Unofficial Portkey Archive

A/N: Some of you are wondering when Harry and Hermione will `get together'. I can certainly understand your impatience and I assure you they will. However, since I'm trying to keep the characters in character and write the story as if it really could happen, there will be some build up. I think Harry's mind isn't focused on romantic feelings right now because of everything else he's dealing with. But, with some nudges from others, he will start to examine those feelings. Hope you enjoy this next part. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

Chapter Nine

From the other end of the hall, Harry heard people clamoring down the steps. He saw Hermione anxiously gripping Ron's arm followed by Ginny as they hurried towards him.

"Is Tonks all right?" Ron asked quickly. Tonks nodded back at him as Remus (who had finally put her down) helped her through the hall and up the stairs. Ron turned to Harry, his eyes wide. "Wow…when did you learn to Apparate?"

"What?" Harry said starting to walk past his friends to the stairs.

"Harry…you Apparated from the drawing room to the square outside," Hermione said quietly.

"Yeah," said Ron. "One second I heard you beside me yelling `Tonks!' and the next, I was watching you outside stunning Macnair."

Harry stopped in his tracks as the realization hit. He turned to his friends and stared back. "I guess you're right…"

"Did you know that you could Apparate? Have you done it before?" asked Ginny, her eyes wide.

"No…" Harry shook his head slowly but then a memory flashed in his mind. "Wait a minute…there was another time I did something like that before I knew I was a wizard…it was at school and Dudley's gang was chasing me. I was running, trying to get away…somehow I ended up on one of the chimneys of the school with no idea how I'd gotten there…I got in so much trouble."

"Harry, when you Apparated there was no noise-no cracking or popping sound…that's really advanced." Hermione raised her eyebrows at him.

Harry shrugged. "I didn't mean to do it…it just sort of happened." Then he grimaced and his heart sank to somewhere behind his navel. "And I'm probably going to be in trouble with the Ministry for it as I'm underage and don't have a license yet." He dropped his face into his hands feeling like a squeezed-out tube of toothpaste. "And for the magic I just did…I'll be expelled this time for sure."

"Surely, they'll give you a break considering the circumstances…" Ron said his voice laced with worry.

"We'll cross that bridge if we come to it…let's go back upstairs." Hermione tried to say firmly but Harry could hear the slight trembling of her voice and then saw her gaze go up slightly. "Oh, there goes your hair."

Harry glanced over at his distorted reflection in the silver wall sconce to see that his hair was indeed now black again.

When they walked back into the drawing room, Harry noticed that Remus, Mr. Weasley, Bill and Moody were standing to the side talking in low tones. As he looked around he saw many other people he had either briefly met or didn't know.

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley sprung up from the couch where she had been sitting with Tonks and hurried to him. She gave him a bone-crushing hug. Then held him back at arm's length. "How are you?" She eyed him critically then hugged him again. "I was so worried! But you're looking much better. I was glad to hear that Dumbledore had let you leave the Dursleys."

"Er…thanks, Mrs. Weasley." Harry's face was scrunched against her shoulder and for a moment Harry wondered what he would do if his face stayed like that even when she let him go.

"Mum," said Ron, rolling his eyes.

Mrs. Weasley released Harry and gave Hermione a hug too. Just then the twins arrived one right after the other in the fireplace and Mrs. Weasley hurried over to them to Harry's relief. Someone cleared his voice in the background and they all turned to see Dumbledore standing in the doorway.

"Thank you for coming," Dumbledore moved through the room to stand by the fireplace as the members of the Order either quietly took a seat or stood where they could see him. Harry, Ron, Hermione and Ginny were waiting to be told to leave the room but the request never came.

"As some of you may know, two Aurors lost their lives today when four Death Eaters escaped Azkaban." Several people gasped in response to this news. Dumbledore went on, "One Death Eater, Macnair, has been recaptured and returned to Azkaban, thanks to Harry." Harry felt his face warm and quickly began to study the back of the couch. "The other three, Avery, Nott, and Dolohov (Harry felt Hermione shiver) are still at large. Please be on your guard…the reason Macnair was so quickly apprehended was because he Apparated to the square outside this house." Several more gasps followed this news. "Unfortunately, his memory has been modified and we have no way of knowing how he came to be here. That is all I have for now. I will be communicating any updates to you as soon as I can. Please feel free to stay for dinner. I have asked to speak individually with some of you tonight and plan to do so after our meal. Thank you again for coming." Dumbledore nodded at the group then caught Harry's eye and moved to the door.

"I'll be right back…" Harry said to his friends as he followed Dumbledore to the hall.

"May I have a word with you now, Harry?" Dumbledore asked.

"Sure…" Harry's stomach began to churn, sure that Dumbledore was about to tell him of another hearing or worse, that he had just been summarily expelled from Hogwarts for broken the laws regarding underage wizards performing magic.

"Would you please ask Remus if he would join us in the dining room downstairs?"

Harry nodded glumly then leaned back into the drawing room and caught Remus' eye. Remus quickly excused himself from the group he was speaking with and made his way to Harry.

"Dumbledore wants to talk with us in the dining room."

"Yes, he mentioned that before all the excitement happened," Remus said following Harry down the stairs into the entry hall.

Harry opened the door to the dining room. This room was as he remembered it. He was glad when Dumbledore lit the lights although the room still seemed full of shadows. Harry remembered Sirius standing over by the dresser cleaning out the Black Family china. He shook the unhappy thoughts off as Dumbledore conjured three comfortable armchairs and another floor lamp.

"Please sit down," he gestured to Harry and Remus.

When they had gotten situated, Dumbledore began.

"Harry, I want to congratulate you on your quick action this afternoon. You quite possibly saved Nymphadora Tonks' life. However, in doing so, you inadvertently performed magic and you are still underage, not to mention unlicensed to Apparate."

Harry quickly leaned forward in his chair and began to protest but Dumbledore raised his hand.

"I realize the circumstances called for action of that nature. I have spoken with the Minister and he has granted permission for you to practice magic within the confines of this house during times of training or need, and I must stress `need'."

Harry nodded and relaxed a bit as he felt his heart swell with relief. "Professor, I want to learn more defensive magic…so do Ron and Hermione. Is there any way that we can all train here this summer?"

"Yes, actually," replied Dumbledore. "I thought that might be the case and have already made arrangements for that with Remus, Tonks and Moody. They are quite willing to help whenever they can. I also cleared it with the Minister when I spoke with him earlier. He seemed to think it a good idea as well." Dumbledore went on, his expression serious," I must say that I am a bit worried about the Death Eater's appearance here tonight. I allowed you to leave the Dursley's earlier than usual because you were in such a bad emotional state. I felt that your condition took precedence over any protection your Aunt Petunia might provide, especially since they had chosen to leave you alone."

Harry nodded. "Thanks. I also wanted to talk about something with you…both of you…when I went after Bellatrix Lestrange, I was going to kill her. I obviously didn't do that but I did use the Cruciatus Curse on her. I wanted to hurt her…" Harry looked at the floor. "Is anything going to happen to me because of that?"

"No, Harry." Dumbledore said soberly shaking his snowy head. "Not in this case."

"I don't ever want to use an Unforgiveable Curse again…I don't want to fight like them. That's why I want to learn more and fight Voldemort like you did." Harry looked up at Dumbledore.

"Yes…I quite understand," Dumbledore replied as he steepled his fingers. "And I must say, I am glad that you feel that way. You are learning the truth about power-the stronger man doesn't use destruction and pain to achieve his ends. There are forces greater than those, just as we talked about previously, but we will speak more about that at a later time." Dumbledore went on, "There is one more thing that we need to discuss right now. As you know, Sirius left a will. We need to set up an appointment at Gringott's for the reading. Would this Monday morning be a possible time for you and Remus to meet with me there?"

Harry and Remus nodded. Harry added, "Would it be all right for Ron and Hermione to come, too?"

Dumbledore nodded. "It's fine with me if it's all right with Remus."

"Of course." Remus answered with a slight shrug.

"Good, then. I will expect to see you at ten o'clock. Just let the Goblin at the door know why you are there and he will direct you to the correct place."

"What about Harry's being able to Apparate?" Remus asked Dumbledore.

"He will be allowed to practice but must take the test before he can be licensed." Dumbledore replied. "The ministry may allow him to do so earlier than usual. I will have to take that up again with Fudge."

Remus nodded.

"Professor, will I be allowed to attend the meetings of the Order now?" Harry asked hopefully.

"Some, Harry," Dumbledore replied, "And for those you don't attend, I will update you with information. I do not intend to make the same mistakes I did last year." He stood up and Remus and Harry stood with him.

Harry looked at Dumbledore. "I can't thank you enough for the changes you've made to Grimmauld Place…you have no idea…" Harry couldn't finish so instead he stepped forward and held out his hand to Dumbledore.

Dumbledore smiled and grasped Harry's hand. "You're more than welcome. I'm glad that you like it. I want you to know that I am proud of you Harry, and I know you'll work hard to learn with Remus, Tonks, and Moody. I'm planning to stop by myself and see what you are learning. Now let's go see what Dobby has for us to eat. I heard he was making some lemon pie…"

~>^<~>^<~>^<~>^<~

Later that night after everyone had gone, Ron, Hermione and Harry sat in the drawing room with Remus having some hot chocolate that Dobby had made for them. Harry's head was still aching a bit and he rubbed absent-mindedly above his eyebrows.

"So, what did Dumbledore want to talk with you about?" Ron asked, wiping some whipped cream off his nose with his sleeve.

"Several things…" Harry began. "I'm not in trouble for the magic I performed this evening-" He heard Hermione let out a breath as Ron whooped. "And, if you are both still interested in learning more about defending yourselves this summer, Dumbledore has made arrangements for our training here. We have permission from the Ministry to do magic for training and as necessary," Harry replied. "Remus, Tonks and Moody are going to help us."

"But I only have three more days here…" Hermione protested.

"And I only have four more. Can't you come back after your holiday with your parents?" Ron asked.

"I'm sure I can but I'll still miss two weeks."

Remus spoke up, "I'll give you some things to study on your trip, Hermione. And we'll catch you up when you get back."

"Well, all right," Hermione still sounded disappointed. "So can we start soon?"

Remus nodded. "I was actually planning on starting tomorrow. Tonks is going to be here in the afternoon to help so we'll start after lunch. Sound good?"

The three nodded.

~>^<~>^<~>^<~>^<~

Harry woke slowly. He could tell by the purplish sky and the way that the air felt that it was just a little while before dawn. Harry's head was still aching a bit and the remnants of a dream were hanging like a haze in his mind. He couldn't quite remember what he had dreamed but he had the feeling that it hadn't been anything pleasant. Harry pulled his covers up to his chin and lay in bed for a bit then sat up realizing he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. He slid quietly out of bed so as not to wake Ron and pulled on his crumpled clothes from the previous day. Finding his glasses, he hooked them on his pocket. Feeling his way along the walls, he padded almost noiselessly down the stairs to the drawing room.

"Incendio," Harry muttered standing by the fireplace and flames sparked to life in the near darkness. He shivered as the warmth hit his cold arms. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Harry walked over to a window and leaned his forehead onto the cool glass, the memory of what happened with Macnair rolling through his mind as he looked at the square. He watched as light suddenly streamed from a window in the home across the square. Soon, a man in his dressing robe came out a side door with a bag of rubbish and tossed it noisily into a bin. Harry saw another slice of light as a front door by the corner of the square opened. A woman hurried onto the stoop and bent to pick up a paper. In the glow streaming from her entry, Harry saw her silhouette as she bent down to hug and kiss a small child who had just toddled up behind her then she turned and closed the door. He sighed and his breath clouded the glass momentarily.

Harry heard Hermione's light steps behind him and he saw her reflection as she joined him at the window.

"Do you ever wish you didn't know?" he said after a moment, without turning his head.

"Sometimes…" her voice held a note of wistfulness.

They stood in silence as the sky slid slightly lighter.

"Would you go back if you could?" Hermione whispered.

"Back to what?"

"You know…back to before you knew about any of this."

"No."

"Me either…"

Harry finally turned to look at her. "But Hermione, your life before this was-"

"Yes," she interrupted and met his eyes, "I have a loving family and a nice home. But I still wouldn't trade what I have now…even if I lose it all in the end."

Harry looked at her incredulously. "You wouldn't take the chance just to be able to live your life," he gestured to the window, "and not have to deal with all this…horrible knowledge of what's to come in our world?"

"No."

Harry shook his head dubiously and looked back out the window. "Why ever not?"

"Because I'm here for a reason-for `times such as these'," she put her hand softly on his arm, "…and because of you…and Ron."

Harry's hand lifted and covered Hermione's and an odd but bracing feeling spread through him. "Dumbledore talked to me about destiny…about how he could've left me ignorant and `safe' at the Dursley's. But instead, he allowed me the chance to choose to be what I was supposed to be."

"Yes…and it must have been dreadfully hard for him knowing what he knew about your future."

Harry nodded in the half-light but he hadn't ever really thought of it in that way.

"I know you've had a terribly difficult time in many ways these past two years…but think of what has been accomplished."

"Hermione…I don't want to talk about that right now," Harry's voice held a note of warning.

"Voldemort was going to come back regardless, Harry," Hermione pressed on determinedly. "But you've delayed him and thwarted him enough that other protections could be set in place to meet him."

"Hermione, I know you mean well but I don't want to talk about this right now." Harry dropped his hand back to his side, turned away and went to stand in front of the fireplace. Couldn't anyone leave this subject alone for just one day?

"I'm sorry, Harry, "Hermione said quietly. "I just don't want you to lose sight of the good things that have come from all this." She went to the sofa and sat down, pulling the soft throw-blanket from the back of the couch around to cover her.

Harry sighed and after a moment went to sit beside her. "It's all right, Hermione. Would you mind sharing some of that?"

Hermione shook her head and stretched the edge of the blanket to his far hand. Harry scooted closer into the warmth and relaxed his head back against the couch. He began to feel pleasantly light-headed and soon dozed off. Hermione sat beside him, wide-awake, gazing into the flames.

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