CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Deception
"No, no, no – absolutely not," said a firm Bill Weasley, from where he sat in the kitchen of Number Twelve Grimmauld Place. "I'm not going to be a part of this."
"Why the bloody hell not?" Ron snapped.
"Because even if you don't have any moral qualms about lying to Hermione – I do. I can't believe you would deceive her like that, and I especially can't believe you're going along with it," said Bill, glancing pointedly at Harry.
"Spare me the 'I'm-the-oldest-therefore-I'm the wisest routine. It's an old act, Bill. I bet the only one who still falls for it is mum."
"You would be wise to listen to me, little brother," said an irritated Bill. "Because if Hermione even knew we were having this conversation she would kill you."
"Look, all I want to know is if you could get a job for her at Gringotts or something – "
"So she won't join the Auror program?" He finished, arching an eyebrow at Ron. "You really are a dickhead, you know that? You feed me some cock and bull story about wanting Hermione to have all the opportunities available to her when this is really about you trying to protect her from what's out there," he said, gesturing emphatically to the window. "In case you haven't noticed, she's up to her neck in all of this just as much as the two of you. She's already lost too much and you want to take away her right to fight with the rest of us because you think it will keep her safe. Wake up, Ron, being an Auror may be a dangerous job but the way things are going none of us may be safe for much longer. At least if she gets into the program she'll have a way of defending herself and those around her."
"Dammit, Bill are you going to help me or not?" Ron growled at him.
"Even if I wanted to I still wouldn't help you. Sure, I could probably get her a job at the bank no problem. Hell, she'd probably be running the bloody place before she's twenty-five, but that's not what Hermione wants. And the sooner you accept what she does want, the easier it will be on you. Because if you do anything to stop her from joining the Auror program and she finds out about, she'll hate you forever – both of you," he added, turning his glare on Harry because he knew him to have more sense than Ron most of the time, and he was probably the only one who could talk Ron out of this. Then he pushed back from the table and left.
A long silence stretched between them before Harry finally said, "Bill's right. We can't do this to her."
Ron had come to Grimmauld Place with Harry, knowing that Bill would be there and hoping that his oldest brother would understand and want to help them. But no, Bill had been a bloody wanker about the whole thing and now they would go back to Lupin's not any better off than before. "Harry, we're not deceiving her, we're just not being entirely honest. Let's face it, Hermione would be much happier with a desk job then being out in the rain chasing down Death Eaters every hour of the day and night. All the reading and researching she does now, she would be in her element at the Ministry. She deserves to be happy, Harry, and if we were still at Hogwarts she would be working towards a career in the Ministry. She deserves better than all of this and she's too smart for us to let her do this."
Harry was still uneasy about the whole thing. As much as he wanted to make sure Hermione had the career she deserved, he didn't feel right making the choice for her – and behind her back no less. Ron didn't feel any better about it, but there was nothing Harry or anyone else could say to make him change his mind. Bill may have refused to help, but there was still one other person Ron could go to.
There were few things more relaxing to Harry then being on a broom a hundred feet or more in the air. It had been weeks since he had last been on one, and that's why he had eagerly agreed when Ron suggested they play a game of pickup in the backyard. They had asked Ginny to join them and two hours later they were still in the air. Harry knew it was getting to the point where he and Ron should get back to studying, but they had done nothing but study for the Auror exam for almost two weeks, and as much as Harry wanted to do well he needed a break before his head exploded. He still had the entire weekend to memorize everything from disarming charms to counter jinxes before he sat the exam Monday morning at nine o'clock. Once he was done with the theory part, he would be forced to endure extensive physical testing. He didn't think he had even studied this hard for his O.W.L.s, when those had been equally as important. But with the Auror testing there were no second chances. If he screwed up and failed he would not get another shot at it.
Lupin had explained to him a dozen times that the test was designed for someone who had a completed magical education and that the information covered on it would be thorough. Lupin had provided him, Ron and Hermione with stack after stack of books that he thought would prove useful to them. He had also been working closely with them on the spells and curses that normally wouldn't show up before seventh year. He even had them brewing antidotes to poisons and other magical ailments that had been known to appear on the exam.
Hermione was still harboring some resentment towards him and Ron about the whole Auror thing. She would give them help when they asked for it, but outside of their Auror studies she hadn't said much to either one of them. Maybe he and Ron had blown the whole Auror thing a bit out of proportion, but he did agree with Ron that Hermione deserved something resembling a normal life – something she would never get as an Auror. More than anything she was probably waiting for Ron to apologize, but it seemed more likely the Chudley Cannons would win the Quidditch World Cup before that happened.
Someone cheering and whooping with delight brought him out of his reverie. Since Ron was the first to touch down on the grass, he had a feeling the victory had been Ginny's.
"Ron, I know you haven't been on a broom in a while, but that last attempted save was kind of pathetic," Ginny said, coming to land beside her brother.
"I bet I can count on both hands the number of shots you missed in the last five minutes," He retorted.
She punched him in the arm. "Those were warm-up shots," she clarified.
"Right," he said sarcastically. "Well, that explains everything. All those matches you've played you've been taking warm up shots the entire time."
Harry dismounted from his broom and joined them, but didn't say a word not wanting to get involved in their sibling bickering.
"Hey!" She cried in mock outrage. "At least I don't use every time I touch the quaffle as an excuse to show off."
"It's called skill, Gin. One day you might even figure out what is. Take Harry for example. He's turned falling off his broom into an art form. He really does it for the attention, but don't tell anyone," he said, flashing a grin at his friend.
"It's true," Harry admitted. "I suppose the whole attention-getting thing comes from being an only child. Maybe I should tell that to the Prophet. That will make for one story they haven't wrote about me yet."
They had a good laugh about that, until they stepped into the sunroom, finding Hermione sitting there with several books open on the table in front of her.
Ginny elbowed her brother hard in the side and sent him a meaningful look that he didn't get until she was dragging Harry into the house and it was just the two of them in the sunroom.
He cleared his throat before speaking. "I was wondering if maybe later you would go through that spell book Lupin gave us this morning. It's, ah, quite advanced."
She shrugged while marking a page in her book. "I don't know if I'll have time."
He moved so he was standing in front of her. "How long are you going to keep this up?"
"Keep what up?" She said innocently.
He sighed and walked away from her. He was not going to fight with her about this all over again.
"Hermione, this was on the table for you," said Ginny, stepping back outside. She handed Hermione a thin white envelope.
"The post already came today," said Hermione, taking it from her.
"It must be important then," Ginny said and walked back inside.
Ron noticed how she wasn't opening it right away. She was staring at the return address on it. "Who's it from?"
"The Ministry of Magic," she said in an anxious voice. This was not a good sign. What if the panel had reviewed her and Harry's case and had changed their mind? She wondered if Harry had received a letter as well but hadn't said anything because he was hoping she wouldn't get one.
With shaky fingers she opened it and unfolded the letter inside and began to read. She hadn't even finished reading the first line when her mouth formed a giant 'o' of surprise.
"Hermione?" Ron asked curiously as she continue to sit there and read, her mouth growing wider by the second. "What is it?"
She reread the letter twice over to be absolutely certain she had not misread anything. When she was finally convinced that she was not losing her mind, she said to Ron in an awed voice, "The ministry is offering me a job. They're making the Committee on Experimental Charms into an entire department and they want to interview me for a position."
Ron's eyes widened. "Really? That's fantastic, Hermione!"
She still wasn't sure she believed what was in her hands. She had wanted to work at the ministry forever, and with Fudge about to be replaced there was a good chance at it being a lot less corrupt now. "But I don't understand why they would want me. I don't have any qualifications – I haven't even graduated from Hogwarts. It doesn't make any sense," she said, scrutinizing the letter more closely. She really wished she didn't have to rationalize every little thing. Why couldn't she just enjoy this moment?
"They obviously want you so why does any of that matter?"
She wanted to sit and think about the offer, but already knew in her heart if they had asked her for an interview that second she would have done it. As she reread the letter yet again, she couldn't exactly say she didn't have any of the qualifications they were looking for. They wanted someone with knowledge of advanced arithmancy and an understanding for the mechanics of spell work. Probably the most significant part was that since the department was just being formed she would have the opportunity to have a say in the way things developed. She would be out of her mind to pass this up.
"So what are you going to do?" Ron asked her.
"I – I don't know," she replied. "I mean this is probably everything I've ever wanted right here in this letter, but then there's the Auror training." There was no humanly way she would be able to do both. She found herself faced with yet another impossible choice, choosing between something she always wanted and staying with Ron and Harry.
"You should do whatever makes you happy," said Ron.
If she hadn't been so overwhelmed and excited by the offer the ministry had given her, she would have been suspicious of why Ron was all of the sudden supporting her if she chose to become an Auror.
That evening Harry was to have his first Occlumency lesson with Snape. He had been so burnt out from Quidditch and studying he had forgotten about it completely until Lupin had reminded him at dinner. He was glad he had forgotten about it otherwise he would have spent the day dreading what was to come. There weren't many people he hated more than Snape. The Potions Master never seemed to throw away the chance to comment on his stupidity or arrogance. Harry knew for a fact that Snape was going go out of his way to make this lesson as miserable as possible.
Armed with that knowledge, once the clock showed five to eight, Harry left his room and made for the small study on the main floor. Snape was already there waiting for him.
"You're late, Potter," Snape snapped.
"Professor Lupin said eight o'clock," Harry said to him.
"I'm not senile, Potter. I know exactly what time I told Lupin I wanted you here. If you can't even get that simple task right perhaps I'm wasting my time."
It was impossibly hard for Harry to keep his mouth shut. He didn't want to be there either, and maybe if he let Snape goad him into an argument, he would call off the lessons altogether. But Harry restrained himself.
"I've been told you have an Auror exam on Monday. But if you can't master mind blocking techniques like Occlumency, you will be as pathetic an Auror as you were a potions student," he said, his lip curling upwards in a sneer.
Harry was clenching his wand so tightly he was sure it would break. "Can we just get this over with?"
Snape continued to leer at him a while longer before eventually pulling out his wand. "I trust we don't have to go back to the basics, unless Lupin is as incompetent a teacher as I think he is."
Don't take the bait! A voice inside his head screamed. He pulled out his own wand to show he was ready.
"Now that you're new abilities have surfaced," Snape continued, "you should not only be trying to close your mind to me, but when my curse does manage to get a hold of you, you should throw it off without projecting any of your thoughts into my mind. If you don't learn to control your emotions your enemy will not be the only one who suffers. Legilimens!"
Harry was on all fours, clutching his scar before he knew what was happening. His mother's screams rang in his head, which quickly turned into Hermione's voice as she screamed at Harry they had to do the spell now or Ron would die. Then it was Sirius, being out dueled by Lestrange and failing through the veiled portrait… Then it all stopped and he knew Snape must have lifted the curse because he was sure he hadn't fought it off.
He lay there, facing burning with humiliation because he should have known Snape was going to try and catch him off guard like that.
"I see we may have to go back to the beginning," said an irritated Snape. "Despite how incompetent you are I would have thought you at least would have mastered the basics of Occlumency. I suppose I was giving you too much credit."
"You didn't even give me a chance to get ready!" Harry shouted, rising to his feet. As he said it, the lights in the room flickered on and off.
"Mind your temper, Potter," Snape reprimanded him. "I will not tolerate you losing control like that every time something doesn't go your way."
Harry fought to clear his head. If there was anything Occlumency had taught him, it was that he could not let his emotions get in the way of his rational thinking or he would not be able to focus on throwing off the curse. He was going to need every ounce of self-control he possessed to survive the lesson.
"Legilimens!"
