Chapter 10: Plans
With the conversation with Draco still running through Hermione's head, her feet carry her to the Gryffindor tower all on their own. It isn't until she's in the portrait hole, that she is brought back to the moment by hushed tones of voice and her named mixed.
"I don't know what Hermione is thinking?"
"Gin, she's just trying to deal with everything the best that she can," Harry defends with a sigh.
"Well she is not going to win Ron over like that. Acting all stuck up and avoiding him," Ginny continues, her tone condescending. Hermione shrinks back from her words. Ginny and Hermione had never been close, but the older witch thought they were at least friends. Curiosity held her the the shadows as Ginny continued her critique.
"If she wants to win Ron's heart she needs to take her head out of a book every once in awhile. I mean is it any wonder he didn't even think of her as a girl," she adds.
"She shouldn't have to change for anyone. Ron included," Harry say. Hermione smiles at his claim.
"She's not going to get the attention of any wizard that way. No one wants to be with a girl who always has to be right and always knows everything."
"Ginny," Harry says, his tone a reprimand.
"It's the truth, Harry," Ginny defends. "If she plans on catching anyone's attention, a shorter skirt isn't going to cut it. She needs to spend more time on her looks, get that hair under control. Not to mention cultivating some more womanly skills. I doubt she'll have a house elf, even if she was willing, which means she's going to be doing all the cooking."
"I think Hermione has much bigger plans for her life than just being a housewife," Harry laughs.
"And that's the problem," Ginny cut him off. "If she wants to be the Minister of Magic, then that's great and all, but she better face the fact that she's going to die alone. Ron won't want to be with someone who doesn't let him be the man in the relationship, no wizard would."
"Man of the relationship?" he asks.
"Yes, he works and makes all the money and she stays home. Cooks, cleans and raises the children."
"Can you really see Hermione doing all that?"
"Well she will have to if she wants to be with Ron, or really any wizard for that matter." Hermione's blood boils at the outdated and sexist notions. Righteous anger pulls her to walk into the light. Ginny's eyes widen for a second when she sees the other witch while Harry's back is to her entrance.
"I don't want Ron, Ginny," Hermione says, voice unwavering. "And I will not change who I am for anyone." Ginny snorts and crosses her arms over her chest, head tilting to one side. "And that includes you." She looks like Hermione had slapped her and there is a cold satisfaction in that. Hermione doesn't wait for a response, heading to her room.
"Hermione?" Harry calls as he stands to come after her. Hermione gives a smile over her shoulder and gives him a nod, but doesn't stop.
"Harry, we're not done here," Ginny snaps.
"I need to talk to Hermione," he shoots back.
"She's not your girlfriend and we are still talking about this."
"About what? How you think Hermione needs to change everything about her so she can get the attention of your idiot brother?" Harry snaps as he turns back to her.
"Always going to her rescue, you sure you're not the one with a thing for her," Ginny sneers.
"Hermione and I are best friends, always will be, but only that," Harry's voice is cold in his reply.
"I'm just trying to help her."
"Ginny, she does not need to change." Their voices fade as Hermione closes the door against their argument. She sets her bag down on her trunk and sighs.
"Rough night?" Lavender smiles from her bed. Hermione's thoughts turn to her time time with Draco and she smiles.
"Nope," Hermoine says. "It was perfect." Lavender's sneer drops and her eyes narrow. She huffs and closes the curtains around her bed. Good riddance.
Harry is waiting in the common room when Hermione comes down for breakfast the next morning. His eyelids droop every few seconds, but he drags them open again and shakes his head. She descends the whole staircase he was watching and is a few steps from him when his brain decides to process what it's seeing. His eyes widen and he jumps up from his seat.
"Hermione," he says as he launches himself up, wrapping his arms around her. "I'm so sorry." She chuckles and pats his back.
"Harry, you didn't do anything," she tells him. He steps back and looks at his feet.
"I can't believe, Ginny said that," Harry says. "You're not mad at me?" He looks at her, uncertain. Hermione's eyebrows pull down low as she cocks her head to the side.
"Merlin no, Harry. Why would you think that?"
"After everything Ginny said and I didn't even get to talk to you about it and…"
"Harry, listen. I'm not going to get mad at you for something your girlfriend said."
"Ex."
"What?" she asks.
"Ex-girlfriend," he clarifies. "We had quite the row last night. She going on about how I always put you before my girlfriend and I explaining that we're just friends, but she was out of line saying that about you. She stopped making sense after a bit, though she kept going on screaming about something or another. I don't know. I guess I had enough because I told her that if this is how she feels and how it's going to be then it's best if we just end it now. Go back to being friends."
"How did she take that?" she asks with wide eyes. Harry chuckles.
"Not too good. She sent a hex or two my way. Guess she forgot who taught the DA. When she didn't get the satisfaction of actually hexing me, she just glared before taking off to her room and slamming the door." He shakes his head. "Breakfast?" Hermione nods and they walk to the Great hall.
A large brown owl swoops down the second Hermione sits at the table. She unties the missive and the owl takes to the air immediately. Unraveling the scroll, neat cursive meets her eye.
"Miss Granger, it is time we talk again. Please meet me at 10:00 AM in my office. Password: Chocolate Cures -Headmaster"
Hermione puts the parchment away while Harry loads up his plate.
"Anything interesting?" he asks casually. It's sweet that Harry doesn't read over her shoulder, respecting privacy more than most. Hermione shrugs.
"Not really." Harry glances at her for a second, scrutinizing her face. His lips turn down in one corner, but he shrugs and lets it go.
Standing alone in front of the stone gargoyles at 9:45, Hermione's heart speeds up. It was easy to get lost in the day to day shuffle, in homework and classes and spats with Ron. She could almost forget that they were sitting on the edge of a raging war that had started before she was born and may very well last after she dies. Even with Draco-who also remembers the three torturous years they endured, plunged into the battle of light and dark-it is easiest to forget that the days dwindle until the running and hiding starts. Until the many funerals held at midnight, but the grief delayed in the interest of survival.
The witch's legs refuse to budge from their spot. Her mouth refuses to repeat the password, sending her back up those cold stone stairs.
"Password?" the gargoyle prompts, for the first time or the tenth, she can't be sure. She shakes her head quickly causing the world to blur and tilt and takes a step back. Haunting memories flash before her eyes. She slides her eyelids close and takes a deep breath.
"Clear your mind," Draco's voice rings in her head. Like a jolt of clarity, she quickly quarantines the memories and fear in her mind as she'd been taught. The mental shields bringing a sense of protection as she takes another breath. "One, two…" he speaks from her memory.
"Chocolate Cures," she say clearly. The stone scrapes as the stairs appear. She doesn't hesitate, rather pushes her feet towards the goal.
Knock, knock.
"Come in," Professor Dumbledore speaks from within. He motions the student to a seat on the opposite side of the desk. "Lemon drop?" She shake her heads, slowly regulating her heart and lungs back to their normal rate. "Very well. I am glad you came Miss Granger. I was worried I might need to come coax you up the stairs, but bravery does win out." Her cheeks flush.
"Yes, Headmaster, I just…" Her voice dies as he shakes his head, a smile on his lips.
"No need to explain, Miss Granger. I understand." His eyes lose their twinkle as he looks away for a second. It returns as his eyes settle on her again. "I believe we have some things to discuss?" She nods, unsure of where to start.
"So you know about the horcruxes, correct?" Professor Dumbledore prompts.
"Yes, he created seven," she answers automatically, as if reciting from a book instead of from experience. His lips slant down into a frown.
"And they are?" She bites her lip. "It is alright. A dead man knowing the future is of little consequence." She nods and takes a steadying breath.
"There was the diary, which was destroyed in our second year. And the ring you destroyed before school started. That leaves the locket-Slytherin's locket that is, the cup-Hufflepuff's cup, the diadem-Ravenclaw's diadem , and the snake. And...er...then...erm…"
"Harry." Her eyes snap to his.
"You know?" He nods. "For how long?"
"For a long time," he answers. "It wasn't what was supposed to happen, but then I guess prophecies are never really understood before they come to pass. I did what I could, found everything there was on horcruxes."
"That's dark magic," she cuts in. "That knowledge isn't even legal anymore." He smiles in return.
"Miss Granger, I know you would have done many things during the war that was not legal or accepted to care for Mr Potter. I know because I would do the same and have. But due to the legal matter, there is very little information and none which pertains to a living host with it's own magic. I simply do not know how to extract it without killing him."
The silence settles over them, thick and heavy. The man who had watched over a boy who he cannot save and seen more death than a soul should have to bear. Perhaps death would be a gift to the old wizard, not having to watch the world he fought for and sacrificed for burn. As Hermione sits there, she watches Harry die again in her mind. The cutting curse drawing the blood, slowing him further. The weight of the world holding him down along with Voldemort's boot. The green flash taking the light from his eyes.
The fierce look of determination returning to his features before blood was coughed from his lungs and his eyes closing for the last time. Wait...the look of determination returning?
"He lived," she says as she stands from her chair.
"Miss Granger?"
"Harry! Voldemort hit him with the killing curse, straight into his chest. I watched him, I saw it. I saw the light was gone and Harry wasn't there anymore."
"I am so sorry you witnessed that," Professor Dumbledore says with compassion.
"No, you don't understand," she says. "After he died, he changed, he came back. I watched and that look on his face was pure Harry. He was alive."
"Did he stand? Did he fight again?" Dumbledore leans forward in his chair. She shake her head and sinks into the chair.
"No. There was so much damage already. He had been bleeding for a bit when the curse hit. When he came back, I was probably the only who even saw. It was only a moment before he was gone again. His body was too broken." The sadness leaks into her voice and she feels every day of the last three and a half years in her bones, those that haven't happened yet and those that have.
"There is hope, Miss Granger. Harry is still alive now. We simply must do what we must to make sure he stays that way." She nods. "He keeps the snake at his side," Dumbledore pulls them on to topic again and Hermione is grateful to focus on that.
"Yes, we never got to that one."
"Was there one found in the cave. The one I would take Harry to?"
"No. That was an imposter. The real one, the locket had already been taken by Regulus Black. He didn't find a way to destroy it before he died. His elf, Kreature, he has kept it safe all this time for Regulus. But don't go to that cave. Harry told me what happened and he blamed himself for it. It...it was not good." Dumbledore nods.
"Do you know where the other are?"
"The Hufflepuff cup is in Bellatrix Lestrange's vault at Gringotts," she chuckles with a roll of her eyes. "We almost got eaten by a dragon."
"Sounds like quite the adventure," he laughs.
"Ravenclaw's diadem is actually in the castle. It's in the Room of Requirement if you look for the room of lost and hidden things. We found it, but it wasn't destroyed either."
"You mentioned Regulus taking the locket?" She nods once. "But Tom didn't know where the locket was or that is was taken?"
"No, he doesn't seem to be able to track the horcruxes. We had the locket with us for a long time, but it didn't lead Voldemort to us. But he definitely knows when it is destroyed."
"Interesting. Well there is a beginning of a plan."
"Headmaster?" Dumbledore smiled.
"If Tom is not aware of the movement of the horcruxes, but rather only the destruction of them. Then logic would say that if we gathered the objects, but didn't destroy them until we had all those we could get, Tom wouldn't know our goal until it was accomplished."
"He could not attempt to protect them because he doesn't know we're taking them," she says with excitement.
"Exactly Miss Granger," Dumbledore smiles proudly. "We will meet again to discuss a more concrete plan for the next few months and after, but there are two other matters I would like to speak with you about." She raises her eyes to his, her bottom lip slipping between her teeth once more.
"Miss Granger, you seem to have been keeping company quite often with Mr Malfoy," he says deliberately. She gulps and nods. "His upbring was less than ideal as you might imagine. He will of course be given the chance to choose a side, however...Miss Granger I would be amiss if I did not warn you of the dangers of that friendship. I do not wish to see you lead down a path that can only end in despair as I once was by an enemy turned friend by a spell."
She bobs her head a few times before she can speak. "He remembers, Professor. He walked in as I completed the spell and he remembers. He is not the same boy after three years of war. No one is I guess. I...I think he would do anything to protect his mother. He doesn't want to live through this war again and have it play out the same as much as I do. If it would save his mother, I believe he would change sides in a heartbeat."
"And if he doesn't?" Hermione sighs.
"He is under no delusions of where my loyalties lie," she answers, her mind drawing back to a conversation they had a couple days ago.
"What are you doing after this is all over?" Draco asks Hermione out of the blue. They both sat at the low table in the Room of Requirement completing essays.
"What do you mean?" He rolls his eyes.
"After this year, after Dumbledore, what then?"
"I will end this war, Malfoy, have no doubt," she replies.
"The Light won't take you after you kill their leader," Draco answers, his tone patronizing.
"You think I would go over to Voldemort?" she asks, incredulous as the implication. He shivers at the name, but otherwise continues.
"That wouldn't be a good idea. The Dark Lord will most likely kill you once the mission is complete. He might be happy with you for taking care of the thorn in his side, but to let you live and join his side...it would upset the ranks too much. It wouldn't be worth it."
"So what do you advise, Malfoy? Since according to you I can't be on either side."
"Run. As fast and as far as you can. Once the task is complete and you don't have to worry about the vow, get the hell out of here."
"Run?"
"I'm trying to help you here. You can't stay. Forget your stupid Gryffindor morals. It won't matter a damn if you're dead. So just go."
"If that is really what you think then why are you sticking around?"
"Mother," he answers simply. "I can't get us both out and I won't leave her behind. I don't have a choice. You do. Get out as soon as you can. Change your name and your looks and don't look back. Not ever."
"No."
"What?"
"No, I won't run."
"Granger," he growls. "You will die. This is the only way. I am trying to save you." Hermione places her hand on his forearm.
"Draco," she speaks softly. "I can't just leave it all behind. I never could. This is my world too and I won't leave it to be destroyed. The light will take me. They will know the truth. I have to fight."
"You can't be serious," he whispers back, but it sounds like a plea.
"I am."
"I know, but I had to try."
"I know and thank you Draco." He nods and turns away.
They hadn't spoke of it since, but they knew they very well might be fighting on opposite sides, though they wouldn't dwell on it until then. Dumbledore accepts Hermione's answer with a sad nod.
"And the second thing then," he says. "I would like to pull Mr Potter into our plans in the near future, but he needs to learn occlumency first. We simply cannot take the chance that Tom learns of our plans through their link."
"Alright."
"I would like you to teach him."
"Me?"
"Yes, Miss Granger. His best friend and the bright witch of her age, who better for the job?" His eyes twinkle as he smiles.
"Okay."
"Please keep me informed of your progress and we will move forward from there."
"Yes, Headmaster," she replies, rising from her seat at the dismissal. She is at the door when he speaks again.
"Miss Granger?" She turns towards the headmaster. "I hope you are correct about Mr. Malfoy." She smiles and descends the stone stairs.