Harry Potter and the Triptych
By Vickles
Disclaimer: European Law Enforcement is going after me now. Someone let it slip about my evil intentions. I know it's all a conspiracy. JKR owns the police, I tell you!
A/N: Words do not express my apologies. I will not waste your time with an excuse, so just enjoy the chapter!
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Chapter 19: A Discovery
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The next morning, it seemed difficult for everyone to get to breakfast on time.
Harry slept over a little, waking up fifteen minutes late and finding Hermione already brushing her teeth in the bathroom, standing in her bathrobe with a towel wrapped around her hair. As she swished mouthwash around in her mouth, Harry walked in, wrapping his arms around her, "Why didn't my alarm go off?"
Harry took a step back as Hermione spat out the wash and rinsed the sink, looking up at the mirror. A dazed expression crossed her features as her eyes clouded slightly and a small smile crept across her lips. After a moment, she shook it off, "I'm sorry, Harry, what did you say?"
"I asked why my alarm didn't go off. What were you thinking about just now?"
Hermione leaned back into him, "I thought I'd let you sleep for a change, since you always get up first. And I was just looking at us in the mirror."
"And…" Harry prodded, still not understanding.
She smiled again, placing her hands on the ones he had rewrapped around her waist, "And I was thinking how much I liked the picture, and how much I can't wait to see it every morning for the rest of my life."
Harry looked at the mirror, seeing what she saw - a young couple with only their futures ahead of them. "You know, if I wasn't so positive that my breath must be horrible right now, I'd sit you on this sink and kiss you senseless."
Hermione merely grinned and handed him the mouthwash.
Ron groggily opened his eyes, only to find a pair of blue ones obscuring his vision. "Luna?" he asked, sitting up, "What are you doing here so early?"
Luna blushed a bit, a rare occurrence, as she smiled and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I missed you and decided that I want to be the first thing you saw when you woke up this morning. Does that bother you?"
"No, of course not," Ron said, then returned her smile, "I think it's possibly the loveliest thing I've ever woken up to. I'll try and get ready quick so you don't have to sit and do nothing for very long, okay?" He got out of bed and grabbed some clothes to wear for the day.
"Take your time," Luna replied with a smirk he liked to believe was reserved for his eyes only, "I thoroughly enjoy to view."
Chuckling, Ron walked back to the bed where she sat. "You," he gave her a quick, chaste kiss, "are the coolest girlfriend ever."
It was not long before the clothes that he had grabbed for himself, lay on the floor, forgotten.
Draco groaned as he leaned over to turn off his alarm clock, consequentially leaning over too far and falling on the floor. After letting out a long string of curses, he stood, attempting to face the day. Rubbing sleep from his eyes, he grabbed a towel and headed down the hall to the bathroom. When he arrived, he noticed the light was on through the closed door. Assuming he had left it on the night before and wondering why Dobby had not turned it off, he just turned the doorknob and entered, greeted by a sight that woke him up instantly.
Little Weasley's back was turned to him as she showered, rinsing the shampoo out of her hair. Thinking off how Potter or Weasley would react if they knew what he was seeing right now, Draco was unable to suppress a chuckle. Unfortunately, Ginny heard him, gasping and turning her head.
He had to give her credit, Malfoy thought to himself as he ran back down the hall to his room; she never screamed. He had no sooner closed the door, though, when she barged through it, beating him fiercely with a hairbrush with one hand as the other clasped the towel wrapped around her. "What the hell is wrong with you?" she yelled as he tried to get away from her, desperately trying to remember where he'd placed his wand.
"How was I supposed to know you'd be in there?" he asked as he feebly attempted to shield himself. "Haven't you ever heard of locking doors?" He finally managed to grab her wrist so he could stop the brutal beating and look her in the eye.
Ginny did not care, though, as she returned his stare, not intimidated in the least, "You should have left right away, and you definitely shouldn't have stood there laughing! Seriously, Malfoy, what is your problem?"
"Would you people just quit asking me that? There is nothing wrong with me and I have no mental problems, unless you count the fact that everyone wants a turn in beating me!" he exclaimed, irritated, as he let her go, then narrowed his eyes. "Even Potter and your saintly brother would stare if they walked in on a girl showering."
"They wouldn't laugh if they walked in on a girl showering, though!"
Draco shrugged, considering this; "Maybe they would if the girl was fat or something…" he mentally kicked himself as Ginny's eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets, then turned so severe that even he found himself shrinking away. Before he could think to do anything else, Ginny swung her arm back and punched him square in the left eye. Then, with a frustrated scream and a bit of foot-stomping, she stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.
About half an hour later, Draco entered the kitchen, sitting at the other end of the table, away from the rest of them. Ron, Harry, and Hermione couldn't suppress their confused chuckles at the sight of a beautiful black eye. "What happened?" Hermione asked.
Draco rolled his eyes as he ate his oatmeal, "Ask Little Miss Redhead."
Harry laughed and turned to Ginny, who wore a scowl as well, "Little Miss Redhead?"
Ginny simply shrugged, "Trust me, he deserved it."
Hermione laughed, "I'll take your word. Is that why I heard screaming this morning?" Ginny made no response, returning to her breakfast.
After Tonks' arrival they all headed upstairs, waiting for her to pair them up with their dueling partners. Tonks stood silently for a moment, biting her lip in thought, "Okay…let's see. Luna, I'll pair you up with Malfoy here. Ginny, you and Ron can have a go at each other… and Harry…" she narrowed her eyes as Harry instinctively moved to Hermione, then grinned evilly, "I'll have you go against Hermione and I."
"What?" Harry exclaimed as the other two pairs began working, "That's not fair. You're an Auror…and Hermione's brilliant…and I can barely handle either of you by yourselves!"
Tonks shrugged, "Fine, then. You can be the one to tell old Snake Eyes that you don't really feel up to dueling him and about five to ten of his minions simultaneously. I bet that will go over real well."
Harry sagged in defeat as he walked over to where they were anxiously waiting. "This is going to hurt, isn't it?" he said, not really in the form of a question.
Hermione smiled sympathetically, "We'll go easy on you, Harry."
"Ha!" The older woman laughed, "Speak for yourself."
And then it was off. For the first hour or two, Harry held his own, but he soon began to realize that this was a fight he was not going to win. Finally, getting careless, Harry began to dodge in every direction, flinging curses without abandon, hoping some of them would reach the appropriate targets. After forty-five more relentless minutes, Harry dodged in the wrong direction, allowing Tonks to stun him as Hermione simultaneously and mistakenly sent him flying across the attic, plowing into Draco and sending them both into the boxes that were stacked in the far corner.
After the collision, Harry quickly shook the stun off, though he was rather disoriented and Malfoy pushed Harry off his lap, standing and attempting to look dignified despite the fact that he was tenderly rubbing his own clearly bruised bum, "Honestly Potter. I'm not that way…"
Harry narrowed his eyes, then made his own attempt at dignity as he stood nonchalantly, "Trust me, Malfoy. Even if I was that way you would be my last choice in partners."
"Oh that's right. I forgot you had a thing for Weasley."
Hermione had to avoid rolling her eyes as a fistfight ensued. Ron ran over in an attempt to break it up, but a few well-placed words on Draco's part invited him on into the match as well. Since it was two against one, Malfoy should have been down already, but Ron seemed to be bouncing between the two of them and Harry was not being strategic with his attacks in the least. After a few moments, she turned to Tonks, who for once actually looked annoyed instead of amused. The woman looked at Hermione tiredly, "I say we divide and conquer. You grab Malfoy. The other two and eye will get Ron and Harry."
With a quick nod, Hermione jogged over and pulled Draco out from under her two friends. She managed to get him in a corner as Ginny and Luna pulled Ron and Tonks single-handedly got ahold of Harry, restraining him. She looked up at the other teenagers in the room as she kept a tight hold on him, "How about you five go get some lunch? I need to have a quick chat with Mr. Potter here."
Thrown off by Tonks' short manner of speaking, they all merely nodded and left. Once the door was closed behind them, Tonks released Harry and crossed her arms, "So what do you have to say for yourself?"
Harry took a few deep breaths to slow down his heartbeat, "He insulted me…"
"I noticed that. Is a little bit of schoolboy taunting your justification for you immature behavior?"
He looked at her in disbelief, "Tonks, why are you so…"
"You've mentioned serious thoughts about being an Auror on more than one occasion. Let me tell you, if you want to do it, there's a definite chance you could be really great at it, but," Tonks uncrossed her arms and placed them on her hips, "just for the record, if you were in training and you had just pulled a stunt like that, you'd be out like that." She snapped her fingers in illustration of her point.
"But this isn't Auror training, it's just…"
"Training to kill one of the most dangerous evil maniacs of all time? Look, Harry," Tonks said, finally becoming recognizable to him once more, "I'm trying to prepare you here. I'm been working extra hours so I can come here in the mornings and I've sacrificed a lot of time I could be spending with Remus, who, by the way, has been working to help you as well. These aren't just workouts and play-duels we're doing here. It's serious training that is typically intended for adults. This means that when I come here to help you I expect you to be mature and above Malfoy's level, understood?"
Harry looked her straight in the eye, all trace of complaint gone, "Yes, ma'am."
Tonks laughed, "Oh dear Merlin, don't ever call me that again."
Harry chuckled, walking up and holding out his arm, "Now shall we go join the rest for lunch?"
"Yes, I think we shall," she said as she linked her own arm threw his.
A smile graced Harry's lips as a thought came to him, "So do you really think I'd make a great Auror?"
"Well…"
Later that night, in an effort to get rid of some excess energy, Draco went up to the attic and began to clean up the mess from earlier, repairing the boxes and putting items back in them when suddenly something came to his attention.
"What the hell…" Picking the item up in his hand, he immediately sprinted out of the attic and down stairs. Crossing the hallway, he unthinkingly opened Harry's door, which was of course a mistake.
As Harry and Hermione immediately reached for their shirts and pulled them over their heads, Malfoy put his free hand over his eyes, swearing. "Honestly, have any of you ever heard of locking doors?"
"Well, excuse of if we weren't expecting visitors at ten o'clock at night," Harry muttered, irritated.
"We're fully clothed now," Hermione told him, "What did you need?"
Draco pulled down his hand and held out the locket. Hermione gasped as Harry hastily took it from his hands. "Where on Earth did you…"
"It was in the attic. Must have been in one of the boxes."
"RON!" Harry yelled out to his friend at the top of his lungs, but Ron had Apparated in behind him just a moment before.
"What is it?" he asked, "I felt something and…"
"Look," Hermione interrupted, pointing to the locket that Harry held in his hands.
"Bloody hell," Ron breathed, "Is that…"
"Sure as hell looks like it," Harry replied. Without a word, they all walked over to the fireplace, sitting in front of the fire in a close-knit triangle.
Draco watched awkwardly form the doorway, assuming his part was done with. "Okay, well, I'll just go then." The only form of acknowledgement he received was an absent-minded nod from Hermione.
"So what do we do?" Ron finally asked after many minutes of silence.
"I suppose we should find some way of checking to see if it's the real thing," Hermione answered.
Harry looked up at the two and replied, "It's the real thing. I can feel it."
Hermione swallowed, concerned, "You can…feel it?"
"I can't explain it, but… I just know that this is one of them," Harry clarified.
"Mate," Ron spoke with hesitance, "Are you sure it's safe for you to be holding that thing? Perhaps we should be careful."
Harry laughed a bit, "If I recall correctly Sirius banged this on a wardrobe continuously. I doubt anything's going to happen just by me holding it."
"Should we put it somewhere? Can Voldemort, you know… sense it or something?"
Hermione pondered this, "It's been here for over two years, and no one's come for it. Even if they wanted to, this house is safe, so while extra precaution may not be a bad idea, I don't believe it would be necessary."
"How'd it get here, though?" Ron asked, quite the interrogator this evening.
"R.A.B." Harry mutter quietly.
"Sirius' brother?" Ron replied in disbelief.
Harry shrugged, "It's the only idea I've got right now."
Hermione carefully watched Harry's features, then gently reached out her hand to his, "What do we need to do?"
Ron waited for an answer with her as Harry turned the piece of jewelry over in his hands. After several moments he looked up, "We find a place to put this. Somewhere safe. I reckon we could put it with my mum's things in the closet… In the meantime, we need to see if this can lead us to any of the others. I'll owl the Headmistress, Tonks, and Remus first thing in the morning. Hermione, do you have any idea how we can destroy this? The sooner the better?"
Hermione shook her head, "I've been reading up on it a bit, but so far everything I've come across has been experimental and either not fully documented or failed. I'll begin researching it more intensely."
Harry nodded, turning to Ron, "Do you still have those notes we took earlier in the summer?"
Ron nodded also as he spoke to Hermione; "I'll bring them to you before we leave tomorrow."
"Okay," Hermione replied, though her mind seemed to be miles ahead of her mouth, "Where are you two going tomorrow?"
"Some place in France," Harry answered, "Malfoy says that there's a guy there who claims to have known Voldemort when he was still Tom Riddle."
Hermione's brow furrowed, "Seems odd that Voldemort would be okay with some guy walking around telling stories of his childhood."
"According to Malfoy, no one takes him seriously," Ron replied, "They all just consider him a raving lunatic. Lucius had some business with the man once and brought Malfoy along when he was a kid. He told us that the man told him all kinds of stories. We figured we'd check it out."
Hermione nodded, worried as always, "Alright. I know it's getting redundant, but please be careful."
They both smiled and put and arm around her. "Aren't we always?" Harry asked.
With a laugh, Hermione gave them each a kiss on the cheek before letting them go, "If that were true, I wouldn't feel the need to constantly repeat myself."
"So what now?" Ron asked, returning to the task at hand, "Is that it? We just put it away and go on with our lives until we come up with some way of destroying it?"
Shrugging, Harry sighed, getting up and taking it to the closet, "There's nothing else that we can do, is there?"
"I suppose not. Best get to bed then. We still have training in the morning, after all. Goodnight." After shutting the door behind him, Hermione took Harry's hand and led him to the bed. Giving him one look, she immediately opened her arms, allowing him to practically collapse against her as they laid back on the mattress.
"That is definitely not what I had planned for this evening," he muttered after a few minutes.
Hermione couldn't help but giggle a little, recalling what they had been doing before Draco had ever-so-kindly interrupted, "No, I suppose not."
"Do you suppose he was telling the truth?"
"About what?" Hermione asked, confused.
"About how he found it. Perhaps he had it all along…"
"Harry," she stated, sitting up, "Are you actually suggesting that…"
"Would it be that crazy?" Harry replied mid-sentence. "He could have been sent here. Maybe it's a trap."
Hermione bit a lip, "It's not an entirely crazy thought, I admit, and I understand that you are the last person to be trusting where Draco Malfoy is concerned, but in this case it really isn't logical."
"What makes you say that?"
"First of all, you've already stated that you know that locket is the Horcrux we've been looking for."
"It is. I'm certain."
"Then, according to your theory, Voldemort willingly let Malfoy put part of his soul into your possession. Trap or not, that's a pretty risky thing to do, ever for a wizard as crazy as Voldemort himself."
"It's not impossible, though. Malfoy could have been planning it all along," Harry insisted.
"But what about the Veritaserum? There's no way Draco could have been lying about why or how he came here. He also said that he had no bad intentions toward any of us and that he really does plan to help. Whether he is very happy to be doing it or not, I have to give him the benefit of the doubt."
Harry frowned, "Why?"
"I just have a feeling. A hunch. When it comes to Malfoy, that is," Hermione replied honestly, "I really have no other way to explain it."
With a sigh, Harry laid back on the bed again, this time sliding over to where his pillow was, "Well, I suppose your hunches have been pretty accurate in the past. I still don't trust him."
"I didn't say I did either."
"But I do trust you."
Hermione smiled, leaning over him, and giving him a quick kiss on the lips, "Thank you. Now do you want to tell me what's really bothering you?"
Harry exhaled softly, turning to his side to look at her as she laid down next to him, "It's been here all along."
She nodded, "Yes."
"Dumbledore and I, we went through all of that…and he died, for Merlin's sake! And the whole time it was sitting right here; right under our noses!"
"Harry, I don't want you to blame yourself."
"Why shouldn't I?" he asked, "I saw it. I should have remembered."
"But you didn't."
"Yes, I didn't. I didn't because…"
"Your human," Hermione replied sternly, "Harry, I don't care how many Avada Kedavras you survive or how many weird powers you suddenly discover. At the end of the day, you are just like every other man on this planet. You make mistakes. But just because you failed to remember five minutes of what can be considered a very eventful life, does not mean that you yourself are a failure, or that you are the reason Dumbledore died."
"But he wouldn't have if…"
Hermione sighed a bit, "Snape killed Dumbledore. Before that, Malfoy tried to. He was the oldest person I'd ever seen, and essentially didn't have one of his hands. I hate to say it, but Dumbledore has been avoiding death for some time now. It just finally caught up to him, and I think a part of him let it."
"Let it?" Harry echoed, confused, "Why would he let it?"
She smiled sadly, "Albus Dumbledore dedicated the last years of his life to protecting you, but when he wasn't doing that he was preparing you for a time when you would have to protect yourself. Professor Dumbledore was not well last year, and I think he knew that his time was near."
Harry frowned, "You really think so?"
"I do."
"I still think it's my fault in part that he died, even if it hurts to ponder," Harry admitted.
"So," Hermione said, placing a hand on his cheek, "maybe if it was all some big scheme on Malfoy's part, you wouldn't have to think of that fact that all of us missed something so critical?"
Harry shrugged, "I suppose." He blinked. "You know, I really despise it when you psycho-analyze me like that. It makes me feel like I'm talking to a shrink or something. Like I'm telling Dr. Granger my problems."
Hermione pouted her lips sympathetically, "I'm sorry. I hardly realize when I'm doing it. Do you want to know what this doctor prescribes, though?"
Harry smirked, his eyes darkening mischievously, "What?"
Giving him a playful smacked on the arm, Hermione rolled her eyes, "I was thinking sleep."
"Oh," Harry replied, yawning at the thought, "That's sounds good, too." The lights turned off and he leaned over to give her a soft kiss, "Goodnight, love."
"Goodnight."
The next few days passed quite quickly, with training in the mornings, studying, research, and tutoring in the afternoons, a quick dinner, then usually more research before going to bed, the six teenagers were slowly being drained of their energy. Harry and Ron's meeting with the Crazy Man, as they'd titled him, was postponed, due to the fact that he was apparently out of the country - at least, that's what they were told. The trio had decided to talk to Ginny and Luna about the Horcruxes, seeing as it had become increasingly clear that they planned to help in any way possible.
Both girls had spent Saturday and Sunday morning with their families, returning Sunday evening just before dinner. As they all began to clean up their dishes, Draco headed upstairs and the rest headed into the living room, relaxing.
"This is our last night here," Luna stated after awhile, "We should be doing something."
"What do you suggest we do?" Ginny asked. Luna merely shrugged in return, but Hermione seemed to have an idea.
"What are you thinking?" Ron asked her.
Hermione smiled a little, "We could play a game."
Harry groaned, "No cards or chess, I beg of you."
"Actually," she went on, "I was thinking of something a bit more… physically engaging. I'll be right back."
The room sat in silence after her departure, Ron finally asking the question on everyone's mind. "What do you suppose she means by physically engaging?"
Hermione grabbed the box from the shelf in her closet, pleased that she had thought to grab it when they had visited her parents. On her way downstairs, a thought crossed her mind. Before she could decide against it, she gently knocked on Draco's door.
"Come in," she heard him mutter. Hermione tentatively opened the door, stepping inside to see him sitting up on his bed, his elbows resting on his knees.
"We're about to start a game downstairs."
He looked up at her, nonplussed, "And?"
Hermione shrugged, "I just though that you might want to…"
"Join?" Draco asked, clearly thinking she was kidding.
"Look," Hermione said, trying not to let herself get annoyed by him, "I was just thinking that, well, we've let you out of your little prison for awhile now, but it seems like your just as alone as you were before."
"Why do you care?" he questioned suspiciously.
"I don't," she replied, "I just have this crazy idea that somewhere under that titanium shell of yours, there is a human being inside. And, you know, being a fellow human being myself, it seemed that you could use a little company, let alone some fun."
"I'm pretty positive that not one single person downstairs wants me there."
"Now that's just not true." At his questioning glance Hermione went on, "I'm rather certain that Luna really doesn't care one way or another."
Draco chuckled for a small moment, then returned to his confused expression he wore before, "I still don't understand, Granger. Why are you doing this?"
Hermione sighed, looking at the ceiling, "Because despite the fact that you get on my last nerve, I appreciate that most of the time you have been a decent person, despite the unfortunate circumstances." She began walking to the door, "You don't have to play. I just thought I'd offer."
"What game are you playing?" Hermione held up the box. "Twister? Looks like a Muggle game."
Hermione tried to ignore the rudeness in his voice, "Yes, it is, but if you want you can have the job of being spinner, which involves watching as you inflict pain on others."
He pondered this a moment, "Maybe I'll come down later or something."
"Alright."
"Don't count on it or anything."
Hermione just nodded, closing the door behind her as she exited the room. When she arrived back downstairs, they all looked up at her expectantly. "What took you so long?" Ron asked curiously.
"I stopped to check on Malfoy," Hermione said, biting her lip, "You know, making sure he's not trying to burn the house down or anything," she added as they stared at her in response.
"Good idea," Ginny replied.
Hermione shrugged, smiling, "So are you ready to finally get your butt kicked at a game, Ronald Weasley?"
After a couple hours of awkward positions, sore muscles, and tangled heaps, the group called it a night. Hermione stayed behind, folding up the mat. Harry hovered by the entrance to the room, "Why don't you leave it until tomorrow, when I'm not too tired to help you clean up?"
Hermione glanced over. "Everything will be hectic tomorrow morning sine we will be taking Luna and Ginny back. Besides, I'll be done in a minute. Why don't you go ahead? I'll be right up."
"Okay," Harry gave her a quick kiss, heading up the stairs.
After putting the game pieces back into the box, Hermione headed up the stairs, going back to her room.
Noticing that Harry was still in the shower, Hermione put the game away, changing into her pajamas. Just as she was getting ready to crawl into bed, Harry exited the bathroom, beautifully topless in only his pajama bottoms. In an unusual moment lacking inhibition, Hermione whistled with appreciation, causing Harry to flush a bit as he grinned in return, grabbing her around the waist.
"Was that a cat call, Miss Granger?"
"I think it very well might have been Mister Potter. Do you plan to do something about it?"
Harry's smirk was all the reply Hermione needed - all thoughts vanishing as she became lost in those green, green eyes.
~*~
A/N: Okay, if you actually care why it took so long, here's a quick recap: Due to technical difficulties (I think my computer has some electronic form of cancer), I handwrote most of this, and typing and saving this was very difficult. When I finally sent it off, my beta was out of town for the weekend (I tend to have great timing like that…). Then, I spent about four days rewriting parts, seeing as this is a big chapter in relation to plot (some reasons are more obvious than others). As I said before, I'm very sorry.
Big huge thank you to Lady Starlight! Your comments and suggestions were especially great this time around. I hope you liked the final product.
To the rest of you: I greatly appreciate the patience you have demonstrated this past month; it really means a lot. As always, I am grateful for all reviews and constructive criticism!
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