Chapter 63
"Now then, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore said, taking a seat behind his desk and focusing his attention on Ron. "I already have a fairly good idea how it is that you managed to recognize Bellatrix for who she was, or who she wasn't I should say, but as Mr. Potter does not, why don't we start with that explanation first, shall we?"
"Er."
"It's quite clever really," Dumbledore said to Harry who was looking back and forth between his friends, who were staring at the Headmaster with wide eyes. "Although I've come to expect nothing less from Miss Granger, or do you prefer to be addressed as Mrs. Weasley now?" he asked with a knowing smile.
"Oh god," Hermione moaned, covering her beet red face with both hands.
"Perhaps we should stick with Granger for the time being," Dumbledore suggested, his bright blue eyes twinkling. "We wouldn't want to draw undue attention to what you've done."
For a moment, it looked to Harry as if there were a contest going on between his friends to see which one of them could out blush the other. That is until all the color unexpectedly drained out of Ron's face and he went from looking mortified to terrified in the blink of the eye.
"Oh god!" Hermione moaned again even louder, her voice muffled by her hands.
"So you're... you're not going to tell my Mum, then?" Ron asked fearfully. "Because her flooing here to kill me would DEFINITELY draw a lot of undue attention."
And just like that, the reason for Ron's distress made perfect sense. Harry knew about his friend's secret marriage of course, having witnessed it himself, so Dumbledore's innuendo hadn't exactly come as a revelation to him. He was a bit surprised that the Headmaster knew that they'd performed the Lànain, but then, he reminded himself that Dumbledore always did seemed to know pretty much everything. He could see where they'd be embarrassed that the Headmaster knew. It wasn't exactly an honorable ritual after all, but it wasn't like they had to fear his reaction, as Dumbledore seemed to find the whole affair rather amusing. And Harry already knew, so it wasn't like they had to be worried about his reaction either. Mrs. Weasley, however, was an entirely different matter. If Ginny's reaction to the Lànain was any indication, and Harry strongly suspected that it was, Mrs. Weasley would go stark raving mad when she found out.
If only Harry had known that Dumbledore wasn't actually talking about the Lànain at all, as it wasn't part of Hermione's original plan, and was therefore the one part of the equation the Headmaster knew nothing about, he would have been much more intrigued. But as Harry didn't know this, he let Dumbledore's comment pass without giving it very much thought.
"Tell her what, Mr. Weasley?" Dumbledore replied with a gleam in his eye, doing a convincing job of looking confused. "Was there a message you wanted me to relay to your parents?"
"NO!" Ron and Hermione both shouted at nearly the same time.
"Professor, please," Hermione beseeched, jerking her hands away from her face and staring at him with wide eyes. "You can't. Well, you could," she amended, when it dawned on her that she was telling Dumbledore what to do. "But please don't. It's... it's important that..."
"Yes, yes," Dumbledore replied, holding one hand up to stop her. "I understand. You're quite right, of course. The fewer people that know about the connection at present, the better," he said, "although your Head of House will need to be apprised of the situation and I don't think you need keep Mr. Potter in the dark any longer."
Connection, Harry thought, his brow knitting together in confusion. What connection? Is he talking about them being married, or do those charms they're wearing connect them in some other way I don't know about?
"But, Voldemort," Hermione began.
"Is deliberately blocking Mr. Potter at the moment," Dumbledore replied. "Unless I'm very much mistaken."
"But," Hermione continued to protest.
"What is Mr. Weasley thinking at this exact moment in time," Dumbledore asked Hermione, shocking her into submission.
"Excuse me?"
"What is he thinking?" Dumbledore repeated. "What thoughts are running through his head?"
"He's probably..."
"I'm not asking for approximations or guesses. I want you tell me word for word, what thoughts are running through his mind at this very moment."
"I... I don't know, sir," Hermione admitted, looking just as bewildered as Harry felt.
"No more than Lord Voldemort knows what Mr. Potter is thinking at any given moment," Dumbledore explained. "In order for him to be privy to his actual thoughts, Voldemort would have to attempt to possess him to some degree. Something, I daresay, he'll be rather reluctant to try again on a whim, especially if Mr. Potter were in a highly emotional state, say after a foiled attempt to take one of his friends hostage. It is, after all, Mr. Potter's deep-seated emotions that make it so difficult for Voldemort to possess him for any length of time in the first place."
"But... but they're still connected," Hermione protested.
"As are you and Mr. Weasley," the Headmaster reminded her. "Tell me, Mr. Weasley, what is your wife feeling at the moment?"
"Er...," Ron mumbled, his ears coloring again at the mere mention of the word 'wife'. "Um," he said, glancing at Harry apprehensively before refocused his attention on the Dumbledore. "She's er... she's embarrassed and ...um...anxious."
Well, spotted, Harry thought sarcastically. What's Dumbledore getting at anyway? Any idiot with eyes can see that she's embarrassed, it's clear as day.
"About what?" Dumbledore pressed Ron.
"Um...," he said, shifting uncomfortable. "She's um... embarrassed that you know she's been breaking loads of rules," he finally answered, the color spreading from his ears to his face while Hermione's cheeks darkened even more significantly. "And she wants me to shut up now," he added, knowing that she'd be hissing his name reproachfully under her breath right about now if it weren't for the fact that the Headmaster was the one pressing him for answers.
"Indeed." Dumbledore chuckled. "I have just a few more questions for you Mr. Weasley and then you may 'shut up' if you feel so inclined. Why is she feeling anxious? Is it because she knows that I am aware of the fact that you've both been 'breaking loads of rules'?"
"No," Ron replied uncomfortably, "She's worried about you telling Harry about the connection because she doesn't want You-Know-Who to find out. And now she's irritated because I told you and because I didn't say his name," he added, almost as if it were an after thought.
What connection? Harry thought again, more confused and suddenly on edge, because it was finally dawning on him that they might not be talking about the Lànain at all, but something else altogether. And if that were the case, and Hermione really was worried about Voldemort finding out about whatever it was, then Dumbledore might be about to reveal the secret his friends had been keeping from him for his own good.
"And you know this how?" Dumbledore pressed.
"Er..."
"Are you privy to her thoughts, or is it an educated guess formulated by taking various other factors into account."
"I guessed," Ron admitted quickly.
"So while you know what she is feeling at any given moment, you do not, in fact, know what she is actually thinking?" Dumbledore asked. "You can speculate about it or interpret what the cause of those feelings is, using other factors, such as pervious experience and your extensive knowledge of the way her mind works, to formulate a conclusion, but in the end, it is still a guess? An educated guess, but a guess none the less, which means you could be wrong?"
"I suppose," the redhead replied. But I'm not, he added in his mind.
"And was he correct," Dumbledore asked, turning slightly in his chair and surveying Hermione over the rims of his half moon spectacles.
"Yes," she admitted, dipping her head slightly and diverting her eyes to the floor.
"On all counts?" Dumbledore asked with a smile. "In that case," he said to Ron, when Hermione's flush returned in full measure, "you now have my permission to 'shut up', Mr. Weasley. I wouldn't want you to spend the rest of the evening in the doghouse on my account. But I trust you do see the point I was making?" he added, glancing back and forth between the couple.
"Voldemort can sense what Harry is feeling, but he doesn't know what he is actually thinking most of the time," Hermione replied, after quickly pulling herself together. "He can speculate on the cause of those feelings, but he knows that there is a chance he could be wrong and the only way for him to know for sure if his interpretation is correct would be for him to possess Harry to such a degree that he was able to enter his mind. But he can still watch us or eavesdrop through Harry, without completely possessing him," she added, not ready to abandon her argument just yet. "The way Harry did when he saw Rookwood explaining to Voldemort why Broderick Bode was unable to steal that prophesy from the Department of Mysteries. He could be watching us right now."
"There is always the possibility of that," Dumbledore admitted, "but it is highly unlikely given the circumstances. Let's ask Mr. Potter what he thinks, shall we?" he said, turning to Harry and looking him dead in the eye as he asked his next question. "Do you believe Lord Voldemort is currently attempting to spy on us through you?"
"No," Harry replied almost instantly. "I'd be able to tell," he added when Hermione looked doubtful. "I'd feel him inside me when you look at me," he said to Dumbledore.
"And yet you do not?"
"I don't want to bite you, if that's what you mean," Harry answered.
"And your scar?" Dumbledore asked.
"Nothing," Harry admitted. "Not so much as a twinge now."
"As I suspected," the Headmaster stated calmly. "It must be rather frustrating for him, knowing that his plan to lure you away from the school was thwarted so very easily this time around and that one of his most loyal followers was apprehended in the process. No doubt Veritaserum has already been administered and Bellatrix is being questioned about his whereabouts and future plans even as we speak. Rather inconvenient, moving ones home base with Aurors already on your trail. And yet, you are sensing no emotional reaction whatsoever?" Dumbledore asked, despite the fact he already knew the answer. "No aggravation? No rage? That can only be because he is intentionally blocking you. He knows that the connection you share goes both ways, after all. If he were to use it now, even to check up on us in an attempt to discover exactly how much we know, he would have to open himself up and risk revealing himself to you in return. He knows that you're bound to be wary of such an intrusion right now. If he were going to try something like that, I'd expect it to happen when you're nearly asleep and your guard was down, not while you're wide awake, agitated, and sitting in my office."
"You have been practicing those Occlumency exercises Professor Tonks showed you, correct?" Dumbledore asked Harry, who nodded his head in agreement. "It is essential that you clear your mind of all thoughts and emotions before you go to sleep," he continued, "because that is when you are the most open; the most vulnerable. Right now, any strong emotional reaction you experience would likely be attributed to the day's events, should Voldemort even sense them through the barrier he has erected, but tonight, you must make a conscious effort to clear your mind before bed. If that is not something you honestly think you can do, you need to tell me now, and we will postpone this conversation until you feel that you can."
"No, Professor," Harry said, wanting to know exactly what his friends were hiding from him. "I mean, yes. I can do that. Clear my mind I mean."
"Not only of thoughts, but emotions as well?" Dumbledore questioned.
"Yes, Professor."
"A brief demonstration then," Dumbledore instructed. "If you would."
"What?" Harry asked, clearly startled by the unexpected request. "Now? In front you and... now?" he asked again, glancing at Ron and Hermione. "Wait," he said abruptly, when he realized what Dumbledore was planning. "You're going to use Legilimency on me," he stated, "just to see how well I do, aren't you?"
"When you're ready, of course," Dumbledore replied, drawing his wand out and setting it down on his desk. "Would fifteen minutes suffice?" he asked calmly. "Or do you need a bit longer?"
"Um..."
"Perhaps you should just have a seat and prepare yourself," the Headmaster stated, "and I'll wait until you appear to be ready. How's that?"
"Er," Ron said uncomfortably, as he watched Harry sit down in the nearest chair. "Do you ...uh... want us to leave or something?" he asked Dumbledore, clearly feeling as if he were about to witness something he shouldn't. "Because Hermione and I can wait in the other room if you want…."
"No, Mr. Weasley," Dumbledore replied, "I don't think that will be necessary. I'm sure Mr. Potter has explained how Legilimency works, but a practical demonstration is always helpful. Just step away from Mr. Potter," he added, as Harry took one last look at his friends and then closed his eyes, "and remain quiet so he can concentrate."
BREAK..BREAK..BREAK
Harry tried to concentrate, he really did, but it was a lot harder to clear his mind when he knew that there was someone sitting directly across from him with a wand, poised to attack. How was he supposed to push the dread or the anticipation aside, when he knew the spell could hit him any second? Then again, Professor Dumbledore obviously wasn't going to sucker punch him with the spell the same way Snape had, the slimy git. Not only had Dumbledore warned him, he'd given him plenty of time to prepare himself for what was to come. But his fifteen minutes were ticking away, and if he didn't get a hold of himself and make use of them, the end result would be the same.
Just concentrate on your breathing, Harry told himself, repeating the instructions Parvati had given him in the Room of Requirement when she thought he wanted to learn how to meditate. Concentrate on your breathing and relax, he thought, taking a deep breath and letting it out the same way he did every afternoon when he practiced. Focus on your thoughts and feelings as you breathe in, he reminded himself, mixing Tonks and Parvati's instructions together to form something that actually worked for him, and push them out of your body as you breathe out. Just relax and breathe.
BANG!
The sound of Dumbledore's palm slapping against the top of his desk resounded through his office a few minutes later, causing both Ron and Hermione to jump in surprise. Harry however, who was still concentrating on his breathing, barely seemed to notice and didn't even bother to open his eyes.
"Very good, Mr. Potter," Dumbledore said, his bright blue eyes still glued to the young man seated before him. "I think that will be enough. If you're ready we may begin," he stated, but he made no move to pick up his wand as Harry opened his eyes. "Miss Granger," the Headmaster stated instead, "could you tell us please, what three factors are the most important in dictating the ease with which a skilled Legilimens is able to target and extract specific memories from another person's mind?"
"Physical proximity to the target," Hermione replied almost instantly. "The closer the Legilimens is to his intended victim, the easier it will be to extract a memory. Eye contact is also essential," she stated somewhat clinically. "Most people know this, and therefore look away when they are attempting to be less than honest with a Legilimens. However," she continued, sounding as if she were quoting a book from memory, "an accomplished Legilimens is capable of verbally manipulating his target into looking at him through the use of insults or threats, and does so not only because it results in the necessary eye contact, but because it brings on the third prerequisite, a heightened emotional state."
"And why is a heightened emotional state important?" Dumbledore asked, when she was forced to stop speaking and take a breath.
"Because our memories are tied to our emotions," she responded. "And the Legilimens will be counting on his victim's emotional state to bring significant memories he wants to see to the surface. For example, if he threatened to harm your family, you might unintentionally call up the memory of where your family is hiding, if for no other reason, than to convince yourself that they are safe and it is an empty threat. And once you've call that memory forward, your emotional distress makes it that much easier for him to pinpoint it and find out where they are, whereas he would have had to invade your mind and hunt through all of your memories at random otherwise."
"Very good," the Headmaster said. "Very good indeed."
"I have a question though, Professor," Hermione said. She'd read all about Occlumency and Legilimency, of course, in order to understand what it was Harry needed to defend himself against, but most Wizarding books were not interactive and they could only answer so many of her questions.
"Proceed," Dumbledore said patiently.
"Since Harry and Voldemort are connected, and he can sense Harry's emotions, even without the use of Legilimency, does that mean it is possible for him to access Harry's memories without the close proximity or the eye contact?"
"Not without possessing him to a certain degree."
"And if he did possess him," Hermione continued without missing a beat, "would it be possible for him to force Harry to have a specific emotional reaction for the sole purpose of drawing forth a memory he wants to see?"
"In other words," Dumbledore said, "you're asking if Voldemort could use his connection to Mr. Potter to force him to think about the conversation we are about to have?"
"Yes, sir."
"Not without penetrating so deeply into his mind that Mr. Potter would become aware of his presence and what he was attempting to do, at which point Mr. Potter would surely use his Occlumency skills, basic though they may be, to clear his mind of all thoughts and emotions before attempting to repel him. Elementary Occlumency requires skills similar to those used to resist the Imperius Curse," Dumbledore explained. "Something Mr. Potter has shown a great aptitude for. With a bit more training, and a good deal of practice, I don't foresee a situation the likes of which you describe coming to pass."
"Stop arguing with him already," Ron leaned over and muttered in Hermione's ear. "And let's get on with it already."
"I'm entitled to have questions," she retorted. "I spent a lot of time researching all of this and..."
"Yeah, right," Ron scoffed. "That's what it is. It has nothing to do with the fact that you don't want Harry and me to know how to work that counter-curse of yours, because..."
"Counter-curse?" Harry asked, no longer able to contain himself, "What counter-curse?"
"Harry doesn't need to know," Hermione replied, acting as if she hadn't heard him. "He'll never need to use it. The whole point is to protect him, remember? And he can't very well use it to protect himself."
"Why the hell not?" Harry asked, indignation nipping at his meditation induced composure. "Would one of you please tell me what the hell you're talking about?"
"And what's your excuse for keeping me in the dark?" Ron demanded, paying no attention whatsoever to his best friend's questions, or even noticing the fact that Dumbledore had sat back in his chair with a slightly amused look and seemed to be content merely to watch as the two of them bicker it out. "Other than the fact you're afraid I'll use it and..."
"I know for a fact you'll use it," Hermione snapped.
"And I can't use what I don't know, is that it?"
"Right in one."
"But you can?" Ron shot back accusingly.
"Two for two. You're not nearly as thick as you like to pretend," she said scathingly.
"Hermione," Ron growled out her name in irritation. "If you think I'm just going to stand back and let you..."
"You can rant all you want," she retorted before he even had a chance to finish, "but I'm still not going to tell you."
"WELL, ONE OF YOU HAD BETTER!" Harry shouted over them in order to get their attention. "I want to know what the hell you're talking about," he added, when his friends stopped harping on one other and broke apart to stare at him. "And I want to know now."
"Apparently, Miss Granger has come up with a rather ingenious, albeit complicated, method of blocking the Killing Curse," Dumbledore replied matter-of-factly. "Theoretically, of course."
"She what?" Harry asked, gaping at Hermione incredulously. "But... but that's impossible."
"Is it?" Dumbledore asked, giving him a pointed look. "I'd think you of all people, Mr. Potter, would know that it isn't."
"But--" Harry stammered, at a loss for what else to say. The words, 'Holy Shite!' sprang to mind, but he had enough sense not to say that in Dumbledore's presence. No wonder she doesn't want Voldemort to find out. Talk about a power 'the Dark Lord knows not'. This is HUGE!
"As curious as I am to hear the details of the actual counter-curse," the Headmaster continued, refocusing his attention on Hermione, "I fear we're getting a bit ahead of our selves. Let's start at the beginning, shall we? With the Coupling Potion and how you've augmented it. Even Phineas here," he said, motioning towards the portrait of Sirius's great-great-grandfather, who was watching them silently from his frame, along with all the other portraits, "was grudgingly impressed by your... what was the phrase you used again?" he asked the scowling portrait, "Ah, yes, 'Slytherinesque cunning'", he finished with a soft chuckle. "And that is no mean feat, Miss Granger. It takes quite a lot to impress Phineas," Dumbledore said, lowering his voice as if he were revealing a secret. "He isn't particularly fond of students you see."
BREAK..BREAK..BREAK
By the time Harry followed his friends out of Dumbledore's office and began the march back to Gryffindor Tower, his head was literally spinning with all the information he'd taken in. Even now, after it had all been explained by both Dumbledore and Hermione, he still had a hard time wrapping his head around what he'd learned. It all seemed so unreal. His best friends were connected, much the same way he was connected to Voldemort, only they had done it on purpose to protect one another, and ultimately to protect him. They'd brewed a restricted potion and then augmented it so they could act as human shields, should Voldemort try and send another killing curse his way.
And as if that weren't enough, Hermione had come up with a counter-curse for them to use as a back up, just in case one of them didn't happen to be close enough to step in front of him and take the curse that was meant for him. A counter-curse that was the exact opposite of the Killing Curse and would allow her to deflect Voldemort's own spell back on him, from clear across a room in necessary, by sacrificing herself instead. If it all worked the way it was supposed to, (and Dumbledore hadn't come up with any reasons why it shouldn't work once Hermione had explained it all to them), Voldemort would unwittingly take himself out with his own curse, yet again. And this time, because he was in a new body, which was already weak and still completely mortal, there would be no coming back. Not for him anyway.
Even so, Harry had objected, vehemently, to his friends even considering the possibility of giving up their own lives for him, until Hermione explained that the sacrifice they made didn't need to be permanent in order to protect him. Once she explained that the reason they'd taken the Coupling Potion in the first place was so they could bring one another back after it was all over, Harry had calmed down a bit, but he still didn't like it. What if something went wrong?
He could definitely see why Ron was so against Hermione being the one to make the sacrifice, which she seemed hell bent on doing. He didn't want either of his friends doing anything that drastic, but if they were thrown in a situation where one of them had to, he'd prefer it be Ron. Not because he valued his friendship any less, or because Hermione was a girl and should therefore be protected, or anything like that, but because, as he pointed out to Hermione, it was her spell. She was the one that had done all the research and created it and if, Merlin forbid, something did go wrong, it made more sense to have her there, and alive, to come up with some means of fixing it.
She'd argued of course, stating that as long as her heart was beating and her body was alive, they'd have up to two weeks to figure out how to get her soul, which would still be linked to Ron's, back where it belonged. Two weeks, which Dumbledore reminded her, she'd spend in limbo, neither truly alive or dead, merely existing and unable to do anything but watch her friends suffer. But in the end, Hermione's argument about how they'd have Dumbledore and Madam Pomfrey to help them didn't mollify Harry, anymore than it did Ron. The plain fact was, she knew more spells than he and Ron put together and one of the key elements of her plan was keeping the body of the person that made the 'sacrifice' alive. If something went wrong before Dumbledore or Madam Pomfrey showed up, say if the CPR didn't work for instance, they were going to need her brains to come up with a magical alternative on the spot.
"THANK GOD!" a high pitched voice shouted, instantly drawing Harry out of his own head. He hadn't even realized that they'd reached the portrait of the Fat Lady, let alone the fact that Hermione had given the password and the portrait had swung open to reveal the common room. "WHERE HAVE YOU THREE BEEN?" Ginny cried, as she stopped pacing and bore down on them. "I've been soooo worried," she stated. "All Bill would tell me was that you were attacked on the Quidditch Pitch, but that you were all ok, and I had to wait here. What happened? Who attacked you? Was it ... him? How on earth did you get away? Are you sure you're all right? Mum's going to have kittens when she finds out about this. Is that where Bill went, to tell Mum and Dad? Is he coming back to help them search? "
"Not here," Ron murmured, after he'd stepped into the room and realized that it was full to bursting with other Gryffindor students, all of whom had gone completely quiet and were now staring at him and his friends, some with fearful expressions, but most with keen interest, obviously eager to hear the answers to most of Ginny's questions.
"Harry!" Parvati called out, disengaging herself from the crowd and stepping towards the foursome still standing by the portrait hole. "I'm so glad you're all right. It must have been awful. I just can't believe that there were actually Death Eaters here. And Professor McGonagall told us that we're not allowed to leave the castle at all until the grounds and the forest have been thoroughly searched. It's just awful."
"You aren't seriously upset about that, are you?" Ginny snapped. "The fact that you can't go outside and your Hogsmeade weekend was ruined. Are you for real?" she asked incredulously. "By all means go outside and let them take you then. It would serve you right for being that stupid."
"I wasn't talking to you," Parvati retorted. "Of course Harry knows that isn't what I meant."
"What did you mean then?" Ron asked.
"Well, obviously they aren't after the rest of us," Lavender replied, instantly coming to her friend's defense.
"Whatever," Ron mumbled under his breath, as he grabbed Hermione's hand and started pulling her towards the stairwell leading up to the boys' dorm, assuming that Harry would be right on their heels. He knew that Harry didn't normally stick around when he was receiving this type of attention, and now he fully understood why that was. For once in his life, Ron Weasley didn't want to argue with anyone. He didn't want to talk to them at all or even stand there and look at their eager faces. All he wanted to do was get the hell away from them. All of them. Even his sister, who he knew would follow him upstairs, despite his wishes, and continue to pester him until each and every one of her questions was answered.
Of course Seamus realized where Ron was heading, and after giving Neville a shove to get him moving in the right direction, he met the redhead at the stairs. "It's our room too," he stated, stepping in front of Ron and bolting up the stairs, so he could get to their dorm room first, thus ensuring the Ron wouldn't be able to lock him out.
BREAK..BREAK..BREAK
Nearly thirty minutes later, the 6th year Gryffindor boys and the two girls, still hadn't come out of the room they had sequestered themselves in. Not even when David Devane had knocked on the door and informed them all that the Head Master had sent word they'd be eating in the tower tonight, and that he'd requested that the prefects help oversee the meal when the food arrived.
Unfortunately for Ginny, neither Ron, nor Harry seemed willing to answer many of her questions, and even Hermione was remarkable tight lipped on the subject. Ginny knew that a lot of that had to do with the fact that Seamus was in the room, waiting to hear the answers himself, and they didn't trust him not to run downstairs and blab everything he'd heard afterwards. If she could just get Hermione alone, Ginny knew that she'd open up, but going up to the girls' dorm was no better than staying in the boys', because Parvati and Lavender would likely be up there.
"Tell your boyfriend to bugger off," Ron snapped at his sister when there was a second knock on his closed bedroom door. "Because if you don't get rid of him," he stated, perturbed by the fact Devane had come back, even though he'd been quite clear about the fact he had no intentions of helping with dinner, "I will."
"RON!" Hermione admonished, from where she sat on the edge of his bed.
"Spare me the lecture about how we have responsibilities, Hermione," he retorted, as Ginny stood up and approached the door. "The rest of the prefects are more than capable of handling it. It's not like they have to prepare the food or anything. If anyone misses out, it's their own damn fault."
"Is that so Mr. Weasley?" McGonagall asked, clearly visible in the doorway now that Ginny had opened the door.
"Er...sorry, Professor," Ron replied, his stomach plummeting as he spun around and realized who it was that had actually been knocking. Even worse than the fact she'd likely heard him swear or that she knew he planned on shirking his prefect duties, she'd caught two girls in his bedroom after he'd received a detention for going up to theirs.
"Mr. Weasley," McGonagall stated, her eyes jumping from Ron, to Ginny and then Hermione, and finally landing on Ron again, "I'd like to have a word with you. Please step into the hallway."
"Yes, Professor," he said, rising off his bed with a downtrodden look, and shuffling across the threshold of the doorway as McGonagall stepped aside.
Harry waited until McGonagall had closed the door firmly behind them and then turned to Hermione, who he now knew could sense what Ron was feeling. "What are they talking about?" he asked, knowing that she'd have more insight than the rest of them did.
"I have no idea," she stated, looking to all present as if she fully expected to be called out of the room and reprimanded next.
"Do you think she's telling him off because he was rude to David and refused to go downstairs and help?" Ginny asked, sounding a little anxious herself. She was a prefect too after all and she hadn't gone down either.
"No, Hermione replied, unsure exactly what was transpiring beyond the closed door, yet certain that wasn't it. Her own heart had just leapt into her throat in response to Ron's, but not out of fear. She no longer felt any anxiety from him and the shame she'd expect him to feel, were he actually being scolded, never came. If she had to label what he was feeling, she'd say it was shocked. Whatever Professor McGonagall was telling him on the other side of that door, it had him fairly gob smacked.
"How the hell do you know?" Seamus asked, looking at her oddly.
"Well, obviously if that's what it was, she'd have asked all three of us to step into the hallway," Hermione replied, stating a fact that was both perfectly logical and something that Harry knew was a lie at the same time.
That isn't how she figured it out, he told himself, amazed by just how quickly she'd responded. She hadn't even taken time to think about it. She knows because she's monitoring Ron's feelings, but rather than admit that to Seamus, she came up with another explanation. An explanation that was completely feasible and so Hermione-like in its logic that it made perfect sense. If I didn't know better, I'd have believed it myself. Is that how they've been hiding the connection from me? Am I really that gullible, or is she just that good? And even if she is, it doesn't explain how Ron was able to slip it past me. He's a terrible liar.
"What?" Hermione asked when the bedroom door opened and Ron stepped back into the room, as white as a sheet, and clutching a large bag to his chest. "What did she say?"
But rather than respond, Ron simple shook his head and held the bag in his hand out for Hermione to take, as if it held all the answers. Ginny, who was still standing by the door, instantly relieved him of it, but the bag was heavier than she'd expected. So heavy in fact, that she nearly dropped it and that's when Harry heard the clink of metal against metal, and realized what it was.
"BLOODY HELL!" Ginny screeched her brown eyes bugging out when she opened the bag and peered inside. "Where did you get this?" she asked accusingly. "I've never seen this much gold, let alone held it in my hand. There must be 500 Galleons in here!"
"NO WAY!" Seamus cried excitedly. "Seriously?"
"More like one thousand," Harry replied. The bag in Ginny's hands was about the same size as the one Fudge had given him after he won the Tri-Wizard Tournament and he'd seen the wanted posters in Hogsmeade last February, when he went on his one and only date with Cho. "The Ministry of Magic was offering a thousand Galleons reward to any wizard with information leading to the recapture of any of the Death Eater's that escaped from Azkaban last year," Harry stated, when Seamus goggled at him.
"So that means they caught one then?" the Neville said.
"Using some bit of information you two provided," Seamus added. "I wonder who it was."
"Bellatrix Lestrange," Hermione answered, glancing at Neville as she said it and watching him stiffen.
"And the Ministry didn't catch her," Harry informed them. "Ron did."
"You did not!" Ginny cried, clearly aghast at this news. "Mum is going to kill you when she finds out that you chased after that mad cow."
"I didn't chase anybody," Ron said, snatching his reward out of his sister's hands almost as if he expected her to step in for their mother and confiscate it on her behalf. "She came after me. What was I supposed to do?"
"Oh, I don't know," Ginny fired back sarcastically. "How about run for starters? She's crazy. She could have killed both."
"What do you think I stunned her for?" her brother retorted. "Twisted bitch," he continued under his breath, "that ought to teach her not to try and impersonate Hermione. As if we were so thick we weren't going to notice the difference."
"She was impersonating you?" Ginny asked Hermione, her big brown eyes going wide again and then Harry say it all click into place. "She polyjuiced herself, just like Mad-Eye kept saying she would, and ...and you knew that it wasn't really Hermione?" she said to Ron. "Of course you knew, because..." but she never finished.
"You know," Harry said, pointing his finger at Ginny in an accusatory fashion when she glanced at him and suddenly went quiet. "You told her and not me?" he said, looking back and forth between his friends in astonishment. "I don't believe this."
"What's he talking about?" Seamus asked Ginny, who shrugged her shoulders and managed to look just as bewildered by Harry's outburst as he was. "They told her what?" he asked Harry.
"That's it!" Ron shouted, walking over to his overly inquisitive roommate and pushing him towards the door. "Get out."
"You can't throw me out of my own room," the Irishman snapped, shoving Ron back.
"I bet I can if I really try," the redhead replied.
"We'll uh... just go get some dinner before it's all gone," Neville said, stepping forward, taking Ron's place, and ushering Seamus towards the door. "Want us to bring something back for you when we come back up?" he asked.
"No," Harry replied, not the least bit hungry.
"But thanks, Neville" Hermione added, just before he closed the door.
"Well?" Harry demanded, as Ron locked the door and sealed the room with his wand.
"Well, what?" Hermione asked.
"You told Ginny," he stated, crossing his arms in front of his chest.
"Oh be reasonable, Harry, I had to tell someone," Hermione replied. "You're the one that pointed out that there was a chance things could go wrong when we were in Dumbledore's office. I had to tell Ginny, so she could tell Madame Pomfrey what we'd done if the potion hadn't worked the way it was supposed to. Stop trying to turn it into some kind of a contest, because you know why it is that I felt I couldn't tell you."
"Wait," Ginny said, "So Harry knows about the potion?"
"He does now," Ron said burying the reward money McGonagall had given him in the bottom of his trunk, before closing the lid and plopping down on top of it. "Dumbledore told him."
"But... Dumbledore? How'd he know?" she asked, clearly confused.
"That bloody painting in our bedroom at Grimmauld Place is connected to his office," her brother groaned. "I'm never sleeping in that room again."
"So Harry knows everything now," Ginny said no one in particular. "Well, that's good."
"And who else knows?" Harry asked, still sounding somewhat offended.
"No one that we know of," Hermione answered.
"Although I did suggest maybe having Fred and George take some of the basic potion Hermione has saved," Ginny announced, much to Harry's surprise. He hadn't even realized there was any of the potion left, let alone some of it in its original, unaltered form. "Because they are already so closely connected that being linked to each other for a couple weeks probably wouldn't be all that disruptive. Plus I think it's a good idea to have someone else try the basic version before we do. That way we'll know more of less what to expect."
"We?" Harry asked, his stomach dropping. "We who?"
"Me and you, of course?" Ginny answered. "I thought you said he knew everything," she said to Hermione, when Harry's mouth fell open.
"No, you said that," Ron reminded her.
"WAIT!" Harry said, holding his hands up in the air. "Wait. Just... wait. You," he said, pointing at Ron, "want me and your sister, to take the potion. Me and Ginny? Linked? Like you two?"
"Don't be thick," Ron replied.
"You won't be linked like us," Hermione cut in. "It would only be a temporary connection. And even then it would only be as a last resort. You know, if Voldemort attacks the school or something. That way you and Ginny would have your souls protected as well."
"And there will be no maintaining of any kind whatsoever going on," Ron stated.
"The thing is Harry," Hermione said, purposely ignoring Ron's comment, "Any one that connects to you, also runs the risk of connecting to Voldemort. Originally I assumed that we'd just have you link yourself to Ron and I, but now I think that might be too risky. But Ginny has had some experience dealing with Voldemort herself. I know it's not quite the same thing, but she knows what it feels like to be possessed and have someone else in her head and ...well, it just makes more sense for you to be linked to her. But only when it is absolutely necessary. Hopefully it will never come to that. This is just another one of those backup plans."
"But just so you know," Ginny added, "I have our portion of the potion upstairs in my trunk and I've already added my blood too it. If you want I can go get it right now and we can add yours. That way it would be ready and all we'd have to do to protect ourselves when the time came would be to drink it."
"Not now," Hermione said to Ginny. "Harry has enough to process right now as it is, and Dumbledore said he needed to clear his mind before bed. Let's not throw anything else at him right now. In fact, maybe it would be best if we all gave you some space so you could start on your Occlumency exercises," she said to Harry as she motioned for Ron to get up and follow her to the door. "It'll probably take you longer tonight. We can talk about the rest of this tomorrow and we'll answer any questions you have left then, how's that?"
"Fine," Harry said somewhat begrudgingly as he watched his friends leave the room. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he knew that Hermione was right. He was practically on overload with everything that had happened and all that he had learned. There was no way he was going to be able to just sit down and shut everything he was feeling off without putting a good deal of time and effort into it. I might as well just face up to it and get started now.
BREAK..BREAK..BREAK
Author's Notes:
First of all, I know some of you are going to be confused on exactly what it is that Dumbledore knows, so I will restate it here for anyone that missed it in the text of the story. Dumbledore only knows about the things Ron and Hermione discussed in his bedroom at Grimmauld Place. Not anything they discussed in her room or anything they discussed afterwards, which includes the Lànain. Harry knew about the Lànain and assumed that it was what Dumbledore is talking about when he made reference to Ron and Hermione being married, but he was wrong. As a matter of fact, Dumbledore still doesn't know about the Lànain, because with everything else that was being discussed, it never came up. Harry had far too much information coming at him to bring up something else. Hermione was on the defensive because neither of the boys wanted her to be the one to make the ultimate sacrifice. And Ron was smart enough to sit back and keep his mouth shut because he knows that ultimately he would be the one to take the blame when his mother finds out. I know it's all confusing. Even I had to re-read chapter 29 before I wrote this chapter, just so I could remind myself exactly what it was that Dumbledore knew and didn't know.
Secondly, thanks to Buck for reminding me that there was a reward for the recapture of Bellatrix in his review. I completely forgot about that and poor Ron wouldn't have gotten a single Sickle if he hadn't reminded me. So Ron thanks you too. ;-P Not that he'll get to spend much of it. LOL! You just know Hermione is going to insist he put it in Gringotts and save it.
And finally, I tried to explain how Occlumency and Legilimency really work, because I know it's all rather vague and people interpret it in different ways. I've read numerous stories where Harry (as a Legilimens) just looks at someone and knows what they are thinking, but that is not really how it is meant to work. There is no actual mind reading involved; it's about conflicting emotional responses and their correlation to memories. Also it is important to remember that every single time Snape used Legilimency on Harry in OotP, he had to use his wand to actually invade his mind, he couldn't just look at him and do it. For those of you that are curious about how it really work, I found the information posted at the Harry Potter Lexicon especially helpful and very easy to follow. In fact, most of what I had Hermione state was information I learned there.