Unofficial Portkey Archive

Dumbledore's Army Reloaded-Chapter 7

Harry and Hermione weathered the storm of criticism and unfriendly glares during the first week of school. They maintained a healthy relationship in public, holding hands and an occasional quick kiss as they parted for separate classes. Behind the scenes, they were typical teenagers, albeit magical teenagers with such bright futures that the Headmaster of Hogwarts wanted them to reorganize the same organization that Harry and Hermione had begun last year-Dumbledore's Army.

"Harry and Hermione, I am confident that you can help prepare our students with perfecting the lessons Firenze teaches them in class and others I will determine later. Officially, he cannot teach some of the more potent means of defense without Ministry oversight." Dumbledore explained to them the Monday after their first week of classes as they sat in his chambers.

"Will Harry have to do this on the sly and concealed as before?" asked Hermione.

"I'm afraid so. Firenze may have his suspicions, but I cannot jeopardize his appointment to the position of Defense against The Dark Arts teacher. Any public offering of classes in excess would suggest he was a participant. Firenze being a Centaur leads to undue suspicion and prejudice as it is." Dumbledore's explained.

"So, we will be an unofficial club like last year as Hermione had so brilliantly suggested," Harry said with a smile and wink at his sweetheart.

"Exactly, Harry. I will offer my expertise for you and Hermione where I feel it is important. That may mean a visit by Remus Lupin or Mad-Eye, but more than likely we'll have visiting Aurors to help train. We cannot continue to pursue the war against Voldemort with just the Order of the Phoenix and a disorganized, untrained force of students." Dumbledore affirmed.

Harry and Hermione looked at Dumbledore for a moment and realized as he began looking through his books on the shelves behind his desk that he was finished. "Thank you, Sir. I'll start getting people together today."

"Harry, try to patch things up with Ronald Weasley. He will be a valuable asset. I know it will be difficult, but you must try." Dumbledore went back to his search of the bookcase.

The couple left after saying a quick hello to Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix.

The weeks passed slowly for Harry and Hermione as they tried to recruit members. It was already the first Hogsmeade weekend of the year. The weather was just good enough for walks down to Hagrid's hut once a week outside of class. Occasionally, they'd climb to the Astronomy tower to watch the sunset and cuddle.

"Hermione, have you had any luck with any of the Hufflepuff students? I've run into a roadblock in Gryffindor because of the trouble with Ron. The Ravenclaw house has the most members because Luna Lovegood has been helping us, but she suffers a little from her reputation as being a little strange." Harry explained with a furled brow and a shake of his head.

"Well, I've had a little luck. The best luck has been with the members of the Hufflepuff Quidditch team, because they respect you for defending Cedric Diggory even though he died." Hermione said cautiously looking for any sign she had hurt Harry by bringing up his death.

Harry assured her that he understood saying, "I think that's why we are forming Dumbledore's Army again. So that students won't be unprepared and unable to defend themselves. We should use that more often as we recruit. You know how important it is should someone be in Cedric's situation or ours last year in the Department of Mysteries."

"That's a good idea, Harry," Hermione replied thinking of a totally different and inappropriate response. `You mean if they find themselves with Harry Potter anywhere but in Hogwarts….. I'll just keep that to myself so I don't hurt Harry.'

The orange highlights to the clouds as the sun went down predicted rain overnight and in the early morning. The light breeze gave Harry and Hermione reason to cling to each other more closely-as if they needed it. Harry's arm was around Hermione's waist as they leaned against the parapet of the tower. They may have needed their robes but it interfered with being together the way they'd grown accustomed. He turned to her and brushed her blowing hair out of her face, shivering slightly and kissed her firmly but tenderly.

She turned toward him pressing into him. They loved to feel one another's bodies as they pressed together. Harry was excited again as he recalled Hermione's revelation of the excitement that the power her body brought out in him. She had divulged that she was often left dreaming of making love to him on nights like this. In reality she stopped him, in her dreams she allowed his ministrations to continue and returned his passion. Harry kissed her neck as she purred with delight. He didn't know how he stopped himself. It had to be respect for her wishes, because he'd have made her dreams come true long before now had she given the word.

He felt her lips brush his again. As he felt the velvety softness of her lips and tasted them, he recognized it as the most satisfying experience in his life. Up until this year, he always thought Quidditch and flying would have that distinction. He knew now that his ability and opportunity to play Quidditch may pass, but he would and could strive to make Hermione the single most important force in his life as long as he lived. "I...," Harry started to speak. Hermione interrupted with a finger to his lips and then her lips met his again.

After continuing for several more minutes, Hermione said "I know. I love you too." They'd had a long talk several days ago about Pappy's description of love and she agreed with Pappy. She told Harry she knew just by the way he held her hand that he meant to say it. He had smiled when she said that. He loved her more than he could ever have believed possible.

"Let's go back. The wind is getting a little too brisk," Hermione said. Harry nodded agreement. They picked up their neatly folded robes and put them on. They descended the stairs holding hands. Harry told her a story about Neville and Ron in Divination. Harry was sitting with Luna now that Ron wouldn't look at him or speak to him. They laughed. The crazy prediction Neville made even had Ron cringing. Ron reread the tea leaves and was complimented by Professor Trelawney.

Hermione could see the pain in Harry's eyes as he told the story. They laughed because the prediction had been funny, but the fact was that Harry missed his best mate's off-the-wall energy.

As Hermione passed by the portrait of the Fat Lady entering the common room, she saw Ron and Neville hard at work on their Divination homework. Ron did not look up even as Harry entered. Harry had moved back into their dorm two days after the fight. "Hi, Harry. Hi, Hermione." Neville was the only Gryffindor to this point to join Dumbledore's Army.

"Hi Neville, how's the studying going?" Harry asked.

"Really well, thanks, but Ron's the brains here," Neville said looking at his study partner.

"Neville, Harry was just telling me how Ron pulled you out of the line of fire, so to speak." Hermione said trying to drag Ron into the conversation. Neville looked a little embarrassed but nodded.

"Yeah, that's what I meant. Ron's pretty good at that stuff." Neville conceded.

"What were you two talking about me for?" Ron said in a monotone and hurt voice.

Neville didn't really know how to answer the question. Hermione did and she wasn't going to let it go. "Why do you think? Friends for nearly over five years, best mates and you can't get over the fact that you couldn't get your way. Harry never meant to hurt you. And, neither did I. You knew he wouldn't fight back so you beat him. He still loves you like a brother, even after you tried to kill him. So, again, why do you think?"

Harry turned away and walked to the other side of the Common Room. He wouldn't leave Hermione alone with him, but he didn't think anything good would come from this conversation. Hermione stood three feet from Ron staring at him. "Hey, I am talking to you, Ronald Weasley. Why do you think?" Harry put his hand in his robe for his wand thinking that she may have pressed it too far. Ron looked at her with a blank stare.

"Does he have to have his girlfriend talk for him? Did he lose his stones?" Ron replied contentiously.

Harry heard his comments. He walked over quickly, almost at a run as Ron rose to meet him. "No, I haven't lost them you stupid freaking knucklehead. I won't be so easy to pound if I'm facing you and ready. I never expected my brother…I mean someone I loved as my brother…to try to take my head off. So, like Hermione said, "Why do you think, you Neanderthal?" He stopped just short of the table where Ron stood facing him.

The tears on Harry's face and the power of his emotions affected Ron. He sat down almost as quickly as he'd stood. Neville had backed out from the table. "You can't understand, Harry."

"What? Understand what? Why I could have died falling from the stairs at Hogwarts by your hand and not Voldemort's?" Harry was screaming now. Hermione cringed and walked over to Harry. He looked at her with a stern but loving look that begged caution on her part. She knew he wanted to handle this himself.

Boys and girls from both dorms came down the stairs and packed the staircases. Harry Potter was going off the deep end. "Come on. Give me a something to work with here? Tell me something that makes sense. You and Hermione are people I would die for? Tell me why I should still care whether you live or die?"

Ron looked at Harry without expression.

Slowly, Ron came to the realization that the man in front of him had forgiven him, but demanded an explanation.

"I wanted someone to love me like everyone loves Harry Potter. Forget those gits over at Slytherin. Everyone else loves Harry Potter. Ever since the first day here, you were famous. For Merlin's sake, you rode the broom against Professor Hooch's orders and you were made a seeker by Professor McGonagall." Ron yelled back.

"That's a bullshit reason and you know it. That's ancient history. Why?" Harry wasn't buying it. "I want everyone to hear."

"Because you stole the girl I loved--right out from under my nose--and I knew you loved each other all along. I wanted to prove to myself it wasn't true. I thought at least if I didn't have her, it was okay as long as you didn't either. I hated you at the moment you told me, because I could envision you bringing expressions out of her I could only hope to see. There! Is that what you want to hear? You want to embarrass me in front of the whole house? Do you want to prove your superiority over me again? Dammit, I loved you like a brother too, before that." Ron didn't sob even though tears ran freely down his face. He pushed his chair out from the table again, closed the gap between them and hugged Harry.

In front of what was now the entire Gryffindor house, Ron and Harry stood hugging one another. Tears welled in Hermione's eyes; she knew Ron was telling the truth. She'd always been able to tell. She hoped that this meant he'd forgive her someday too.

There was silence.

The news of Ron and Harry's reconciliation rang through the Great Hall the next morning. Draco Malfoy and his fellow Slytherin were disappointed. They'd thought they'd found a possible ally in a disgruntled Ron Weasley as revolting as the prospect was.

It was still two days before Harry and Ron spoke to each other on a regular basis. Hermione would always give them room when they started talking. She knew the importance of their friendship and privacy.

"Harry, I hear you need help recruiting for a club you have." Ron spoke quietly. "Hermione doesn't have to walk away every time we talk." She heard him but maintained her distance.

"Are you going to join us?" Harry asked.

"I suppose I'd better support my best mate." Ron smiled even if there was still some tension between them. "I can get Seamus, Ginny, and Dean by just coming to the meetings myself. I don't know about any others. I don't know anyone else I can trust the secret with."

"On Thursday at 8 PM we'll meet here. We don't have to hide from everyone like last year, but we do have to have trustworthy members. I'll decide the path to the meeting using the Marauder's Map just to be sure Snape doesn't interfere just to give us trouble." Harry said.

Harry could sense that something about him had changed since those lonely days at the beginning of summer. He still doubted everyone's assurances that it wasn't his fault Sirius had died, but with Hermione by his side he didn't question himself as much. He had accepted his fate to some degree. `I don't want to die,' he often thought. `But if I have to risk death to fulfill my destiny I won't be unprepared.' Without realizing it, he had truly become a warrior.

That night after kissing Hermione good night, Harry climbed the stairs to the boy's dorm and felt a sinister sense of deja vú. He had not watched many movies in his life, but he'd seen enough to know that this moment had significance just like a movie. It was as if he were playing a role waiting for the director to say cut for the tenth time. He looked back down the staircase and then up it again and kept climbing.

The feeling didn't subside even as he walked toward his four-poster, undressed, used the loo, and returned offering a `good night' to his room mates. It was as if he were replaying a scene from years ago in this very room. His room mates were older and the décor was different, but this was the same scene. Harry couldn't shake it, but went to sleep easily anyway.

Harry dreamed: He met Hermione in the room of requirement where they waited for everyone to arrive. Ron, Neville, Parvati, Padma, and Luna arrived soon after. The members of the Ravenclaw Quidditch team arrived after they'd entered. He looked at the faces of these volunteers and felt a sensation of pride and fear. They volunteered, but at what cost. The `class' went by quickly. He'd covered some of the ground from last year. The command to retrieve a wand that had been knocked away and methods for ducking spells, such as a dive and roll left or right. As they practiced a somersault to close the distance between themselves an opponent to remain as small a target as possible, he noticed how pleased he was. They were learning.

Everyone left except Hermione. The room of requirement changed to luxurious suite with a canopied bed, silk sheets, soft music, and a fireplace. He walked to Hermione and took her by the hand and walked to the edge of the bed. She looked at him with love as he unbuttoned her jumper, the top buttons of her blouse and let them fall to the floor when he'd finished. There were no words. She moved in between his legs and pressed in with her tummy. Harry came alive with passion as she pushed him down and crawled on top. He unhooked her bra, feeling her soft breasts on his chest. He put his hands to her bum and pulled her up so that her mouth met his. The rest was whirl wind of passion. The dream danced in his head. He had the sensation of moist passion. He awoke to find that he'd experienced his first memorable wet dream. He looked around to confirm that he'd not made sounds to embarrass himself with his mates. He went to the loo, rinsed in the shower, and changed. Soon, he was sleeping again with an unconscious smile remembering the previous dream as it faded into another.

A new dream took over. Strangely, he walked with Hermione from the room of requirement with a sense of greater closeness than he'd known before. They entered the dark Common Room. He'd secretly bought her a present from Hogsmeade by returning quickly underground after they'd visited that day together. "Hermione, I'll be right back," he said. He ran up the stairs to his dorm grabbed the quill he'd bought her as a gift and ran back down. As he reached the last five steps he heard a scream from below. He emerged from the staircase to a voice, "Where's Potter? He was just here." Harry yelled, "Leave her alone. Leave her alone or I will kill you." Harry dove to the center of the Common Room as he saw a green light develop in the area where he'd left Hermione. He came up with his wand at the ready. He yelled, "Stupefy." He heard something fall to the ground. It sounded like a body. Yet seconds later, he had to dive toward the large sofa to avoid another green bolt of light. It seemed surreal. He could sense the curses coming. "Expelliarmus," Harry yelled. He heard a grunt, an `eek eek' and then felt something cross-over his left foot. He ran to the light switch on the other side. On the floor in the directions of his attack lay Hermione. Harry's heart began pumping fast. He had been calm in battle, but now seeing his love on the Common Room floor, he felt tremendous fear. He awoke in a puddle of sweat. This time Ron was standing near with Neville and Seamus looking at him from their beds.

"Harry, what happened? At first, I ducked down under my bed suspecting that you'd finally come for revenge and then I saw you still in bed. You were yelling curses in your sleep and waving your arm." Ron said this so quickly that Harry barely understood. "Bloody hell, it must have been a bad one, mate."

"It was the same one about Wormtail and Hermione. Only this time I awoke when I'd turned the lights on to find Hermione on the floor with her arms out to her sides and legs looking as if they'd buckled." Harry was breathing very hard and very quickly. His eyes rolled back in his head as he lost consciousness.

"Seamus, get Professor McGonagall or Professor Dumbledore! Quickly!" Ron shouted.

"Harry, are you okay?" inquired Ron in a normal voice.

Harry was slumped in bed, breathing fast and shallow. Ron hoped Seamus was fast.

To Ron, it seemed like an hour passed when Professor Dumbledore entered the dorm. It had actually only been a moment or two. Professor Dumbledore calmly said, "Ennervate." Harry's breathing slowed and his eyes opened slowly. His eyes still carried the wide-eyed fear that had woken him.

"Professor….she was lying on the floor…," Harry rambled making no sense.

"Sh," Dumbledore said. Madame Pomfrey had arrived with Professor McGonagall bringing a small sleeping draught. He gave it to Harry who slowly drifted off to a dreamless sleep.

"Boys, I know that this is your room, but would you give us a moment. Go down to the Common Room." Dumbledore ordered.

"Minerva, I had expected Harry to relive that dream much sooner than this." He said flatly after the boys had left. "But I didn't think it was that serious to create this kind of reaction."

"Albus, do you think he knows who Pappy is? After all, he would have seen him as a baby at least once." Minerva said.

Madame Pomfrey had finished checking Harry's breathing and eyes. "Everything looks as normal as can be under the circumstances."

"Thank you." Minerva said as she looked at Dumbledore deep in thought.

"I think it is about time to pay a visit to Mr. Nathaniel Moore. He's avoided us long enough." Dumbledore rose from Harry's bedside. "Will you go, Minerva? If I go it may trigger him to hide again. No telling what form he'll take then."

"Yes, I anticipated that as you said it." Minerva descended the stairs with Dumbledore. As they reached the bottom she said, "Boys, you may return to your beds. Do not disturb Mr. Potter until he awakens of his own accord, please. Ron, tell Miss Granger that as well."

By mid-afternoon of the next day, Hermione was worried sick about Harry. She had gone to her first two classes, but couldn't force herself to go after lunch. She was allowed to go to the boys' dormitory, but she knew she'd wake Harry if she saw him. So she remained, impatiently, in the Common Room.

A little before four o'clock, Ron came down to tell her. "He's awake and asking for you."

Hermione ran up the stairs and found Harry with his glasses off sitting back against the headboard with a pillow behind him. She knew he couldn't see her because he was squinting. "Hi, darling, put these on." Hermione took his glasses off the bedside table and gave them to Harry.

"It didn't even occur to me to put them on. Who wanted to see these ugly blokes anyway?" Harry joked. Hermione smiled and looked at his three room mates. They got the message. She wanted to talk privately. They all liked Hermione so rather than take offense they quietly filed out one by one.

"Hey, no funny stuff you two." Ron chided as he left. The look on his face belied the joke he'd made, but he'd made it nonetheless in a rational voice.

"Harry, what happened? I heard you had that dream of Wormtail again." She said as she placed her hand to the side of his face and caressed it. "Nothing is going to happen to me with you around."

Harry looked at her and sighed. "Well, that's the grand plan, but my dream says otherwise." He looked at her gravely.

"Harry, look, just tell me the dream from the beginning. Hold on…I heard Ron has been doing really well in Divination, especially with dreams. Tell us both everything. Every dream you can remember." Hermione said as she walked sideways toward the stairs calling out to Ron and keeping her eye on Harry. "Ron, are you down there? If you are, come join us."

"Hermione, I don't think I can tell everything to Ron. I had a dream like you have sometimes." Harry looked at her and winked.

"Oh, well…for Merlin's sake, just tell him what you can. Was it good?" She said with a flirtatious smile in after thought.

Harry smiled. "I had to shower and smoke a cigarette if that's what you mean." Hermione blushed and giggled.

Ron came up the stairs in bounds. "Okay, what's so funny? What'd I miss?"

"Ron, Neville…well, everyone in Divination says you're the best student in that class. They've also said you had been very good with dreams." Hermione looked for Ron's reaction.

"Okay…so…I get it. You want me to listen to Harry's dream." Ron looked pleased that he could help.

"Mate, only I had a dream that might be hard for you to hear." Harry tried to be as gentle about it as he could.

Hermione said, "I can't be here for that part." She blushed.

"Oh, boy, this will be like kicking me in the stones. You know that Harry." Ron looked concerned. He wanted to help but felt uncomfortable.

Finally after a moments thought Ron said unexpectedly, "It's probably nothing I haven't dreamt too." Hermione gasped and turned beat red.

"Ron, why did you have to say that?" Hermione asked looking as embarrassed as she'd ever been.

"If I'm going to have to hear these dreams, then you two need to hear that I truly loved you and probably still do, Hermione. I know I looked like a lecherous fool most of the time that first couple of days. I just didn't know how to handle my thoughts. I don't understand it myself." Ron confessed.

As Hermione heard his reasoning she accepted how he could have said what he said, but she was no less embarrassed or angry with him for saying it. "I'm going downstairs then. No offense, Ron, but please understand why I'm embarrassed."

"I do. Now get going, Harry and I have work to do." Ron turned to Harry. "Start at the beginning. I don't have to hear the details of that part of the dream. Rarely does that part matter. The way it began and the way it ended are what matter." Hermione heard this and felt better. He sounded like her. He sounded like he may really know what he's doing. Hermione had one thought as she walked down the stairs, `Oooh, I don't want to think about Ron…and....,' she shook the thought off.

Just before dinner at six o'clock, Harry and Ron came down from the dorm. "I'm starved," said Harry.

Hermione was studying and looked up with an incredulous look on her face. "You mean that's it. No explanation. No nothing."

"Not on an empty stomach anyway. We're growing young men?" Ron laughed as he walked straight through the portrait.

"Are you coming, Hermione?" Harry asked.

"You have to be joking. You cannot do this to me." She said as she put her books in her bag and set it under the table for safekeeping.

"Okay, but I don't fully understand it. Ron said that it probably was my fear of putting you in jeopardy. It was probably my own Stunning Charm that knocked you out which if you think about it, makes sense. I would blame myself if anything happens to you. It was almost the same as when we were in the Department of Mysteries. I blamed myself, and still do to a certain point, for all of you getting hurt. So there Miss Impatient Tell Me Right Now Smarty Pants." Harry looked at her flirtatiously. "By the way, you look good in those jeans." She'd changed into jeans for dinner and the DA meeting that was going to happen in just two hours.

"Ha ha Harry, aren't you funny?" She said in a condescending tone. `I can't let him know I thought it was funny. Not now.' She thought. "How could you let Ron put me on like that?" She challenged.

"Hey, let's face it. He's going to give both of us hell for a while." Harry said. "But it is a lot better than getting pushed off the stairs and beaten." He shrugged as if to say, "Am I right?"

"You have a point there," Hermione replied as she took Harry's hand and they started walking. "But don't let him embarrass us with intimate details or talk, Harry. That wouldn't be cool at all."

"I agree." He said as they walked through the portrait and waited for the changing stair case to rotate.

In Little Whinging, a cat stealthily padded its way around the building that contained the bookstore and the antique shop. The early morning sun had not yet dried the fall dew off the grass. The door to the antique shop opened as it did most days just before seven in the morning. The old man who opened it stretched lightly as he looked at the surrounding store fronts of the market and the roofs of the homes in the distance. His eyesight was particularly good for a man his age.

The cat purred and rubbed his leg this morning. The old man looked down fondly at it and picked it up. "Good morning. You look like you could use some milk." He put the cat under his arm and carried it back to his little one room apartment at the rear of the shop, opened the refrigerator, and poured some milk out into a small bowl. "There you go. I wonder where you came from."

The cat lapped up the milk and promptly lay down at the old man's feet where he sat in the wing-backed chair. He looked at the photo of a young woman with a mist in his eye as he did every morning. Some mornings he would sob uncontrollably. Today he'd set down the picture long enough to open the door. The cat reminded him of someone he knew long ago who had been a friend of the woman in the picture.

Pappy worked cleaning the entire shop that day as the cat playfully played with the tassels on his wing-backed chair cover. He missed Harry Potter for more than the chores he'd done. He had been surprised at the wonderful young man he'd become despite the horrific beginning to his life. He wished he would hear from him soon. He wondered how the story of the summer holiday had played out with Hermione and his friends at Hogwarts.

The day seemed to pass unusually quickly. The sunset was beautiful and as Pappy finished dinner he looked around for the cat to give it some milk.

"I'd prefer some of the beef stew you cooked for yourself, if you don't mind," said a voice from the dark corner of the antique shop near his door. Minerva McGonagall emerged from the shadows both shocking him and pleasing him.

"Once a wizard, always a wizard I guess," Pappy said looking at Minerva in her handsome dress. "You look wonderful, Minerva. I was thinking of you today and now I know why."

"I look old," said Minerva as she crossed to the wooden chair in which Harry had often sat. "As do you, Nathaniel. You didn't give the boy a false name. Why?"

"I'm too old to run and hide anymore. I recognized him immediately," he said with a smile. "Lily and James would have been proud. You taught him well to guard the secret of his parents' demise."

Minerva had expected Pappy to be less hospitable, maybe even hostile at first. She could see that Harry must have given him a sense of peace he hadn't enjoyed in many years.

"You look peaceful. I mean, finally, you look at peace with your chosen life. May I call you Pappy too?" Minerva smiled warmly and looked at Pappy.

"Yes, of course you may. Does Harry know his destiny and the prophecy yet?" Pappy asked quietly as if there were others in the room.

Minerva McGonagall was caught off guard with the question, but maintained her composure. Harry hadn't been told she knew and she hadn't been told that Pappy knew. "He learned of it just last year, when his godfather passed during a battle with the Death Eaters in the Ministry of Magic." One of the most important things about the prophecy was that it was not to be retold outside of Hogwarts by anyone other than Albus Dumbledore. So neither of them could confirm what the other knew. "The orb was broken. So no record exists."

"That's wonderful news. He has learned a fair bit of Occlumency, but could use some more. I used part of what I already knew, but could occasionally find more if I tried." Pappy confessed. "He has demonstrated great love and bravery from what I can gather. That young woman Hermione, tell me about her."

"She's the crème de la crème at Hogwarts, Pappy….astonishingly smart and as you may have surmised she's now the girlfriend of Mr. Potter."

"I've met her you know?" Pappy beamed. "I'm still able to change my appearance."

"You have? Really? Where?" asked Minerva.

"I saw her in an antique store in Oxfordshire. I diverted the shopkeeper's attention one day, used a memory charm, and took over the shop as an old woman after watching Hermione walk through the mall and point into the window. I knew she'd be back to buy something." Pappy looked so happy with himself.

"How did you know her?" Minerva asked in a surprised tone.

"I've had dreams for years about Harry and his companions. You knew Trelawney wasn't the only seer Dumbledore knew at Hogwarts in his year's as teacher and Headmaster there." Pappy stated matter-of-factly. "I just wished I'd seen the horror coming that Halloween night. Francine would still be here and likely so would the Potters. Unfortunately that is the nature of the future, one change here or there and everything else changes with it." A tear formed in his right eye.

"So I take it you know something of what's in store for both of them?" Minerva posed.

"A fair bit. I saw the two of them laughing and joking together and Harry looking at a pocket watch in one of my dreams, Minerva. I saw Hermione look at it with Harry in stunned amazement. They looked happy. I recognized the watch when I awoke as my very own. I looked in it and saw Francine that night." Pappy stared off into the night through the windows of his little apartment.

"Oh, you still had the watch that Francine gave you at graduation. She was one incredibly talented witch. She'd bewitched it herself to see the one's we love," Minerva recalled pleasantly. "You sold it to Hermione that day."

"Yes, for a really good price. The same price I quoted Harry for the music box and figurine the night he left. Hermione would have been suspicious had I offered it for free in the mall like that. I could tell immediately, how bright she was." Pappy spoke kindly of her.

"That must have been a hard thing to do after all these years, Nathaniel. I'm sorry…I love the nickname Pappy, but I know why you use it. Francine always called you Nathaniel and it brings back painful memories-especially for one such as yourself who is never permitted to forget anything." Minerva spoke clearly of the pain she saw in Pappy's face.

"Minerva, I feel that the watch and music box will be the symbols of love that will give them strength when they need it most. I can be sure that the power the Dark Lord uses best is lies, mistrust and doubt. They will need to see themselves in love because terror can make love pale." Pappy said with solemn face.

"Nathaniel, you must tell me more if I am to help them. If I am to help Harry fulfill his destiny and live a long and prosperous life, you must tell me everything you saw in those dreams. Please, Nathaniel, don't hide the details." Minerva pleaded with him.

"Minerva, you know these things come in pieces and they rarely foretell the entire event? They are snapshots of action. Just clips, really?" The look on Pappy's face was even more solemn than before even grave looking. Minerva knew he was not telling all he'd seen. He'd been a powerful wizard at Hogwarts and even without the years of practice was powerful now.

"Do you want Harry and Hermione to have what you and Francine couldn't? Hang the prophecy! It can be changed by our knowledge of it alone. You know that I'm right. Does killing Voldemort matter more than preserving the lives of those beautiful, honest and caring children?" Minerva was pleading with a love for Harry and Hermione that she'd not let out for a very long time.

"I fear that this terror is going to come to pass very soon. I cannot help with more than that." Pappy warned. "You must tell Dumbledore that the threat is close again." Pappy walked to his door to show Minerva out. His face was ashen and showed the lines in it far more than it had that morning. "Minerva. Thank you for being Francine's friend." He added. "And, mine."

Minerva quietly turned and walked away from the shop and Disapparated.

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