Chapter 25
Murmurs and Memories
Author's Note: I was recently asked why Scrimgeour didn't act "evil" towards Harry when he had the locket on. My only explanation is this: the locket didn't affect him like that. It affects everyone differently. The locket's effect on Scrimgeour was his discomfort. Scrimgeour, if you notice, liked the comforts of his Ministry office. He had carpet that could best be described as walking on clouds. A chair that seemed very comfortable, while he made Harry sit on something that was described as "sitting on stone". A certain drink he liked, while most wizards commonly love firewhiskey. Assuming that he had the locket on when he was at the Burrow, he sat on a comfortable chair, and made the trio sit together, and they were rather uncomfortable. And when he reacted to the discomfort of the locket around his neck, it fought back. If you caught onto these clues before you read this, I applaud you.
Now was the locket the only reason he died? Maybe... maybe not. You'll have to wait and see.
(Ron's PoV – moments before)
Ron felt his feet land on solid ground as he stepped back into the familiar surroundings of the Burrow. He walked over to Hermione, but she moved a few feet away from him, her arms crossed to her chest. He looked at her, and her concentration was on the fireplace waiting for Harry.
"Ron?" Ron's mother said.
She walked into the living room, carrying four large brown envelopes in her hand.
"Oh, good, you're back already," she said, smiling.
"Harry's coming soon," Hermione said.
Ron opened his mouth to ask what she was holding when a whooshing sound interrupted him, and Harry stepped out of the fireplace, looking quite windswept.
"Your Hogwarts packages arrived just minutes ago!" Mrs. Weasley announced to the three of them.
Ron took the brown envelope and shook it. Something inside the package seemed to rattle. He opened it just as he heard a gasp. He looked up to see Hermione looking at something clutched in her hand. Ron upended his envelope, and something small, golden and metal fell into his hand. The small weighty object seemed to temporarily make his throat close, and he coughed so he could breathe again.
He had seen this many times, though only up close a few times. His own brother Percy had once worn this same badge, and it had once been modified by Fred and George as an insult to Percy. His fingers rubbed the badge tracing over the letters H.B.
"I'm Head Girl!" Hermione gasped.
"Head Boy," Ron whispered, "How in the ruddy –?"
Mrs. Weasley snatched the badge out of Ron's hand and looked at it. Ron watched his mother's face as she stared at the badge then up at Ron. And then the small vocal explosion Ron was ready for unleashed.
"Head Boy!" Mrs. Weasley squeaked, hugging Ron tightly, "Oh, I'm so happy for you!"
Ron nodded and looked over at Hermione. She looked at him for a moment, before blushing and looking back down at her badge. Mrs. Weasley let Ron go and she walked over to Hermione.
"Congratulations, young lady," she said.
Hermione smiled and hugged Mrs. Weasley.
"Thanks," Hermione squeaked.
Ron smiled up at Hermione, and she looked away from him. He frowned. She was still angry at him for asking her to use the Memory Modification spell on Umbridge.
"Oh, this is so wonderful!" Mrs. Weasley said, tears sparking in her eyes as she looked at Ron, "Tomorrow is Saturday. Ginny will be off work. We can all go into Diagon Alley and get your books and stuff. If you will give me your book lists, I will keep them safe for tomorrow. Ron, we'll have to get you something! What do you want? Anything!"
"I – er – I," Ron said, still staring at his badge.
"Oh, you have all day to figure that out," Mrs. Weasley said, waving her hand dismissively and taking the envelope from him. As she headed into the kitchen, she continued to talk. "My baby boy! Head Boy! Oh I must write to Arthur and Bill. Maybe not Bill. He's still on his honeymoon with Fleur. No idea when they will be back and I don't want to intrude on them. But he'll be so happy! And Charlie will want to know!"
Hermione cleared her throat and Ron turned toward her and Harry.
"I'm – just going to – to – take a bath," Hermione said. "I have to let things... sink in."
She looked at Ron with narrowed eyes as she walked past him and toward the stairs.
"Hermione," Ron said, "I – er – if it means anything, I'm sorry."
"Congratulations on making Head Boy, Ron," Hermione said, rather mechanically, before disappearing up the stairwell.
"That wasn't exactly an answer," Ron said, turning to Harry, "Was it?"
"No, mate," Harry said, "Not really."
"You're on my side with this, right?" Ron asked.
"Ron, no offense," Harry said, "But I really do not want to discuss this when your mother is in the next room."
"Upstairs, then?" Ron asked.
"Good idea," Harry said.
Ron and Harry headed up the stairs. As they reached the first landing where Ginny's room was located, Ginny's bedroom door opened, and Hermione was standing in the doorway. She pushed between Ron and Harry, as if they weren't standing there, and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her.
"Congratulations on becoming Head Girl," Harry said.
"Yeah," Ron said.
"Thanks, Harry," Hermione's muffled voice said.
Ron frowned. He trudged up the stairs and didn't stop until he reached his bedroom. He walked over to his bed and carelessly fell onto it, laying down on his pillow. He took his wand from his pocket and pointed it at the Head Boy badge, letting it float above him and watching it spin in circles.
"Muffliato," Harry said, pointing his wand at the door.
"This badge isn't worth it if Hermione doesn't talk to me soon," Ron said.
"You did make her do something she was against, mate," Harry said, as he sat down on his camp-bed.
"Where would we be if Umbridge's mind wasn't modified right now?" Ron asked.
"Ron, I agree with you, okay?" Harry said, "But Hermione – she was never the kind of girl who supported something just because it helped the greater good. She has – you know – morals."
"Mate, I would really appreciate it if you let me handle my situation with Hermione," Ron said, "Because if you mentioned the word 'morals' to her, she'd blame me for putting them in your mouth."
"Whatever you say," Harry said.
"So, let's see it," Ron said.
"See what?" Harry asked.
"What did we almost get sent to Azkaban for, Harry?" Ron asked, "The locket!"
Harry glared at Ron and removed the locket from his neck. He then threw it to Ron and Ron jumped away, as the locket hit his bed. His Head Boy badge fell to the floor with a clatter.
"Watch it!" Ron said.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Harry, you just threw a Horcrux at me," Ron said, glaring at Harry, "Do I really need to explain any further?"
"Sorry," Harry said.
Ron picked the locket up in his hand and stared at it. He heard a pulsing sound coming from the locket, similar to that of the sound that came from a Portkey.
"You hear it too, don't you?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.
"What is it?" Ron asked.
"Search me," Harry said, shrugging, "It's been playing in my head ever since I put it on."
"And Scrimgeour had it on around his neck?" Ron asked.
"Yeah," Harry said. "It definitely annoyed him. I thought he was playing with his tie during our meeting, but I guess he was trying to pull the locket gently from his neck."
"And then what happened?" Ron asked. "He pulled it too tight?"
"I guess it is a defense mechanism in the Horcrux," Harry said. "Fight the locket and it fights back. Just like the memory of Tom Riddle in the diary tried to kill me."
Ron... ald... Weas... ley
Ron yelled in surprise and threw the locket back to Harry and he inhaled and exhaled. What had he just heard? Did that come from the locket?
"Oh, thanks," Harry said, "Now you're throwing the Horcrux at me."
"S-sorry," Ron said.
"Are you okay, mate?" Harry asked.
Ron stared at the locket, but he could no longer hear whispering.
"Ye-yeah," Ron said, "The locket is just – you know – creepy. Do you have to wear it?"
"Ron," Harry said, "If we lose this locket, do you know what that could mean?"
"Who would steal the locket here at the Burrow?" Ron asked.
Harry didn't reply immediately. He nodded slowly and scooted down his camp-bed until he reached his trunk. He opened it, rummaged through it, and pulled out a very old grey sock. He dropped the locket in the sock and buried it back into the trunk.
"Fine," he said, "But when we go to Hogwarts, I'm wearing it."
"S-sure," Ron said, nodding.
"Are you sure you're okay, Ron?" Harry asked.
Ron ignored the question. The honest answer was "no" and he didn't want Harry to know that.
"So Hogwarts is open again, huh?" he asked.
"Obviously," Harry said, picking up Ron's Head Boy badge and throwing it back at him.
Ron caught it. "Just like that," he said, "Old man Scrimgeour, may he rest in peace, let Hogwarts open as long as you agreed to go back."
Harry paused for a moment.
"Yeah, basically," he said.
"What about the fact that he is now dead?" Ron asked, "Will that change anything?"
"The Wizengamot has as much say in the matter of Hogwarts' fate as Scrimgeour did," Harry said, "And who is to say the new Minister isn't going to agree with Scrimgeour?"
"If there is a new Minister any time soon," Ron said.
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, raising his eyebrows.
"Harry, the Minister was murdered," Ron said, "The right to be Minister is given one of two ways. By vote of the citizens of the country, or if the Minister himself names a new appointed Minister. The Wizengamot was once required to vote on the new Minister, but when half the current Wizengamot at the time, many years ago, wanted to be Minister of Magic, they were no longer given the right to decide and – and why are you looking at me like that for?"
"How in the ruddy hell do you know all of that?" Harry asked.
Ron was certain he was blushing.
"Hermione has very beautiful penmanship," he said, "and when you are trying to find something to pass the time with in History of Magic, and she is sitting next to you, you end up looking at her. Know what I mean?"
"Er... no," Harry said.
"Guess that is just me then," Ron said.
He sighed and laid his head back on the pillow and looked at the ceiling.
"I miss her, Harry," he said.
"She's just downstairs, Ron," Harry said, "Hermione's probably taking a relaxing bath this very minute and -"
"Harry, if you like your tongue the size it is," Ron said, "Hermione's name and the word 'bath' will not come out of your mouth."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, laughing, "Oh, is that a dream of –?"
"Harry, I'm warning you!" Ron said.
Harry snickered. Ron chucked his Head Boy badge at Harry, and Harry was just able to dodge it in time. Ron stood up and walked to the door.
"Accio badge!" he said, pointing his wand into the room.
His Head Boy badge flew across the room and into his hand. He left the room, trying to drone out Harry's laughter. But when his mind went back to those odd whispers that was coming from the badge, he suddenly missed Harry's laughter.
-
(Hermione's PoV – twenty minutes later)
Hermione rubbed the towel through her hair, as she stared at her reflection in Ginny's body length mirror. She hadn't really needed a bath, when she had just taken one a little while before she had gone to the Ministry. But she had needed an excuse to change out of the clothes she had worn to the Ministry. Just looking at them laying in the laundry bin reminded of the terrible deeds that had happened in the Minister's office. How she and Ron had rushed out of Umbridge's office and into the Minister's office, and seeing Harry kneeling over the slain Minister, the locket Horcrux in his hand, and signs of strangulation burns dug into the Minister's neck.
Hermione threw down the towel and sank onto Ginny's bed. She closed her eyes tightly trying to rid the thoughts going through her head. If Harry had not been her best mate, if the horrible locket Horcrux was not in his hand, if common sense had all but left her, she really would have thought Harry had murdered the Minister himself just to get the locket – one of the Horcruxes he had been searching for – into his posession. She cried out and laid back forcefully onto Ginny's bed and stared up at the ceiling.
In her mind, the Minister's dead body was now replaced with that of Umbridge's stunned body. Ron's request to her banged across her skull liked drums. She could hear his voice as if he was really in the room with her.
"Hermione! Are you able to do a Memory Modification Charm? There is only one way to get out of this. We have to make it look like Umbridge killed Scrimgeour."
Hermione bolted up into a sitting position and looked around the room. She was alone. Ron's voice, his request , had seemed so real. She sank back onto the bed, and looked back up at the ceiling. If it had been Harry who had asked her to modify Umbridge's memory, she probably wouldn't have been able to do it. It was Ron's voice, his perfect, sweet voice, that had convinced her. And at the moment, Hermione hated him for it. Ron knew the power his words had over her. He must have known how she loved to hear every word he said and wished she could record them for later use when she felt lonely.
She hated that he had asked her to do something so – something so cruel like that. Even if it was done to someone who deserved it, even if Umbridge had unknowingly given a Horcrux to Scrimgeour as a gift that ended up killing him. Even if she deserved to go to Azkaban for it. Even if Umbridge's unmodified memory would have probably sent Hermione, Ron and Harry to Azkaban, Hermione still hated Ron for asking her to do that.
Suddenly, she heard a light tapping of knuckles on the bedroom door.
"Go away, Ron!" Hermione said.
She covered her mouth with her hand. Why had she said that? She wanted to see him. She wanted to hear his voice, to have him assure her that he was sorry for every asking her to do such a thing. He had said something like that when she had headed off up the stairwell, but she had been too mad to pay attention. She frowned. Too mad to listen to him.
"It's me," a voice said.
It was Harry's voice. Not Ron's. She wanted so badly to tell him to go away. But he didn't deserve for her to be mad at him too.
"I'm decent," Hermione said, "Come on in."
She sighed and sat up. The door opened and Harry walked into the room.
"Oh, I thought Ron might have been in here," Harry said, shutting the door behind him.
"You don't know where he is?" Hermione asked, looking up at Harry as he sat down on the bed beside her.
"Oh, so you do still care about him," Harry said, grinning.
Hermione rolled her eyes.
"That isn't a no," Harry said.
"It isn't a yes either," Hermione lied.
"I imagine Ron is probably on the dock at the lake," Harry said, "If you really want to know."
Of course he's at the dock, Hermione thought. It was where she confessed how very much in love she was with him. If he thought she was mad at him, he would want to be at the place where, at one point in time, she was happy and there were no worries about Horcruxes or dead Ministers going through her mind.
"Hermione, he asked you to wipe the memory of Dolores Umbridge," Harry said. "You're acting like he asked you to kill me or something."
"Harry, I know what you are trying to do," Hermione said. "I'm not mad at him, okay? I want to be. But I'm not. I just want him to think I am. Because if he thinks that, he'd never ask me to do something so – so cruel again in his life!"
"So you're not mad at him," Harry said, "But you want him to think you are. That is more cruel than what he did to you."
"Harry," Hermione said, "I'm warning you. I don't wish to talk about Ron right now."
"Okay," Harry said, "What do you wish to talk about?"
"What did we go to the Ministry for, Harry?" Hermione asked, rolling her eyes, "Where is the Horcrux?"
"Locked away in my trunk," Harry said, "It is safe there for now, while we're here at the Burrow. When we go back to school, I'll have to think of another idea to do with it – unless you know how to destroy a Horcrux. Do you?"
"He asked me that same question this morning," Hermione said,
"Who?" Harry asked, grinning.
Hermione rolled her eyes. She knew what Harry was trying to do.
"Your best mate who is a git," Hermione said, "I'm not saying his name. Anyway I told him there are ways to do it, but they are too dangerous that I wouldn't try them. We're going to have to find some other way to do it."
"Fantastic," Harry said, sarcasm ringing in your voice.
"Are you sure Dumbledore never told you how to destroy Horcruxes?" Hermione asked.
"Hermione, I've told you everything Dumbledore told me," Harry said. "If Dumbledore told me how to destroy a Horcrux, I would have told you."
"Right," Hermione said, "Sorry."
"So, Head Girl," Harry said, "are you going to do anything to celebrate your new title?"
"I don't know," Hermione said, "Perhaps I'll buy myself a new fancy quill."
"A quill?" Harry asked.
"Yes," Hermione said, "Why?"
"No reason," Harry said, "A new quill sounds good. Though I imagine the – er – Head Boy will think of something better to do."
"The Head Boy can do whatever he wants," Hermione said.
"Come on, Hermione," Harry said, "You must be proud that he is Head Boy. I'm sure you're planning something for him."
"You shouldn't worry about that, Harry," Hermione said, "You have Ginny's birthday to plan."
"What?" Harry asked.
"Ginny's birthday?" Hermione repeated, "In – er – four days?"
"Ohh, bloody hell," Harry said.
"You forgot didn't you?" Hermione asked, grinning.
"No," Harry said, quickly.
"Really?" Hermione asked, "What are you getting her? Are you doing anything special for her?"
"I'm going to pick it out tomorrow in Diagon Alley," Harry said, "And seeing as Voldemort is after me as we speak, I can't really do anything special for her, can I?"
"I'm sure you could think of something," Hermione said.
"I know what you're doing, Hermione," Harry said, "You're trying to get suggestions off of me because you don't know what to do to congratulate the Head Boy."
"I know exactly what I'm going to do to congratulate the Head Boy," Hermione said, "And I don't even have to leave the Burrow to do it?"
"What?" Harry said, "You're going to ignore him?"
"No!" Hermione said.
"Then why are you ignoring him now?" Harry asked.
Hermione crossed her arms against her chest and glared at Harry.
"That's what I thought," Harry said, "I'll leave you to think about the Head Boy."
Harry laughed and headed out of the room. Hermione rolled her eyes and laid back down on the bed, trying to think exactly what she wanted to do to congratulate the Head Boy on his title.
-
Decided to end it there. Unfortunately, most of this chapter is (as will most of the next chapter) really innocent away-from-the storyline chapters, before I really sink into the story.
Let me explain my thought process for the story at the moment. I am going to try to get the characters to Hogwarts before I get to Chapter 30. I already know this story is going to be incredibly long, so I can't control that factor. I'm only in August and it is chapter 25!
But, also, most stories, including the Harry Potter books ignore Ginny's birthday, and I don't want to do that. So I'm going to do that in the next chapter, while also doing a couple other things on my mind, including something about the current storyline.
And then I'm going to try to get into the what I will refer to as the "First term of Hogwarts" chapters. I have quite a few plans for that section, including a big event, there and then one big event for Christmas Break. So this story is definitely going forward. I think after Christmas in the story, it will speed things up, if my plans go right.
Also, for those who have read my previous stories with Ron and Hermione as Head Boy and Head Girl know what I usually do with their usual sleeping arrangements at Hogwarts. This story will be no different, because it plays a MAJOR part in the storyline later.