Around 7pm, Harry slammed shut the last book in his pile.
"This is useless!" He opined loudly.
Hermione looked up from the notes she had taken, then chastised him.
"Hey, be careful with my books!"
Harry seemed to fight not to roll his eyes, before muttering an apology and taking his glasses off. He rubbed the bridge of his nose tiredly. They had been at the books for hours.
"Whatcha got so far?"
"Things we don't know: Who is sending me the visions – because they aren't just a coincidence, I think we can agree on that. And we've ruled out prophesies, random dreams et cetera… Why now, and not years ago? Why Malfoy, of all people?" Harry nodded thoughtfully. She read on: "What we need to do: Find out where Malfoy is, figure out who can tell us more about this mind link or whatever…"
"Make sure you add that nobody has seen him in a few days, he is usually seen grabbing a coffee or a few books in Diagon Alley every once in a while."
Hermione glanced at him enquiringly.
"Oh- did I forget to tell you? Our group at the ministry has been keeping tabs on all people who were acquitted of war crimes. We don't watch them shower or anything, but we do like to keep abreast of their movements."
"That's a terrible invasion of privacy! Do you track my movements too? That's the kind of stuff the ministry was trying to do to you and Dumbledore the whole war. If that information -people habits and stuff-got into the wrong hands, people could be in danger, Harry!"
"Relax, we're the good guys Hermione. The war's over, remember?"
"I still don't think it's right. Tracking people sounds like a gross invasion of privacy."
"It's super classified, Hermione. Please don't worry about it, I just told you in confidence. The only reason I even knew that is I popped into the office this morning to check for you. I was trying to use all the resources at our disposal."
"Thanks for your help, Harry. I don't mean to criticize you; I just think that maybe we should let bygones be bygones. Maybe they don't need to be under suspicion to be good now."
"It's not really up for discussion. We have the minister's approval and have been doing it for years. I won't mention it again if it upsets you."
Hermione pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and forefinger. She was developing a headache, and biting Harry's head off wasn't helping.
"No, I'm glad you told me. It saves me some legwork."
"Us, Hermione. You're not in this alone, c'mon." Harry bumped her shoulder with his in a show of camaraderie.
"Thanks Harry, how's Ginny? I can't believe I forgot to ask earlier," Hermione asked guiltily.
"She's fine, she went to visit her parents today. Something about her mom making sure she had everything in the hospital bag. Not really interesting, plus she wanted me to talk with you. That conversation you guys had yesterday really got to her."
"Well, tell her I appreciate the thought. I know you've been busy preparing for the baby, but I've missed spending time with you guys."
"When the baby comes, I'm sure the Weasleys will all want to babysit, so I'm sure we will have a game night or something soon."
That would be great." Hermione responded. She got up to get herself some acetaminophen from the potion cabinet. Wizards did many things better than muggles but swallowing a couple of pills with water tasted a whole lot better than a headache potion.
"Hermione, why are you limping?" Harry asked suspiciously.
Hermione debated whether to brush her injury off. If she told Harry that her knee was hurting because of vestigial pain from her dreams/visions/nightmares, he would worry. Hermione didn't want to add to his already full plate, and she also didn't want to worry him unnecessarily. He was busy with his work at the ministry, his needy pregnant wife, and the upcoming arrival of their newborn baby any day now.
"Nothing I just was a bit clumsy and twisted my knee this morning. I'll be fine in a day or two." She hedged.
'Fingers crossed,' she thought to herself, wincing as she tried to walk without a limp. Her knee was badly twisted at the very least.
Harry seemed to accept her word, and when she came back into the room, he stood up to go.
They said their goodbyes, he wanting to check on his wife, and she wanting to go lay down. Harry reminded her to see what she could learn in her dreams tonight as he stepped into the Floo. She was suddenly very weary, and immediately readied herself for bed.
"I wonder what new nightmare I will have tonight." She mumbled to herself as she slept off to sleep.
