Disclaimer: All characters, events and references drawn from HP belong to J.K. Rowling, etc., respectively, everything else is my own invention.
FORESIGHT
PART TWELVE
"A mysterious thing, time…powerful, yet if meddled with, very dangerous…"
Those words and that voice seemed to constantly echo through Harry's mind as he ran flat out, down the main corridor at Hogwarts school, up the large staircase to the second floor towards the hospital ward. The same place he and Hermione had heard those words spoken almost four years ago.
He felt like he was eleven years old again, at school for the first time, the anticipation and excitement returning to the mind that had been so weighed down with a burden and responsibility he had never wanted in the first place. Harry could not express the freedom and joy he felt right now, but everyone around him had become aware of it quickly. He had begun to smile again, instead of brooding with an oppressive spirit that had found it difficult to see any true beauty or warmth in even the simple things. Voldemort, and the world he represented, had hung like a dark cloud over Harry's life for so long, that he had especially failed to notice that beauty and warmth in one particular person who had stuck with him through it all - Hermione Granger, his best friend.
It seemed to Harry that he had walked out from an inevitable dead-ended destiny onto a new horizon in life, an uncharted territory that was not already laid out by some prophecy or expectations of greatness from a world under threat of extinction. Instead, he was thrilled at the very idea that there was no script, or path set in place in which he was expected to walk now. He was truly free. Free to explore this world he had come to know and nothing seemed impossible to him anymore. And the one thing he knew now, more than anything else, was that he wanted to explore it with the girl who had captured his heart and had proven her willingness to walk off the end of the earth for him if necessary.
These thoughts propelled Harry forward, as he dodged house elves and various wizards repairing the breaches in the walls and corridors of Hogwarts, on his way to see his two friends. The Death Eaters had caused extensive damage to the old school in their recent attack, but some rumors had already started that a lot of the damage was actually due to the warlock guard and their 'extreme' battle maneuvers when engaged with the dark wizards. The mercenary guards, under the watchful eye of Hagrid, had soundly thrashed many of the hooded foes in their defense of the castle and its grounds. Several Death Eaters who had been captured in the battle had already been sent, along with hundreds of others from all over Britain, to the newly fortified and rebuilt Azkaban prison, to await trial for their crimes. Severus Snape and Draco Malfoy, it was rumored, had disappeared and gone into hiding in some distant country.
However, no one really cared about that at present. Within just a day, the news had quickly reached practically every wizard or witch in the world that the dread enemy of both wizard and muggle civilization, Lord Voldemort, had indeed been defeated, once and for all, by 'the boy who had lived'. Harry's new found freedom had already been, in the day since arriving back at the school with Hermione and Ron, eclipsed by a new celebrity status even more daunting than before. Everywhere he went around the school, he received looks, handshakes, smiles and even requests for autographs from students, some of the teachers and the various wizard government officials who had been arriving at the school to oversee its rehabilitation. Hagrid and the special guard had a particularly difficult time trying to keep reporters from Quibbler, The Daily Prophet, and a few international wizard papers from trying to sneak into the castle, without permission, to catch an exclusive interview with Harry, Hermione or Ron. It was even said that the trio had already been offered five thousand Galleons each for publishing rights to their story.
Professor McGonagall, however, did her best to ensure that the three of them and their privacy was safe from the onslaught of those who desperately wanted to get in on the events of their fateful night together. Harry too had tried to play down the confrontation with Voldemort as much as possible. He simply did not want to talk about the Dark Lord and their duel in the clearing, partly because of the unwanted attention it was bringing him, but also for a much deeper reason.
Harry new the truth behind all the hype. He held in his soul the certainty that it was not in fact him, alone, who had defeated the Dark Lord. No, he couldn't have. He had been soundly beaten by Voldemort that night. But this was something the wizarding world would not understand or accept in its simplistic view of the whole episode. No, he had in fact been helped by someone he loved more than his own life, and they had both been helped by the one man so many in their world thought had been a crackpot from the beginning. Harry knew that without Hermione and the love that they had finally confessed to one another in silence by that river, and without the curious intervention, in the past, of the white bearded wizard Harry had so much loved and respected, the war would probably still be raging in some form or another, and the three of them would probably be dead.
These thoughts humbled Harry tremendously. How did Dumbledore know? What exactly did he see all those years ago? He couldn't wait to sit with the Professor and ask her, but right now, there were more pressing things to tend to.
Harry quickly turned left down another hall, running as though he were still being chased by Death Eaters, just barely leaping over the surprised heads of some elves levitating stones to fill a hole in the corridor wall. He made one more turn and found himself in the hospital wing's temporary annex, just outside of the ward itself. Healers, students in beds, which were materialized into the hall to hold them, and even parents who had come expressly to visit the students, all turned their heads to see the blurred form of Harry fly past. He finally came to a crashing halt at the entrance to the ward, his footfalls echoing off the walls loudly. Several healers and government officials, who were in the ward attending the injured, as well as Madam Pomfrey herself had all turned a glance at Harry upon hearing the noise. Pomfrey gave Harry a stern look at the commotion he had made. Harry shot back an apologetic expression and started walking slowly into the ward. He wanted so badly to see one particular face right now.
There she was. Sitting on the side of a bed, with a healer and Madam Pomfrey herself, conversing with her quietly. Hermione turned around to see Harry after the noise he had made upon entering. A huge smile broke over her face and her eyes just glowed at seeing Harry walk towards her. Harry thought he might melt all over the floor just seeing that incredibly beautiful face shine at him. As he came to her bedside, she reached out with one hand, wanting his hand in hers, a look of longing now on her face. He reached out and they intertwined their fingers as Harry sat on the side of the bed with her. He then turned to the healer who was standing in front of them, who gave a slight smile of understanding at the exchange between the two teenagers.
"Well…how is she?" Harry asked, a little anxious at hearing the answer.
"She seems perfectly fine today, Harry," the healer replied. "She is free to go when she wants."
Harry turned and gave Hermione a very satisfied smile. She responded with the same and tightened her grip on his hand.
"Miss Granger told me it was the Killing Curse that had struck her," the healer now stated with a look of puzzlement.
"Tell me, Harry, what charm did you use to protect her?" she then asked him, everyone sensing that the essence of her question simply seemed impossible to conceive of. Madam Pomfrey also looked at Harry with an intense desire to know what he was going to say next. Harry turned to look at Hermione once more, feeling slightly uncomfortable telling them what even he wasn't sure of, but had nevertheless come to believe.
"I…I don't know. It all happened so fast…" he fudged, his words trailing off unconvincingly. The healer gave him a suspicious look and then that look changed into a warm smile.
"Well, whatever it was," she started to say as she began walking away from the two of them, "…it saved her life," she finished with strong emphasis. Madam Pomfrey then smiled at them and walked away with the healer to see about some of the others in the ward.
Harry and Hermione both looked at each other for a moment, in silence. Harry then gazed down at the floor, just trying to make sure that he wasn't imagining this happy scene.
"Harry…" Hermione spoke, breaking into his thoughts. He glanced up into those eyes, her expression making him feel like melting away again.
"…aren't you going to kiss me?" she then added, looking like a school girl asking that eleven year old boy for a first kiss. They hadn't really shown their 'new' affection for one another out in public yet, and Harry felt as though every eye in the ward was on him - and many of them, in fact, were. His face turned slightly red, but then he regained his confidence and placed his free hand on her cheek, leaning in to kiss her softly. They were no sooner touching each others lips then there came the sound of someone clearing their throat. They both looked up to see a huge smile coming through those tangled tufts of hair on the thick beard of Hagrid, who was towering over them next to the bed. They looked up at their big friend.
"Glad to see yer alright, Ermione," he said.
"Thanks, Hagrid," she spoke back.
"Thanks for coming for us yesterday, Hagrid," Harry chimed in.
"Don' even mention it, Harry. You three have saved my neck plenty o' times. I was just returnin' the favor," he went on, but then leaned in close to both of them, glancing quickly back at the crowd across the way, most of whom had red hair just like the teenager they were gathered around.
"Always thought you two had it in fer each other," Hagrid said quietly. An open smile again came over Hermione as she turned away blushing.
"Seems like everyone did, Hagrid," Harry added and then looked at Hermione once more,"…everyone except me."
Hagrid then stood up again, beaming down at them both.
"Yep, Dumbledore was definitely right 'bout you two…" Hagrid then said, but stopped suddenly with an expression of fear on his face.
Harry and Hermione both gave him a quick look of astonishment.
"I shouldn've said that…" He went on as though caught in the act of a terrible crime. He then shook his arms, cleared his throat and started to walk away.
"Great man, Dumbledore, great man…" Hagrid spoke as thought trying to cover up his tracks, walking away stiffly.
Now the curiosity in both of them was really starting to churn, but they heard a commotion across the way, where Ron was laying in bed. He was surrounded by Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, the 'real' Fred and George who had been at the Burrow, completely unaware the whole time their imposters had been leading the trio into a trap, and the 'real' Ginny, still dressed in her sleeping gown and robe from her time spent in the hospital wing, sitting next to Ron on one side. Outside of Harry, Ron and Ginny had both found themselves something of celebrities as well. Ron, unlike Harry however, was rather enjoying his bit of fame. He had certainly gained a number of admirers in several of the female students, all intrigued at his story about fighting Death Eaters with his bare hands.
Ginny's own tale of her ordeal had been the talk of the whole school prior to Ron, Hermione and Harry's return. She had recalled being attacked by a young, dark haired witch late one night while returning to the Gryffindor Dormitory. The beautiful looking, but unknown girl had surprised her with a Petrificus Totalus spell and then took her down into the lower levels of the castle. After releasing her from the spell but then binding her in ropes with another, the witch then used a form of veritaserum, possibly provided by Snape himself, to extract the password from Ginny. The witch then was able to take the polyjuice potion to 'become' Ginny, first breaking into Harry, Hermione and Ron's rooms, taking their wands and other items, and then meeting with Malfoy and the other imposter outside the castle at the assigned time during the Death Eater's siege. It was Mr. Filch and a few of the warlock guards, searching the castle for any remaining intruders, who discovered her tied up in one of the corridors. She had been a little dehydrated for the few days she was alone, but recovered pretty quickly.
Still, Harry felt so bad for her that when he had set eyes on her for the first time after the confrontation with Voldemort, he ran and gave her a very strong hug, which brought tears to Ginny's eyes. Harry was so relieved that she, Fred and George were okay - they were, after all, part of his 'family'. After that, Ginny never treated Harry the same. It was as though the two had always been the best of friends.
Harry and Hermone both walked over to Ron's bedside, everyone turning to look at the couple with a sense of admiration and joy at seeing them alive.
"You still feel okay, Ronald?" Mrs. Weasley asked worriedly, not paying attention to anyone but her son.
"Mum, I told you for the tenth time…yes!" Ron shot back, a little annoyed and embarrassed because of the students lingering around his bedside.
"Lay off him a little, Molly. You can see that he's on the mend," Arthur Weasley broke in, looking at Harry and Hermione with a smile. "Give the boy a little breathing room."
Mrs. Weasley turned to Arthur with a flustered look, shooing at him with her hand and then turned to give Ron a concerned smile.
"I just want to make sure that you still aren't damaged inside from what the healers said had happened, that's all," she went on again.
"We can give Ron one of our new Tummy Twisting Tarts, Mum, to see if he vomits properly!" Fred broke in smiling, and everyone within earshot began laughing.
"OH! YOU TWO! GET OUT!" Mrs. Weasley torted at them angrily, slapping both him and George on the shoulder as they began to walk away from the bedside.
"Oh well, maybe next time, Ronnie," George said to his younger brother.
"Where are you two going?" Ginny now added.
"We've got a business to run in the village," Fred replied.
"Yeah, can't stay away too long or people will think we're up to no good!" George added.
With that, Fred and George both gave Harry and Hermione a big smile and shifted their eyebrows at them, eerily reminiscent of Malfoy's performance in the tent the previous night. The tall orange haired twins then headed out of the ward.
"So, there you two are," Ron said rather sullenly to Harry and Hermione who had moved in from the crowd to stand beside to him.
"You're definitely looking better, Ron," Hermione said, taking Ron's hand "We thought for sure that Voldemort had killed you."
"Thanks," Ron spoke back, slightly conciliatory in his tone, "By the way, what exactly did happen, Harry? How did you finally beat…well, You-know-who?" Ron had perked up a bit, anxious to hear the story. And again everyone in earshot waited breathlessly for the answer to this mystery. Harry felt uncomfortable again and his face showed it. He looked down at Ron with a grimace.
"We'll tell you later, Ron…when you can get around better. You need to rest. Besides, we all expect you to be back out on that Quidditch pitch to help Gryffindor win the cup again," Harry replied smiling, trying to deflect attention away from the original subject.
Ron simply shook his head, giving both of them that familiar smirk of his. The smirk then suddenly turned sour and he folded his arms, giving them a suspicious eye.
"Yeah, thanks mate. But don't think this gets you off the hook. I'm still mad at both of you," he returned.
Harry leaned in and put one hand on Ron's shoulder.
"That's great Ron. You just keep thinking those happy thoughts. We'll come back by later to check on you again," Harry said.
Ron just shook his head once more, the smirk returning. Harry then shot a glance at Ginny, who was smiling at him and he returned the favor. Suddenly there was a commotion in the ward as another large group of Ron's 'admirers' barged in. Madam Pomfrey objected but felt helpless to do anything, there were simply too many who needed her attention at the moment.
"Ron, we heard you were surrounded by a hundred Death Eaters! How did you get out?" a third year prodded him. Anxious eyes brightened up to hear the tale again.
"Yeah, tell us what happened!" another girl shot out.
Ron brightened up instantly, though acting very serious.
"Er…well…there were so many, I didn't know who to go after first…" he began. Ginny just rolled her eyes and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, smiled, backing away from the students leaning on Ron's bed.
Harry and Hermione looked at each other, shaking her heads. They had slowly begun to walk out of the Hospital wing, their footsteps increasing rapidly. They had one thing on their minds right now. Answers to the questions about Dumbledore, and Hagrid's statement had simply made it even more unbearable to wait. They headed straight for Professor McGonagall's office, hoping that there, they might be able to understand the strange events that had followed them since their arrival at Hogwarts, six years ago, all the way up to the previous night.
They arrived at the Professor's office and were just about to knock when the door swung open on it's own…