A/N: Thank you to everyone who has read and reviewed this story so far. I'm trying to update every few days, which hopefully I'll manage to keep doing, I have most of the story planned out in my head it's just a matter of filling in the gaps and putting it all on paper, so hopefully I won't keep you waiting for too long in between posts. Thanks again for your time and kind words, here's the next installment. ENJOY!
THE JOURNEY HOME
Chapter Three – Sleepless Night
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Harry didn't sleep a wink that night. He lay awake tossing and turning plagued by what he had said to Ginny.
"I don't care anymore."
The words echoed in his head as he stared up at the cracks in the ceiling. Had he meant it? Was Ginny right? For the second time that day Harry let his mind begin to wander.
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It was a Saturday morning nearing the end of his seventh year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Harry sat in a comfy armchair close to the common room fire. Crookshanks was prowling around in search of an Ice Mice Ron had charmed the day before and Ginny was watching attentively as the cat scoured under a table.
"Do you think he'll catch it?" Ginny asked, breaking the early morning silence.
"Probably," Harry replied, then frowned, "once the charm wears off." The statement had reminded him of his own situation, being hunted by a ruthless predator that only had to wait till the charm wore off.
Ginny sensed his shift in mood. "What are you thinking about?" she questioned, gazing into his eyes trying to read his thoughts.
She was the one person Harry could never bring himself to lie to. Her piercing stares brought the truth out of him every time.
"He's waiting – watching – biding his time." Harry declared. He watched as Ginny took a moment to process the cryptic message.
"What's he waiting for?" She asked, her eyes still fixed on him and a scared, but firm expression on her face.
Harry indicated the game of cat and mouse on the other side of the room. "Graduation. After that I'll be away from Hogwarts and Dumbledore. Easy prey, all alone."
Ginny pulled her wand from her robe pocket. "Accio mouse." Crookshanks pounced a moment too late and missed the mouse that was now flying into Ginny's hand. She handed it to Harry. "You'll never be alone."
Harry accepted the mouse and let his hand linger on Ginny's for a few seconds. "No, I don't suppose I will." He gave a rare smile and slipped the mouse into his pocket.
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Harry shook the memory from his head and reached for his wand. Pointing it straight at the ceiling he muttered, "reparo" then watched the cracks repair themselves leaving a flat, clean surface for him to stare up at. He placed his wand back onto his nightstand and lay silently listening to the sounds outside his window. Harry lived in a small one-bedroom apartment above a muggle antique store. During the day the street was full of people bustling around doing everyday things, but at night it was so quiet Harry wagered he could hear a pin drop halfway down the street. Ginny had been wrong, he was alone.
"Wait a minute," Harry sat bolt upright in bed, "what's that sound?" He grabbed his glasses off the nightstand and scanned his bedroom looking for the source of the noise. It was an odd tapping sound, but where was it coming from.
"Psst, Harry, are you awake?"
"Huh? Who's there?" Harry demanded.
"Harry, it's me, open up!"
"Me? Me, who?" Harry pushed his blankets off himself and slid out of bed.
"It's Tonks, now would you please move this thing so I can get in!"
Harry peered round his bedroom door and saw Tonks' legs poking out the fireplace. "Tonks? What are you doing here?"
"Chimney inspection." Tonks replied. "Move the guard please so I can get out of here."
Harry chuckled to himself as he removed the guard from the front of the fire. His apartment, like many other auror's, was full of traps and warning devices to stop anyone getting in without him knowing.
Tonks clambered the rest of the way out the fire and dusted the soot off her robes. "Phew, I thought I'd never get out of there."
"Now you have, what is it exactly that you want?" Harry crossed his arms over his chest and stared at Tonks.
Tonks shook her head hard so all the soot flew out in all different directions. "I have something I want to show you," she said, straightening up and pulling a number of scrolls from her pocket. She made her way to the kitchen table, "Ron just sent me these."
Harry looked at his watch, it read 3.45 am. "Do you spend all your time at the office?" he asked with disbelief.
"Well, yeah actually, pretty much," Tonks replied with a shrug. "Now, look at these luna cycles."
Harry moved alongside Tonks so he could read off the pieces of parchment. "What about them?"
"They line up almost perfectly with these," Tonks pulled another piece of parchment in front of Harry.
"Okay, I get it," Harry scanned the sheets of paper carefully, "Ron thinks Hermione's disappearance may have something to do with the position of the moon."
"He's got a bunch of different theories that all seem to connect to the moon in one-way or another," Tonks explained.
"You say 'almost perfectly'," Harry pointed out, "look here, these are the positions on the night Hermione disappeared," he pointed to the figures to illustrate his point, "and these positions you've circled of a week from now are almost the same, but not quite."
"Nothings perfect, Harry," Tonks pointed out.
"Yeah, but any deviation – no matter how slight – could completely throw off all calculations. You're risking way too much on 'almost'."
Tonks folded up the parchment, "have you ever heard the saying 'it's better to try and fail than to fail to try'?"
"Godrics Ghost! Seven years and nobody questions the fact that I made my choice and Ron made his, so why, all of a sudden, is everyone hounding me?" Harry cried out.
Tonks gave him a sympathetic smile, "because Ron might actually be onto something this time." She shoved the rolls of parchment into Harry's arms. "I suggest you get yourself up to speed with all this, tomorrow you'll have a group of recruits hanging on your every word."
"What? Recruits?" Harry's eyes widened and he almost dropped the rolls of parchment.
"That's right, Potter, you leave at 9 am and it's a long trip so get some sleep." Tonks marched back towards the fireplace.
"But, wait, what about you?"
"What about me?"
"Well, aren't you supposed to be the leader of that little troop of misfits?" Harry asked.
"Ron set up camp halfway up a mountain you can't apparate, floo, fly or portkey onto, and I'm not really in any shape to be climbing mountains, now am I?" There was a slight hint of sadness in Tonks' voice. Everyone in the department knew the only reason Tonks would take the Head of Training job was if she couldn't go on proper missions anymore, but only Harry knew the precise reason she had taken the job.
Harry had never been any good in these situations and in place of words he only managed to nod solemnly.
"Right, now that's done," Tonks pulled a handful of floo powder from a pouch attached to her belt, "if you need me I'll be behind a desk somewhere." With that Tonks was gone and Harry was left alone in his apartment again, only this time he had a pile of facts, figures and theories to keep him awake for the rest of the night.
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Well that was Part Three, thanks for reading and let me know your thoughts!