Lies and Illusions
Disclaimer: I'm not J.K. Rowling so Harry Potter isn't mine.
Author's note: Due to personal reasons, my beta hasn't reviewed this chapter. Therefore, any errors in it are strictly my fault.
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chapter 6
A Private Talk
Going to the cinema proved to be a wonderful way to end their stay in the Muggle world, and the choice of movie couldn't have worked out better. Ron sat in amazement as the images and story played out before him. Harry was equally enthralled by what he saw, particularly the concept of the Force and the wizard-like Jedi Knights who used it. Their enthusiasm grew even more when Hermione brought up the fact that the other two films in the Star Wars series were also playing there. Quickly budgeting their remaining funds, the trio went back in front to get tickets for The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.
Harry fondly recalled the experience several days later as he helped load their things in the Grangers' car. They'd sent Hedwig and Pigwidgeon ahead last night and shrunk their cages to make more room. Meanwhile, Hermione fretted over whether or not to leave Crookshanks with her parents. The cat settled the matter himself by jumping in the car the first chance he got, and refusing to budge until his mistress allowed him to come.
He couldn't deny being a little sad on the grey, damp morning his unplanned vacation came to an end. In the few weeks they'd been there, he'd grown rather attached to this place and didn't really want to leave. But on the other hand, Voldemort was still out there somewhere. No one would be safe until they stopped the Dark Lord for good, and in order to do that Harry and his friends had to return to the magical world.
After an uneventful drive, Ron's lopsided home came into view. As Neil Granger drove up the gravel driveway two figures with flaming red hair came out to greet them. Molly Weasley was easy to spot with her short, plump form. The taller figure turned out to be the groom-to-be. Bill Weasley's handsome face was now scarred from his encounter with Fenrir Greyback - a psychotic werewolf who had been part of the group of Death Eaters who invaded Hogwarts last month. Harry wasn't sure what became of him after the battle. The last he saw, Greyback was lying on the castle floor after being immobilized by a Full Body-Bind spell. Hopefully, someone remembered to lock that sick son-of-a-bitch up before it wore off.
At least Bill was luckier then Greyback's other victims, many of whom were children who he bit and passed on his Lycanthropy to -- like Remus Lupin. Since it hadn't been the full moon when Bill was attacked, he hadn't become a werewolf. However; his wounds were cursed in a way that prevented them from being fully healed, and Bill had taken on one or two slightly wolfish personality traits as a result.
Greetings were exchanged all around as they got out of the car and unloaded their baggage. As they entered the house, scattering chickens as they went, Ron asked what his eldest brother was doing home at this time of the day.
"Since word of this got out," Bill snarled as he waved a hand over his face, "some damn fool at the Ministry has been raising a stink about Gringott's employing me. She keeps going on about some law or other. Last week the stupid bitch showed up and started making all sorts of demands, throwing her weight around, and -"
Harry shared a glance with Hermione and said, "Hold on -- this cow's name wouldn't happen to be Dolores Umbridge by any chance?"
Bill laughed. "None other. I'm not surprised you remember her. She's pretty hard to forget, no matter how hard you try. In any case, I'm on holiday until the goblins get it straightened out, or feed her to the dragons -- whichever comes first."
Not seeing the Grangers' stunned expressions, Ron gave his brother a sly grin. "Any chance of them selling tickets to that?" he asked
Harry gave him an incredulous stare. "Why would anyone pay to see a dragon throw up?"
"Now Harry," Mrs. Granger said over the laughter, "this woman may be a nasty piece of work, but -"
Hermione politely interrupted her mother. "Believe me, Mum -- as bad as they make her out to be, the reality is far worse," she told her evenly.
**********
After eating lunch at the Burrow, Hermione's parents got ready to leave. Just outside the house; her father pulled Harry aside.
"There's something I wanted to give you. Call it an early birthday present." He handed the wizard a small package.
Harry unwrapped the parcel. Inside, he found an old British Army manual with a few bright tabs sticking out the side.
"I found it in some of my old things and thought it might interest you," Mr. Granger explained. "The tabs mark the sections I believe you'll find the most useful. The weapons may vary, but war itself doesn't change very much...unfortunately." His eyes became distant.
The young wizard quietly stared at the book for a few minutes. Wizards had no equivalent of Her Majesty's Armed Forces. For one thing, there simply weren't enough magical folk around to form a fighting force on that kind of scale. More importantly: wars between magical governments, on almost any scale, would attract far too much attention and make their main job (convincing the Muggles that magic doesn't exist) virtually impossible. As a result, there were simply no such things as armies or soldiers in the magical world.
"Thanks, I'm sure it'll...." he trailed off. "Why?" Harry asked him.
Brown eyes stared at the young woman saying goodbye to her mother. "Whatever it is you're planning to do, It's dangerous and Hermione is going with you. There's nothing her mother and I can do to stop her, so we decided to try and help in any way we can."
Mr Granger turned to face Harry. "Let me give you a couple pieces of advice, as someone who...knows a bit about warfare. First and foremost: if you're going to fight this 'Voldemort' person...do it your way, not his. Second; always remember that a person who's alone on a battlefield is vulnerable, so always bring friends with you to watch your back."
Harry pondered what he just heard. Not so long ago, he would have found it hard to accept the idea of a Muggle aiding him in his fight against Voldemort. But now that he'd gotten to know the Grangers; he not only liked them, but had come to respect their opinions. Besides, he heard Hermione's voice say in his head, you need all the help you can get.
Once they reached the car, Kathleen Granger let go of Hermione and gave Harry a farewell hug.
"It's been a pleasure having you Harry, feel free to stop by anytime you want." She paused before nervously adding, "Take care of our daughter for us, will you? We love her dearly and couldn't bear...."
"She's usually the one keeping me out of trouble...." He tried to laugh, but failed miserably. "I'll do everything I can. In the meantime, you should keep an eye out too. These wizards go after Muggles sometimes, and Hermione would be devastated if anything -" He abruptly ended his friendly warning when he noticed the odd glance Mrs. Granger exchanged with her husband.
Saying one last goodbye, they got in the car. Harry stood next to Hermione with his arm around her waist as they watched her parents drive away. Neither teen moved from the spot until the automobile was out of sight.
**********
The Burrow had always been a hive of activity, but the preparations for the upcoming wedding made it pure chaos. Molly's plans to give the place a thorough cleaning were well underway before her youngest son and his friends arrived. No doubt she was trying to make up for the rotten way she'd treated her son's fiancee this past year. Of course, the way Fleur Delacour had told her off last month would be enough to make anyone think twice about crossing her.
Harry and Ron spent the afternoon de-gnoming the garden, setting up a new chicken coop, and rounding up the stray chickens. Hermione was inside helping clean the house while Mrs. Weasley kept barking out orders from the upstairs windows. Bill told them he had to make some "special arrangements" for the wedding and left for the day.
When the time came for Molly to start dinner, the trio were finally able to sit down and examine Harry's new book. The information it held bore very little resemblance to what they were taught in Defense Against the Dark Arts. Perhaps the biggest difference was the rather pragmatic attitude toward fighting it described. Dueling and other forms of "honorable combat" didn't exist as far as it was concerned. Instead, the army manual described things like mutual defense, coordinated attacks, setting ambushes....
"This almost looks like some kind of chess strategy," Ron commented as he examined one of the diagrams.
"That isn't surprising," Hermione answered. "Chess has been around for a long time and is sometimes used to describe certain types of fighting. Although you don't actually take turns in real battles and - "
Harry patted her hand, "We get it Hermione. But will it do any good?" he asked.
"It'll take some work, but there's no harm in trying." She gave him a thoughtful look. "Very few wizards know much about regular Muggle society, and the military is almost a world onto itself according to my dad. The main problem we have, aside from figuring out exactly what we can and cannot use, would be convincing the others on our side to go along with it. Just about everything in this book goes against the traditional methods of wizard com-"
She was cut off by the roar of a mass of green flames springing to life in the Weasleys' fireplace. A redheaded girl stumbled out of the fire muttering some rather un-ladylike words under her breath.
"Of all the stupid, useless rubbish I have to put up with this summer. Ruddy things are bad enough without having some swotty berk giving -"
Her grumbling was drowned out by an excited yelp from Luna Lovegood as she dove out of the flames headfirst.
Doing a somersault, she neatly rolled to her feet. "You should really try going through the Floo Network this way, Ginny. It's a lot more fun than the normal fashion, unless you time it wrong and hit your head on the back of the fireplace."
"So that's what happened," Ginny muttered under her breath.
Luna seemed unaffected by the wisecrack, unless it was the reason why she chose that moment to brightly say: "Hello Ronald! I heard you were coming home...it was today, right?"
Ron smiled as he got up. "Hi Luna. What are you doing here?" he asked.
"Daddy's off on an expedition he couldn't reschedule, so your parents invited me to stay until my O.W.L.s are done. I don't see what the big deal is about them, the tests themselves are so very boring. We took the Defense O.W.L. yesterday, and it didn't have a single question about stopping a rampaging Frond Crested Damogran. The examiner gave me the most remarkable stare when I asked her -"
Burying her horror under an impatient frown, Ginny quickly scanned the room. Her expression brightened when she finally saw a certain dark-haired wizard, but fell again when she saw him and Hermione sitting close together.
Harry had been quietly watching his ex-girlfriend all this time. Not out of any latent feelings for her so much as trying to see if there was anything to the comment Luna made last month. By the time Ginny's eyes found him, he was certain that the eccentric Ravenclaw was on to something. When the redhead took a step towards him, he abruptly decided to end his little experiment by turning away from her with a polite "Hello, Ginny.".
Since he was no longer looking her way, Harry didn't see the surprise on Ginny's face or the angry glare she gave Ron when he reached out and grabbed her arm. However, he did get a glimpse of Hermione's face as he gently took the manual from her hands. Confusion and a hint of sorrow floated in her eyes, but this wasn't the time or place for them to talk.
An uneasy silence (save for Luna humming to herself) reigned in the Weasley living room until Molly Weasley called from the kitchen.
"Ginny! You and Luna have a few minutes to get cleaned up before dinner. Oh, and go find Ron so he knows it's time to eat. Harry and Hermione should be with him too."
"We're already down here Mum!" Ron yelled back as he stepped between his friends and sister. Throwing a brotherly arm over Harry's shoulder when he finally got up, he led his friends out of the room whispering, "Better take the book upstairs before Dad sees it, you know how he is about Muggle stuff." Quickly checking to make sure Ginny was out of earshot, he added even more quietly, "You can thank me later."
Harry gave him a small nod as he headed for his room, but was too lost in thought to say anything.
**********
Dinner at the Burrow was its normal mixture of good food and steady talk. At one end of the table, Arthur and Luna listened quite intently to Ron's account of his stay with the Grangers, especially the part about their trip to the movies. Much to his discomfort, Ginny had commandeered the seat next to Harry and kept trying to draw him into the conversation. Hermione glanced at them from time to time, but said very little as she ate. Harry himself didn't feel very hungry, and slipped off to his room the first chance he got.
An hour later, he was lying on the bed trying to make sense out of what was happening to him. The more he thought about it, the odder it felt. Not just his relationship with Ginny, but his entire sixth year at Hogwarts. Something was going on that he couldn't put his finger on. Ron didn't know any more than he did, and talking to Luna would probably leave him even more confused. So, that left him with....
A soft knock on the door preceded Hermione shyly poking her head in. "Are you okay?" she asked. One look at him made her answer her own question. "Never mind, it's obvious you're not."
Closing the door behind her, she came over to sit on the foot of his bed. "I'm not surprised that you're having a hard time seeing Ginny again. Everyone at school could tell how much you liked each other and it's only natural for you to consider going back to her." There was the barest hint of sadness in her voice as she said the last part.
Harry responded in a distant tone. "I suppose, but dating Ginny again is the last thing on my mind."
"Really? Then why were you watching her so closely?" she asked, hiding her surprise.
Finally focusing on Hermione, he replied, "I was trying to figure out just what I felt for her a couple of months ago. Well, not exactly, more like whether or not those feelings were really mine. Now before you say anything, it's not just because of what Luna said."
She turned so she could see his face more comfortably.
"I admit I'm not all that fond of Luna Lovegood..." she started.
Harry snickered at her understatement, and earned himself a light slap on the arm.
"What do you expect?" Hermione said defensively. "The way she's always going on about one absurd thing after another. I could understand it if she was simply interested in the stories, but there's no logical reason for anyone to actually believe in any of those things! Anyway, we were discussing you and Ginny."
"Oh, right." Sitting up and folding his legs, he tried to express his thoughts as best he could. "Ron and I had a little talk last week. Ever since, I've been thinking about how his sister and me got together. I can't explain how or why, but something feels kind of...off about the whole thing. Like my feelings towards her weren't really mine."
Her brow furrowed at his statement. "Are you saying that you think Ginny used some kind of spell or potion to make you fancy her?" Not waiting for an answer, she sat up straighter and hurriedly said, "Tell me what happened, all of it. Maybe we can figure out what it was."
Despite her words, Harry knew she didn't want to hear too much about what him and Ginny did together. So he focused the parts that were causing him the greatest concern instead: what led up to their kiss in the Gryffindor common room, and their breakup. Hermione's gaze narrowed slightly when he told her about how Ginny admitted to still having a crush on him. She also listened very closely to his account of what Ron had to say on the subject, and what Harry tried to learn earlier this evening.
"You could say I was looking for the things I used to see in her...or some hint of just why I liked her that way," he explained.
Hermione had moved closer to him while he talked. Although she'd kept an impassive expression while listening to him, Harry could have sworn he saw something flicker in her eyes. Every once in a while she'd interrupt to ask a carefully worded question or two to help clarify his story.
Like now, when she asked, "And did you find it?"
He shook his head. "No, not really."
"I admit that the whole thing does seem rather odd the way you describe it, " she stated clinically. "Your symptoms don't sound like a love potion or an Enticing Enchantment . Although either one might explain your infatuation, they aren't supposed to make you feel like there's a monster in your chest. Of course, there's always the possibility that you simply developed a crush on her and got over it..." She pondered this for a moment. "Except, it doesn't sound like what happened when you were eyeing Cho Chang -"
Harry added with a roguish grin, "Or when you fancied Lockhart?"
Hermione tried to give him another playful whack for his comment, but Harry's lightning-quick reflexes allowed him to easily catch her hand
"I was thirteen!" Hermione protested as she tried to free herself -- only to have him capture her other hand too. "Harry, could you please stop flirting with me when we're talking about serious matters. It's distracting!" she blurted out.
A stunned silence enveloped them. The only sound being heard was Molly Weasley calling to her daughter from somewhere downstairs, telling Ginny to tend to her studies. They heard her loud stomping coming from the stairway, followed by a door slamming somewhere below them.
The idea of flirting with his female best friend had never consciously crossed his mind before. Admittedly, he did enjoy their banter a lot and wouldn't give it up for anything, but still....
"Sorry, I didn't realize.... I'll try to stop if it bothers yo-" he nervously told her.
"NO!" she said very fast. Her startled expression changed to a blush as she stammered, "I...I mean it's okay, you can flirt with me if you want. You're the only one who does." Flashing that particular grin of hers, Hermione then added, "Just try to develop a better sense of timing."
His face broke into a relieved smile of its own. Whatever was growing between them, Hermione seemed to be perfectly willing to let it continue.
Looking down, Harry realized that he was absent-mindedly stroking the back of her hands with his thumbs. They'd been doing things like this a lot lately. Holding hands, a quick hug or peck on the cheek from Hermione...little signs of affection they shared almost without realizing it. The very things Ron had alluded to last week, but which Harry had given little, if any, thought to -- until now.
As he thought about these things, a new question formed in his mind. One that he needed to know her answer to before anything else happened between them.
"Hermione?"
"Yes, Harry."
"Do you think.... Is it possible for a person to...magically sense someone else's feelings without realizing it?" he carefully asked her.
It took her a while to respond. For several minutes, she sat with her mouth open and her eyes the widest he'd ever seen them.
Finally she asked in an astonished voice, "Do you think that's what happened between you and Ginny? You believe you -"
"Is it possible?" he gently pressed.
"I...I haven't read any books about an ability like that. Well, not exactly, I once found a reference to a very, very rare text that's supposed to have information about such things. There used to be a copy in the Hogwarts library, but it disappeared a long time ago and not even Madam Pince knows -" She was rambling, as Hermione often did when someone asked a question she didn't want to answer.
Gripping her hands a little tighter, Harry told her: "I'm not asking if you've read it someplace, Hermione. I need to know if you believe it's possible."
Returning his look, she gave in.
"No, I don't...believe it's possible -"
She took a deep breath and gave his hands a squeeze.
"I know it is," she said firmly. "I can't prove it, and I don't understand how it works...but I'm certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that some witches and wizards have an inherent ability to sense other people's emotions."
Something about the way she said it made the hair on the back of Harry's neck stand up. "How do you know?" he asked breathlessly.
She sat there biting her lip for a time, unable to move.
"Hermione, please tell me," he pleaded.
Taking a very deep breath, Hermione leaned as close to Harry as she could. Even with her so close, he could just barely hear the words she said into his ear.
"I know it because...I do it too."
**********
end chapter 6
Author's note: Swot (swotty) - to study, or one who studies hard. From the definition I read, it's a bit like
the term "nerd" here in the States. Thought I'd mention it.