Disclaimer: HP and company belong to JKR. `Nuff said.
CHAPTER ELEVEN:
The second Hermione laid eyes on Harry, she knew that it had really happened: he had entered her dream and somehow the two of them had spoken.
She knew because everything about Harry - from the way he slumped in his chair to the way he hung his head - spoke of defeat. He stayed that way, not looking at anyone even when Ron trailed in.
"What's going on?" the redhead asked drowsily.
Because of the hour, all of them were in various kinds of sleepwear. Ron and Harry wore their usual loose, faded shirts over striped pajamas. Lupin, Tonks and Hermione had thrown on robes.
"We have a visitor." Lupin stepped aside, revealing a large man who was seated nonchalantly in an armchair.
Ron started in surprised. "Ma -"
"Professor Moody!" Hermione interrupted quickly. She couldn't believe Ron had almost called Moody "Mad-Eye" to his face!
Judging from the battle-scarred Auror's wry grimace, her save hadn't been quick enough. "Plain Moody will do," he growled. His revolving magical eye swiveled towards Harry before settling on them one by one.
"First things first," he snapped. "We've just received information that a contingent of Death Eaters, personally selected by Voldermort, will leave for Ireland tomorrow evening to retrieve 'something important' to the Dark Lord."
Tonks frowned. Suddenly the woman with shimmering purple hair was all business. "Something important? That's not much to go on."
Mad-eye Moody shrugged. "From what our ... source overheard, it seems to be an artifact that's small enough to carry. We don't know what it is, but if it's got Voldemort himself interested, I say it's worth finding out."
Hermione exchanged glances with Ron. He looked puzzled at first, and then his eyes widened. A Horcrux! They snapped their gazes to Harry, but to their frustration he showed no sign that he'd even heard Moody's statement.
"You're thinking we can beat them to it?" the younger Auror asked slowly.
The large man nodded. "We've been given a list of the locations they'll search. Seems even they haven't been told what it is yet. Voldemort's playing this one close to his chest."
Hermione's mind was whirling. What to do? For Merlin's sake, Harry, look at me! Was Voldemort gathering all the Horcruxes, or just this one because Ireland was too far away for comfort?
"As for that other matter," Moody continued, his eyes on Harry, "I have the potion. I came back as soon as I could, but we don't know if it'll do any good."
As everyone looked at the Auror in confusion, Lupin explained, "Moody was in France this morning. There's an old member of the Order there, a retired alchemist who specializes in magical plants. He's the only one we know of who's dealt with the Solvamus before."
"You mean you've found a cure?" Hermione was nearly breathless with excitement. First the Horcrux, now this! If there was a chance ...
"We don't know," the thin man answered. "This formula hasn't been made in decades, and even the alchemist, er -"
"Faveure," Moody supplied.
"- isn't a hundred percent sure he got it right." Lupin glanced at Tonks. "We should contact Madame Pomfrey, find some way to test -"
"I'll take it."
The interruption surprised everyone. They turned towards the boy who'd quietly spoken.
"Harry, that's not a good idea," Lupin protested in a tone that was the epitome of let's be reasonable. "Faveure assisted on exactly one Solvamus case more than forty years ago. He made some notes but he was only an apprentice then and it was his master who prepared the potion. What he gave us can easily do more harm than good."
"We know it's not poisonous," Moody rumbled helpfully. "He tested it on some rabbits. Effects weren't pleasant, but when I left they were still alive."
Both Ron and Hermione looked faintly horrified at this.
Harry's head was still bent. Nobody could see his face, but his words came across clearly. "I don't care what it does," he declared tonelessly. "I don't want to be this way anymore."
Hermione couldn't help herself. It was late, and here they were, faced with one important revelation after another, and the wanker at the center of all this mystery was barely paying attention! "Oh that's just brilliant, Harry," she snapped sarcastically. "Take it before we know what it does. I suppose if it fries your brain we can always shop for a new one."
At the sound of his name, the boy's eyes finally rose to meet hers.
At the touch of his gaze, Hermione nearly stepped back. She had always been pretty good at reading Harry, but this once she wished she couldn't. The misery in those eyes!
The thought came again: I did that.
The dull ache in her chest returned with a vengeance. Only this time, because she was alert and prepared, Hermione began to recognize - no, to acknowledge what it was.
Concern. No, more than that. Pain at Harry's pain - something that she'd felt first when she learned about the cupboard the thin boy with the sad eyes would return to in the summer.
Even back then, the injustice of it had rankled her. Nobody should have to suffer like that! And then, as the years went by - nobody should have to endure one test after another, each one worst than the last. It just wasn't fair!
The ache in her chest clutched at her again, and finally she knew exactly what it was. Pain - because I caused Harry pain. The young witch closed her eyes as the almost-forgotten emotion swept over her.
Around them, Lupin, Tonks and even Ron were following her last statement with their own remonstrations, but Harry wasn't paying any attention to them. His eyes were riveted on Hermione, because for a second after their glances had met, there had been a look on her face that had been utterly familiar ...
Hermione searched her feelings carefully. She wasn't imagining this, was she? Was it really back, her connection with the dark-haired boy? Yes. Her emotions were finally catching up with what her mind had already accepted - Voldemort and Snape had effectively poisoned Harry that night. They had used and twisted the pure feelings a young boy had harbored for most of his life for their own ends. As for her, Hermione didn't kid herself. She was no more than a pawn in their game, a handy tool in Harry's destruction.
It was as unforgivable as the worst curse. For Harry as well as for me. But it hadn't worked because Voldemort and Snape had miscalculated, had underestimated the depth of their feelings for one another.
On the strength of his regard for her, in the end, Harry had been able to resist something a thousand wizards before him had been unable to. Not completely, but just enough so that on the strength of her feelings for him, and because Harry had been able to hold back enough to make it possible, now, at last, there was a chance that she could forgive him.
I can forgive him. How could the Death Eaters understand that, when she herself was amazed at the possibility? Not forget - no, not yet or maybe not ever - but we can move past this. We can go on.
You haven't won, Voldemort, Snape, the bloody lot of you! Hermione exulted. You haven't destroyed what's between Harry and me. I swear you'll never come between us again!
It was as if he'd heard her. The young wizard stood up slowly, ignoring the others still talking around him. He didn't attempt to approach her, but something in him leapt as Hermione looked at him with fire in her eyes.
"Why does it matter?" Harry challenged her, but his voice was soft, careful. Give me one good reason. And don't tell me it's for my own good, because I don't much care what happens to me anymore.
Because I care. Don't you know by now that I won't let you hurt yourself? "It matters," she returned quietly.
The instant the words left her mouth, Hermione realized that she'd made up her mind. Just like that, she knew what she had to do next.
Harry, Ron and she were the closest of friends, tried and tested as much by the darkest wizard who'd ever lived as by their own idiosyncrasies, their peers, and the pressure of living in a wizarding world that was descending into war.
They were a trio.
It was time to trust in that.
She didn't delude herself. It could fail. Last year it had seemed like the three of them had been drifting apart. But in the end Hermione believed the ties that bound them would hold. She believed in her boys, in Harry most of all, because he had never let her down when it counted.
"Harry," she found herself saying, "I wish we could talk like we used to back in Hogwarts."
The others looked at her, puzzled. What did that have to do with anything? But Harry nodded and for the first time in days there was something like hope in his face.
She turned to the boy at her side. "Ron, would you mind coming with me? I'm sorry, but I'm really tired, I don't think there's much we can contribute tonight," she said to everyone else.
"Sure, Hermione." With a quick Lumos, Ron pointed his wand to light their way.
When they were well away from the others, he asked excitedly, "Do you really think it's a Horcrux? What're we going to do?"
"I don't know. Give me a minute to think." Hermione tried to keep the nervousness out of her voice. In her heart, she knew that it was time to tell Ron.
===============
When they got to her room, Hermione sat down on the edge of her bed as Ron closed the door behind them. "We have to speak with Tonks. It sounds like they're going to leave in the morning."
"Should we tell them about the Horcruxes?" Ron asked, sitting down beside her.
The girl shook her head. "We can't. It's Harry's secret, not ours. Besides, Professor Dumbledore never told them, and he must've had his reasons. Which means ..."
"Yeah?"
"How do you feel about visiting Ireland?"
His mouth dropped open. "Blimey. Are you kidding me?"
"It's the only thing I can think of right now," Hermione confessed. "Harry aside, we're the only two people who know about the Horcruxes, Ron! If this is an article that belonged to the Hogwarts founders, Tonks and Moody could easily overlook it. You heard them. They're thinking in terms of a magical 'artifact.' At least you know what we're looking for - Slytherin's locket, Hufflepuff's cup, and something that belonged to Ravenclaw or Gryffindor."
"That's not much to work with. Do you think they'd let me come with them?" he asked doubtfully, but there was excitement in his voice too. However much he tried, the redhead was never really one for research. Running about all over Ireland though, that had its appeal. Not to mention they had an excellent Quidditch team ...
Hermione grinned at him knowingly. A bookworm Ron would never be. "We'll have to convince Professor Lupin and Tonks. Maybe we can talk to them after they're finished with Harry."
The lanky youth sighed at the mention of their friend. "I guess you'll stay here then, do more research?"
She could've left it at that. She was really tempted to. But it wouldn't be right. "Ron, I need to tell you something." She took a deep breath. "Harry was in my dreams."
He misunderstood. "You mean, you dreamt about what he did to you?"
"No." She shook her head. "I dreamed that we were back at Hogwarts, and that we were talking. Then I realized he was actually there, that somehow I was really talking to Harry."
The boy frowned. "What do you mean 'really talking' to him? Did he hurt you?"
"No, he ... he said that he was free of the Solvamus in my dreams."
"And you believe him?" he asked incredulously. From the expression on her face, Ron saw that she did. "Bloody hell." He ran his hands distractedly through his hair in a way that was strangely reminiscent of Harry. "First he can break through Lupin's binding spells, now he's in your head. What's going on here?"
Suddenly Hermione was staring at him in stupefaction. "Ron, that's - that's brilliant!"
"What?"
"How could I have missed something so obvious? Professor Lupin and Tonks must know. I have to ..."
"Hermione," Ron said patiently, "you're talking to yourself."
"Oh. Sorry." But she still looked distracted.
The boy rolled his eyes. "Just go on with what you were telling me about Harry before you go off chasing after Lupin and Tonks."
Again Hermione was faced with a choice. Ron would leave for Ireland tomorrow, and maybe by the time he came back, everything would be okay and he wouldn't know any better. Only, if she left things to lie like that, she would be deceiving him. And if she betrayed Ron like that, even their friendship wouldn't survive.
"Will you promise to listen?"
The absolutely serious way she asked made Ron nervous. "I'm not going to like this, am I?"
She nodded, throat tight.
"Alright. Go on."
=================
Fifteen minutes later, a tired Lupin and Tonks were making their way to their rooms when a dark figure burst out of Hermione's room, and slammed into them, actually knocking Lupin down.
Tonks had her wand out and pointed before she realized who it was. "Ron, what in the name of - ?"
The young wizard, illuminated by the glow of her wand, didn't even answer. He stared at them angrily, almost accusingly, from where he'd also fallen on the hard, cold floor. It was easy to see that his cheeks were wet. In another second, he had scrambled to his feet and run away.
Tonks and Lupin looked at each other. Hermione! Suddenly wide awake, the couple opened her door.
They found the young witch on her bed, staring sightlessly at the flaming logs warming her room.
Tonks approached carefully. "Hermione, are you alright?"
The girl didn't even glance at her. "We ... broke up. He - he made me choose, and I ... couldn't." Her voice shook as a single tear made its way down her cheek. "I couldn't choose him ... over Harry's life. I just - I couldn't. He - he said - he called me -" She brought her hands to her face and sobbed.
This is going from bad to worse! Lupin didn't know what to do. He was torn between approaching, and trying to find a nice, quiet way to back out of the room. Death Eaters and werewolves he could handle. But crying teenage girls? That was way beyond his field of expertise. Thank Merlin Tonks was around!
The young Auror gently laid a sympathetic hand on the girl's shoulder. "Is there anything we can do?"
To their surprise, Hermione actually answered. In tones whispery and fragile, she said, "You have to take ... Ron with you tomorrow. If he still wants to go."
Tonks and Lupin exchanged startled looks. "But we're going to Ireland tomorrow."
"You'll need him." The girl took a steadying breath. "Before all this happened, Harry ... asked us to help him look for something. It might be the same thing the Death Eaters are searching for. It's hard to explain but ... Ron will know what it is." She cast her tear-filled eyes at the Auror. "Please."
Moody's going to kill me. But Tonks just couldn't bring herself to refuse. With luck, the boy won't even want to go. "Alright," she agreed reluctantly, "if Ron asks we'll take him." There was a slight emphasis on the world "ask" that no one missed.
Lupin didn't know what possessed him at that point. Hermione was quieting down, and they could've left her then, but instead he found himself asking, "Is there anything else?"
The girl looked up at him with a clear hazel gaze.
Oh dear Merlin, she knows.
"Yes." Hermione's voice was still soft and ragged from crying, but there was also something underlying it that bordered on angry. "I think it's high time, Professor, that you told me once and for all what's going on. Harry walks in my dreams. How can he possibly be doing that?"
A/N: This chapter still seems a bit rough to me, but I hope you like it anyway. Reviews, including constructive criticism, are appreciated. Long, positive reviews, however, definitely encourage my writing muse (no surprise there)! Thank you for reviewing twice, melissa! And to everyone else whose reviews I wasn't able to respond to, sorry about that, but I was trying to get this chapter up. =)