Ch. 18: The grain of doubt
Dumbledore's words stayed with Harry. Could the headmaster be right? Could it be that the exchange students were only using them to get something? What? Lost in thoughts, he bumped into Hermione, who blushed promptly, stammering apologies in a completely un-Hermione-like style.
'It's alright, Mione,' he said, straightening his clothes, when she wouldn't stop apologising. 'I didn't even fall and neither did you, so no harm done,' he laughed, wondering about the blush.
'You're right, I'm completely overreacting,' she said and started at him, before repeating: 'I'm completely overreacting. What has gotten into me?' Harry frowned.
'Are you quite alright, Hermione?' he asked with some concern. 'Where have you been at this hour?' he added because it was nearly curfew and the direction from which Hermione arrived was not the library. To his surprise, Hermione blushed more at the question, which was just as good as an answer.
'I swear Harry, if you laugh, I'm going to hex you into next week,' she threatened, noticing Harry's expression. 'And yes, I was meeting with Elliot. You can be gleeful about it all you want later, together with the twins,' she added almost aggressively.
'Whoa, Hermione, you don't sound all that happy after that meeting,' Harry noted, all trace of humour gone. If Elliot did anything to hurt Hermione, Harry was going to hurt him badly.
'We had a rather serious conversation,' she admitted quietly, pulling Harry's sleeve, so that they went on towards the Gryffindor tower. 'It's late, we don't want to be caught by anybody,' she added in terms of explanation.
'He was bugging you about not going with us again?' Harry asked knowingly and the words Dumbledore spoke to him echoed in his head: "we haven't yet seen everything from them". Did Elliot know that their escapade to the Department of Mysteries would be dangerous and he was trying to protect Hermione? But how could Oz, the gentlest of all people, be involved in something potentially harmful? And what could it be? After all, Harry had seen Raven and Hatter fight Deatheaters so the islanders couldn't be in league with Voldemort.
'Not really actually,' Hermione replied with a sigh. 'Well, he asked me not to go, but I think he's kind of resigned to the fact that I will,' she paused. 'He mentioned that the school year was finishing and that they most hopefully wouldn't be returning after the summer,' she said.
'Just them or Raven and Hatter as well?' Harry asked. Hermione looked at him, blinking for a moment, before the tiniest of smiles lit her face and her blush intensified slightly.
'You know, Harry, I'm not exactly thinking about Raven and Hatter when I'm talking with Elliot,' she pointed out. 'I didn't ask. Why do you care?'
'Well, if they aim to kill Voldemort, or, uh, send him to hell, then I suppose they count on doing that before the summer,' he said. 'I suppose Elliot knows what are their plans, so if he included them in that statement, then maybe there's something new planned that we are not aware of,' he added. Dumbledore's doubts wouldn't leave him be.
'Now that you say it, I suppose it's true,' Hermione muttered and sighed again and Harry realised that there really was something bothering her.
'So they don't come back, is that what bothers you so much?' he asked. He wasn't sure if he understood, but if Hermione did care about that guy then Harry supposed she would miss him. 'He can come to visit,' he suggested, but Hermione shook her head.
'I'm not sure if it's that easy,' she said. There was something she was hiding. 'He said that he would be thrilled if I went with them instead,' she whispered so quietly that Harry barely heard her. His eyes widened.
'Hermione,' he exclaimed. 'Would you?'
'He even said that he could wait for me to finish Hogwarts if that was my wish,' she muttered, ignoring his question. All that sounded awfully final and grown-up to Harry and he wasn't sure what to make out of the conversation. 'I'm sorry,' Hermione said louder, looking at him with a bright and fake smile. 'I shouldn't bother you with those things, we have more important matters to discuss,' she added.
'Not at all, you're not bothering me,' he protested. 'If I can do anything to help you or if you want me to talk with Elliot or something, just tell me.'
'Could you please not mention it to Ron?' she asked and Harry understood her reasons without asking. 'I'm pretty sure I'm not going to go, because Elliot says that if I do, there might not be a way back and I don't think I'm old enough to make those kind of decisions,' she added. Harry noted that she didn't say she would stay for sure.
They walked in silence for a couple of minutes and Harry tried to process everything he has just heard from his best friend. Elliot wanted her to come and stay with him? Forever? A thought struck him and he stopped, staring at Hermione, who looked at him questioningly.
'Hermione, did he ask you to marry him?' he asked. He fully expected her to laugh at him and ask if he had been reading any girly books recently. She didn't. She kind of smirked though and he could see that she was flattered by Elliot's advances.
'Not outright,' she said finally. 'I think he's way too shy for that. But he is a Duke, uh, well a future Duke anyway, it's not like he can have a girlfriend and fool around,' she added. Again she was hiding something and Harry wondered if Elliot had shared some secrets, however, as her words sank in, he forgot everything.
'You're fifteen,' he exclaimed and this time she laughed out and told him to forget everything she has told him. He wanted to protest because there was no way he would be able to forget that kind of news, but she went on. He had no choice but to follow and they reached the portrait leading to the common room in no time.
Neville was sitting there, under the portrait, looking miserable. He looked up at them happily, but then his eyes narrowed and Harry had a vague idea of what his thoughts were, especially since Hermione was still blushing a bit and had that weird smile on her face.
'Let me guess,' Hermione said happily. 'You forgot the password.'
'Is this really something to be that happy about?' Neville asked grumpily and she immediately apologised. She promptly gave the password to the portrait and they entered the common room, which was mostly empty.
'Harry, Hermione,' Ron exclaimed. 'Finally you're here, we have, uh, hi Neville,' he trailed off awkwardly. The boy in question eyed the group, with which Ron was sitting, unhappily and Harry briefly thought that he was jealous to not be included.
'Don't worry, Ron, I'm going,' Neville said in a somewhat dejected tone. He didn't wait for reassurances that he was welcomed and Harry felt incredibly guilty that none were coming.
'Where have you guys been?' Ron asked. Hermione somehow managed to not blush more, but Harry still wondered whether Ron ignored Elliot's absence or didn't make the connection. The twins grinned at their younger brother, obviously having realised where Hermione might have been, or rather with whom.
'Dumbledore was bothering me about being careful,' Harry muttered unhappily. He wasn't even sure why he didn't lie, since Leo, Alice and Oz could hear him. He did trust them nearly as much as he trusted Ron and Hermione and it suddenly struck him that he didn't know them all that well. He felt weird with those thoughts, so he asked Ron what were the big news were.
'The Order will be on the move soon,' Ron announced. Harry glanced at Oz, Alice and Leo, knowing that it was them providing the information. Could they be lying? But to what end? 'This is our chance, because it'll be the only time when the person from the Order won't be guarding the Department of Mysteries in near future. If we don't do it until holidays, we'll not manage to get there till the next year,' Ron added. He sounded eager and completely convinced, but Harry couldn't help thinking that it was convenient to have a precise date for their escapade.
'Where will the Order be?' he demanded, looking straight at the exchange students, surprising everybody by the harsh tone of his voice. Alice, frowning, opened her mouth, but Oz put a hand on her shoulder, silencing her. Why did he do that? Was it because she would complain about Harry's tone or because she could say something that Harry was not meant to hear?
'Professor Snape brought information about some sort of Deatheater meeting that is supposed to take a place at a relatively unguarded location. Voldemort is not supposed to be there, but plenty of his followers will,' Oz said in a calm and serious tone. He didn't look like he was lying and Harry found it hard to resist those green eyes. Ron muttered something about issues with trusting Snape and Harry wondered if there was anybody they could trust anymore.
'According to Hatter, the Order will try to crash the party and arrest all the participants,' Leo added, making a weird face when he said "arrest". 'Because it's such a big event, they plan to pull back everybody they can and gather them for the task.'
'That is awfully convenient,' Harry muttered. 'Also when we're done with planning and only need to remove that one person from guarding the door,' he added. Leo and Oz frowned and the latter asked if there was a problem. Harry wondered what the answer to that question was.
'This is boring,' Alice announced, getting up. 'I'm going to bed,' she added and left without another word. Harry watched her go, wondering how in the world she was ever going to become a Duchess with manners like that. She didn't fit into any picture he could imagine of an heir to a noble family.
'If you don't trust us, there is nothing we can do to prove our words,' Oz said in the most serious tone Harry had ever heard him use. 'Raven and Hatter are already getting suspicious of our desire for details and they only know what the Order chooses to tell them anyway,' he added, irritation creeping into his voice at the last words. Leo muttered something scornful about the treatment their friends were receiving at the Order meetings.
Oz proceeded to tell them everything they knew in a cold and detached manner. When he was done, both he and Leo got up at the same instant and wished the Gryffindors a good night before leaving. Harry watched them leave, thinking that they were upset by his obvious doubts. Was it because they were honest all the time and it hurt to be doubted? Or was it a part of their act?
'What happened, Harry?' Hermione asked when the door closed behind Leo. Everybody looked at him and he sighed.
'Dumbledore thinks that we shouldn't trust them,' he said and summarised his conversation with the headmaster. 'I don't know what they would gain by sending us into a trap, but I cannot stop thinking now,' he admitted.
'Let's see what information they gave us,' Hermione suggested. They had the blueprints from the library, so that was safe. They knew about the watch in front of the department as much from the information from Oz as from Harry's dreams. They knew that Voldemort wanted a prophecy, but they didn't know what the prophecy was, unless they trusted what Oz had told them.
'They give us loads of details on the movements of the Order,' Fred pointed out. 'We have no way to check those, unless we ask Sirius.'
'But if we ask Sirius, then we'll have to tell him where we got those ideas from,' George countered. Harry bit his lip.
'Let's just be cautious, alright?' he suggested thoughtfully, thoughts formulating as he spoke. 'If the Order really is on the move in two nights, then we should try to get moving then as well, but let's not tell Oz and the others that. Let's make them believe that we can't make up our minds as to whether we should trust them or not,' he added. Hermione looked doubtful, but everybody else agreed.
As they continued planning, Harry kept wondering if he was making the right choice. Every time his eyes crossed Hermione's, he could see the inner turmoil reflected in her gaze. It reminded him about Elliot and he couldn't help thinking that the islanders were trying to steal his best friend. Were they also trying to set up a trap on him?
He wished he hadn't talked with Dumbledore.