A/N Chapter Warnings: Thank you for all your positive feedback! i'm glad you're all enjoying this story. Story is rated M for a reason, this chapter may contain: bad language, sex, violence, mentions of rape, and general adult themes.
I hope everyone is well and keeping themselves safe!
Chapter 11: Awkward Monday's, Dumbledore's Plans, and a Chat with Harry
If anyone had been paying close attention, they would have noticed that Remus Lupin looked a little green at breakfast on Monday morning. Unfortunately, Remus Lupin had recently ended up experiencing a 'wrong place, wrong time' moment.
Remus couldn't shake the smell of sex, Hermione, Severus, and pheromones from his nostrils. He really wished that he had not decided to go, on Saturday night, and discuss with Severus about the medical book he had found in Hermione's bag and the passages of the book that she was particularly interested in. It had been a big shock when Hermione barrelled unsteadily out of the Defence classroom and nearly tripped over him. Remus had been confused until the classroom door had opened fully and the stench of pure, animalistic sex had wafted through the air. Remus remembered how he nearly threw up from the intensity of the smell right there and then.
"For Merlin sake! In the classroom?" Remus had exclaimed loudly.
This had earned a blush from Hermione, and Severus had grabbed him and pulled him into the classroom, warding and silencing the room behind them as before and as Severus told him to shut up. Remus had tried to stutter out what he had come to see Severus about in the first place but ended up fleeing the classroom due to the overpowering scents that he could smell.
Remus was shaken from his thoughts by the sound of a chuckle. Remus looked to his right, trying to identify the source of the sound. His eyes widened when he noticed that Severus had decided to sit next to him for the first time ever. The two men didn't say anything to each other but Remus did shake his head in disapproval at Severus, showing that he was still perplexed that the uptight Potions Master was risking his career and reputation for a promising female student who was as equally talented.
"Something wrong Lupin?" Severus asked him.
Remus replied by shaking his head in the negative.
"Was there a reason for your intrusion the other night?" Severus queried.
"I, er, came to speak to you about the Wolfsbane Potion" Remus lied.
"Ah yes, the full moon is soon. I haven't forgotten about your furry problem, after all how can I? You nearly tore me apart once. Nevertheless, I shall bring you your first draught at lunch time today. We can't have you being out of control around the students now, can we?" Severus said to him.
"Severus...I -" Remus began to reply, guilt racing to the surface once more.
Severus held up his hand to silence the man.
"It matters not. Be here for the beginning of lunch Lupin, I won't hang around for you" Severus said as he abruptly stood and left the table.
Remus sighed as he watched Severus exit the great hall. He suddenly hated today a lot more. He stood up from the table and headed towards his classroom, mentally preparing himself for the day.
.
.
.
Severus Snape had bottled the first draught of Wolfsbane for Lupin. Severus hated making the Wolfsbane but he also knew the danger to his students should Lupin not take it and lose control during the full moon.
Severus sighed and walked towards the Great Hall at the beginning of lunch, he approached Lupin and handed him the vial. Remus took it immediately and handed Severus back the empty vial, which Severus pocketed.
"Thank you Severus" Remus said sincerely.
Severus nodded in response and his eyes flickered to the students that were entering the hall to eat their lunches. He immediately caught his Hermione's eye and she gave him a coy grin. Severus blinked at her, what was the minx up to now?
Severus heard the soft rumble of a chuckle to his right and looked at Lupin who had cottoned onto the exchange.
"I don't want to know" Lupin stated as Severus glared at him in response.
Severus growled. The coy smile that his minx had sent his way had caused his cock to pique an interest. He knew it would do no one any good if he displayed a boner to the entire Great Hall. Thank Merlin for voluminous robes!
Remus chuckled a little louder this time, aside from Severus' flushed cheeks, Remus knew what was going on under the table, his sense of smell was heightened as it was so close to the full moon after all.
"Not a word" Severus stated slowly and dangerously as he carefully stood up and manoeuvred himself so that his robes covered his problem.
"What will you do about her inappropriate behaviour?" Remus inquired, he knew that a moody Snape loved to take house points and hand out detentions like Dumbledore handed out sherbet lemons.
"It's her birthday tomorrow, I know exactly what punishment I am going to give her" Severus smirked darkly just thinking about the antics he had in store for her.
Remus grimaced.
"I'm sorry I asked. Please don't answer my question, I think in this case I am better off remaining blissfully ignorant" Remus stated.
"That is a good idea Lupin" Severus replied as he made his way out of the Great Hall and towards his private rooms.
He had a titillating birthday surprise to plan for his Hermione.
.
.
.
That night, Harry was walking through the corridors, heading for Dumbledore's office. Harry was slightly perturbed by the vague missive that he had received at dinner, informing him to go to Dumbledore that evening.
Harry approached the headmaster's office and knocked on the door. The door opened and Harry walked in, he saw that Dumbledore was stood in the middle of the room, clearly anticipating his arrival.
"Good evening Harry. I trust that you are well?" Dumbledore asked rhetorically.
"Good evening sir, what did you need to see me about?" Harry asked getting straight down to business.
Dumbledore motioned Harry to follow him to one of the cabinets. Harry noticed Dumbledore's blackened hand and he frowned. Was Dumbledore alright? The blackened hand didn't look like it was a good thing and so Harry worked up the courage to voice his questions.
However, something stopped him before Harry could get a word out. Dumbledore had opened the massive cabinet and a small basin type object was moving towards them. Harry felt that he recognised the object from somewhere but couldn't think where.
"Do you know what this is Harry?" Dumbledore asked.
Harry shook his head; he was still in awe over how ornate the object looked.
"This is a pensive Harry. More specifically, this is my pensive" Dumbledore said, pausing to allow Harry to commit the name of the object to his memory.
Ah! Harry nodded, he knew what a pensive was but the ornate object looked very different from what he was familiar with.
"And these, are my most valuable memories" Dumbledore said as he motioned towards the rows and rows of small glass vials.
"Sir?" Harry asked, questioning where Dumbledore was going with all this.
"I want to show you some of my memories this year Harry. It is vital that you know about some of these. I will be instructing you through these sessions and I will be telling you a little bit more about the task I need you to undertake" Dumbledore said.
Dumbledore reached up to a particular area of the rows of memories and Harry noticed that all the vials for these memories were black. Dumbledore took the first black vial from the shelf and he opened it and poured it into the vat of curious liquid.
Harry peered in cautiously.
"What happens now, sir?" Harry asked.
"Now you can view this memory" Dumbledore replied.
"What memory is it?" Harry asked.
He didn't really fancy sticking his head into an unknown vat whilst being completely unaware of what to expect.
"You are about to meet the young Tom Riddle" Dumbledore replied as he took advantage of Harry's momentary shock and forced Harry's head into the pensive.
.
.
.
Harry took a deep breath as he pulled his head out of the pensive and took several steps back towards the centre of the headmaster's office.
"Questions? You must have some" Dumbledore asked Harry as he watched the young man collect himself from the disorientating situation.
Harry had plenty of questions, but he wasn't sure how to ask them. He had understood what he had just seen but he didn't understand what it meant. How was any of this relevant?
Dumbledore had guessed Harry's line of thinking by the expressions that were crossing his face.
"Know your enemies Harry, you've got to know your enemies" Dumbledore said.
Harry nodded and was dismissed a short time later. As he walked back towards the common room, he allowed his thoughts to swirl. He processed everything that he had watched in the pensive and felt sorry for the young Tom Riddle. The memories had shown Voldemort in a different light, Harry was almost nervous about seeing at what point it had all gone wrong.
His thoughts were interrupted when he heard footsteps coming from behind him. Harry spun around and came face to face with Neville.
"Are you trying to give me a heart attack Neville?" Harry gasped as he tried to calm the sudden spike of adrenaline and his heart rate.
Neville just looked sheepish and murmured an apology.
"Sorry Harry, I didn't mean to frighten you" Neville said.
"It's alright; you didn't scare me that badly. Are you alright though? You seem a bit flushed and worn out...have you been running? No-one's picking on you again are they?" Harry asked, concerned for one of his oldest friends.
"Don't worry Harry, its nothing I can't handle" Neville replied smiling at Harry's concern.
"If you're sure. But if you need help you only need to ask" Harry said.
Neville nodded and kept smiling.
"Thanks Harry but honestly, its fine" Neville replied.
"Alright then, back to the common room?" Harry asked.
The boys made their way back to Gryffindor Tower where they were promptly accosted by Ron, who wanted a game of chess.
Harry watched as Neville and Ron played the board game and Harry found his mind beginning to wander once more. Then, he noticed Hermione who was sat in her usual spot in the corner of the common room near the window. She was reading.
Harry sighed and decided that it was time that he spoke to her.
"Hey Hermione, is anyone sitting here?" Harry asked as he approached the empty seat opposite her.
Hermione looked up for a moment before she shook her head and indicated for Harry to sit down.
Harry sat and there was a moment of tense silence where nothing was said. Hermione looked back down at her book whilst Harry sat up straight, thinking of how to voice what he wanted to say.
"I apologise for the other day" Harry said.
Hermione looked up from her book, bookmarked the page that she was on and then closed the book and placed it on the table.
"I'm also sorry Harry, I'm just so worried about you" Hermione said.
Harry nodded.
"I was a complete twat Hermione, I know I should follow instructions and such but I really do need to do well in potions and I think that book is going to help me" Harry said.
"I know I was harsh Harry, and I know I can be overbearing at times but I really am worried about you. You are driven by your impulsiveness and you disregard anything people say if you think you can do it better. What happens when the war rages Harry? What happens when your impulsiveness becomes the difference between your life and your death on the battlefield or your friends' for that matter? I was just trying to show that whilst impulsiveness is not always a bad thing, it can become dangerous when mixed in with anger, irritation, and hate. Those three emotions are what we see the most of in you Harry, and they will distract you in the real world" Hermione said.
Harry nodded.
"I know…I know Hermione. I understand that, but I feel that I need all the help I can get right now, I thought the book was going to help me, but I'm not so sure now" Harry said.
"I never said not to use the book Harry. It probably is useful, I'm just saying that you need to be careful if you intend on following something blindly and without hesitation to the safety of yourself and others around you. We need you in this war Harry, you are important. I just don't want you blowing yourself up in a potions accident before you get there" Hermione said, smiling at him.
Harry chuckled.
"That does sound like something I would do" Harry admitted, smiling back.
The two friends sat and chatted for the rest of the night, they really had a lot of catching up to do. Harry confided in Hermione about what he had been to see Dumbledore about earlier that evening. Hermione was just as shocked as Harry had been.
"He wants you to do what?" Hermione asked in astonishment.
Harry just shrugged his shoulders in response.
"I'm not really sure what all of this means. However, I did notice that sat upon Dumbledore's desk was Tom Riddle's diary that I destroyed in second year. Inside the book was also a ring, I don't really know what the items are and I don't really know what they have got to do with whatever Dumbledore wants me to do but, the items were important enough to be pulled out of wherever they were. Considering that the diary was destroyed over three years ago, and its resurfaced again, I can't help but think that there is something more to the diary and that its going to become important this year" Harry told Hermione.
"What makes you think all that Harry" Hermione asked him gently, this was all huge news and Hermione's mind started whirring with endless possibilities of what Dumbledore had in store for Harry.
"I don't know, call it an impulsive hunch" Harry replied through a grimace.
Hermione nodded at him and processed the information for a few more moments. Well, that was until Harry interrupted her.
"Hermione, I need to talk to you about something else" Harry hesitated.
"What is it Harry?" Hermione asked him, she was concerned for her friend.
Harry cast a Muffalito charm and Hermione gasped at the sensation.
"What was that?" Hermione asked, wondering why the embrace of the magic felt familiar.
"It was something I learned from that cheat book. Anyway, don't judge me, it just means that no one can hear what I am about to tell you. I really need your opinion here. I had another vision of Voldemort the other night-" Harry began.
"Harry…" Hermione groaned at him, he was letting Voldemort into his mind again, that wasn't good.
"I know Hermione, I know. There was a conversation taking place between Voldemort and Bellatrix Lestrange. They kept talking about Gringott's and Bellatrix's vault. I think Voldemort was trying to ensure that she had something of his hidden there for safekeeping. I didn't really hear much else about the item or whatever the hell it was that she has stored there for him. All I know is that Voldemort kept asking Bellatrix if it was still safe in her vault. Which means that whatever the item is, it has been there for a while" Harry told Hermione.
"What could a megalomaniac want to hide? A weapon, perhaps? Or something that could ruin his plans and something that he doesn't want to be found and placed in the hands of the wrong person?" Hermione questioned her thoughts out loud.
"I honestly don't know Hermione, but whatever it is, it's clearly important enough to Voldemort. I also got a snippet of a conversation about Rowena Ravenclaw. God knows why he was discussing Ravenclaw but again, it feels important and I think I need to try and explore it all in more detail, without seeming suspicious. Dumbledore is already keeping a really close eye on me this year and I don't want him knowing that I am having visions of Voldemort again. I can't stand anymore of those lessons with Snape" Harry said.
"Professor Snape, Harry" Hermione replied.
Harry rolled his eyes.
"Sure, because you call him that when the two of you are in bed" Harry grinned lazily at her.
"Whatever Harry, and don't pull that expression, you look just like Draco when you do that" She pouted at him.
Harry chuckled for a moment and then his eyes turned serious again.
"What?" Hermione questioned, noticing the sudden change in his expression.
"About Malfoy…" Harry started.
Hermione glared at him, daring him to continue what she knew was going to be an insult or accusation about Draco.
"Look…I've sort of been following him on the map again, I've got a funny feeling that he is up to something again" Harry told her.
Hermione sighed; she knew there would never be peace between the two boys so she didn't have the energy to argue with Harry when it came to Draco.
"Just try not to obsess over it this time Harry, we've got more important things to be worrying over this year. I don't know if it's just me but, I have a really strong feeling that we are not going to be in school next year. I can't explain it Harry but, I feel like Dumbledore is getting a bit too old and that he will eventually be overpowered. If somebody takes over the school, and that person aligns with the Death Eaters, there will be no place for us here anymore" Hermione said.
It was quite a morbid though if she was being perfectly honest but, it was an entirely possible scenario. Hermione didn't like surprises; she always thought things through from all angles.
Harry went pale at her words, he couldn't even think of what would happen should Dumbledore be insufficient as headmaster of Hogwarts anymore. It didn't bode well to dwell upon it.
"Look, let's not worry too much about it now. Let's just enjoy the time that we have now, I've taken into account the information that you've given me tonight Harry and I will take a look into it. However, for now, do ya fancy a game of exploding snap?" Hermione giggled at him.
The tension broke and Harry finally smiled at Hermione. He grabbed a deck of cards and he dealt them so that he and Hermione could relax and have a few laughs.
The two had mutually agreed not to worry about anything…for now.