Disclaimer: I own nothing of the Harry Potter characters.
Chapter Five: The Dawn of a New Day
Hermione rose at the crack of dawn Saturday morning. She quietly slipped into the clothes she had lain out the night before, choosing a simple, but elegant yellow and blue sundress and a pair of Italian shoes she'd found on her honeymoon. They were one of the few extravagances she'd allowed herself at Harry's expense. Padding softly from the room, she paused at the doorway to admire her sleeping husband's form.
Her husband… she still thrilled at the thought of that.
If anyone had told her ten years ago that she would become best friends with gangly Ron Weasley, let alone one day fall in love with and marry, she would have left the Wizarding world and never looked back.
Now she marveled at the good fortune that God, fate and Merlin above, had favored her with.
It had been by no means an easy journey, but one that she would always relish just the same. Hence the reasoning behind the book she had begun to write during quiet moments of introspection when Ron was fast asleep during their honeymoon.
A week before they'd returned she summoned her courage and shown Ron the first several completed chapters, hoping that he'd understand her reasoning behind the venture.
Ron had shocked her, as he did so often since their seventh year. Long gone were the days of jealousy and insecurity that had plagued Ron during his early years at Hogwarts. In their place was a well founded maturity and a wisdom to compliment the sharp intellect he'd labored hard at hiding to most everyone but her and Harry.
Ron had immediately supported her endeavor, so much so, that it had been his idea for her to consider her new found hobby a career choice over resuming tedious research at the D.O.M. Money wasn't a concern as Ron was making a premium salary as one of the world's topmost players. His salary, carefully allocated and invested, along with the substantial nest egg they'd received in royalties from Harry's song,( honoring their friendship and support), would see them able to afford a comfortable lifestyle for many years to come.
She'd balked at the idea initially, but Ron's unflagging support and encouragement had won out and she'd given her notice of resignation the day she'd returned to active duty at the D.O.M..
Yesterday had been Hermione's last day. She'd spent it as she had every other day these past two weeks, furiously writing page after page on her novel followed by a quiet, romantic dinner with her husband when he returned from another grueling quidditch practice.
Today was Ron's first day off in over a week and he was supposed to spend it resting, and he would.
Last night though? Well, that had been a different story. Hermione thought, feeling a blush rise on her cheeks. She smiled wistfully at the memory of last night as she stole away from their bedroom to grab a cup of tea and a danish before returning to her new found labor of love.
For that was what it is; a labor of love. The title had come to her the night of her wedding. It had been staring her in the face for years, just waiting for her to put a name to it, and so she had:
My Two Loves:
A Muggle Born Witch's Journey through the Looking Glass
The first page had been easy. It began: "We weren't always the 'Golden Trio' as people were want to call us; at first sarcastically, but later with a kinder, even awed sense of wonder and profound respect.
Would you like to know how that came about? The answer is a simple one: Ron, and of course, Harry.
There, that was easy, wasn't it? Ron and Harry, or if you'd prefer, Harry and Ron.
I suppose I'd be remiss in not claiming some of the credit. I was the logical one you see. The part of the trio that tried vainly to keep the other two 'boys' grounded in reality. That's a nice way to say that I solved a few clues whilst holding the other two in check. Then, all I had to do was express my conclusion, or even just an opinion and 'Woo-Hoo'-another adventure begins!
I'm getting way ahead of myself, however. Let's begin at the beginning, shall we?
Once upon a time, there was a buck tooth bossy little 'know it all' who boarded the Hogwart's Express…"
Hermione closed her laptop sighing in frustration. It wasn't writer's block… if only it were that easy.
Today was the day.
She'd put it off as long as she could. She'd spent hours collecting what information there was to collect, which wasn't much in substance, but a whole lot of what: Chaos?
The chaos she was referring to has a name: Harry James Potter.
Two weeks. Two whole weeks she'd spent fruitlessly gathering clues whilst trying to catch up with the infuriating man himself; all to no avail. If she wanted to flatter herself, she would think that he was intentionally avoiding her, but in reality, Harry was simply everywhere.
One minute he's at the ministry and an hour later at Gringott's, the next he's averting some troll uprising in the American Appalachians. She'd almost caught up to him one day at the Cannon's facility, having missed him by moments, according to Ron.
Ron claimed Harry was at Chudley practically every day, either at the training center or in the front office.
Apparently, Harry had taken the team's training to a new and unprecedented level. Ron came home at the same time each night, but in varying degrees of exhaustion. The troubling thing about all of this was the fact that Harry often ran the drills, but never participated with the rest of the team.
Whatever Harry had the team doing, it was definitely paying dividends because Ron was in the best shape of his life and it showed.
Merlin, did it show-yum!
Married life had released a brazenness in Hermione that surprised her and delighted, Ron.
They were playing the first of the Cup series semi-final matches against the Harpies on Sunday and Harry hadn't sat a broom in the last two weeks, leading the team to surmise that Chudley was playing the oft injured, Royce Travers on Sunday.
Travers was a fair seeker, but injuries had taken their toll on the aging veteran and it showed in his play.
If the Cannons had a chance against the Harpies, then it wasn't with Travers at Seeker. Ron had approached Harry, (in his capacity as 'Team Captain'), about his and the rest of the team's concerns, but Harry hadn't shown the least bit of concern over what was a rather valid point.
Why work the team to the point of perfection, if they hadn't even a fair chance of winning with the personnel currently in place. Especially, when arguably the best seeker in the entire world was on their roster, but showed no intention of playing,… and it was his team?
Yet, another one of the frustrating mysteries of Harry's behavior since his return from the brink of death.
Could that be it? She wondered for not the first time these past weeks.
Could it be that simple? Could Harry be experiencing some form of post traumatic stress? Such a thing could certainly account for his erratic behavior of late. Undoubtedly, the loss of Harry's familiar, Shadow, had affected him deeply.
Harry did not give his affections easily, but when he did, he did so with a full and generous heart.
Shadow had been precious to Harry.
Steeling herself resolve, Hermione apparated to her mum and dad's to retrieve her mum's formidable assistance in dealing with all things Harry related.
It still struck a bit of a jealous cord with her that her own mother enjoyed the type of close and personal relationship with Harry that she could once boast herself. She was at least glad that Harry had found someone in whom he could confide, though he had shown an abrupt tendency to not do so since his return from a what; coma?
Hermione and her mum arrived at Potter manor to find the Lord of the manse conspicuously absent and a very nervous house elf, Dobby, profusely apologizing in his Master's behalf.
Hermione regarded the quivering elf with a skeptical eye, knowing that he was covering for Harry.
"He knew my mother and I were coming to lunch today, did he not?" She asked succinctly.
"Y-Yes, Mrs. Weazy." Dobby stammered in answer, cringing in the door way.
"So I'm demoted to merely Mrs. Weasley now am I?" Hermione growled. "The last time I was here you referred to me as Lady Granger-Potter." she huffed indignantly , trying to catch the apprehensive elf off guard.
"I-I is sorry, Mrs, but, but his lordship has informed his elvsies that you is to be referred to as Mrs. Weasy now. He made sure to remind us so that we could address you properly, before he went to take care of his business." Dobby returned dejectedly.
"He left then?" Hermione questioned, astutely seizing upon the distinction that Dobby never mentioned his having left the Manor to attend said, mysterious business.
"Oh no, Mrs., His lordship is..?" Realizing his mistake, Dobby immediately began to punish himself by wrenching at his ears. "Bad Dobby! Bad." He scolded himself, mewling as he twisted his ears.
"Stop that at once." Jane Granger demanded.
Once Dobby had released his ears and show some semblance of calming, Hermione's mum, took over what had escalated from a polite greeting to a full out interrogation.
Speaking in a calm, but firm tone of voice, Jane Granger inquired, "Dobby, is Harry at home today?"
Dobby's face scrunched up as if he were trying to puzzle out how to respond, when he settled on. "Not home, Mrs. Granger, no Mrs."
Hermione alighted to her mother's mistake.
"Is he still on the estate?'
Dobby seemed to contemplate her question for a moment, concentrating on the house elf's unique ability to locate its master.
Dobby finally nodded his head anxiously and proclaimed, Yes, Mrs. Weasley, Master Harry is here?"
Hermione's eyes narrowed suspiciously.
"If he's here now,.. Then where was he only moments ago?"
"He was with Master Draco and Missy Abigail, Mrs. Weazy" Dobby smiled toothily, a little too pleased with his cleverly worded answer.
"Not with who, but where?" Jane Granger clarified, wiping the grin off the cheeky elf's face.
"No, Mrs... Dobby can't… no, bad Dobby!" He scolded himself for having almost betrayed his master's privacy.
Noticing his little hands snaking toward his ears, Jane Granger warned. "Don't you dare? I forbid you to harm yourself."
Suitably abashed and his hands returned harmlessly to his sides, she enquired politely.
"Can you tell us where is Harry now, Dobby?"
Dobby scrunched up his face in concentration for a moment before replying with all certainty.
"He is at the edge of the forest near Miss Shadow's and Miss Hedwig's graves."
"Thank you, Dobby"
Jane shared a quick glance with her daughter before they both marched off heading toward the back of Potter Estate.
They rounded the back of the mansion to find Harry and his two companions conversing in the distance.
Harry was naked and being supported bodily between Corporal Abigail Vance and Lt. Draco Malfoy of the Unspeakables.
The three were standing before the graves of Harry dead familiars, such that the graves themselves were blocked from view.
Before they could so much as call out a worried greeting, Harry stiffened at sensing their presence. He shook off his companion's supportive arms, made some gesture toward the graves and turned haltingly toward his rapidly approaching, albeit, concerned guests.
He took perhaps three or four cautious steps in their direction, before Draco caught his arm and murmured something in Harry's ear.
Harry nodded his understanding, and even at their distance they could see him blush profusely.
He swept his hand across his naked body in an arc, conjuring a t-shirt and jeans, covering his naked flesh.
If he thought that neither woman had noticed the state he was in, he was mistaken. Even at the distance of their vantage point they could see the blood stains of numerous wounds that marred his flesh, now covered by a cotton shirt and jeans
Harry pasted a pleasant smile on his face and came to a halt a few meters away, swaying slightly in place.
"My apologies, ladies. I'm afraid my companions and I over did our training a bit this morning and we lost track of the time. As you can see I'm a bit worse for wear, perhaps you'll afford me the pleasure of calling on you at your home tomorrow? I know a nice spot where we could grab a nice brunch and catch up with each other?" Harry enquired graciously, if a bit apprehensively.
Jane was about to answer when she felt Hermione's hand gentlly restrain her arm.
"I'd like that Harry, but I'm afraid that we won't be able to take you up on your kind offer as we'll be attending the Cannon's semi-final match tomorrow, remember?"
Harry's eyes seemed to go out of focus for a moment, before they cleared and he responded. "The match, of course. How thoughtless of me. Perhaps another time?" he was effectively dismissing them.
A torrent of emotions was swirling through Hermione's subconscious, but the first and foremost was apprehension.
Something was wrong here, terribly wrong.
Draco had a strained, almost pinched expression on his face and Abigail was trying desperately to focus her attention anywhere but toward Hermione and her mother, as if afraid she'd give something away.
Hermione chanced a glance toward the distant graves of Hedwig and Shadow.
Strange, that they were just a bit … unfocused?
An Obfusicate charm! That's what Harry had done! He'd placed an obfusicate charm over the grave before he'd left to greet them.
Schooling her features, Hermione offered innocently. "Of course, we can reschedule, Harry. Perhaps next week would be better? Mum and I will just take a moment to pay our respects to Shadow and Hedwig before we leave."
Harry's face remained impassive, but Draco's face visibly paled and Abigail looked stricken.
"I appreciate the sentiment behind your request, however, I'm having some work done on the sight and it's rather, er, unsettled at the moment. By next week, the reconstruction should be complete. In the interim, I'll place some flowers at their graves and convey your best wishes." Harry offered cordially in a voice that was both request and warning.
Harry swayed slightly, he was barely able to keep himself upright and everyone knew it, though he was doing his best to hide the fact.
Draco reached out a steadying hand, but Harry shrugged it away and shot him a severe look.
Jane stepped forward and reached out a hand toward Harry's bruised face, but he shied away from her touch.
Her hand hung in the air for a moment, a wounded expression on her face as her hand fell back to her side.
Hermione seized the opportunity to dash around the Draco's side, pelting toward the gravesite of Harry's beloved familiars
She didn't even make it half way before …
"STOP!"
Harry's voice bellowed as a shimmering gigantic wall of eldritch energy barred her path in all directions.
"Harry, don't!" Abigail Vance hissed worriedly, knowing that he was already beyond exhausted and in no condition to exert himself further.
Despite Harry's protests to the contrary, Draco wrapped a supportive arm around Harry's waist.
Jane Granger's hand found his cheek, holding fast despite his initial attempt to shrug it away.
Liquid brown eyes met grief stricken green.
"Please, Harry?" she begged him to desist his struggles and let them help him.
The power expenditure was more than he could sustain in his obviously weakened state.
Harry's eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out. The eldritch shield barring Hermione's way dissipated as he lapsed into unconsciousness.
Draco caught up Harry's weight and carried him reverently toward the mansion, forgoing the use of magic to levitate him despite the distance involved.
Jane Granger held Harry's hand following pensively alongside Draco, cooing reassuringly to his unconscious form, offering an occasional kiss to the back of his limp hand.
Hermione was stricken. Her unflagging curiosity warred against her concern for Harry. And her concern won out handedly, as she turned toward the mansion.
Abigail Vance stepped up beside Hermione and guided her back toward the gravesite, stating simply.
"You need to know the why, if you are to be able to help him get past this,… and I pray you can help him get past this?" her voice choked at this last.
She cautioned Hermione to prepare herself, before canceling the obfusicate charm that Harry had hurriedly placed over the gravesite.
Hermione's scream of disgust and outrage split the calm of the Estate grounds.
Jane Granger turned back worriedly to her daughter, still clinging to Harry's hand.
Draco reassured her.
"It's alright. She's just had a bit of a shock. I'll try and explain once he's settled and we've had a chance to send for a healer."
Nodding her reluctant consent, Jane Granger continued along with Draco and Harry.
Less than a half hour later, Jane Granger entered the sitting room, having been unceremoniously shooed away from Harry's bedside by an exasperated Madam Pomfrey.
Hermione was sniffling quietly on the loveseat by the cold fireplace, Abigail's hand patting her back reassuringly as Draco pressed a glass of fire whiskey into her trembling hands.
Minutes became almost an hour later when an overly tired but determined Madam Pomfrey entered the family room, following in the wake of Harry's elf maid-Dixie.
She eyed the half empty glass of Fire whiskey in Hermione's hand and removed it commenting to the room in general,"I could do with one of these?" She earned herself an indignant glare from Hermione.
Draco rose and silently prepared the healer a drink. He would have stopped at two fingers worth, but seeing the skeptical look she gave him, four seemed more fitting.
Draco handed the matron her drink, asking with obvious concern. "How is he?"
"Hmphh,.. never thought I'd see the day that you, of all people, would be asking me that, Mr. Malfoy." She snorted incredulously, before answering his and the question on everyone's mind.
"He's … suffering." she sighed in resignation.
Hermione gasped as she bolted for the doorway.
"Stop!" Madam Pomfrey commanded, halting the worried girl in her tracks.
"Sit down, Mrs. Weasley."
"B-But I n-need to s-see him." she stammered fretfully.
"Not just now." The matron returned in a 'no argument' tone of voice. "You, neither, Mrs. Granger." she waylaid Jane Granger before she could completely rise out of her chair, thinking to take her daughter's place in sitting in vigil at Harry's bedside.
"Minerva is with him now and content to remain so for the time being." she continued to explain her reasoning. "Harry has a fever and I'm afraid the sort of things he's saying right now, are not meant for your ears.
"Nonsense" Jane Granger refuted. "There's nothing that Harry could say that would frighten or embarrass me." She finished incredulously making to rise from her chair.
"Not frighten, nor embarrass, no." Pomfrey agreed. Her words stopped Jane Granger in her tracks.
Pomfrey swallowed half of her glass in one go without so much as blinking her eye. She earned herself a respectful rise of the eyebrows from Draco for her effort.
"Purely for medicinal purposes, Mr. Malfoy." she quipped, earning an appreciative grin this time.
Pomfrey turned her attention back to an anxiously waiting Jane and her daughter.
"You did not know Harry's mother and father, nor really did Harry for that matter. His time with his Godfather, Sirius, was all too brief and bittersweet at best. Despite that, Harry has always loved his three parents, revered them even."
"What're you trying to say?" Hermione asked puzzled by the matron's vague reminiscing.
Pomfrey glared pointedly at Hermione and her mother. "It's more of what I'm trying not to say, which is; t-the things that Harry's saying are not things that any mother should be made to hear. Remain here, Jane and Hermione. Do this for him as well as yourselves. In doing so; you will save him needless embarrassment and prevent heartache for yourself."
Both women gaped at Pomfrey's unexpected candor. She had, in truth, told them very little, but what she had inferred spoke volumes.
"Harry would never even consider….? I-It's just his fever talking." Hermione tried to defend her friend.
"I don't care what he's saying!" Hermione blurted in conviction, jumping to her feet. "He needs me and besides,… I'm not even a mother." Hermione took a step hesitantly toward the hallway, but Pomfrey's questioning voice halted her in her tracks.
"Aren't you? A mother, I mean?" Pomrey chuckled at the shocked expression on Hermione's face as the mortified girl tried to convince herself more than them.
"I-it's only been a w-week. I -I couldn't be? We've used the charms and I'm on the potion too? …Oh my God!" Hermione shrieked when she realized she that she was lamenting her uncertainty out loud for everyone to hear.
Pomfrey approached totally frazzled girl cautiously and asked; "May I?"
Hermione nodded despondently.
Pomfrey calmly withdrew her wand from the folds of her matron robes and ran a quick diagnostic charm over the trembling girl.
Hermione gasped when she saw the wand. Pomfrey nodded in understanding at her reaction. "It's a medical wand and is only capable of healing related charms. The Manor's wards recognize the distinction. Once Hermione's surprise was explained away, Pomfrey ran the diagnostic a second time to verify her initial results.
"Are congratulations in order?'"
Jane Granger gasped and flew to her daughter, wrapping her arms around her child comfortingly.
"H-How did you k-know? I-I mean before h-hand?" Hermione stammered out curiously, (now understanding Pomfrey taking her drink), half smiling, half frightened at having her suspicions confirmed by the matron.
"I didn't" She replied simply. She nodded her head toward the stairway in the hall pointedly. "He did." She explained. "It was part of his, what did you say,…'his fever talking'? He knows things, things he shouldn't but he does never the less." she intimated.
"Things we would never even admit to ourselves, let alone say out loud. Things that would utterly humiliate us should anyone ever know them, but he does and he would never, ever, judge us for them, let alone think less of us for knowing them. Consciously he would never betray our confidences, but right now he is in the grip of a terrible fever and what he's saying was never meant for mortal ears and minds."
"But how could he? Hermione questioned. "His empathy might tell him that I was pregnant, but Harry would never read our minds against our will? Such a thing is repugnant to him." she argued.
Pomfrey shook her head despondently. "I don't pretend to know the how, but it seems obvious from what I have heard that Harry was,.. He was…." Pomfreys voice broke and she began to sob into her hands.
Uncharacteristically of the old Draco, but the new Draco wrapped a comforting hand around the matron and pressed a fresh drink into her tear stained hands.
Pomfrey smiled wanly "Who would've ever believed it?" she reflected again, earning an indifferent shrug from Draco.
Several anxious moments and several sips later, Pomfrey had collected herself enough to continue on.
"As I was saying; from what I can tell by the things he was saying,… Harry, or some part of him, passed on when he lapsed into that coma for all those long months."
"But he didn't die?" Hermione argued.
"Physically, no. His body was in fact alive, or should I say, kept alive?" she pointed out.
"His body was alive, but some part of Harry, his consciousness or soul if you will, moved on, at least for a time. "
Gasps sounded from around the room at this revelation.
"Poppy!" A pale and shaking, Minerva McGonagal hissed warningly from the doorway."You've said enough." the headmistress admonished her friend in a warning tone.
Pomfrey recovered from her initial startle at being interrupted, realizing at last what she had been about to reveal, and nodded her head in understanding.
"Is he….?" She began to ask worriedly before Minerva cut her off .
"He's sleeping now. His fever is down, thank Merlin." McGonagal reassured the matron.
"Now, I think it's time we returned to Hogwart's and honored our agreement. You can do me first, Poppy dear. The sooner I forget this, the better."
"But who will do for me once you're done?" Poppy fretted.
"You're not going to obliviate yourselves? Hermione asked appalled.
"It's for the best." Minerva assured the surprised group. "Given that the subject matter of Harry's fevered mind was troubling to say the least, it is also of a deeply personal nature. Knowing Mr. Potter the way we all most assuredly do, I think it reasonable to assume that he would be absolutely mortified if he knew that we all were aware of the subject matter. I think, in retrospect, that his rather erratic behavior of late has a valid basis and I feel confident that young Harry will be able to work through his emotions satisfactorily.
"You can do me, Poppy dear, and then Draco if you would be so kind?" she asked a startled Draco his assistance.
Draco's face twisted in disgust at the prospect. In years past he would have jumped at the chance to wipe the mind of one of his school teachers, but now he found that with his new set of values that the idea was a wholly repugnant to him as it was to Hermione.
"Will it help the knight?" Draco asked the headmistress uncertainly.
"It will clear his conscious and maintain his privacy. Is that not helping enough?" Minerva suggested.
Draco nodded. "I'll do it then."
"No, you won't do anything of the sort." Hermione interjected, outraged at the mere idea of what they were contemplating.
McGonagal raised a skeptical eyebrow at Hermione's outburst and glanced toward Pomfrey meaningfully.
"I take it by Mrs. Weasley's hormonal laced outburst that young Mr. Potter is as accurate in his empathetic assumptions as ever?
Pomfrey nodded her affirmation.
Minerva smiled cunningly. "Congratulations then, Mrs. Weasley, and to you too, Mrs. Granger." she cheered.
"I am not being "Hormonal"." Hermione made quotation marks in the air to accentuate her declaration. Seeing the look on her former Headmistress' face she scoffed.
"Just why are you smiling like that?"
"I'm merely overjoyed at your good fortune, Hermione dear." McGonagal cooed in a wholly unsettling fashion.
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "You know something?" she speculated. "Did Harry say something more about this?"
McGonagal's smile lost a bit of its exuberance. "Well, I, er, think it's time we proceeded with that obliviation, Poppy?" she suggests uncomfortably.
"Quite" Poppy agreed. "And the sooner the better." she added glancing at the predatory look that Hermione was wearing as she stalked their way, brushing off her mother's restraining hands.
"Now wait just a minute?" Hermione scathed, letting ire take full rein. "You can't just leave him? What if he relapses? What if he can't 'work thru his emotions satisfactorily'?" Hermione threw McGonagal's assurances back in the headmistress' face.
"Who's going to help him if no one has any memory of what he needs help with?"
McGonagal cast a shrewd look Hermione's way as she debated her options.
"What would you have me do? I can acknowledge all that his fevered mind has divulged and confront him with it, to the end that I will not only embarrass him, but may quite possibly alienate myself from his trust? I couldn't possible pretend otherwise as his empathic abilities would put the lie to my limited acting ability and again, I would lose his trust. I cannot consult the source of his duress for reasons you cannot begin to fathom, nor can I relate them without undoing much of what Harry has struggled to set to rights as best he could and better than most anyone could do, given the circumstances. My sole option appears to be one of trusting Harry to do what's right, not just for the world, but for himself as well. Do not think I take this course lightly, Hermione?" she both questioned and chastised.
"You're speaking in riddles and making vague assumptions. Tell us what you know and let's decide as a group the best course of action." Hermione pleaded with them. "You're gambling with his well being. He'll do what's solely best for everyone else and he'll be the one to suffer the consequences." she warned.
McGonagal nodded her head sympathetically. "It is a tremendous gamble, one to which there are no clear winners save possibly, the rest of us. He has already made sacrifices to this end, more than even you can possibly imagine."
Hermione's mouth fell open in shock at that.
"What's he done now?" Jane Granger asked worriedly, joining the conversation for the first time.
McGonagal shared a look with Poppy, and strangely one with Draco. It was the latter that answered Mrs. Granger.
"It may not be so much what he's done, but what he's planning to do?" Draco suggested. "I can say nothing more without betraying his trust and that is not something that either I, Abigail or any other Unspeakable will ever so much as contemplate doing. Though he will not thank me for it, I can at least reveal this much as it does not pertain to the articles I am oath sworn to keep silent about."
"Draco?" Abigail hissed warningly.
Draco ran his hands anxiously through his hair. "What would you have me do, Abby? Do you want to see another repeat of today? Merlin's Balls! When will it ever be enough? How can he take the pressure? It's just one nightmare after another. Was it always like this?" Draco seethed apprehensively, turning his attention to Hermione.
Seeing her puzzled expression, he pressed. "Was it? In school I mean? Were there always life and death decisions hanging over his head? Was it always damned if he did, damned if he didn't?"
Hermione nodded her head sadly in resignation.
"For Circe's sake!" Draco railed. "Can't the bloke even catch a break when it comes to the ladies even?"
Hermione's eyes went wide at that.
"Draco, no." Abigail warned again. "Don't betray his trust. Not now. Not like this?"
"Oh, No…" Hermione rasped, afraid she suspected where this was going.
"Susan…?" She guessed correctly. "Does Susan Bones remem…?" She left off, not daring to divulge more in present company.
"Suffice it to say that it's been a hell of a week." Draco lamented disgustedly.
"That's an understatement if I ever heard one." Abigail snorted her agreement.
"I'm confused." Jane Granger acknowledged.
"Don't fight it, Janey dear." Pomfrey suggested, handing the Granger matron a glass of fire whiskey and adding. "If you're going to be involved in Harry's life in any capacity, there's always going to be a certain degree of confusion until you wholly understand and embrace the ground rules.
"Which are?" Jane asked intrigued.
Minerva took the cue and entered the conversation. "That Harry Potter is the most selfless, noble,.. exasperating …and endearing man that's ever walked the face of the Earth since the dawn of creation when the first of his species rose from primordial cesspool and howled at the moon!"
"Here, Here!" Pomfrey cheered her support of her friend's acknowledgement, tipping her glass to her friend in mock salute.
"I was a complete and utter idiot. I spent my formative years looking down and belittling others under some delusion of pure blood superiority ingrained in me by my bigoted father, curse his soul." Draco entered the conversation.
"The truth be told, I was not fit to speak his name, let alone consider myself his better. Years I've wasted on petty grudges that I tried vainly to convince even myself that there was some valid reason for my hatred when it was in actuality naught but jealous envy of him that fueled my misplaced anger and hostility." Draco confessed, stunning everyone present.
Hermione goggled at him, completely gob smacked. "Just who are you and what have you done with the real Draco Malfoy? " She asked incredulously.
Draco smirked. "Unfortunately, he's still in here." Draco thumbed his chest meaningfully. "But I refuse to ever let him come out and play ever again. His penance shall be in servitude to the one he despised. His penance perhaps, for that is how the old Draco would view it, but it is my distinct honor that he affords me a trust I've done little to deserve and the privilege to stand at his right hand through both happiness and strife. It is a position that I have come to relish and will never give up whilst I still draw breath." Draco vowed eloquently.
"Wonder of wonders." Minerva commented appreciatively. "You've not only grown up Mr. Malfoy, but you've become a credit to your name and heritage."
Draco smirked. "All it took was Harry Potter to make it so."
"Quite." McGonagal agreed, raising her glass in a half hearted toast to Harry's name.
Hermione, who had been silently watching in consternation until this point, vented her curiosity and asked Draco what exactly had been going on to make it 'one hell of a week'?
Draco shared a glance with Abigail, his fellow what, body guard? No one word adequately described their role in Harry's life. They were first and foremost; Unspeakables, albeit ,assigned as liaisons to the Goblin Nation; in personal service to provide for the well being and protection of the magical communities first and only: Magical Knight. Body guards probably summed it up, but they were much more than that. They were apprentices, confidents, and friends even.
It was perhaps that last claim to which they were both most proud; Friends.
As friends, could they really divulge Harry's secrets, however benign they might seem?
Weren't they all friends here to begin with? Perhaps not with Draco and Abby personally, but certainly everyone in this room enjoyed a close and trusting relationship with, Harry Potter.
Draco decided on a generic course that was neither wholly revealing, but at least might appease and allow the others enough information to aide Harry in whatever way they may. For a certainty; Harry Potter needed assistance and more than he and Abigail could provide.
Draco acknowledged Abigail's discouraging shake of the head. "I'm sorry, Abby, but he needs help. At least more help than just you and I can provide. You know he does? He won't ask it for himself."
It was several long moments before Corporal Abigail Vance nodded her head reluctantly and unexpectedly, took the lead.
"Why don't you all make yourselves comfortable. Draco, be a dear, and pour another round, please. Oh, and, just pumpkin juice for the Knight's sister, please?" she simpered pointedly in afterthought.
Hermione eyes went wide at that; both at Abigail's deferring to her as Harry's acknowledged sister, but also because her subsequent pregnancy made alcohol consumption a health taboo.
She found herself not at all displeased, and nodded her head appreciatively to Abigail for her thoughtfulness.
Once everyone was sitting comfortably with a drink to hand, Abigail began to relate the week's events.
She first captured, Hermione's eyes and relayed. "He was so looking forward to yours and Ron's return from your honeymoon, but certain, er,.. Duties, to which I am not at liberty to discuss, always seemed to get in the way from his being able to visit the two of you that first week of your return. The second week, however,.. Well, that sort of threw him for a loop. It all started with an impromptu and startling visit by Susan Finch-Fletchy, the former, Ms. Susan Bones."
"No" Hermione rasped in dread.
Abigail acknowledged her response. "I see by your reaction that you too, remain aware of the former relationship."
"Relationship, what relationship?" Jane Granger piped in totally surprised.
With a nod from Abigail, Hermione turned to her mother and said."I could try and explain, but I think it will be a lot easier to have Poppy remove the memory charm on you?" Hermione suggested with no little apprehension.
"Hermione Jane!" her mother hissed in shock." Did you put a memory charm on me? On your father?"
Poppy ran her wand over Mrs. Granger head while she was distracted and removed the block on her memory. Despite her years of training and practice, she found the task quite difficult. Harry really knew what he was about as it was the most difficult block she'd ever removed.
"Wha..?" Jane Grangers eyes went out of focus as a sudden influx of forgotten memories flooded her consciousness and reintegrated themselves.
After a few tense moments, her eyes cleared and tears soon followed.
"How could he?" She rasped dejectedly.
"How could he do that to you and dad?" Hermione suggested. "Not easily, I can assure you. It was an agony for him, mum." Hermione clarified, choking back a sob. "I was there that night. I came home just after he'd already obliviated you and dad. He was going to do me too. I-I tried to fight him." she snorted at that. "Much good as it did me. His power overwhelmed me as if I was no more of an inconvenience than a toddler holding a toy wand."
Years, perhaps even as little as months ago, such an admonition from so powerful a witch, as Hermione Granger, would have met with startled gasps at the very least, but this group well knew the validity of her remark.
Jane Granger nodded her understanding before reiterating. "Thank you for answering what I'm sure would have been my second question, but what I was going to ask was how could he do that to himself?"
Hermione shook her head sadly. "That perhaps is the greatest mystery of the man, mother?"
The headmistress cleared her throat, drawing the group's attention.
"If I may? It is no more a mystery than the rising of the sun, though that is indeed a magic all its own. I'm sure primitive man thought it a great mystery, but I digress. Most, find the actions of one, Mr. Potter, a mystery because it is unfathomable the depth of the man's ability to care. I applaud your insight, Mrs. Granger, you're perhaps closer than you know to the crux, or heart of the matter when you poise the question ,"How could he do that to himself?"" McGonagal began incredulously, attempting to explain her reasoning.
"I grant you that not many outside of we few gathered here might begin to even consider the depth of Harry's ability to care. I no longer call it his 'nobility complex' as many once phrased it, for to do so would be an understatement. If there was ever one, save Merlin himself, who was ever more deserving to hold the sword and wear the armor of a knight, then it is that man lying unconscious upstairs. He is the epitome of virtue, for virtue is the life's blood of a knight's strength and power."
"You are so right, Mrs. Granger." Mcgonagal nodded appreciatively toward Jane. "How could he do such a thing to himself? How indeed? Can any one of us imagine such a thing?"
McGonagal's voice rose as she drove her point home. "Can you even imagine the strength of character, the resolve it must have taken for him to throw away the one thing he wants for himself more than any man I've ever known; to love and be loved! Can any of us fathom what it would take to not only give up such an opportunity, but absolve the rest of us our heartache over such a sacrifice, for it was surely done not only in Susan's behalf, but for the rest of us as well!"
The headmistress paused, clutching a hand to her chest trying vainly to regain some composure as she sighed wearily more to herself, though the rest could hear.
"Help me, Albus; help me to make them understand?"
She half smiled, realizing she'd said that last out loud. "He knew, Albus, I mean. He knew what it was we had in our midst. He used to preach it to the rest of us when we doubted, when we lost faith. He always said that Harry's greatest weapon was love. In that he was so right, only,… even Dumbledore only really scratched the surface."
Poppy Pomfrey placed a supportive hand on her friend's arm and extrapolated.
"Harry Potter is love and with it he embodies the virtues that associate with this greatest of all magic's: Courage, humility, generosity, kindness, compassion, empathy… I could go on?"
"I agree, accept there is one fatal flaw in Harry's character." Hermione added knowingly.
Jane Granger entered the conversation, knowing the answer as well as the rest of them, for it was something that she and Molly discussed quite often.
"Pride" she acknowledged. "It's part of his charm really, but it is also his downfall. Harry is a proud man. Too proud to ask for help." Jane Granger wiped a stray tear from the corner of her eye. "Too damn proud to ask for, or let himself love."
Several minutes of guilt and soul searching passed before, Abigail Vance , asked the obvious,
"I agree, he needs someone to love, so how can we help him to do just that?"
McGonagal smirked at the young girl. "Are you asking for the job? I'm sure it pays well and no doubt the perks are quite extraordinary?"
Abigail Vance blushed to the roots of her sandy blonde hair as she stammered.
"I-I ,…ah ?"
"She's spoken for." Draco came to her defense, grasping the young girl's hand meaningfully.
"It appears they have good perks in the Unspeakables too, Minerva?" Pomfrey chuckled.
"Quite" McGonagal agreed with her friend. "Wonder of wonders, Draco." McGonagal reiterated from earlier.
"Keep working at him, . I must say I like what you've done on this project so far." Poppy added appreciatively.
Abigail blushed prettily, glancing at Draco before responding back. "Thanks, but I can't really take credit for it. That would be Harry's doing." she gave credit for Draco's change where it was due.
Draco kissed her hand reverently and whispered something in Abby's ear that had her purring appreciatively.
McGonagal shook off her surprise at the display, mumbling,"Wonder of wonders", under her breath.
"I'd like to discuss what's to be done to help our young errant knight, but first I think we should address the topic which brings us here today?" Minerva reminded the room.
"Draco if you would please?"
Draco's face paled, but his jaw was set and he explained. "After the gargoyles had come; whatever remnants of the hoard we faced last New Year's that survived, well,…. they'd come in the night and stolen the desiccated bodies of Harry's familiars. Then to add insult to injury they defiled Shadow and Hedwig's graves. I-I don't think it was so much a challenge as it was a last act of animosity." Draco choked out painfully before continuing.
"Harry was already reeling from that. Then Susan visited." He began before Abby cut him off.
"More like stormed here in scorned fury." she snorted.
"Scary, that was." Draco agreed.
"W-What happened?" Hermione gasped.
"She ,… she was distraught. She didn't know what she was saying?" Draco tried to appease.
"You're not Harry, Draco, give credit where credit is due." Abigail refuted her boyfriend. "She said terrible, hateful things. She said he used her, then raped her mind when he was done. She accused him of never loving her."
"That's not true!" Hermione spat indignantly coming to Harry's defense. "He loved her. He practically glowed at the mention of her name. He'd be with her now if her accursed aunt hadn't interfered and betrayed Harry's trust."
Hermione would have gone on, but Minerva reassured the distraught woman "We know that, Hermione. Harry would never intentionally hurt someone he cared about."
"What did H-Harry say to all that?" Hermione asked , having recollected herself.
"He just stood there and took it." Draco growled.
"Even when she slapped him, he just stood there and let her beat on him without so much as saying a word in his own defense." Draco finished.
"He didn't even try to make her understand?" Jane Granger asked incredulously.
Abigail shook her head. "As if " She explained morosely. "He just stood there while she screamed at him and hit him again and again." Abby shuddered at the memory.
"He seemed to want her to punish him." Draco acknowledged taking his girlfriend's hand supportively.
"She kept slapping him and saying over and over how she hated him until she finally wore herself out and she collapsed at his feet sobbing hysterically. Harry knelt down and tried to comfort her, but she recoiled at his touch as if he were pure evil." Draco recalled hollowly.
Abigail nodded. "He asked me to see her safely home. I knew I shouldn't have gone, Dray, I knew it!" Abby snuffled despairingly.
Draco cast his arm around the trembling witch." We've already gone over this, Abby. There was nothing you could have done." he reassured her.
"Why, what happened?" Jane Granger interposed in a frightened tone.
Abby sobbed into Draco's shoulder as he answered. "Abby had just left with Susan,… Harry,.. Harry brushed past me and went upstairs to his room. I called out to him, but, I- I just assumed he needed some time alone. It wasn't five minutes later that he came back down with the most frightening look on his face that I'd ever seen. He was wearing his armor and that alone was worrisome. Magic came off him in molten waves of heat. The air crackled with energy. I was utterly terrified, but despite my fear, I-I remember thinking to myself that Voldemort was a complete fool for ever having thought he could destroy this man. I reached out, but, I couldn't get within a meter of him. It was like there was an invisible shield surrounding him. He passed me like I wasn't even there and headed out onto the grounds, moving toward the graves. I knew then…, Merlin above,... I knew he was going after the gargoyles who'd survived. It was suicide! I hit my com link and called for backup. I begged Hoag to send every man he could spare, even though I knew it wouldn't make any difference. I called out to Harry and begged him to not do it. When we were far enough away from the manor's wards, I-I even drew my sword to hand. God help me…" Draco paused, choking back a sob.
"God help me,…I drew steel against him." Draco shuddered in revulsion. "I swore that I would defend him to the last, but, I-I would have crippled him, rather than see him throw his life away by going down into those tunnels." Draco sobbed his frustration into his hands.
Abigail Vance placed her arm tenderly around the wounded man's shoulders and cooed softly, reassuringly to him, until his shudders subsided and he collected himself again.
"S-Sorry", he rasped embarrassedly to the room.
"Quite understandable." McGonagal returned as others nodded their agreement.
"W-What happened then?" Jane Granger was the first to verbalize the question on everyone else's minds.
Draco shared a reluctant look with his girlfriend, who nodded her support.
"I-I drew my blade and was about to try to breach he shield when Harry paused,… he seemed to notice me for the first time and,.. and…" Draco hiccupped. "...and he looked at me with such disappointment in his eyes. I-I couldn't do it, but I was afraid not to. He asked m-me then,.. Asked me if I would betray his trust as so many others had done before?"
Draco paused and shot Hermione a sympathetic look, as she had gasped out her own self recrimination at Harry's statement.
"I t-told him I'd do what I had to, to keep him from throwing his life away on pointless vengeance. A smile ghosted across his face so quickly that I wasn't sure at the time that I actually saw what I thought I had. Harry said that I didn't need to worry about him dying because the dead didn't want him anymore than the living."
Draco stopped there and ran his fingers worriedly thru his platinum locks as he bit out frustrated.
"What does that mean? I don't understand what it means, but the way he said it,… with such conviction? It turned my blood cold. The next thing I knew, Harry was gone and I was staring down as my blade fell from fingers to numb to grasp it any longer. By the time I got over my initial shock and flew like the wind to the tunnel mouth,… he was gone.
The Unspeakables arrived within moments of my dread discovery. We made to follow and began conjuring ropes to repel down the tunnel mouth to the unknown caverns below. That's when all hell broke loose. At first we thought we were hearing thunder from some distantly approaching storm. Within moments the ground began to shake as if it had a life of its own and the rumble grew to deafening proportions. We ran for our lives as the ground fell away from beneath our very feet. Nearly a half kilometer circumference of the surrounding woods fell away, sealing the tunnel for all time beneath kilotons of wood, rock and earth. I-I never felt so utterly useless in my entire life. I, like the rest of my brother Unspeakables, stood there staring transfixed at the enormous cave-in that would seem to have sealed Harry's fate. A week we waited. The others gave up after a few days after all attempts to open the tunnel mouth failed. There simply was no spell strong enough to move that much earth,… and we had fifty Unspeakables working at it twenty four hours a day!" Draco barked incredulously.
"We waited though," Draco blurted out proudly." Abby and I,.. we waited. We knew that Harry would return, and today, nearly a week later, he did. He just appeared out of thin air. We could barely recognize him, but for his green eyes. He collapsed in a heap at our feet. He was naked, except for his armor and a layer of filth and blood that caked his entire took off his armor to treat his wounds. It took dozens of charms to clean the grime away and dozens of spells and potions to get his bleeding under control and heal enough to get him back on his feet. He barely seemed to recognize us. The light of day was blinding him, that and his tears. He was nearly mad with his grief and not having been able to find Shadow and Hedwig's remains. I-I summoned up enough courage to ask him what happened, but he never answered, except for his eyes…."
Abby nodded and picked up where Draco couldn't. "His eyes were gleaming with an inner fire that was cold and frightening. Beyond rage, they were beyond madness. They were the eyes of someone who's actually traveled to the center of hell and fought his way free to return and tell the tale. Can anyone of us imagine such a thing? A week! An entire week entombed with nightmares that even the stoutest of men would flee in abject horror from. But not this man. He went there to retrieve his own and take vengeance in their behalf. He may not have retrieved his beloved ones, but I have no doubt that they have been avenged and then some. The blood and gore that covered his sword and armor turned to dust in the light of day, would that the memory of those who stained his sword were as easily forgotten." Abby paused, shuddering at the memory.
"A week?" Hermione questioned before turning accusing eyes on Draco. "It was you then, wasn't it? You took polyjuice and assumed Harry's place at the Cannon's practices? That's why he, I mean, you, only ran drills and never flew?"
Draco nodded his confirmation. "If I'd flown, weasel, I,.. er, mean Weasley, would have known I wasn't Harry. He has his own unique way of flying that's difficult to emulate. I was only trying to keep up appearances so he wouldn't…" Draco's words trailed off as he turned away shame faced at his duplicity.
"You were only trying to protect his image. I understand,.. and thank you." Hermione alleviated his apprehension over his actions.
It was several moments before someone broke the next long silence as everyone contemplated how to proceed from this point.
"He'll go back, you know?" Hermione warned. "He'll try again to retrieve their remains. It means everything to him and he won't give it up. They meant everything to him; Hedwig and Shadow. Hedwig was the first friend he'd ever made,… Shadow the last. He'll try again and again till he's either found them and returned them to their resting place, or he dies trying."
Poppy and Mcgonagal shared a pointed look.
"No he won't." Mcgonagal informed them with dread certainty.
Jane Granger nodded her understanding. "You erased the memory, didn't you?" There was no accusation in her voice, more like appreciation.
"We did." McGonagall acknowledged without the slightest regret.
"And then we alleviated his elves of the burden that unwanted memory contains, just as we will the rest of you, once we've righted Hedwig and Shadow's graves.
"That's not necessary. We'd never tell him. I don't think anyone of us here has a problem with the deception as it will undoubtedly not only spare Harry needless heartache and grief, but most likely his life as well. It is a kindness, what you've done." Jane Granger complimented their actions.
"A blessing." her daughter echoed gratefully.
"The headmistress is right that we have to be obliviated or remove the memory itself though?" Abby cautioned.
Draco nodded his agreement. "With his empathy, he'd recognize our duplicity and then it would only be a matter of time before he relearned the truth. It is a necessity if he is to have any peace. There is no sin in this. When he visits their graves, the honor is in the deed itself. His lost ones will know it and appreciate the gesture in the spirit of which it is intended. I thank you for this."
Mcgonagal smiled with fondness at her former pupil, conscious of the fact that it was the first such time she felt compelled to do so.
"Wonder of Wonders, Mr. Malfoy." She murmured affectionately.
"Now that that's settled, let's get to the other half of this little conspiracy we've started." Jane Granger prompted with a knowing smirk.
"How are we going to find someone for Harry to fall in love with, and most importantly; who's the lucky girl going to be?"
Hermione quirked an amused eyebrow at her mother."I believe Harry's already decided the "who", mother." She acknowledged incredulously.
Poppy and Minerva shared a concerned look of apprehension.
"You mean of course, young Ms. Weasley?" McGonagal asked pointedly.
Hermione nodded her head and cast a cool glance Draco's way admonishing.
"Things might be progressing even now if you hadn't been mucking about with Ginny?"
Abigail Vance pulled her hand back from Draco's own and huffed. "You were only supposed to be going for coffee, remember?"
"How can you sit there and accuse me when it was you two that came up with the idea of trying to make Harry jealous in the first place? Said he needed a push you did. Said it would move things along nicely, that it would give him an idea? It gave him an idea all right? Draco howled. "It gave him the idea to put that sword of his up against my throat and threaten me that I'd better not be taking advantage of the girl unless I was eager to see what the hilt of his blade tasted like!"
"He threatened you?" Hermione asked hopefully.
"Well, I'm glad to see that amuses you." Draco drawled disgustedly. "It wasn't so much a threat as a promise. Why I let myself get talked into such an idiotic idea in the first place, I'll never know?"
"You remember how that happened don't you, Dray?" Abby murmured coyly, eliciting a bright flush from her boyfriend as he recalled the incident.
Hermione chuckled at Draco's expression. "Damn, that Ginny's good. She actually had me believing she was re-interested in a relationship with you." Hermione chided appreciatively.
"If they both feel the same way then what's stopping them?" Jane asked incredulously.
It was a long moment of thoughtful silence before one spoke up.
"It's funny you should mention that?' Hermione began with a contemplative expression.
"Before we left for our honeymoon, I had the distinct impression that Harry was going to ask Ginny out, but by the time we got back, it's like he's been doing everything but? If I didn't know better I'd say he's avoiding her, but doesn't want to, if that makes any sense?"
Again, McGonagal and Poppy shared a weary look, one almost tinged with regret. McGonagal nodded her head in Hermione's direction.
"Hermione, dear,.. Perhaps we should get started with the obliviations so you can go home and get a bit of rest. Rest is just the thing for young mothers." Poppy Pomfrey suggested, smiling warmly.
Hermione brushed off her unnecessary concern with a suspicious look. "I feel fine actually. I was thinking that perhaps we should call Molly over and get her take on things and see if she has any suggestions about Harry and Ginny?" Hermione countered with a glint in her eye.
The two Hogwart's matrons shared another pointed look.
"I take it you already know, or at least suspect that, that might not be wise course?" Pomfrey intimated.
Hermione nodded her head dejectedly as she confirmed. "I had only my suspicions until now."
"Why am I suddenly very afraid?" Jane Granger asked the room.
"What are you all going on about?" Abby asked in a puzzled tone.
"He asked them, then?" Draco vented his suspicions, catching on to what the others were suggesting.
"So it would seem." McGonagal opinioned.
"It can't be? It just can't be?" Jane Granger shook her head in disbelief. "Molly would have said something about it?"
"Not if she can't remember it?" Poppy Pomfrey suggested.
Abby gasped at that in saddened horrified understanding. "You mean that Harry actually asked for Ginny's hand and they turned him down?... He obliviated Ginny's parents?" she nearly shrieked in disbelief.
"That's what his fevered ramblings seem to imply?" Poppy acknowledged.
"It all starts to make a certain kind of poetic sense." Hermione mumbled as she began to puzzle this revelation over.
"But, But how could they turn him down? And why would Harry need to erase their memory because of it? It doesn't make any sense?" Jane struggled to understand the situation.
"It makes perfect sense." Draco offered reluctantly. "Harry must of asked her parents formally for permission to court Ginny, since I can't see him just asking for her hand outright. They turned him down and he obliviated them after."
"They wouldn't. They love, Harry. Molly would never…?" Jane tried to defend her friends, horrified at the notion that they would have rebuffed Harry.
"T-They w-would." Hermione sniffed in resignation as she came to the same conclusion as the rest of them, all accept her mother.
"But why?" Jane argued appalled.
"Because they're no different than anyone else in the wizarding world. They both love him and are afraid of him, or for him, more properly. They appreciate all that he does for the wizarding world, revere him for it even, but,… they also are afraid to associate with him because of it. The very danger, the evil that Harry confronts and champion's the light's cause against, marks him as someone who puts others at risk to be around. He is every young woman's dream and every parent's nightmare; a Hero. As much as Molly and Arthur love the boy, Ginny is their only daughter and the first such for seven generations. Above all else they would protect her,… and that means -no Harry." McGonagal summarized gloomily.
"But that,… that's…?" Jane struggled to understand.
"That's wrong? That's an appalling double standard? That's unfair?" McGonagal suggested raising her voice over Hermione's increasing sobs of despair. "I quite agree, but when have the fates ever been fair in dealing with Harry Potter? As for Molly and Arthur; I had thought better of them. He's good enough to be thought a seventh son, but not good enough to become one at the expense of their daughter's supposed safety. It is most unfortunate. I grieve for Harry and Ginny in this."
"But why obliviate them?" Jane tried to comprehend.
"To spare them." Poppy answered assuredly. "Arthur and Molly's rejection of Harry would have torn the family apart. Ginny would have never forgiven them, nor Ron or the twin's for that matter. If word of this reached the public sector, it would have spelled political suicide for Arthur. As the 'boy who lived' he was already a legend in our world. Think how that sentiment could have multiplied given all that he's accomplished since the night of his parent's death? To reject a Magical Knight's request for any daughter's hand would be considered a sacrilege within the wizarding world. There would be death threats, assassination attempts, social upheavals, the name Weasley would be degraded to that of Voldemort's, ie... reviled. It is perhaps all conjecture on our parts, but if what we suspect is true, than Harry did them all a kindness."
Hermione scrubbed the back of her sleeve across her tear wrought eyes and hissed angrily.
"Don't kid yourself. That's exactly what happened, only he alleviated them of any hardship out of his love and respect for them. Despite breaking his heart, Harry still cared enough for Molly and Arthur that he spared them the consequences of their actions. He did it for them. He did it because he loves them, despite everything."
"Why not just date her anyway?" Abby suggested." I mean, if her parents can't remember turning him down, why doesn't Harry just start out fresh and ask Ginny out on a date?"
Draco shook his head sadly. "Because he's an honorable man and as such, he would never defy her parent's wishes to the contrary."
"But they don't remember, Dray?" Abby argued.
"It makes no difference, he knows. Honor would not dictate otherwise. It's like I said before, he can't get a break. I suppose that's why he's doing what he's doing, at least in part. It all kind of makes sense when you look at it from his point of view."
Hermione approached the couple and reached out her hand and grasped Draco's arm , something she would have never even contemplated doing in years past, at least not without the slightest hint of revulsion.
"How does it make sense? Tell me,…please?" she begged.
Draco glanced at Abigail. She wore the same look of sympathetic regret that he felt inside. They had made an oath and however much they might want to reveal what they knew, they wouldn't betray his trust.
"I-I can't, Hermione. As much as I might want to? As much as he needs any and all help, especially yours,.. I just can't. Let me at least say this; Harry's done trying to change himself to suit the rest of the world. If the world can't accept Harry Potter then maybe the world needs to be the one to change instead."
She didn't say anything, but Abigail shot him a disapproving look from her vantage point behind Hermione's shoulder.
Draco just shrugged indifferently. What did it matter really, since they were all about to be obliviated.
Jane Granger mused out loud. "But the world isn't going to change, it never does except…" her words trailed off apprehensively.
"Except in times of war." her daughter answered her mother's own question in an icy tone of dreadful understanding.
Hermione grabbed Draco's arms and searched his troubled eyes for some reassurance
"Tell me I'm wrong? Tell me that he wouldn't,… not against ? Please Draco?" Hermione begged desperately.
Draco shook his head helplessly, trying to avert his eyes to avoid his hissing girlfriend's attention.
"Merlin, no." Hermione rasped pulling away from Draco as if scalded.
"All of the Unspeakables? She question wide eyed, already afraid she knew the answer. All the Unspeakables had sided with Harry, of course they would.
"It's,… It's…?" Hermione struggled to say the word she was thinking, but found it too betraying to the tongue.
"It's insurrection." A voice suggested hollowly from the door way.
Abigail and Draco's backs went stiff, coming to attention. Her eyes shifted nervously between Draco and Harry.
The rest turned warily to find Harry grasping the door frame to support himself
His torso was naked, except for several blood stained bandages, futile coverings for his many wounds.
Only a pair of training shorts covered his modesty.
"Harry, I…" Hermione tried to explain, but Harry cut her off bitingly.
"If you're all going to plot and conspire at least have the common courtesy to abstain from doing it beneath the roof of the one you plan to betray." he suggested coolly.
"It's not what it seems, Harry. You've been ill with a fever. You need rest, dear." Poppy suggested taking a careful step in his direction.
"A fever is it?" he questioned grimacing. "I suppose I tore at myself then, in my fevered throes?" He half smiled through his obvious pain, bracing himself in a white knuckled grip, clutching the back of the room's leather sofa.
Hermione shot forward and slipped a shoulder under his arm before he could fend her off, not that he had the energy in his current state.
"I'm…"
"You are not fine!" she hissed cutting him off. Hermione helped him around the sofa and eased him onto the seat with an extra hand from Draco.
"You've been ill for days and you need more rest." she tried to convince him.
"And you're a terrible liar." he returned in amusement. He reached out a hesitant hand and brushed a stray lock of hair off her cheek. "I like the new hairstyle."
Hermione blushed prettily and thanked him.
After several pensive moments, Harry was the first to break the nervous tension.
"Abby, Draco." he called softly.
Both approached and came to attention directly in front of him.
"You are dismissed until further notice." he ordered emotionlessly.
The rest of the room quickly came to his guard's defense, but Harry waved them to silence.
"I'm sorry you all feel that I am being unduly harsh. Whilst I realize there are mitigating circumstances, the bottom line is that I will not ally myself with people whom I cannot trust to keep my confidences. I believe that I am within my rights in this regard?" he questioned with an air of incredulousness that silenced the room.
Draco and Abigail both lowered their gaze, shamefaced.
"You have both proven yourselves invaluable friends and allies; however, I cannot abide someone at my back that I cannot trust implicitly. Think on this before you return here Monday, early." he finished smirking.
Both Unspeakables heads shot up at that.
"Y-You're giving us a second chance?" Abigail gasped astounded.
Harry didn't give second chances. He either trusted you or didn't.
"As I said, there are 'mitigating circumstances' to take into account. I am the last person who should ever take offense when someone does something against his conscious, for the right reasons. Thank you, both. Monday, early." He reminded them in dismissal.
Draco dropped to a knee and Abby curtsied, before he had a chance to stop them. Both knew he despised such honorary acts.
Before they could sweep from the room, Harry called out in afterthought.
"Draco?"
"Yes, lord Knight?" Draco turned back uncertainly.
"I've yet to see any activity on your expense account? See that you take Abby someplace nice for dinner, the theatre, perhaps after. Whatever you desire, but I expect to see a worthy dent in your account on the goblin's next audit."
Yes, Milord." Draco agreed appreciatively.
"Tuesday, then" Harry dismissed them.
"Tuesday?" Abby questioned.
"Tuesday" Harry confirmed.
"Thank you, Harry." Abby cooed as Draco swept her anxiously from the room.
Harry's grin followed their departure.
A squeeze on his hand distracted him from his amusement. "That was good of you."
Harry shrugged indifferently. "They're good to me and good for each other."
"You're not angry with them, then?" Jane Granger asked approvingly, curling her knees under her, perching on the other side of the sofa next to him.
"Furious" he refuted, surprising her. "They not only know it, but are now beholden to me for letting it go and rewarding them to boot. I think it safe to say there won't be a repeat anytime soon."
"Oh, well played. Albus would be proud of you." McGonagal chortled.
Harry nodded his appreciation for the compliment.
"To what do I owe the pleasure of this little intervention, today?" Harry asked, changing the topic. "Can't a bloke take a little time out for a quick adventure without alarming his self appointed rescue squad?"
"You, er, remember then?" Poppy asked in surprise.
"I remember everything. My occulomency screens are rather strong and they're never down." Harry clarified.
Poppy's eyebrows shot up at that. The power expenditure must be staggering ?
Hermione clucked her tongue disapprovingly at that, though Harry chose to ignore it.
"Aren't you a bit cold?" Jane Granger asked distractedly.
Jane loved her husband fiercely and never so much as even contemplated another man in all the years she'd been married but really? Harry's physique was enough to turn Mother Teresa's head!
Harry cocked an eye at her and smirked knowingly. "Nah, pregnant women give off a lot of body heat. Regular little incubators they are."
Hermione huffed indignantly as the rest of the women chuckled.
Harry leaned in Jane's direction as she'd been sneaking an elicit glance or two again.
"Shame on you. Empathic- remember?"
Jane choked and sputtered on the drink she'd been sipping at, blushing furiously.
"What now?" McGonagal returned them to the reason they were all here in the first place.
"I obliviate the lot of you." Harry quipped, half seriously.
"You wouldn't dare?" Poppy squawked.
"You're a one to talk." he admonished.
Poppy blinked and gaped stupidly at that.
"I think I broke her again." Harry chuckled at the matron's obvious dismay.
"This has happened before?" Jane asked watching the matron's reaction in amused interest.
"Practically every time they get together." McGonagal commented. "She'll come around in a moment or two."
"Obliviation is a perfectly acceptable therapeutic technique for removing traumatic events that a client is unable to effectively cope with." Pomfrey returned as if no time had lapsed at all since Harry's last rebuttal to her.
"There she is now!" McGonagal crowed in obvious amusement.
The room laughed at that, while Poppy glowered questioningly.
With the ice broken and Harry in a more relaxed state of mind; Hermione seized the opportunity to ask.
"Harry, did Molly and Arthur refuse you permission to date, Ginny?"
The silence that followed her question was deafening.
Harry stared hard at the floor, but answered her truthfully, if vaguely. It was perhaps the last thing in the world that she would have expected.
"You are married now. A wife and an expectant mother. I would not have you worrying over inconsequential things that are neither here nor there."
Hermione grasped his chin tenderly and turned his face till his eyes reluctantly met her own.
"Your heart is not an inconsequential thing to me. Neither is Ginny's. How can you accept this?"
Harry pulled his head from her grasp and fixed his gaze back on the floor.
"What would you have me do?"
"Fight, Harry. Fight for Her. Fight for yourself. Do what you do best-FIGHT!" She pleaded.
"And destroy the whole family in the process?" He disagreed, suggesting an alternative. "It would be easier to change the rest of the world."
"You can't be serious?" Jane Granger startled, suddenly realizing he was deadly serious about doing just that.
Harry's gaze came up from the floor and swept raptor like across the four ladies present. Considering them- Analyzing them. Judging them... And,.. finding them worthy.
His eyes twinkled as Dumbledore's never had before as he told them a story, one who's ending, the fates alone knew.
He finished finding the others stunned into absolute silence. Each of them quietly contemplating what Harry not only planned, but had already begun to implement.
Jane Granger was the first of them to break the silence as she asked her three counterparts: "Could that work? I mean,.. it,.. it's,.. Wow!"
Harry turned toward Poppy and Minerva, his expression seeking their input.
"If it were anyone else in the entire world, I'd say they were utterly mad, deluded, but honestly,.. That's absolutely brilliant!" Poppy nearly cheered her approval.
"And unless I've missed something, completely legal." McGonagal agreed.
Harry turned to the person sitting at his left side. She, whose opinion he valued above all others. He not only wanted her approval, but her understanding.
Soft chocolate brown eyes met intense green. "Do you trust me?"
"You know I do." He confirmed without the slightest hesitation.
"If I asked you not to do this?"
"I'd not do it, but please don't ask me that?" Harry pleaded for her acceptance.
She never batted an eye. "Don't do this."
"The family, huh?" He questioned irately.
"Arthur would suffer the fallout and Molly would be torn over the two of you. The boys would split sides, and Ginny….?" Hermione returned worriedly. Her eyes pleaded with him
"I begged him. On my knees I begged him." he bit out disgustedly.
"It turned my stomach to do it, but for her I did. Still,… he rebuked me. Oh, he was sorry about it, sure?" Harry drawled sarcastically. "But the bottom line was thanks, but no thanks."
Hermione's eyes scanned the others in the room judging their reaction to this. They were as astounded as she was.
"T-That's hard to believe?" She stalled trying to think of something that might appease him, give him a bit of hope instead of facing a hopeless situation.
"Believe it." He returned with giving her a moment's pause. He knew this ploy well; he'd seen her employ it many times over the years. Given enough of a chance, her brilliant mind would come up with a compelling argument to dissuade him, but he didn't want her to change his mind, not this time.
Her time was up and she knew it, so she played the only hand she had available.
"For the love of our friends and family, I ask you not to do this thing."
Harry's eyes hardened. "Once you could have swayed me with that, but that time is passed. I am an outsider to those you hold in such high esteem. If their back was to the wall again, they would side with each other over me, even the twins. Blood will out."
Hermione's uncertain eyes met his eyes penetrating stare. "For the life and future happiness of your unborn Godchild,... I ask it of you?" he placed a hand to her stomach for emphasis.
Harry's eyes softened slightly, but his next words both chilled and infuriated her.
"You assume much that I would accept such a mantle of responsibility, I would not. I wouldn't for Remus, nor would I for you."
"Harry James Potter!" Jane scathed in outrage. "How can you sit there and throw such an honor back in Hermione's face?"
Harry's eyes remained resolute, but he did not answer until she pressed further.
"Well, I'm waiting… What have you got to say for yourself?" Jane demanded.
Harry smirked as he replied. "Though Hermione doesn't subscribe to the art of divination, I believe I can accurately predict that she will now play her trump card and force me to forgo my plans by asking me to do so for her."
Every eye in the room sought Hermione's, the truth of Harry's conviction was written all over her face.
"I'm asking you not to,…. For me?" she returned plaintively.
"You know I don't consider such an undertaking lightly, nor do I make the attempt solely for my own gain. You also know as well as I that change is needed if the Magical World is to survive. This may not be the best way, but it's the best that I could come up with and I still would like to at least try?"
"It was his idea, Arthur's,.. the Minister's," Harry reiterated, "he said if the world was a different place, a safer place then maybe he'd reconsider?"
This was the reasoning behind his plan. He would change the world, not just because it needed to change, but so that he could have a chance to be with Ginny? It was beyond romantic.
Hermione eyes softened as she returned in an apologetic tone. "I'm still asking?" She hated herself for this.
"Y-You won't reconsider, will you?" Harry halting asked in failing hope.
Hermione brushed a tear from the corner of her eye. Not trusting her voice, she shook her head desolately.
"So be it." Harry agreed hollowly. "I do not withdraw for Weasleys or world, but I do so because you've asked it of me. And in so doing, you've condemned both mine and Ginny's hopes, however fleeting, and perhaps the world along with us."
McGonagal gasped at the hopeless finality in his voice, but no one argued against Harry's final decision. The elder ladies eyes fell dolefully to the floor.
"Harry, I…?" Hermione began tearfully.
"Ask nothing more of me, you haven't the right." Harry cut her off icily.
Hermione buried her face in her hands and wept bitterly.
After several painful moments Harry recanted. "I would not have you so distraught, not in your present condition. I can at least offer this kindness…OBLIVIATE !" He swept his hand across the room and obliviated the entire afternoon from their minds-permanently.
Hermione and her mother would become aware in the Granger's living room, having thought they'd spent a charming afternoon catching up with Harry. He had complimented her new hair style and wardrobe. It would be some weeks before she again realized she was even pregnant.
Minerva and Poppy would become aware in her office, enjoying a spot of afternoon tea while going over supply requisitions for the coming school year.
On Tuesday, Harry would inform Draco and Abby of the change. That gave him two days to come up with an effective 'Plan B'.
He is, after all, rather well known for his stubbornness.