Harry Potter and the Ancient Secret of War

Chapter Two

The Birthday & Afterwards

“Hermione!” Harry said breathlessly.

She nodded. “And who exactly were you expecting if not me?” she asked him playfully.

Harry had almost forgotten about the presence of ’s gang there. He was brought back out of his stupor into reality when asked him, “You know her?”

Harry nodded. “She goes to school with me. You know what I am talking about,” he replied, trying to put on his most cheerful voice.

gasped. He obviously knew what Harry was talking about. He realized that the girl was a witch. He didn’t want to annoy her so much so that she would turn him into a pig and so, he let out a whimper and took off down the street. His gang looked confused at seeing their ringleader take off like that; they just stared foolishly at Harry and then at Hermione. Deciding that something must be terribly wrong to have scared , they too took off after him, calling out ‘Wait, Big D’ at the top of their voices.

Harry started laughing and so did Hermione. Harry couldn’t remember the last time he had laughed like that. They watched as and his cronies took a left turn down the street and disappeared out of sight.

After that, an awkward silence followed as Harry tried to sort out his thoughts. He obviously loved Ron and Hermione as his best friends and that is why he had decided to separate himself from them. That is why he had not written them any letters in reply to their missives. But here he was, standing with Hermione right in front of him, wanting to greet her and talk to her like the old times but refraining from doing so, so that he could stick to his resolve.

At long last, Hermione said, “Harry, are you just going to stand there and stare into the ground or are you going to ask me what I am doing here?”

Those words were enough to initiate Harry’s response. Words began tumbling out of his mouth as he asked, “Hermione, what are you doing here? Where is Ron? Why are you here in Little Whinging? Is everything okay?”

Hermione laughed at this. She said softly, “Calm down, Harry. Calm down. Let me catch a breath first.”

She smiled at him as she said this and Harry thought that she looked quite pretty. She was wearing blue jeans and a pink coloured sleeveless top over it. Her hair was less messier than usual, probably because she had had it cut to about three inches below shoulder length. She had, in fact, tied it in a ponytail. Harry took in her sight. She had obviously matured. She was still slender and seemed to have developed all the right curves. She had grown taller too. Harry was marvelling at how much she had changed in one month before her next words brought him back to daylight.

“Harry, are you listening?” she asked as she walked towards him.

“Uh-huh,” Harry grunted.

“I will take that as a ‘no’.”

“So what are you doing here?”

Hermione was now by his side and she reached out to him and hugged him tightly. She let go of him then and said rolling her eyes, “I happen to remember that today’s is the sixteenth birthday of my best friend and so, I came by to wish him a happy birthday. Isn’t that reason enough?”

Harry was rather flattered by this remark. He blushed as he realized that Hermione had come over only for his birthday. But he hid his happiness. He knew he had to be strong. He could not go on with their friendship, since it was bound to hurt her and Ron in some way or the other.

She didn’t seem to have noticed his discomfort in hiding his feelings. She reached over to him, kissed him on the cheek lightly and hugging him once again said, “Happy Birthday, Harry.”

He stared at her, his emerald green eyes boring into the back of her head, “I think you should go. You are not safe here, alone with me.”

She looked at him once and seemed to understand. Just like Hermione, he thought, seems to know everything everytime.

She spoke to him softly, “Harry, could we go somewhere less conspicuous. I want to talk to you. How about the ice-cream parlour over there?”

She pointed out to the ice-cream parlour up the street. It was the same one in which Harry had started working.

Harry nodded at her, meaning that he accepted her suggestion. He led her up to the parlour. As they entered, one of his colleagues, Mark, yelled out to him, “Hey, Harry! What’s going on? Heard today is your birthday. Happy Birthday, mate!” He held out his hand to Harry who took it and grinned at him. Mark’s eyes then landed on Hermione and he gave a low whistle. “And who is this pretty friend of yours? Don’t tell me you already have a girlfriend.”

Hermione blushed at this, but Harry shook his head and said, “Actually, she is just a friend, from school.”

Mark nodded but he didn’t seem too convinced. He however didn’t say anything and asked simply, “So, what would you guys want to have?”

* * * * *

A minute later, Harry and Hermione were sitting together in a booth, concentrating on their ice-creams. In fact, Harry was the only one concentrating on the ice-cream. Hermione was looking closely at him, her face etched in concern.

Hermione asked him, “Harry, are you okay?”

Harry nodded. He still didn’t want to speak anything, knowing that once he started getting friendly, it would be too difficult to stop.

Hermione peered at him once again and said, “Of course, you aren’t.”

“What do you mean?” He lifted his head and looked straight into her eyes, trying to challenge her to saying what she meant.

However, she didn’t back down either and merely said in a low and friendly tone, “You feel you are responsible for Sirius’ death. No, wait …let me finish first,” she lifted up her right hand as Harry opened his mouth to speak something. “You feel that your friendship with Ron and me is going to endanger us and so, you have decided to break our friendship, not caring if we wanted to do it or not. That is why you haven’t been replying to our letters. That is why we have not heard of you these entire vacation. Isn’t this the truth?”

She said all these things very carefully and clearly by stressing all the right parts. It seemed to Harry that she had rehearsed this speech many times earlier. ‘Just like Hermione,’ Harry thought, ‘Just like the one to tackle everything head on’

He felt like cowering under her piercing gaze, which reminded him so often of the hawkish way in which Professor McGonagall looked at troublemakers. But knowing that he mustn’t give the feeling away, he merely replied, “I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“Of course you do, Harry Potter. You know very well what I am talking about.”

“I don’t know what we are talking about here and why.”

“We are talking about Sirius. We are talking about the fact that you are not responsible for his death. And we are talking about all this because it is important for you to realize that you have never been responsible for hurting anyone. It is important for you to realize it so that you don’t hurt anyone else, for example, Ron and me. You don’t understand Harry but you are withdrawing into a shell and that is not a good way to live your life. If you think you are keeping us safe by withdrawing, you are wrong. It is your indifferent, confused and unfriendly behaviour that is hurting us. It is this that has disappointed us.”

“Don’t tell me how to live my life. I-” Harry began hotly.

“I am not telling you how to live your life. I am not trying to direct you or command you. I am trying to help you. You don’t realize this Harry but do you know how much you have hurt Ron and me by not replying to our letters. Here we are writing everyday like mad, hoping to get your response and you choose not to write. And we are just left wondering whether those relatives of you have kept you alive or dead? And you think that you are doing the right thing?” As she was saying this, the colour rose in Hermione’s cheeks and she looked positively livid.

Just as she said this, Mark came over and said, “So what are you two quarrelling about?”

Harry said, “Please Mark, we are not quarrelling. Why don’t you go back and do some work. I believe those boys over there are asking for something.”

As Mark departed to the other booth, Hermione asked, “So, how do you know him?”

“I have taken a summer job here in this ice-cream parlour. The Dursleys don’t mind since the Order warned them last year and I can keep busy by doing this,” Harry replied dully.

Hermione nodded in understanding. She reached over and took Harry’s hand in her own. She squeezed his hand reassuringly and said, “Harry, you have to come out of your self-imposed shell. You have to live life as you once did. You have to go out there without fear or apprehension. That is what you need to do. That is why you need to get over Sirius’ death.”

“And just who are you to tell me what I need in my life?” Harry spoke coldly and as he said this, a cold light flashed in his eyes. Hermione was suddenly scared. It was as if someone else was sitting before her and not Harry.

But she didn’t get bogged down. She knew she must persist, for the good of her best friend, for the good of everyone who knew him and looked up to him.

“I am your friend, Harry and I am trying to help you,” she said.

Harry looked at her. He could see that she was a bit scared at what he had said. He was sure that he had not intended to speak what he had spoken. ‘Voldemort! It must have ben him,’ he thought angrily.

His features softened once more as he spoke, “Sorry, Hermione. It’s just that I don’t feel like talking about this now. I don’t think I am ready yet.”

“All right, Harry. If you want that, I suppose it’s your own decision. But I want you to know that if you ever feel the need to talk to you, I will be there for you, so will Ron and Dumbledore and Lupin. You don’t know Harry but there are so many people around who care for you. You just have to give them a chance to show it”

Harry nodded at what she said. He understood. He felt his resolve of breaking the trio evaporate into thin air. He decided to play the part of the procrastinator and postpone it for sometime later. He decided to just have a good time on his birthday with his friends.

Another period of awkward silence followed in between them. Harry was rather surprised at this. For one, he had never had any problem talking to Hermione, or to Ron for that matter. In fact, it was always Ron and Hermione who sometimes, felt awkward around each other. This was a new phenomenon and Harry was not sure if he liked it.

So, in a bid to break the silence, he asked her, “So where is Ron?”

Not for the first time since Hermione had met him that morning, she looked worried. She merely shrugged her shoulders and said, “I don’t know. He was supposed to come here by Floo powder. We had decided to be here by ten. But I don’t know. Do you think he is all right?”

“Knowing Ron and his family, I daresay he will be all right. Anyway if he is travelling by Floo powder, he should be all right. I mean he has used it many times before, hasn’t he? He has even been in Little Whinging once-“ he broke off suddenly and groaned as he remembered the time when the Weasleys had travelled to the house by Floo powder.

Hermione looked surprised, “What’s the matter, Harry? Is everything okay?”

“Yes, it is. At least, I hope so. Come quickly. We have to rush. No time to explain,” he grabbed her hand and made his way to the counter where Mark was. Harry was about to pay him but Mark stopped him.

“Go on, mate. Just consider it a birthday gift.”

“Thanks mate,” Harry smiled at him and taking Hermione hand, he took her out and started walking quickly towards .

“Harry, what’s going on?” Hermione was asking, but Harry just seemed to ignore her. He continued to lead her quickly to Number 4. When they reached there, Harry told Hermione to stand there quietly while he went inside and checked things out.

He went inside the house on tiptoe, careful not to let Aunt Petunia know that he was there. He went quietly to the living room and surveyed the fireplace. There was obviously no sign of anything out of the ordinary having happened, so he heaved a sigh of relief. Evidently, Ron hadn't chosen to come by their fireplace. He went back outside and nearly dropped down dead in shock when he saw Aunt Petunia leaning over the fence and talking to no one other than-

“Hermione!” Harry muttered to himself. “Now what am I going to do to get her away from the gossip?”

Fortunately, Harry did not have to worry about that as Hermione politely detached herself from the conversation and made her way towards the direction of Wisteria Walk. Harry was thankful that she was doing so. It would be a few steps lesser that way.

After successfully avoiding his aunt, Harry rejoined Hermione about half a block down. She was shaking her head and muttering something to herself. Harry came up from behind and asked her, “What’s the matter?”

She looked up at him and asked, “That your aunt?”

Harry nodded. She said, “Well, I talked to her for about one minute and it took me half that much time to realize how horrid she is.”

“What do you mean?”

“She started asking me about who I was and what I am doing here and to whom I am related and all those things of that sort. She was about to introduce me to some Dudders, I think that would be your cousin, (Harry nodded) so that I could enjoy some quality company during the time that I am in Little Whinging,” Hermione shuddered at the very thought of spending time with . She was already hacked off at him for the way his gang had tried to harass her when she had asked him directions for Number 4, .

Harry grinned at her reaction and said, “Glad to see that you met my relatives and found them interesting.”

Hermione did not say anything but gave a snort. Harry burst into laughter just as Mrs Figg’s house came into view. Hermione followed suit and soon they were bursting with laughter. They had to catch hold of the fence in order to prevent themselves from falling to the ground and rolling to the ground.

Someone inside appeared to have heard their laughter as they realized that the door to the house opened and a shadow fell across the ground.

“Harry! Hermione! Thank God I found you at last,” came Ron’s voice.

They looked up to see Ron standing in the drive of Mrs Figg’s house, grinning at them.

“So, Ron,” Harry asked, “A little late, are we?”

Ron looked sheepishly at him and said, “I got kinda caught up with Mrs Figg. She insisted on hearing everything that was going on.”

“What does that-” Harry started but he interrupted himself. “Wait, how do you know her?”

“Well, you see she was a friend of my mother’s,” came Ron’s reply. “She insisted on hearing everything that was going on with her. In fact, she was laughing to the fact about how Mum reacts to Fred and George’s antics when I heard your laughter and came out.”

Harry beamed at him; evidently all the thoughts that he had harboured of breaking the famous trio had been evaporated and passed into the next century.

They stood there, and Harry and Ron started talking about Quidditch. Evidently, the Chudley Cannons (Ron’s favourite Quidditch team) had been taken over by some very rich wizard businessman from and they had made quite a few signings. With the new players, they were going great guns and were on top of the Quidditch League. Ron was even more delighted to tell him that the support for the Tornadoes had halved overnight and most of the bookies now believed that the Cannons were the favourites to win the League for that year.

[A/N: In case you just wondered, yes, the take on the Cannons is inspired by Roman Abromovich’s takeover of the English football club, Chelsea.]

Ron went on, ranting about the prospects of the Cannons and Harry found his attention wavering. As much as he loved to play Quidditch, Harry did not have Ron’s extensive knowledge about the different Quidditch teams of England (being in the Muggle world did not help him) and so, he had much more difficulty in keeping up with who was who and what was what in the National Quidditch League of England.

Just as Harry was about to stop Ron, a voice came from inside the house, “Ron, are you going to just bore them off there or are you going to stay out there? I have to wish Harry a happy birthday, you see.”

Harry thanked his stars that Mrs Figg interrupted their one-track conversation. He went inside and as he entered the house, his stomach did a back-flip. Enchanted balloons were hanging from the walls. Over the mantlepiece, he saw a large photograph of his and over that, it was written ‘Happy Birthday, Harry.’

In Mrs Figg’s living room, there were people crowded all around. Harry spotted Mrs Weasley alongwith Fred and George. There was also Remus Lupin and Tonks. Ginny was there and her boyfriend, Dean Thomas was there at her side. Neville was there as well. Harry noticed Ron clench his fist as he looked in Ginny’s direction. Clearly, he was still not happy about her relationship with Dean. Hagrid occupied half of the room by himself and that made the place more crowded than it could possibly be. As Harry entered, flanked on both sides by Ron and Hermione, they yelled out loudly, “Surprise!”

Harry walked into a roomful of hugs as everyone wished him a happy birthday and gave him presents, and a lot of them at that. Soon, he was opening presents at everyone’s behest. Harry never had so many presents in his life. Ordinarily, his birthday consisted of a solitude and a few presents from his friends. But today, for the first time in his life, he was having a proper birthday.

There was a huge cake that had been baked by Mrs Weasley herself.

When he cut the cake, Hermione told him, “Make a wish, Harry.”

Harry made his wish and blew out all the candles in one go. He cut the cake and with that, the party began in earnest. There was music and dance. Evidently, the party had been very well-planned.

And yes, there was food. Lots of it. Evidently, Mrs Weasley had been camping out at her friend’s place since last night in order to help them prepare for the party. Harry looked at Mrs Figg and noticed that she looked happier than he had ever seen her (which was only about four or five dozen times) Everyone looked quite merry. In fact, the only people, Harry noticed, who were evidently feeling awkward were Ron and Hermione. Harry followed them for some time and he saw that they were walking around the room, talking cheerfully to everyone but always conveniently avoiding each other. Harry wondered what was with those two.

Fred and George were upto their usual antics. They had evidently made something called the Ghost Line which made anyone walking over it take up the appearance of a ghost for a minute. Neville was their favourite target, as he went about looking straight ahead. After about half an hour when they had succeeded in turning almost everyone into a ghost and had been threatened by their mother, they stopped and began using some other tricks.

Ignoring these antics, Harry walked over to where Ginny was standing. Dean was now engaged in a conversation with Lupin nearby. He greeted Ginny and she wished him a happy birthday.

He asked her, “What’s the matter with Ron?”

Ginny smiled and said, “Oh, he is just angry that I brought Dean along to the party. Honestly, everyone has accepted that he is my boyfriend but dear old Ronald just refuses to acknowledge that fact.”

Harry listened to her but this was not the answer he was looking for. He shook his head and said, “No, not about that. I am asking about what’s up with Ron and Hermione?”

A look of comprehension dawned on Ginny’s face. She said, “I don’t know. I mean, ever since Ron came back from their date, he has been keeping to himself. I think the only time they communicated after that was when we started planning for the party. I think their date did not go too well.”

Harry understood. That would certainly explain a lot of things. He decided to just let the issue rest for the moment. ‘After all,’ he thought, ‘Ron and Hermione don’t need by help in this. They can sort everything out themselves.’

“So,” he asked Ginny. “What is the theory of this noon-time party?”

Ginny giggled. “That? You have to give credit to Mum. When she asked him about whether we could have you over today, Dumbledore told her that we had to wait for another day. But then, she decided that we had to celebrate your birthday under any condition. Apparently, Dumbledore told her that the only way she could celebrate the birthday with you was to through you a noon-time party and that is what she went about doing.”

“So you mean that all this has been arranged by Mrs Weasley,” Harry asked her, an incredulous look on his face.

Ginny nodded, “With some help from Mrs Figg of course.”

“Wow,” Harry exclaimed. “Now I know from where Fred and George got the genes to be what they are.”

Ginny laughed at this remark. The party went on smoothly till about four in the afternoon. It was at that time that the doorbell rang. They were in the middle of dancing to some tunes played on the Wizarding Wireless Network that Mrs Figg had. Harry had noticed it for the first time. He was dancing with Hermione, who was equally bad on the floor – she was still avoiding Ron and vice versa.

They were still dancing when the door to the living room opened once again and Mrs Figg came in, followed by Albus Dumbledore. Dumbledore looked grave. There was no twinkle in his sky-blue eyes and he was seemingly very tense. Harry took it as a bad sign. Evidently, something had happened that had unnerved him and Harry thought that the prospect was too scary for words.

As Dumbledore entered, everyone stopped in their tracks. He surveyed the room and then motioned to Hagrid, Lupin, Tonks and Mrs Weasley. As they came near, he whispered something to them. ‘That is odd,’ thought Harry. He had never seen Dumbledore being so secretive.

After the discussion had taken place, Dumbledore disappeared through the door alongwith Hagrid. Mrs Weasley, meanwhile, came back to the rest of them and said, “Harry, I am sorry, but we have to go. Albus told us to.”

She cleared her throat loudly and announced, “Everyone except Harry, Hermione and Arabella here have to make way for Headquarters by using a Portkey. Harry, Hermione, dears, you have to stay here with Arabella. You can just go back to your uncle’s place and collect all your luggage. Tell them that you are going away for the summer and come back here. Albus will tell you what to do next. Hermione, you are also to stay here. Do not leave the house, especially you, Hermione. Am I understood?”

She glared at all the occupants of the room as if daring anyone to ask a question. Everyone nodded. Even Fred and George were unexpectedly compliant. It seemed that they had realized the urgency of the situation.

“Harry, I think you should go now. Arabella, if he does not come within an hour, inform us immediately. You can do so, now that you have a Floo connection,” Lupin said.

Mrs Figg nodded. Harry said goodbye and ran off to his house. He had thought about this day every day of his holidays. He always wanted to be free from the life at and now, he was sure that he was to go away until the next summer. He knew he should be happy, but something forbade him. Something gave him a strange sense of foreboding and apprehension. He was quite wary as he made his way to his uncle’s house. He knew something had happened, something big.

It was afternoon still and so, the house was empty except for his aunt. Harry packed his things up and told his aunt that he was going away for the rest of the holidays. She did not seemed to mind in the least.

It was about fory-five minutes after he had originally left Mrs Figg’s house that Harry returned there. He saw that the Weasleys had gone, alongwith Dean, Neville, Lupin and Tonks to 12, , the Headquarters of the Order of the . Hermione was sitting there alone in the living room, her head in her hands. She was visibly shaking from fear. Meanwhile, Harry could hear Mrs Figg working in the kitchen.

They waited there alone for what seemed like hours. Around eight, Mrs Figg asked them to have dinner. Inspite of the sense of dread, Harry felt hungry. So, he got up with Hermione and had their dinner with Mrs Figg. After that they went back to waiting for the next instructions.

It was past now, and Hermione was sleeping quietly with her head on Harry’s shoulder. Mrs Figg was sitting across from them, pretending to read a magazine. But she was clearly waiting for some sign, some indication of what was happening and what would happen next.

Suddenly the doorbell rang and Mrs Figg sprang to life. She went to the door and let Professor Dumbledore in. Hermione was still asleep and Harry woke her up gently. She sat up and began rubbing her eyes.

“Hermione, I think it is time for us to leave,” Harry told her softly.

She nodded. Just then, Professor Dumbledore came into the living room. He asked Harry, “Have you got your luggage?”

Harry nodded.

Dumbledore continued, “Very well, we will be leaving in five minutes.”

“But Professor, where are we going?” Hermione asked him.

“You’ll see. I am afraid I cannot say anymore just now,” Dumbledore replied. Harry could have sworn that Dumbledore seemed weary and sad.

Just then, Harry heard an owl come through and it handed over a letter to him. He looked at Dumbledore with raised eyebrows. Sirius, Ron and Hermione had been the only person who corresponded with him. Dumbledore motioned him to take the letter. He was about to open it when he help up his hand and said, “Later, Harry.”

After a couple of minutes, Dumbledore performed the levitating charm on Harry’s trunk and took it in his hand. He did the same for Harry’s Firebolt and Hedwig’s cage. They were both held by Harry. (Hedwig had gone off to hunt for the night.)

Dumbledore motioned them to gather near the Portkey. It was a simple flower vase that was broken near the base. They grasped the vase together. Dumbledore was counting “Three…Two…One…Here we go.”

Harry felt the now familiar jerk behind his navel and he soon found himself on the floor of a well-kept house. Hermione looked around and suddenly, she turned to Dumbledore and asked, “Professor, why have you brought us to my home?”

Harry understood now. So this was where Hermione lived. But Dumbledore did not seem to notice Harry’s curious glances at the moment. He placed a hand on Hermione’s shoulder and said softly, “Miss Granger, I am afraid your parents have met with an accident. And I mean a ‘Death Eater’ accident.”

Hermione sank down to the floor. Harry felt his heart skip a beat. He was shocked and stunned. Suddenly, he remembered his wish while cutting the cake. He wished with all his heart now that he had not wished for what he did.

Hermione seemed to regain a bit of her composure and she asked with tears in her eyes, “Are they okay? Are my parents okay?”

* * * * *

What You Can Expect Next:

                                What is the condition of Hermione’s parents? What did Harry wish? What exactly happened with the Death Eaters? What is Harry going to do for the rest of the summer? All the answers and more in the next chapter : Chapter 3 – With Hermione.

* * * * *

Author's Note:

Thanks for the reviews to Chapter 1. Especially to , thanks for the honestly done review. This chapter has far more dialogues. Hopefully you will like it better.

I am going to be away for the next seven days. I promise that I will update the story with two more chapters by June 17th. After that, it will be like 2-3 chapters a week. Thanks for the reviews and keep them coming. You don't know the encouragement they provide to someone like me who is writing his first fan fiction.