"I wish we could've gone to find Harry," Ron stated wishfully, as he, Hermione, and Ginny sat upstairs talking that afternoon.
"They won't find him," Ginny muttered quietly.
"How do you know?" Ron asked sharply. "Are you suddenly a Seer too?"
"No, I'm not, Ron Weasley," Ginny spat back, glaring at her brother. "Hermione's dream said that Harry was in England."
"Well, even if the dreams are real, I expect that it's going to be quite dangerous-"
"Hermione! We've handled loads of dangerous stuff before!" Ron cried, shocked. "You're not telling me that you wouldn't want to go see Harry if the Order's got him?"
"Of course I would!" Hermione said loudly. "I just meant that we would probably just be in the way of Order! I don't want to jeopardize the Order's chances of fining Harry, and neither should you Ron!"
Ron blushed severely and mumbled something about not meaning what he said.
"That is, if Harry is in Russia," Ginny said. "You know what happened in you dream, Hermione!"
"Yes, I do, Ginny! But I also remind you that we have no proof that nay of these dreams are real!" Hermione cried, waving her arms in frustration.
"Hermione! How can there dreams not be real?" Ginny shouted. "I for one can't believe that you're refusing to tell anyone in the Order about this! Maybe we'd find Harry if you just helped!"
Ginny, who had previously been sitting on top of her bed, was now standing with her hands on her hips and glaring at Hermione. Hermione looked a bit frightened, and her voice wobbled a bit when she spoke.
"Well, I…I thought that," Hermione began. "The Order has enough to be going on with without having to worry about un-real dreams, I think!" Hermione finished, a pink flush now creeping up her face.
There was a brief silence in which Hermione glared at Ron and Ginny until Ginny spoke. "That may be so, Hermione, but I still think you need to tell someone-"
"NO," said Hermione firmly. "Just drop it."
"Hermione?" Ginny said tentatively after another awkward silence; Ron remained silent on the other bed.
"What Ginny?" questioned Hermione, rather irritably.
"I—I just—do you think that these dream are meant for you because—I mean do you think that you have a connection with— " Ginny stuttered, blushing. "Do you think that you're; seeing these dreams because you and Harry were—were—you know, going out?" finished Ginny, blushing harder than ever; Ron had immediately perked up at the mention of Harry and Hermione going out. (A/N: And this is where I start to get away from the Goblet of Fire, and where some of parts of GoF have been changed…)
Hermione blushed harder than Ginny. "I don't know, Ginny, maybe…" muttered Hermione, looking anywhere but Ron, who stared at his feet and looked annoyed.
A wave of memories flowed over Hermione. After her relationship with Viktor Krum had ended in spring, (both still remained friends) Harry and her had begun going out in April. Nearly every girl in the castle (including Ginny Weasley), and Ron was fuming at this new couple's relationship.
Although going out with the-Boy-Who-Lived was wonderful and amazing, Harry and Hermione had been extremely careful not to reveal their affection for each other too much in front of Ron, who became extremely irritated with the pair of them whenever this occurred.
When no one said anything for a while, the three of them, all of whom were blushing, returned downstairs to continue cleaning Number 12, Grimmauld Place.
That night at Number 12, Grimmauld Place was somber. The members of the Order had returned without Harry and without any further clues as to where he might be.
"Nothing—absolutely nothing there," they had reported upon returning. "Not even a trace of magic there. The tip was a fake, meant to lead us away from Harry."
Ron, Ginny, and Hermione had been too stunned and saddened by this news to even say, 'I-told-you-so;' however, Ginny glare at Hermione pointedly throughout dinner, as if daring her to say something to the Order.
Over the next few weeks, no lead s on Harry's' case appeared, nor did Hermione have any mo re dreams bout Harry. This was a relief for her, but at the same time, she became worried that something awful had happened to her best friend.
The entire wizarding community began to notice many strange things happening. Igor Karkaroff, ex-headmaster of Drumstang, was found dead, less than a month after he'd fled from the Death Eaters. Tightened security sprang up everywhere, yet wizards and muggles alike continued to die in "freak" accidents, as the Muggle news put it. Harry Potter's face was constantly being shown on Muggle and Wizard New around the world, yet the boy-who-lived remained lost. The Ministry, who was as useless as ever, had not arrested anyone; thought they had been trying their "hardest."
The Order also had spies, as was expected of Voldemort as well. Although, Ginny, Ron, and Hermione never had it confirmed, the three of them believed that Snape was working for Voldemort as a spy. Thankfully, Snape only stopped by headquarters for important meetings, and never stayed long. The other day, Lupin had confided in the three that the reason that he hadn't been around headquarters much was that he was indeed acting as a spy for the Order amongst the werewolves.
Over time, Ron and Hermione became steadily closer to each other, yet none of the m brought up the idea of dating. The thought of betraying Harry, gone or not from their world, was too much too bear for both of them.
"Today would have been Harry's birthday," Hermione sighed at breakfast.
"What do you mean, would have been?" snapped Ginny, annoyed that Hermione was saying something that all of them knew was true, yet no one wanted to admit it. "Today is Harry's birthday, and wherever he is, he's turning 15."
Hermione fell silent at Ginny's words, drowning in her thoughts of Harry and what the day would have been like if Harry was here. Her face reddened a bit as a few thoughts crossed her mind, in which Harry and she were alone together.
The sky outside Number 12, Grimmauld Place was dark and gloomy, and black storm clouds released rain onto London the entire day. Ginny, Ron, and Hermione sat around the entire day, none of them speaking much. Mrs. Weasley didn't even try to force them to continue cleaning headquarters; she didn't even seem to have the heart.
Even the one thing that could cheer everyone up on the 31st of July seemed destined to fail.
The Order had found a castle in Northern England that appeared to be empty. As Hermione, Ron, and Ginny were not allowed in meetings, they only knew that the castle appeared to be empty. Also, if the castle is empty, wizards were most definitely there because magical traces were lingering all around.
"Well, whoever was there—or is there—obviously doesn't care if they're found, because there are ways to conceal the traces that magic leaves behind; of course, magic isn't entirely concealable," Hermione stated as they sat in the drawing room, which they had finished cleaning a few days ago.
"But it's weird, isn't it?" Ginny replied. "I mean, this castle just suddenly appeared out of nowhere. How did the Order miss searching this castle, especially if Dumbledore is helping?"
"I haven't got a clue," Ron responded. "You know, maybe the Order just overlooked it on accident. It is possible, you know."
Hermione looked doubtful and said, "No, I don't think so. There are too many great witches and wizards in the Order for that too happen. No, it must've been Unplottable, or some other charm on it. I highly doubt that there's anyone or anything in that castle anyone."
"Well, I suppose you're right Hermione," said Ginny, "but I'd really rather that Harry or some sort of clue was found in that castle."
"I think we all would like that, Ginny," Hermione replied. "In all honesty though, the other side's got smart wizards and witches on their side, too. They wouldn't be stupid enough to stay in that castle now."
Ginny opened her mouth to protest, but Ron spoke first. "Do you think that it's possible that the castle the Order's searching is the one in your dream, Hermione?"
"Hmm, I guess it's a good possibility," Hermione answered back. "You-know-who did say that they were England. And if it is the castle, I do hope that I won't have to suffer through any more of those horrid dreams," Hermione added, shuddering.
When a group of ten Order members returned that evening, looking tired and weary, Hermione, Ginny, and Ron crowded around them.
"How did it go?" Hermione asked with baited breath, hoping for something she was almost sure wasn't going to happen from the looks on the Order's faces.
Lupin forced a small smile towards Hermione. "I'm afraid to say that we didn't find anything except traces of magic," he said, gently pushing his way into the stone kitchen.
Hermione dropped her head and muttered, "Oh."
The hopeful grins from every face faded quickly.
"Are you quite sure there was nothing?" Ginny asked, still clinging on to a small bit of hope.
"Yes," Lupin answered, sinking into a chair around the wooden table. "We checked everything."
Ron, Ginny, and Hermione also sat in chairs around the table; all of them looked glum, and Hermione was on the verge of tears.
"Look, I know you're all disappointed but we're going to find Harry eventually," Lupin explained, even though he wasn't entirely convinced. "If we didn't try, and didn't use the clues we've gotten about Harry, where would we be? I'd rather have clues that turn up empty than no leads at all. At least at this rate, we're getting closer."
None of the teenagers responded, and the kitchen fell silent, though there was at least twelve other adults in the kitchen too.
"Why don't you three go on up to bed?" Mrs. Weasley said. "It's been a long, trying day for everyone, and I think we could all use a good night's sleep."
Again, no one said anything, but Ron nodded and stood up; Ginny and Hermione followed him up the stairs.