Harry awoke in the morning with his head buzzing. So much of what he had learned that past weekend had gone completely against his expectations. Hermione's intrusion into their home, and her coming onto him, would of course never have happened without the Imperius Curse. Of that much, he was certain. Ron's behavior, though, he couldn't begin to explain. Nor could he narrow down who would want to use an Imperius Curse on Hermione or why. Bill's complications from his werewolf bites, for the moment, did not seem to be directly related, except that it might have become a trigger for Ron, who by all accounts was still grieving the death of his brother Fred.

He turned his head to gaze upon Ginny sleeping next to him. Despite the peculiarities of the past few days, she seemed to be resting well. He was of course relieved that she had not taken Hermione's untoward advances the wrong way. Harry had a strong love for her, but as an almost sister, not a romantic interest.

Despite the chaos, the morning rays of sunshine peering into his bedroom could not be more warm and inviting. He, of course, had a heavy load on his plate as a young Auror in a post-Voldemort society. He would have to file a report about the Imperius Curse placed on Hermione, given that he was a witness to it while off-duty. It was possible that the matter would get some attention from some of the more senior Aurors in the department, given his current status in the wizarding world as the hero who had defeated the most dangerous sorcerer the wizarding world had ever seen.

He went downstairs to fix himself a quick breakfast and saw Hermione passed out on the couch in his parlor. He was grateful to Ginny for allowing her to stay with them. He snuck past her, hoping not to wake her, but he accidentally stepped on a creaky floorboard and he saw Hermione stir.

"I'm sorry," he said as Hermione woke up and rubbed her eyes. "I didn't mean to disturb you."

"Harry, after the past few months I've had, you waking me is by far the least disturbing thing that's happened to me."

"Are you feeling better? I imagine you haven't been sleeping well."

"Last night was the best night of sleep I've had in a long time. Your couch is surprisingly comfortable."

"Again, Hermione, let me just say how sorry I am. I thought you and Ron were doing well, and I didn't feel the need to check in. I feel like I've failed you as an enforcer of the law, but more importantly, as your friend."

"You saw of our marriage what I wanted you to see, which was nothing. I have to take some of the blame for that. I should have reached out to you sooner, but I was scared. I felt trapped. The Imperius Curse, as horrifically intrusive as it was, might have been a blessing in disguise. Now I can no longer avoid the problem."

"You mentioned that Ron was beginning to obsess about the Hallows again," Harry said. "You said something about my Invisibility Cloak."

"You still have it tucked away in a safe place, correct?" Hermione looked earnestly at Harry when she asked the question.

"Of course," Harry said. "I know it's as safe as it can possibly be, because you cast the protective enchantments around it yourself."

"Thank you." Hermione dared one grateful smile, but then turned her head and frowned again. "You left the Stone in the Forbidden Forest and returned the Elder Wand to Professor Dumbledore's tomb."

"Yes," Harry whispered, "but remember, no one is supposed to know about that. Just the three of us and...oh, no."

It dawned on Hermione a split second later. "Ron knew about where you were storing the Wand. With Bill's illness, what if he thinks he has to…"

"He wouldn't," Harry said. "Ron wouldn't go after the Wand hoping to cure Bill with it...would he?"

"A moment, Harry." As Hermione paced the floor, Harry could see in her expression the same careful logic that had made her such a brilliant student at Hogwarts. "I love Ron, don't mistake me, but he sometimes makes decisions with his heart instead of his head, if you know what I mean. He knows you have the Cloak, he knows the Stone is somewhere on school grounds, and he knows of the Wand's resting place. But until recently he only thought the Hallows were a nursery rhyme."

"Clearly by my account he realizes they're not. I told him about using the Resurrection Stone. I'm starting to think we might have a bigger problem, though."

"The Imperius Curse," Hermione said. "We still don't know who cast it, or why I was the target, unless…"

"Unless it was meant to lure you away from him. Think about it. The first thing you did when under the curse's influence was to leave Ron's side and come here. And now you have no idea where he is."

"Correct. But who else but the three of us would even think to come after Ron? None of us breathed a word of our plans with the Hallows once you defeated Voldemort."

"Can we really say that for sure, though? The two of us are sure, unless you might have said something under the Imperius Curse that you don't remember."

"My memory is a bit hazy, but I don't recall revealing anything crucial to anyone."

"Alright, we need to investigate this further. If someone really is after the Hallows, my plan to let the Elder Wand die with Professor Dumbledore is going to fail. As long as it's hidden and I am still its owner, we'll be fine, but we cannot allow anyone else to find that wand."

"Harry, I think we need to return to Hogwarts. I know with your job as an Auror it will be difficult to arrange such a trip, but it is of utmost importance that we check up on the location of those two Hallows."

"You're right, but first I need you to come up to my bedroom. I want to be sure that the Cloak is still safe. I'm starting to think whoever had you under the Imperius Curse may have wanted you to retrieve it."

Harry and Hermione ran back up the stairs and to his bedroom. Ginny was now awake, looking serene in the light of the morning sun.

"Good morning," she said to Harry, her brow furrowed when she saw Hermione and the looks of concern on their faces. "Is everything alright?"

"We need to check on the Cloak, Ginny."

"Alright," she said.

Hermione went over to the closet door and opened it. Inside was a small container that Hermione had magically sealed herself with the most powerful anti theft enchantments she had been able to discover at the Hogwarts library. She turned to Harry and Ginny and smiled a bit bashfully. "I'm the only one who knows exactly what enchantments I used to lock this. It would be safer if you and Ginny didn't see me undo them."

"We'll wait in the hall," Harry said. He led Ginny out into the hall and shut the door. Ginny looked at Harry with a gaze that made him feel uncertain.

"What's going on?" Ginny asked. "You haven't been worried about that Cloak in months."

"Hermione and I think someone may be after the Hallows."

"Like Ron, perhaps?"

"Um...well, perhaps, but Ron's not the person I'm most worried about."

"Who else then?"

"We don't know yet. Perhaps whoever cursed Hermione. We just need to make sure they're still safe."

"I understand," Ginny sauntered to Harry and kissed him on the cheek. "I hope you're able to discover the culprit, whoever it is."

"We intend to."

Hermione came out of the bedroom. "The Cloak is still secured, thank goodness. No one else can know about its whereabouts."

"I remember," Ginny said. "You made me swear up and down when you hid it here in the first place."

Hermione chuckled bashfully. "Thank you," she said before turning to Harry. "Do you think you can get permission to start an investigation at Hogwarts without explicitly noting the reason?"

Harry frowned. "Honestly, I'm still fairly new to the department. From what I've seen, many Aurors sometimes need to run covert investigations. For security reasons, their explicit purpose does not need to be made immediately clear as long as they promise to document the significance of their findings later on. It would be hard to convince my superiors of that with me being so new."

"You're forgetting one important detail," Ginny said. "You're Harry Potter. You vanquished the most serious threat to our world in a generation. You're about to have a Chocolate Frog card made for you, the youngest wizard in modern history to have that honor. I think you have more pull at the Ministry than you realize."

"You think so?" Harry asked.

"Harry, you're many wonderful things," Ginny said. "It's why I love you fiercely. However, an astute politician is not one of them. Try to assert a little pull and see if you get granted permission to begin this investigation."

Harry smiled sheepishly. "Alright, I'll try. What about you, Hermione?"

"Me? What about me?"

"I know you're not an Auror, but you know more about the potential threat here than anyone outside of me and Ron."

"And what about me?" Ginny asked, crossing her arms.

"Well, yeah, you know, too," Harry said, "but I didn't think you'd want to be a part of this."

"Wow, for my husband, you still don't know me very well. I would love to help you with this, especially if it means saving Ron."

"Okay. The point is this. I'm an Auror. I can at least somewhat justify this trip with my department. Hermione, unless Hagrid's breeding another hive of Blast-Ended Skrewts, I don't see any reason for you to need to go to Hogwarts. And Ginny, as someone trying to pursue a Quidditch career, you would have even less reason to go."

"Look, if it's a choice between my brother and my Quidditch career, that's one of the easiest decisions for me to make. I'm going with you."

"I have to help, too," Hermione said, "if for no other reason than to make it up to you two. My behavior this past weekend, Imperius Curse notwithstanding, was appalling. We've faced far larger threats before. Allow us to help you, Harry."

Harry looked the two of them in the eye, and with the determination both of them had looking back at him, he knew the matter was no longer open for debate.

"We really are a lot of three Gryffindors, aren't we?" Harry said. "Okay then, you can help. As much as I hoped to keep you two safe, before the end you'll probably be the ones saving my sorry arse at least a few times before this is all over."

The clock in Harry's bedroom began to chime.

"Blimey, I'm going to be late," Harry said. "I have to get going. Once I get my approval, I'll send you two a Patronus so you'll know for sure it's me. We'll meet back up and Apparate as close as we can to the school grounds and see what we find there."

"That sounds like a plan," Hermione said.

"Brilliant." Harry gave Hermione a quick hug and kissed Ginny tenderly on the lips. "I have to run." He went into the bedroom and shut the door so he could change into his uniform.

As he hustled to get suitably ready for the day, his thoughts kept turning to Ron. He hated to admit it to himself, but with starting his marriage with Ginny and working hard to become an Auror, he had been neglecting his friend too much. Work was crazy for everyone, of course, but he felt that if he had paid even a little more attention to how Ron was faring, none of this might have happened.

There was no helping that now, of course. The next step was to find out what, if anything, may have happened to the Ressurection Stone and especially the Elder Wand. The Stone by itself was fairly harmless, but if the Elder Wand was missing, then his efforts to end the chain of conquest and death in its bloody history would have been all for naught. With the help of Hermione and Ginny, Harry hoped that he would solve the problem before it got out of hand. However, in the pit of his stomach, he couldn't help but worry that his efforts would not be enough to prevent chaos from ensuing. At all costs, Harry had to find the Hallows once again or watch them fall into the wrong hands.