The Daily Prophet
August 4th, 1997
MOM And The Chosen One Join Forces
Sources inside the Ministry of magic claim that Harry Potter, known across the wizarding world as 'The Boy Who Lived' and 'The Chosen One', has been secreted away to an undisclosed location for what has been described by minister of magic, Rufus Scrimgeour, as 'advanced auror training' in order to better prepare him for the imminent battle with 'You Know Who'. Scrimgeour further stated that Potter, once properly trained, will have a team of aurors, as well as the mysterious knowledge of certain 'unspeakables' at his disposal. When asked by reporters about the whereabouts of 'The Chosen One' in the two days since the attack on his relative's home in Surrey, and the veracity of the alleged prophecy that was destroyed, continued, p.7
Harry Potter tossed the newspaper onto the kitchen table with a snort of disgust and took another sip of tea. It was five in the morning, and the entire Weasley home would be blissfully peaceful for another two hours. After tossing and turning for what seemed like an eternity, he finally got out of bed and came down to the kitchen. The owl that delivered the ministry propaganda rag known as 'The Daily Prophet' had arrived particularly early. No doubt that Scrimgeour wanted this story to get out as quickly as possible. The reporters that had flooded the ministry were apparently getting tired of "No comment", and rumors were starting to fly. "You're doing this the hard way Riddle. If domination of the wizarding world is what you're after, you should have just started a newspaper... Merlin knows more people listened to Rita Skeeter than Fudge or Scrimgeour or Dumbledore..."
His mind shifted to the images that they had seen last evening. Harry had thought he had seen pure evil, that he had looked it in the face the first time he encountered the resurrected Lord Voldemort in that graveyard, but Grindelwald put Riddle to shame. Voldemort was certainly a sociopath, and probably more magically powerful, but Grindelwald oozed depravity and filth out of every pore in his body. Ron was upset at how Dumbledore had killed the bastard, but quite frankly, he thought that Dumbledore had let him off easy. Even Voldemort had never committed murder on that grand a scale. What did all of it mean? Was Hermione right? Was Dumbledore trying to tell them that Voldemort was created by Grindelwald?
"Nothing is over Dumbledore, not even if you kill me is it over. I ensured my victory seventeen years ago."
"He was a funny baby too. Hardly ever cried, you know. And then when he got a little older, he was... odd."
"Someone or something made him this way and it happened long before he got to Hogwarts. It may have even happened before he could walk and talk."
"that lady's words... 'I'll never be happy again', that was almost exactly what I said the day the Dementor came into our train car."
"Someone else can feed him and change him."
"... he could not bear to reside in a body so full of the force he detests... It was your heart that saved you."
"... he was in such a hurry to mutilate his own soul, he never paused to understand the power of a soul that is untarnished and whole."
"Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike..."
"I refuse to believe that you turned out okay and he didn't because you were 'born good' and he was 'born evil'"
"You are protected, in short, by your ability to love... In spite of all the temptation you have endured, all the suffering, you remain pure of heart..."
"...no one on staff wants to go near him"
"... but he will have power the dark lord knows not..."
His thoughts were broken by a light flowery scent, and as he snapped his head around he saw Ginny in the middle of making a u-turn back out of the kitchen. Realizing that she'd been seen, she stopped, like a deer caught in a pair of headlights.
"Uhhh... sorry Harry... I didn't know anyone was down here. I didn't mean to – "
"No, it's okay, I mean... you're not..." This was not the talk he had hoped for. "Umm... tea?" "Real smooth Potter."
"Umm... yeah... sure... thanks." Ginny sat across from him, the sunrise highlighting her thick fiery mane. Harry could not remember a time when he had wanted her so badly, and had they been alone in the house, he might have lost the last remnants of his self control.
"How are you?" Harry started hesitantly, "I mean... I haven't really... seen you... lately... you ok?"
"Yeah... yeah... fine... uh, brilliant... you?" she said, avoiding his gaze.
"All right... couldn't sleep."
"Yeah, me neither... you gave us quite a scare, you know." she replied, finally looking up at him.
"At least she still cares." Harry thought to himself. "I seem to do that a lot... sorry."
"No worries... we're... getting used to it."
"Hey, uh... would you... do you fancy a walk?" Ginny opened her mouth, then closed it again before looking away. "I mean if you don't want to..."
"No, I mean... yeah... sure..."
The summer sun was still creeping over the horizon as they stepped outside into the garden, where the gnomes were playing some odd version of tag that involved hitting each other over the head with scallions. Harry and Ginny were silent for awhile as they walked towards the pond near the end of the property.
"Bill and Fleur are going to exchange vows right in front of the pond at sunset. Should be beautiful."
"You are more beautiful than any sunset could ever hope to be!" "Yeah... lovely..."
"You won't be there, will you?" It was a statement more than a question.
"Not unless there's a spell that can make me look like a ghost; half of the ministry will be there. I'll probably have to stay in Ron's bedroom under my cloak."
"I heard you getting cross with Ron and Hermione when you first got here, everything all right?"
"Yeah, everything's fine, I just... it gets me so angry when they keep things from me. I know it's not their fault, but they can't possibly understand how completely bloody maddening it is to be left on the outside by the people you care about more than anything. All because they're trying to protect you."
"It hurts doesn't it?"
"Yeah Ginny, it makes me feel... not worthless, I know their intentions are pure, I know they're only doing it because they care, but... it makes me feel... I don't know..."
"Frustrated? Powerless?"
"Yes! Exactly!"
He knew that if anyone could understand him it was Ginny. This talk was getting better already. Just then, she wheeled on him, her eyes flooded with tears.
"Now you know how I feel Harry! Now you know how I feel when you push me away! That is exactly how you make me feel every day, and it's not fair! How could you? After what happened two years ago, how could you? Oh sure, it's the crime of the century when they push you away for your own protection, but when you do it to me it's for my own good, is that it?"
Harry felt like he had just been punched in the face... hard. Ginny was in anguish, and it was because of him. He felt a stab rip into his heart that seemed to ripple throughout his entire being. He had hurt her terribly when all he had ever wanted to do was protect her.
"Ginny I love you! I'm in love with you! I want to have children with you! You are the only reason I can even get out of bed in the morning! You are everything to me! I never meant to hurt you like this! I just wanted you to be safe!"
Ginny Weasley let out a small hiss. "I know you're intentions are pure Harry. I know you're only doing it because you care." She'd thrown his own words right back in his face.
"It's not the same Ginny."
"It's exactly the same! Why is it different for you, because you're the bloody 'boy who lived'? Do you think other people don't hurt like you do? Well, let me tell you something Potter, they do, and I'm tired of you breaking my heart! And if you can't see that then you're a filthy hypocrite!" She turned away from him, hugging her arms to her chest, plump tears running down her face, staining her jumper.
Harry reached out to touch her shoulder. "Ginny, please..."
Ginny turned to face him, her voice cracking with resentment and pain. "Don't. Don't touch me Harry. I will not allow you to hurt me anymore. Until you realize that what you're doing is cruel and hurtful, I want nothing more to do with you. And if you never see it, then maybe you never really loved me."
"Ginny I do love you. I love you with – "
"Then prove it Harry!" she snarled, "I'm tired of words." The youngest Weasley turned from him and began walking back to the house.
"Ginny wait! Ginny!" Harry watched her walk away, without even a pause in her gait as he called out to her. She reached the house, and disappeared through the door, slamming it behind her. "God damn it!"
He stormed towards the garden, and grabbing the gnome closest to him, swung it around in circles before launching it over the fence with all his might. "Why was she being so damn stubborn? Why couldn't she understand that if anything happened to her because of me, I could never forgive myself? I'm trying to protect her from Voldemort, to make sure that she has a future, that she has a chance at a normal life. Why was that so intolerable to her?"
Harry spent the better part of an hour vindictively de-gnoming the garden with a vitriol he normally reserved for a certain potions master. As he heaved a particularly feisty gnome who had just clobbered him with a scallion over the fence, he saw Hermione walking towards him, still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Good. Maybe Hermione was able to talk some sense into her."
"Morning Harry. Fred and George going to jump for joy when they find out you de-gnomed the garden for them."
"Good. Then they owe me one. Maybe they can hex some sense into their sister."
"Maybe they can hex some sense into you Harry."
"Great! You too? You women always side with each other." The words came out of his mouth before he realized what he was saying. He closed his eyes, waiting for his friend to start shouting at him. Much to his amazement, she remained calm as the waters of the Weasley pond.
"I'm siding with her because she's right Harry. You are being a hypocrite. I love you, but you need to realize that what you are doing to her is exactly what was done to you two summers ago. Look, I know you love her, and she loves you. I know you want the best for her, but it's not your decision to make. She's a woman Harry, she's not three years old. She is well aware of the risks that come along with being with you, and if she's willing to take those risks, that's her choice."
Harry continued to fling gnomes over the fence as he spoke. "If anything happened to her because of me, I could never forgive myself Hermione, so as far as I can tell, it is my decision."
Hermione let out an exasperated groan. "You still don't get it do you? Everything that is happening, everything that has happened; your parents, Cedric, Sirius, Dumbledore, has happened because of Voldemort. Not because of you. What if Voldemort had given Neville that scar instead of you? Do you honestly believe that any of us would be in less danger right now?"
"If that were the case, I would have had parents, Sirius would still be alive."
"Parents that would be at St. Mungo's lying in the beds that belong to Frank and Alice Longbottom. Parents that wouldn't even be able to recognize you. It wouldn't matter. You'd still want to finish Voldemort off. You still would have been at the ministry that day. You would have been there to fight on Neville's behalf, and for what Voldemort had done to your parents, just as Neville and the rest of us were there for you. Sirius would have still gone there to save you. How do you know that things wouldn't have turned out exactly the same? How do you know that Barty Crouch junior wouldn't have put Neville's name in the goblet of fire? How do you know that Cedric wouldn't have still ended up dead in that graveyard, or Fleur, or Viktor?"
"These things are happening because of Voldemort Harry, not because of you. You're mortgaging your future with the woman you love for something that only might happen, and that you have no control over anyway! The fact of the matter Harry, is that in Voldemort's eyes she is a blood traitor. She is already on his hit list. We all are, and there is nothing you can do to shield her from that. The chosen one could be you, or Neville, or me, or Argus bloody Filch, it still comes to the same thing! No matter who Voldemort gave that scar to, all of us, Ginny included, would stay and fight because it's the right thing to do. We would all still be in mortal danger every single day."
"But I'm the one who has to face him Hermione. I'm the one who has to kill him. Not Neville. Me. And she's in less danger if she's not with me."
"And what if you fail Harry? What if Voldemort kills you? Do you want to die regretting that you spent the last year of your life without her? What about her? She doesn't even get to have a say in the matter. What about Ron? Or me? We could all be dead within a year Harry, and I for one, decided that I would not spend what could be the last year of my life waiting for Ron to pluck up the nerve to ask me out."
"So you think I'll fail... in the end..."
Hermione was silent for a moment before she spoke. "I believed Dumbledore when he said that the greatest power you possessed was your capacity to love. And I believe that if you don't start using that power to it's fullest potential... you might..."
"I do love her! I'm trying to protect her!"
The words came out of her mouth before she could stop them. "No you're not! You're trying to protect yourself Harry! Stop blaming yourself for your parent's deaths! It wasn't your fault!"
Harry wheeled on her, shrieking in rage. "YES IT WAS! THEY'RE DEAD BECAUSE OF ME! I KILLED THEM!"
The years of guilt and torment that had been bottled up inside him were vomited out in a torrent of tears and howls of agony. As his legs began to give way, Hermione caught him in her arms and held his head to her shoulder, holding him like a mother holding her child; kissing the crown of his head, gently rocking him in her arms, his muffled wails of pain puncturing her heart. She sank to her knees under his weight and held him tightly as he convulsed in her arms.
"Oh god Harry... oh you poor baby... look at what he's done to you... you didn't Harry... you didn't kill them... it's not your fault..."
Harry had no idea how long he had been there bawling like a newborn. He was violently trying to control himself, but the tears wouldn't stop coming. The muscles in his stomach wouldn't stop contracting, his gag reflex was suffocating him as hot torrents of mucous ran down his throat. "I just want to die Hermione," he sobbed, "I just want all of this to be over."
She took his head into her hands, forcing him to meet her gaze. "It will be over Harry! But you can't do this alone. You have to let us in Harry, you have to let us help you. You have to allow yourself to love us Harry. The same way we love you, especially Ginny. If you keep shutting yourself away from her, you're shutting yourself away from the only way you can beat him Harry. You're shutting yourself away from the power that destroyed him when you were a baby. It's the only way you can win, I'm sure of it."
Harry's breathing began to slow as he regained his senses. He pulled Hermione to him tightly, burying his face in her jumper that was soaked with tears and snot. He had never felt so weakened and empty, and he clung on to his friend for dear life.
"Harry? Are you okay?"
Harry nodded his head into her shoulder, too weak to talk.
"I'm going to help get you to bed. You need to get some sleep, ok?"
He nodded again as Hermione helped him struggle to his feet, and using her for support, he slowly walked back to the house. They went through the door and into the kitchen. Mrs. Weasley, who had been preparing breakfast, looked at Harry aghast.
"Merlin Harry! What happened?"
Hermione answered Ron's mother, fixing her with a look that told her to leave it alone for now. "He's fine Mrs. Weasley, he just needs a little sleep. It's been a rough morning." She helped him up the stairs and into his bed. Luckily, Ron was in the shower already; he didn't want anyone else asking him if he was okay.
"Try to get some sleep Harry, I'll come check on you in a bit."
The pain he saw in her eyes spoke volumes about the depth of her love for him, the love that all of them had for him. "I'm so bloody lucky to have them." was the last thought that went through his mind before he was overtaken by exhaustion.
OOOOOOOOOOO
Hermione Granger put Harry to bed and went back to the room she shared with Ginny. Her roommate, who was sitting up in bed reading, looked up at her as she came in. "Hi Gin."
"Hi Hermione" the redhead replied, looking back down at her book.
The silence yawned on for what seemed like hours. She and Ginny had argued before she had gone down to speak with Harry. Ginny didn't want her to get involved. If Harry couldn't see what a prat he was being on his own, then in her mind, he was beyond hope.
"I spoke to Harry."
"Congratulations," came the reply.
"Come on Ginny, you're not being fair."
"Not being fair?" She closed her book in her lap and turned to face Hermione. "I don't want you or anyone else fighting my battles for me Hermione. I'm sick of being treated like a helpless infant. I expected more from you."
"I know you're not helpless. I said that to Harry. And I wasn't fighting a battle for you. I was fighting a battle for all of us. If he continues to shut himself off from you, or me, or Ron, or anyone who loves him, he is going to lose to Voldemort and we are all going to die."
Ginny, open-mouthed, set her book aside and turned to face Hermione. "Did you say that to him?"
"Yes I did. And it's high time he heard it."
"How did he take it?"
"It upset him, but it needed to be said. He's only gotten more and more distant since Sirius died. Dumbledore's death obviously didn't help matters. Things are coming to a head Ginny. It's going to get very ugly, very soon and I'm worried about him. I'm worried about all of us. The prophecy states very clearly what he has within him to defeat Voldemort, but if he keeps pushing everyone he loves away because he's afraid he's going to lose them, that power will be meaningless. Not that I blame him for it. He's been through more than any of us can imagine, and the weight of the world has been put on his shoulders. He's going to need all of our help and that includes you."
Ginny let out a sigh as she absentmindedly picked at her pajamas. "I don't know what else to do Hermione." she said, shaking her head in frustration.
"Love him Ginny! Don't let him push you away! That's what you can do! At some point you are going to have to realize that Harry, as wonderful, and as special as he is, is damaged goods. And if you love him, you will keep fighting. If he tries to push you away, don't take it personally because it's not personal. Redouble your efforts and pull him closer. He's frightened out of his wits Ginny. Imagine how you would feel if you were him. If all this was thrust upon you when you'd never asked for it. If the people you loved were being murdered all around you. He just told me that it's his fault that his parents are dead for Merlin's sake. He's had a very hard life Ginny, and until this is all over, it's only going to get harder. If we make him do this alone he will fail."
Ginny's countenance softened. "He told you that? He thinks it was his fault?"
Hermione closed her eyes and nodded. "There is a part of him that believes that everything that has happened is his fault, that all of this could have been avoided if he had never been born."
"That's preposterous Hermione!" Ginny spluttered.
"I know it is. I tried explaining that to him, but I don't think words are going to help. We need to act Ginny, all of us. Our actions are the only thing that can save him." Hermione regarded Ginny as the girl contemplated what she had just said.
"I need some time alone Hermione." Ginny said, getting up from her bed. "I have to sort all of this out, figure out how to do what you are asking of me."
Hermione nodded at her. "You'll figure it out Gin. We all will as long as we stick together."
Ginny allowed a small smile to cross her lips as she opened the door. "Thanks Hermione."
Hermione returned the girl's smile. "No worries Gin. Do me a favor, tell Ron I need a little time to myself? Oh, and tell him to let Harry sleep in."
"Sure." Ginny left the room and closed the door behind her.
Hermione took the letters that Harry had given her out of her trunk, along with a dog-eared copy of 'Hogwarts, a History'. She poured over the first letter, looking for any clues as to who could have written the cryptic missive.
M.P.
Under no circumstances are you to tell the animals that I engineered the "little accident" (although I think the old man suspects it already). It could undermine everything. It is essential that they hate me, now more than ever. I have started my journey through the door. Do not lose faith in me now.
H.P.
There was no mention of any sort of animals in 'Hogwarts, a History' during the years that the Potters attended Hogwarts. Whatever H.P. was getting at, Hermione was sure that the animals weren't real animals, but a code name for specific people. Lily must have at least been on decent terms with these people if the writer was telling her to keep the 'little accident' secret from them. She was also certain that H.P. was not the writer's initials, just as M.P. was not Lily's; they were nicknames or code names of some sort.
She wondered if professor Lupin would know who 'the animals' were. After all, he had gone to school with Lily. Unfortunately, none of them had seen Lupin since Tonks' death. Moody and Arthur had visited him, and had not returned with good news. Lupin was despondent, and was seriously considering going to live among other werewolves in an attempt to swing them over to the side of the Order. It was tantamount to committing suicide; she hoped that someone would be able to talk him out of it. If only Sirius were alive, he'd be able to help his friend through this crisis. Hermione's brain began to whirl, the associations clicking into place.
"If only Sirius were alive..."
"he was seriously considering going to live among other werewolves..."
"Under no circumstances are you to tell the animals that I engineered the 'little accident'"
"The animals?" Hermione took in a sharp breath, scanning the letter once more. "He's talking about the Marauders. The Marauders are the animals!" Hermione got up and paced the room. "Why was it 'essential' that James and his friends hate the author? What was the 'accident' that made them hate him?" Hermione stopped pacing and closed her eyes, scanning her memory for anything she had ever heard about Harry's father. The occurrences at the shrieking shack flooded back into her consciousness.
"Sirius thought it would be – er – amusing, to tell Snape all he had to do was prod the knot on the tree trunk with a long stick, and he'd be able to get in after me. Well, of course Snape tried it – if he'd got as far as this house, he'd have met a fully grown werewolf – but your father, who'd heard what Sirius had done, went after Snape and pulled him back, at great risk to his life... Snape glimpsed me, though, at the end of the tunnel. He was forbidden by Dumbledore to tell anybody, but from that time on he knew what I was..."
Hermione's mind was reeling. She looked down at the initials on the letter. "H.P... Halfblood Prince? It can't be.. Were he and Lily friends? The book! Snape's book was at Godric's hollow!" She had remembered Harry telling her that Snape had hated James because James had saved his life. And here was the letter stating as plain as day that Snape had engineered the whole thing. Why bother? James and Sirius already hated Snape. Why orchestrate anything else? Why engineer your own attempted murder? To get them expelled? Possibly... but another explanation for these events kept tickling the corners of her mind. She repeatedly thrust it aside, but it would not leave her consciousness. "He didn't need them to hate him, he needed a plausible reason to hate them."
She pulled the second letter out of it's envelope and read.
M.P.
This will be my last piece of correspondence for awhile. I am on the other side of the door – do not attempt to contact me if you want me to live. Keep my cloak as a token of our friendship and as thanks for all of your help.
H.P.
P.S. The old man knows, and does not agree with my actions, but there is nothing he can do to stop me.
Hermione dropped the letter as she pulled the door open. She needed to get to Harry's pensieve without waking him. Slinking down the hall, she gently opened the door to Ron's room. Harry was sound asleep. She creeped towards his trunk, silently opening it, and sifting through the vials of memories Dumbledore had left behind. "God damn it! Where is it?" Harry had told her that Dumbledore had shown him his memory of the prophecy, yet none of the vials were dated from 1979 or 1980 when the prophecy would have been made. "Why didn't Dumbledore give Harry that memory?" She needed to see it for herself. She would have to ask Harry about it when he woke without tipping her hand. She silently closed the trunk and snuck out of the room.
She and Ron were eating lunch when Harry had finally awoken. He came into the kitchen looking better than Hermione had seen him in a long time. "Feeling better Harry?"
"Starving" the boy replied, "but yeah I feel really good. Thanks for the talk this morning. You're right Hermione, but that doesn't mean I'm not going to be a prat now and again."
"That's okay" Ron interrupted, "as least you'll know when you're being a prat now."
The three ate in silence for awhile. Hermione and Harry were ravenous as they had both missed breakfast. Ron hadn't, but then again, he was a bottomless pit. When they were close to being finished, Hermione broke the silence. "Harry, I was wondering if I could look at another memory in the pensieve."
"Sure Hermione, did you have a specific one in mind?"
"As a matter of fact, yes. You said that Dumbledore had shown you professor Trelawney delivering the prophecy. I was hoping I could see it for myself, maybe see if there was some loophole in it or something. Something that maybe you missed."
She watched Harry as his eyebrows furrowed. He looked at her as if he was trying to sort something out. "I don't think I have it Hermione. I don't remember seeing it among the vials."
"Can we double check? It could be important."
The three of them returned to Ron's room, and after a thorough check of the vials, Harry confirmed that the prophecy wasn't there.
"Well that's strange," Harry said to no one in particular, "everything else is here, why not that one?"
"Maybe Dumbledore hid it or destroyed it," offered Ron, "maybe he didn't want it falling into the wrong hands."
Hermione headed them off before they could explore the topic any further. "You're probably right Ron. Well, no matter, I doubt I would have seen anything important anyway, we all know what was said. Still, I've always wanted to see Trelawney give a real prophecy instead of all that nonsense she spouted in class. It must have been fascinating."
"Well yeah," Harry answered, "the prophecy itself was, but I didn't realize how much she changed while giving a real prophecy until I witnessed the one about Wormtail in person. She got all wonky and her voice changed. It was pretty creepy actually."
"What do you mean Harry?"
"Well, just that when Dumbledore showed me the prophecy about me and Voldemort, she was just floating on the surface of the pensieve. I could tell it was her, but she was too small for me to actually see how her face changed and all that."
Hermione's breath caught in her throat. "Dumbledore had always taken Harry into the pensieve with him, except on this one occasion. Why? What was he hiding? What else had happened in that room that he didn't want Harry to see? Merlin I hope this works!"
"Harry," she said after a moment, "would you mind if I looked the Wormtail prophecy?"
"Why would you want to see that?"
"Just curiosity really, I've never seen her give a real prophecy. I just wanted to know what it looked like is all."
Harry shrugged and gently pulled the memory from his head as the pensive instructions had directed. "Knock yourself out Hermione. I still don't know why you'd want to bother though."
"Like I said, just thought it would be fascinating to see someone deliver a real prophecy."
Harry and Ron looked at each other and shrugged. "Well, I hope you enjoy it." Harry offered, "Meet us downstairs? We need to plan a trip to Hogwarts to meet with McGonagall."
"Yeah, be down in a minute." Once the boys had left, Hermione thrust her head into the basin and plummeted downwards into the divination classroom, already having a fair idea of what she was about to witness. When the memory ended she was out of breath. Trelawney was completely out to lunch when she gave the prophecy to Harry. She had no idea that Harry was even in the room. It had confirmed what the letters had hinted at. As much as she didn't want to believe it, it was the only thing that made sense.
"Professor Dumbledore told Harry that the eavesdropper only heard the first part of the prophecy before he was ejected from the Hogs Head."
"Harry told me that Trelawney said she saw Snape, that he was the eavesdropper."
"Both of those stories can't be true. If Snape was detected before she finished delivering the prophecy, then she couldn't have seen him... If Trelawney saw him, then Snape..."
"It can't be... he killed Dumbledore..." her thoughts turned to the last time she had seen the headmaster, sickened at the sight of the dead blackened hand. Her mind journeyed back to the first potions class she had ever taken. "I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death..."
"Well – I jus' heard Snape sayin' Dumbledore took too much fer granted an' maybe he – Snape – didn' wan' ter do it anymore –"
She bolted down the stairs and found the boys in the garden.
"Hey Hermione," Harry called, "how was the memory, everything you'd hoped for?"
She hoped she looked more nonchalant than she felt. She tried her hardest to speak of it as if she had read about it in a book. "It was quite fascinating actually, you were right about her voice Harry, really creepy. So, what are we going to do about seeing professor McGonagall?"
"Harry figures we should go tomorrow." Ron offered, "She really can't say anything to him – he couldn't go back even if he wanted to – he's supposed to be dead."
"I'm still coming with you for support." Harry interjected, "You're going to need all the help you can get."
"Thanks Harry. I appreciate it. Oh Ronald, I almost forgot, we need to talk about coordinating our outfits for the wedding."
Ron rolled his eyes towards the heavens. "For Merlin's sake Hermione, do we have to do this now?"
"If you think I'm going to march down that aisle on your arm looking like a complete prat, you've got another think coming! Sorry Harry, give us a moment? It won't take long, I promise."
Harry laughed at the sight of his friend looking utterly miserable at the concept of discussing eveningwear. "Sure thing Hermione – good luck Ron."
Hermione mocked being insulted. "Hey! What's that supposed to mean?"
"Just kidding Hermione." Harry chuckled as he walked off.
When he was out of earshot, Hermione became all business. "Ron I need to talk to you about something very important, something you can't repeat to Harry. You need to promise to keep this a secret for right now."
Ron, looking alarmed, nodded vigorously. "Yeah, I promise, is Harry okay?"
"He's fine... well... no he's not fine but this is different..."
Hermione told Ron why she wanted to see Harry's memory of professor Trelawney. She recounted the facts to him one at a time, and then uttered the inescapable conclusion that she knew he wouldn't want to believe.
Ron was silent for a moment, simply staring at her. "You're completely barmy, you know that?"
"Nothing else makes sense Ronald. If Trelawney saw Snape, she could have only done so before or after she gave that prophecy – not in the middle of giving it. And either way it comes to the same thing – Snape only told Voldemort the first half – the part Dumbledore wanted Voldemort to know – the whole thing was a setup to get Voldemort to create his own worst enemy. It's the only answer that fits."
"How do we know that Trelawney was telling the truth?"
"Why would she lie to Harry about that Ron? What would she have to gain?"
"Why would Dumbledore lie to Harry?"
"Because Voldemort was flitting around inside Harry's head! Dumbledore telling Harry that Snape heard the whole thing would have been the same as telling Voldemort. He would have been signing Snape's death warrant. Do you think it was a mere coincidence that all of a sudden it became incredibly important for Harry to learn Occlumency?"
"I don't know Hermione... what if Trelawney was mistaken? She does drink an awful lot you know."
"I know Ron, and if Trelawney didn't remember something, I would be agreeing with you that alcohol might have affected her memory. But alcohol doesn't make you hallucinate. If she says she saw Snape, I believe her."
Hermione could see that Ron was quickly running out of arguments. She knew he only had one left, one unfortunately, that she had no answer for. "He killed Dumbledore Hermione! Harry watched him do it! How can you believe he's on our side?"
"I can't answer that Ron," she admitted, "not yet. That's the only fact that doesn't fit yet. But I'm starting to wonder about what really went on with Dumbledore's hand. He never did explain it to Harry. What if it was way worse than he let on?"
"How could it be worse? The thing looked dead!"
"Exactly my point Ronald. Dumbledore told Harry that he went to Snape for help after he destroyed the ring. Not madam Pomfrey, Snape." She then reminded him of the first thing they had ever heard come out of the potion master's mouth.
Ron was shaking his head in disbelief. As much as she loved him, maybe it was a mistake to confide in him. He hated Snape almost as much as Harry. "I'm not asking you to agree with me Ron. I don't want to believe it myself. I'm just asking you to think about it. If you can come up with an alternative explanation for all of this, believe me I'll be all ears."
"But you think you're right."
"I think so, yes."
"Geez Hermione, I never thought I'd say this, but I really wish we were talking about what we're going to wear to the wedding. What if you are right? Do we tell Harry? Would he even believe us?"
"If I'm right, this has to be our secret, at least until I get that Occlumency book back from Fred and George. If I'm right, all of us, including Ginny are going to have to learn to block our minds from intruders."
"If you're right," Ron replied, "we're going to have to tie Harry down to his bed again..."