Chapter 20- Care to explain that?
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They were in need of a real talk. She and Hermione had been busy since getting back to school, even if it had only been two days. More Hermione being busy than Ginny, Quidditch practice didn't start until tomorrow after all. And there was no doubt that Hermione had gotten all her assignments done, and then some, over the holidays.
Harry had told her about how Hermione had figured out about Tom Riddle, so Ginny knew that was occupying some of the girl's brain, if not all of it.
The thing was, the last two evenings when the group of friends had been gathered in the common room, Hermione hadn't really been 'present'.
She'd been sitting there with the rest of them, and she and Ron didn't seem too awkward around each other, but her mind had obviously been on other things. Ginny told the boys that she was going to spend the evening with Hermione and see how the girl was really doing. The boys too were all slightly concerned with how spacey she was getting.
When the professor asks a question in class and Hermione's hand doesn't go shooting straight into the air, you know something is wrong.
The two of them had Ancient Runes as their last class of the day that Tuesday and then had made a study date to go to the Library and get some work done. Ginny was determined to get to the bottom of what was going on with her then. But as the class began filing out and Hermione took her time putting her books away Ginny grew more concerned.
Generally, when they had a study date planned Hermione would shoot out of class and dart for the Library to square off a section of a table for them. Now however, she seemed to be too wrapped up in her head to move quickly.
Ginny narrowed her eyebrows as Hermione's satchel was finally filled, closed and strung over her shoulder. They reached the hallway that was now empty of other students before she said anything. "Alright. That's it." Ginny told her. "What is going on? Why are you being so weird?"
Hermione slowed her pace even more and looked around them to ensure they weren't going to be overheard. "You. You know how I'm studying up on Tom Riddle, also known as-"
Ginny held up her hand. "Yes, I know. And that has been the only thing making you act like this? Really?" She asked skeptically. Hermione was very invested in her studies, doing work on her side project shouldn't have made her any less eager in class though.
"Well. There is something I feel I have to do, but I've been trying to work out just how to do it in my head. And..." She shrugged a bit and didn't finish.
"What?" Ginny pried. "Is it something that discussing it with someone else would help? Because, hello." She waved her hand once with wide eyes and gestured to herself. "I'll even keep it to myself if you're worried about that. I promise."
Hermione stopped and stared at her a moment, twisting her lip. "It's just. I don't know how she's going to react."
"She?!" Ginny asked incredulously. She'd been sure Hermione's mood had more to do with the break-up with Ron than she'd been letting on. Or perhaps she was throwing herself into this project than she would have so that she didn't have to think about their break-up. But to hear that Hermione needed to talk to some female about Tom Riddle, well that was very interesting. Ginny's mind immediately went to the possibility of who it could be. Then she internally winced taking into consideration who she knew that would have known the young Tom Riddle and why. Like how Professor McGonagall would have possibly gone to school with him, and perhaps she was 'involved' with him.
Hermione stared at her hard and sucked in a deep breath through her nose before asking. "Will you come with me on a detour right now?"
"Of course." Ginny said without hesitating. "But can you fill me in a bit?" She couldn't help the cringe that came to her face at the possibility that she was about to talk to McGonagall about a regretful former lover.
"Yes." Hermione nodded and looked around them. The corridor was still empty, but she took Ginny's hand and led her over to an empty study close by them. "Homenum Revelio." She brandished her wand, ensuring the room was empty.
Ginny took a seat up on the desk. "Alright. Out with it." She was unsure if she should be worried about what her friend had to say.
"Have you used the girls loo on the second floor?" Hermione asked.
"What?" Whatever Ginny had anticipated coming out of Hermione's mouth, that was absolutely not it.
"The girls' toilet on the second floor. I've made the mistake of using it a few times before when I was bursting, and it was the closest one." Hermione explained, still not making sense to Ginny. "Have you been in it?"
"I." Ginny thought about it and visualized the door to the loo that she was asking about. "No." She told her slowly. "Lavender and Parvati told me I should avoid it. Apparently, there is a nosy and annoying ghost girl that haunts it and she'll pop in on you while you're having a wee." She remembered. It had been the first morning at the castle when she'd walked down to breakfast with her two other dormmates and they'd warned her off that toilet.
"Well that girl is named Myrtle Warren. She was found dead while Tom Riddle was still in attendance here." Hermione told her.
Ginny's jaw dropped. "You think he killed her? Why wouldn't she have told anyone that when she came back as a ghost? Surely her memory of dying couldn't have been removed!"
Hermione shook her head. "I don't know what happened. But yes, I think, given what we now know, that Tom Riddle might have had something to do with it. And" She continued. "I know that Hagrid was expelled just after it happened too." She said sadly.
Tingles shot down Ginny's arms hearing that, and a subtle shiver ran up her spine. "No." She shook her head. "No, absolutely not. Hagrid is possibly the biggest sweetheart there is."
"Absolutely." Hermione agreed vehemently. "There is no way I would ever consider Hagrid responsible for killing someone." She assured her. "I think Tom Riddle is responsible and somehow got it blamed on Hagrid. Thing is, I don't have proof and I want to get as many details from Moaning Myrtle about the days leading up to her death, and her death, as possible."
"Moaning Myrtle?" Ginny asked in concern. "That's the moniker she got saddled with? That's depressing."
"Yeah, well." Hermione started with a resentful roll of her eyes. "It kind of fits. You'll understand when you meet her."
Ginny was weary of that and took it as forewarning. "So, she's clearly not pleasant. You think having two of us there talking to her would help her tell her story?"
Hermione worried her lip and seemed apologetic about how her plan was going to involve her friend. "I think if we played up that we were being teased and one of us was super upset about it, then we could earn her sympathy and she might be open to sharing." She told her with a bit of a cringe.
Ginny stared at her blankly for a moment before the corner of her mouth began to rise into a smile. "Really? You want to deceive her to gain her confidence? My my, Hermione Granger. You do surprise me. Stealing boys' hearts, lying to get information." She teased.
Hermione blushed prettily. "I am didn't steal anyone's heart." She defended. "Ron seems perfectly fine with us being broken up."
Ginny scoffed. "Well he had two weeks to deal with it. And I had to deal with him." She pointed out. "Don't get me wrong, he seems to have moved on slightly now, and I'm sure he'll have a date lined up for the next Hogsmeade weekend, but he was pretty devastated for most of the holiday."
That had the Prefect pouting with a concerned wrinkle between her eyebrows. "Oh. I do feel bad about it. But it is for the best. We weren't going to make it."
"Let's not worry about that right now." Ginny waved off the topic. "I'm game for manipulating a ghost into giving us information. It won't actually hurt her any to tell her story, and maybe then I can use that toilet!" She beamed easily. There had only been one time so far that she'd nearly gone into it but remembered being warned off it at the last minute and had to race somewhere else. Playing this part with Hermione sounded kind of fun too.
"That's what I figure. And." She blushed. "I may have um," She cleared her throat. "Urgh." She exasperated a groan and deflated. "I have to tell someone this I've been bursting keeping it myself, and please, I'm begging you, don't tell anyone. Even Harry."
Ginny's eyes went wide with surprise and humor at her normally composed best friend losing some composure. "Absolutely. I promise. What is it?"
"I broke into a Muggle government building over the holidays." She leaned closer and whispered.
"What." Ginny's face went blank. "To what end?" She asked in confusion.
"Well, it's the research I was doing on Tom Riddle!" She said in a hurried hush. "I had figured out his name through the Ministry of Magic, but to find out anything about his years previous to Hogwarts there would have been so many hoops to jump through if I went the way these things are supposed to go. It isn't like I could Owl them." She shook her head. "The offices were closed on January second and third, so I. I may have just broken into two buildings using magic and gotten the answers I was looking for by myself." She admitted.
"Hermione Granger!" Ginny drew out, sounding more impressed than scandalized. "Look at you. You are a bad ass in disguise! You know, you can tell me. Are you working behind the scenes to take over the world?" She teased.
Hermione rolled her eyes once before settling into a worrisome expression and biting her lip. "I've been feeling kind of bad about it." She admitted. "But not bad enough that I won't attempt to do the same thing here if Headmaster Dumbledore doesn't approve my request to see Tom Riddles school records." Her jaw was set about that.
"Of course you will, you naughty girl." Ginny waggled her eyebrows at her.
"Alright." Hermione blushed. "So, for convincing Myrtle to confide in us-" and she told her the plan.
Ginny threw open the door of the girls' lavatory, ushering in a sobbing Hermione. "Okay. Just wait here a moment." Ginny cooed. "I'll just." She hesitated. "Just one second, I promise." She headed to check all the bathroom stalls for occupants while Hermione continued bawling and hiccoughing loudly.
Ginny banged on every toilet door, ensuring that they were alone. The third loo on the right though was occupied by a moping ghost girl perched with her bum hovering over the tank behind the bowl, her feet hovering over the seat lid. "Oh!" Ginny exclaimed taking a step back in surprise. "Sorry about that!" She said hurriedly and checked the other stalls before going back to Hermione and taking her up in her arms.
"Just don't listen to them Hermione! They were just being cruel." She assured her.
"But it's true." Hermione sobbed. "I'm just a bloody know-it-all. A Mudblood."
"Hey." Ginny sharply cut her off. "I won't let anyone else call you that, I'm certainly not going to stand here and let you say it about yourself." She stroked her friend's bushy hair, trying to comfort her.
"And my hair?" Hermione grumbled. "What about that? It's awful! But I don't have time to deal with it! There's just so much!"
"It's not important!" Ginny assured her. Moaning Myrtle had come out of her stall then and was gliding over to them slowly, peering curiously. "Those girls are just evil and vapid, okay? If they don't see all the great qualities you have, then that's on them. You'll just have to be content with me keeping you all to myself." She told her firmly and hugged her closer.
"But. I just." Hermione choked another sob. "They say stuff like that when I don't do anything with it, and then they say nasty things about my hair when I do manage to make it look good! Why can't they just leave me alone." She sobbed even harder.
"Hey." Ginny soothed. She made eye contact with Myrtle and gave her a small smile of commiseration. "Those girls have nothing else going on in their head, okay? To them aesthetics are the only thing. Their mission in life is to land a husband. They would never understand worrying about a Potions assignment until you got it right. You are so much better than them in a million ways. Just don't let them get to you."
"I just. Argh!" She growled. "I'm stronger than this." She argued and pulled back from Ginny to angrily wipe at her eyes. "Oh." She saw Myrtle there. "S-sorry." She managed through glassy eyes. "Just. I just need a minute, and we'll leave you alone." Her chin warbled.
"Hermione." Ginny sighed. "Come on. We're not in a hurry. Let's just stay here and talk it out. It'll feel better if you vent about it and get it off your chest. I'm sure she doesn't mind." Ginny nodded at the ghost. "You don't mind, do you?" She asked her pointedly.
Myrtle looked slightly surprised being addressed directly then shook her head. "No. Feel free to take your time. I myself had many tormentors when I was a student here."
"See." Ginny latched onto that tidbit of information. "There are always mean girls, always have been. You just need to rise above it." She rubbed Hermione's shoulder and turned back to Myrtle. "How long ago was that?"
"I've been dead for over fifty years." She said sadly.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Ginny told her. "I'm Ginny. And this is Hermione." She introduced them.
"Myrtle Warren." She offered.
"What did your tormentors do to you?" Hermione sniffled, looking at Myrtle with tears rolling down her face.
"Olive Hornby." Myrtle bristled. "She was always making fun of my glasses." She said angrily.
"Oh." Hermione sympathized. "I think your glasses quite suit you." She argued and wiped her cheeks. "They don't hide your face; the wires are nice and thin on them."
Myrtle gave her a millisecond long smile and reverted to her frown.
"Do you know what happened to her? Olive Hornby?" Ginny asked.
Myrtles transparent eyes twinkled then. "Ohh." She moved closer with excitement on her face. "I haunted her." She told them eagerly.
Ginny and Hermione exchanged dumbfounded expressions before turning back to Myrtle and laughing. Myrtle joined in on their laughter.
"Really?" Hermione asked, now with real tears of mirth rolling down her cheeks.
"That's brilliant!" Ginny exclaimed after sucking in a deep breath and trying to control her laughter. "You haunted your tormentor! Amazing."
"It was great! I haunted her all the way up to her wedding day." Myrtle grinned evilly, then pouted. "Then I was banished here." She frowned. "The Ministry stepped in after she made enough complaints." She let out a big sigh. "Now I'm stuck here forever."
"This toilet in particular?" Ginny asked with a furrowed brow. "I don't think I've seen you before. In the Great Hall, or in the corridors or anything."
"I get around a bit." She said sadly. "But this is where I died." She looked down at the floor.
Ginny and Hermione drew in a gasp at the same time.
"What happened?!" Hermione asked.
"Right here in this lavatory?" Ginny asked at the same time.
"You want to hear?" Myrtle asked with surprise and a glimmer of excitement. Both girls nodded. "Ooooh, it was dreadful, it happened right in here. I'd hidden because Olive Hornby was teasing me about my glasses. The door was locked, and I was crying, and then I heard somebody come in. They said something funny, a different language, I think it must've been. Anyway, what really got me was that it was a boy speaking. So, I unlocked the door to tell him to go and use his own toilet, and then... I died." She finished with a simple, yet intentionally dramatic, shrug of her shoulder.
"Just like that?" Ginny asked.
"Some boy you went to school with killed you because you found him in a girl's toilet?" Hermione pressed, not looking sad at all anymore.
"Well." Myrtle reflected. "I don't remember any spells being used. Just a pair of big yellow eyes. And then nothing." She pouted. "Then I was this." She gestured down at her transparent self.
"Yellow. Eyes." Hermione repeated, clearly holding onto that detail.
Ginny could tell Hermione was about to switch to her inquisitive nature, forgoing their ruse all together and tried to come back around to get at the Tom Riddle potential of it all. "Do you remember at all who the boy was?" She asked, trying to seem more awestruck and regretful of Myrtles situation.
The ghost shook her head mournfully. "I don't remember who he was. Just the hissing sound he was making, and how it was most certainly a boy making the sound."
Ginny felt a weight settle into her stomach as she realized what that hissing sound must have been. And how it was most certainly Tom Riddle that had been making it. She took in a heavy swallow and refused to look at Hermione then. Myrtle was still looking between the two of them and she couldn't chance having a silent conversation with her friend and betraying her thoughts. "What year was it you died Myrtle? I can't tell by your uniform." She intentionally reached forward as though to test the material of the fabric, then quickly pulled back her hand as though remembering she couldn't really touch it, then let out a little half giggle. "Sorry."
Myrtle let out a short chuckle as well. "It was June 1943." She told them.
"There must have been an investigation or something." Hermione remembered her goal and the game they were playing to get there. "Were you a ghost and back here in time to see any of that? You must have been wildly curious about what caused you to die." Her eyes were wide and imploring. She managed to act like the story was sounding more like a melodrama than holding vital information they were looking for.
Myrtle shook her head. "It was a few years before I came back here. I when the Ministry restricted me to staying in the castle I did have an interview with Headmaster Dippet before I was allowed to take up residency. He told me that they'd expelled a boy for what had happened, apparently he had been harboring a beast in the castle, and that was what killed me."
"Do you think the beast might still be here?" Ginny asked forcing wonder in her tone and expression. "Is that why you stay here? Sort of like, protecting the other students?"
Myrtle shifted uncomfortably and her eyes went wider, as though she was trying to portray both innocence and bravery. "Yes." The lie was obvious to Ginny, so it was most definitely obvious to Hermione, but the two of them weren't going to say anything. "That's truly why I scare most away from this toilet. I don't want any other girls to die of the same fate." Her chin tilted up proudly.
"That is so magnanimous of you." Hermione said in awe.
If Myrtle could blush, she probably would have. She looked bashful anyhow. "Yes well. I don't think any other girls should suffer from my fate." She said strongly. "And those girls that bullied you, well. You just don't listen to them, okay? You are pretty, and you are smart, and you are better than them." She said told Hermione strongly.
"Thank you." Hermione said sincerely.
"She's right." Ginny told her friend. "And they'll be sorry too. I'm going to slip something into their Pumpkin Juice that'll have them running to the toilets." She grinned evilly.
Hermione snickered. "No, don't. I won't stoop to their level." She shook her head.
"You don't have to! I will." Ginny told her enthusiastically.
Myrtle joined them in their laughter.
"Okay." Hermione wiped under her eyes and let out a deep breath. "Okay. We have to get to dinner and then do our assignments." She told Ginny and turned to Myrtle. "Thank you for chatting with us."
"Oh. You are welcome back any time." She smiled to Hermione and then turned to Ginny. "I wish I had a friend like you when I was alive."
"That's nice to hear." Ginny told her. "I'll start using this toilet more. Maybe come in for a chat once and a while." She looked around. "It's a nice loo as well." She said honestly. Some of the other toilets didn't even have windows, this one had a big stained glass one and nice deep sinks that wouldn't have the water splashing up into your lap.
"It is." Myrtle said softly. "I like watching the Quidditch games out the window."
"Well you can watch me practice tomorrow night then!" Ginny exclaimed. "I'm on the Gryffindor team."
"Oh, okay." Myrtle told her eagerly.
Ginny grabbed Hermione's hand. "Bye Myrtle and thank you." Hermione told her with a wave.
The two of them headed back towards the library, waiting until they were a few corridors away before popping into one of the classrooms and Ginny closed the door behind her.
"Holy shit!" She exclaimed. "Holy shit!"
"I know!" Hermione said, equally as effected. "Good acting by the way."
"Yeah, you too. But can we talk about the 'Holy shit' of it all?"
"Yes! Yellow eyes." Hermione shook her head, looking at Ginny but not seeing her. "Yellow eyes and hissing."
"Yeah, well, I was more focused on the hissing part and how Tom Riddle was a Parselmouth. Now we know for sure that he was responsible for Myrtle Warren's death." Ginny stated.
"Well, I had assumed that all along. But now I have something else entirely that I want to research." Hermione said and nearly did a little dance with this hop of excitement at her new project.
"What are you talking about?" Ginny asked. "You are already in the middle of a major research project."
"I know! But it's all connected." She exasperated. "You see, I looked into the whole ordeal of Myrtle Warren dying, and there was a rumor that it had to do with something called 'The Chamber of Secrets'. There is a bit about it in Hogwarts: A History. Supposedly it was this chamber that Salazar Slytherin himself created and there was a beast inside it!"
Ginny blinked at her. "You think Tom Riddle found this chamber and a 1500-year-old beast killed Myrtle Warren." She deadpanned.
"Well." Hermione started, then caught herself. "Well. It could be the many generations later offspring of the beast." She offered with less surety.
"Right." Ginny wanted to smile humorously but wasn't sure how her friend would take that.
"In any case. I'm pretty sure the beast would have been a snake of some sort. I'm going to research deadly snakes, and more on the Chamber of Secrets." Hermione said with determination.
"Okay then." Ginny gave in to her friend. "Let's go to the library."
()()()
It felt good to be doing something completely normal like this; Lazily tossing a Quaffle back and forth with Ron in the dorm room. Neville had gone off to the greenhouses right after dinner. Probably more likely that was his excuse to snog Luna a bit, but Harry wasn't going to call him out on that. The girls had gone to the library, and from the way that Ginny was giving Hermione these 'looks' it didn't seem like it was just homework they had in mind. Again, he wasn't going to call them out about it, she said she was going to get Hermione to tell her whatever was making her a little off.
His own assignments he'd completed during his free time, while Ginny and Hermione had other classes. He'd been doing that to try and maximize time with Ginny, but she had a ton of her own work and not as much free time as him. They hadn't been able to have proper alone time since the first day back. He was trying not to be too concerned about it, but before the holidays they'd both been swamped and not had a decent amount of time together just the two of them.
They'd figure something out.
Right now, he wanted to just hang out with Ron.
While Neville had been a great guy friend to have around for his first five years at school, Ron and he just had more of the same interests. Namely Quidditch, but Ron was a little more laid back than Neville too. He didn't get rattled by other people's opinions of him. Or he'd just build up a head of steam and then blow up at something or other for a moment and be fine again.
They just got on really well, and Ron wasn't as judgmental as Seamus or Dean.
All five of the dormmates got on well enough, but Harry was starting to feel a closer friendship to Ron. Particularly now that Neville had Luna on top of his Herbology Apprenticeship he was getting his hours for.
They'd been tossing the Quaffle back and forth for near an hour discussing potential World Cup contenders until the subject was beaten to death before Harry switched it to Hermione.
"She seems fine." Ron shrugged a shoulder. "I mean, it was her that ended it, so I don't know why she wouldn't be okay with it."
"I don't know. I think she really liked you that way. I just can't really figure out what it is that she thought was wrong." Harry wondered. He hadn't watched Ron and Hermione together much, mostly because he was so caught up with Ginny, but also because he didn't feel the need to watch that. There had been a few times when he'd caught them sharing an intimate moment of staring sickeningly into each other's eyes and he'd wondered if he looked at Ginny like that. He hadn't caught doubt in Hermione's eyes.
"Well." Ron caught the Quaffle and turned it around in his hands a few times. "There was... she wasn't as. Um. Ready? Yeah, ready to, uh, progress things?" He relayed nervously. "But I don't think I was pressuring her or anything." He assured Harry.
"Oh." Harry shifted uncomfortably.
Thinking back over how his relationship with Ginny had progressed it might have seemed fast. She'd slept in his bed in only her knickers before their first month of the relationship milestone. Man, had he been rock hard that whole night. If he hadn't had those few shots she'd poured down his throat he might not have slept at all and just wound up staring at her all night. It had been the first time he'd seen breasts! And they were her breasts. And they'd been right there, just inches from his hands, and his mouth.
But she'd been completely passed out. He'd had to make do with a quick wank in the loo to relieve some of the pressure before managing to fall asleep beside her, still hard, and that felt perverted. Not near as perverted as what he'd done in the Room of Requirement the other day, but still.
"So, you guys didn't get up to much in broom cupboards then." Harry nodded and caught the Quaffle.
Ron sighed. "Mate, I only got my hand under her shirt once." He confessed.
Harry couldn't help his jaw dropping then. "Wha- But. You guys were together for four months!" He couldn't fathom it. He was pretty sure that Neville was already past that point with Luna.
Ron groaned. "You have no idea how patient I was being with her." He moaned. "And I could have kept it up." He assured Harry with a pained expression. "I really like Hermione. Liked." he corrected. "I mean, she's-"
Harry held up a hand to stop him. "I could tell you liked her. But what about Greengrass, or Lavender?" He asked. "If Hermione is seeming alright with the breakup then you should feel free to move on. She'd still be your friend if you get another girlfriend." Harry suggested. "I mean, maybe don't be snogging in the common room if it's Lavender. Even I wouldn't want to see that. Nor Ginny." He chuckled.
"Yeah." Ron grinned. "I may have already been letting Lavender catch me staring at her a bit with, you know, making my appreciation apparent."
"What?" Harry asked, confused.
"Oh." He grinned. "There's this book that my brothers gave me when I turned sixteen. It's all about wooing witches. You know, how to let them know you're interested. Laying the groundwork and all that." Ron explained, not seeming at all embarrassed about his 'how to' guide.
"What?!" Harry asked, this time louder. Why hadn't anyone thought to give him a book like that? He was completely useless with girls before Ginny came along. Hell, he was completely useless with Ginny when Ginny came along. Luckily, she knew what she wanted and basically told him what was what when she got fed up enough of waiting. "Do you have it here? Can I see it?" He wanted to read this book.
"What the bloody hell do you need it for?" Ron asked incredulously.
Harry blushed. "I. I'm just curious." He dialed back his volume as Dean and Seamus came into the room.
Ron, not at all bothered by the others coming into the room carried on like they were still alone. "You're already shagging Ginny in orchards and the like, I really don't think you need to read it."
"What?" Dean and Seamus asked, frozen to the spot they were standing and staring at Harry like he was their new messiah.
"How do you know that?!" Harry asked horrified. "You didn't see us, did you?"
"No, I wasn't watching or anything. But I do have a view of the orchard from my bedroom window. And it was pretty obvious what was going on." Ron rolled his eyes.
It was amazing to Harry that his girlfriend's older brother wasn't currently beating the shit out of him for 'defiling' his sister in the manner he had. He'd seen them going at it? Wait, which time? "Which time?" He couldn't help himself asking, his horrified emotions putting a block on his brain to mouth filter.
"Nice! You nailed her more than once in an orchard? You are my new hero." Seamus praised.
Harry shot him a glare while Ron scowled at him in disgust. "Don't talk about her like that." They both barked at him.
"Look mate." Ron turned back to Harry. "I didn't 'see' anything, but the way the tree was shaking for the five seconds I noticed it, connecting the dots wasn't that hard. Even for me."
"Oh." Harry deflated, very relieved that that was all Ron had noticed.
"So again, I'll ask, what do you want to see the book for?"
"Well." He blushed. "Just because Ginny and I are solid doesn't mean I know anything about how to keep wooing her."
"Yeah, just how to convince her to be alone with you in an orchard." Dean muttered to Seamus loud enough for Harry and Ron to hear him. Harry lobbed the Quaffle at Dean's head and it bounced off. "Ow! Alright. Calm down Casanova."
That got all of them laughing.
"So, Ron is thinking of making a move on Lavender." Harry let the other two into Ron's business, only with a bit of spite behind his motive for sharing.
"Really?" Seamus picked up the Quaffle and tossed it back to Ron. "I had a bit of a thing with her in fourth year. She'll be a nice transition girl from Hermione. No offence." He shrugged.
"Not harboring anything for her, are you?" Ron wanted assurance.
"Nah." He waived off any concern. "We just went on two dates in Hogsmeade and snogged a bit. She's a decent snog for sure, but there weren't any actual 'feelings' between us. She's nice enough, just not for me. Her tits have really come in though." He trailed off.
"Yeah, cool. I was considering asking her for 'help' in Divination." Ron winked with cheeky grin. They all snorted with laughter, none of them believing in the subject beyond that there were true Seer's out there, but you either had the gift or you didn't. It was also funny because Ron wasn't even taking the class.
"By the way." Harry brought up, his focus on Dean and Seamus. "If I hear any comments about my sex life with Ginny, or those kinds of comments at all really I'm going to know where it came from."
Dean gave him a wry grin. "Why? What are you going to do to us if we tease you?"
"Well, let's see." Harry pretended to think for half a second. "I'm top of our Defense Against the Dark Arts class and now live with an Azkaban escapee and former Marauder. Pretty sure I can come up with something unsettling. Not to mention that my girlfriend is his sister." He pointed at Ron. "And she has five more older brothers where he came from."
"And were more of the physical sort when it comes to dealing with problems." Ron told Dean with a straight face that came off way more threatening than Harry had expected.
"Understood." Seamus spoke up for Dean, who looked understandably rattled from Ron's impressive stare down. "Did you just say you live with an Azkaban escapee?" Seamus picked up. "Sirius Black?" His eyes went wide.
"Yeah." Harry grinned. "He's my Godfather and now my guardian."
Harry'd been keeping that information to his immediate group of friends. Dean and Seamus were out layers that he didn't generally carry on with. The two of them looked suitably interested in this development.
()()()
Sirius had sent an Owl ahead to Remus letting him know he'd be coming through his Floo for a meeting with Dumbledore that evening. They were both going to be attending it. It was a planned group discussion on what the individual progress had been for the elimination of the Horcruxes and the potential location of the Wraith Voldemort.
Neither the foreknowledge of this appointment, nor Sirius's expected arrival stopped Remus from looking thoroughly surprised to see his friend appear in his study.
"What's wrong with you?" Sirius asked with a humorous lilt to his voice.
"I did something stupid." Remus admitted honestly and immediately. It was like he'd been bottling it up to himself for much too long and had absolutely needed to get it off his chest.
Sirius grinned, eyes twinkling in interest. He'd been privy to Remus' acts of 'stupidity' through their school career. They usually involved women or his inner wolf taking over and 'making him' mark his territory on something. One such instance was when a Slytherin Beater named Thompson had singled out James aggressively during one of the games and Remus had gotten so worked up about it he went down to the Slytherin change room, found Thompson's locker and peed on everything.
To be fair, that had been during one of those rare months with two full moons and he'd been quite off that whole month.
His embarrassment afterwards had only added to the laughter his best friends shared over his actions. James had been very moved by his loyalty as well and promised to return the favor at his next opportunity.
It was still two weeks until the next full moon, he doubted Remus had done anything stupid involving his students, so that left a woman. And Sirius was very interested in hearing any stories about Remus being 'stupid' with a woman. He took up in the seat on the other side of his friends' desk and waited eagerly for the full story.
"I had a sort of, date, last night." Remus admitted.
"Okay." Sirius encouraged him curiously for more. Remus was still a young single man; it was expected that he date. Though he hadn't told him about any women of interest he'd had on his mind.
"Only, I wasn't sure it was a date until the very end. There's. Well, there's an age difference, and she's quite. Well, she'd quite capable of getting someone much more on her level, so why she was sniffing around me."
Sirius held up a hand. "Can we dispense with the self-deprecation please? You've always been like this. Women like you Remus. Deal with it."
Remus sighed. "Yes, well. Anyhow. We had a lovely evening together at the Three Broomsticks, there were some lewd stories shared, but it still wasn't until we were about to part ways that she made her intentions known."
"Ah, nice. Love it when they make the first move." Sirius waggled his eyebrows at him. "So, what was the problem? Did you shoot off too soon?" He asked with intentional crassness.
"No." Remus growled. "While, true, it had been a while since I'd last been with someone I did not 'shoot off too soon'. But I may have been a bit rougher with her than I had intended." He said sadly.
"Oh." Sirius sat back. It had been a concern that Remus had voiced to him in confidence back in school. Sometimes the wolf came out while he was snogging and would get a little carried away. According to every romance novel out there women liked when a man would get a little aggressive with their lust and barely able to control themselves because they just 'wanted her so bad' or whatever the phrasing was. In reality though that wasn't the case. "Did you get completely carried away? Or can you recover from it?" He was essentially asking if Remus forced himself on her.
"No it wasn't anything that bad." He seemed both angry at the insinuation and concerned that it would be a possibility. "I just snogged her a little to roughly and made it very evident that I was wanting more." He explained. "I managed to stop myself before I went too far though."
"Okay." Sirius stretched out the word. "And how did she seem?"
"Well. Rattled a bit. I only managed to stop myself because of how she was saying my name." He frowned.
"Guessing she wasn't moaning it then."
"She sounded panicked Sirius." He exasperated.
"But you stopped." Sirius pointed out. "Then what? I imagine you apologized and ran away." He guessed. It would be Remus' style to panic himself a bit after that and bolt. Probably sending her a formal apology.
Remus nodded. "Came back to the school and sent her an Owl apologizing."
Sirius wanted to laugh out loud at how well he knew his friend. "And did she send anything back?"
That had his friend pursing his lips slightly and his Adams apple bobbing once. Remus hesitated, weighing his options, before conceding and taking a slip of parchment out of his top drawer and sliding it over to him.
"I never said I didn't like it. It was just a little more aggressive than I was expecting.- Tonks"
He stared at the name until it was simply a black splotch on parchment. It wasn't as though he had a close relationship with his cousin's daughter, but it was a bit of a shock. She'd flirted heavily with Remus at the New Year's gathering, but he hadn't thought anything of it.
Remus was right, there was a fairly sizable age gap there. She was of age though, several years past in fact. And a fully trained Auror who could obviously take care of herself.
"Oh." Was all he managed. "Well. I guess she really does like you." He offered.
"That's it?" Remus asked him incredulously. "I told you what happened. She's your cousin!"
"My second cousin, I only met her last week." Sirius corrected. "And she's a fully-grown woman."
Remus scoffed. "Only just."
"So, you aren't attracted to her?" He challenged, not needing an answer. The slight coloring that came to his cheeks was enough of a giveaway even if he didn't already know. "She seems interested in more." He held up the slip of paper as evidence.
"She's just a little too close to my life here for us to get involved in anything." Remus drew out. "That shadow program she spoke about with Harry? That is why she was here yesterday. That's happening and I'll be working with her on recruiting students for it."
"That doesn't sound like a reason to not attempt dating her a bit if you are both interested." Sirius reasoned.
"I'm a werewolf Sirius." He deadpanned.
"Still not a reason to not date her if you are both interested." He drew out, enunciating every word.
"No." He shook his head. "I'm going to send her another letter telling her that though I enjoyed the evening I got too carried away at her kiss. I just. I just would like a friendship with her. That's it."
Sirius narrowed his eyes at him. If the self-deprecating bastard wasn't in a state to listen to reason, then Sirius wasn't going to waste his breath. "We have a meeting with Albus that we're late for." He pointed out, getting up from his chair.
They weren't going to come up with any hard and fast solutions to dealing with the Horcruxes at this meeting, but it had been a few days since finding the cup and Sirius had still not told Albus about it. The old man had been keeping secrets from them and he couldn't help but be a little spiteful about that.
His spite had increased after Amelia had mentioned her concerns over the Privet Drive Deed and it's wording. While yes, that had nagged at him before. He'd even discussed with Albus about two weeks ago, but they'd been caught up with the Horcruxes then as well.
Harry should never have been stuck with the Dursley's. They were awful to him; it was amazing he hadn't turned out to be some hooligan causing trouble everywhere he went and talking back to his professors. That would have been how he himself would have wound up.
It had occurred to Sirius though that Harry might not have realized he was being mis-treated. It had taken a while for Sirius to catch on to his own mistreatment from his parents and he'd done what he could to lash out against them. Getting sorted into Gryffindor had been a great way to start rebelling against them. Befriending James and Remus has helped draw that line in the sand between them as well.
Harry hadn't said anything about receiving actual beatings from his uncle, that had been a small relief. Not that being their own personal House Elf, going without food and getting bullied by his cousin was in any way okay. But not being told of any beatings had been good.
Sirius and Remus took up in seats across from the Headmaster. He was looking much better than the last time he'd seen him. The shock of seeing whatever he'd seen with the ring seemed to have worn off. The letter requesting the three of them have this meeting had come from Albus, and it was formally written not showing any signs of him having lost his mind.
"I thought it best that we report in with each other on our research and discoveries." Albus started. "I also thought it best that I explain what happened to me on our last little adventure."
"You haven't been walking away from these events in the best of health." Remus told him gently.
"Yes." Albus sighed. "My predecessor may have lived into his 300's, so I can hardly claim it is due to my age, but then again I doubt he had to use up so much of his magical core the way I have been doing these past two weeks."
He was referring of course to Armando Dippet, the last headmaster of Hogwarts. Someone who should have never taken up the post when he did. Most wizards lived well past 100 if they passed of natural causes, but they generally either moved on to warmer climates or were mostly home bodies that came out for important Wizengamut votes. Nicolas Flamel and his wife were the only recorded magical couple that lived past 400, but neither of them was active in society. They just simply were alive.
"So, what was it about this particular Horcrux that set you off?" Sirius asked him straight.
Albus must have been actively trying to respect Sirius' distaste for his drawn out and dramatically built up 'reveals' because he didn't do that 'pause and look over the eyeglasses' bit of his before responding. "Have either of you heard the story of the Deathly Hallows?"
It took all of Sirius' will power not to just get up and break something over the apparent subject change. His blood pressure seemed to rise the moment he stepped into the man's office. It wasn't even Albus' fault, it was how he was, and Sirius recognized that. He just didn't particularly want to deal with it.
And so, Sirius opted to just take a deep calming breath and let his friend speak for both of them.
"The story about the three brothers?" Remus asked, encouraging the man to continue.
"Yes. Many believe it was a fable, but it was in fact the true story of the Peverell brothers."
Sirius blinked at him while he processed that then narrowed his eyes. "You are saying that there is really some all mighty wand that was bestowed on the eldest Peverell brother."
He nodded. "One that many have been killed over. I had dedicated many of my years after schooling searching for this wand with my dear friend. And we found it." He said mournfully.
Remus and Sirius exchanged a look.
"It is fine." Albus told them lightly. "This story has been told to children for many hundreds of years. I understand you believing that I may just be a raving old man telling you another fantastical story. But tell me; do either of you know of an Invisibility cloak that has lasted generations?" Now he did the looking over the glasses bit of his.
It took Sirius a moment, but when he decided to humor the old man and give it some thought the wind was inexplicably knocked out of him then. His brain was quickly working in overdrive to find a reason behind it. James had his father's invisibility cloak, the same one that Harry had now, and it worked perfectly. There hadn't been any spells added to it, no tears in the fabric, no signs whatsoever that it was aging.
But that was ridiculous.
Judging from the vacant look on Remus' face he was thinking the same thing.
But there was the slimmest of chances that it was true.
Also, that invisibility cloak had not been there with them at the Gaunt Shack that day. The ring had.
"The stone?" Sirius asked drawing the connection.
"The stone." Albus nodded with a sigh. "It has the mark of the Deathly Hallows on it, and I believe it is the Resurrection stone." There was a flash of grief that passed over his face. "That was what had given me the shock. I had dedicated several years to the search for the Hallows. To have seen one appear before me like that. It was a shock to the system."
"You think the stone in the ring is the Resurrection Stone?" Remus asked, baffled.
"I know it is." Albus told him sadly. "And thank you." He turned to Sirius. "For taking it away from me. I do not need the temptation of it."
Sirius said nothing, still not believing this story. He wasn't willing to argue about it now though. "So now you know where the cloak and the ring are. How about the wa-." Then he cut himself off when he remembered. Albus Dumbledore had defeated Gellert Grindelwald and won his wand. "Huh." was the most response he could manage to continue with as he took in the wand of the man before him.
"This is not at all what I thought we'd be discussing this evening." Remus tapped his finger on the arm of his chair, clearly not at all worrying about Nymphadora Tonks anymore.
"That is true." Albus nodded. "We are here to talk about the Horcruxes."
"I found the cup." Sirius told them. "Now the ring, the cup, and the locket are all in my vault. And I'd like for them to get destroyed as soon as possible."
"I understand, and I am of the same opinion." Albus nodded. "My only hesitancy is the fact that they are all priceless relics."
"As was the Diadem." Remus brought up. "They have been touched with evil and aren't what they used to be any more. Replicas can be made. Maybe not with the exact same properties, but they would hold the symbolism." He offered.
"I understand that." He told them. "But as they are true pieces of history, I would like a little more time to research before we resort to their destruction."
"I have been looking into it as well." Remus nodded. "There was a way to put the soul into them, there must be a way to transfer it to something less sentimental."
"Meanwhile I've been looking at a way to destroy them that doesn't involve Fiendfyre." Sirius told them. "Like Dragons Breath, or Basilisk Venom. Going on that it would need to be a magical method." He explained. "Though, if we are able to essentially pull the soul out, then the Killing curse might work too." He offered.
"Hmm." Albus peered at him speculatively. "If. No." He shook his head. "No that would be too barbaric."
"What could be more barbaric than what has been done already?" Remus pried. "In order to make them he had to first kill someone, and we are essentially talking about killing pieces of his soul one at a time."
"Yes, it is just that the initial option that pulled to my mind was to collect all the pieces into one... being."
Sirius felt the urge to throw up at that. "What? Like putting him back together like a jigsaw puzzle before we kill what is left of him?" He had the image of an Inferi with the three collected pieces of soul residing in it and being dangled in a cage for a Dragon to finish off for them. He gave a shiver.
"That does sound slightly barbaric." Remus said slowly. But also sounding more like he was thinking of whether they could pull it off.
"But?" Sirius asked, knowing his friend was seeing a reason for them to attempt it.
"But. If he is out there in his Wraith form, and I'm assuming he'd gone to Albania." He offered up. "Having a being or some such with three pieces of his soul might be a way to sort of, call him out."
"I've drawn the same conclusion on his current location." Albus agreed. "And that is essentially along the lines of what I was thinking as well."
"Now we'll need an Inferi then?" Sirius asked, coming around to the idea a bit. An Inferi was already dead after all. And trapping an evil man's three pieces of broken soul in the body of a zombie like creature might horrify his soul fragments, should they be able to take it over. That would be something Tom Riddle deserved.
"I wasn't even thinking Inferi." Albus stated in surprise. "Although, that would be an option, if we had access to one."
"Another option would be feed the soul of one of his death eaters to a Dementor and transfer his souls into one of them." Remus offered sadistically, completely out of character for him, but he was seemingly thinking out loud more than giving a legitimate option.
Sirius moved right past the idea of his cousin Bellatrix getting her soul sucked out to be replaced with her masters. She'd probably be completely open to the idea. "Do you really think the pieces would, sort of collect and come back together if they were in the same, for lack of better word, vessel?"
"Yes." Albus stated without hesitation. "The fragmented pieces of soul would be drawn to each other, particularly if housed in the same space. It would be like ice and water at first, but eventually the ice melts and becomes indistinguishable from the water."
"At least that is your theory." Remus told him. "There has been no record of this."
"That is true. It is just a theory, but one that I am sure will be proven correct." Albus nodded. "And before we go any further on this subject, I wanted to share something with the two of you, speaking of 'records'." He told them. "You are both familiar with Hermione Granger?" He asked them unnecessarily.
Remus' brow furrowed. "Yes of course."
Sirius knew what this was going to be leading to. He'd all but put it out of his head the lunch he had with Harry and his friend Hermione. She seemed incredibly bright, but still he was blown away with the amount of information she'd managed to get on Tom Riddle.
"She is a tenacious one." Albus started, then let out a sigh. "She has asked for permission to view the school records for Tom Riddle."
"What?" Remus leaned forward. "How did she know?"
"Oh." Sirius cringed. "Guess I forgot to tell you." He turned to his friend.
"You knew that she knew?" He asked puzzled.
"I ran into her with Harry at the ministry. She'd been looking into the 'Origins of Voldemort' over her holiday." He explained. "She'd been preparing a thorough history of the last war after the kids went through all those old Prophet stories, you knew that bit. And that led her to finding out everything she could about who he really was."
Remus leaned back in his chair. "That does sound like her. She'd incredibly studious that one."
"That she is." Albus agreed. "And I've no doubt that she will find a way to get her hands on his records one way or another." A whisper of an amused smile crossed his lips. "She had obtained all the information on his time in the Muggle world. Before he came to Hogwarts and his summers spent in the orphanage."
"And his work history after Hogwarts as well." Sirius added.
"And she hopes to do what with it?" Remus asked.
"A series of articles for a magazine or something. At least, that was the idea she'd floated around last week." Sirius told him.
"Her argument was rather compelling actually, and I wanted to consult the two of you before I allowed her to see the records." He told them.
Sirius bit back a sarcastic response about what an honor it was to be considered and let Remus field this one. So far as he was concerned, she could write whatever she wanted. In fact, if they had the Auror's monitoring the former Death Eaters when news was released that their master wasn't really dead and gone, then they might just lead them all to where the Wraith was hiding, and it would save them a lot of searching.
"Perhaps." Remus started then looked thoughtful a moment. "The girl is undeniably intelligent. And I believe if you allowed her to chronicle his past up until he completely adopted the Voldemort moniker, then it might help us."
"That is part of why I am leaning towards allowing it."
"What is the other part?" Remus asked.
"It was her that gave the argument that made it seem like quite the logical reason to allow it." Albus admitted. "She claimed that if the public knew his origin story, even those with previous leanings towards him, the knowledge of who he really was and where he came from, it might stop people fearing him still."
He had to admit, that was a solid reason. Even with the Slytherin heritage his relatives had been living in squalor before they passed on, leaving him the last remaining direct descendant. Tom Riddle was a half-blood that was using his natural talents at political manipulation to gather followers and see his views as correct. "Let her see them." He agreed.
"Yes. That is a very valid point." Remus allowed. "However." He prefaced. "Having anything published with her name on it." He emphasized.
"She has already stipulated that she would opt to write it anonymously and her goal is not to gain profit from it. A stipulation that I believe to be true." He chuckled. "I rather think she would take any profits from her articles and put them towards something that would go very much against the desires of Death Eaters."
Remus grinned at that. "Funding for the Muggle Studies classes for field trips and the like?" He offered.
"Amusing as that would be." Sirius brought up. "She should run any articles past you or Remus before she tries to sell the idea to the Daily Prophet or Witch Weekly."
"I agree, and I requested as much when she brought her request to me."
"And she should absolutely not be told about the Horcruxes until they are dealt with." Remus stated firmly.
"No." Albus agreed.
"Okay. Then until we find a way to transfer the Horcruxes, I have also been looking into how we could trap or contain the Wraith." Remus told them.
"And?" Sirius asked. He felt rather useless when it came to figuring things out like this. He was a man of action. He could search high and low for secret passageways in the castle or small objects that contain part of an evil dictator, but he'd been blessed in school with a natural ability to pick up on facts and how to do things. Studying just wasn't for him. Most of his assignments in school he'd paid someone else to do the research for him. Usually a cute Ravenclaw girl he could repay in a broom closet. Remus and James had been the truly smart ones, and Sirius found he absolutely had to do a project himself he'd usually need one of them to read facts out to him so he could string something sloppily together.
"Runic stones are the best way to keep one in one place. And I believe a cage of sorts could be built with Runic stones so that we could transport the wraith. I'm sure there are other ways, but I haven't gotten far through studying that subject just yet." Remus admitted.
"And if we do manage to trap him." Sirius pondered. "He still wouldn't be able to be killed properly until the rest of his soul fragments were also taken care of."
"If we were to try destroying the Wraith before finding and destroying the rest of the Horcruxes he made then there is a very good chance he would manage to escape again. And to a different place entirely."
"We could just trap him in the cage, kill off the three Horcrux pieces that we know about and then leave him in the cage behind several locked doors in the Department of Mysteries." Sirius suggested. "At least then we'd know where he was. The main part of him anyway." He shrugged.
There was a moment of silence while they all contemplated that possibility.
"I believe that is as much planning as we can do at this time." Albus told them.
"Now onto other business." Sirius said delicately, staring down the headmaster.
"Yes?" He asked.
"We've been over your reasoning for leaving Harry with his aunt and uncle." Out of the corner of his eye he saw Remus stiffen. "But the wording of the Deed to Privet Drive. It was reading as though you yourself were the one in charge of the Potter estate. Care to explain that?"
()
AN- The bit from Myrtle about her death was taken directly from Chamber of Secrets.