I am infinitely sorry for posting this two days late. Real life caught up with me, along with a lack of sleep. I would like to say here that hopefully this will be the last 10 page chapter for a while. I'm hoping next week's to be at least 12-13, and from there on out at least 14+. Nothing else to say, so enjoy!
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Chapter 10: The Graveyard
Harry lay in his bed staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep. He was sure that somewhere in London at St. Mungo's, Hermione was having the same problem. Fortunately, this would be the last night he would have to spend away from her. Giving up on trying to sleep, he swung his legs over the bed and walked towards his bathroom, deciding a shower would be an excellent way to pass the time until he could go into St. Mungo's and check Hermione out of the hospital.
Sighing, he turned on the water and shed his pyjama bottoms before stepping into the hot spray. As he let the water pound down on his head and the back of his neck, his thoughts again drifted to the conversation that he and Hermione had with Dumbledore the day after the attack.
"Professor, could we ask you a question?" Hermione said tentatively.
"As I once told Harry, you already have, but I daresay you may ask another," the aged wizard replied with a twinkle in his eye.
"Well...there's a bit of a complication with what happened yesterday," Harry said hesitantly.
"Go on," Dumbledore said when neither Harry or Hermione continued.
"Maybe it's better if I just show you," Hermione said, pulling her gown up to reveal the slowly healing lightning-bolt shaped cut just below her ribcage. Dumbledore peered over his half-moon spectacles at the cut with an appraising look.
"How remarkable," he said after a minute. "I wonder if this would happen to anyone else if they ever survived the killing curse as well."
"Sir, this couldn't possibly connect Hermione to Voldemort, could it?" Harry asked.
"How could it?" the headmaster responded.
"Well, you said that all death eaters have a mental link with him," Harry said. "And since Rodolphus was definitely a death eater, couldn't Hermione theoretically be connected to him now?"
"Your logic, while correct under different constraints, is not accurate here," Dumbledore replied.
"How so?" Hermione asked, a mixture of confusion and relief across her face.
"Well, the simplest flaw in your theory is that Rodolphus is dead," Dumbledore said. "Had he lived, you would probably have a small connection to Voldemort, though the one you would have had to Lestrange would be significantly larger."
"So you're saying, since Rodolphus is gone, any link that Hermione may have had with Voldemort disappeared?" Harry asked.
"The link itself can't disappear," Dumbledore said. "But there is no way of using it. Think of it as if Hermione and Tom Riddle were to stand on opposite sides of a canyon. By the laws of nature, they're connected by the fact that they stand upon the same ground as each other, but they have no means of contact. In order for contact to happen, a bridge would be necessary. You, Harry, destroyed the bridge."
"So that's a good thing, then?" Harry asked.
"Active mental connections like the one you have with Voldemort are unnatural. I suppose you could consider it a good thing to have stopped something unnatural," Dumbledore replied with a smile.
"Thank you, sir," Hermione said, clearly relieved.
"Not at all," the headmaster replied.
Sighing, Harry turned off the water and stepped out of the shower before muttering a drying spell on himself.
"We avoided a close one there," he muttered to no one in particular.
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'Why on Earth could they not have let me out a day earlier?' Hermione thought to herself as she got dressed to go back to Grimmauld Place and change for Sirius' ceremony.
'Because the healers aren't very cooperative,' Harry's voice replied in her head.
'Are you almost here?' she asked anxiously.
'Turn around.'
Hermione turned and saw Harry standing there with a bemused expression on his face.
"How long have you been there?" she asked, eyeing him suspiciously.
"Not long enough," he replied, walking over and kissing her soundly on the lips. "Apparently I missed my favorite part of the morning."
"And what would that be?" she asked softly with a smile.
"The part right after you wake up but right before you get dressed," he whispered into her ear with a grin.
"And why is that your favorite moment?" Hermione asked curiously.
'Because you're too tired and powerless to stop me from doing anything I might want to do,' Harry replied silently with a large smile.
"Oh trust me," Hermione said aloud. "If I wanted to stop you, I could."
"Maybe we'll have to try that some day then," Harry said with a sparkle in his eye. "Are you almost ready to go?"
"Yes," she replied. "We just need to check me out."
"I did it before I came up," Harry said. "We can apparate out right now if everything's all set."
"Okay," Hermione said. "Meet you at home?"
"Meet you at home." Hermione disappeared with a soft pop, and checking the room quickly to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, Harry quickly followed suit. He arrived in his room at Grimmauld Place and was immediately ambushed by Hermione crushing her lips to his.
"Merlin, I missed you so much," she said breathlessly as she pulled away. "I was going spare without you next to me at night."
"Me too," Harry replied. "Toughest four days of my life."
"We don't have to get to the ceremony for another hour and a half," Hermione said.
"How will we ever pass the time?" Harry said with a grin on his face.
"I can think of a way," she said with a lustful expression.
"I'm sure you can," Harry replied while pulling off his shirt.
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"Why did they have to pick today of all days to have the ceremony?" Hermione asked as she put on a clean black cloak.
"It's not like they knew you were going to become the second person to live through the A.K.," Harry said with a shrug.
"I know," Hermione said in a resigned voice. "I just wish we could spend the day by ourselves."
"Yeah," Harry replied while pulling her into an embrace. "But it could be much worse."
"That it could," she said with a sad smile.
"You two about ready?" the voice of Remus came from outside the room.
"We're coming right out," Hermione replied, though not letting go of Harry.
"Come on," he whispered. "There's always later." Though she was obviously displeased when Harry let go, she said nothing, and so they walked to the door and opened it to find Remus standing there with a smug grin.
"I hope I didn't interrupt anything," he said with a mischievous twinkle not unlike Dumbledore's in his eye.
"No, we were just getting ready," Harry said. "Sorry to disappoint you."
"If there's one thing I'm not, it's disappointed," Remus scoffed. "Ready to leave?"
"Yeah," Hermione said. "Where's it being held?"
"Dumbledore didn't tell you?" Remus asked as they started to walk down the stairs to the basement kitchen. Harry and Hermione shook their heads. "Oh. Well...erm...this may come as a bit of a shock then..."
"What is it?" Harry asked as Remus trailed off.
"The ceremony is being held at Sirius' grave," the werewolf said with a sigh.
"I don't understand," Hermione said as they arrived in the basement. "Sirius doesn't have a grave."
"He does," Remus replied. "When the ministry decided to honor Sirius as a martyr instead of a death eater, they erected a memorial for him."
"Oh," Harry said sullenly. "Well, I suppose that's not so bad."
"His memorial is next to James and Lily's graves."
Harry supposed it really shouldn't have surprised him. Sirius was, after all, James' best friend for his entire life (at least all that Harry knew of it). Yet, thinking about it, Harry supposed it was the fact that his parents had graves and he had never visited them that bothered him more than the fact that Sirius' memorial was next to them.
"Harry?" Hermione asked, seeing that his thoughts had drifted elsewhere.
"I'm fine," he said, dismissing the topic. "I...I just didn't know my parents were buried anywhere."
"Something I should have remedied years ago," a quiet voice in the corner of the kitchen said. The three of them turned and saw Albus Dumbledore leaning back in an old chair by the pantry. "But, unfortunately, I didn't. I hope you can forgive me one day, Harry."
"It hurts," Harry admitted, "Not knowing I could visit Mum and Dad all these years. But it's not the end of the world."
"Thank you," Dumbledore said, getting up and giving Harry a slight smile.
"You're welcome," Harry replied. "Now could we get going so I might be able to spend a little time with my parents before the ceremony starts?"
"Of course," Dumbledore said, taking a slip of parchment from his robes and handing it to Harry. "This is where you are to apparate to. I'll see you shortly." Then, without any noise whatsoever, Dumbledore disapparated from the kitchen. Harry showed the slip of paper to Hermione and Remus, who nodded once.
"See you there, then," Harry said. Closing his eyes, he imagined the coordinates in his head and quickly felt the all too familiar rush that one gets used to when traveling by any magical means.
Upon opening his eyes, he saw a small crowd of people (about half of which he knew) gathered in a clearing about ten feet in front of him. There were about two dozen plain white, wooden chairs, laid out in four rows, and at the front of the assembly was an ordinary podium. Looking around, Harry saw that he was standing in a rather ordinary graveyard; there were many tombstones laid in rows, some gray, some white, some black. What let Harry know that they were definitely in a wizard graveyard though, was that the little engraved pictures on the top of some stones were moving. Hearing two soft pops behind him, Harry turned and saw Hermione and Remus brushing themselves off.
"I'm sorry you didn't know about your parents," Remus said. "If I had known that you didn't, I would've taken you here myself years ago."
"It's okay," Harry replied. "I'm here now." Remus gave him a small smile before looking behind him and spotting someone.
"Er..I'll go and mingle with the guests, then," he said, walking past Harry. He turned around and saw that, in fact, Remus was making a beeline for Rose McClellan.
"He really likes her," Hermione said with a smile. "I think it's wonderful that he finally has someone in his life."
"I couldn't agree more," Harry said as he saw Dumbledore walking towards him.
"Perhaps you would like me to show you where your parents are buried?" the headmaster asked. Harry nodded and let himself be led by Dumbledore towards the small group of people. He expected those he knew to greet him as they passed, but either Dumbledore had asked them to be left alone for a little bit or they simply didn't notice. When they reached the other side, Harry could see two rather large headstones resting next to each other, one white, the other gray.
"I'll come and get you when the ceremony is about to begin, then," Dumbledore said with a smile as he walked back towards the group of people. Hermione began to follow him, but Harry noticed and put his hand on her arm.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"I thought you might like some privacy," Hermione said. "They're your parents, after all. Not mine."
"We're going to be married in a few months," Harry replied. "They're your parents too." Hermione smiled and took his arm in hers as they walked towards the smooth marble stones.
The black one was obviously Sirius'. Aside from the words 'Erected in memory of Sirius Black', there was nothing else on the stone.
"They'll probably ask you what you would like to have put on it," Hermione said, reading Harry's thoughts.
"Yeah," he replied, shifting his attention to the white one. Like some of the other tombstones, there was a small picture at the top of it, though this one had two lions, one male, one female, curled up together. They were currently asleep. Sighing, Harry let his gaze fall to the engraved words upon the marble.
Here lie James and Lily Potter
1960-1981
Two bodies, one heart
Erected in loving memory by Remus Lupin
"That's beautiful," Hermione said softly.
"It is," Harry agreed. "That reminds me, when we get back home, I have something I want to show you."
"What is it?" Hermione asked.
"I want it to be a surprise," Harry replied. "I think you'll like it."
"Okay," she said with a smile. Harry wrapped his arm around her as she laid her head on his shoulder. "They weren't even my parents and I miss them."
"I know," Harry said. "So do I."
"Kinda makes you want to go back and try to see them again, doesn't it?" Hermione said with a sad smile.
"You have no idea how many times I've thought about doing that," Harry replied. "But it's not smart."
"I know," she said. "But it's nice to think about." Harry nodded and the two of them stood there in silence for a couple minutes before the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard from behind them.
"We're ready to begin," Dumbledore said. Harry and Hermione turned around and saw that everyone was starting to take their seats. Nodding, Harry turned back to his parents' grave one last time.
"I'll come back in a little while," he whispered. A soft, warm breeze blew as he said those words, causing him to look around skeptically.
"Harry?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing," he said with a smile as they followed Dumbledore and took a seat next to him in the first row. Harry noticed that also in the first row were Remus, Rose, and (to Harry's slight surprise) Kingsley Shacklebolt, along with an extra empty seat.
"Now then," a voice interrupted Harry from his thoughts, and he looked up to see Percy standing at the podium. "I would like to thank all of you for coming. We are here today to remember Sirius Black, a man who gave his life in the war against Who-Know-Who. I would now like to present his official pardon, along with his award of Order of Merlin, First Class, to his beneficiary, Harry Potter."
Percy's tone along with his unusually patient demeanor unnerved Harry a little bit, but he shook it off as he stood up and walked towards the podium. Upon reaching it, he took the parchment that Sirius' pardon was written on, along with the Order of Merlin medal from Percy.
"Thank you for this," Harry said in a low voice. Percy didn't meet Harry's gaze, but he nodded all the same and walked away to take the empty seat in the front row. Now that he was able to see everyone clearly without having to turn around in his seat, Harry could tell that the entire Weasley family was present, along with a good portion of the Order, and some other ministry officials, some of which he knew, some of which he didn't. Harry assumed from the silence and the way everyone was staring at him intently that he was now supposed to say something.
"I'd like to thank Minister Weasley for what he has done today," Harry said hesitantly. He didn't have a speech prepared, and he wasn't entirely sure improvisation was one of his best abilities. "For those of you who don't know, Sirius Black was my godfather. I didn't even know I had a godfather until I was thirteen. When I did find out about him, I thought he was responsible for the deaths of my parents. How I found out about his innocence is another story for another day, but in the process, I learned that it was Peter Pettigrew who had betrayed my parents, not Sirius.
"Unfortunately, Pettigrew escaped," Harry continued. "And so Sirius was forced to remain on the run. I kept in contact with him during my fourth and fifth years at Hogwarts, but I never really got to spend much time with him. And then he was killed in the Department of Mysteries by Bellatrix Lestrange, trying to save me. I blamed myself for his death for too long. Fortunately, I had people who cared about me to help me through it." He smiled shamelessly at Hermione upon saying this. "Now that he's finally a free man, though I'm not sure how free one is in death, I can rest knowing that his memory will not be spat upon by those victimized by Pettigrew. For that, I thank Percy Weasley."
There was polite applause following this, and Harry smiled as he stepped down from the podium. Percy stood up and walked back to the front once Harry had taken his seat, and waited for the murmuring to die down.
"A fine speech," he said with very little emotion. "Now that that's taken care of, we can - "
But whatever Percy was going to say was interrupted by blasts of green light coming from the left hand side of the clearing. Instantly several aurors were up and tackled Percy to the ground, shielding him, the rest were left using the chairs as shields as about three dozen death eaters swarmed into the clearing.
"We can't disapparate, Albus!" Remus yelled from somewhere behind Harry.
"They've put up an anti-transport field!" Albus replied in a loud voice. "Portkeys won't work either!"
"RON!" Harry bellowed as he fired another stunner at the death eaters. From a little ways off, he saw the ghost stop firing balls of white light from his hands to turn and look at him. "DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS!" He nodded quickly and flew off towards the death eaters. A moment later Harry felt a large tremor and chanced a look to see what had happened.
Ron was floating half a foot off the ground, looking curiously down at the unconscious bodies of about thirty death eaters. Another six or so looked to be dead, caught in their own crossfire.
"Hmm," the ghost said appraisingly. "I must be getting stronger."
"Yeah," Harry said breathlessly. "I guess so." He looked around and saw Hermione getting up slowly, an ugly bruise on her face. Quickly, he rushed over to her and helped her to her feet. "What happened?"
"Oh, one of their spells hit the chair I was using as a shield," Hermione said in a pained voice. "A piece of the wood hit me in the face."
Harry quickly muttered a basic healing spell to help prevent swelling and reduce the pain, when he saw Remus lying on the ground, bleeding fairly badly. Making sure Hermione was okay, he rushed over to the werewolf's side, where Rose was crouched next to him, trying to help.
"What happened, Remus?" Harry asked, summoning over Albus for help.
"I got hit with a nasty stinging hex," Remus said, nodding at his shoulder. Harry gently pulled the ripped cloth off the wound and his eyes bulged as the size of the gash that Remus was sporting.
"I can help him," Albus said. "Harry, go find Moody, he may need help with other people." Harry stood and glanced over at Hermione before looking down at Remus. Sighing, he walked over to his fianceé.
"Are you okay?" he asked her softly.
"Yes," she replied. "It just smarts a little bit."
"I can't believe this," Harry said. "During Sirius' ceremony too. I thought this was supposed to be kept under wraps."
"It was," Moody growled, coming up behind them. "Someone leaked the location, no doubt."
"The spy..." Harry said with obvious distaste. "I'm getting sick of this." He looked around at the various aurors who were helping to apprehend the death eaters, when a thought struck him. "Why wasn't Malfoy here today?"
"I don't know," Hermione said. "It's not like he was a friend of Sirius'."
"Yeah, but neither was Rose and she still came," Harry said. "And Malfoy's the scribe. Why wouldn't he be here?" Moody and Hermione shrugged. "I'm getting to the bottom of this."
"Whoa, whoa, whoa," Moody said, putting his hand on the shoulder of an about-to-disapparate Harry. "Where do you think you're going."
"To talk to Wormtail."
"Potter, he's a top security prisoner. You can't just go in there and interrogate --" Moody said, but Harry cut him off.
"I don't care. I will not stand by and watch people I care about get hurt like this," Harry replied hotly. "And you're not going to stop me."
"Who said I was going to stop you?" Moody asked. "If you'd let me finish, I was going to say that you can't go in there and interrogate him without a seasoned auror with you." Harry couldn't help but smile a little at this.
"Can you apparate, Hermione?" he asked, not wanting to leave her.
"You go ahead," she said. "I want to stay here and help make sure everyone's okay."
"Are you sure?" Harry asked. "I really wish you'd come with us."
"I'm okay," Hermione said, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you back at the house, okay?"
"Please stay safe," Harry said.
"I will," Hermione replied. "Now go get to the bottom of this." Harry looked at Moody and with a nod, they disapparated.
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And there you go. Again, I'm sorry this was two days late, I will TRY to have next week's up a day early as
compensation. Until next time.