Author Note: Hi everyone! I'm back with another story. The idea for this story has been on my head for a while and I'm finally writing it down. The first inspiration came to me thanks to Squaresoft's RPG for Playstation, "Chrono Cross". This story, however, has nothing to do with the plotline of the game, so wether if you've played it or not, it doesn't really matter. And since we are blaming, I should also thank to my Interactive Narrative class, because during it I got important ideas for this plot that I'll tell you about when the time comes.
I really hope you'll like it. The first chapter is just an introduction, and the main plot will only start to reveal from the second chapter.
The title of this fic was inspired by the melody composed by Yasunori Mitsuda, "Scar of Time", from the Chrono Cross Soundtrack.
My thanks to Another for beta reading this and helping me improve my english; Nousia for being so nice, helpful and patient and Psy_Girl for her feedback, encouragement and being a great partner.
* * *
Chapter One
Secrets
Tonks stepped in the Auror Headquarters whistling happily. She waved to some of her colleagues while she walked (and tripped) towards one specific cubicle. So what if she was nosy? She was dying to know what had happened. And she would make sure he told her.
When she got there, she found the wizard in question leaning on his desk, his eyes closed and his head on his crossed arms. He was breathing steadily and for a second she considered letting him be. For a second.
"Now this is nice," she said, after clearing her throat loudly. "Our finest Auror sleeping on the job."
Harry snapped his head up and looked at her dazedly. He blinked a couple of times and finally focused on the smiling face of Tonks looking at him with a twinkle in her eyes. She had spiky cyan hair today and her nose was a little rounder than usual. Harry, however, was too used to her changing of appearance to be surprised anymore.
"Rough night, huh?" Tonks asked, sitting across from him without waiting for an invitation. She kept smiling at him in an odd way and Harry found himself wondering if she was up to something more than a small talk.
"Kinda," he said groggily, rubbing his eyes. He stretched and sat up straight, trying to awaken himself.
"I see," she said, her chin on her hand. "You went out on a date, didn't you?" she raised an eyebrow suggestively.
Harry chuckled. "Sorry to disappoint you, but no. I just had dinner with Hermione."
Tonks smile grew wider. "Indeed. And you didn't sleep at all last night?"
Harry gave her a weird look. "I know you're trying to say something, but I swear I'm not catching up."
The smile on the woman's face disappeared in an instant. "Oh," she said, clearly disappointed. "You mean you just had dinner with Hermione?"
"That's what I said, Tonks," Harry said, yawning. "Aren't you a little slow today?"
Tonks muttered something under her breath about the the pot and the kettle that Harry didn't catch. He shrugged. It was futile to try to understand Tonks most of the time, and in the years he had known her, Harry had often wondered if she was related to Luna Lovegood in any way.
He stifled another yawn. He really needed a vacation. He hadn't slept at all last night, and not exactly because of having company. No, that wasn't it. And oddly, Tonks had been close to a point mentioning his dinner with Hermione, because that was what had kept him up all night.
It wasn't Hermione, per se. It was more like what he knew she was hiding from him.
With time, Harry had gotten used to Hermione's secrets. Well, they weren't really her secrets, but they were from her job. Hermione was an Unspeakable. Harry and Hermione had been offered to work in the Department of Mysteries of the Ministry of Magic while they were both in their Auror Training Program. Harry had refused almost immediately. For one, he was tired of mysteries and being cooped up in the Department of Mysteries all day investigating that creepy stuff wasn't exactly what he wanted to do with his life. Besides, he hated that place with all his heart after all that had happened there.
Hermione, however, had accepted. After a lot of thinking and discussion with Harry and Ron, she had decided to go with it. Harry had never fully understood why Hermione had agreed. But Ron had said, You know how she loves researching. I bet she will spend all day down there between millions of books and weird potions. Harry wasn't sure that was the reason, though, but he had been supportive nevertheless.
Hermione becoming an Unspeakable meant that all her work would be a secret, even for them, her best friends. Harry wasn't too fond of the idea of someone close to him doing things he wouldn't know about, but if this was what she wanted, he would have to accept it. So, there was an unspoken pact between them. Neither Harry nor Ron ever asked anything to Hermione about her job, except for "how is it going?" and she would always answer with a curt "fine, thank you."
The secrecy hadn't really been an obstacle in their friendship. It was quite impossible, in Harry's opinion, to go through all the things they had and then drift apart. If anything, Ron and Hermione were the most important people in his life, and they would always be. He had been scared at first of leaving school and not seeing them every day, but considering he shared a flat with Ron and Hermione dropped by almost every day to make sure they kept the place clean and they ate decent food, as she called it, that closeness hadn't been lost.
But the previous night, something had been different and he had sensed it. Hermione had sent him a message in the morning asking him to meet her for dinner because she had to tell him something. Harry had been thinking about what could it be all day and hadn't even waited to sit down at that restaurant before asking her what was wrong. She had smiled slightly and asked why he thought it was something bad. But Harry's experience in life had taught him to always be prepared for the worse.
They had made some small talk at first. Hermione was avoiding the main subject and Harry had done his best to hold back his impatience. She was really nervous, and kept avoiding his eyes. By the time they were finishing the main course, Harry was really worried. He was pretty sure it had something to do with her job. Had she discovered something? Was she in danger? She obviously needed his help.
That was what had been going through Harry's head while Hermione picked on her food talking about some new book she had read. Finally, he had pressed her to tell him what was going on. And the look she had given him.... There was fear in those eyes. Inexplicable fear. And before he knew what was going on, she had stormed out of the restaurant, leaving him confused and alone.
He had tried to contact her later, but he hadn't been able to. He had even pondered going to her house, but he didn't want to overwhelm her. So, he had spent all night building up theories about his friend's strange behavior. He was expecting to catch her sometime during the day in the Ministry, although it wouldn't be easy, since Hermione always stayed inside the Department of Mysteries and Harry, like most of the staff of the Ministry, wasn't allowed to go down there.
"...And that's when I realized I was pregnant..."
"What?" Harry went back to reality in less than a second when he heard those words coming from Tonks's mouth. "You're pregnant?" he stuttered, looking at his fellow Auror with widened eyes.
"No," Tonks said, laughing. "I was just trying to catch your attention. You spaced out for a couple of minutes. Thinking about something...or someone special?" she asked, leaning forward on his desk.
"Yes, I was, actually," Harry said. He had been thinking about Hermione and she was special, although not in the tone he knew Tonks was asking. "Have you seen Hermione?"
Tonks grinned. "No.... You know she rarely comes up here. Did something happen with her yesterday?" she asked, looking at her nails and acting casually.
"I don't know," Harry replied. "I have the feeling she's hiding something from me."
Tonks smirked, but didn't say anything.
"Hey, Tonks, do you know what Hermione has been working on lately?"
"You know I don't, Harry. Unspeakables' stuff is kept only inside the Department of Mysteries. Why do you ask?"
Harry was thoughtful. "I know she was trying to tell me something yesterday. I'm sure it has to do with her job. Something she discovered, maybe. She looked really worried."
Tonks looked at him with a mix of disbelief and exasperation. "You've got to be kidding me, Harry. You really think Hermione wanted to talk to you about her work?"
"What else could be making her so anxious? She was really nervous and in the end ran away without saying a thing!" Harry explained, worriedly. Thinking about it, Hermione had been acting weird for a while. She always seemed to be wanting to tell him something and finally decided against it. He felt really stupid not to have realized it before. "I know that something is going on."
Tonks looked like she was torn between bursting out laughing or kicking Harry. She let out a long hiss that Harry didn't hear. He was too deep in his own cavilations.
"I'm going to talk to Remus," Harry said, standing up from his desk.
"What for?"
"He has to know something. He is Hermione's boss."
Before she could say anything else to him, Harry had fled towards the elevator.
* * *
"I made a complete fool out of myself," Hermione said, sighing with her head in her hands.
Ginny smiled at her sympathetically. "I'm sure it wasn't that bad."
"I. Stormed. Out. Of. The. Restaurant," Hermione growled. "Could it be worse than that?" Ginny didn't say anything. "God, what must he be thinking now.... He probably already figured it out! How am I going to face him?"
"Calm down, Hermione," Ginny said, calling the waiter to ask for another cup of coffee. "It's not as if it's the end of the world."
Hermione covered her face with her hands and let out a whimper. She was really embarrassed. She had completely lost her courage when she was about to spill to Harry that she had feelings for him. She could have at least made up something. But no, she had to run away like some drama queen and just make everything worse.
"Look," Ginny said in a practical tone. "Now that you've reached this point, all you have to do is tell him how you feel. It will be better than him thinking you are nuts."
Hermione shook her head. "No way. I'm not going to tell him, Ginny."
"But why?" the younger woman asked, frowning. "You were determined to do it."
"You and Tonks caught me flying low when I accepted to do it," Hermione argued. "Now I'm back to my senses and understand that it was a stupid idea in the first place. It would only ruin our friendship."
"If you don't tell him, you might be ruining your chance to have something mo-"
"No, Gin," Hermione cut her off. "Besides, Harry is like an open book when it comes to liking someone. If he returned my feelings, I'd be able to notice. But be honest, have you ever seen him acting weird with me?"
Ginny thought for a moment. "No," she said slowly. "But that doesn't mean...don't give me that `I'm-always-right' look, Hermione. Harry is a man, and worse, he is Ron's friend. That makes him very thick and blind. I'm sure that deep down, he's head over heels for you... He's just in denial."
"I've said my last word about this," Hermione said sternly. "Harry and I will remain as good friends and nothing more."
Ginny sighed. She knew how stubborn her friend could be. "But how will you explain your weird behavior? He must be thinking you're losing your mind, which I don't think is that far from the truth."
Hermione glared at her. "I'll figure something out. Oh, blast."
"What?" Ginny asked, looking at Hermione pulling out her wand from her pocket. It was glowing of a faint blue color.
"Call from work," Hermione said grabbing her purse and leaving a few Galleons on the table.
"I thought you had the morning off."
"I did, but you know how this is. Bye Ginny, I'll call you later."
Ginny watched her friend leave. Actually, she had no idea how this was, but had grown used to Hermione's mysterious schedules when work was concerned. She took another sip of her coffee and pondered. She and Tonks would need another strategy to get through Hermione's thick head.
* * *
"Come in," Lupin said when he heard the knock on his door. He was scanning through some papers when Harry came in and closed the door behind him. "Hi Harry," he said, smiling at him. "It's not an everyday thing that you come down here to visit an old friend."
"You say it as if we never see each other, when it's quite the opposite," Harry said, sitting in front of Lupin.
"Then this isn't a courtesy visit. What is it, Harry?"
Harry peered at his friend for a moment. Remus had become the Head of the Department of Mysteries and the visible face of the people who worked there after Voldemort's death. He had earned a lot of respect thanks to his work during the Second War and the new Minister had decided to trust him with that job. It had been Remus who had offered Harry and Hermione to join the Unspeakables' Team two years ago.
"I need your help," Harry said finally, watching his reactions carefully.
"Sure, anything you need," Remus said, leaving his papers aside and focusing on Harry.
"I must know what Hermione's working on."
Remus stared at Harry in silence for two long minutes. "You know I can't tell you that." Harry frowned and Remus sighed. "Harry, you're perfectly aware of this department's policies. You know too much about what we do here already. I can't comment about what my agents do..."
"I'm not asking about your agents! This is about Hermione," Harry said. "I don't care about secrecy.... I don't give a damn about what you do down here and you know it. But I have to know, because she's been acting really weird all week.... She's involved in something strange, and I think she needs my help."
Lupin raised his eyebrows and gave him a look of surprise. "What do you mean?"
"I know her. Something's going on. And she can't tell me what it is. You must know, you are her boss." Remus looked away and shook his head. "Please, Remus."
"Harry, I don't know where this comes from, but I assure that Hermione isn't...," he trailed off and fell silent. Harry noticed he had just remembered something.
"What? Tell me!"
Remus avoided Harry's eyes. "I can't. You're not supposed to know...."
Harry ran a hand through his hair in exasperation. "Hermione's my best friend. If something is happening to her, I need to know. She's always on the verge of telling me what it is, and then panics." He leaned forward on the desk. "You know I wouldn't be asking you this if it wasn't serious."
Lupin hesitated and Harry saw his ray of hope. He had to break Remus's resolution and he knew exactly which button to push.
"If it was the other way around-if it was-Tonks," he pronounced the name casually and Remus turned his head to look at him in the instant, "the one who was in trouble, wouldn't you want to know what has her like that? And if I was the only one who could tell you, being her partner and all...I would."
"What does Tonks have to do with this? She's just a friend," Remus stuttered, blushing.
"So is Hermione," Harry said with a small smile. "Tonks was just an example."
"Aurors' work is not classified."
"Remus, you know what my point is." The older man looked at him with a helpless look. "Please. I need to know."
A long pause followed. Harry waited with baited breath while Remus stood up and paced in his office, rubbing his chin.
"Are you sure that there's a problem with Hermione?" Harry nodded. "It can only be...." He sat down again and looked at Harry. "You must swear you won't tell anyone about this. Much less Hermione. She'll kill me if she knows I've told you."
"I swear," Harry said, concerned. So he had been right after all. There was something going on.
Remus let out a sigh. "Hermione has been investigating something since she joined the team. Actually, that was her condition to join. That we'd let her invest some of her time in this investigation. We agreed. After all, a long time ago, another Unspeakable had been interested in it and left the research unfinished." He made a pause and grabbed a quill from his desk. "A week ago...she found something in that investigation. I'm not sure what it is, she said she couldn't say yet...."
"You're babbling," Harry cut him off. His mind was trying to absorb what Lupin was telling him, but he still didn't know the most important thing. "What is she investigating?"
Remus looked at Harry for a moment before answering.
"The veil."
* * *
"I'm sorry for calling you during your morning off, Hermione. But there's an emergency."
Hermione hung her cloak and looked at Terry Boot who had come to greet her in the entrance of the Department of Mysteries. He was wearing the midnight blue outfit that was the only kind of clothes allowed down there and he looked very nervous.
Terry had joined the team along with Hermione when Harry had declined the offer. He had accepted immediately and with time, Hermione had found a suitable partner in him. He was smart and hard working, and really nice to make it better.
"What's wrong?" She asked, following Terry through the doors that led them to their offices.
"The intruder has been detected again," Terry explained, opening a door and holding it for Hermione. "We think this time he, or she, is still around."
`The intruder' was someone that had been stealing vital information from the Ministry for some time now. Whomever he was, he was driving everyone crazy. No one knew how he got in or out, but the truth was, he seemed to know what he was doing. His favorite place seemed to be the Department of Mysteries and all the Unspeakables and Aurors were doing their best to catch him. But so far, they didn't have any clues.
"Did anyone inform Kingsley?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. We've been called to a meeting at 5 in the Aurors' Headquearters."
Hermione paled. "A meeting...are the Aurors going to be there?" she asked, trying to sound casual.
"Yes," Terry replied, not noticing her tone. "We need to work all together to catch this person."
"Is there any way I could skip the meeting?" she asked, rubbing her forehead. "I have a lot of work to do."
Terry gave her a look. "You know that's impossible. Besides, what could be more important than this? You were the one telling Lupin that we'd need the Aurors' help to deal with this."
Great. The last thing she needed now was running into Harry and having to endure his questioning gaze about her actions lately. She'd have to make something up, quickly. She hated lying, especially to him, but there wasn't any other choice.
* * *
Harry paced furiously in front of his desk. He was aware he was attracting stares from his work mates, but he didn't care.
Hermione had been investigating that damned veil all this time and she hadn't told him anything about it. Why was she interested in it? Remus said she had established that investigation as a condition to join the Unspeakables. That meant that she had been fixed on the veil for at least two and a half years. Probably more, knowing Hermione. But never ever had she said anything about the veil to him. Not even when Sirius had-
What had she found out? Now he knew it had to be something really important. That was what she'd been trying to tell him. If she was willing to break the stupid secrecy, it had to be something huge. Something that would interest him.
In the back of his mind, he kept wondering if it had anything to do with Sirius. He knew it was stupid; his godfather had been gone for eight years... Harry had taken a long time to accept his death and he didn't want the doubts and questions to surface again.
He needed to talk to Hermione.
"Harry, what are you doing? You're leaving a hole in the floor."
Harry jumped slightly when he heard Ron's voice. He considered for half a second asking him if he knew anything about this... But he quickly realized that, if Hermione hadn't told him, she couldn't have told Ron either. Besides, his male best friend wasn't good at keeping secrets from him.
Harry turned to look at him with his brow furrowed. Ron had realized after his O.W.L.s that the Auror life wasn't for him and was now working in the Ministry, in the Department of Magical Games and Sports. His job consisted in organizing the Quidditch season, and that included free invitations to every single game. Ron was one of the few people Harry knew that actually got up in the morning happy that another day of work was starting.
"What are you doing here?" Harry asked, his mind still on that blasted veil.
"I was wondering if you wanted to grab something for lunch," Ron said, looking at Harry strangely. "Is everything alright?"
Harry didn't answer. "I have something to do," he said briskly and walked towards the elevator.
Ron looked at him with a confusion evident in his face. Tonks, who was sitting at her desk next to Harry's, smirked.
"Harry's one strange bloke, isn't he?" she commented.
Ron could only nod.
* * *
Harry knew he wasn't supposed to be there. But if he'd gone inside when he wasn't even working at the Ministry, it couldn't be that terrible if he popped inside for a couple of minutes. After all, he just wanted to find Hermione. He needed to talk to her. He was surer than ever that she had discovered something, and he couldn't wait until later.
Taking a deep breath in front of the dark door, he tried opening it. He found it weird that it was unlocked, but he wasn't sure how the security was down there, after all. And who cared? It made all this easier for him.
Looking around, he realized he hadn't forgotten any detail of the Department of Mysteries. He sometimes still visited that place in his dreams and wasn't happy to be back. He was hoping he'd find Hermione quickly and get out.
So many doors. Which one was the one? This was stupid. He would get lost inside the Department of Mysteries because he couldn't control himself. He knew one of them had to lead to the offices. What would he do when he got there? They would probably throw a fit because he was inside without permission. Not to mention Remus would chop his head off.
He followed his instincts and opened one.
Subconscious is a powerful thing. He had gotten himself in the room that had the veil in the middle... The Death Chamber, they called it? He was about to close the door to pick another one, when he felt the sudden need to go inside and examine it closely.
He still remembered those voices he had heard... Knowing he would be in trouble for this, but realizing he didn't care much, he walked up to it. He couldn't help but shudder as he took in its form and remembered....
"What are you doing here?"
Harry jumped and turned around. He sighed in relief when he saw who had spoken. "Oh, it's you," he said. "I'm-I was just looking for Hermione. What are you doing here?"
A pause. "I needed to check something."
"Well, I'm going now," Harry said, but didn't move. He needed to look at the veil one more time.
Oh, what a mistake.
At first, he didn't realize what had happened. As he turned around, he felt something hitting him on the back... A spell. He didn't have time to react and fell forward, right into the veil, disappearing from sight.
* * *
Hermione waited until it was 5 sharp to head to the Auror Headquarters. In that way, she wouldn't have time to chat with Harry before the meeting started. And she could always say that she had something to do to get out quickly once it was over.
Although Unspeakables' identities were restricted to most wizards and witches, Aurors had access to most of them because they usually had to work together. Like now. When Hermione entered the Headquarters, a few Aurors waved at her. Remus and Kingsley greeted her with a small nod and Hermione went directly to the the farthest corner, avoiding to look anywhere in case she met Harry's stare.
When she sat down, Kingsley started talking.
"You all know why you're here. The intruder has been wandering the Ministry again. This time, he took some important files from the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, and Remus has also noticed some confidential material has disappeared from his office as well. I'm sure you realize how serious this situation is."
"It means one of two things," Remus continued. "Our security system is so inefficient that anyone can violate it, or..." he looked at the group of Aurors and Unspeakables listening carefully to him, "we have a traitor among us."
Everyone started talking at the same time. Kingsley asked for order raising his arms.
"Are you suggesting that one of us is stealing information?" asked one Auror named Robert Frelt.
"We don't want to suspect anyone. We trust all of you...," Remus started.
"This person obviously knows the Ministry well. He or she knows how we work, where we keep the important stuff.... And he probably has free access to everywhere," explained Kingsley, not sounding very happy about it.
"Could it be that there's more than one person?" asked Pamela Rogers, who worked in the same division as Hermione. "I can hardly believe that just one man-"
"Or woman," Frelt said.
"Or woman," Pamela repeated, glaring at him, "can do this by himself."
"That's a possibility," Remus said.
Hermione had half her mind on the meeting. She was looking for Harry. But she couldn't see him. Sure, there was a lot of people in there, but she had always been able to spot Harry quickly in a crowd. He was hard to miss after all. Where was he?
"Are you okay? You look distracted," Terry whispered in her ear.
"I'm fine," Hermione said. Harry would never miss a meeting like that. What if he was avoiding her? That was absurd. He was probably dying to ask her about last night.
Kingsley and Remus spent one hour explaining the new security system they would use from now on. Basically they would take turns to patrol in the Ministry Levels, especially the Department of Mysteries, Department of Law Enforcement and the Administration offices. Once the meeting was over, Hermione and Terry commented that if, indeed the intruder was among them, the new security system wouldn't work very well.
"Are you sure you're fine?" Terry asked, looking at her worriedly. "You're pale." He noticed that Hermione was looking around franctically while everyone stood up and grabbed their cloaks.
"It's just that..." Hermione walked towards the Aurors' cubicles and her eyes went to look at Harry's desk. His cloak was still hanging there...
"What?" Terry asked, following her gaze.
"Harry wasn't at the meeting."
"How do you know? There were too much people in that room, Hermione."
"I just know. But where could he be? He must've had a really good reason to skip it..."
Terry shrugged. "You know Harry. He's always running around."
This was her chance. Harry wasn't around, she could go home and avoid him for another day until she thought of a good excuse for her behavior. But she couldn't shrug off that uneasiness. Somehow she had the feeling that something was wrong. And it was a very familiar feeling she hadn't felt in a long time, and wasn't missing at all.
"Hermione!"
Tonks was walking towards her between the group of wizards that were heading outside the Headquarters. Terry took the chance to wave goodbye to Hermione and left with the rest of the group.
"Hi Tonks," Hermione said, still thinking about Harry's absence.
Tonks looked around and then lowered her voice. "I heard you chickened out last night."
"Who told you that?" Hermione asked.
"Harry."
"Harry said I chickened out?"
Tonks laughed. "No. He said you wanted to tell him something but had stormed out of the restaurant and left him very worried."
Hermione bit her lip. "I couldn't help it.... He was staring at me-What did he think about it? He probably saw right through me...."
"Of course not, Harry is not very assertive when it comes to women." She let out a sigh. "He thinks something happened to you related to your job."
Hermione didn't know if she should feel relieved or frustrated. She was certainly feeling a mix of both. "Really?"
Tonks nodded. "By the way, why didn't he come to the meeting?"
"I thought you'd know," Hermione said anxiously.
"No. I saw him this morning...we talked. He wanted to know what was going on with you," Tonks said thoughtfully. "He asked me if I knew what you were working in. Of course I didn't, and then he said he'd talk to Remus and stormed to the elevator."
Hermione was surprised. "He went to see Remus?"
"Yes. I told you he was worried about you," Tonks said giving Hermione an amused look. Then he came back...he was acting really strange. He started pacing, and when Ron came to look for him, he suddenly said he needed to do something and left. I haven't seen him since then."
While she knew she should be happy that Harry hadn't realized what she really wanted to tell him, Hermione was now more worried than before. Where had he gone? She told herself to calm down. This maybe didn't have to do with her at all. Maybe, Harry had been hinted about one of the cases he was working on. Should she ask Kingsley? She looked up and saw him discussing something with Remus in the corner.
"Kingsley will kill Harry for not coming today," Tonks commented, looking at her boss and Remus too. "He told him this morning that it was very important he attended." She frowned. "What could have possibly made Harry miss the meeting?"
Hermione was wondering the same. Everyone had left now, except for Tonks, Kingley, Remus and her. She took a deep breath and approached the two men.
"Hermione," Kingsley said when he saw her coming, "do you know where Harry is?"
"I was about to ask the same thing," Hermione answered.
"You mean you haven't talked to him today?" Remus chirped in.
Hermione shook her head. "No. But he must've had something really important to do if he missed the meeting."
"He better have had," growled Kingley, grabbing his files and going out of the room.
"I'd probably should be going too," Tonks said, stretching. "I can't wait to see what excuse Harry will come up with," she said. "Are you coming?" she asked to Remus and Hermione.
"In a minute," Remus said. Hermione realized he wanted to talk to her alone and stayed as well.
Tonks shrugged and left them alone.
"Do you know what happened to him?" Hermione asked. "His things are still on his desk...."
"I have no idea...," he answered. She gazed at him.
"Tonks said he'd gone to talk to you this morning."
"Um, yeah, he did."
"About what?"
Remus crossed his arms. "About you. He was worried. He said something was troubling you and you were trying to ask for his help. He asked me to tell him what were you working on...is everything alright, Hermione?"
She groaned. Harry always got everything wrong! "Everything's fine. I think Harry misunderstood me." She didn't feel like explaining why he might be confused. But Remus was still looking at her, doubt clear in his eyes. "Remus, if something was going on with my work you'd be the first one to know. You're the only one that knows what I'm working in! You're the only one I've told about my discovery," she said, not noticing the way he averted his eyes when she said that. "What did you tell him?"
Remus was about to answer when Hermione pulled out her wand. It was glowing blue.
They exchanged a look and hurried to Level 9, where the Department of Mysteries was located.
* * *
"He's been here again!"
"Calm down, Terry," Remus said, looking around. The small laboratory that Terry Boot shared with Hermione and a couple of Unspeakables was a complete mess. Potions were spilled on the floor, mixed with papers and strange ingredients.
"Be careful with what you touch," Hermione said, waving her wand to clean something.
"He must've gotten inside when we were in the meeting," Terry said. He looked very upset. "The report I was working on has disappeared, not to mention a lot of very expensive and rare specimens-" He took a deep breath. "What about your things, Hermione?"
"I still can't say," she answered frowning. "I'll have to check everything to know what is missing."
"You should probably wait until tomorrow," Remus said. "I'll send the team to examine everything...look for fingerprints and any clue that might help us to know who is behind this."
* * *
It was past midnight when her fireplace turned on. Hermione was sitting in front of it and jumped. She had been waiting for news of Harry (she had tried calling his apartment but neither he nor Ron were home) and she almost broke her cup of coffee when she kneeled in front of it to see who was calling.
It wasn't Harry. It was Remus Lupin.
"Oh, hi," Hermione said, barely hiding her disappointment.
"I'm sorry for calling at this time," he apologized, looking grim. "You weren't asleep, were you?"
"No. Did something happened at the Department? Did you find anything?"
"They are still working on that," Remus said. "I hope nothing about your investigation was lost."
"Don't worry. I keep that stuff in a very secure place," she said. "So, if you're not calling about that...," her eyes widened. "Is it about Harry? What happened to him?"
"You still haven't been able to contact him?" Remus asked, biting his lip.
Hermione shook her head. "Don't you think this is strange? He just disappeared...I'm really worried, Remus. I should be looking for him."
Lupin sighed. "I need to confess something."
She looked at him curiously.
"When Harry came to me this morning...I kinda told him about...your investigation."
"What?!"
Remus looked at her with a fearful look. Hermione didn't bother to hide her anger.
"You told him that I was investigating the veil?" he nodded slowly. "You swore you wouldn't, Remus!" she exclaimed. "Do you realize what this means?"
"Harry said something was going on with you. I thought it could only be-"
Hermione grabbed her head with both hands. "He must have gone crazy. Harry wasn't supposed to know about that!"
"Well, in all honesty I don't know either," Remus said quietly. "You've never told me what's going on with that veil. You didn't say why you wanted to investigate it, you have never shared any of your theories with me and you kept to yourself whatever it is that you discovered about it."
"There's a reason why I'm not telling you!" Hermione said, glaring at him. "What did Harry say?"
"He was shocked. He said he needed to think. I thought he would go immediately to see you and ask you about it."
"He must have thought it has something to do with Sirius," Hermione muttered, more to herself than to him.
"Does it?"
"Sirius is dead, Remus," she said slowly. "We've needed a long time to accept all that happened in those two years of the Second War and I don't need old ghosts resurfacing and coming to hunt Harry again."
"I'm really sorry, Hermione," he said after a while. "I know I shouldn't have told him. But he was desperate. He really thought you were in trouble. I got worried too."
Hermione only nodded and rubbed her eyes.
"Where do you think he might be?" Remus interrupted her thoughts. "At first I thought he'd go to the Department of Mysteries, to look for you or at the veil. But we would know by now..."
"Do you know what worries me, Remus? Not only that Harry must have freaked out about the veil. Not only that I'm sure he is now thinking that I'm hiding something vital from him, probably hating me for it and who knows what million other stupid things are coming to his head... He is probably now a suspect. They'll think he might be the one stealing information."
Remus realized Hermione was right. Harry hadn't gone to the meeting. And someone had entered in the Department of Mysteries while they were up there. Harry was probably the only Auror that knew that Department well. And he had records of stealing information before, although it had been during the war against Voldemort.
"Harry is clean. You and I know it, Hermione."
"Of course we do, but what about the rest?"
"You think they'll blame him? He's a symbol for the wizarding world," Remus said, in a not so confident way. "Don't worry, I'll vouch for him and I'm sure Kingsley will too... But we are moving too ahead. We should focus on finding him and talking to him first."
Hermione nodded and said goodbye. Great. Just great. She would now have to explain to Harry about the veil. And she didn't want to think what he would want to do when he found out what was behind it.
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