August 3
Everybody froze.
Harry pulled out his wand, followed by the other two. "What do we do?" Mouthed Ron. Harry motioned for him to take a spot in the dining room that had line of sight at the door. He whispered to Hermione: "Take the stairs".
Once the other two were in position, Harry crouched down behind an elephent-leg umbrella stand and magicked open the door to Grimmauld place.
"Harry? Are you here?" It was Remus Lupin.
"Where was the first place that you met me?" Harry demanded.
"On the train heading to Hogwarts, for your fourth year." Remus replied without hesitation.
Harry stood up with a sight of relief. "Oh, it's good to see you."
"How is mum?" Ron asked at the same time.
"And everyone else?"
"Everybody got out ok. There were a couple of other Death Eater attacks that same evening, but they were just hit and run attacks. The only serious one was on Madam Bones - they managed to take down her wards, but she held the attackers off until the Aurors arrived. And St. Mungos fixed her up right as rain."
"What about the Minister of Magic?" Hermione asked. "What happened with him?"
"He was ambushed as he left work. Scrimgeour always traveled with a pair of Auror guards, but it seems like Impkness was Imperio'd – he cold cocked Dawlish just before a half dozen Death Eaters appeared. The former Auror put up a good fight, but Impkness had put up anti-apparition wards and six on one was too much even for Scrimgeour." Remus took a seat at the kitchen table. He looked worn, more so than usual. "I've been in discussion with the others, and from everything we can gather it looks like all of these attacks were well planned but under manned – if the Death Eaters had brought one or two more to attack Madam bones, for instance, she's not certain if she would have been able to hold out until she was rescued. As it is, this was more a wake up call for the Wizarding community than anything else."
"So what now?" Harry asked.
"Now, the Wizengamot met to appoint an interim Minister of Magic. Several of the moderates stayed home for fear of being attacked, so the traditionalist faction managed to push through Thickness to serve out the remainder of Scrimgeour's term." Seeing the blank looks on the teens around him, Remus elucidated, "Pios Thickness – he's a traditionalist. He usually votes with the Pureblood faction, though he claims not to be bigoted against muggles or muggleborn."
"So he's not a Death Eater?"
"I doubt it – it's just that he is as dumb as a brick. Anything new scares him, and by new I mean less than a hundred years old." Remus must have been tired – he was rarely so blunt.
While the the teens considered this, Kreature popped in with a kettle on a tray, "Drink the tea." He smiled earnestly, shoving the tray onto the table. "It will be good for you."
"Actually, why don't you stay for dinner? It's that time, after all." Ron turned to Kreature, "Can you make extra for Remus?"
Kreature muttered something about inconsiderate masters changing dinner plans at the last moment before looking up with a beatific smile, "Of course".
"Yes, I can say for a bit," Remus continued, taking a cup of tea. "If you want my two cents, you should finish out Hogwarts. I finally got word from Snape - he says that the Death Eaters are in disarray. This most recent attack had been planned before Voldemort disappeared, but now they can't agree on what to do next. There is a lot of infighting as they all try to push through their own agendas. Nobody is interested in Harry anymore. The biggest danger is that there are several schemes afoot to take control of the Ministry and push through a pure blood agenda."
"I bet that the Board will install somebody like Umbridge at Hogwarts. If we do go back, we're going to have to extra careful." Hermione mused.
"It will be like fifth year all over again," Harry groaned.
/\/\MLC/\/\
As Kreature served meatloaf (again), Hermione asked, "So how are you and Tonks doing? I know you were really worried before the wedding."
"Oh, were doing wonderfully, actually, though she goes by 'Dora' now that she is a Lupin and not a Tonks," But Remus' worried expression bellied that statement, "Dora is remarkably accepting, despite the crazy lifestyle that my condition requires." He paused. "And we may have more news for you soon." Remus forced a smile despite his anxiety.
Ron looked puzzled, but Hermione just gave small smile and a nod.
"I have a more serious question for you," Hermione interjected, "Can you talk to Mundungus Fletcher and find out if he picked up a locket from the trash here?"
"What locket?"
"It's hard to explain." Harry held up a hand to forestall Hermione. "If you can ask him to come by here, we can ask him ourselves."
"Well, I can try, but I don't really travel in the same circles as Dung. And he hasn't been coming to Order meetings lately."
"It's really important. I think it's a dark artifact." Harry prevaricated – he didn't want to admit his suspicion that it might be a Horcrux. Partly because if word got to Mundungus there was no telling what the little crook would do, but mostly because he was hoping that he was wrong.
/\/\MLC/\/\
After Remus left (he had to be chivied out the door by Harry), Hermione sighed. "I don't think things are going as well between Nymphadora and Remus as he claims – it felt like he was avoiding going home."
Ron shook his head, "Not our problem. What IS our problem is what do we do come September first."
Hermione shot a look at Ron.
"What? He's a grown man. And I can't be going around worrying about some other bloke's marital issues." Ron held up his hands defensively.
"Ron's got a point – let Molly deal with this – she's an expert. Meantime, we need to decide on whether we return for our seventh year." Harry paused as he considered, "My vote is yes. I don't feel ready to take on the world quite yet." And besides, this was his last chance to see Flora before they went their separate ways - there was no way that their two worlds would intersect.
"I'm with Harry." Ron mopped meatloaf off of his face and headed out the door.
"Where are you going" Hermione asked in surprise
"To pack up - I thought we'd decide to head back to the Burrow."
Harry exchanged glances with Hermione, "I don't know if that's a good idea – I think we should give Bill some time to go over the place and make sure the Death Eaters didn't leave us any surprises."
Hermione dabbed at her mouth primly before depositing the napkin on her plate and then pushing it off to one side. "Additionally, this will give us the chance to make plans in case we have to leave Hogwarts in a hurry," she added.
In the end, they decided to stay at Grimmauld until the start of the school year. Even Molly and Arthur avoided the Burrow while the wards were being rebuilt, staying in Bill's now vacant apartment instead.
The one time the trio dropped by to visit the apartment, Ginny complained about how claustrophobic it was – despite the room expansion charms, there was nothing they could do about the fact that it only had two rooms.
Instead, she ended up making the rounds of her brothers, and even spent a couple of nights with Luna.
/\/\MLC/\/\
"Are you certain you don't want me to go along with you to pick up your supplies?" Mrs Weasley had just brought over the list of school supplies – which had arrived exceptionally late, on August 28 - and was now darkening the doorstep at Grimmauld house. Ron meekly perused the list so as to avoid being obligated to participate in the argument. On the one hand, he was very much a mamma's boy, but on the other, Harry had a good point:
"Thank you, Mrs. Weaselly, but I think it would be best if it was just the three of us this year – we can keep a lower profile, so that nobody notices that we're about." Harry replied. "And the less we're noticed, the more time for the Death Eaters to get involved in their own feuds and forget about us."
When Molly looked his way, Ron nodded his agreement quietly. They still weren't 100% certain that it was safe for them to be out. And while Ron trusted his own dueling skills, he didn't want his mum to be caught in the crossfire.
"Very well. Just make sure you go early in the morning – it always gets busier in the afternoon. Diagon Alley will be an absolute zoo!"
"Thank for the advice, Mrs Weasley," Hermione smiled, noting down that they should go after lunch, to better blend with the crowds.
In the end, Mrs Weasley ended up staying for an hour, chatting with the teens before she had to head home to 'make dinner for Arthur,' which she announced with much reproach, implying that it was a shame that none of the teens were joining the two of them. All through tone of voice alone.
/\/\MLC/\/\
The following day the three teens strolled through Dragon alley, doing their best to act casual even as each had their wand close at hand and disguise spells changing their hair color and build. It was a beautiful summer day, but unfortunately they were too tense to enjoy it. The crowd was thinner than they had expected, with most parents chivying their children along from shop to shop, so that they could get back to the safety of home the sooner.
"I don't recognize half these books," Hermione commented as she looked down at the list. "What is this 'Wizarding Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness?'"
"Oy, that sounds like something that Hufflepuffs would have." Ron shook his head "Hey – isn't that Umbridge?" He pointed to a human shaped tuft of pinkness walking out of Gringotts.
"Yes... And she's wearing the locket!" The only reason Harry could see it as such a distance was that it was the sole non-pink item that she had on her body. And the fact that his eyes were trained by years of Quidditch to identify small things at an extreme distance.
"Does that mean that Umbitch will be the next lord Voldemort?"
"Could be," Hermione pressed her lips together.
"Let's not take any chances." Harry quickly led the way into the potions supply shop, and out of sight. They watched Her Pinkness waddle by, not sparing their store a glance. Only once she was out of sight did it occur to Harry that they should have followed her and attempted to retrieve the locket.
/\/\MLC/\/\
When September first arrived, Harry greeted it with a mixture of relief and trepidation.
Staying with Ron and Hermione for the past month had been nice but also odd. Hermione had been a lot more attentive to him than her usual wont. She would sit close as they read, whether it was for research on horcruxes or for fun. And several times he found himself comparing her to Flora. Each time was followed by a sense of embarrassment. And the closer it got to the start of school, the more Ron started moaning that he wished that Romilda was around.
The trip to platform 9 and ¾ was nerve wracking, but once they got onto the Hogwarts express, everything felt very normal. Everybody was excited to see each other, the first years had gotten even smaller, and there was the usual noise and drama over who sat where.
"Did you hear that Snape was appointed Headmaster?" Neville said breathlessly as they joined him and Luna in a compartment towards the rear of the train.
"That explains why Ron and I aren't prefects anymore." Hermione replied.
"Ginny said they aren't going to have prefects - they're going to have an Inquisitorial Squad like in fifth year."
Harry gave a groan.
"Ginny is already here?" Ron got up. "I'll take a walk around and say hi." Ron hadn't seen his sister for almost a month, so that was not unexpected. Nor was the fact that he didn't actually get past the next compartment over, where he stopped off to say hello to Romilda.
"They seem pretty serious," Neville commented.
Hermione rolled her eye, "No kidding. You didn't have to listen to him moan for the past two weeks."
"Do you think Flora is going to come join us?" Luna interrupted before Hermione could complain further.
Harry shrugged non noncommittally. Flora wasn't a topic he felt comfortable discussing. In the end, she did not. Ron eventually returned, followed a short time later by Ginny.
/\/\MLC/\/\
The welcome feast was decorated in much darker colors this year than previously, with less red and gold banners fluttering down the walls and more green and blue, but it didn't feel much different. Until the headmaster stood up to make the welcome speech, that is.
"Good evening, children," Snape scowled down at the assembled mass of youth. "I will be your headmaster this year, and I will expect a greater level of decorum that this school has typically seen in the past. The board has expressed a dissatisfaction with the frivolous air that has come to permeate these halls, and they would like Hogwarts to return to its great glory, as they remember it from their childhoods. To that end, we will no longer have prefects, who play house favorites. Instead, we will now have an Inquisitorial Squad, whose authority it will be to take away House points and to issue detentions to malefactors." Snape paused to sweep his gimlet eye across the upturned faces. "I see we have a good crop of new first years. I will hold the upper years responsible for making them welcome. Speaking of welcomes, please greet our new faculty: Professor Amycus Carrow will be teaching Defense, and Professor Alecto Carrow will be helping us fill some holes in our curriculum," Snape gestured to the end of the table. Alecto was a largish woman, while Amycus was a cadaverous looking man. "And lastly, there is a list of forbidden items posted outside Mr. Filch's door. Please take note of it. Possessing any of those items is grounds for a detention. Now, continue with your meal."
"Oh, this is going to be a joy," Ginny breathed.
"That wasn't so bad," Seamus replied, "I thought he might start out the year by handing out detentions for all Gryffindors, or banning Quidditch."
"There's still time, mate. There's still time," Ron grumbled.
Harry surreptitiously cast a glance down at the Slytherin table. Flora was seated next to Theodore Nott, with the rest of the seventh years, eating primly but without participating in the surrounding conversation. She still had her hair cropped short, and seemed to only have eyes for Nott.
As the welcome feast was winding down, Harry casually walked past Flora's end of the table. When she looked up, he gave a little jerk of his head towards the door before walking out into the corridor leading to the Slytherin dorms (among other things). He waited there on the landing just off of the stairs as the other students filed past, first the prefects leading the first years all in a mob, and then the older students in small group - he felt awkward standing there, pretending to be busy by fiddling with his book bag. Flora continued to sit with her housemates, and only got up to leave when several of them did. They all walked together past Harry and down towards the dungeons. Flora glanced up at him as they went by but continued on without breaking stride.
Once the Slytherins were past, Harry stormed up to the Griffendor dorms 'What did I expect? It's not like we had any sort of agreement.' He threw himself into a over-stuffed chair and crossed his arms as he glared at the fire dancing cheerfully in the fireplace. It still hurt that Flora apparently wanted nothing to do with him. 'She's just a typical Slytherin.'
/\/\MLC/\/\
The following morning was the ritual of the timetables – a moment of excitement and trepidation as the students discovered their upcoming schedule for this school year. Though admittedly Harry might have been imbuing this trivial act with a lot more grandeur than it deserved, but it was the last time he would be experiencing it.
"I still can't believe Snape is headmaster. I was certain that they would appoint McGonagall – she has the most experience after all," Hermione groused.
"It's all politics," Harry replied as he glanced around. Ron was sitting part way down with the fifth years, as to all appearances Romilda attempted to meld her chest into his side. Not that Harry objected to that sort of thing, though usually Hermione would have spoken up about it by now. With a start, Harry realized that Hermione was leaning against him in a fashion that was only slightly less intimate. He glanced up towards the Slytherin table, but Flora was nowhere to be seen.
"What's this 'Wizarding Etiquette' class?" He quickly added, "And why am I signed up for it?"
"Everybody is, mate," Neville replied. "Its mandatory. It's replacing Muggle studies."
"And look who's teaching it," Added Hermione.
"Alecto Carrow."
"Wasn't she in Azkaban?" Romilda called out from where she was snuggled up against a smug looking Ron. Hermione avoided looking as the hussy brazenly pressed her chest into his arm.
"I wonder if she's any relation to Flora?"
"That might explain why Flora's keeping here head down – she's worried about her parents."
"No, Flora's parents are dead – she lives with her step mother." Harry interrupted. "Though apparently her step mother is an amalgam of all the worst traits of step mothers in muggle fairy tales. She gives the Dursley's a run for their money."
"Well, we'll soon find out – we have Etiquette first period."
/\/\MLC/\/\
"Greetings, little ones," cooed Alecto as she slowly paced the front of the room, examining the crop of Gryffindors seated before her. "Welcome to Wizarding Etiquette. In this class, you will learn the proper way for wizards and witches to interact with each other. This decorum is an important part of wizarding society and it is shameful, shameful that Hogwarts has removed it from the curriculum. And that they replaced it with mudblood studies, or whatever they called it," she waved her hand as if to drive off a bad odor. "If the parents had been teaching their children basic manners at home, that would have been one thing, but instead far too many have become 'modern'." She said this last word with disdain.
Hermione snorted at the concept that Wizarding society was in any way modern. Fortunately the professor was at the other end of the room at the time, and she continued on with her monologue.
"Therefore we will start by reading from the first chapter of the Wizarding Book of Etiquette and Manual of Politeness, and then we will act out several of the scenarios therein." She swept her eye across the room, finally stopping on Harry, "You. Harry, is it not? You will begin the section titled 'on greetings.'"
After Harry read the first several paragraphs, Alecto had them all stand up and pretend to greet a respected teacher. "Keep your back straight when you bow, Harry." She turned to Hermione. "Next."
After Hermione's attempt she glowered at her with a sneer. "Girls do not bow – it exposes them to inappropriate attention," she gestured vaguely at her (ponderous) cleavage, "Instead, they curtsy. Next." She went through the entire class, critiquing everybody's performance. Only the Slytherins were given praise, and held up as examples to aspire to.
"Arh!" Hermione almost ripped her hair out as they walked out of the classroom. "That was demeaning! She's worse, FAR worse, than Snape ever was!"
"Actually, I thought it was kind of interesting." Ron countered, before quickly backtracking. "Not that I want to be bowing and scraping, but it's like a view of what Pureblood society is all about. No wonder their kids turn out to be such absolute shites."
/\/\MLC/\/\
Charms with Flitwick was one of the only bright spots on the schedule that day, as the tiny professor made an effort to put out extra cheer to make up for the gloomy and overly formal atmosphere that had descended onto the school. He was almost bouncing as he lectured from his makeshift podium.
Without a doubt, the Ascendio charm WAS cool, but it wasn't exciting enough to warrant that level of energy. Harry watched the performance with bemusement, 'I hope he has enough left over for an encore performance – the fifth years 'Puffs are next.'
As with all of the Newt level classes, all the houses were together. Harry stole a glance at Flora. She was assiduously ignoring him. Or so it seemed to Harry – she was taking notes without looking up (not even when Flitwick used the charm to float up ten feet and pirouette in the air). 'I guess she's gotten over her obsession (or whatever it was) with me after everything that happened this summer.' It felt strange – he had gotten used to her being his personal stalker. On the one hand, it was creepy, but on the other, she was always there for him.
For whatever reason, she had felt that he was (or had been) central to her life. And after having lived his whole life with the Dursleys, where he was at best ignored, or (more often) hated and attacked, that had felt good. She had made him feel worthwhile.
Harry glanced over at Hermione. Not that Hermione (and Ron) didn't make him feel needed. And they didn't try to murder him because of some deep seated psychosis of their own.
As he was musing, Harry realized that Hermione was seated next to him in the third row instead of her usual spot front and center. She had been close all summer. 'Is she just worried abut me, or she hinting at something?' Hermione had been his friend so long that, he almost couldn't imagine her as anything else (Harry forced himself to say it to himself: 'girlfriend'). And she wasn't like the girls he typically liked. But given how bad his taste in women was, that might be a good thing. 'Maybe I should try - at least I know that I like hanging out with her, which is an improvement over Cho or Ginny. And she's not bat-shit crazy like a certain Slytherin.'
"Mr Potter, Would you care to answer the question?"
"Wha..." Harry started at the sound of Flitwick's voice, in a complete panic. He had no idea what had been going on in class for the past five minutes. He tried to replay what the professor had said, but it wasa total blank. "Um, uh.." He was going to look like a fool.
"Miss Granger, why don't you help out your friend," Flitwick took pity on him.
Hermione promptly stood up and recited the answer.
When the class drew to a close Hermione turned to him, "You ok, Harry? It's not like you to zone out like that."
"Yeah… I think I just need some fresh air." Harry paused before bulling ahead. "It's a beautiful day, and we're stuck inside. How about we go out to the lake and do the homework there?" At this point, all they had was some reading, so I would be easy enough to do that on the grass.
"I'd love that" Hermione beamed.
/\/\MLC/\/\
Amycus was a thin, almost emaciated man without a drop of humor to him. "The name of this class is Defense Against the Dark Arts, as if the Dark Arts, or any magic, is something you need to defend yourself against." He paced around the edges of the classroom, forcing the students to crane and twist in their seats to keep their focus on him. He spoke in an urgent, sibilant voice that triggered a primordial 'fight or flight' instinct in most of the students, so they all felt a pressing need to keep track of his location at all times. "That is because the school board lacks the courage to allow me to provide a true perspective on these glorious magics. But nevertheless, I will be teaching you Defense, defense against muggles, defense against monsters, defense against half breeds, using any tools at your disposal, no matter what label some fools may have slapped on it." He stressed the word defense each time he said it.
As Harry pivoted in his seat in the middle of the classroom to keep watching the professor, he saw Flora sitting in the back. She was next to Bulstrode this time, as Nott wasn't taking Defense. When Professors Amycus reached Flora, he ran a single finger across her back with an odd, possessive smile as he walked by.
Flora sat frozen, like a rabbit confronted with a snake.
"In this class you will learn to fight in the defense of your honor, in the defense of your family, and in the defense of your lives. In that order of priority." Amycus paused, as if realizing something, "Why aren't you writing this down?"
As the class rummaged in their book bags to pull out parchment and pens, Harry whispered, "He certainly looks like an escapee from Azkaban."
Ron nodded. He had the same broken look as Sirius – worn down, but with eyes too bright, and exuding a nervous energy. Like a trapped animal.
Amycus finally circled back to the front of the class, where he pulled out his wand. "We will start by focusing on pain curses. They are difficult to block, and an opponent who is brushed by one is not going to be able to continue fighting."
Amycus started by demonstrating the Cruciatus curse, casing it at a wooden target. "That is the goal. Most of you will not be able to cast such a powerful spell. Therefore you will first begin with the Poenus curse. You will practice casting it on the provided targets, as the school board has not yet agreed to permit me to use living people as targets." He sighed in exasperation at the foolishness of bureaucrats, "That will make it more difficult for you to learn, but we shall persevere!"
/\/\MLC/\/\
"That was brutal!" Ron moaned as they walked out of the DADA classroom. For once, Hermione didn't disagree.
"He's trying to desensitize us to causing pain to others," Hermione frowned. "He's hoping to convert us into Death Eaters."
"Yeah.. one moment, guys." Harry turned and headed back to where Flora had just come out of the classroom. "Hey, Flora, you want to join us for dinner?" He asked too-casually.
For a moment, there was no response before she turned to give Harry a cold glare, "I am Hestia." And walked off in the other direction.
Ron looked weirded out, "Do you think she's possessed by her dead sister?" He paused before adding, "And you're certain that it was Hestia that died last year?"
"Absolutely," Harry nodded.
"I mean, they looked identical, and they acted the same and..."
"No, I'm with Harry. She was Flora over the summer..." Hermione's voice trailed away, "She said that She and Hestia shared a single soul. I thought that she was just being poetic, but what if it was literal truth? Like they were born each other's horcrux?"
"That's too creepy."
"But it makes sense. And now she's both. Or maybe only Hestia is left." Harry was struck by a sudden sense of guilt, 'Maybe its because of what I did. I made Flora too confused to fight off Hestia. Maybe I should check on her.' Though he wasn't certain how to that, seeing as she didn't want to talk to him.
"Cor, mate, you're over-thinking it. Lets' go eat."
/\/\MLC/\/\
The following morning, as Harry sat blearily eating his eggs and toast, the usual barrage of owls swooped in. One of them landed in front of Ron, depositing a letter.
"What's that about?"
Ron read it over and squirreled it away into his pocket. "Come up to the dorms before class, I have something to tell you." He wolfed down the remainder of his breakfast and went up to the Gryffindor tower.
Harry finished up quick and followed.
"I didn't want to discuss this out where the Inquisitorial Squad can see," Ron explained once they were ensconced in the privacy of the Gryffindor common room. Even in the few days that school had been in session, the supposedly impartial Inquisitorial Squad had already started to make people nervous. Almost all were from Slytherin, and and none were muggleborn. If Snape had intended to get rid of house biases, he had replaced it with a crony system, where kids from pureblood families got a more lenient pass than muggleborn, who were often stopped for minor things like dress code violations for not having their shirts tucked in.
"I just got a letter from Dad. He says that Kingsley's keeping an eye on Umbridge for us. So far, she doesn't seem to be doing anything unusual, at least not that he can see, but Dad says that she's become Thickness's right hand, and that she's working hard to push the muggle registration act through the Wizengamot. She's the mouthpiece for a lot of the Pureblood legislation."
"I'm not certain that's much of a change from the Umbridge that we knew and loved back in fifth year. But that's her during the day, when she's in the public eye." Harry considered for a minute as he loaded up his bag for first period, "If Voldemort is possessing her, he'll be smart about it – he won't have her blow her cover by changing her behavior too obviously. It will only be at night that she does nefarious deeds."
"You don't think that the muggle born registration act is nefarious?" Hermione asked incredulously.
"You know what I mean – that's just typical Umbridge evil. It's not Voldemort level terrorism." Harry squeezed her hand to reassure her that he was taking her concern seriously.
"So how do we check on her? I guess we're going to have to sneak out of the castle some evening and apparate to the ministry."
"How about during Hogsmeade weekend? It's not an evening, but if she's under the control of the locket, she might still be up to something then, as it is still time when she is not at work." There was a Hogsmeade weekend coming up in a week.
"Great idea," Hermione beamed, "Ron, can you get her address from your Dad?"
"I don't know.. he's is going to want to know why I need it, and he's not going to tell me if he finds out we are investigating on our own."
"I'll ask Remus," Harry volunteered, "Dora has connections in the ministry also, and they're both more amenable to us doing our own thing."
"It's a plan," Hermione beamed up at Harry. The two stood like that, just looking at each other for a bit.
"Oy, get a room!" Ron grumbled.
/\/\MLC/\/\
During his first free period, Harry slid in next to Hermione. She glanced up from her book just long enough to acknowledge his presence. "You know our plan for Hogsmeade weekend?"
Hermione put her book down, "Yes?"
"That's going to be in the afternoon. How about in the morning, we go to Hogsmeade for real"
"Ok, I'd like that."
"As a date, I mean." Harry blurted quickly.
"Oh. Oh!" Hermione's eyes got big. "Ok!"
"You don't mind?"
"Yes, I mean, no! It sounds wonderful!"
The two sat there awkwardly for a moment before Harry took Hermione hand and gave it a squeeze. "Ok. It's a plan!"
/\/\MLC/\/\
When the day finally came, Harry was so anxious that he had trouble sleeping the night before. On some level, he couldn't believe that he had actually asked Hermione out. And on another, he couldn't believe that she had agreed. That morning as he staggered down to breakfast, Hermione intercepted him. "Um, Harry, we're just going casual, right?"
"Casual?" Harry's stomach dropped. What did that mean?
"I mean we're not dressing up or anything? I mean, I figured you wouldn't want to, but it's polite to ask – some guys like to dress fancy."
Harry quirked an eyebrow, relaxing. "Not any blokes that I know." Maybe Slytherins. They were all weird.
"In that case, you want to head down to breakfast?" Hermione said brightly. Harry took a closer look at his date – despite her assertion of 'going casual' he realized that she was wearing a string of pearls and her hair was all freshly combed (no small feat with her curls).
After a quick meal, they joined the stream of upper year students heading out the main gates.
"What's that?" Harry pointed to a clump of students standing by the main entrance, wearing the Inquisitorial Squad arm bands
"That's trouble," Hermione scowled. "I have a bad feeling about this."
As they approached, Pansy stepped into their path, "Just so you know, even though you have passed your apparition exam, you are forbidden to leave Hogsmeade." Her voice was as grating as ever – high pitched and nasal. "If you do, you will be severely disciplined."
"That means punished," added Crabbe as he leaned in, leering at Hermione as if he as fantasizing about doing just that.
Harry had to fight the urge to punch the larger boy in the nose.
"Pansy, you forgot to leash your dog," Hermione snipped as she stepped around the other girl.
The morning passed quickly, as Harry and Hermione visited all their usual haunts. It was odd – even though they did pretty much the same thing as always, it felt different. Harry glanced at the girl he was holding hands with, 'She is easy to talk with.' Even when she was lecturing him, it was nice.
/\/\MLC/\/\
After the date they met up with a rather befuddled looking Ron and apparated to London.
"You ok?" Harry asked as they walked from the apparition point to the address Remus had provided.
"Yeah, It's just.. I tried to talk to Romilda about what we are doing – I didn't tell her any details, but I kind of had to explain why I needed to cut our date short. And she acted all surprised. Like when I brought up all the crazy stuff going on at school this year, like our Death Eater professors, she shrugged and said that it didn't bother her – she said that she just stayed out of their way."
Hermione peered over at Ron as they turned a corner. "What do you guys usually talk about?" To her, it seemed like the sort of difference in perspective that Ron should have noticed before now.
Ron blushed, "Uhm, we don't actually talk that much.."
Harry snorted but resisted the urge to say anything - he could ask for details later, when he wouldn't offend Hermione (his girlfriend?) "Are you certain that these are the correct directions?" They had just turned into an upscale neighborhood filled with ivy covered apartment buildings. "How she can afford this sort of place on a government salary?"
"Maybe she's from a pureblood family?" Ron shrugged, glancing over at the paper in Harry's hand. "Which apartment is hers?"
"I think.. that one." Harry pointed to a third floor window. "I can Ascendio up to it." He smirked. If Flitwick knew what use they were putting his spell to, he would be very irate.
"No, you won't, Mr. Potter!" Harry turned to look in surprise at Hermione's sharp tone. "She might be an ugly toad, but she is still a woman, and it is not appropriate for a gentleman to be peering into a woman's window."
"And I'm a gentleman now?" Harry smirked.
"You are to me." Hermione smiled back.
"Oy," Ron interrupted. "Get on with it."
Hermione disillusioned herself and Harry Ascendio-ed her up. She was a barely visible outline as she grabbed hold of the window ledge and pulled herself around to get a better view. After a moment, she pushed off to drop back down to the ground. "Finite Incantatem!" She hissed, "Hide! She looks like she's about to head out – she was just grabbing her purse."
The three teens rushed into the neighboring doorway and disillusioned themselves. A few minutes later, a familiar pink figure bustled out, her double chin pulled taught as her lips were compressed in concentration.
The three teens followed her from a distance. She walked at a quick, business-like pace several blocks to a large townhouse, where she was greeted by a man in a formal suit – most likely a butler, given how expensive the neighborhood looked.
"Now what?" Harry was at a loss. They were standing along the sidewalk, overshadowed by a surprisingly large hedge growing out of a razor thin strip of dirt by the side of the brownstone.
"Hey, isn't that Malfoy?" Ron pointed. They watched as an officious looking man walked out from an alley two buildings over and adjusted his archaic three piece suit slightly as if he had just arrived at his destination before walking down to the same townhouse. A few minutes later another well dressed man came the same way.
"It must be a Death Eater meeting."
"They're dressed too nicely – some DEs are upper class and dress like it, but others are slobs." Hermione countered, thinking of the few times she had seen Crabbe Sr. or McNair. "These look more like political donors."
"Potato, Potah-to" Harry muttered.
They watched for a few more minutes, but nobody else showed up. Either it was a small group meeting, or Umbridge had been running late. "Should we try to sneak in?"
"Its liable to be warded. Lets head back – at least we know Umbridge is still acting more or less normal."
"What, you think if Voldemort had possessed her, her nose would fall off or something?" Ron quipped.
"No, but Voldy-shorts never struck me as the subtle sort. He wouldn't continue to dress in the same godawful pink. Hermione's right, we should call it a day." Harry countered as he turned to head back towards an alley from which they could apparate.
/\/\MLC/\/\
The following morning Harry staggered in to breakfast late and plopped down next to Hermione, who gave him a cheerful smile, and after a brief pause, a quick peck on the cheek. "We're just checking the Prophet to see if there were any attacks yesterday, just in case we were wrong about that meeting."
"Anything?"
"No, it doesn't look like there was any DE activity. Harry? You look awful." Hermione turned to a third year sitting down the table and called: "can you pass the coffee carafe, please?" Once it arrived, she poured Harry a cup.
"Yeah, I couldn't sleep. I kept thinking about Voldemort. I'm certain we're missing something. We need to keep watching Umbridge – it's a matter of time before she tries something."
"I agree, but remember that we aren't the only ones keeping our eyes open for his return – the Order isn't just sitting back this time." Hermione reassured him.
Ron finally looked up from inhaling breakfast and noticed how Hermione was holding Harry's hand. And then up at first Hermione's face. And then Harry's. "Wait, are you two going out?"
"Hey, you're the one who told us to 'get a room'" Harry quipped.
"I didn't expect you to… I mean.. good for you, I guess." Ron finished weakly as he glanced over at Romilda who was sitting at the other end of the table, assiduously not looking at him.
"Why is Romilda sitting all the way over there?" Hermione asked.
"That I couldn't tell you! And before you tell my I'm being insensitive or some other garbage, I asked. I did! And she said that I was suffocating her and that we needed time apart 'to grow into the people that we were meant to be'. And no, I have no idea what that means any more that you do!" Ron drowned his sorrows in double stack of pancakes.
/\/\MLC/\/\
That afternoon, after their Transfiguration class with McGonagall (which was the most normal of the classes that they had attended so far – she acted as if nothing had changed), the trio took advantage of the good weather to study down by the lake. Which is where they saw a disheveled looking Hagrid stomping up, carrying two huge buckets that he promptly filled from the lake. He was just turning back when he noticed the teens. "Oh, hey, Harry. You haven't been down to the Forbidden Forrest lately, have you?"
"Why, what happened?"
"I don't know, but something's got the Acromantula all riled up – they had a big show down sometime this morning, sprayed webbing all over. Even got my house!" He hoisted the buckets, "I'm going to go take a look after I scrub the windows. You want to come?"
"To go spy on the Acromantula? No." Ron answered very definitively.
"Hagrid, I really don't think that you exploring on your own at night in the Forest a good idea," Hermione chided her large friend, "I mean, remember what happened in the past."
"I guess you're right," Hagrid hung his head dejectedly, "I'll wait for tomorrow morning."
"I don't mean that…." Hermione began when Harry interrupted, "That's a good idea, Hagrid!"
As the groundskeeper lumbered away, two 10 gallon buckets in his hands, Harry continued to Hermione, "Pick your battles, Hermione. I think this is the best you're going to get with Hagrid."
"I guess." Hermione patted Harry's shoulder. While she was a very huggy person, she was still trying to navigate what was the appropriate amount of affection to show a boyfriend in public. The fact that Harry wasn't really comfortable with physical contact made it even more complicated. So she settled mostly on holding hands.
And looking at him with a dopey smile.
Harry scootched closer, so his side was pressed up against hers, as they sat, not talking.
But a few moments of this, Harry looked up – motion on the far side of the lake had caught his eyes, under an oak that trailed its branches down to the water - it was the tree that Flora had usually hung out under last year.
"I'll be right back." He gave Hermione's hand a regretful parting squeeze and walked over. As he got closer, he saw that there was indeed a person underneath. But as he approached the tree, they got up and left in the opposite direction. Harry broke into a run.
He couldn't see them clearly, but he called out anyways. "Flora, wait up!"
He rounded the tree – it was indeed Flora, but she just continued running. Harry could probably catch her – he was taller, and in better shape - but what would be the point? It was just that he was curious why she had been avoiding him since school stared.
With a self conscious shrug, Harry headed back towards his girlfriend.
"What was that about?" Hermione asked.
Harry shrugged. "I thought I saw.. somebody watching us," Harry dropped Flora's name at the last instant. He wasn't certain how Hermione felt about Flora, but he found talking about Flora with her incredibly awkward. "But they ran away."
Hermione felt smug for a brief moment – she knew the watcher had been Flora - before that feeling was replaced by sympathy. 'I bet that poor girl will never have a real relationship.'
/\/\MLC/\/\
The fall progressed without too much trouble. The Inquisitorial Squad did take away more house points from Gryffindors than the other houses, but surprisingly, Snape overruled most of their detentions. Unfortunately, the Squad did take their task of patrolling the castle seriously, which make it harder for Harry and his two companions to sneak out of school to check up on the Pink Toad.
"We need to go check on her tonight," Harry whispered urgently. They had just gotten a letter from Dora that Umbridge hadn't been seen for a couple of days.
"She could just be sick," Ron began without much conviction.
Harry shook his head, "I have a bad feeling."
"Is it your scar?"
Harry shook his head, "No. Just a general sense of foreboding. It's like.."
"Class, cease your discussions" Alecto pronounced as she began class. She had been sitting, grading papers as the students filed in, until the bell rang. Her Wizarding Etiquette class was a joke. The subject matter was mildly offensive to Harry and the other muggleborn - Hermione kept comparing it unflattering to a twisted version of Victorian manners - but it was straight memorization, and as long as you could spit back how far a proper muggleborn had to bow to a pureblood wizard (45 degrees), or how long a witch's hemline should be to demonstrate that she was available for courting without being lewd (half way down the calves), you would pass the class.
It was Amycus' Defense class that was problematic. He focused exclusively on defensive casting, except his idea of 'defensive' was pretty offensive: all of the spells he covered were dark or borderline dark. The fall semester was devoted to spells that caused pain. Stunners that fried the nerves, so that when you woke up you couldn't walk until somebody cast a healing charm on you, cutting curses that made wounds feel like they were ripped open with a barbed hook, and more. Very few of the spells were safe for the students to cast on each other.
Amycus glided through the classroom, watching the the students practice.
Despite being magically expanded to give all the students enough room to cast without endangering their peers, the DADA classroom was still shrouded in shadows, allowing Amycus to appear as from nowhere to make corrections to a student's posture or casting style, before disappearing from sight again.
"Professor, are we going to be doing this all year" Asked Susan Bones. She wanted to follow in her aunts footsteps and join the aurors, but this class was too grim. She wasn't certain anymore that she wanted to do this with her life.
"No, soon, soon we will be moving on to much more interesting spells. They will challenge you." Amycus smiled, "For Christmas, we'll cast FiendFyre."
Susan blanched as Amycus cackled.
Hermione leaned over to Harry, "I hear Professor Amycus asked Snape's permission to use students serving detentions as targets." She shuddered in horror.
Fortunately, this was their last class of the day, so the trio made their way out to the lake before dinner. "I have been thinking - if we head out under the Whomping Willow, we can take the passage to the Shrieking Shack. We know that it is outside the wards," Hermione ventured, "We should be able to go after dinner and still have time to scout out Umbridge's apartment before curfew."
The other two nodded. "Though considering how many seventh years miss curfew, I bet we could sneak in afterwards and nobody would comment," Ron added.
Hermione blanched, "They most certainly would comment, Ronald! What do you think those scofflaws are doing, out after curfew? I don't know about you, but I don't want my name dragged through the mud."
"Oh, yeah, I hadn't thought about that," Ron muttered, embarrassed. Not that there was anything wrong with that sort of thing, but if his mother heard about it, he would never live it down. Not even the twins got into THAT sort of trouble, though Fred did once mention off-hand that Evanesco would prevent a girl from getting pregnant if you cast it on the 'bodily fluids', right after sex.
Hermione quickly changed the subject. "Do you think Amycus was serious about the Fiendfyre? That's almost an unforgivable"
"I don't want to be in the room when someone is casting that - it's too easy to lose control," Harry agreed.
/\/\MLC/\/\
Later that evening, the three were back outside. "This feels familiar," Ron quipped as they stealthily made their way towards the edge of the field surrounding Hogwarts.
"Except we're not under the Cloak this time." They were disillusioned instead – in the dark, the chances of them being spotted was zero, and it was far less confining than the Invisibility cloak, which was fine for a trio of eleven year olds, but not so much for three young adults.
"Shh!" Harry held up his hand – a pair of fourth years were sitting side by side under one of the trees, looking up at the stars. As the trio froze, the girl looked around suspiciously before turning back to the boy.
Harry tugged on Ron an Hermione's robes, setting them into motion. They managed to reach the edge of the Forbidden Forest without any further incident. When they approached the Whomping Willow, as soon as it began to twitch Ron levitated a twig into the knot to immobilize it.
/\/\MLC/\/\
"Her apartment is dark. Now what?" Hermione commented. The trio were back in front of Umbridge's building, disillusioned again to prevent them from being spotted.
"I say we sneak in and have a look around," Ron pronounced.
"Ron, we can't be just breaking and entering. Besides, if she is being possessed, she is liable to have all sorts of wards."
"Even if she isn't, she will," Harry agreed, pulling out his broom. "But maybe not on her windows. Let's go take a look."
Hermione scowled as she swung up behind Harry. "I'm not letting you go up there by yourself."
"Ok. Ron, you're on look out. If you see her coming, give a shout," Harry gently floated them up.
"At least we have a broom this time." Hermione recalled the sensation of floating with nothing supporting her. That had been awful – worse by far than riding a broom, even.
When they were even with the windows, Harry peered in as Hermione worked to check for wards.
"Its warded. I don't know with what."
"And I can't see anything inside." The curtains were pulled open, but it was too dark to see anything. "Let's try the roof – maybe we can get into the building from there."
The roof was flat, with a door into the stairwell which Harry Alohomra'ed open. The two teens quickly made their way down to the third floor. As they walked down the corridor, they could hear the sounds of conversions coming from several of the apartments but it was all very muted. The corridor was wallpapered in a vintage style, with thick burgundy carpeting on the floor and dim lighting overhead. It all looked very expensive, without actually being homey or attractive.
They stopped outside Umbridge's door. "Now what?"
Harry tentatively touched the doorknob with his finger. Nothing happened. "There's a spider web here. Actually, there are a couple." He glanced at Hermione instinctively, even though he couldn't see her except as a vague outline. "Umbridge doesn't strike me as the sort that would tolerated cobwebs."
"Especially not across the doorjamb - nobody has been inside for some time." Hermione agreed.
"Maybe she apparates directly in?
"Unlikely – it's warded, so it would be unpleasant to do so, even if she is keyed in to the wards. And there were no chimneys when we came in, so it's not on the flue network."
"So where is our prodigal toad?"
"Maybe she's dead?"
They were still considering their options when Harry realized that there was some sort of commotion outside. "And here I thought this was an upscale neighborhood," he quipped as he went to the end of the hall to look out the window.
"Hey, that's Ron!" Harry pointed to the no longer disillusioned figure banging on the trash bins lined up across the street. A moment later, Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and placed a hand over his mouth. She pointed back the way they had come, to where Umbridge had just stepped out of the stairwell.
Harry desperately wished that he was wearing invisibility cloak, even though it was difficult to walk in it and impossible to fly. He slowly grabbed his wand, in case Umbridge glanced down to their end of the hallway, and placed his other hand on Hermione's' shoulder, so he could tell if the almost invisible girl moved.
But Umbridge just shuffled quietly to her door. She paused there and gave furtive glances to either side before turning the key in the lock and stepping in. Once inside, she peered out once more, glancing left and right before shutting the door.
The couple waited with baited breath to see if Umbridge would come out again. After a few seconds, they crept back down the hallway. Harry paused outside Umbridge's door and put his ear next to it. All he could hear was the usual noise of somebody walking around a room. Hermione tugged on his hand, and Harry followed her up the stairs to the roof and back down to Ron. As soon as they landed, Hermione canceled their disillusionment.
"What took you guys so long!" Ron was beside himself. "I was certain that she had caught you!"
"Hey, you there!" Harry turned to see a policeman running up. "What are you doing here, causing a ruckus!"
"Run!" The three teens took off for the closest alley, with the Bobby in pursuit. But when he turned into the dead end alley, he was surprised to find it vacant.
/\/\MLC/\/\
"Ok, that didn't go as well as planned." Ron gasped as they rested for a moment in the Shrieking Shack before heading back up the tunnel to the Whomping Willow.
"Sorry mate, we didn't hear your warning until it was almost too late." Harry replied.
"Yeah, we weren't paying attention." Hermione added contritely.
"Well, its good that one of us was!" Ron scowled, "Anyway, did you notice? The toad was wearing a green jumper with her usual pink ensemble."
"Yeah. It was hideous," Hermione wasn't into clothing the way some of her schoolmates were, but that had been an eye-popping combination, even for the Wizarding world, where fashion was… strange.
"And she didn't look so good herself either – her face was sallow and slack jawed. She's definitely under possession," Harry added.
"What do we do now?"
"Now, we head inside – curfew is coming up," Hermione was always the voice of reason.
"I have a very bad feeling about this. If Voldemort manages to return, then we're back to square one."
"I thought we would have a couple of years," Ron moaned as he followed Hermione.
"We need a plan to get that locket away from her."
/\/\MLC/\/\
The following day dawned cold and overcast: Scottish winter had finally arrived in full force. The trio didn't talk much at breakfast – there was not much to say. None of them knew what to do next.
"Maybe the new Voldemort won't know who you are." Ron whispered, after checking to see that nobody else was listening in. "No, for real. Think about it: Voldemort put a part of himself into that locket back before you were born. So the Voldemort born from it won't know about the prophesy."
"You don't think one of his Death Eaters would tell him?"
"I guess," Ron deflated.
"I have to go to class," Hermione got up, giving Harry a wistful look. They really didn't get much chance to spend time together, just the two of them. Sometimes she wondered what it would be like if she wasn't always so responsible. What if she just goofed off and enjoyed herself, like the other Gryffindor girls? Though given how many Hogwarts students married right after graduation, maybe they weren't just playing around. She tried to envision being married to Harry. She sighed and shook her head. She didn't have time to think about that right now - she had Arithmancy first period (one of the few classes she didn't have with Harry and Ron).
As she made her way into the class (early as usual) she noticed that Flora was already in her seat. A twinge of guilt passed through Hermione. At first, at the beginning of September, she had felt victorious that the other girl was keeping her distance from Harry. But now, as she had gotten comfortable with the idea that she and Harry were a couple, she felt vaguely guilty. Hermione compressed her lips as she silently chided herself. She hadn't done anything wrong. She didn't drive the other girl away – it had been her own choice to keep her distance from Harry. But still.. Harry used to be Flora's friend, and now she didn't have anybody.
She sat down nest to the other girl. "Hi. You should come sit with us for meals sometimes. We miss you." A little white lie. She suspected Harry did miss her, but after the first day nobody else had noticed her absence, she was so quiet.
"I'm sorry, I can't. I am Hestia" The Slytherin girl whispered, not looking at Hermione.
"What do you mean?" Began Hermione when the door opened and several more students trickled in.
"Please don't sit next to me." Flora whispered urgently, "Go."
As Hermione picked up her books, looking awkwardly for another seat, Flora added, "You're a good person. Thank you."
Hermione spent the rest of the period trying to puzzle out what Flora had meant by that statement.
/\/\MLC/\/\
"Harry, what happened to your face?" Hermione reached out to touch her boyfriends cheek as he finally made his way down to breakfast the following day. Harry had never been a morning person, but most days this year Harry was even worse than usual, arriving just in time to get some toast and coffee before he had to stagger off to his first class.
"My face?' Harry asked in surprised.
"Oh, wow! You got blood all over your cheek!" Ginny commented from her spot across the table.
Hermione wet a napkin from her cup of water and dabbed gently at his face, frowning. "Well, it doesn't look too bad – you just have a scratch and some swelling."
"Do you think it was a Umgubular Slashkilter?" Luna asked. She and Ginny were sitting with the trio - Ginny was making an effort to hang out with Luna more during the school year despite their different interests.
"No, it was probably Professor Amycus' class. I saw one of the pain spell he had has casting rebound off of the target and hit you yesterday." Hermione scowled.
"Oh, and what were you doing watching Harry instead of doing your own casting?" Smirked Ginny.
Hermione didn't dignify her comment with a reply. "We should report this to Mcgonagall."
"I don't think that there is anything she can do. Besides, I'm not even certain that's this is from class."
"I'm certain," Hermione huffed before surveying the surroundings for any potential threats to her boyfriend. "Here. It's almost class time." She snagged the tray of toast for him.
They never did report it to McGonagall. In the end they decided that it wasn't the right time to draw attention to themselves. Not with the school atmosphere being the way it was.
/\/\MLC/\/\
It was a few days later that Hermione woke up to somebody shaking her. "Hermione. Hermione. I need your help."
Hermione looked up groggily, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes, to see a tear stained Flora leaning over her bed.
"What is is it?"
"Harry is possessed. I think he's Voldemort."
Sorry there wasn't much Flora in this chapter. Next chapter will make up for that - it will be titled 'Night'