Disclaimer: Harry Potter belongs to J.K. Rowling. This fanfiction is not written to make money. No profit is being generated and no copyright infringement is intended. All events in this story are based on the Harry Potter series.
A/N: Finally! I was able to upload the chapter. I'm very very very very very very sorry for the very very very very very very late update, but please understand that I had many things to do over the Christmas break, and I had to go back to my hometown, and there's no internet connection there. So I have to wait until I got back here in the city, but then my exams are coming up ad I had to study, so the next chapter might not be uploaded for another week. Please bear with me and don't forget to read and review! Also thanks to those who've read and reviewed the story. So here we go, chapter seven ....
Chapter Seven
Harry Potter awoke the next morning feeling uncharacteristically relaxed and content (which was saying something, since he normally wakes up in the mornings feeling as if he were beaten black and blue the previous night). He was just wondering what would make him feel that way when he felt something stir. This something, he realized, was snuggled close to him, with his arms around its shoulders, and its arm wrapped around his waist. This something has very bushy brown hair, which was nestled in the crook of his neck. It was only then he realized that he'd spent the night with Hermione Granger in his arms.
She was still fast asleep, her left arm wrapped around Harry's waist, and her head buried in his chest. She looked extremely comfortable lying there next to him, and a peaceful smile was still on her face. Harry suddenly understood why he felt relaxed and content; he had everything he needed right there in his arms. He sincerely wished that they would stay together this way but he knew they had to start the day. Still, he didn't dare move, let alone shift his position, lest he disturb Hermione's sleep. He was just wondering how to extricate himself from her without waking her up when Hermione stirred again.
"Hmmm…." She opened her eyes, and looked up to his face. Harry couldn't help but notice how beautiful she is, even with her eyes looking sleepy and puffy.
"Harry?"
"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said with a smile. "Did you sleep well?"
Hermione smiled and snuggled closer to him. "Never better."
"Good. But don't you think it's time for us to start the day?
"Oh - right," she said, but didn't move.
"Yeah, and the Ministry's not paying me to be your comforter, you know."
Hermione pinched him hard on his side.
"Ouch! I was just kidding, okay?" Harry laughed, but didn't even remove his arm from around her shoulders. "Actually, I don't mind being your comforter."
Hermione just snuggled closer to him, so close that he was feeling a bit uncomfortable.
"Er…Hermione? When I said I don't mind being your comforter, I didn't mean you may crush me to death, okay?"
Hermione laughed and loosened her hold on him.
"Sorry, but I kind of enjoyed sleeping in your arms."
"Yeah, to tell you the truth, I did too. I don't think I'd ever slept as soundly and peacefully as I did last night." Harry said, pulling her closer to him. Hermione looked up at him.
"Me too," she said, absentmindedly playing with his days-old mustache. "Wonder why that was?"
"I dunno," said Harry, looking down at her. "Maybe it's just the fact that we've grown accustomed to each other, that we're comfortable with each other. And it's not as if we've never slept together before, is it?"
"I suppose," said Hermione, and unless Harry imagined it, she sounded a bit disappointed. But he had no time to dwell on it for he'd just caught sight of his watch.
"Well, I think it's about time we get our backsides off the bed, Hermione. We have a long day ahead."
"Nearly two days," she corrected him, as they untangled themselves from each other.
"Yeah," he agreed, and got up. Harry conjured a teapot, two mugs, and a plate of toasts, which he then placed on top of the table, clearing it of last night's leftovers as he did so. He then took the kettle, and with a tap of his wand, brought the water to a boil.
As Hermione made tea for them, Harry studied the map she had conjured back in the den of the late Dr. Holmes. The red dot was still blinking, indicating where the suspect, Mr. Aloysius Turner, is.
"I can't believe it - he's staying at his address, Hermione," said Harry, completely astonished as he recognized the neighborhood where the red dot was blinking.
"What?" said Hermione, looking surprised, and she hastened over to examine the map herself.
"Yeah," said Harry, pointing, "there, somewhere in Lincolnshire, just northeast of Lincoln."
Hermione studied the map carefully, then took out the piece of parchment, upon which she had scribbled Turner's address, from her hip pocket.
"But it says here that he lives in Lincoln!"
"Yeah, but remember what I said back at the Ministry? 'He'll never be in his address.' He wasn't technically residing in that particular address, but he's still in the vicinity, just within twenty or thirty miles, I think," Harry said, consulting the map again. "The Homing Charm just simplified matters."
Hermione shook her head.
"It's not really that simple, Harry. This man is quite clever. An ordinary criminal would've hidden as far away from his known address as possible, but this one didn't. He knew that we're going to locate him anywhere but nowhere near his address."
"Yeah, he may be clever," said Harry, grinning, "but my partner is much, much cleverer than he is."
Hermione laughed.
"Oh, stop it, Harry," she said, passing him his mug of tea and a piece of toast. "Why don't you eat first, maybe you're just hungry."
Harry laughed but accepted the mug and the toast. He tore off a portion of the latter with his teeth.
"So, where do we go from here?" he asked after taking a sip of tea.
Hermione swallowed the bit of toast she was eating and took a sip of her tea before answering.
"Well, it's really very straightforward - what we're going to do, I mean. But the thing is, we can't do anything for another thirty-six hours or so. Maybe we can go and check the neighborhood where the killer stays; take a look at his house and the immediate vicinity, but I'm afraid we'll have to leave that until later when the timelines merge, lest he notice us. For all we know, he might have put Sensoring Spells around his house to alert him whenever someone magical was around."
"But why don't we just arrest him now? Or maybe tonight, while he's asleep?" Harry asked, sipping his tea. "Of course, we could've arrested him last night right after he killed Dr. Holmes, if only we weren't so upset about the murder."
Hermione sighed exasperatedly. "You know we can't do that, Harry. It's not that simple. What if he's not alone in this? What if something happens that is beyond our control when we arrest him before the timelines merge? The consequences are too ghastly to discuss, Harry. Besides, the Auror Department will be in jeopardy if something bad happens while we're time-traveling. All we can do is wait for the timelines to merge, and then arrest him straightaway. That way, even if something that's not intended happens, we'll not create confusion and chaos by turning out to have doubles!"
"All right, all right, I know. But what are we going to do between now and when the timelines merge? Don't tell me we'll just sit tight and wait?"
"No, I agree, we must do something to pass the time, lest we become too relaxed and ruin our readiness when we arrest him. Any ideas?"
The both of them fell silent for a while, thinking of ways to pass the time for the rest of the day and the day after. They munched their toasts and finished their tea, still thinking, and then something clicked in Harry's mind. He gulped down the last of his tea and turned excitedly to Hermione.
"Hermione, I think I know what we should do today; we can go and check out the new pub in Hogsmeade Aurelius told me about."
"What? You want to go to a pub?" Hermione said, as though she couldn't believe her ears. "We're on a mission! - And since when did you become a connoisseur of pubs and bars?"
"Wait! Wait - let me finish first. This is not just about having a good time or hanging out, okay? That pub is the suspected hideout of Willy Widdershins, and we can investigate whether or not the intel about that is true! The pub I'm talking about is the Closed Doors."
Hermione looked blank for a moment, but then comprehension dawned on her face.
"Oh - you mean the one Neville mentioned?"
"Yes. Neville mentioned about handling the case, but it was Aurelius Yates who actually filled me in about the details. Who would have believed it? Willy Widdershins becoming a full-fledged heist organizer and leader of his own Thieves' Guild! Do you remember back in our fifth and sixth year when he was just a measly toilet prankster and an informer to Dolores Umbridge?"
"Yes. He was the one who told Umbridge about our meeting in the Hog's Head, right?"
"Yeah, but now, you wouldn't even recognize him as the one who kept troubling Mr. Weasley with those regurgitating toilets. Why, he has grown more powerful and cunning! Not to mention keener to break the law."
"Well, I suppose Fudge's being lenient to him back then did wonders to old Willy," Hermione said matter-of-factly. "Is it true that he's starting to be quite a headache for the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol?"
"Yeah," said Harry. "Especially for Aurelius and Neville. They're the ones handling the case. Oh, I just hope Willy does something big next time - big enough to be handled by Aurors, anyway. I can't wait to get my hands on him, after what he did to us back in fifth year."
Hermione laughed. "I didn't know you've still got your grudge about that. It was nearly five years ago!"
"Yeah, but still, I want to get back at him. And it's not just my personal grudge, okay? He's still a criminal, isn't he? He deserves to be locked up in Azkaban."
"Oh, all right. That's settled then. We'll go up to Hogsmeade, check out that pub, and maybe we can also have our lunch at the Three Broomsticks afterward. After that, we can visit Minerva and the others at Hogwarts."
Harry looked at her, looking confused.
"What?" Hermione demanded.
"I thought you said we must not be seen? So why are we going to visit them?"
"Oh, come on, Harry. It's all right; we can trust them. Besides, even if the whole of Hogsmeade saw us there, it wouldn't matter, because they'll think we're just visiting, in real time, and not back in time. I mean, what do they know, anyway? It's quite all right. Unless of course we run into Kingsley or Marcus," she added.
"Yeah, and that's quite possible, you know. We might even run into Aurelius and Neville. For all we know, they might be investigating the pub right now!"
Again Hermione laughed, somewhat to Harry's irritation. She noticed his annoyance, and stopped laughing.
"Look - I'm sorry Harry, but your short-term memory needs fixing. Don't you remember that right at this time, your alter ego and mine are engaging Aurelius and Neville in a conversation?"
"What - oh yeah!" Harry said as he remembered that he and Hermione have gone back in time.
"Which means that they wouldn't come bursting into Closed Doors any time today, because nearly all Aurors and Law Enforcers were swamped with desk work all day today."
"You mean last Wednesday, right?"
"No, today is Wednesday, remember?"
"Oh, right."
"All right," said Hermione, in a businesslike tone. "We'll do the investigation in the Auror way, nice and discreet. But I'm afraid we'll have to wait until five o'clock to visit Minerva and the others at Hogwarts. We don't want the students to see us, as some of them might write to their parents, who might have seen us in London. That would lead to awkward questions."
"I'll bet Madam Hoskins will be pleased, as will Kingsley and Benny Jones, when we dig up something in this case," said Harry.
"Not to mention Neville and Aurelius."
"Right."
Madam Judith Hoskins is the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, Kingsley is, of course, the chief of the Auror Division, and Benny Jones is the Chief Enforcer of the Magical Law Enforcement Squad, of which Neville Longbottom and Aurelius Yates are the top Enforcers.
Harry and Hermione talked for a few more minutes, and Harry filled Hermione on what Aurelius had told him about the Widdershins case. They also discussed about whether or not Minerva McGonagall, the new Headmistress of Hogwarts after Dumbledore retired, would let them stay at Hogwarts for the night, and if not, about where they might find a place to stay for the remaining time until the 'merge.'
"Of course, we could return here, I suppose," Harry said.
"Yes, but I think it might be good if we find someplace much nicer than this one."
"Yeah. Besides, the owner might come here anytime soon."
"Well, shall we get cracking then?" Hermione said.
"We'd better."
With that, they promptly cleared the shack of everything they've conjured, put the things to their original places, and made sure that they left no trace of their stay there. This is lucky, because a few minutes later, they heard someone approaching the shack, which turned out to be the owner. Harry grabbed the Invisibility Cloak, and Hermione stuffed the Homing Map into her pocket. Then, as they heard the owner open the lock, they shared a quick, meaningful look at each other, and disappeared with a faint pop.
A few moments later, they found themselves looking upon a familiar sight: The village of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts Castle in the distance, overlooking the mirror-like surface of Hogwarts Lake.