Unofficial Portkey Archive

Confused Paths

Disclaimer: I don't own anything, just the plot (is there a plot here?) and the OCs. Don't sue me, JKR; I'm poor and I don't have any money.

Chapter 10 - Lies and Truth

Harry was sure that conjuring a Patronus was very easier now, as he couldn't remember a time when he had been happier in his whole life. Hermione made him so blissfully careless. He could forget about everything while he was with her. Their fight with Ron hadn't even crossed their minds. Both of them were very busy in "advanced lessons of kissing".

Unfortunately for them, as every good thing, it had an end. Today, the other students were coming back and they would lose their privacy in the Gryffindor Tower. And, on the top of that, they would be facing Ron's response to their relationship. Even if he was distant from them, he had to be informed, if they ever wanted to be the Wonder Trio again.

They had a talk about this subject last night. They had decided to talk to Ron as soon as they could, not wanting him to know by other people. Hogwarts was a rumour-mill and the students who had stayed for the holidays could easily spread the word about the new couple.

Harry had been wondering about everyone else's response; not four months ago, Hermione was still Ron's girlfriend. Then, she dumps him and dates Harry little later. Hermione said that Lavender and Parvati changed boyfriends every other week, and people didn't nag them for it. Harry had some good laughs at his girlfriend's boldness.

They were now standing near the entrance, waiting for the returning students, along with everyone else who stayed, and the teaching staff. Harry was leaning against a wall, and Hermione had her head resting on his shoulder. They were in a nervous silence, sometimes squeezing each other's hands for reassurance, but letting them go quickly. They agreed to act as friends until they had talked to Ron.

The students arrived. Everyone moved to the Great Hall, where everyone would be having dinner. Harry and Hermione would talk to Ron after dinner. "He will be calmer with his stomach full," Harry had said, jokingly. Hermione agreed.

The dinner proceeded normally. Everyone was talking about the holiday and the gifts they'd gotten. Harry and Hermione were talking to Neville and Ginny, who were relating the happenings at the Burrow. It seemed Mrs. Weasley got quite fond of Neville. The twins got quite fond of him too, as a guinea pig. Poor Neville had been caught by their tricks at least fifteen times.

Harry and Hermione were grateful Ginny hadn't asked about their relationship. Harry had told Hermione about Ginny being supportive of them. Hermione just said, "I knew she had something going on. Remember that thing Neville asked me on the last Hogsmeade Saturday? I had explained that same thing to him eight hours before."

As Ginny and Neville went on with their narration, Harry and Hermione had their attention turned to Ron. He wasn't eating as much as he should. "He will not be that calmer later," Harry whispered to Hermione, when Ginny tasted the pumpkin juice on Neville's tongue. Hermione just sighed in reply.

After the dessert, Dumbledore gave a quick speech, welcoming the students back. When everyone was leaving the Great Hall, Hermione motioned to Harry to follow Ron. The couple was standing, when Ginny tugged on Harry's arm, and mouthed to him, "Did you do it?" Harry could see the curiosity burning on the red-haired girl's eyes.

"Yes," he answered. "And what did she answer?" Ginny asked again. "I said the same," Hermione answered for Harry. Ginny squealed in delight and hugged he two of them. "Congratulations," she said. "I knew it would work out fine. I am sorry for my brother, but you are perfect for each other. You just were a bit blind not to see it until now," she added. Both Harry and Hermione blushed slightly at that. Neville tapped on Harry's shoulder, and the raven-haired boy noticed people were staring at them.

"Look," Harry hurried to say, "We want you to keep this secret, okay? We want to tell Ron ourselves. If he finds out by anyone else, it will be impossible to make him accept it. We plan to tell him as soon as we can," he finished. Neville nodded in comprehension and Ginny mouthed an "Okay". Harry could feel she was dying to spread he news. "Can I tell Mom at least?" Ginny asked. "Yes, I think it is fine," Hermione answered this time. Harry had a feeling Mrs. Weasley was aware of everything by now. Tonks had come along with Remus to visit them, and she was delighted by the news. The female auror said herself she couldn't wait to tell Mrs. Weasley. As if reading Harry's mind, Hermione completed, "I think your mother knows by now, though. Tonks came here during the holiday and said she would tell your mother right away."

Ginny seemed a bit down by the news, but gave them a small smile. "Well, you'd better go to the Tower, maybe you can talk to that prat of my brother then," she said. That was what both Harry and Hermione were dying to hear, so they excused themselves and headed to the Gryffindor Tower.

Ron wasn't in the Common Room when they arrived. The other sixth-years were all there, though. When Harry and Hermione entered the room together, Lavender and Parvati gave them pointed looks. Dean and Seamus sniggered slightly, and the four of them got back to whatever they were talking before. Hermione gave a Harry a meaningful look. Harry nodded and said, "I will see if he is upstairs. I just hope the gossip has not reached him yet." He climbed the stairs to the boys' dormitories.

The dorm was silent when Harry entered it, but the drapes around Ron's bed were closed. "Hey, Ron, are you here?" Harry asked, before pushing the drapes open. This was the first time Harry talked to Ron since November, and he was quite nervous. He saw the red-haired boy lying on the bed, immovable. "Ron, answer me," Harry said. "Stop pretending. I know you snore when you are asleep," Harry added. Harry stayed in silence for some seconds, before Ron sat on the bed, still not facing him.

"I know we have not been in good terms lately, but Hermione and I wanted to tell you something," Harry began, and his voice stammered a bit. "She wanted to be here, but well, this is the boys' dorms, she did not know if you would be decent, so…"

Harry didn't know how to say that. It was so simple, but also so hard. "Hermione and I wanted to tell you we are dating. We wanted you to be the first one to know," he finally blurted. He saw Ron's eyes widen slightly, and waited for a response. None came. "We want to know if you will be okay with this," Harry said, trying to draw an answer from Ron. There was a minute of silence, before the red-haired finally spoke.

"I will not say I am okay with this, because I am not," he began, and his voice carried an unexpected tone of resolve. "But I will not say I did not see it coming. It has always been like this, I guess… Always the sidekick," he said. Harry knew where this was leading, and interrupted before Ron could get there. "Ron, this is not a matter of being a sidekick or not. It is a matter of the heart, how Hermione and I feel about each other and…"

"It is okay, Harry," Ron said. "Just leave me be for a while." Both boys stayed in silence. Harry wasn't so sure it would be okay, but he conceded Ron's wish and left he dormitories, closing the drapes around Ron's bed. He went down to the Common Room again, and found Hermione sitting on their usual chairs, facing the fire. When Harry sat by her side, he saw that Dean and Seamus headed for the dorms, as if they knew what was happening, and were waiting for Harry to finish.

"How was it?" Hermione asked. She knew Ron had been in the dormitory. Harry wouldn't last so long there otherwise. "I told him," Harry began. "I am sorry I did not wait for you, but I thought it would be hard to find him when both of us were there," he said, excusing himself. "It is okay," she said, and her hand caressed his cheek, absent-mindedly. She soon retrieved her hand, when she saw everyone's eyes were upon them. "Ignore them," Harry said, knowingly. "Ron already knows, and the gossip will spread eventually." She smiled at him and her hand was once again caressing his face.

"He asked me to leave him be for a while," Harry continued. "I suppose that means both of us," he added. Hermione nodded. "I thought he would react like that," she said. "Since you had already told him how you felt about me, he must have thought about the probability of me and you," she continued. She snuggled against Harry and they stayed like that, in silence, for several minutes. Harry could hear the giggling of some other Gryffindors. Hermione broke their silence.

"He should be a little more acceptant of everything by now," she said. "After everything he said, I suppose he understands it is up to him now." Harry nodded in concordance, and kissed her forehead. They remained like that for a couple of hours. When everyone had left the Common Room, and Ginny had returned from her snogging with Neville, Harry and Hermione decided to call it a night and went to their respective dormitories.

When Harry and Hermione went down for breakfast, in the next morning, they noticed everyone's eyes upon them. Both of them were somewhat used to that; they always had drawn attention in some way or another. They sat down at the table, ignoring the whispers and the pointed looks. Harry was sure he would be a lot more nervous if he was with any other girl but Hermione.

"Honestly," Hermione began. "Don't these people have anything else to talk about?" The girl asked, annoyed. Harry sighed. "A drawback of being who I am," he said. "I can not even date my best friend without having everyone else's eyes over me," he added. Hermione nodded and said, "I believe people would meddle in your life even if your girlfriend was not your best friend." Now it was Harry's turn to nod. They ate in silence, trying to finish as quickly as they could. Hermione had to admonish Harry about the way he was shoving the food in his mouth.

Just as they were leaving the hall, Professor McGonagall came, from out of nowhere, and stopped them. "Would you two come with me, please? Professor Dumbledore wants to have a word with you," she said. Harry and Hermione exchanged looks, and then nodded to their Head of House. They followed her to the statue that guarded Dumbledore's office. "Canary Creams," she said to the stone gargoyle, and it moved out of the way.

Professor Dumbledore was awaiting inside, along with Professor Snape (who frowned noticeably at the Harry and Hermione) and the two Garnier siblings. The Headmaster stood on his feet and looked at Professor McGonagall. "Thank you for bringing them, Minerva," he said, with a nod. Then he turned to he couple of teenagers and said with a smile, "Good morning Harry, and Hermione."

"Good morning, Professor," the couple answered. Harry wondered the reason of this meeting, and he could see in Hermione's eyes she was thinking the same thing. Before he could ask, Dumbledore answered.

"You must be wondering why I called you here," he began, and the couple nodded. "Well, as you could have guessed already, it involves Voldemort," he said, with a serious expression.

Harry hadn't thought about Voldemort, unlike Dumbledore's thought. The boy had completely forgotten about it since the beginning of the term. He had finally learned Occlumency, so Voldemort couldn't reach him through their link; and while inside Hogwarts, Harry couldn't be attacked by him. Besides that, Harry's mind had been focused solely on Hermione, especially after the Christmas holiday.

"We discovered that he has a plan to strike inside the school," Dumbledore continued, "And while his target is still unknown, it is very likely to be you, Harry," he added. Hermione took Harry's hand, unconsciously. Harry turned to her, and saw the concern in her eyes. He squeezed her hand, and gave her a quick smile before turning back to Dumbledore.

"How does he intend to do it, Professor?" Harry asked. "I mean, he can not just show up here. No one can apparate inside Hogwarts, and he surely will not just come in the Hogwarts Express," he added, with a little sarcasm. "No, he will not," Dumbledore answered, as if he had considered the idea of Voldemort coming by train, "But he has got agents inside the school." Harry was shocked, and he could tell he wasn't the only one. Hermione's hand had shaken at the news.

"Who are those agents, Professor? I suppose you could remove them from the school, being the Headmaster," Hermione said, before Harry could say anything. Dumbledore sighed. "No, unfortunately, I cannot, Hermione," he answered. "His agents are the children of the Death Eaters who failed him last June. He believes the children have to pay for their parents' failures, so they were induced at joining the Death Eater ranks," the headmaster said. Harry was shocked again.

"Are you sure, Professor?" Harry asked. "I mean, they are not the nicest kind of people," he said, and looked at Snape while talking, "But I do not believe they would become Death Eaters," he concluded. "Unfortunately again, I am sure, Harry," Dumbledore said. "Johan here," he continued, and pointed at the male Garnier, "received the invitation letter."

Harry was confused now. "But you said that the children of the Death Eaters received the letter, sir," he began, "Why would Johan receive it as well?" Harry asked. Dumbledore looked at Johan, and then nodded. The boy with the ponytail stepped forward, and talked for the first time in the meeting. "I guess it is time to spill the beans for you," he began. "First of all, I am not Johan Garnier. You can call me Ernest Dolohov."

A/N: Enough by now, I suppose. This chapter would double in size if I had added Johan/Ernest story. I'm already started with it, and I'm trying to make it short. It's little important to the plot, so I don't want it to take much space.

I'm quite disappointed with last chapter's response. It was the second longest chapter, the one when the couple finally got together, and it was the most unpopular one (I mean the one with less reviews). Maybe you people want Harry and Hermione to break up, Hermione to go back with Ron, and Harry to date a Slytherin tart, learn Dark Magic and ally with little Voldie. If that's so, I can do it. I love to please (The mods would probably kill me if I attempted to do that here on PK). ^_^

Thanks to everyone who was sweet enough to review, thanks to L'Arc~en~Ciel for the chapter's title and thanks to my beta for her job. As I'm pissed with you, I won't tell when next chapter will be out. ;P