Chapter Nine - Gateway
"What 'ave you got in there, Potter?" called the familiar, but unwelcome voice of the school caretaker, Argus Filch, as he pushed through the milling crowd of students waiting to have their Hogsmeade permission slips checked, his hand pointed directly towards the bulging school bag Harry held slung over one shoulder.
"Nothing," said Harry, in what Hermione recognised as his innocent 'who me?' voice, as the purple cheeked squib jostled his way towards the three Gryffindors. Hermione noted that his left eye was doing a very passable impression of mad-eye moody's magical eye as it swivelled this way and that, as if trying to detect any banned items as he continued to wage his one man war against the student population. The rest of his attention remained completely fixed on Harry.
In truth, Harry's bag was close to bursting, stuffed as it was, with as much food as he could smuggle out from the breakfast table as per Sirius's request in his last letter. And whilst it was true that a loaf of bread, a flask of pumpkin juice and several rashers of bacon (kept warm thanks to a handy little spell courtesy of Hermione) could hardly been construed as contraband, even by Filch, none of them welcomed the added scrutiny of any of the staff, save perhaps Dumbledore, when they were on their way to visit the most wanted wizarding criminal anywhere in the world.
"Turn out your bag, Potter," said Filch, panting for breath slightly as he barged his way past a particularly small looking third year.
"Anything you say, sir," replied Harry, in a falsely sincere voice whilst simultaneously pleading for help from Hermione across their link.
As Harry made a show of complying with Flich's demand, Hermione scanned her eyes across the sea of people, her gaze picking out the two people she had most hoped to see in the crowd; Fred and George Weasley.
Chancing her luck, Hermione surreptitiously pointed her wand at the twins, and, being careful to conceal her wand action behind her folded arms, silently summoned the contents of Fred's, or was it George's, back pocket.
Regardless of which twin it proved to be, her aim was true, and several small objects, approximately the size and shape of a muggle marble flew out of the redheads pocket and began sailing across the courtyard towards her.
Gobstones! she realised in frustration Just my luck.
She had been hoping for a Weasley Wizard Wheeze product to create a distraction. Instead, and, to the best of her knowledge, for the first time in the twins career as pranksters, they held nothing on their persons other than a half dozen harmless wizarding game pieces.
It'll have to do, she decided, and with another subtle flick of her wrist, she hurled the tiny balls towards the stone perimeter wall opposite them, hoping the impact of the tiny glass spheres would be sufficient to draw Filch's scrutiny away from them.
It appeared however, that she had underestimated the Weasley twins.
The thunder clap of noise that resulted from the gobstones making contact with the wall sent Filch's, and every pair of eyes in the courtyard, spinning towards the sounds point of origin.
The point at which the projectiles had struck their target was now rapidly becoming overrun by hundreds of tiny replicas of the original half dozen gobstones; replicas which, upon each impact with one of it's brethren, multiplied a hundred fold, meaning the stone surface of the courtyard was now lost to sight beneath a sea of ball bearing sized spheres.
"Come on," she said, wrapping her arms around the crook in both Ron and Harry's own, "let's go."
Needing no further encouragement, Harry and Ron fell into step behind her and made their way directly to the exit, leaving an enraged Filch slipping and sliding across the tiny balls, succeeding only in causing even more of them to multiply. The resultant laughter continued to reach their ears long after they had lost the castle to sight as they followed the winding path to Hogsmeade.
"That was brilliant, Hermione," said Ron trotting up alongside her.
"Yeah," agreed Harry snaring his fingers around hers as he stepped up on her other side.
"Don't thank me," Hermione replied, grinning widely. "Thank your brothers Ron. That really is some incredible magic they've developed."
"You know Fred and George," replied Ron stringing the last three words together to form one seamless entity, "anything for a laugh."
Hermione pursed her lips in a passable impression of Professor McGonagall. "Perhaps," she conceded, "but think of the applications of a spell like that could have - "
The remainder of the walk into Hogsmeade was a silent affair for both Ron and Harry, as Hermione - as they had become accustomed to over the years when she saw an opportunity to learn something new - had talked animatedly, and rather faster than was usual, about the twins skill at charm work.
" - It must be some adaptation of the Gemino Charm..." she added, but stopped short of completing her line of thought as she noticed the looks of amusement sported by both of her companions. "What?" she asked with no little measure of annoyance evident in her tone.
"Hermione," replied Harry, his features spreading into a wide grin. "We're here."
Sure enough, as Hermione took stock of her surroundings consciously for the first time, she noted that the winding, sparsely populated lane they had traversed, had now widened into the main shopping street of the only entirely wizarding village in Britain. "Oh," she managed. "Sorry. You know how I get."
"And that's why I love you," beamed Harry, as he bent down and placed a soft kiss on her lips. "You wouldn't be my Hermione any other way."
My Hermione, she thought as her stomach performed a little flip. I like the sound of that.
"Kinda used to it now," agreed Ron, earning himself a playful swat from Hermione, as Harry led her away into the heart of the little villages shopping street.
The trio headed directly for Gladrags Wizardwear to buy a present for Dobby as a thank you for his help prior to the second task. They had fun picking out the most lurid socks they could find, with Hermione electing to buy the little elf a pair of bright red trousers from the stores goblin range, complete with vivid green suspenders. "He did basically save my life, Harry," she pointed out, when Harry offered to pay for all the gifts. "If he hadn't given you the gillyweed I don't want to think what would have happened. I'm buying them for him."
As the trio departed the store half an hour later, they were greeted by the sounds of the clock, that was set on a small tower at the heart of the village, chiming eleven o'clock. Despite the still relatively early hour, the surprisingly warm March sunshine had gotten to work against the decided chill that had permeated the air first thing that morning. As they were already reasonably warm from their long walk to the village, it wasn't long before they had each dispensed with their cloaks.
"So," said Ron, throwing his cloak over his shoulder. "Where to?"
"A-actually Ron," began Harry falteringly. "Hermione and I...what I mean is...we kind of wanted to..."
Whilst Hermione understood the motivations behind Harry's stuttering explanation, Ron appeared none the wiser.
She was saved the trouble of spelling it out for her best platonic friend as she was passed on either side by a couple of fast moving red blurs. A moment later, Fred and George had their younger brother under each armpit and were pulling him backwards along the street, his heels literally dragging along the compact earth that formed the street surface.
"Gerroff me!" Ron protested loudly, flailing at his elder brothers.
"Little Ronekins was never very good at - " said Fred.
" - taking a hint," concluded George.
Ron stopped struggling, his mouth working into an 'o' shape. "Why didn't you just say?" he asked as the twins released him
"I was trying to," began Harry, having to raise his voice to a half shout to cover the distance Ron had been unceremoniously dragged, but whatever else he had intended to say was lost as Hermione soft lilting laugh filled the air.
"That's two I owe you boys," she said to the twins, her brown eyes filled with mirth.
The twins released their captive and mock bowed to her. "We live to serve," they said in chorus.
"Not to mention - " said George.
" - we've been looking for a guinea pig to test our Gemini Gobstones on," added Fred.
Hermione's eyes lit up. "So it was a variation of the Gemino charm! How did you overcome the problem of..."
"Do you think, oh handsome brother of mine," interrupted George. "That the smartest witch of her age needs a little reminder why we are man handling our little brother out of the star crossed lovers way?"
What ever response Hermione had in mind died on her lips as Harry let out a booming laugh. "I'm sure Fred and George will be more than happy to let you pick their brains later, Hermione," he said smiling affectionately at her. To Ron he added; "We'll see you in two hours. On the road out of town, past Dervish and Banges?"
"Yeah, alright," agreed Ron quickly, who found himself steered away and out of sight by his elder brothers.
"So," said Harry, having watched the three redheads out of sight, his voice sounding a little higher than usual. "Where do you want to go?"
Hermione regarded him in silence for a moment. Harry had both his hands pushed deep into his pockets, his eyes tracing the scuff marks he was subconsciously making in the compacted dirt beneath his feet.
He's nervous, she realised, feeling both pleased and a little uneasy at that knowledge.
On the one hand she was of course happy that Harry obviously wanted their first date to be a success, so much so that he looked more apprehensive than she could ever recall seeing him. But conversely, she didn't want their new relationship to change their easy way with one another.
Evidently she had remained silent too long, for Harry added uncertainly; "There's always...er, Madam Puddifoot's Tea Shop."
Hermione wrinkled her nose in disgust. She had heard the other girls from her dormitory giggling about dates they had gone on there; it sounded dreadful. From what she had heard, Madam Puddifoot's was small, tacky and very cramped, with every available inch of floor space devoted to little tables occupied by amorous couples.
She said as much aloud, trying to suppress her dismay that he could have even considered that place somewhere she would enjoy going. But to her surprise, Harry didn't seem offended that she didn't want to go to 'the' couples destination in Hogsmeade. In fact, he looked positively relieved.
"Thank Merlin," he said, running a hand through his hair. "It sounds dreadful, doesn't it?"
"You don't want to go?" she asked.
"No," replied Harry emphatically. "I just..you know...thought you might want to. Now we're a..."
"Oh Harry," she said, failing to hide the small smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "You really are hopeless with girls aren't you?"
Harry gave a laconic shrug as Hermione wound her arm around his, moving it slowly down his forearm until he slipped his hand out of his pocket and into hers.
"I do - I do have something planned," he said, with a shy smile. "If you want to I mean."
Hermione quickly agreed and the couple set off towards the southern end of the little village, the closely clustered medieval buildings quickly giving way to scattered cottages with large sprawling gardens.
A quarter of an hour later, Harry and Hermione turned a corner in the lane to reveal a small, secluded meadow beyond a wooden gate. It was surrounded on three sides by tall hedgerows offering them complete privacy, and at the very centre of the carpet of lush green grass lay a tartan patterned picnic rug, complete with wicker basket.
Harry! she said speaking across their link. How in the world...
...Dobby, Harry mentally interrupted by way of explanation.
I'll have to buy him some shoes to go with those trousers, she thought.
"And there I was thinking you were clueless," Hermione said aloud, finding her voice. "It's perfect."
"As perfect as you," replied Harry turning a bright shade of beetroot even Ron would have been proud of as he raised their conjoined hands to his lips, pressing a soft kiss onto the back of her palm. "Shall we?" he added, gesturing with his free hand.
As they drew closer Hermione noted with relief that she wouldn't need to climb over the large wooden gate to gain entry to the meadow beyond - she had never been the most co-ordinated of people. Instead there was a small swing gate to one side, just large enough to permit one person at a time to enter a 'v' shaped enclosure. Evidently, the person was then supposed to push the gate in the other direction to pass through, with the second person repeating the motions to pass.
When they were a few strides away, Harry slipped his hand from hers and stepped forward to hold the gate ajar for her.
Moderately surprised by his display of gallantry, Hermione sidestepped past him and offered him a sweet smile as she entered the small enclosure. But Harry did not pull the gate towards him to permit her to exit. Instead he took a stride forward, effectively pinning her against the apex of the wooden enclosure the closed gate had formed.
"You know," he said, his lips so close to her in the confined space that she could feel the warmth of his breath. "It's customary to offer a kiss as payment before I can let you pass."
Hermione's smile broadened. As much as she found the shy, embarrassed Harry to be endearing in a sweet kind of way, this was the Harry she had fallen for; confident; assured. She rose up onto her tiptoes with the intention of offering Harry a chaste kiss in 'payment', but as soon as her lips brushed his, a crackle of electricity passed through her whole body and she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him closer.
Harry seemed momentarily too stunned by her passionate embrace to do anything, but he quickly recovered his composure and returned her kiss with equal vigour.
Perhaps motivated by 'listening' to Hermione's thoughts, Harry quickly took control of their tryst, his hands flying to her face; one hand running through her hair, occasionally balling into a fist, whilst the other spread across her cheek.
Lifting her chin she saw Harry's eyelids flutter shut, but the desire she had briefly caught a glimpse of in his emerald orbs emboldened her and she deepened the embrace further, guiding his hands to her hips, where her pulled her tightly against him, her legs straddling his right, eliciting a moan of pleasure from deep within herself that she didn't even realise she was capable of producing.
Obviously encouraged by her response, Harry's hands began to roam across her body forcing more moans past her lips, joined quickly by some of his own as now Hermione's hands staked their claim over his body.
One of his hands found it's way towards the waistband of her skirt where he paused, evidently waiting for permission; permission she gladly and outspokenly gave him by means of their bond. Harry deftly untucked her shirt and slipped his hand up so that it was brushing along her bare back, leaving a trail of fire in the wake of his touch.
Breaking their frenzied kiss, she arched her back and threw her head backwards, a gasp of delight escaping her as her hips crashed against the tense muscle in Harry's leg as he chose that very same moment to explore her newly exposed neck with his lips.
Harry! she mouthed, unable to form the words.
"Hermione," he growled in response into the nape of her neck as his kisses worked along her jawline and back to her slightly parted lips.
This was like nothing she had ever experienced before. Her heart was doing an excellent impression of a hammer against the inside of her ribs whilst her breathing was coming, like Harry's, in short sharp rasps. Her every nerve ending seemed to tingle, as Harry seemed to know instinctively, exactly what she craved, without ever going too far. That's because he does, the remain vestige of her logical mind pointed out, understanding he was following her desires, directing him to each of her most sensitive spots courtesy of their mind link.
She tangled her hands through his raven hair as their lips crashed together once more eliciting a shudder that seemed to run through every muscle in her body, her resultant moan of pleasure directed into Harry's mouth. With that, Hermione lost herself completely.
oOo
How long they had remained locked in their embrace in the confines of the kissing gate, Hermione could not say.
In retrospect, she realised, it must have been a considerable length of time, for when they had finally broken apart, breathing hard, their clothes dishevelled, there had only been a few moments to sample the picnic lunch Harry had arranged for them before they had to leave to make their rendezvous with Ron and Sirius on the northern outskirts of the village.
She willed her cheeks not to redden as she recalled the details of that morning, as hand in hand with Harry they wound their way along a similar lane on the other side of the village, heading directly towards the shadow of the mountain that rose up above both Hogwarts and the neighbouring village.
Turning a corner Hermione's gaze fell upon a familiar red head of hair and a large black dog who had it's front paws resting on the topmost bar of what Hermione could now make out as a stile. She was grateful it wasn't another kissing gate as she was certain her face would have turned scarlet at the prospect of moving through one in close company with Harry once more.
"Hi Ron, Sirius" said Harry as they drew within range for normal speaking volume.
Sirius returned his greeting by eagerly sniffing at the bulging bag of food he still carried, before turning, and trotting away in the direction of the foothills of the mountain.
"Have fun?" asked Ron wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as he made to climb the stile and follow the shaggy dog, earning himself a sotto voce 'git' from Harry and another swat on the arm from Hermione as both hers and Harry's cheeks turned a similar shade of red.
The trio followed Sirius up the rocky path for several minutes in silence before anyone spoke aloud.
"So, how are we gonna send word to Dumbledore?" Ron asked, slightly breathless from the arduous climb over the uneven, boulder strewn ground.
"I - " started Harry, but his answer was rendered mute as a familiar call from above signalled the arrival of Hedwig.
"Hi girl," said Harry happily as his snowy owl settled herself onto his outstretched arm. "Can you take this to Dumbledore for me?"
Hedwig clicked her beak in a manner that clearly confirmed that she could, and Harry ruffled the downy feathers on her breast affectionately once he had attached the pre-written note to Hedwigs leg. A moment later the trio watched as the majestic bird spread her wings and launched herself into the air, her form rapidly receding to the smallest of pin pricks against the pale blue sky.
A booming bark echoed across the mountain path pulling them from their silence revere. Sirius had evidently continued his climb whilst the trio had paused, and was now far ahead of them.
After another ten minutes of ascent, Harry, Ron and Hermione lost sight of the wagging black tail they had been following as Sirius disappeared over a rocky outcropping.
"Where's he gone?" panted Ron as he and the others heaved themselves over the ledge and onto the slightly flatter patch of land.
"There," said Harry, his arm extended towards a narrow fissure in the rock, just wide enough to squeeze through.
Once inside the fissure widened out to reveal a cool, dimly lit cave which had a smell of decaying vegetation co-mingled with stale water. The space held only two other occupants. One was the deceptively fierce looking Hipogriff, Buckbeak, whom Harry and Hermione had rescued almost a year ago on the same night as their jailbreak of Sirius. The trio performed matching low bows, which the Hipogriff promptly returned before they stepped farther into the cave.
The caverns only other occupant, looking very thin and unkempt, was Sirius, who had just transformed from his animagus form.
"Food!" he said in a hoarse whisper. It sounded like he hadn't spoken in months.
Ron nudged Harry in the ribs, breaking the trance like state he seemed to have fallen into since his eyes had landed on his godfather, and he quickly opened his bag and handed over the bread and the still sizzling bacon rashers.
Sirius grabbed the bundle eagerly, ripped open the wrapping and tore into himself a large chunk of bread from the loaf as he flopped to the floor of the cave, perched on a flat, smooth boulder. "Thanks," he said between bites, as he threw a sizeable chunk of bread towards Buckbeak. "I've been living off rats mostly. Can't steal too much food from the village; I'd draw attention to myself."
He grinned up at Harry, but Hermione could tell that the grin Harry gave in return was rather half hearted and reluctant. As pleased as she knew Harry was to see his godfather again, she could also feel his deep seated anxiety that Sirius was placing himself in grave danger of capture by returning.
"What are you doing here, Sirius?" he asked.
"Fulfilling my duty as godfather," replied Sirius. "Don't worry abo - "
Sirius's words trailed away leaving his sentence unfinished. Hermione followed his line of sight and realised that Sirius's gaze was locked on the the fact that Harry and Hermione were holding hands.
Sirius's grin widening and his eyes danced with pleasure, removing much of the haunted look his face still bore from his many years at the mercy of the Dementors of Azkaban.
"Y-you two?" he choked out as he swallowed his mouthful. "You're together?"
Hermione felt a blush rise into her cheeks. She hadn't thought about it before, but this was about as close to 'meeting the parents' as she was ever going to come in her relationship with Harry. She managed a small nod by way of confirmation, which she noticed in her peripheral vision was identical to Harry's response.
"Whoa!" Sirius bounded to his feet, an incompressible string of sounds tumbling out of his mouth. "That's - that's - that's just brilliant!" he declared finally. "I knew you had it in you proglet," he added pulling first Harry, and then Hermione into a tight hug.
Hermione wrinkled her nose in a effort not to comment on the fact that Sirius smelt like wet dog.
"Not just like James after all then, eh, Harry? It took your Dad seven years to finally stop being a prat long enough for he and your Mother to get together."
Out of the corner of her eye, Hermione noticed Ron nodding his head emphatically, causing her to wonder once more how long the youngest Weasley had known they were in denial regarding their attraction to one another?
"How long?" Sirius wanted to know, pulling Hermione's attention back to the best friend of her boyfriends father.
"Only a week," said Harry, giving Hermione's hand a squeeze which she recognised as his unspoken amazement that they had only been together for eight days and yet it already felt like they had always been this way. "We got together after the second task."
At the mention of the triwizard championship, and one of Sirius's primary reasons to return to Hogsmeade, Hermione saw the jovial veneer of the former marauder fade away, replaced once more with the steely gaze of a soldier.
"I want to hear all about it," said Sirius, his voice firm but not uncaring. "But later. Right now we have bigger things to worry about."
He nodded his head towards a pile of old wizarding newspapers lying on the floor.
Ron was nearest and so made his way to the corner of the cave where he retrieved the yellowing copies of the Daily Prophet, his eyes scanning the headlines as he made his way back to the group, but as he opened his mouth the share those details he was interrupted by a loud pop, sending all five sets of eyes spinning to the makeshift doorway of the cave, Harry already with wand in hand.
"Forgive my unannounced intrusion," came the familiar voice of Albus Dumbledore from behind them. "I did not think it wise to draw too much attention to your hideout by sending an owl, Sirius."
The group turned as one to find the aged headmaster in a deep bow, his crooked nose almost touching the floor as he waited for Buckbeak's blessings. The hippogriff sinking to one knee a moment later in silent acceptance of their new guest.
"Albus?" said Sirius, his disbelief evident in his tone.
"I see I am not expected," said the professor with a hint of amusement.
"Sorry," said Harry to no one in particular, his comment directed either at Sirius, Dumbledore, or both. "We've only just got here, I haven't had a chance to explain."
"No matter, Harry," replied Dumbledore, before turning to address Sirius. "I was already aware of your visit, Sirius, I merely asked our young friends here if I might be permitted to tag along. You see, I have several matters of great impor - "
Ron, who had been standing slack jawed since the headmasters appearance, suddenly found his voice. "But how did you find us?" he asked. His words tumbling out of his mouth unintentionally if the glow in his cheeks was anything to go by.
Despite perhaps the inappropriateness of the moment the redhead chose to raise his question, Hermione couldn't help but be impressed by Ron's question. She now realised that Harry's letter had made no mention of the cave they now stood in (for even they had not known their destination at that point) merely that they had rendezvoused with Sirius. Although, in hindsight she noted, knowing how good Ron was with tactics, she supposed she shouldn't be overly surprised that he was the first of the trio to register that anomaly
Apparently unfazed by the interruption, Dumbledore smoothly switched topics. "I apparated here as soon as I received Harry's letter, Mr Weasley."
"But that's impossible," said Hermione. "It is impossible to apparate in the grounds of Hogwarts."
Dumbledore's beard twitched indicating he was smiling. "Quite so Miss Granger," agreed Dumbledore. "Impossible for a wizard. I must confess I had some help in my travel arrangements."
Taking a half step to his right, the headmasters flowing purple cloak revealed a diminutive creature with large, green eyes.
"Dobby!" Harry called, moving quickly towards the elf, pulling Hermione along with him.
"Dobby is happy to be seeing Master Harry Potter again," squeaked the little elf.
Hermione knelt down. "Dobby," she said kindly. "You know you don't have to call Harry, Master?"
"Actually," interrupted Dumbledore. "Whilst it is true that Dobby is a free elf, as such he is free to choose whom he wishes to serve. Evidently, Dobby has chosen you, Harry. It is, incidentally, how I was able to locate you," Dumbledore continued. "An elf is always able to locate their master."
The little elf nodded his head quickly, causing his large ears to flap wildly. "Dobby is free Mistress Mione, but Dobby is wanting to work. Dobby is wanting to work for you's - "
Mistress? mouthed Sirius with a smirk, which promptly collapsed as he realised the implications of what the elf had said. "You're married?" he blurted out a second later, effectively cutting off the end of Dobby's statement, his eyes roving from person to person before settling on Dumbledore.
"Yes Sirius, they are married," confirmed Dumbledore. "It is one of several topics I wish to speak with you all about. However, before we begin, I suggest moving to a more comfortable venue. If you would be so kind, Dobby."
Bounding forward eagerly, Dobby clasped each of his hands around one of Harry's and Hermione's respectively, a soft pop echoing around the cavern a moment later announcing their departure.
A/N
Hello again everyone. I'm sorry the update rate has slowed a little in the last few weeks. I can promise you I haven't lost my motivation for the story, I simply just don't have the time with the kids being on school holidays.
We are tracking canon reasonably closely in this chapter but with a few small changes, so for anyone who cares; Filch didn't confront them in canon as they left after lunch not after breakfast as they did here. I needed to give Hermione and Harry a bit of time alone, so leaving earlier made sense. Plus arriving in the village before lunch gave me the opportunity to stick in a bit of Gred and Forge. It's only a cameo from the twins, but it's just not a Potter story without them.
Also getting the chance to write Sirius and Dobby is always fun (oh by the way I know some people hate Hermione being shortened to Mione, but I think Dobby can get away with it).
Strange then that with all my favourite characters in one place that I am a bit disappointed with the end result, but it refused to come together any better than this. Ho hum.
Till next time boys and girls
Wings
