He wanted to smooth back her hair that was tousled and falling forward, obscuring her lovely face. Her lips worked soundlessly as her brow furrowed and he desperately hoped she wasn't having some awful dream like he'd had earlier. Those lips…her mouth was parted slightly and, as ever, it held a perpetual pout to them that always seemed to make them so irresistible.
Her brow furrowed again and she frowned in her sleep as she shifted. Without his consent, his hand reached out to brush back her hair from her face and his heart leapt as he felt her lean into his hand and sigh softly, as if soothed from his touch. Her cheek then, cupped within his palm, snuggled down further into the sofa. As his hand was trapped beneath her head, he made himself comfortable on the floor in front of her and stared off into the fire. He tried desperately to listen to the voices he heard just before loosing his battle with sleep. If he'd had to guess, he'd say they'd been riled into chaos again.
~ ~ ~ ~
Brrrringggg! Brrrring! Brrring!
Harry woke abruptly and found himself staring, wide-eyed, into Hermione's suddenly open eyes. Harry, mind blurred from sleep, wondered briefly what had caused them to both suddenly jerk awake at the same time.
The sound the front door opening, followed by some scuffling noises from downstairs and finally, the door slamming, made Harry jump up from the floor; his arm, aching and stiff from where it had been wedged between the arm of the sofa and Hermione's sleeping head for the past—he checked the grandfather clock just as it struck three times.
"Someone's here," Hermione said, stating the obvious and groggily sitting up.
Harry offered a hand to Hermione to help her off the sofa, all thoughts of their fight forgotten for now. Harry leading the way and straining to hear who had arrived, they hurried out of the drawing room and cautiously descended the stairs into the entry hall.
"Oh my—what happened?" Remus' voice could be heard as they sped up down the last turn of the staircase.
The deep voice of Kingsley Shacklebolt was then heard saying, "Sorry about having to wake you. Her legs--I think it was a Bone Shatterer Curse. I had to Stun her to stop her pain; she couldn't stop screaming."
The voices were coming from the dining room, just off the entry hall, and Harry and Hermione both stopped dead in their tracks as they saw an unfamiliar woman laid out upon the dining table. She wore golden Auror robes and blood was spattered all down the front and side.
"What—who is that?" Harry asked, making Remus and Kingsley take notice of him and Hermione for the first time.
"Tonks," Kingsley said and then added quickly. "But it's not as bad as it looks. The blood's not hers and she's only Stunned for now."
"Whose blood is it?" Hermione asked as they walked closer and examined Tonks.
Harry could see not only blood on the robes, but also on her face and in sticky dark red clumps in her pale blond hair. "What happened?" he asked.
"Death Eaters," Kingsley said to answer both questions.
"Kingsley, I think she'll need St. Mungo's," Remus said quietly as he examined each of her shins beneath the robes.
But Kingsley shook his head gravely. "Can't. Strict instructions and we both promised each other not to go there. We don't any record of this injury for anyone to find out, remember? No, I portkeyed us out of there to about a block from here." He turned to Hermione and asked, "Can you get Dumbledore on the Floo and see if he could get something for her from Hogwarts? Tell him Tonks took what I think is a Bone Shatterer Curse to the shins." Hermione nodded and flew out of the room.
"Is she going to be all right?" Harry asked, stepping closer still to the table where Tonks lay. "How did it go tonight? Did you get anyone?"
Kingsley took a deep, shuddering breath and nodded. "Moody's got three of them now. Though one is of no use anymore. It's his blood on her there," he said gesturing to Tonks. "It was her job to get a portkey necklace over the head of anyone we could subdue for capture. She was just getting the third when one of the other Death Eaters saw what she was doing. He did a nasty bit of work to rip the voice-box from the throat of the third one just before she was able to portkey him away." Kingsley grimaced as he recalled the scene he'd witnessed. "It looked like he slit the throat open with a curse and then just Summoned the thing from his throat—it was one of the most hideous things I've ever seen done."
Grimly, Remus said, "But that's one person who, captured alive or not, certainly won't be talking." Kingsley nodded.
"Then what happened to Tonks?" Harry asked as he saw her lower legs, which were nearly black with bruising. They were swollen and had an angry red tinge to them besides the bruising and did not look good. The sight made Harry's stomach churn.
"She was just getting the necklace on the guy and activating the portkey when he had his throat ripped open—hence all the blood and …well, anyway. Then—and I was just coming out to help at this point because Townsend had also gone down and let two get away at this point—Tonks set an Anti-Apparition jinx on the this throat-cutter bloke and as she gave chase on him, he spun around and hit her with the curse to her legs. I tried to give chase but there wasn't much to be done for it and he got away. We had to get out of there as soon as possible and I went back to her and the others."
"Weren't there six Death Eaters there?" Harry asked.
Kingsley nodded. "Seven at first actually. But one just came with them and helped them scope out the house—he left before they ever attacked. Two Disapparated as soon as they could when they met resistance. We had a team of four and myself as on-site backup. The other three besides Tonks…I sent them back with their portkey to the Ministry."
Hermione came rushing back into the dining room then. "He said he'll send Madame Pomfrey over as soon as he can get her and portkey her here," she said breathlessly. "He said we should move her to a bed here and expect her to stay here for at least a week or more while she's on the mend. Remus, he asked if you'd call her mum in the morning to let her know where Tonks is."
Remus nodded and they followed as Kingsley, muttering, "Mobilicorpus," floated Tonks up the stairs and into a spare bedroom. Hermione and Harry helped turn down a bed before she was gently lowered down upon it. Remus performed several Cleaning Charms then on her robes, face and hair.
Soon, Madame Pomfrey had arrived and after being led to the room by Harry, she shooed the rest of them from the room to tend to Tonks. In the drawing room, Kingsley paced in circles and kept muttering about one thing or another that they could have done better. Remus quietly told Hermione what they knew so far and Hermione asked, "What happened to the Crofton family? Did you manage to get them out of the house before anything happened?"
Kingsley stopped pacing and answered, "No, we decided that would tip someone off about what we knew. They have two young kids and we set up some spells to keep them inside and away from the action and to keep the Death Eaters out. We decided it would look better if the Ministry Aurors appeared to show up just after the Death Eaters arrived outside the house."
"Why were they a target in the first place?" Harry asked. "Do you know?"
Remus answered, "Lloyd and Linda Crofton are both muggleborns. Their jobs are nothing special so we imagine being a family of muggleborns was all they needed to be painted as targets."
"Weren't there any witnesses?" Hermione asked. "Does the Ministry have to send Obliviators or anything? Because they could get caught in more crossfire if more Death Eaters come back to finish the job." Her arms were crossed and wrapped tightly around her chest. Her hair was dishevelled from sleep and Harry now noticed how bleary her eyes were.
"It is likely they'll get attacked again if they've already been named targets," Kingsley admitted as he sat down heavily in a side chair and dropped his head into his hands. "But the area was remote. They own some sort of produce farm and there was no one about for miles. I don't know if Snape knew that when he gave us the tip but it works out well that we could keep everything outside of the house and have no witnesses." He stood up abruptly then and announced, "I need to start writing my report and get this all down while it's fresh. I should also send word to Amelia."
Remus nodded and said, "Let's go down to the kitchen. There's spare parchment there and there's cauldron for post. Besides, I should get back to the fire in case someone calls." He turned to Harry and asked, "Will you and Hermione stay up here and take care of anything Poppy needs while she's here?" Harry nodded.
As Remus and Kingsley left the room, Harry turned to find Hermione standing off by the fireplace. She still had her arms wrapped protectively around herself and seemed to shrink in on herself as she felt Harry's eyes upon her. Harry felt the distance expand between them as he stood in the middle of the room, watching her not look at him. When he'd wandered the house to find her earlier, words had come much more easily to mind. Now, the silence pressed on and the gulf between them seemed ever widening.
He didn't know where to start but knew he should. "Hermione…" She seemed to stiffen and turn away even more at the sound of her name.
"Mister Potter?" Madame Pomfrey called brusquely from the hallway.
With a sigh that was nearly relief, Harry gave a pained look to the back of Hermione's head and went to the hallway.
"Mister Potter," Pomfrey said when she saw him emerge from the drawing room. "Professor Dumbledore said there would be house elves here whom I might give instructions for the care of this patient?"
"Oh, yes, Er, Dobby and Winky—yes, I'll find them."
Harry turned to leave and no sooner had he taken a step, than Dobby appeared with a crack!
"Yes, Harry Potter? You is needing Dobby? What can I do for--"
"Over here," Pomfrey said curtly. "Potter—you're going to be staying here while this patient recovers?" Harry nodded. "You might as well come along then—Miss Granger might do well to come along, too. Why don't you fetch her and—"
"I'm here, Madame Pomfrey," Hermione said stepping out into the hallway.
Pomfrey nodded and they followed her into the bedroom. Tonks was now wearing a hospital gown and had blankets lain over the top of her, but folded up to reveal her lower legs which were still blackened with bruising and shapeless with shattered bones.
"Now, as both of you are in the Healing class, I thought this might be an excellent opportunity for you to see how a dark curse like the one used here is mended. You'll note the victim was Stunned to keep her from experiencing the pain and from attempting to walk about and possibly cause more damage to herself. This curse was aimed at the major lower leg bones: the tibias. She's obviously tried to put pressure on her legs after the curse and so has fractured her left fibula as well." Pomfrey was gesturing to Tonks' legs as she spoke clinically to Harry and Hermione.
"Now, Professor Dumbledore has already told me the curse that was used here—the Bone Shatterer Curse. The best way to treat this is, ironically Potter, to first Vanish the shattered bones. You'll recall the esteemed Gilderoy Lockhart did something of that nature to your arm a few years back." She pointed the brightly lit tip of her wand at one of Tonks' shins and said, "Look closely—you can see beneath the bruising that the skin is very inflamed and red and that there are some lumps and points of obtrusion. The bone shards are currently cutting and slicing through and into all sorts of muscle, nerves, tendons—you see even a few points here where the bone fragments are attempting to pierce through the skin."
She waved her wand over each leg then as she clearly said, "Exos tibulae evanesco." Tonks' shins seemed then to deflate a bit and now looked like a pair of rubbery boots. Over the left shin she said, "Conferre fibula."
"There," Pomfrey said. "Now, I'm not going to wake her up and you ought to let her rest. She'll sleep through under the Stunner because she knew she was in pain when she was Stunned. Wake her in the morning and make sure she gets two Analgesic Draughts a day until the swelling goes down. Only then can you give her two beakers-full of Skele-Gro." She gestured to the bedside table where a bottle of what Harry recalled to be one of the vilest tasting potions ever sat. "Potter, you can tell her what to expect as I imagine you've not forgotten. After she takes that, the legs should be sore for a day or so and then she's good to go. Got it?"
Harry nodded and Hermione asked, "Why does she need to wait for the swelling to go down?"
"So the injured tendons and nerves can repair themselves and recover from the trauma. They won't properly attach to the new bone if they're still traumatized. Absolutely, under no circumstances, should she attempt to walk or even sit up with her legs hanging down. Keep them elevated on a bed." She turned to Dobby then and instructed him, "Make sure she gets plenty of milk, water, meat and make regular infusions of Comfrey tea. Any questions—you all know where to reach me."
"Yes, Ma'am. Dobby will make sure. Yes, Ma'am."
She sighed heavily then and, with one last look at the blond and unconscious Tonks, said, "Very well then, if that's all?" and with that, she disdainfully pulled out a bedpan from her robes and tapped it once before disappearing from the room.
Harry and Hermione were once again alone, besides Tonks who was out cold. Hermione, seeming to suddenly realize this, spun around to leave the room. Harry followed her and, in the hallway, called out, "Hermione wait—Hermione…?"
She stopped, her arms wrapped around herself again, and after pausing a moment where she seemed to steel herself, she spun around to face Harry. "What do you want?" she asked coolly.
I deserve that… He was somewhat shocked at her tone; he'd never heard her use it with him ever before. "I…" He didn't know where to begin.
"Stop looking so sorry," Hermione spat. "If you're going to Obliviate me then do it now so I can stop trying to test whether I can still remember how awful you were!"
Harry recoiled as if slapped and stammered. "I…I…I wouldn't…no…" She couldn't really think he'd…
Hermione scowled. "Really? You could have fooled me."
"No," Harry protested weakly, shaking his head as he took a step forward towards her. "I never meant to…I wouldn't…I just—I'm so sorry."
Hermione puffed up and Harry thought for a moment that he'd managed to inflame her anger even more, but instead, she seemed to deflate. She was starring down at the floor and had one arm wrapped around her chest and her other hand cradling the side of her head.
Harry took another step towards her. "I know I hurt you," he said in a pained voice. "I can't even forgive myself for that right now so I don't know how I can ask you to forgive me." She turned sideways then; facing the entrance to the drawing room and away from Harry. "I don't know where to begin…please…"
Hermione sniffed in and took a deep shuddering breath that made her shoulders rise and fall. He wasn't sure if that was good or bad. "I should not have lashed out at you," he said contritely as he took another step towards her. She turned a little more away from him. "Please tell me you don't hate me…"
She laughed and it sounded half like a sob. "I can't…believe me; I can't hate you, Harry." A small part of him was relieved to hear this. Hermione turned and looked over Harry's shoulder towards the stairs and said, "There're more important things to get on with now, Harry. We really should go see—"
"It's not as important as you," he said in a stronger voice than he'd intended.
Hermione's eyes met Harry's now for the first time since Kingsley arriving with Tonks had startled them from sleep. He saw the mingled hurt and hope in her eyes; it reflected his own.
"I wish I knew the words to say to you to make you feel better," he said in a whisper, searching for any sign she would forgive him. "To make everything all right."
"Harry, I just wish you'd tell me things…things that…you know—stop trying to hide things from me and just let me in…let me help. I've only ever wanted to help you." She paused and he thought she might breakdown for a moment, but instead her face hardened and she said, "I don't mean to be such a…a nightmare but—"
"You're not a nightmare, Hermione."
Hermione laughed shortly. "Well, whatever. I've obviously made you resent me," she said bitterly.
"I don't…Hermione… I don't resent you," Harry said. "Well…maybe, and this is the only thing I concede to resenting, I might sometimes resent how…how—" he searched for the word, "—how vulnerable you make me feel."
Hermione's mouth hung open and she was looking at Harry like she'd never seen him before. Harry took another step towards her; he was only about five feet away now. Vulnerable. It's how he felt now. If she wanted to, she could crush him with a few choice words. He'd do anything not to lose her. He needed her.
The sound of footsteps on the landing preceded Remus' voice, "There you both are. Kingsley had to leave. How's Tonks?" Harry let out a breath he didn't know he'd been holding.
"She'll be fine," Hermione said. "Madame Pomfrey already left. We don't have to wake Tonks until morning."
"That's good," Remus said, sounding relieved as he walked over and peered into the bedroom where Tonks lay.
Hermione moved over beside Remus and said, "Well, I think I should stay with Tonks for the night just in case she wakes up. I'll just take the other bed in there. Goodnight," she called out with only the briefest of glances to Harry before she went in and closed the door. Harry's shoulders slumped as the door shut and he suddenly felt very, very alone.
Remus clapped a hand on his shoulder and asked, "There's a pot of tea in the kitchen if you want to keep me company by the fire?" Harry nodded glumly and followed along. Anything other than going back to his empty room alone sounded good to Harry.
In the kitchen, Remus had dragged out one of the wingback chairs and set it in front of the fire with a plump ottoman in front of it where a tea tray was set upon it. Harry pulled the other chair from the corner and sunk into it. Remus poured two cups as he eyed Harry. "Sugar or cream?" Harry just shook his head and took the proffered mug.
At length, Harry just sat back in the chair and held the steaming mug between his hands as he stared off into space. He needed to make things right with Hermione. He shouldn't have waited and wasted the whole day after he blew up at her. He just didn't think there were words for what he needed her to know, to believe, to understand.
"Your father," Remus said, as if in answer to Harry's unvoiced question, "he always swore by flowers, chocolate and jewellery when he needed to make up with your mum."
My father…and isn't he part of the reason I lost it earlier? Isn't he partly to blame for so many things? Harry was too tired to even summon any of the resentment or rage like he'd felt before. Part of him had drawn a parallel between his parents' deaths and Sirius' death; they could both be traced back to a conscious decision of Snape's. His parents and he himself had been targeted when Snape, in an effort to save his own life, manipulated Voldemort with a filtered and abbreviated version of the prophecy. Sirius had died and been made into bait which Voldemort used to lure Harry. Harry, if he'd mastered Occlumency before this though, never would have been manipulated. And why had he not mastered Occlumency? Snape. Sure the animosity was mutual between Harry and Snape but it had always been Snape who'd started it. The very first day Harry'd ever seen Snape, at the Welcome Feast in his first year, he'd been glared at and his first Potions class was legendary. It was Snape, the adult of the two, who'd given up and cut off Occlumency lessons, refusing to allow Harry back in his office.
Why? Why had Snape singled Harry out and treated him so hatefully? Because Harry represented this reincarnation of James Potter, Snape's childhood tormentor. The Dursleys on the other hand, Harry'd never really known and he still didn't, why exactly they hated magic and everything about him. (Then again the Dursleys' lack of rational and sound logic knew no limits.) But Snape, Harry knew, Snape hated him most definitely because of his father. That much was fact. Sirius as Harry's godfather was just fuel added to an inferno.
Between his father, Sirius and Snape, only Snape was still alive. That was a cruel irony alone in and of itself to Harry. But what really made Harry burn with spite was the fact that he, Harry, was left here to suffer Snape's unjust and indiscriminate vengeance as payback for everything his father had ever done to Snape. Harry was the one left here to pay the price for all that his father had done. Remus and Sirius had said his father had stopped hexing Snape when his mother was around, as they'd gotten older. Would his father have cared enough to lay off Snape if he'd been told that someday, his orphaned and only son would suffer Snape's vengeance? Would his father have cared that he, Harry, would have to suffer for what his father had surely only seen as harmless pranks?
"Harry? Are you even listening to me?" Remus said, waving a hand in front of Harry's face.
"Oh, sorry. What was that?"
Remus sighed, leaned forward and set his mug down on the ottoman. "Do you want to talk about what's bothering you?"
Harry stared down into his mug of untouched tea. The scent of bergamot wafted up. Earl Grey, he thought. "I told her about what I saw in Snape's pensieve," he said as if that explained it all.
When Harry explained no more, Remus said, "I see."
Harry sipped his tea and, after holding the warm liquid in his mouth for a moment, swallowed and said, "Not everything and I never intended to, but I slipped up and said this one little thing and there she goes—chasing after this little question, this inconsistency, this one little…thing that eludes her realm of knowledge and she just has to know." If Remus thought Harry was confusing, he didn't say so. Harry looked up sharply at Remus and asked, "Have you noticed what a coincidence it is that Snape was involved in both Sirius' and my father's deaths?"
Remus turned and looked off into the fire; his hands clenched into fist and then unclenched.
"I'll take that as a yes," Harry said dryly. "I don't trust him."
Remus, looking like it hurt very much to say so, said, "But Albus does and despite everything Snape's done, he's done nearly all that's been asked of him."
Harry looked disgusted. He didn't want rational support for the git; he wanted someone to just agree with him. Too bad Ron wasn't here; he'd always support a tirade against Snape. "Well, whatever. I want to set him straight on some things." Remus quirked up an eyebrow. "If he's here where I'm living and most especially on Order business, then he isn't my git of a professor. He gets only the respect he deserves—and that's almost nil. He dishes out all sorts of vitriol and sarcasm but when his turn comes to take what he gives, he can't. I've had it with his little power trips and petty vengeance!" Harry snapped his mouth shut when he realized his voice had been growing steadily louder.
"I see you've given this some thought," Remus said.
"Well, I'm sick of it," Harry snapped. "Sick of him trying to make me pay for what they did. Why can't the git just go spit on their graves and be content with it?"
Remus, at a loss, said nothing. Harry, resentfully, gulped the rest of his tea and pulled a blanket from the back of the chair to wrap around himself as stared off moodily into the fire. After some time, Remus asked, "Can I ask what all this about Snape has to do with you and Hermione?"
Harry sighed. "It doesn't really, but it's why I went off on her today." Harry told Remus about his and Snape's little duel in the entry hall and then about everything Dumbledore had said. Harry didn't leave out anything. He told Remus about the Furious Curse, how it had paralyzed him, how Dumbledore had seemed to think a bit of Voldemort somehow was pulled along through Harry by the curse and how not only was Harry's mind linked to Voldemort, but his magic as well. He told Remus how Dumbledore had made Snape leave before Harry had come around from the curse and how Dumbledore had warned Snape that, as a result, Voldemort might have seen through Harry's eyes, Snape standing there watching. Harry also told Remus how, after Dumbledore had left, he'd tried to avoid Hermione's questions but instead ended up lashing out at her about all his pent up frustrations about Snape and his life in general. He told Remus everything.
Remus, who was an excellent listener, let Harry go on and on without comment and took it all in quietly. After Harry, looking defeated and remorseful, finished, Remus withheld comment for several minutes. Finally, he said, "Does Hermione know all you just told me?" Harry looked guiltily down at the flagstone hearth and shook his head. "She can't understand what she doesn't know, Harry," he said quietly.
"I know," Harry said softly. "She's angry with me and she has every right to be. I was…" He shook his head in recollection. "--it wasn't me--who I am or who I want to be...I can't even believe I acted so…so awful."
"Chocolate, flowers and jewellery, Harry, like I said," Remus offered wisely.
Harry looked up and asked, "Yeah? Well which one is right for how bad I messed up?"
Remus just laughed. "If you were an arse and you know it, then one just isn't enough."
The smell of sausages frying and coffee brewing roused Harry from an awkward slumber where his head had lolled against the wing of the chair, leaving a stiff crick in his neck. "Wassit?" he mumbled, smacking his mouth closed.
A low wheezing noise came from Remus in the other chair and who was still sleeping. Yawning and grimacing at the pain in his neck, Harry looked about to see Winky standing upon a stool and leaning over the oven. He checked his wristwatch and saw that it was almost eight o'clock in the morning. Stiffly, Harry pushed himself out of the chair.
"Good morning, Winky," he said as he poured himself a cup of coffee.
"Morning, Master Harry," she said quietly without looking up from the stovetop.
Harry rolled his eyes at her insistence at addressing him as 'Master'. He picked up a piece of dry toast from a plate and walked upstairs. Deciding as he walked, he didn't want to chance a run in with Hermione just yet, he Disapparated to his room where he then went about showering and changing for the day.
As he pulled on a dark grey jumper over a t-shirt, a tapping at the window drew Harry's attention to Hedwig who had been out for the night. He walked over to the window and let her in, along with a flurry of snowflakes and cold air. Overnight, a blanket of white snow had fallen over the street below. Hedwig had a vole of some sort clutched in her talons and gave Harry a triumphant look as she flew to her perch to devour her catch.
Seeing Hedwig also reminded Harry that if he planned to make up with Hermione and give her something other than his rambling and vaguely coherent apologies, he ought to place an owl-order for something now. The idea of buying something to apologize rather than just offering contrite words was greatly appealing to him as it promised to involve a lot less stammering and fumbling for words. He was on a mailing list for a quarterly Diagon Alley Merchants catalogue and dug out the winter edition from his trunk. He imagined it would be a rush order to get anything in the next day or so with Christmas only two days away. He only managed to flip through it a few minutes before the sight of a parchment scroll in the Order's cauldron caught his eye.
TO: HP, RL. HG, AM, SS, MM
FROM: AD
Council to meet at 10 A.M. in HQ.
Short and to the point it was; it also told him nothing. Harry was anxious now to know what information Moody might have gotten out of any of the captives. He wondered whom Moody might have got to interrogate. He wondered how soon they might be convicted and sent off to prison or even if they'd go to Azkaban.
Azkaban, the isle, although abandoned by Dementors, was still the location for the British Wizarding prison. Prisoners were locked into cells that would shock them if they tried to touch the windows or bars. The number of Magical Law Enforcement employees who'd been required to work on the Isle of Azkaban was one of the reasons for Fudge's recent efforts to bulk up the force and those serving in it.
Harry went back to perusing the owl-order catalogue and pondered over what he should do. He'd quickly found a Chocolatier that carried imported chocolates from Belgium, Switzerland and France. The pictures of their truffles were enough to make Harry's mouth water so much that he dropped the catalogue and headed out down for breakfast.
Harry was just passing by the landing on the second floor when Hermione's voice called out to him. "Harry," she said, making him stop immediately and turn around to face her more eagerly than was dignified.
"Hermione?" He took two steps towards her and ran a hand through his hair. She was just standing outside the room in which Tonks had been placed.
"Tonks is awake now and I told her Remus was going to Floo her mother to tell her she's all right." Hermione shut the door and walked over to Harry, fiddling her hands nervously, and asked, "I think she's worried about her mum being all alone if she has to stay here for a week. It's the holidays and everything and well, I was thinking, maybe Remus should ask her mum if she wants to come and stay here. She stayed here for a while when she got out of the hospital after Halloween. What do you think? Would you mind at all?"
"Oh, er, no, not at all," Harry said. He could easily just settle back into their old routine if it would be allowed. "I'm just going down for breakfast now and I can tell Remus. Are you coming down?" he asked hopefully. He could see by her change of clothes from yesterday that and the smell of her shampoo that she'd already showered and changed for the day.
Her arms crossed and she looked away. "No, no, Dobby already brought us up a tray for breakfast and I wouldn't want to leave Tonks all alone."
The half-hour chime from the grandfather clock in the drawing room sounded and Harry said, "Well, we've got a meeting at ten…I'm not sure if you knew?"
"Oh, no. At ten? I'll be down." Hermione looked decidedly uncomfortable and Harry didn't think he could wait for chocolates or some make-up gift to stop this awkwardness between them.
"Hermione…" She looked up at him briefly then her gaze quickly skittered away. "Can we…can we talk? Later, I mean. I…you deserve to yell at me and scream and…I…I don't want to go on like this." She looked back at him sharply then and he quickly added, "I mean mad at each other. You mad at me. I just…can we talk…please?"
She sighed heavily and met his eyes as she gave a small smile and nodded. "Yes, we can talk, Harry." She rolled her eyes then, sighing and clenching her jaw, and said, "I don't know how to be mad at you, Harry. I know I should be and it's taking every ounce of effort to do it, but it's so hard." He couldn't help a grin as she turned then and walked back to the door to Tonks' room. "I'll be down there at ten," she called out.
Hermione came down to the basement the same time as Moody at exactly ten o'clock. Dumbledore had arrived just minutes before and announced that he was not expecting McGonagall or Snape this morning as neither had returned from their separate errands.
"Alastor, Hermione," Dumbledore greeted them each with a nod.
"Good morning, Professor," Hermione said as she slid into the seat across from Harry and Remus.
"Morning," Moody grunted as he threw himself into a chair.
"Well?" Harry asked Moody, impatiently. "What'd you find out?"
Moody raised a gnarled eyebrow at Harry, but when he saw both Remus and Hermione looking just as eager for an answer he, sighed and pulled out a parchment roll from the pocket of his heavy cloak. "How's Tonks?" he asked as he unrolled the parchment.
"She's good," Hermione said, trying to look over at the parchment as she spoke. "Miffed about being laid up over the hols but she'll recover. She's prepared to summon you to her and hex you herself if you didn't get anything good out of who she sent you for all the trouble she got from it. Just to warn you."
Moody nodded and glared at the apparently blank parchment in front of him. He pulled out his wand, pointed it at the parchment and muttered under his breath to reveal a long listing of scribbled notes.
"Well," he said, both eyes whizzing across the parchment. "Snape was right when he said I'd have to hurry with the interrogations. I got less than five minutes apiece before they dropped dead."
"What?"
"Why?"
"Alastor?"
Moody waved it away. "Ah, it was about what I expected. I guessed when Snape had to give us his own Veritaserum. My guess is that Voldemort laces his servants' food or drink--never trust anyone!--before they leave with a poison that only becomes toxic when they're given Veritaserum. Keeps anyone who's caught from singing. Anyway, it's much better this way. There's no captured Death Eaters to have to imprison, no trials, no official record anyone was even caught so now there's no record of who the Aurors were on detail at the scene to capture them. Better—see?" Moody shifted in his seat and as an afterthought, added, "Although I did have a few bodies to transfigure and cart off. But, all in a day's work."
Dumbledore looked thoughtful and Remus just asked, "Well, so what did you actually find out? Who were they and what about the third one who was sent to you?"
"A fair bit, Norman Goyle and Moriarity Sprague, the D.O.A. was some guy Sprague I.D.'d as 'Hilden'—a Norwegian."
"Is that Goyle senior or some other relative?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore answered, "Norman was Gregory's father, yes. Alastor, what else can you tell us?"
Moody tapped his wand to the parchment in front of him and created duplicates. "Here," he said, handing them out to each. "This is the transcript of both interrogations."
Testing. This is Alastor Moody. Yes, it's working. Ennervate. Name?
Norman Goyle.
How long have you been a Death Eater?
Since I was nineteen.
Name some other Death Eaters.
Lestrange, Travers, Malf—
First and last names!
Lucius Malfoy, Bellatrix Lestrange, Rabastan Les—
Name Death Eaters who aren't locked away and who aren't known!
Wormtail?
Don't you know anyone who's taken the Mark over the past year?
My son…
What is your son doing as a Death Eater?
Serving the Dark Lord.
How?
He is helping Wormtail locate the servants that are being hidden from the Dark Lord.
How?
I don't know. They sometimes use me to test their work.
How?
I don't know.
Where's your master now?
At Headquarters.
Where's that?
… I don't know …
What's the name of the village you go to when you go to Headquarters?
…I don't know…
Any idea what part of the country at all where it might be? Is it in England? Scotland?
The Broads, in England.
Little Hangleton?
…I don't know…
Is it near the cemetery where your master was resurrected and where he first called his servants to him after thirteen years of silence?
Yes.
Little Hangleton. Are you and the other Death Eaters on the run staying at your headquarters with your master?
Yes, he's not always there.
What does your master want?
To rid our world of filthy mudbloods and muggle-lovers.
Idiot. What is he planning right now? Potter—does he have any plans for Potter?
To kill, he will kill Potter.
He wants Potter killed?
Not yet.
Why?
He wants to kill him.
When?
As soon as he can.
Is he waiting for anything to do this? Is he going after Potter?
He wants the prophecy first.
How is he going to get the prophecy?
……..
……..
How? Hello? What the hell…Enervate! Name?
Moriarity Sprague.
Who's the dead guy on the floor over there? With his throat slit?
Some Norwegian--Hilden.
Why did Goyle drop dead? Was he poisoned against Veritaserum?
I don't know.
Your master's probably poisoned you, too. Did you know?
No. He's grateful to us.
Hah! Grateful… How many times have you even seen your master? What do you do for your master?
Four times. I do whatever he asks.
And what does he ask?
He asks me to find people and where they live and who their family is. He's asked me to find blood-traitors and mudbloods.
How long have you been a Death Eater?
A year now.
Who recruited you and why'd you join up?
My father wanted me to join. We're helping our world cleanse itself.
Who's your father? Is he a Death Eater?
Yes. Harlan Sprague.
What do you and your father do for a living?
We run a magical creature distributing service. He owns the company and I run a lorry to deliver the critters.
Is any of that work for your master?
No, but he's had us lend the lorry out to some others. Won't tell us why or who.
Tell me what you'd least like the Ministry to find out?
Some of the critters aren't cleared from quarantine; sometimes I don't record all the deliv—
What about the fact you have the Dark Mark on your arm?
We're told not to worry about that. They know we're only helping.
Who? The Ministry?
Yeah.
How?
I don't know. We're told the Ministry won't trouble us about it. Just to get on our way and do our assignments.
What was your assignment tonight?
Take out two mudbloods who are breeding. Kill the family and use the Killing Curse on them and then send up the Mark. I was to learn to use the Curse tonight. Never used it. Only ever played with muggles and never had to use it before.
What do you know of your master's plans about Potter?
He plans to kill him.
Brilliant. That's all you know? What does your master say about Potter or Dumbledore?
They've got an Order. He's sending a message to the Order.
When?
Tonight.
How? Who said?
I don't know, that assignment went to someone else. I overheard them talking about it.
Who?
I don't know.
Who were the other Death Eaters who were with you tonight besides that Hilden and Goyle? What does Hilden do?
Dunno. I just met him and his mate—he called him Hans--tonight. Some Asian fellow was with us and Travers, too. We got dropped off by some guy they call Beater but I knew the way. I found the address for him.
Many other foreigners who're Death Eaters?
Yeah…I can tell from their accents.
What do you know about the prophecy?
Supposedly there's some thing that says the Potter boy can kill our master. It's not true.
Then why'd your master spend a year trying to get at it and why is he still going after it?
My pop says it probably tells how Potter will die or how powerful the Dark Lord will become.
Who're the most powerful Death Eaters?
There's some guy they call the Hornet who runs a lot of what goes on. There's a witch who you don't cross. There's…
Hello? Wake up! Bloody hell… Finite Incantatum!
Harry looked up and saw Hermione still reading, her mouth soundlessly reading the words. Dumbledore was thoughtfully holding the parchment up and reading through his half-moon glasses as he idly stroked his beard. Remus looked at Harry. "Like trying to squeeze water from a rock, eh?"
"Argh!" growled Moody. "Don't get me started. I knew with the second bloke that I'd only have a few minutes. But he knew less than Goyle and that's saying a lot!"
"What's this message to the Order?" Harry asked.
Dumbledore looked up and nodded. "I'm wondering about that, too."
"Wonder no longer," Moody said. "I dropped by Amelia's on my way here this morning and she told me they got the Joneses."
"Hestia?" Remus asked.
Moody nodded. "Her whole family. And there was a note left on top of her body."
Harry's eyes met Hermione's. Neither wanted to ask.
"And?" Remus pushed.
"Said, 'One by one.' I imagine he means us, the members of the Order that he knows about."
"The members who Peter knew about," Remus said angrily. "He wants to start picking us off like last time!"
"Calm down, Remus," Dumbledore said. "That may very well be true. I'll send out a warning to all the old members who might be targets now. I believe we can assume, thanks to the loyalty jinxes arranged by Alastor and Hermione, that our most recent members to join the Order are safe with their identities unknown, yes?"
He looked to Hermione and she said, "I can go check the parchment, should I?"
"Yes, go now," Dumbledore said as Hermione hurried up and out of the kitchen.
"What was in the paper this morning?" Harry asked. "Anything?"
"Not a word on the Dementors, Harry, if that's why you ask," Dumbledore said. However, the muggle press is an entirely different thing."
"Last I heard it was some exotic fungus," Remus said. "What is it now?"
Dumbledore nodded. "Yes, yes, this is the excuse they seem to be embracing. The press has also noted that these cases have occurred in many economically disadvantaged communities and so they've begun to blame wholesale importers of fruits or some such nonsense. I'm not sure how much of this story is conjecture and fabrication by muggles or whether it is something our own Muggle-Worthy Excuse Committee has put forth. Alastor, what did Amelia have to say this morning?"
Moody snorted and said, "Well, she's handling everything, which has made things a right bit easy. Fudge is off on holiday in some tropical locale and no one's been able to reach him yet. Fool--it'd be best if he never came back for all of us. Amelia never made record of the information we got yesterday and only those who were there know what happened. I spoke to the other three on the team with Tonks and told them their lives might depend on them not bragging about helping to snag some Death Eaters." Moody then pulled out a flask from the inside of cloak and flipped back to cap to take a deep drink.
"Do we know who was all attacked yet last night?" Remus asked.
"How many attacks were there?" Harry asked.
"Numbers were still coming in but it seems they all had at least one Dark Mark left hanging over every single one they killed. So far, Killing Curses--all of them. At least two dozen separate households set off alarms last night, Amelia said."
The door swung open and Hermione rushed back inside. "No one. The parchment's blank, Professor. It has to be Wormtail." Hermione was referring to the parchment she had tied into the loyalty jinxes she'd placed on the doors through which members would walk through to get to a meeting. If one of them would have betrayed the Order knowingly, then not only would they bear a striking resemblance to Marietta Edgecombe at the end of last year, but on Hermione's parchment, the name of the traitor would appear.
"Very good," Dumbledore said as Hermione sat down again. "I did not believe it would be the case, but, it is true we can never be too sure." Moody grumbled incoherently after this.
"So," Remus said. "Where is Severus? Should he not have returned by now?"
Dumbledore's gaze briefly flickered to Harry and then he said, "He has not. I am sure…Severus has been called away for days at a time on occasion. There are no students in his House that are spending their holiday at Hogwarts, so it is possible that Voldemort might see no reason to allow him to return quickly. It is also possible that he is purposefully being kept from being able to give us any information."
"Amelia's keeping her teams on high alert the rest of this week," Moody said.
"Very good then. I assume you gave her a copy of this transcript?"
"Aye."
Dumbledore looked over the scroll once more and rolled it up. "I'll need to think on this but it is worthwhile information."
Harry looked back down at his copy and perused it from top to bottom. As he read, one thing caught his eye: What is your son doing as a Death Eater? … He is helping Wormtail locate the servants that are being hidden from the Dark Lord.
"Okay," Harry said, frowning. "I've got a question. How can Wormtail and Goyle be working together to find the rest of the Death Eaters? Goyle's as dumb as he is mean and it's never sounded like Pettigrew was some bright spark. What can they be doing?"
"Oh, Peter was smart, Harry," Remus said darkly. "Not particularly powerful or clever but when it came to things like Runes, Arithmancy, lying to get out of trouble and being a rat--he was a sure thing."
"And Goyle?" Hermione inquired.
Dumbledore was the one who answered, "Ignorance can make for a very compliant test subject, I fear." As Dumbledore tucked away the notes from Moody's interrogations, he asked, "Have you each read Harry's report on his visit to Gringotts?"
"Aye," Moody said. "I recommend we Confound Fudge and make him believe he's a goat and let Aberforth at him. That'd get him off the Goblins."
Harry couldn't help but snort at that and he was even more pleased to see Hermione hide a smile at this.
"We'll file that as plan B, Alastor. But I wonder if we might find out more of his motives by finding out who is pressuring him. I've had a feeling for a long time that Cornelius would regret trusting Lucius Malfoy with the Ministry's treasury and he is acting very much like a desperate man. I think, with my position on the Wizengamot, that I might be able to barter some immunity for truth, perhaps if it's his own skin that Cornelius is trying to save, the it just might be the bargain."
"This investigation Planesse is conducting--shouldn't there have been some report yet from him?" Hermione asked. "It's all very fishy to me."
Dumbledore nodded. "The first of his reports is due at the start of the new year. It is indeed most anticipated at this point."
"I hate to break this up," Moody said as he pushed his chair back from the table. "But I've been up all night."
"Of course, Alastor, of course. I should be off, too." Dumbledore turned to Hermione and said, "I suspect you will see Professor McGonagall stop by here on her way back to Hogwarts sometime today. I believe she might have something of interest to you." Dumbledore then rose to leave and before he left, he turned back and said, "And I think it should go without saying that as members of the Order, we all need to be especially vigilant."
"Yes, sir," Harry and Hermione chorused.
"You too, Remus," Dumbledore said with a twinkle. "I'll be in touch when there is more information. Happy Christmas if I do not see you before then."
"Harry Christmas, Professor," Harry said with as much cheer as he could muster as he too stood up.
Remus sighed heavily after Dumbledore left and Hermione asked him, "Are you all right, Remus?"
"Oh, yes," he said pushing his chair back. "I suppose I should go fetch Andromeda now," he said as he stood up and stretched.
"You'll be all right?" Harry asked as he poked around at the stove for some leftover bacon from breakfast.
"Oh yes," Remus said wryly. "I'll have to restrain myself from transfiguring odd things into rats and then stomping on them, but I'll be fine."
As Remus left, Harry saw Hermione stop and pause by the door. "I left Tonks reading the morning papers," she said as she eyed him cautiously.
"Do you, er, want to talk now?" he asked, walking over to her.
"Yes," she said with a deep breath. "But, let's go upstairs. I need to use the loo."
Harry waited in the dining room, feeling unaccountably nervous all of a sudden because he knew he'd have to string together all sorts of words to make some sort of sense very soon. But she doesn't want to be mad at me…and I don't want to be mad at her. His logic still did little to stop his stomach from flipping over when he heard Hermione emerge from the hall loo.
"Hey," he said as he stepped out to the arched doorway.
She stopped and eyed him for a moment before walking towards him steadily, stopping just a few feet away. "Hey." He couldn't tear his eyes away from her.
"So…I had all the--"
"Stop, just stop," she said, holding up her hands and taking a small step forward. "Obviously you've wanted to apologize. I know." Harry nodded, not sure what she was going to say. "But I'd forgive you even if you didn't. In all the years I've known you, Harry, I've never really been angry with you for any length of time. Frustrated? Yes. Exasperated? Yes. Concerned? More times than I can count…but, Harry, even when you and Ron weren't talking to me after I had McGonagall take your Firebolt, I was hurt and alone but I couldn't be mad at you for very long."
"I'm sorry," Harry said regretfully. "You should be mad at me."
Hermione gave him a raised-eye look. "According to you I should be mad at you and I shouldn't love you?"
"Hermione," Harry groaned as he fought to keep the walls of his chest from pounding.
"Don't 'Hermione' me!" she said crossly. "If I want to tell you I love you than you're going to have to let me, Harry! I don't care if you never manage to say those words to me but I…I know and--" Her eyes welled with tears and her lower lip was trembling. "I know that your… your eyes…they don't lie," she said, choking. She sobbed once and turned to the side, wiping at her tears with the back of her hand.
Harry didn't know what to say but he couldn't take his eyes off her or stop himself from reaching out for her one hand that hung by her side. His fingers grasped at hers, her eyes still shinning with tears as she grasped back. Her words pierced right through his heart as she said, "Harry, I don't ever want to regret not telling you that. I love you."
Words could not define what Harry felt. He kept blinking and couldn't quite grasp the reality in front of him. "You…you're not angry with me?"
Hermione laughed as she still wiped away at her tears with her free hand. "Of course I'm still a bit angry and there's plenty I still want to say to you, but…you have to know that no matter what you think you have to hide about yourself--no matter what--I'll always be there for you…as long as you want me to be the one."
His hand clutched reflexively at hers and he tugged her to him. Burying his face in her hair as their fingers entwined. The moment was almost perfect if not for the sudden sound of the front door opening behind them.
"Professor McGonagall!" Hermione said, jerking back from Harry as soon as she saw her stern Head of House. "Hello—oh—OH! Oh my god! Mum! Dad! How--?" Hermione lunged past Harry and at her parents, engulfing them both in a tremendous hug. "How did you--? But I thought--?" She kept trying to ask how they'd gotten here but they just laughed, her mum in tears along with Hermione.
Harry felt a vague stab of jealousy as he watched Hermione reunite with her parents and then immediately felt guilty for feeling it at all. "Happy holidays, Potter," McGonagall said as she nodded and walked over to him. She was wearing a long tweed coat and dug into a pocket, searching for something. "Here," she said, handing Harry a palm sized set of luggage. "Think you can handle the Grangers' things?"
"This was your errand, Professor?" he asked her, looking down at the small set of shrunken luggage.
She smiled at Harry. "Yes, I thought it would be a nice surprise for the holidays to bring them back. How is your holiday so far, Potter, well I trust?"
Harry grimaced and smiled wryly. "You haven't picked up any of your cauldron post, have you?"
Her face, usually very controlled and rarely expressive to the point of telling her mood, fell quickly and she demanded, "What's happened? What have I missed?"
Hermione and her parents were well occupied with each other and Harry gestured for McGonagall to follow him down into the kitchen. He spent well over an hour giving her all the updates of the past several days. He summoned copies of all reports that she'd yet to pick up and let her read them quickly as he glossed over the important facts. By the time he was done, her lips were pursed in a thin line and she looked very tired as she murmured, "Happy holidays, indeed."
She stood and announced, "I should get back then. I am quite sure Professor Dumbledore will find it easier to attend to business if I am there at school. I thank you, Harry, for catching me up." As was everyone's habit of late, she sighed heavily before saying, "I do wish you a happy Christmas and I will see you on Saturday for the Celebration. Do take care."
As Harry walked up to see McGonagall out the door, Remus was just arriving with Andromeda Tonks in tow.
Remus smiled as Harry held open the door. He was leading a tall and slim dark-haired woman who, although obviously older, had the same youthful and sprightly face that was most often known as Tonks. "Harry, you've never met Andy—Andromeda Tonks. Andy—this is Harry."
"Hello Mrs. Tonks. May I take your cloak?" Harry asked as she stepped in, stopped and looked at him.
Immediately, Harry was reminded of the odd sort of detached observance he often associated with Luna Lovegood. "Yes, yes I am," she said.
Harry wasn't sure what she meant and he hesitated to take her cloak but then she did turn around and began to shrug it off. As Harry slipped the cloak off her shoulders and hung it up on the hall tree, he looked to Remus questioningly. Remus just gave an almost imperceptible nod.
She turned back around then and held out her hand to Harry as she said, "I'm Andy. You can call me Andy." She only weakly grasped Harry's hand and, for a moment, he thought she expected him to kiss it or something.
"Er, McGonagall brought the Grangers over for the holidays, Remus. Did you know they were coming?" Harry asked, not sure how to make conversation with Tonks' mum.
"No, but I'm sure Hermione's pleased. Andy? Let's show you to your room. We'll put you right next to your daughter since the Grangers, I'd imagine, will be taking the larger room."
Harry followed them upstairs and let Remus show her to a room. He saw Hermione in the drawing room, explaining to her parents how they made the self-contained snowstorm spell that kept a continual flurry of snow falling over the glittering Christmas tree.
"Hey you," he heard Tonks call out.
Harry smiled and turned into Tonks' room. She was back to her normal appearance and was propped up now against the headboard and had a mound of pillows behind her. She had a copy of the Daily Prophet open on her lap.
"Your mum just arrived. Remus is getting her settled in," Harry told her.
Tonks smiled. "Good. I hope you don't mind she's here?" Harry shook his head and sat down on the bed beside hers. "Do I have to hex you now or will you tell me what Moody had to say in your meeting?"
Harry laughed and reached into his back pocket. "Here's a transcript—read it when you get time. How're you feeling?"
"Lousy," she said as she grabbed the parchment. "Well, not really, actually, my legs—not that I have any—they feel sore but they don't hurt at all. When I got hit, it hurt like you wouldn't believe! I was never so happy to be Stunned in my life! Who's Hermione leading around? She just walked right past before and didn't even stop to have them say hi." Tonks' spirits were never dampened for long.
Harry laughed again. "Her parents."
"Oh, ouch."
"What?"
"Well," Tonks lowered her voice now: "They're kind of cutting into your holiday quality time with the girlfriend, aren't they? I mean, I'm sure she misses them but you know, I'm just thinking of you, Harry." She grinned and winked at him, "All about you."
Harry shrugged. "Not much to cut into since she's been sore at me." Harry stood up then and, before Tonks could ask, he said, "Do you want me to get your mum? I'm sure she wants to see you."
Tonks narrowed her eyes and glared at Harry. "What'd you do?"
"Why do you assume it was me?"
"You are the guy, aren't you?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I was a prat."
"You apologize?"
"Yes." She looked skeptical. "I did!" He sighed. "And I'll do it again and whatever else I need to do. I think she might have already forgiven me but I'm not sure. Look, I'm knackered."
"It's barely noon!"
"Someone decided to drop by at three in the morning and wake up the whole house!" he countered with a teasing smile.
"Are you giving the invalid a hard time?" Tonks asked with a mock scowl, crossing her arms and knocking several pages of the paper off the bed.
"I believe he is," Remus said from the doorway. "But hey, we're always amenable to helpless women who are brought to our doorstep in the middle of the night." Harry yawned then and Remus looked at him. "Either you need a nap or you think beautiful blonds turning up in the middle of the night is old news."
They laughed and Harry said, "Not really. But I could do with a nap. You too, I'm sure. I didn't get much sleep last night." Harry had to promise Tonks he'd visit with her more later and that he wouldn't let her sit it in the room and rot away be she let him slip away.
But no sooner did he turn down the hallway and walk towards the stairs, did Hermione, turn up in front of him. "Harry, there you are--did Professor McGonagall, by any chance tell you where she put my parents luggage?"
"Oh, er yeah. I've got it here," Harry said as he pulled it from the pocket of his jeans. "Here," he said as he gave her the handful of luggage. "You're setting them up in the room at the end of the hall where Mr and Mrs Weasley stayed, right?"
"Oh yes, Dobby is already flying all around the room and making my dad nearly laugh his head off. They started off asking for the loo and then, every turn we took, there was something they'd never seen before. I kind of got caught up showing them around. Is Professor McGonagall gone, already?"
"Yeah, I caught her up on everything that's been going on. Remus arrived with Tonks' mum just now. It's er, a bit of a full house all of a sudden."
"Yes," Hermione smiled brightly. "It rather reminds me of being here last year when the house was full. Do you remember?"
How could Harry forget? He'd never seen Sirius so happy and carefree as he'd strung up garland over the elf-heads and sang 'God Rest Ye Merry Hippogriffs'. It was the last time, besides the night of his death that Harry had been around Sirius.
"Harry?" Hermione said, laying a hand on his arm. "Is it all right that my parents are here?"
"What? Of, course!" he said hurriedly. "No, no, I was just thinking." He shook his head to clear his thoughts. "I'm fine," he said firmly.
Hermione cupped his cheek in her hand and turned his face to look squarely at hers. "You're fine?"
"Fine," he said as he smiled at her and placed a hand at her waist. Abruptly, Harry asked, "Are we? Fine that is, are we fine?" Hermione arched her eyebrows and he quickly added, "I mean, you get to still tell me off if you like and I can still get you chocolates and flowers and jewellery and whatever else you need to know how sorry I am but…we are fine--aren't we?"
In answer, she pulled his face down gently to hers and pressed her lips to his softly before resting her forehead against his. "Always."
There was a loud clearing of a throat from behind them and they then heard a disapproving male voice say, "If you're done holding my daughter, then?"
* * * * * * * *
Also Note: I must give credit to Sushi--the Bone Shatterer Curse (she called it the Boneshatterer Hex) was originally her idea and I stole it simply because I liked it! (Just like I've stolen Harry and Hermione and Remus and Tonks….)
And Finally: There is a Yahoo group for this fic. There is a link on my bio page or you can find it with the group name HP_AoF.