The Deceiver's Distillation
by Jardyn39
Chapter 5 - Puzzling Behaviour
"Argh!" cried Hermione, in real pain now and making Harry's stomach clench in sympathy. Hope and Carlyle rose unhurriedly from the table to calmly collect their firearms.
Hermione looked up desperately.
"You can't believe that I'm not me! I promise you I'm not an impostor. Ask me anything. Anything at all!" she implored, clearly distressed.
Harry got up and walked around the tables. He sat down again in the vacant seat next to Hermione.
Hermione appeared to suffer another spasm of pain, but fought to look up at Harry.
Ron rose to his feet but was immediately grabbed by Hagland and Smith and lead away. He appeared to be in too much shock to resist.
Hermione looked around. The Hall was empty now apart from the two of them.
"Are you sure you're safe being alone with me?"
Harry smiled and shrugged.
"Tell me about what you've been up to, Hermione," he asked. "I wrote to you at your parents. I was a little surprised to learn that you'd left for the Burrow so soon."
"Well, it would have been nicer to stay longer, but I was worried I might miss you before you set off. I spent most of the last two summers away from home too, if you remember."
"How did your parents react?"
"They were disappointed, but I've told them all about the upheavals going on."
"They are very worried about you, Hermione."
"What?"
"Hedwig brought me a letter from them back with her. You're right, Hermione. They do know about all the upheavals going on. That's why they felt it so important to talk to me."
"Talk? You talked to my parents?"
"Yes. We had a meeting the morning I left Privet Drive to come here. To be honest, I was really glad of chance to talk to them. Only having seven disciplined soldiers for company can get a bit tiresome. I don't think I'd like the army much," he joked.
Hermione didn't laugh. She didn't smile either.
Harry straightened his face again and was about to continue when another spasm of pain rocked Hermione. She shrugged it off and waited for him to continue.
"Your parents are safe. They have been taken to a location that I don't know. They don't have a very pleasant year to look forward to, but they agreed anyway."
"Why did Mum and Dad want to speak to you?"
"Well, obviously, they are worried about you."
"But they didn't say anything to me," she said, looking around as if for answers. "Nothing has changed. It's the same risk as before."
"Well, I think things have changed, but you're right. There was a risk as well, before."
"So why?" demanded Hermione, clutching her stomach again.
"Well," said Harry slowly. "Your parents were somewhat unnerved. You see, you'd told them all about Barty Crouch impersonating Mad-Eye, as well as all about the Imperious curse."
Hermione frowned and stared at him intently.
"So, when their daughter came home for the holidays, they were concerned about how different she was," he said gently.
"I was just a little embarrassed, that's all. I wasn't exactly prepared for the intense questioning after I got a letter from Ron. It was private, after all."
Harry smiled and said, "They didn't mention anything at all about any letter, but they did say they now knew you had a boyfriend, although you wouldn't outright admit it."
"Oh."
"No, actually they kept asking the same question. I had to admit, I really didn't have an answer for them."
"What was their question?"
"Can't you guess?"
"Just tell me, Harry!" Hermione ordered impatiently.
Harry tilted his head, as if considering her response.
"They wanted to know where their daughter was. The Hermione who was studious to the point of obsession. The Hermione who enthused for hours on end about what she had been doing. The Hermione who wanted to fight for elf rights. The Hermione who read voraciously until her eyes were so tired she couldn't see straight. The Hermione who remembered every sentence they had ever written to them while she was away from school. The Hermione who-"
"All right, Harry," she interrupted angrily. "I get the point."
Hermione appeared to pull herself together before answering.
"I know I was a little distracted," she said calmly. "I really think part of them resents the fact that their little girl is growing up and growing away from their way of life. Everybody changes, Harry, even you."
"Hermione, your parents let you go from the time we first took the Hogwarts Express," said Harry, pulling a folded slip of printed paper from an inside pocket.
Hermione gave a groan when she realised what it was.
Harry carefully unfolded the paper and Hermione snatched it out of his hands.
"Honestly, Harry! You can't believe I'm an impostor because I didn't complete some stupid crossword puzzle! How many have you abandoned? I bet it's a lot more than me!"
"Yes, that's true of me. But is it really of you? I had a quick go of this one. I could do about three-quarters of it without resorting to a reference book. I did have to check some spellings in a dictionary, though."
"There you go then. Why would I bother doing a crossword so easy?"
"Well, this particular crossword has a clue that not even you would know. Your parents thought it most odd that you didn't look it up."
Hermione frowned and scanned the crossword clues.
"I did suggest," continued Harry, "that you might not have read that clue, if you'd abandoned it before then."
Hermione had found the clue.
She scrunched up her nose and shook her head.
"Mm," agreed Harry. "Your Mum and Dad thought that unlikely too."
Hermione lowered the crossword.
"Do you remember starting the crossword?"
Hermione was still for a moment and then she shook her head miserably.
"No, I don't remember starting this crossword. The Muggle newspapers we get at home actually have three crosswords a day in them. Mum loves doing the cryptic ones; the harder the better. Dad likes to do the quick ones. He tries to break his own best time. They let me do these ones in the holidays. Otherwise they usually share it."
Harry smiled and said, "That's nice."
"I don't remember," she said, still looking at the crossword. "I suppose I could have been under the Imperious charm. Wouldn't I remember something, though?"
"Not necessarily. In fact, I think that is unlikely. The Imperious charm works by getting you to do something. You knew most of the answers, so you could have completed most of the puzzle."
Hermione suddenly looked rather anxious.
"Harry, have you got a pen on you?"
Harry laughed and snatched the crossword away from her.
"You can do it later," he promised, waiting until Hermione looked up at him before continuing.
"Like I said, Hermione, I really don't believe this is evidence. It is entirely possible that you got distracted by something. Anything. Maybe one of Ron's letters arrived. Maybe one didn't. I don't know. It isn't important."
"Thank you, Harry," said Hermione, sounding relieved.
"Hang on," he said seriously, "you're not out of the woods yet."
Hermione's expression grew anguished again as she waited for him to explain.
"Your Mum and Dad have a point in the other things they said. All last year you were distant, and when you weren't, you were just harping on about my Potions book. Actually, that probably isn't fair. It just felt like you spent the whole year sniping at me about the book," he added with a small smile.
"But I was right about that book, Harry."
"That's got nothing to do with it. When did we just talk, friend-to-friend, like we are now?"
"Well, I'm not sure."
"No?"
"We could have talked, if you'd wanted."
"How's your stomach feeling now?"
"Um, I'm feeling a little better now, thanks."
"Good."
Hermione sighed deeply.
"So, are you going to tell me?"
"Tell you what, Harry?"
"Why you distanced yourself from me."
"Why bother asking? If you think I'm an impostor, you should be asking me more important things."
Harry smiled.
"The Hermione I know would have a very good reason if she had to distance herself from me. I also think it would upset her a little, and that would more than explain her unusual behaviour at home."
Hermione face distorted into a mild grimace.
"It did upset me," she admitted finally.
Harry smiled kindly and said, "Go on."
"I was sworn to secrecy, Harry. You have to believe me. It was killing me to be so cruel. What with Ron behaving like a prat too, I felt I had no one to turn to."
Hermione wiped her face.
"It was Dumbledore. He made me promise to do it."
"What?"
"Yes. He came to the Burrow before you arrived and asked to speak to me."
"But why on earth would he want you to distance yourself from me?"
Hermione remained silent.
"Why, Hermione?"
"He said you needed to be prepared. You know, for what is to come."
"I don't understand."
"He said it was important that you discover, er, some things for yourself."
Harry frowned, thinking hard. What had happened that might have been as a result of Hermione distancing herself from him?
He shook his head as he discounted the possibilities.
"I confided everything from the Pensieve to you anyway," he thought aloud, "so that can't be it."
Then he had it.
"Ginny. It has to be Ginny."
Hermione shook her head.
"Actually, no, Harry. I'm not sure Dumbledore knew it would be Ginny, although I thought it might be, obviously."
"But why?"
"I won't tell you that. Dumbledore wanted you to find out for yourself. He didn't tell me why that was, but he clearly thought it was important. Knowing you as I do, Harry, I think he was right. You need to discover this, not just be told. I suspect you will have difficulty accepting this as the truth otherwise."
Harry's frown was reinstated.
"While I was with Ginny," he said slowly, "I was happy. Genuinely happy. I felt happiness. It was real. It was real, except it wasn't."
Harry looked Hermione in the eye and said firmly, "It wasn't my happiness I was feeling, was it?"
Hermione shook her head in agreement.
"I was feeling her happiness, wasn't I?"
"Yes, Harry. Ginny really does feel for you."
"Does she? I mean, does she love me or am I just some kind of trophy?"
"You'll have to work that out with her, Harry."
"I still don't see why you had to distance yourself from me."
"No? Well, the three of us have always been close. I suppose that closeness affected you. You felt what we felt. That probably shielded you from others to a certain extent."
"Shielded me? Shielded me from their emotions, you mean?"
Hermione nodded and Harry laughed.
"That sounds like utter nonsense!"
"It isn't nonsense, Harry," Hermione said quietly. "You've always felt the emotions of those around you. You even felt Voldemort's emotions."
"That was because of my scar."
"Are you sure? Maybe your scar established a link, but your own abilities enabled you to feel him. Actually, I've been convinced for some time that your scar hurting sometimes has distracted you from discovering what you can do."
"What else did Dumbledore tell you?"
"Oh, he didn't need to, Harry. I've always known."
"How?"
Hermione hesitated and said, "Um, I'd like to answer, but first I need to speak to Ron. It's only fair. If I'm going to tell you the truth, he needs to know first."
Harry straightened up and considered her for a moment.
"Alright, Hermione. Whatever you want. Ron is up in the common room. I'll be down by the lake when you're ready to continue."
Hermione stood and walked to the doors.
"See?" said Harry with a grin, as soon as she had gone. "I told you."
Bateman threw off Harry's invisibility cloak and holstered his revolver. From his expression, Harry knew he wasn't yet convinced.
"That wasn't the conversation you thought you would have, is it, Harry?"
"Um, well no," Harry admitted. "But I'm sure it's her. She is Hermione."
"That assumption isn't based upon anything she told you, is it?"
"No."
"No," agreed Bateman. "Why did you let her go like that?"
Harry remained silent.
"This was your big opportunity to get an admission from her."
"I trust Hermione. She'll tell me the truth. I have no problem with her doing it her way if she wants. I owe her that."
"Well, remember you may not have too long. Does she really need to tell Weasley something or are they just concocting more lies. Maybe she just wants to implicate him."
"Bear, I trust both Hermione and Ron."
Bateman sighed and shook his head despondently.
"What did you make of all that rubbish she was saying?" asked Bateman after a moment. "Convenient that her main witness happens to be dead, don't you think?"
"She told me the truth, but I don't believe she has told me everything yet."
"That may be quite an understatement. Just remember what we agreed. No giving either of them any hints that you know anything. I thought you were sailing quite close to the wind just now, regarding certain comments about-"
"I know," interrupted Harry, looking down. "This isn't as easy as I imagined it would be," he added miserably after a long pause. "I still think Slughorn could be wrong."
"Er, Harry, it was you who figured it out, remember?"
Bateman smiled sympathetically at Harry as he looked miserably down at his feet. He just couldn't bring himself to repeat aloud his previous warnings about Harry's two best friends and strongest allies. He knew he should have, but instead he contented himself by walking out of the Great Hall and heading towards the grounds for a long walk.