Harry Potter and the Infernal Plan Part XIII
by Jori
e-mail: seeker07@gmail.com
FINISHED September 2013. Ten years, people. Ten years. I'm slow but I don't give up!
Set during and after their sixth year at Hogwarts, Hermione asks something of Harry that will change their lives forever.
NC-17
Spoilers for all books but probably not Pottermore. Most of this was originally written WELL before Order of the Phoenix came out but I decided to go back and do some edits. Some were very necessary while others were more cosmetic.
H/Hr story
This story is based on characters and situations created and owned by JK Rowling, various publishers including but not limited to Bloomsbury Books, Scholastic Books and Raincoast Books, and Warner Bros., Inc. No money is being made and no copyright or trademark infringement is intended.
-^-^-^-
"You absolutely must stay here, do you understand me?" Lupin told Harry as the two of them argued once more over the plans to contain Voldemort. Harry still didn't agree with any of it. He wasn't sure why it was so important that he stay behind but he was sure the orders were coming somehow from Dumbledore. Why else would Lupin be so strict in his orders?
"I can help!" Harry pleaded once again. They had been in this painted world for several days now and he was beginning to work it all out with the help of his father. With Hermione learning spells specific to only this place as fast as she could, they would be a force to contend with. Tonks was now with them, having made it through the portal. She was standing a few feet away, staring at Lupin. Harry had heard her tell him she couldn't leave him alone in here. He wasn't sure what that was all about.
"It's not the right time." Lupin said, walking away towards Tonks, leaving Harry as frustrated as ever.
Harry was growing tired of hearing that but it was Lupin's mantra the last few days. He wasn't sure when the right time was going to come or what giant parts of some secret plan he wasn't be told about this time but all he wanted to do was to end this now and go on with his life.
He wanted to get out of here and back to the real Hogwarts. He wanted to finish his year and just be normal again. He had a taste of it and he desperately wanted it back. This world behind the canvases was fascinating but it wasn't home. Harry was tired of worrying about when he might slip into a different painting. He was tired of the smell of paint that permeated everything. He was tired of not being able to get a minute alone to think about anything without someone, real or painted, checking up on him.
The only good part was that at least he was with his two best friends and that he got to spend this time with his dad. James Potter was teaching him how to move between paintings in ways not even other paintings knew. He was showing Hermione ways to work magic that amused her and kept her busy. He was always telling stories about his first days at Hogwarts and his best friend Sirius and how he hoped Harry would one day be able to find the frame his canvas was in and give it a proper home.
"All I can tell you is I'm stuck in some attic behind a box of old Christmas ornaments. Muggles, I believe, but I could be wrong. Somewhere not far from Godric's Hollow," James told him and it wasn't really a lot to go on but Harry was willing to search for as long as it took.
He walked away from a group of people all listening to Lupin's latest orders and sneaked out the big oak doorway. Harry didn't know where he was going but he wanted to get away. It wasn't long before he heard light footsteps echoing behind and he pulled out his wand, facing his stalker.
"Put it away, Harry! It's only me!" Hermione said, stepping closer to him. They were underneath a torch suspended from the castle wall, it's blue flame flickering endlessly in someone's painted version of Hogwarts.
"Sorry," he said, tucking his wand away.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"I had to get out of there. Just for a few minutes. I had to be alone," he said, taking a step back from her. Since ending up here, they had very little time to even talk to each other alone. Hermione was too busy learning everything she could about this place or bickering with the other Hermione and Harry was too busy being mad that his participation didn't seem to be required.
Before he could too far from her, she reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him into a soft embrace.
"Do you still want to be alone?" she asked, her breath hot next to his ear. There was no time for this and he knew it but then again, they didn't seem to want him to participate in what they were doing anyway. They'd be in trouble if they were found out stealing away like this, but how would they be punished? Not allowed to try to stop Voldemort and his followers? Locked up in this castle? They already were as far as Harry was concerned.
"That depends on the company," Harry said, his lips brushing against her cheek.
"We don't have a lot of time before someone will notice we're both gone," Hermione said, pulling him toward a room off of the corridor.
"I don't need a lot of time," Harry said, willing to follow her anywhere. Hermione laughed and Harry blushed. "That's not what I meant. I meant... oh, who cares?"
She closed the heavy door to the room she chose, leaving them completely in a sea of darkness. It didn't matter. He knew her so well that he could be blindfolded and still be able to find every spot on her body that made her moan with pleasure. He could sense where she was without being able to see a thing.
The room that surrounded them was Hogwarts but yet it wasn't. It didn't have that dank smell but rather smelled of paint and canvas and the fumes in this closed room were more than a little intoxicating. Harry's thoughts began to spin as Hermione tugged his jumper over his head and tossed it aside. They were still walking, Hermione leading the way, and Harry wasn't sure where they were going. Her fingers fumbled with the button on his jeans and he couldn't move anymore. They sank to their knees, hands exploring, mouths now joined in a deep kiss.
Hermione pushed him onto his back, pulling his jeans and pants down past his hips. He was already hard and ready for whatever she wanted to do to him. He closed his eyes even though they were already in the dark when she drew him into her mouth and he groaned out his pleasure.
"Hermione," Harry said, his fingers twisting into her long hair. She took him in as far as she could and then let him nearly slip free from her mouth. "Oh, Hermione..."
She didn't stop and he was afraid he really wouldn't last that long. They didn't have long but he wanted to make it longer than one minute.
"Come here," Harry said, pulling Hermione away. In the darkness, he helped her strip out of her jeans and knickers and then pulled her on top of him. Without any fumbling around, he slipped into her body and she moaned as she settled down, her body fitting perfectly around him. She leaned forward just enough that her hair brushed across him and he wrapped one hand around her tiny waist and the other one found the apex between her legs that made her moan now, too. It was fast and dark and all he could do was try to keep up with her and keep focused. He couldn't. His head was spinning and he couldn't do anything more.
He felt as if lightning was moving through both of them and around the room as they came. Her body shuddered above him and he thrust into her one last time. Lightning. Buzzing. Fast. Hot.
He gasped and then she slip off of him, kissing him again. Still hot. Still so damn hot. The room was getting brighter and he couldn't figure out why. Neither of them had their wands handy and Harry certainly hadn't heard Hermione light a little blue flame in the past few minutes.
"Either that was the best sex ever or something is happening," she said in between kisses, both of their bodies still humming.
"Although I'd like to think it was the first thing, I'm certain it's the second," Harry said. Hermione moved beside him and they both looked around the room. The lightning wasn't only inside of them but the room flickered with tiny pulses. The two of them pulled on their clothes as quickly as possible and hurried towards the door.
They had both just made it out of the door when the whole room turned into a flashing ball of light before dissolving away.
-^-^-^-
"We have to make our move," Lupin said, looking at the empty space that used to be part of the painting. "I don't know what is going on but that's something I haven't seen before. Maybe they're causing it."
"Do we know where they are?" James asked. Lupin's eyes flashed to Harry and then back to James. Harry knew that this meant he wasn't going to say anything in front of him that would tell too much. Harry had his orders and he was supposed to stick to them.
"Certain members know," Lupin answered before turning to face Hermione. "What were the two of you doing in here anyway?"
"We were just talking," Hermione and Harry answered at the same time, their voices both sounding guilty.
Ron scoffed behind them. Even painted Hermione, who was standing right next to Ron, let out a faint laugh. Tonks nodded, as if she understood the need to sneak away.
"No more... talking," Lupin said, his eyes looking over the disheveled state the two of them were in. "You need to stay with the group, especially you Harry. If we lose you now with all of them out there somewhere, I don't even want to imagine what might happen."
"I'm sorry. It's my fault," said Hermione, taking Harry's hand in hers. "I wanted to discuss something with Harry. Something important."
Lupin said nothing in return but thankfully he had stopped looking them up and down and making Harry feel so guilty. He instead focused on the room again.
"I don't think this is caused by dark magic. I'm not sure what caused it but it was powerful," Lupin said as he and James continued to investigate. "It might be useful if we could figure out where it came from"
"With the way magic is manipulated in this world, it might be impossible to ever tell how that happened," Hermione said. Painted Hermione nodded in agreement and started to tell everyone about some of the magic she had learned since her creation but real Hermione cut her off. "I'll look into it further later."
-^-^-^-
"Snape and Moody are setting up a perimeter on the outside," Harry heard Tonks explaining to Lupin. "We should be able to trap him in here, Remus. It might not be forever but it will buy us time. The more time Harry has to grow to be a stronger wizard, the better."
He was supposed to be sleeping but he found out quickly he learned so much more if he faked it and listened into the conversations others had while they didn't think he was listening.
"You will have to go out with the kids. You can't stay here," Lupin said to her and Harry expected Tonks to follow his orders. He had to.
"You know I'm not leaving you, Remus. I can't. You know how I feel about you," she said and Harry drew in his breath, holding it while all the pieces fell in the place in his mind. That's why she was here instead of Professor Snape or Moody.
"I can't ask you to give up your life out there..."
"You are my life now. I'd willingly give it up for you," she said and Harry exhaled so loudly they had to have heard him. He heard rustling and someone moving away. "Anyway, we'll discuss this further later on. After we get these other plans started."
It was all he could do not to wake up Hermione to tell her what he heard. When he finally did mention it to her in the morning, she just rolled her eyes at him. "I already knew that. You should have seen the state she was in when he went in to rescue you and didn't come out. She wanted to come with then. I'm sure there was no stopping her this time."
"Am I always the last to know things?" Harry asked, looking at all the people milling around the room.
"No, usually it's Ron," Hermione said with a shrug.
-^-^-^-
"This isn't your battle to fight, Harry. Not yet," James said, but Harry was still fighting the idea that he and the real Hermione were just going to let all these other people put themselves in any kind of danger. "You, Ron and Hermione have to make it to the portal while painted Hermione and I distract Voldemort. You have to get to safety."
"But if I can kill him now..."
"You can't," his father said and it angered him. Why did everything suddenly think he was so weak? "You are a wonderful wizard, Harry, but it's just not time."
"When will it be time? How does everyone else seem to know it's not time except me?" Harry said, not hiding the anger and disappointment in his voice.
Lupin spoke up now, knowing James wasn't getting through. "Because there is more for you to do out there. More that you don't even know about yet. Dumbledore will explain it to you..."
"Oh, sure! Dumbledore has been so great at explaining it all to me so far!" Harry said. He felt like screaming and pounding the walls. The look on Hermione's face told him not to.
"Voldemort doesn't care if he kills you now or next week. But in order to kill him, certain things have to happen. That's all I can tell you," Lupin said sternly.
Hermione took his hand and turned him around. Ron was next to her, staring at his shoes. "You have to trust them, Harry. You have to. More and more of the paintings are collapsing and they are getting close. If they find you, they will kill you. He will have won. Nothing will stop him from taking over this world and ours. Nothing."
"Okay, I get it," Harry said with resignation. He turned back to the other group and asked, "What is it you want me to do?"
"You'll have to get back to a portal as quickly as possible. Zoila can lead you. I'd rather have James lead you but he'll be busy elsewhere. He and the other Hermione will distract them... keep him chasing after them for a while. Tonks and I will see what we can do to keep him trapped in here but I'm not sure how long we can hold him. The most important thing is for you to get out, Harry. Do you understand me?" Lupin asked. Harry begrudgingly nodded. He'd rather stay and fight but what if Lupin was right and there was more he had to do before Voldemort could be destroyed? He had to go do it.
"It won't be easy, Harry," Tonks added. James nodded in agreement. "It won't take them long to figure out we have decoys. You might have to fight your way out but get out."
"And you?" Ron asked. Harry and Hermione looked at each other at the same time Remus and Tonks looked at each other. Harry forgot to tell him.
"We'll take care of each other."
-^-^-^-
Saying goodbye to his father was harder than he imagined it would be. Yes, he knew it wasn't really his dad but he had grown close to him over the last few days. Sirius was gone. Lupin would be gone. And now James would be gone once again.
"I will try to find you," Harry said, not wanting to let this moment go. The painted Hermione was waiting off to the side, looking rather impatient. His Hermione was further back, giving him all the time he needed as she went about packing up any supplies they might need during their escape attempt.
"I remembering seeing a church steeple through the window," James said, referring to the attic in which his painting had been lost over the years. "I'll be waiting for you there."
"Okay," Harry said, holding back the tears. Everything was moving too quickly. The paintings were fading into nothing so fast they were worried whether they'd still be able to find a path through them. Lupin was worried they'd never fool anyone with their decoys.
"I have to go, Harry," James said and Harry hugged him tight before letting him go and watching him walk away with the other Hermione.
"We have to go fast," Zoila said, pulling her Quidditch robes back on her tiny shoulders. "Hermione, do you have everything packed up?"
"I'm ready," Hermione said, turning to watch James and the other her walk out of this portrait and into who knows where. Harry watched, too, until there was nothing more to see.
"You'll see him again, Harry," Lupin said, placing a gentle hand on Harry's shoulder.
"But will I ever see you?" Harry asked, not wanting to look him in the eye just yet. Not until the tears stopped falling.
"I don't know. I hope so but I don't know." With that, Harry turned around and hugged Remus Lupin tight. Lupin hugged back just as hard.
"I hope everything works out for you," he said through his tears.
"I have a feeling everything is going to be okay, Harry. Now get going. You have to hurry," Lupin said. With that, he released him and walked away.
-^-^-^-
"Keep up!" Zoila shouted and Harry, Hermione and Ron raced after her.
"Is she always this bossy?" Hermione asked and Ron shrugged.
"Maybe she was a very bossy eight year old. I have no idea," Harry answered. "I'll ask when we see her again. The real her."
They zipped from landscape to landscape, following their little leader as she took them quickly from one world to another. Hermione was still fascinated by it all but now she hardly had time to look at anything before they were somewhere else.
The three of them all held their wands at the ready, never know who they might run into on the next turn. So far there had been no interference and they hoped that James and the other Hermione had done their job.
"This way... we're almost there. Just... here," Zoila said as they stepped into a one more scene. Sometimes there was a vortex. Sometimes there wasn't. This time there was, and Harry grabbed Hermione's hand. They all landed on the floor in an impossibly dark room and clamored to get up.
"Going somewhere?" a voice Harry recognized immediately asked from behind them. "I thought you came back here for me, Harry. Instead you try to trick us all. Shameful, really."
"Ella..." he said as she walked in front of them all. It was still dark but he could sense perfectly where she was.
"You don't have to worry about looking for your father's portrait now, Harry. He's never going to show up in that frame again," Elladora Black said before she laughed gleefully. Harry was ready to do whatever it took to scratch her off the face of the world but Hermione was holding his wand arm down. He didn't know how to destroy her in here but he'd find out once they got out.
"What is it you want?" Harry asked, his voice cold now.
"I want you to die. But alas, I promised I wouldn't be the one to kill you." She lit a tiny light in the room and it took a moment for everyone's eyes to adjust. "Too bad, really. After all the promises you made to me before, I'd love to be the one to cause your slow and painful death."
Hermione was still holding his arm tightly while he could see that Ron was holding on to her other arm. He looked at Zoila and she gave him a sign they often used in Quidditch. A sign that meant move now or you're going to get killed by a Bludger. Harry nodded at her and hoped she would be okay once they were gone, stuck in this room with Elladora Black. As if she could sense what he was thinking, she gave him a smile, and shrug and then stepped back, opening one more tear in the world.
The three friends dove through as fast as they could, hearing a scream of "No!" coming from afar before they heard nothing but the joyous laughter of Ginny Weasley welcoming them back to the real Hogwarts.
-^-^-^-
The attic was filled with plumes of dust and Harry was certain no one had been up here for years. Every move he made sent up more dust dancing in the weak beams of light fighting to make it through the dirty windows. They were near Godric's Hollow and he could see a steeple from here. It was the only house with this view for miles. Luckily, the house was empty and he and Hermione didn't have to make up some ridiculous story about why they needed to see the attic.
She helped him yank some sheets off of what was left behind. An old baby pram. A rocking chair. An impossibly large steamer truck. When they found that, he got excited, pulling it aside and finding what he had hoped he would find.
A frame. A plain wooden frame with an empty oil canvas in it.
He gently pulled it free from where it had been stuck and blew the dust off of it. This had to be it. There would be no reason for a Muggle to have such a thing. It looked like the other paintings at Hogwarts when their occupants were off talking to other painted friends.
Wrapping it gingerly in one of the sheets, he and Hermione took it down out of the attic and back to Hogwarts. Hermione kept it in her room, where Harry could sit and wait to see if James Potter ever returned to it or if Elladora Black was telling the truth.
They had no word from inside that world since they got back. The portraits all seemed to know nothing and if they did, they were too scared to talk. The portal they came through was frozen again. Perhaps Lupin instructed painting Zoila to do that. Perhaps he did it himself. Harry didn't know. He hoped his friend was living a good life in their with Tonks. A life without worrying about the full moon.
Everything wasn't easy since Harry got back to Hogwarts. There had been no sightings of Voldemort or the Rowntree family and things seemed peaceful for now. Especially after the frame was with the girl in violet was taken out of Hogwarts and destroyed. She'd never bother him here again.
Then he heard from Dumbledore what he was going to have to do in order to end this thing, he almost wished he had just let him trap him and kill him in the paintings. Death seemed easier than what was before him. He wasn't ready to share any of it with his friends yet. He had to much to think about. Too much to think about an no one to help him with his thoughts right now.
Then again, had he died, he wouldn't have Hermione at his side, trying to catch up once again on her homework while planning the next best thing. Their next adventure. And Ron wanting to go play Quidditch with him this afternoon with Ginny tagging along.
"You can't stare at that forever," Hermione said, shoving his books at him, hoping to help him catch up on his studies before the Christmas holidays. He knew she had plans for him for Christmas but not if he failed potions. "He'll show up."
Harry could hardly believe how all of this turned out. Hermione and her plans brought him back together with his father if only for a brief time. It had hopefully led Remus Lupin and Tonks to a life together where he didn't have to worry about his problem. It had trapped Voldemort somewhere, giving Harry the time he needed to figure out what he had to do next.
But most of all, it had given him her.
And one quiet evening right before Christmas, when the room was cold and they were curled up around each other in her bed, Harry heard the voice he had been waiting for.
"Hey, Harry. You found me!" his father called from his frame. "Do I have a story to tell you!"
His heart pounding with happiness, Harry kissed his sleeping girlfriend on her cheek and, wrapped in a quilt, settled himself on the floor to listen.
-^-^-^-
The End
Not necessarily the ending I dreamed of a decade a go but alas, an ending.