "I consider you a very good friend and I hope the feeling is mutual."

"It is," Harry replied smiling. "But I felt the choice should be yours. I need your help."

"So I've heard," he said. "What do you need?"

"I need to learn a diagnostic and healing spell in the next four days," Harry said quickly.

Kingsley gave him a look of shock but listened while Harry told him about the love potion that he and Hermione had been given and that she hadn't been cured yet.

"Let's go to the Burrow right now." He said. "I can perform the spells and arrest your sorry excuse of a best friend."

"I can't risk it," Harry responded. "If he senses I've figured it out he may try to hurt her or erase her memory. No, I've got to be the one to free her because I can walk in there without suspicion, find a way to get her alone to cure her and get her out of there. Then we can deal with Ron and his sister."

"Why do you always feel the need to take on the greatest danger yourself?" Kingsley asked. "Why can't you let someone else assume the risk for once?"

"Normally, I would say it was because I have what Hermione once called 'a saving people thing'," He answered his friend. "But, in this case, it's because she would do it for me, gladly laying down her life, if necessary, to save me. She's willingly risked it many times in the past, never leaving my side no matter how dangerous it got. She almost died a couple of times but she still stood by me, refusing to abandon me even when it seemed the rest of the world had. She's never let me down before and there's no way I'm letting her down now."

"Okay," Kingsley replied. "Do you want to head to the ministry and get started?"

Harry nodded and they headed to an empty faculty office and used the flu network to go straight to Kingsley's office. Once there he led Harry through a secret door to a room he'd never seen before.

"Okay," Kingsley said once the door was closed behind them. "Let's get started.