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Chapter 32 Crossroads

Thirty-six hours and one exploded toaster later Harry woke up. Amycus had taunted his sister about her muggle studies class. In response, Alecto attempted to demonstrate its use. The death glare and flashes of energy rippling through Hermione's hair had been frightening enough, then she informed them next time she was telling Rodolphus, and if he didn't care she would tell Voldemort. No one wanted to call her bluff. They kept away from any appliances after that.

MacLellan summoned her after examining Harry. "He's disoriented, which I expected given the trauma his body has been through. Stay with him, I need to go report in."

She nodded and slid into the chair next to the bed. The dark-haired man groaned. "Hey, Harry. How are you feeling?" she asked softly.

"Like I was run over by a bus, Mione. Did you get the numbers?"

"No, because it wasn't a bus."

"Oh, yeah, right. Suddenly realization hit him, he surged upright, "Hermione! You're alive."

Gently, she pushed him back down, "I am. You need to rest."

"What happened to you? You just vanished."

"I did," she agreed.

"Why?"

"I saw something that broke my heart. Which lead me down a path to even worse discoveries."

"Me and Ron," whispered Harry.

"Ron and I," Hermione corrected automatically. They both laughed.

Harry shifted on the mattress, "I always wanted to tell you. But Ron said no one would understand. That homosexuality is frowned upon in the wizarding world. And I wanted to keep him happy." He shook his head, "Saying it out loud now sounds so stupid."

"When did you get together?"

"Beginning of 5th year. He dated Lavender to keep up appearances."

"Just to you know, I would have understood. You were my friends. I want you to be happy."

"I should have ignored Ron and trusted you."

"Yes, you should have, but it led to some discoveries we deserve to know."

"What?"

"Not tonight. Tonight you need to rest. So, you get a bedtime story about what happened after I left you."

"Mione, I'm sorry about everything."

"I know. You could have at least been considerate enough to use your own damn cots. Now, hush. After I saw you, I blanked, no thoughts, no plans, nothing.

"I ran off into the rain and after exhausting myself, decided to do something reckless. I was done with the wizarding world, you all could kill yourselves for all I cared. I wanted a complete education to properly protect myself from dark magic." She took a deep breath. "So, I wrote Voldemort and proposed a game of hide-and-seek. I won. I am safe from harm, now."

"You can't trust that, Hermione. They lie."

"No, Harry, Voldemort's acceptance of our little game sealed a vow. He, nor his followers, can harm me, or allow me to come to harm by inaction. He loses his magic."

"Oh," Harry's awe colored his tone.

"Yes, oh. After I won Voldemort helped me take my NEWTS. Then he and his followers began teaching me anything I wanted to know. At first, I stayed at Malfoy Manor. Now I'm at Lestrange Hall."

"Is that where we are?" asked Harry.

"No, we're at an undisclosed safe house."

"Why?"

"Voldemort wants you kept safe while you recover."

"He wants me healthy when he kills me?" Harry spat out bitterly.
"No, he wants you to be as close to a sound mind as possible to discuss the matters between you. He wants to end the stalemate. His ambassadors have been meeting with willing Order members."

"And they believe him?"

She shrugged, "He's met all my demands."

"He's faking it to get you to join him."

"No, he's making decisions based on all the information available. He has never lied about his desire for my help. But he's gone out of his way to avoid manipulating me."

"What did he offer you?" Harry asked sadly.

"Later, that's part of the conversation you need to be stronger for. Where was I? Ah, yes, Marcus Flint renewed our friendship and things are progressing there. I've made friends. The Lestranges adopted me."

"You're an adult," protested Harry.

"They performed a ritual that made it like I was born to them, as well as my parents. Quite complex magic."

"What about Luna?"

"In true Luna fashion, she saw through my glamours. She decided then she was on my side regardless of which side I chose."

"Your side?" Harry sneered.

"Watch it. Yes, my side. I don't agree with everything, but I am trying to help change what I can. And if he tries to reinstate a reign of terror and death. I have a contingency plan. No, I will not share it with you." She held up a hand to silence him. "I made the choices that were right for me. I don't regret any of them. Right now comfort yourself with the knowledge I am happy. You don't understand and you won't for a few more days."

A soft rap at the door distracted them. MacLellan entered, "Still awake? Good. Hello, Mr. Potter, my name is Aiden MacLellan. I am a healer with St. Mungo's. I have a few potions I want you to take. However, you have a choice. One schedule is gentler on your body but will take longer. The other is harder on the body, but works faster."

"Do I need to finish the potions to have the next conversation?" Harry asked Hermione.

"Yes."

"The shorter route, please."

MacLellan raised an eyebrow and looked at Hermione. She nodded. "Alright then, let's do this." He handed Harry three vials.

"Bottoms up," he downed the liquids in rapid succession. Soon he heaved into the wastebasket.

"I'll arrange for some tea and broth," Hermione whispered to the healer. "Are you hungry?" He shook his head.

It took three days for all traces of manipulation charms and potions to be gone. Hermione arranged for access to Dumbledore's portrait and to see Minerva McGonagall. The deputy headmistress was the last person on Hermione's list. Snape promised to prep and trap Dumbledore and make himself scarce. His history with Harry was messy and complicated. His presence would make an already difficult conversation worse.

Hermione requested the guards be ones that knew her story. Rabastan, Rodolphus, Marcus, Adrian, and Cassius volunteered instantly. Varl when above and beyond creating an elaborate buffet for breakfast. Once everyone served themselves and sat around the table, Hermione repeated her story for Harry. She finished with, "He placed charms on a lot of people, including you. He made you predisposed to trust certain people and dislike others. Healer MacLellan found these charms and some potions in your system."

"What potions?" Harry asked.

"Two different, and very potent, love potions. And compounds designed to heighten arousal."

"Keyed to Ron and Ginny, right?" Harry guessed calmly.

"Yes," Hermione answered just as calmly.

"Huh, that explains quite a bit." He resumed eating.

"You are taking this better than I would have," Adrian admitted.
Harry shrugged, "I think I might still be in shock. It's not that I don't believe Hermione, it just hasn't sunk in yet." He took another bite. "And still not the worst thing that's happened." He looked at Rodolphus. "Her new mom killed my last family member."

"While I accept the first part, I argue the second. Your father had many relatives. And your mother had a magical ancestry." Rodolphus argued. "You have a family."

"It isn't easy to forgive, and you don't have to forget," Hermione assured him.

Harry finished eating, "I'm ready when you are."

She stood, "Let's go." She looked at the rest, "See you lot later."

"Date tonight?" Marcus grinned at her.

"Something. No idea how today will go."

"Let me know when you get back."

She kissed his cheek, "Of course. Love you."

He grinned at her foolishly, "Love you, too." They ignored Adrian's snickering and Rodolphus's glare.

Together the pair apparated to the gates. Snape allowed them onto the grounds. They walked through the castle in awkward silence. Snape opened his office for them, allowing them to enter without him.

Albus Dumbledore stopped pushing against his frame when he caught sight of them entering. He slumped a bit. "Harry, my boy! Miss Granger, you've realized the error of your ways. Wonderful!"

"Not quite. I felt Harry needed to hear some truths directly from your mouth."

"Truths?" questioned Dumbledore.

"Like why didn't Sirius get a trial, Albus?"

The image struggled to remain silent, then blurted out, "Sirius would never let me sacrifice Harry to destroy the Horcrux in him. I needed to groom him for the greater good."

"Did you know Peter Pettigrew was the secret keeper for the Potters?"

"I did."

"Did Lily and James have to die? Were you okay with their deaths?"

"No, but it gave me control over Harry, and that was acceptable."

"Did you have Snape tell Bellatrix the Longbottoms knew about Voldemort's whereabouts?" She smirked.

Dumbledore glared at her, "I did."

"Why?"

"They disagreed with some of my decisions and were going to side with the Death Eaters in the Wizenmagot."

Harry broke from his horrified stupor, "Why?"

"The greater good, my boy," Dumbledore twinkled down at him.

"Why did you charm Hermione?" Harry demanded.

"To help you. She's highly intelligent and powerful."

"Could have been more powerful if you hadn't bound me," she snorted. "The legacy was their hidden research."

Harry resumed his interrogation before Dumbledore could respond to Hermione. "Did you know Ron was feeding me love potions?"

"Given Molly's history, I suspected it."

"Why didn't you stop him?"

"You both seemed happy and it kept him content and involved. He could be used to help control Miss Granger."

"Miss Lestrange," she interrupted.

"She managed to convince herself the order to be friends and take care of Ron was a romantic impulse. He could keep her invested."

"YOU DID WHAT?" Both Hermione and Harry jumped as Professor McGonagall raged into the room. "Albus Dumbledore! How could you?"

"The greater good demands sacrifices, Minnie. Calm yourself, there's a good girl."

"Don't mind him, he's been treated with a truth-telling varnish," Hermione told her.

McGonagall stared at her in fascinated horror. Merrily, Hermione guided Dumbledore on a macabre question and answer session to reveal everything he knew and did, bringing McGonagall and Harry up to speed. The Scottish woman looked murderous. "Headmaster Snape pointed out we might need him for information he managed to hoard from us." The older woman looked at her. "I wanted to burn his portrait after my first conversation with him."

"Miss Granger, I cannot even begin to imagine the hardship and horror you have gone through. I am so sorry I did not see what was going on and step in."

"I appreciate the thought, but Dumbledore ensured his actions would be protected under your oaths to the headmaster." Hermione patted McGonagall's hands.

"Does Severus know of this?"

"He does," Hermione nodded.

"That explains his mentioning of reworking those vows. Surely he suffered for all this as well."

Harry spoke up, "Please start screening students for charms and potions."

"And stop the bullying, especially the inner house bullying. Our houses are supposed to be our homes. Our family shouldn't bully us."

"Agreed," Harry said.

"Also a wizarding studies class for muggleborns would help, and a well taught muggles studies class. Taught by someone who grew up there and still visits."

"Looking for a teaching post, Miss Lestrange?" asked Professor Snape. "My apologies, the wards alerted me of Minerva's arrival."

"Lestrange?" McGonagall stared at her.

"Yes, Lestrange. Rodolphus adopted me, well Bellatrix as well." She turned to Snape, "I have no interest in teaching the masses. I would hex someone in the first week. I do have suggestions if you're open to the idea."

"Of course you do," Snape replied in a fond voice, while still rolling his eyes.

"It would be rude of me to say do this and not help make arrangements," she teased.

"And your thoughts are?" Snape inquired.

"Teach muggleborns how the wizarding world works: government, money, interactions with sentient beings, sports, and social norms. Teach wizards how muggles live without magic: technology, art, and entertainment."

"And instructors?"

"Ted Tonks always wanted to be a teacher. Andromeda could be a backup for Madame Pomfrey, and her successor when she's ready to retire. He still visits the muggle world frequently. For the other class, Percy Weasley. He's wasted in the ministry. He knows the etiquette and the ins and outs."

"I shall discuss this with the board," Snape promised.

"That's all I ask." Harry snorted. "I am aware I can and have asked for more, I was being polite and tactful," she smacked him. "Thank you, professors. We should be going." She took Harry's hand.

Back at her house, she hugged Harry, "Do you want to be left alone to think, or do you want to think in company?"

"Alone, please."

"Okay, if you need anything, including food, call for Bee or Maisie."

"I will," he promised. He put his foot on the first step. "Thanks, Mione, for everything."

"You're welcome."

To distract herself from overthinking and fretting, Hermione held a movie marathon for the evening guards. Something none of them minded in the least.

Harry paced around his bedroom, putting the events in order and looking at them through a new filter. He kept coming back to the fact that while the Death Eaters committed the acts, Dumbledore often set the events in motion or complicated matters. And he saw nothing wrong with manipulation if it got him what he wanted. The Longbottoms didn't agree with him, so he arranged for them to be removed. Bellatrix and Couch may have performed the act, but Dumbledore manipulated Augusta into betraying her family numerous times. He made Remus into an unquestioning flunkie, willing to die for Dumbledore's cause. His poorly thought out cause. It failed before and Dumbledore simply repeated it. Shacklebolt and Tonks could have been fired. As died before telling her, Harry assumed he never intended to let Hermione discover her ancestry She implied important knowledge would have been lost. All because Albus Dumbledore didn't know how it would benefit him. So he denied her of it. Then he made her into a walking reference tool for Harry.

He didn't understand why Molly and Ron wanted Hermione to date Ron. Harry sighed, he assumed she knew. Once presented with a mystery, it wasn't in her nature to leave it unsolved. She knew the reason, and Harry suspected he wasn't going to like it. She had made Dumbledore confess he knew what the obedience charms would do and he used them anyway, repeatedly. He decided he needed to ask.

He exited the bedroom and went in search of Hermione. Laughter led him to a large room with several couches in front of a giant television. Hermione sat cuddled up with Flint. He thought he recognized the other two as Slytherins around Flint's age. They lounged on the couches watching old Looney Tunes cartoons, laughing at the antics of Daffy, Bugs, and Elmer Fudd. Harry stood in the doorway watching his best friend laugh her head off. He couldn't remember the last time he saw her relax like this.

He couldn't hear what was said, but Flint retaliated by tickling her into submission. They ended up laid out on the couch, Flint hovering above her. Instead of admitting defeat, Hermione leaned up and licked his cheek, distracting him. Taking advantage of his inattention, Hermione shoved upward, flipping him off of her and the couch. He landed on the floor, causing even more laughter. Hermione popped up to her feet. "Never give up! Never surrender!"

Graham wiped the laughter tears away. "Was that the movie you and Luna went to? She said that the other night."

"It was." She noticed movement by the door, "Harry! Do you need something?"

"Um, yeah," he shifted uncomfortably. "I have some questions. Mainly about Molly. Why did she want you to date Ron? And why did he agree?"

"I haven't asked her directly, but I assume because I could be ordered to be the perfect spouse for him. I would cater to his every whim and ignore the affairs. As Ginny was potioning you, I assume no one else knew about the two of you. Ron would need me to have kids for Molly and cover his affair with you."

"That sucks. I am so sorry, Mione." Harry frowned.

"Lots of people suffered for his greater good and lack of foresight. I am trying to fix it as best it best I can. I gave Neville his parents back, but I can help you find a new life without war."

"You trust them?"

"Rodolphus and Rabastan treat me like a precious princess. Marcus loves me, and I love him. I trust Voldemort to keep his followers in line and keep his word so long as he gets what he wants."

"And that is?" Harry asked.

"Power and immortality You two agree to a ceasefire, you live as long as you want in peace able to fall in love, get married, and have a family."

"What do I have to do in exchange?" he ran his hand through his hair.

"Talk to Voldemort."

"You make it sounds so easy."

A/N: Yes, I know, we still don't know which way Harry is going officially. I am evil. I know this.