Chapter 6

"What do you think?" Lupin asked Mrs. Weasley from where he stood in the corner.

"The poor girl has been through enough. She's afraid."

"Small wonder. They're right about Bode. How did they know about that, anyway?"

"How do they know half the things they do?" Mrs. Weasley asked in an exasperated tone.

"You could have a healer come to the house," Lupin suggested.

"I'd feel better if she went to St. Mungo's."

"Molly, she isn't going to go willingly. Not tonight. Maybe it's better this way. Dumbledore is going to want to question her when he gets things sorted out with her parents. It's probably better if he does that here. Maybe you ought to just heal her ribs, and put her to bed until..."

"What if she splinched herself?"

"Not a chance. She's far too clever for her own good. Frankly, the things that girl can do when she sets her mind to it are... well, they're amazing. Did you know," he chuckled quietly, "she figured out Rita Skeeter is an unregistered animagus, then trapped her in a jar, and held her prisoner to stop her from printing any more lies about Harry?"

"NO!" Mrs. Weasley gasped.

"Oh yes," Lupin chuckled quietly. "Harry let it slip to Sirius, who of course was quite impressed. Who would ever think sweet, little Hermione could be so... ruthless?"

"But... surely she's not still in a jar?" Mrs. Weasley asked, horrified by the very idea.

"Oh no, she let her out as soon as school was over. But not before she blackmailed her into... well, you saw that story Skeeter wrote about Harry a few months ago in the Quibbler. To quote Sirius, she's 'Hermione's mouthpiece' now."

Any further conversation between the two was interrupted when Mad-Eye Moody unexpectedly apparated into the kitchen and pointed his wand straight at Hermione.

"Why did you refuse to go to the hospital?" Moody barked, the moment he materialized.

Ron and Hermione both looked up at Mad-Eye, their mouths open in shock, but neither of them answered him.

"How did you escape?" Moody demanded.

"Get that thing out of her face," Ron said, rising up out of his chair and coming around to stand in front of Hermione.

"I... I apparated," Hermione replied shakily.

"HO!" Moody shouted as if he had just caught her in a lie. "15 year-old witches can't apparate."

"15 year-old wizards can't produce a corporeal patronus either," Hermione replied, her eyes getting back some of their fire.

Ron watched as one side of Moody's mouth curled up. It was either a smile, or a sneer. He was unsure which.

"Alastor, that's enough," Mrs. Weasley interjected as she crossed the kitchen.

"She could be a Polyjuice imposter," Moody growled at Mrs. Weasley, even though his eyes never left Hermione.

"Oh, that's rich," Ron retorted angrily, "coming from a man who spent the better part of a year stuffed in his own bloody trunk. Hermione isn't..."

"RON!" Mrs. Weasley scolded.

"Then why did she refuse to be examined?" Moody demanded.

"Ron," Mrs. Weasley said calmly, ignoring Mad-Eye's question. "Why don't you take Hermione up to Percy's room and let her lie down."

"That girl isn't going anywhere until I get some answers," Moody growled. "How did you do it?" he asked Hermione.

"Do what?" she replied, narrowing her eyes at him as if he were trying to lead her into a trap.

"How did you apparate?"

"I read how in..."

"I don't want to know how you learned how to do it. I want you to explain how you did it."

"Oh, well... I closed my eyes, and concentrated on who I wanted to..."

"Who?" Moody questioned eagerly.

"Ron," Hermione stated, thinking he was asking her who she had thought about.

"You concentrated on Ron?" Lupin asked, clearly bewildered. "Not... the Burrow or Ron's bedroom?"

"Yes," Hermione replied uncertainly.

"What?" Ron asked, looking at all the tense faces around him.

"Apparation doesn't usually work like that," Lupin explained to Ron. "Usually you concentrate on where you want to go. You envision a place."

"I didn't know where he was," Hermione said defensively. "So I just thought of him instead."

"And that worked, did it?" Moody snarled, studying her closely with his magical eye.

"Well, obviously," Hermione replied crossly. "I'm here, aren't I?"

"This is ridiculous!" Ron snorted. "Come on," he said, offering Hermione his hand so he could help her up. "You don't have to put up with this rubbish."

"She isn't going anywhere," Moody said.

"I'm not a Death Eater," Hermione stated flatly as she stared up at Mad-Eye Moody's gnarled face. "But since you don't believe me, you are more then welcome to pull up a chair a continue to glower at me for the next hour."

"Oh, I was planning on it, missy," Moody replied.

"Don't be absurd," Lupin chimed in. "There are easier ways to prove who she is. Hermione," he said, kneeling down in front of her. "How did Sirius escape from Hogwarts?"

Hermione's eyes went wide with shock. She looked at Ron, uncertain for a minute and then her gaze went to Mrs. Weasley. "Um...," she bit her lip nervously.

"She doesn't know," Moody croaked triumphantly.

"Oh, yes I do," Hermione said, her gaze falling on Mrs. Weasley again. She sighed and then let her eyes search out Lupin's once more. "Harry and I used my time turner to go back in time and rescue him." Her face flushed as she answered the question and she avoided Mrs. Weasley's stare.

"And how did you get him out of Professor Trelawney's office?" Lupin prodded further.

"We... we snatched Buckbeak out from under the nose of the Minister just before his execution, hid in the Forbidden Forest, waited for ourselves to emerge from the Shrieking Shack with you and the others, and then we flew Buckbeak up to the window of Professor Flitwick's office and..."

"Satisfied?" Lupin asked Moody, cutting her off.

"Are you?" he replied.

"That's exactly how it happened," Remus said.

To the surprise of everyone, Moody started to laugh. "A time turner?" he cackled. "How does a..." he did the math quickly in his head, "13 year-old Witch manage to get her hands on one of those?" he asked as he continued to study Hermione.

"She got it from McGonagall," Ron stated as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

"McGonagall?" Moody hooted loudly.

Ron screwed up his face as he caught Hermione's eyes. It was almost as if she could read the words as they formed in his mind. He's mental.

"McGonagall? Contributing to the ...," Mad-Eye continued to laugh, "...to the delinquency of a minor. No... three minors, because when one of them breaks the law, the other two..."

"Hey, wait a minute, "Ron shouted, venturing a glance over at his mother who still hadn't said a word. "I didn't do anything. I was in the hospital wing... and... it was Dumbledore's idea."

"HAAAA-HAAAAAA!" Moody doubled over and grabbed his side. "Stop... stop.... Dumbledore's idea."

"It was a hasty plan," Albus Dumbledore admitted as he walked through the back door and into the kitchen, followed closely by Arthur and Bill Weasley. "But effective none the less. Now, assuming that you are finished interrogating Miss Granger," Dumbledore said, looking pointedly at Mad-Eye Moody, "perhaps you would allow Molly to take her somewhere a bit more private and attend to her wounds?"

"Professor Dumbledore," Hermione began, "my parents?"

"Are quite safe," he assured her. "They are worried about you of course, but they trust the Weasleys to care for you. I must say, I was surprised by how little they seem to know about... recent events."

Unable to look Dumbledore in the eyes, Hermione let her gaze drop to the floor. "They're Muggles," she said quietly. "They wouldn't really understand and I didn't want to worry them."

"I've explained the situation to them as best I could," Mr. Weasley said. "While they are worried, and with good reason, they've agreed that it is probably best for you to spend the rest of the summer with us."

"Molly," Dumbledore said, "if you wouldn't mind healing Hermione's injuries?"

"Yes, yes of course," Ms. Weasley replied as she walked over to Hermione and helped her rise from her chair.

Not wanting to let Hermione out of his sight, but unsure of whether or not he would be allowed to follow, Ron looked at his mother.

"Ron, dear," Mrs. Weasley said, motioning for him to follow them out of the kitchen. "Go find Ginny for me and tell her I need her help. Ask her to run a hot bath, and find something for Hermione to wear," his mother instructed as she led Hermione out the door and into the narrow hallway leading to the staircase.

"O-ok," Ron replied, as he turned and ran off ahead of them.

"Ron?" his mother added, after he had started to sprint up the winding staircase.

"Yeah?" he asked, leaning over the banister on the second floor landing and looking down at them.

"After you've done that, come back down. I'm going to need you to help me get her to the bathroom."

"I can do it by myself," Hermione said, grabbing the rail on the first floor landing for support and pulling herself up the first two steps. Before she reached the fourth, Ron was standing in front of her, blocking her ascent.

"Stop being so pig-headed," Ron said in a forceful tone.

Hermione arched her eyebrows at him. "Get out of my way," she snapped back.

Ok, confrontation didn't work, Ron thought. Time to try out a new tactic. "Hermione," he said, his voice softening as he reached out to touch her arm. "I know you can climb the stairs by yourself. Accepting a little help doesn't make you weak. Please," he said, his face full of genuine concern. "Let me help you."

The defiant fire in her eyes was extinguished almost instantly. I did it, he thought as he watched her body relax.

"Ok," Hermione sighed, "I'll wait."

Ron couldn't help but smile at her. It actually worked. I got her to do what I wanted without a fight.

"But," Hermione added with a smirk, as he turned to follow his mother's instructions.

"You better remember what you just said to me, because the next time you get yourself in trouble, I'm going to throw it right back in your face."

How is it, she always manages to stay one step ahead of me? Ron wondered as he tore up the stairs to his sister's bedroom.