Chapter Thirty-Two

Despite everything that was going on, it felt strangely satisfying and comforting to be back in the Gryffindor common room. There was a war going on but being back at Hogwarts made him feel safe and detached from what was going on outside.

Dumbledore had been good on his word as there had been a large tray of turkey and roast beef sandwiches with a pitcher of pumpkin juice waiting for them when they had walked through the portrait hole. Ron, who was never one to turn down food, found he didn't have much of an appetite after finishing only half a sandwich. Harry had barely touched his own roast beef sandwich. He just sat there staring at the orange flames in the fireplace, deep in thought.

To Ron, Harry seemed a lot calmer than he thought he would be after telling him about Lupin. Sure, there had been some shouting and cursing, but Harry had quieted down pretty quickly and had stayed silent since.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner," Ron said, feeling a bit guilty.

"It's okay," Harry said in understanding. "I would have done the same thing."

Ron felt relief at that. Relief because Harry wasn't angry with him and relief because he wasn't the only one who had doubted if they could trust Hermione. But with the relief came shame because he never wanted to have those thoughts about her.

Harry tore his gaze away from the fire. "You did the right thing. If Voldemort didn't already know Lupin had escaped he could have learned about it through Hermione. Hermione will understand why you didn't say anything. She cares about Lupin a lot."

Ron sank deeper into the couch. "That doesn't make me feel any better about not trusting her."

"I feel the same way," said Harry, his voice low. He felt tired and defeated. Mastering Occlumency was supposed to help protect the people around him, but Voldemort had found a way around it. The memory of Hermione's torture was still fresh in his mind, as if he had witnessed it first hand. He would never allow himself to forget what she had endured. That she had chosen to writher in agony for hours rather than betray him and the Order.

"What happened to her?" Ron asked him, his voice dark.

Harry wasn't sure he should be the one telling him but knew he wouldn't be able to dodge his friend's questions for long. "He tortured her," he started, his voice hoarse. "When he couldn't break her with the Crutacius, Voldemort decided the next best thing would be to use her to collect information. I don't know what he did after he put his wand to her head. My scar was hurting so bad by that point I lost the connection."

Ron had another dark thought. "You don't reckon he tried the same thing with Lupin, do you?"

Harry considered it carefully before shaking his head. "Hermione was only missing for a few hours. Lupin's been missing for days. I think he was taken because it was convenient, it wasn't planned like it was with Hermione. Anderson set the two of you up with the charms you were wearing. He didn't expect yours to stop working sooner, so they only got Hermione when they really wanted the both of you."

They heard the portrait hole swing open and both boys jumped to their feet when they saw Hermione enter the common room.

"Are you okay?" Ron asked before Harry could. He wasn't fond of the thought of asking if You-Know-Who was still crawling around in her head uninvited.

"I'm okay," she said, catching his meaning perfectly. "Actually, I'm better than okay. I think I've figured out a plan to defeat Voldemort for good."

Ron looked stunned. "You were only gone a few hours. I know you're brilliant and everything but isn't that impossible even for you?"

"It was Dumbledore's idea, really," she said modestly. "I just figured out how to make it work."

"Make what work?" Said Harry.

Hermione appeared less excited now. Probably because she already knew what their reaction to her plan would be. "We're going to lure Voldemort into the open by giving him false information."

Harry scratched the back of his head. "Er, how is that a plan exactly?"

"Dumbledore said it's risky to eradicate the presence of Voldemort in my mind while he was still alive. The alternative solution is for me to use a pensieve and take this potion – "

"Hang on," Ron cut in. "You-Know-Who is still in your head? And you're okay with this?"

"Of course I'm not okay with it," she said immediately, "but it's the way for us to feed Voldemort misinformation, as it's called in the muggle world."

Ron gave her a blank look. "Misinformation?"

"It's a tactic that's been used by muggles during times of war," she started to explain. "When captured by the enemy, POW's – Prisoners of War – " she clarified for Ron's benefit, "would appear to reveal top secret information under the duress of torture. This was really just false information they would give to their captors in hopes that they would use it and make a fatal attack or battle error. Hence, the term misinformation."

"How do you expect to fool Voldemort?" Harry asked her.

"Dumbledore thinks that because I haven't shown any strange behaviour when I'm awake means that Voldemort has been extracting information from me only while I'm asleep, which explains the nightmares. This means there's a way to control what Voldemort sees. I would use one pensieve before I go to sleep to remove all my regular thoughts and then use a second pensieve to import false memories into my head, which is what Voldemort will see."

"And you would just make up these memories?" Ron said.

"No, it takes a very powerful wizard who's skilled at Legillimency to be able to create a such a realistic memory. Snape or Dumbledore would have to do it."

Harry was extremely skeptical. "And you really think Voldemort will fall for it?"

"You believed Sirius was being tortured by Voldemort at the Ministry, didn't you?" She didn't mean to bring up that painful memory but she needed Harry to see how real these false memories could be.

"Fine, let's say this works," Ron said, hoping to keep Harry from thinking about Sirius. "How will this help us defeat You-Know-Who?"

"Over the next few weeks I'm going to use the penseive to show Voldemort that the Order has discovered a missing fragment to the prophecy that wasn't kept with the other prophecies in the Department of Mysteries. It will make it seem like the prophecy is right here at Hogwarts. That Dumbledore's been keeping it here all this time because he no longer trusted Fudge or the Ministry. Since Harry already knows what the first half of the prophecy said, Dumbledore feels it's time he learned the rest of it. If Voldemort went into the Ministry of Magic himself the first time for the prophecy, he's probably even more desperate now and would risk coming to Hogwarts, especially if he thinks it's abandoned. If he knows Harry will be there at the same time it's far too good of an opportunity for him to pass up. He hasn't been able to touch Harry since fifth year," she pointed out to them.

"So I'm the bait, then?" Said Harry. He wasn't angry, even if Dumbledore was using him again. He wanted this war to be over just as much as anyone.

"Actually, I am," said Hermione, her voice dropping considerably as both Ron and Harry's eyes locked on her.

"The hell you are," Ron stated, folding his arms across his chest.

"Dumbledore thinks that once Voldemort no longer decides I have information worth taking, he'll try to possess me fully. So once he realizes it's a trap and the Order is all over the school he'll possess me like he did with Harry at the Ministry in fifth year. But the difference is I'll be able to fight it off. I'm going to learn Occlumency. While he thinks he's in control of me I'll be able to hit him with a powerful spell that should give Harry the opening to finish him off."

"Hermione, I don't even know how I'm supposed to defeat Voldemort," Harry pointed out to her. "All I know is that both of us can't continue to exist. The prophecy didn't reveal any tips on how to go about killing him."

"It's not as if we've done any real research on the subject, now have we? Dumbledore was extremely vague about what we should be looking for but he seemed to think we would find the answer here."

"It always starts with some bloody book," Ron muttered under his breath. "How can you possibly think this is a good idea? This is the worst plan I've ever heard!"

"You would do the same thing in my position," Hermione countered.

"We're not talking about me – we're talking about you. You're going to risk your life on a hunch?"

"It's not a hunch. Dumbledore believes this will turn the war in our favour and I think he's right. Too many people are dying. We can't keep staying on the defensive. The Order needs to start taking a proactive role, otherwise we're going to lose."

"I still don't see why it has to be you," Ron argued.

"Ron, you know why it has to be me," she said earnestly. "If Voldemort thinks he's possessed me, he'll make himself vulnerable. Right now he's far too powerful to be taken out by a simple wand fire attack. A spell will have to be used on him at close range and I'll be able to get the closest."

"I always knew you were mental, but this – " Ron shook his head, too angry to continue and started towards the portrait hole.

Hermione followed after him. "Ron, please don't be mad about this," she pleaded with him.

"I'm not mad," he said in a voice that clearly indicated he was. "Why would I be mad that my girlfriend plan's on sacrificing herself to a Dark Wizard?"

"Ron – "

He held up a hand for her to stop. "Forget it. I better go see if I can find us a table at the library," he said, his voice laced with sarcasm before stomping out the portrait hole and letting it swing shut on Hermione.

Hermione indeed found Ron in the library, and to his credit had a stack of books on the table in front of him. The one currently open in front of him, he was flipping through the pages so roughly she felt sure he was going to rip them.

She said nothing, but simply leaned on the the chair directly in front of him. She couldn't force him to be okay with what she was going to do, but she didn't want to fight any more at the moment about it either.

Ron slammed the book shut with such force it reverberated throughout the gigantic library. "If Dumbledore's so clever that the answers to Harry defeating Voldemort are here he could have at least told us what book to look in."

He sounded irritated and angry and Hermione knew it was more directed at her than Dumbledore's vague instructions. "I got the impression he couldn't tell us directly what to look for. I don't know why but it must be for a good reason," she offered.

"Where's Harry?" He asked, standing up, and still avoiding looking at her.

"He wanted to talk with Dumbledore."

Ron gave a curt nod and started walking towards the stacks of bookshelves that led to the Restricted Section. He already had a mountain of books sitting in front of him, so she figured he was doing it more to get rid of her than anything else, even when he already knew she wasn't one to give up that easily.

"Ron, look at me."

"I'm busy," he growled, taking a sudden interest in reading the titles off the spines directly in front of him.

She still intended to stick with her original plan of not forcing him to be okay with everything, but he at least needed to hear her out. It seemed the only way to do that was by taking matters into her own hands.

She cupped both sides of his face with her hands, forcing him to face her. Even in this position, Ron was choosing to move his eyes in any direction that wasn't looking at her.

"We're not in third year anymore, Ron. Ignoring this isn't going to make it go away."

He pushed her hands away, saying, "I said everything I wanted to say back in the common room. But as usual, you chose to ignore me because Hermione Granger always has to be right!"

His words stung a little, but he was upset and she could understand why he was acting this way.

"This isn't about what's right or wrong. It's about doing what needs to be done to make a difference."

"I can understand Harry wanting to sacrifice himself because he's always pulling that hero bullshit, but you, I'd have thought you'd want to live," he said, his voice faltering slightly.

"God, Ron, I don't want to die," she said, feeling close to tears.

"Then don't do this," he said in a rough voice. "Because Dumbledore can swear up and down you're going to be safe doing this minsnoformation or whatever the hell it's called but it'll never be enough to convince me. And there's no way you can look me in the eye and tell me you'll be able to fight You-Know –"

"For god sake's, Ron. Just say his name!" Hermione cried.

"You-Know-Who – " Ron repeated just to infuriate her further, "off if he tries to possess you. He's the darkest wizard to ever exist and a few Occlumency lessons here and there aren't going to help you. What if he puts you under the Imperius curse? What are you going to do then?"

"Nothing is ever one hundred percent sure. I know the risks that are involved and I don't want to do this but Voldemort's in my head – not yours, not anyone else's. Every part of this plan scares me to death but I know I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try. Ron, you would feel the exact same way if our positions were reversed."

He knew he would be doing the same thing, but the fact of the matter remained that it wasn't him putting himself on the line like that. And he knew how badly this could turn out, and he couldn't fathom the thought of what he would do if something happened to her. He also knew they couldn't keep having this conversation when they were each too stubborn to budge from their current stance on the issue

"Ron, please don't leave like this," she said as he started to walk away. "I need you to understand – "

"Hermione, I love you," he said, stopping and facing her. "But I need to be alone right now."

He walked away from her for the second time that day.

Harry wondered if it was even possible to surprise Dumbledore. The Headmaster always seemed to know what was going on and was never caught off guard. Further proof of this was established when Harry entered his large office and Dumbledore sat behind his desk looking like he had been expecting him for sometime.

"What can I do for you, Harry?" Dumbledore said in a tone that indicated he already knew Harry's reasons for coming to see him.

Harry wasn't in the mood for mind games or small talk. "You look like you've been waiting for me, so I think you know why I'm here," he said, his voice taking on an edge.

Dumbledore folded his hands in front of himself. "You're upset because of what Miss Granger has decided to do."

"No, you're the one who put the idea in her head," Harry clarified. "Despite how I feel about you, I put that aside because I thought you could help her. I trusted you!" He shouted at Dumbledore. "And once again trusting you turned out to be a huge mistake."

"Harry, I fully understand why you are so upset, but believe me I did not trick or coerce Miss Granger into doing anything. She is such a strong-willed young woman, I doubt it's possible for anyone to force her into something she doesn't want to do."

"She's not your good little soldier either, and neither am I! You were supposed to help her but you just used her, the same way you've been using me all these years."

"You need to understand that the other option was not much better. The risks involved in removing another's essence from one's mind while that wizard is still alive are almost too great to attempt. Once Voldemort is dead his presence will be removed from Miss Granger's mind automatically at no risk to her. I gave Miss Granger a choice and you can imagine why she chose the alternative." Dumbledore looked at Harry closely, his eyes reflecting a lifetime's worth of sadness. "I fully understand your anger towards me, and at the very least it's what I deserve. But you should know that every choice I've made since you were born was aimed at protecting and keeping you safe. Some of them were selfish choices but I still stand by them. I suppose this is reflective of the muggle saying the road to hell is paved with good intentions. I only had your best interests at heart, Harry, please believe that much."

Harry stuffed his hands in his jean pockets and said nothing. He had believed for years that Dumbledore had looked after him as he might his own son, but he wasn't that naïve anymore. If the old wizard had just been honest with him instead of deciding to keep him in the dark about most things, his life might have turned out differently. Some small part of him still blamed the Headmaster for Sirius's death.

"You must also learn to accept that you alone cannot defeat Voldemort," Dumbledore said, bringing the silence between them to an end.

"The prophecy says it has to me. I'm the one who has to kill him."

"You will have to cast the final blow, yes, but nowhere in the prophecy does it say you have to take him on alone. To do so, would be foolish and deadly. To defeat Voldemort, it will take the power of many. Don't doubt your friends' love for you, Harry. It's what will save us all in the end."

Harry didn't understand all of what Dumbledore was saying, but he was sure destroying Voldemort had nothing to do with love. Voldemort was nothing more than a vile monster who murdered his parents and committed countless other atrocities. That was what Harry would take with him into the final battle. The word love wouldn't even enter his mind as he tried to end the existence of the thing that had plagued the last sixteen years of his life.