Hermione arrived in the small kitchen while the sky was still pink with the rising sun, still in her pyjamas, surprised to see Remus already there nursing a cup of coffee.
"Good Morning, Miss Granger. There's coffee and tea on the counter."
Nodding her thanks, she went to pour a cup of tea and moved to sit across from the werewolf.
"I didn't expect to see anyone up this early. Were you able to get in touch with Sirius?" Hermione asked, sipping the hot beverage.
"Yes, and he should be contacting us when he gets back to Britain. It shouldn't take him more than a day or so to get the basics ready for us, he says." Remus held up a small hand mirror. "We enchanted these during our Hogwarts days so that we could keep in touch in different detentions. Well, I should say so James and Sirius could keep in touch, as a prefect I tried to stay out of trouble."
Hermione snorted but her eyes never left the hand mirror. "Somehow I doubt that. I think you just managed not to get caught with the other two."
"Hmmm." But he couldn't hide the smirk with his coffee cup. And speaking of not being up this early," Remus continued, ignoring the grinning witch, "I wasn't expecting to see you or Harry just yet. Is he still sleeping?"
Humming the affirmative, Hermione smiled. "Yes he is. He dropped off about an hour after you left and didn't have another dream that I could tell. We'll hear him as soon as he finds I'm gone."
Setting his cup down, Remus leveled a look at Hermione that had her squirming in her chair. "I know we will be changing locations soon but I want to get this cleared up before we meet Sirius. And yes, before I let you see the enchanted mirror, Hermione, since I know that's what you're going to ask next. So, I want to know what is going on between you and Harry? I normally wouldn't let two teenagers of the opposite sex share a bedroom much less a bed."
The blush on Hermione's face lit the room. Remus couldn't remember if he ever saw someone flush that quickly. "There's nothing 'going on' between Harry and I, not like you're suggesting anyway. When we left the Weasley's after the Cup and went to the Leaky Cauldron we got two rooms right next to each other. But we were so sure we would be caught out right away that we both stayed in Harry's room. Neither one of us wanted to wake up to the other gone. It became a comfort while we were there by ourselves." She sighed. "Do you know anything about how Harry was raised? Before he came to Hogwarts?"
"Just that he and Sirius were making plans for Harry to live with him once he was found not guilty. And those plans went up in smoke when the rat escaped."
"Harry's relatives are the worst sort of people. They hate magic and so they hate Harry. I know during the summer after our second year the Weasleys had to pull bars off of Harry's window before they could get to him. This year, Harry wrote to me after only one week and asked if there was any way I could send food to him."
Remus let out a growl and Hermione swore his pale green eyes flashed amber.
"I did what I could, but using Hedwig I was limited with what I could send and I couldn't cast any charms to make things lighter. And I didn't dare send anything through muggle post for fear of getting Harry into trouble. My parents knew of a camping supply store near our house and I found a bunch of camp meals - not great but at least it was more than those so called family members were giving him! I wanted him to visit but as soon as I thought of it, I received an owl from Dumbledore reminding me of the importance of Harry spending as much time with his relatives as possible.
"And that's not all. He doesn't talk about it but I know about the verbal abuse, I've heard them talk to him at King's Cross. They said something to me last year and Harry went off on his uncle. It...it wasn't pretty. Not only do they starve him but Harry said that I was the first person to ever hug him. And that was in our first year. He...he flinches sometimes if people reach out to him suddenly or grab him unexpectedly. I don't want him sent back there if I can help it but Professor Dumbledore insists on it every summer."
"Do either of you have any idea why?"
Hermione was looking at the doorway, a slightly glazed look in her brown eyes, not answering right away. A moment or two passed and a groggy Harry entered the kitchen. Remus raised a brow.
"Apparently, it's all for my 'protection'. He talked to me before this summer about my mum's sacrifice protecting me. Personally, I'd rather face another troll." Harry answered, dropping into the seat next to Hermone and stealing her half finished tea. She rose to make a fresh cup after cuffing him lightly on the head.
"I have no idea what Dumbledore is thinking, he certainly doesn't share his plans with me. I'm usually left stumbling in the dark after a couple of vague clues." Harry gestured at Hermione. "Hermione is the reason I've made it this far. Ron usually goes with both of us but never really has any idea of the saw what happened with the rat. Hermione does all the research and keeps us in line. Even then Ron wouldn't listen about what he was sure was his pet. He didn't do anything but complain about the rat but as soon as Hermione had a theory about him, he was determined to go in the opposite direction. After last year's dementors, I'm actually worried about what we'll run into this year."
Remus frowned. "Do you think it will be that bad?"
"Absolutely," Harry nodded.
"I'm sorry we were talking about you, Harry. I know you dislike it but Remus and Sirius do need to know some things," Hermione said as she dropped back in the seat beside him.
"It's okay, Mi." Her brows rose at the nickname. "It's not like you're talking about me at school or anything. What brought the Dursleys up anyway? I try not to think of them if I can help it."
"That would be my fault, Harry. I wanted some clarification before we move on to Sirius's house -"
"Wait, you never said we were going to Sirius home! How is it that Harry will be safe there? Isn't it known to the ministry or well, everyone?" Hermione interrupted.
"Yes and no, Hermione. And I will have to remember not to underestimate you. Either of you actually, in the future. Sirius moved in with Harry's parents when we were 16, so I highly doubt anyone will remember to look at the Black family home for him. Not to mention the house is warded against anyone who is not a family member even seeing it let alone entering it. Sirius and I will add a few additional layers of protection, of course, but we should be perfectly safe there, if not particularly comfortable.
"To get back to your original question, Harry, I was asking Hermione about your somewhat unusual sleeping arrangements. It's not something I would normally approve of, not just as a former professor but as a friend of your parents. Hermione was just explaining a few things to me."
Harry nodded, his cheeks pink but his green eyes were as steady on Remus as any look Lily had ever leveled on him. "There's nothing to talk about there. I can't exactly predict the Voldemort dreams and the nightmares, well the nightmares are nearly constant. I...I don't like to be touched, Remus. It's gotten a bit better since I started Hogwarts but I don't want to get into it. I'm sure Hermione has explained what she knows about the Dursleys," he looked at Hermione and she nodded. "The short of it is I don't mind if Mi is the one touching me. She never really gave me a choice about hugging me from the time we were eleven. It's worse if someone tries to wake me up out of a nightmare. So far I haven't actually hurt anyone -"
"I don't think you'd do that, Harry," Hermione interrupted, her hand on his arm.
The boy looked over at her and gave a small huff of a smile. "I know I wouldn't hurt you even half asleep. I know it's you for some reason. But I don't know how I'll react if it's one of the guys in the dorm. I almost slugged Ron a good one once last year." Harry turned back to Remus. "We found out by accident this past week that I don't have as many nightmares when we ...er...stayed in the same bed. That's all there is to it."
Frowning in thought, Remus moved to get more coffee. "Harry, do you know you expend a lot of magic when you are having a nightmare? Or at least one of your 'visions.' Not just enough to wreck your bedroom but if what happened last night was any indication, you could have leveled the whole neighborhood."
Harry shook his head, grimacing.
"Has anyone mentioned any oddities at school?"
Harry frowned. "No, not really. I usually have a silencing charm on my curtains, as much for the nightmares as Ron and Seamus's snoring. If I forget, then things like me trying to knock out one of my best mates happens. Come to think of it, that might help with the snoring problem."
Hermione laughed. "You can actually hear those two in the common room! I don't know how you got any sleep before you learned that charm."
Smirking, Harry continued, "And if I have a nightmare or a Voldemort dream I'm usually done for the night. By the time I get to the common room, Hermione is usually there."
The werewolf turned to Hermione. "And how is it you're there?"
She shrugged. "I don't know. I just wake up. I have this urge to go downstairs that I can't ignore. And I know Harry needs me. After second year it's become pretty normal for one of us to generally know where the other is."
"How general are we talking about?"
The two teens looked at each other for almost a full minute. Remus didn't think he'd ever stared into someone's eyes that long but these two honestly looked like they were having a conversation he was being excluded from. It bothered him.
"Do you mind sharing with the person who can't understand what's going on in your heads?"
That snapped them out of it causing them to blush.
"Sorry, Remus," Harry replied. "We can usually tell if we're both in the castle or not and where about the other is. Like if one of us is still in the common room and the other is in the library. It's more the general area. I can't tell if Hermione is at her table in the library or if she's just at the library doors but I know that's where she is."
"Do either of you remember when this started and have you told anyone else about it?"
Hermione answered this time. "I think it was at the end of first year maybe? Definitely second year we noticed it. And no, we haven't told anyone. It just doesn't seem like something that we should be sharing with people, even Professor Dumbledore or Professor McGonagall."
Remus sat with his chin in his hands, eyes darting back and forth between the two teens. This was another unexpected issue he and Sirius would have to look into. It didn't seem to trouble the teens much but then again they were still young and even younger when the...bond was probably the closest term he could come up with...seemed to form between them. They saw it as a useful extension of their magic.
"You don't think there's something wrong with us do you?" Hermione asked in a small voice.
"What? No, no, of course not Hermione, Harry! It's not unheard of to have this talent but it's not common. I'm sure there should be something on it in the Black library. While Sirius' family tended be dark, very dark, they also hoarded knowledge and their library is one of the most extensive outside of Hogwarts. Dumbledore would love to get his hands on most of the books there for research purposes.
"On the other side of the coin, this may be why you are more comfortable with Hermione than say Ron as far as close contact, Hermione's magic responds to yours. I was very much afraid last night when I entered your bedroom and felt all the uncontrolled magic in the air. Until I realized Hermione's magic was trying to counter yours, pull it back to you."
The teens looked at each other. Harry was the one to ask, "Why would that happen?"
Shaking his head, the werewolf could only shrug. "No idea. And I'm not sure what the repercussions could be when we start your occlumency training. It might be that you and Hermione won't be able to block each other since the shield you'll build in your mind is made up in part with your magic. Since your magic recognizes Hermione's so closely, it may just let her in regardless of what you consciously try to block her out."
"Okay, so what do I do to be less of a liability to Harry?"
The boy in question turned to his best friend and glared. "You are NOT a liability!"
"But I could be. If what Prof - Remus says about our magic reacting to each other then what happens if I'm captured? What happens if someone uses an Unforgivable Curse on me? Could I still get that close to you under the Imperious?"
"All good questions, Hermione," Remus cut in before Harry could get truly worked up. "And just one more thing that Sirius and I will have to integrate into the training I want to start before you two go back to school."
That broke through Harry's building fit. "Training? You and Sirius want to train me? Us? Both of us?"
"Yes, Harry, I think it's time that someone started to take the attempts on your life seriously. And since Hermione can usually be found with you and is muggleborn, she trains as well. Ron can join you once term starts if you'd like. If we want to keep your location hidden, I don't see a way we can invite him with us. There are rumors going around about who your Defence teacher will be this year but I haven't heard yet if they've been finalized."
Harry still sat, shoulders tense and hunched, until Hermione put her arm around his shoulder. The effect was almost instantaneous. Remus could actually watch Harry's muscles begin to relax with just the casual contact. He needed to get to Grimmauld and look in the library. This almost merging of magical auras was something he'd never heard of let alone witnessed the effects of. If the two could somehow control it - combine their magical energies - one or even both of them could be very near unstoppable. But first…
"Alright you two, let's get breakfast and then I think we should start with some Occlumency exercises. I'd like to see if the meditation work helps at all with your ability to locate each other."
~O~O~O~O~O
Albus Dumbledore arrived back in the Headmaster's office for the first time this summer. He'd been incredibly busy with the Wizengamot since Sirius Black's second escape followed by a trip to the continent. With only three weeks until the new term started, he needed to begin preparations for hosting the two foregin schools that would be coming at the end of October.
He wasn't happy to be having this tournament sprung on him like this. Albus liked to be in control of the situation at all times and he wasn't sure if he would be concerning this. He'd be on the judging panel, of course, but the judges didn't decide the tasks the competitors would be facing. And being informed second was not something he enjoyed.
Sitting at his desk, Albus noticed something not quite right. He spared a glance at all his glass and gold spinning trinkets and gasped. Two stopped spinning and puffing smoke and one had the glass completely shattered. The other, normally housing a small compass whose needle lazily tracked a path across Little Whinging, Surrey, was dark. He grabbed the shattered orb carefully.
"It can't be," he whispered.
Dumbledore never told anyone what the glass trinkets were, not even Minerva who complained at how much room they took up in the office. The collection had been here for over 12 years. All the objects tied by blood to one Harry Potter. The one in his hand was tied to the binding on Harry's magical core that Dumbledore himself had put on the boy before he left him at the Dursleys as a baby. And now it was gone. All his work, his preparation for the prophecy, for Harry's destiny, his path was gone. And Albus had no idea how it happened. Even the tracking charms on the boy were gone. Which meant he was no longer on Privet Drive.
So the big question was: Where was Harry Potter now?
He racked his brain trying to remember if there were any plans for the boy. He would have been alerted if something had happened to the house on Privet Drive and he wasn't, those monitoring charms were still intact. So it wasn't an attack. He'd warned off Miss Granger at the beginning of the holiday when he realized she'd gotten it in her head to invite young Harry to her home during the summer.
The Weasleys! Yes, he'd given Arthur and Molly the go ahead to take Harry to the Quidditch World cup with them and then have him spend the rest of the holiday with them.
Not bothering to inform the Weasley's beforehand, Dumbledore threw a handful of powder into the fireplace and flooed to the Burrow, entering into the living room and right into a cloud of yellow and pink smoke and ...feathers?
Coughing, Albus called out, "Arthur? Molly?"
"Professor Dumbedore?!"
He knew those voices. Every faculty member at Hogwarts knew those voices.
"Ah, young Fred and George. Are your parents hom -"
"FRED AND GEORGE WEASLEY! WHAT ON EARTH ARE YOU DOING?!"
The twins each grabbed a box off the coffee table and ran outside before Molly could fully enter the room. Dumbledore cleared the smoke with a wave of his hand and sighed when he saw his beard was now a shocking neon pink. He knew from past experience he would need to wait until the spell wore off. Messing with one of the Weasley twins potions usually left one in worse condition than the original prank.
"Albus, I am so sorry! Let me drag the twins back in here and have them set you right."
"No need Molly, it's a harmless prank and one of their more innocent ones if memory serves. I am here for another reason. I wonder if young Harry is still here with you?"
Molly flushed red and was quiet. That did not bode well. Molly Weasley was many things but she was never quiet.
"Molly?"
"He was here. He left after the incident at the World cup."
"Incident at the World Cup? Left? But where would he go?"
"Please come and sit for some tea." Molly led him into the cosy kitchen. Absently, Albus looked around, noting that the Weasley clock had Arthur and Percy at work and the twins as causing mischief.
After pouring, Molly sat and sighed. "I'm surprised you didn't hear what happened. There were Death Eaters at the Cup. They came after and attacked the Muggles at the campground. Arthur and Percy went to try and help and the children were told to go into the woods and stay there." She sighed. "A spell was fired at Hermione and Harry got in the way…"
"Was Harry injured?"
"No, no, nothing like that but the kids were traumatized and I thought it best to send Hermione home to her parents."
Nodding, Dumbledore sipped his tea. "That sounds reasonable."
"I wish you'd tell that to the rest of my family! Everyone is angry at me!"
"And why is that? What does that have to do with Harry?"
Molly sighed. "Harry found out somehow that Hermione was leaving and decided that he was going with her. They said something about the girl's parents having gone on holiday while she was staying with us."
"So Harry is with Miss Granger?"
"Yes, but we can't find them."
The cup dropped to the table. "What do you mean you can't find them?"
"Arthur checked the Grangers home. They were definitely there but they aren't now. No one is."
"Molly, I'm sure I don't have to stress the importance of finding Harry. I think it's time we got the order involved."
"Not the Ministry?"
"No, I don't think it wise to cause unnecessary panic. But we do need to find Mr. Potter and get him back here or to the Dursleys as soon as possible."
Two redheads tugged a long flesh colored worm off the windowsill and grimaced as the wide end dropped into the garden dirt below.
"Fred, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
"If you're thinking that we need to warn Harry and Hermione of what's going on, then indubitably brother of mine. But how?"
A soft bark caught their attention and their eyes were drawn to a nearby tree. A white owl eyed them.
"Hedwig! How did you…?"
The owl flew down to the twins, careful to avoid the Burrows' many windows.
"Well, George, I think we have help now."