Pursuing the Prince
Chapter VI
Disclaimer: I don't own them; I don't know anyone who does. Oh, JK does but I don't know her :)
Rating: Umm…T
A/N: yeah...this took longer than expected...so sorry about that! A big thanks to NaginiFay, Daddy's Morbid Little Girl, Kitala and Loretta for reviewing the last chapter! I hope you enjoy this one: it's back to Grimmauld Place. I decided to leave this as the HQ of the OotP...ENJOY!
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Harry was already frustrated when Remus arrived at Grimmauld Place at midday. Hermione had appointed herself as his trainer against the most powerful legitimens, and often without success, she attempted to help him clear his thoughts.
The fact that Harry found this excruciatingly difficult often led to his out bursts of rage, and consequently, Hermione's temper reared its head too.
"Harry," Hermione said through gritted teeth, "please stop that."
"I can't do it Hermione," Harry roared, "You're asking me to do the impossible! I'm sick of your help, I'm sick of your discipline, I'm sick of…" he threw his hands in the air, "this rotten war!"
"That's all very well," she said tersely, as if telling Ron off for copying her work, "But you belong to this war. You are involved. We are involved. We don't get a choice to suddenly grow weary of…of this."
Harry was beginning to walk out of the lounge room, which had been designated to his training. Hermione pounced to her feet and dashed after him. Grabbing his arm, she swung him around, and, with her free hand she grabbed his face and made him stare her in the eyes.
"I know you feel rotten about everything. I know, Harry. But it's up to you, it's up to all of us to make sure Dumbledore didn't die in vain."
Harry struggled violently out of her grip, "It's too late Hermione. He did die in vain. This whole struggle is useless. This…process of trying to calm me down isn't going to work. I know what I need to do. It's my destiny. I don't need your help."
"Double murder?" Hermione asked in a small voice.
"And anyone else standing in the way."
He stalked out of the room.
Hermione rubbed her eyes and padded back to the cushions they had been sitting on and closed the books that lay open around her former seat. Soft knocking on the door made her glance up momentarily.
"Oh, Remus," she said and she straightened up, brushing the creases from her skirt and smoothing down her red cardigan. "Nice to see you again." She kissed him on both cheeks and turned back into the room, fixing the knocked over items and re-fluffing the cushions.
"You should hold your ground more, Hermione. Don't let Harry throw the "destiny" card at you. If everything is destiny, as he seems to think it is now, I think you are inescapably involved too. I think it's all of our destinies to confront this evil, don't you?"
"You're very wise Remus," she said, "but Harry…he's different. He's resolved. He doesn't want any more beating around the bush."
"That Horcrux he located…where is it?"
"He believes Hufflepuff's Goblet is buried in a chamber beneath the Orphanage where Riddle lived as a child."
"It seems too obvious," Remus muttered.
"Of course there will be enchantment and tests Harry will have to go through to get rid of the Horcrux…The aurors have said they're going with Harry, but I think our "chosen one" feels differently."
"Harry needs the support the aurors can give him. He's planning to slip out in the dead of the night without telling anyone, isn't he?"
Hermione chucked and led Remus into the kitchen, "that's why Tonks has had him secretly hooked up to a tracking device. Anyway, have you got wind of any more information? You've been awfully good with finding out the goings on of the Death Eaters."
She raised her eyebrows at him, almost as if an air of mistrust settled between them.
"Not guilty," he said, and told himself that it was true.
"Well, however you're getting it, keep it coming, it's been very useful…not to mention precise."
Remus nodded abruptly.
"Exactly," Tonks affirmed and walked into the room. She picked up and apple, tossed it in the air and took a bite. "You should be doing my job," she slurred through the masticated apple.
"Hello darling," he said and kissed her forehead, hoping to steer the conversation in a different direction. "I hear you have a tracking device on Harry."
Tonks nodded and beamed at him, "very effective, but it's tiring us all out. Every time he decides to leave his room at night all of us are alerted. He's wrestles, he's always wandering around, so most nights a few of us spy on him without his knowledge."
"You know it'll send him over the edge if he knew," Hermione interjected.
Remus nodded again and stuffed his hands in his pockets, suddenly looking official, "Well it's my turn to try and tame the tiger," he chuckled. "Wish me luck."
"You'll need it," Hermione said as he left the room.
The kitchen was quiet for a while as Hermione put last night's cleaned dishes away.
Suddenly the kitchen door flew open and Mrs Weasley bustled in, shopping bags in her arms.
"Oh Hermione, don't waste your time doing that, use your wand," she said impatiently and, dumping her bags, withdrew her own wand and flicked her wrist. All of the plates flew to their spots and the glasses lined up in neater rows than Hermione could manage.
"I forget sometimes," she said, "and it almost seems pointless. The muggle way is just as easy."
"Here, here," Tonks said, now sitting at the long table.
Molly frowned at the young auror, "that's because you never tidy after yourself so you never learnt the spells."
Tonks feigned shock but then winked at Molly, "here, here."
Mrs Weasley couldn't help but crack a grin at her, "you're terrible Nymphadora," she said.
"You know what's terrible?" Tonks said, pulling on her new-look curly brown hair, "I'm not sure that Remus is being honest."
Hermione sat at the table too, "what do you mean?"
Tonks lowered her voice, "it's not that I don't trust him…I just feel like this information he's getting is…how can I put it?"
"Odd?"
Tonks narrowed her eyes as though trying to locate her thoughts, "I've asked him how he's finding all of this out and he either changes the subject or he's really vague. I'm just wondering if he's found another double agent…or…you don't think that he's…"
"That's enough," Mrs Weasley said, interrupting what was initially a private conversation. "We all know that Remus doesn't have the propensity to do that. It would be such a slap in the face for him if he knew you were unsure about him."
Tonks sighed, "I'm not attacking him Molly," she said, holding her ground. "I'm saying that there's something… surreptitious going on and I want to know what it is. I mean, it's a bit of a precarious situation."
"How?" Molly asked, emptying the last bag. "He's doing us a favour."
"OK, let's say that what he's doing is all above board. That he has a source that won't speak to the lot of us. Someone who wants to be invisible. He may think he's a hero, but he's in a lot of danger. What if Voldemort finds out? And anyway, that part of the operation is my job. Remus needs to teach Harry and help him…not put his life on the line. That's what Kingsley and I do. That's not only what we're paid for, it's what we're trained for."
Molly shrugged and left the kitchen. Tonks waited a few minutes before turning to Hermione, "I'm gonna find out who's giving him the information. Are you in?"
Hermione looked uncertain for a second, then said, "sure. Anything to distract me from Harry's temper."
quote from The Quiet American by Graham Greene
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