Disclaimer: I own nothing related to the 'Harry Potter' universe, and I don't make any money from playing with the characters. I don't own the lyric bits, either.
A/N: This is an informational chapter… not much action, but certain things are revealed to the trio. (Yes, Ron's back!) I don't think this is left at a cliffie… but then again, maybe it is… Anyway, the final leg of this story is set up here, so things should move very quickly after this chapter. Enjoy! (Word count: 6341)
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Chapter 48: The Two Secrets
They want you to decide,
eventually, it happens.
Some gather on one side,
with all their pearly snapping.
They close the basement door,
it sets our teeth to chatter.
You never saw it before,
but now that hardly matters.
You're old enough, boy.
Too many summers you've enjoyed.
So spin the wheel,
we'll set you up with some odd convictions,
because you're finally golden, boy.
Excerpt from the song 'Split Needles,' by the band, The Shins.
Harry felt consciousness gradually returning to him, although the horrid memories of his ordeal in the lake seemed to come back to him instantly. The faces of the wounded and dying Merfolk wandered through his mind's eye as he laid there unmoving. There was no trace of light coming through his closed eyelids, and not a sound reached his ears. He was afraid to open his eyes, because he certainly recalled the injuries he sustained while trying to retrieve Hufflepuff's cup, but he curiously felt no pain. He wondered if he had died there in the center of the Mervillage until he heard the muffled sound of shuffling feet.
The door to the small antechamber just outside of the Hogwarts infirmary slowly creaked open. Three figures silently slipped into the room and made their way to the prone figure on the bed. An anxious, whispered voice cut the deafening silence within the room.
"See? I told you that I saw him here! It took me a bit to remember where I saw the room, though, but I knew it was in the castle," came the familiar voice of Ron, filling Harry with an immediate sense of relief. The relief was short lived, however, because then Harry started wondering exactly where he was and what had happened to Hermione and Hufflepuff's cup.
"Little brother, you are seriously starting to creep us out with these visions you've been coming up with," whispered Fred cautiously.
"Aye, but he was right about this being Harry, wasn't he?" whispered George right next to Harry's bed, "It seems he's asleep, though…"
"I was asleep," said Harry tiredly, but with a small smile creeping across his face. He cracked open his eyes and saw the three Weasley brothers leaning over him. He shifted his limbs a little and could tell that there were bandages around his left arm and leg, and by the way he had to struggle to draw a breath, he assumed that he also had bandages wrapped tightly around his torso… still, he felt absolutely no pain. He turned his head and looked past the brothers and, although the room was quite dark, he instantly recognized the room he was in. It was the same room where he and Hermione had confronted Ginny about the elixir. That thought brought him back to one of his original concerns.
"Where's Hermione?" both Ron and Harry asked at the same time.
"She was with me when I went into the lake," said Harry, "I figured she was the one that pulled me out."
"What the bloody hell were you doing in the lake?" asked Fred with a bit of a laugh in his voice."
"We had to look for something that was hidden in there," answered Harry as he gave a pointed look to Ron.
"You mean a… a… well, you know… Did'ja get it?" asked Ron, just catching himself before he mentioned the 'H' word. He had gotten himself into enough trouble spilling the beans about the Dursleys taking Harry's money, and he didn't need the additional embarrassment of letting the object of their mission slip in front of his brothers.
"I don't know, I…" began Harry, but stopped when he saw a white trainer attached to a shapely, disembodied calf that was resting on the floor near a darkened corner of the room. He continued in a whisper, "I think I've found Hermione," as he nodded towards the corner.
Ron walked to the corner and carefully lifted the cloak from over Hermione, who was sitting there sleeping with a bag clutched tightly to her chest. He softly tapped her on the shoulder, causing her to wake with a start.
Hermione blinked the sleep from her eyes until they rested on Harry, who was looking back at her with what looked like relief shining in his eyes. At that moment, Harry was the only other person in the room to her.
"Harry!" exclaimed Hermione as she practically jumped from the floor, dropped the bag that she was clinging to, pushed Ron aside, and then rushed to Harry's bedside, touching his face and running her hands lightly over his bandaged arm, "How are you feeling? Are you alright? I've been so worried! Does it hurt anywhere?"
Harry couldn't help but to chuckle, but at the same time, he winced in preparation of the pain he would surely feel with his laughter. Strangely enough, the pain never came. He tentatively brushed his right hand, which was still encased in the glove that Kotone had given him, over the bandages on his left bicep. He gave his own arm a slight squeeze just where he knew a large portion of his arm had been torn open, but found that it felt whole beneath its wrappings without even a twinge of pain. His brows knit together in confusion as he quickly undid the bandages and saw that his arm was now completely healed. There wasn't even a mark where he knew a huge chunk of his arm was ripped open.
As he started to unwrap the bandages from around his torso with the help of Hermione, Harry looked at the assembled group and asked, "What time is it… for that matter, what day is it?"
George glanced at his watch and said, "It's a bit after two A.M… oh, and happy birthday."
Harry's eyes fixed on Hermione and his mouth opened. It had only been about five hours since he entered the lake. A dozen questions threatened to spill forth, but he quickly glanced at Fred and George and his mouth snapped shut. When Harry had finished removing the last of his bandages, his side looked much the same as his arm… completely healed. After only a moment, he said in a hopefully convincing tone, "Looks like Madam Pomfrey worked her usual magic once again."
Fred and George looked down at Harry's blood-soaked bandages before giving each other dubious glances. From the looks of the bandages, there had to have been some serious wounds that they were concealing, wounds that they knew would take a considerable amount of time to heal over. They were about to mention something along those lines, but Hermione spoke first.
"How did you know that Harry was here? Don't tell me that news around here travels this quickly in the middle of the night."
"Well," said Ron rather reluctantly, "I've been doing a bit of practicing with that 'wand to the head' thing that you showed me. I sort of inadvertently had a vision about the twins' shop being attacked just before it happened…"
"Saved more than a few lives, he did," interjected George as he ruffled Ron's already disheveled hair.
Ron slapped George's hand away from his head in annoyance before he continued, "So I've been trying it out every chance I get. I mostly get useless stuff, like seeing what the elves were going to make for lunch or the outcome of a prank that my brothers here played on your cousin…"
"What?" yelled Harry, "Dudley's here?"
Ron's face fell as he realized what he just said, knowing that Harry had no idea that his aunt and cousin were currently being housed in the castle. The twins, however, had no reservations about informing Harry about his family's recent misfortunes.
"Ah, such a tragic tale of woe and hardship," began George.
"It seems that the inferi… you've heard about them, right?" asked Fred.
When Harry nodded, George went on to explain, "It seems that their new mansion…"
"The one they had purchased with your money, mind you," continued Fred.
"Was directly in their path," said George.
"And it seems that the letter that Dumbledore left with you when he placed you with them as a baby," added Fred.
"Was actually a portkey that was supposed to be used to save you in case the Death Eaters discovered where you were living," explained George
"But that sorry excuse for a family used it to save their own necks when the inferi overran their fabulous new mansion in Brentwood," spat Fred.
"So now, McGonagall has your aunt and your cousin," said George.
"As well as the rest of the muggle population, it seems," exaggerated Fred.
"Staying here at the castle," finished George.
Harry listened to their oscillating speech with a detached, distant expression. Harry's stony glare was fixed somewhere on the floor as he asked, "My uncle Vernon… is he here too?"
"No, it seems he was at his work when the inferi went through Brentwood," answered Ron.
"Brentwood…" commented Harry distantly. He had never been there, but he knew that it was a relatively affluent area to the northeast of London.
The room was silent for a few moments before Hermione asked worriedly, "Harry, are you alright?"
Harry's eyes drifted distractedly to Hermione's concerned face. After a few moments, he sighed and said in a resigned tone, "No, not really… but there's nothing to be done for it, is there?"
"Do you want to confront them?" asked Hermione gently, "I mean, I wouldn't blame you if you did… nobody would…" Hermione's eyes darkened as she fingered the handle of her wand and added, "Actually, I'd like to have a go at them myself…"
Harry slowly shook his head, saying, "I'm of age now, and well shut of them. What happens in their lives is no concern of mine." Desperate to change the subject, he let out a sigh then asked with some concern in his voice, "Well, what about all of the giants that are supposedly near here… any word about them?"
"The aurors said that they're still in the mountains to the north, but they're not sure exactly where," answered Ron, "You'd figure blokes that big would be pretty easy to track…"
An uncomfortable silence fell over the room for a few seconds before Ron broke the tension, "Harry, did you ever get an owl from the twins telling you what they found out about the protections around Ollivander's shop?"
"No, I haven't seen any owls at all," answered Harry.
The three brothers shared anxious, knowing glances between themselves before Fred said, "We sent off an owl to you last week. We think that the Dim Lord's cronies must have intercepted it… we figured that the message was the reason our shop was attacked. We don't know what's so important in there, but the information must have sent the Dim One into a right lather if he sent his wankers to try to take us out."
Harry looked between Ron and Hermione and quietly said, "So he knows…"
"Well, we assumed so, didn't we?" said Hermione solemnly, "We're going to have to work fast."
Harry immediately focused on the twins and he asked, "What did you find out about Ollivander's place?"
"Well," began Fred, "his shop has all of the standard business protections. There's one for fire suppression, one for anti-shoplifting, another for detecting malicious intent, you know, the usual… but oddly enough, there isn't an Anti-Apparition ward around the shop. Everyone knows there's an Anti-App ward on the whole Alley to keep anyone from grabbing an expensive knick-knack from a shelf and popping away… so the ward being disabled inside the shop ordinarily wouldn't make a lot of sense. I really don't think Ollivander would have disabled it himself."
"But there are a few additional wards that, while mostly harmless, are still a bit out of the ordinary, along with two that are much more peculiar," continued George, "The two odd ones are a horizontal area displacement jinx, and a ward that informs anyone entering the premises during non-business hours that there isn't an Anti-Apparition jinx in effect… of course, any hour of the day is 'outside of business hours,' now that the shop's closed down."
Hermione's eyes lit up when she heard what they had said and asked, "That's absolutely brilliant! I had no idea the displacement could be placed on an area that large! So what forces the Apparition?"
Harry interrupted and asked, "Wait a minute… what's that bit about displacement, and why do you think someone would be forced to Apparate?"
Harry could tell that the twins were about to launch into what would assuredly be a whimsical, dueling dialogue on exactly what was so curious about the combination of wards, but Hermione was already in her element and continued before the twins had a chance to wind up.
"Horizontal area displacement is an induced effect that shifts the background magic in an environment along a fixed, horizontal plane, causing a minute disjunction between the upper and lower halves of a pre-determined area. Normally, it's used to keep portions of a potion in a cauldron separated until a certain phase of the potion-brewing process is complete. Once it's dispelled, the upper and lower halves combine. If that effect is placed in a ward around a room, it would create a waist-level distortion… the effect would go completely unnoticed by anyone entering the area, and it wouldn't normally affect anyone unless they were to attempt Apparition. Given the fact that there's a ward that actually tells you that you can Apparate, that leads to the conclusion that, if the effect were to be invoked to defend an area, something would have to force a person who doesn't belong there to attempt to Apparate out…. well, the result would be disastrous for the person Apparating!"
Harry didn't fail to notice that Hermione said all of that in only one breath, still, that didn't mean that he understood half of what she had said. He perplexedly looked to the twins, who wasted no time in clarifying what Hermione had related.
"That means that anyone trying to Apparate from an area so protected would be forced to splinch themselves in two, leaving their lower halves behind," explained Fred.
"No matter how skilled they were at Apparition," continued George.
"So, something would have to force the person to Apparate against their will," added Fred.
"But we have no idea what that could be," said George.
"Because I didn't have the chance to actually enter the shop," finished Fred.
"What if a person uses a portkey?" asked Harry, "Would that cause the same splinching effect?"
"No, portkey travel is entirely different," said Hermione confidently, "it wouldn't affect floo travel, either. That's why we think that there must be something to force an Apparition… maybe the area fills with poison gas, or a swarm of wasps is released… something that would make a person desperate to leave in a hurry."
Harry would have to keep that in mind. He was becoming way too comfortable with Apparition, so he had to be absolutely sure that no matter what happens, he can't allow himself to Apparate out.
Then a thought occurred to Harry, "What would happen to a person who Apparates into that distortion… displacement… thing?"
Hermione thought for a moment before saying, "I don't think it would have any effect on the person, it would just activate the ward. It's only when the person leaves through Apparition does the displacement come into play."
Harry nodded and turned back to the twins, "Alright, so what else can I expect?"
"Well, as I said, I didn't actually enter the shop," said Fred, "but what I could gather from the outside was that there's a right annoying anti-burglary ward around the entire building. You can take whatever you like while you're inside, but if you try to leave with anything you didn't enter with or didn't pay for, you'd be confunded on the spot, and a built-in compulsion hex would force you to drop everything you were carrying… even your clothes… inside of the door before being physically ejected into the street."
"You'd be found wandering absently around the Alley completely starkers," added George with a chortle, "We have the same ward on our shop, except that after the thief gets naked, they'll start dancing a jig."
Harry nodded, thinking that it was another thing he had to be aware of, "Anything else?"
"Well, there's a minor 'uneasy-queasy' spell, and a 'magic buzz' cantrip that affects anyone entering. They don't really do anything, except to make you a bit uncomfortable, but we think that's something that old man Ollivander put up just to give the place an eerie feel about it and to impress the kids who go in to get their first wands."
Harry did remember that effect when he bought his wand before the first year. He recalled the feeling of latent magic permeating the room, and he was certainly feeling quite uneasy as that magical tape measure was darting around him all on its own.
"There may be more protections inside that we couldn't detect," cautioned Fred, "but it was the best we could do."
"Alright, then," sighed Harry as he reached below the sheets and started unraveling the bandages from around his leg, "We'll go there tonight." Then Harry glanced at Hermione and said, "Same plan as in the lake, but with a slight change."
"Then I think you'll need these," said Hermione as she retrieved the bag that she had dropped. She approached his bed and, as she withdrew Harry's clothes from within the bag, Hufflepuff's golden chalice accidentally fell to the floor with a loud clatter. She hastily handed Harry his clothes and then quickly scooped the cup from the floor.
"Is that it?" asked Ron as his eyes worriedly followed the cup, "Has it been, you know, 'taken care of?'"
Hermione glanced at Harry and saw the same question in his eyes as he dressed. She simply nodded, and both Ron and Harry let out audible sighs, causing the twins to look strangely between the three of them before they focused on the cup in Hermione's hand.
George leaned in closer to get a better look at the embossed emblem on the side of the cup, "Isn't that Hufflepuff's badger on the side there?"
Fred's eyes widened as he noticed the same thing, "That's a founder's relic, that is! Cor, it must be worth a small fortune! No wonder you braved the lake to get it. If we knew this was down there, we would have gone after it ourselves!"
"Too right you are," agreed George excitedly, "Is that why you wanted to know about Ollivander's shop? Is there another little goodie like this in there?"
"Listen, mates," said Harry seriously, "Just forget that you ever saw this thing. Forget what it is and forget where we found it. That information is more dangerous than you'll ever realize, and if certain people hear of it… well, it could cause a lot of problems for you, and for us."
As Hermione hastily placed the cup back into the bag, Ron turned to Harry and said, "You know, I wasn't able to return to… you know… 'the house.' Are you going to let me in on the secret so I can go back with you guys? I mean, you are still staying there, right?" Ron's voice became quieter as he added, "You… you still need me along, don't you?"
Hermione looked at Ron and gave him an apologetic grimace before she said, "We're sorry, Ron, but we can't tell you…"
Ron's hopeful face fell and he said, "Oh… well, I understand… I'd be just getting in the way and…"
"No," interrupted Harry quickly, "She means that we can't tell you. Only the secret-keeper can do that… and… and she's gone."
Hermione could hear the deep hurt in Harry's voice, and it nearly broke her heart. She wanted nothing more than to tell him that she'd seen Kotone not a few hours before, alive and well… well, at least she was alive. She wanted to tell him that it was Kotone who healed his wounds by taking them onto herself, but she vividly recalled the look that Kyuushuu gave her, and that was enough for her to keep her silence. Instead, she sat down on the bed next to Harry and wrapped him in a comforting hug. Harry, in turn, rested his head on her shoulder and buried his face in her hair while wrapping his own arms around her.
This, of course, caused the twins to grin broadly at each other, and Ron to look down to inspect the lacing on his trainers, although he still wore a small smile.
Harry sighed into Hermione's hair, and then stood from the bed, saying to Ron, "Of course you can come with us. We've found another place to stay, but we have one other thing to do before we go back there, and we'll need you there to help.
While Ron visibly brightened, Hermione stood and, while her eyes were fixed on the pile of bloody bandages on the bedside table, she asked Harry, "Are you sure you're feeling well enough to leave? You know that there'll be hell to pay once Madam Pomfrey returns and sees you're not here… and McGonagall will be none too pleased, either."
"Don't worry about them," said Fred.
"We'll cover for you," added George.
"We'll just tell 'em that we saw Fawkes passing by and told him of our troubles with our shop and the Burrow," continued Fred.
"The bloody bird broke down in tears, he did!" said George.
"Blubbering all over our Harry, here," grinned Fred.
"The next thing you know, Harry's walking and talking, just as if he were alive!" snickered George.
"Harry said something about wanting to go snog his girlfriend, and off he went, without even a fine 'how do you do!'" finished Fred.
Harry and Ron laughed, while Hermione's cheeks turned an interesting shade of pink.
Harry clapped his hands on the twins' shoulders and said, "Thanks, mates. We appreciate it, although I very much doubt they'd buy a story like that. We've really got to get going… time's running out."
The three expertly navigated the castles many twisting, shifting hallways, heading for the main entrance. Ron had no problem being seen by the occasional auror stationed around the staircases as he was supposed to be inside of the castle. Whenever he was questioned, he's simply say that he was heading to the kitchens to beg a snack from the house elves. There was something to be said about being known for one's appetite.
Harry and Hermione followed along sharing the space beneath the invisibility cloak. It was a good thing that neither one was very tall and that they were both quite thin, as they would have had a difficult time fitting under the cloak together if either one of those factors were different.
They had just made it into the main hallway on the second floor when a swift streak of black and grey came soaring towards them from the stairway ahead. A large great horned owl lit on the floor in front of Harry and Hermione and stuck its leg out. Harry bent down, forcing Hermione to stoop along with him, and carefully removed the note from the bird's leg. The owl just sat there, looking at the empty space ahead of him as if waiting for something.
Harry could tell right away that the message was actually two bits of parchment stuck one on top of the other, but couldn't seem to separate them as he unrolled them. Ron moved to where the bits of parchment were seemingly hovering in the air so that he could also look. Harry drew back the hood of the cloak, revealing both his and Hermione's wide, disbelieving eyes. Written on the top parchment was a short, simple statement.
'The Potters are living at Number Seven Aerie Green, Godric's Hollow, Devon.'
"Why would someone send you an address in Godric's Hollow?" asked Ron as he stared at the trembling parchment.
Before anyone could answer, the top sheet of parchment burst into flames. Harry instinctively released the parchment, sending it fluttering to the floor. It took a moment for Harry to compose himself before he reached down and picked it up again. There was another statement written on the second scrap of parchment.
'Nagini is hidden at Number Seven Aerie Green, Godric's Hollow, Devon.'
A short note was written below which simply read, 'Forgive me,' and was signed, 'Peter Pettigrew.'
"Bloody Hell, Harry!" whispered Ron as he read the name. A few seconds later, that bit of parchment burst into flames, leaving nothing but ashes drifting to the floor.
"He… he's hidden his snake in my parents' house…" whispered Harry hoarsely.
"The Fidelis from when you lived there with your parents must still be in effect," whispered Hermione absently, "Wormtail is still the secret-keeper, even after all these years… and a second Fidelis must have been placed there to hide Nagini… ingenious… two overlapping Fidelis Charms! He had to use the same secret keeper… I didn't even think it was possible to perform that spell while…"
"Will you please stop complimenting Voldemort?" hissed Harry sharply, but sighed a moment later when he saw Hermione's crestfallen expression and said, "I'm sorry, but really… it's a bit unnerving, to say the least."
None of them noticed that the owl that had delivered the message had flown off down the corridor, just as none of the three had noticed the three sets of eyes watching them carefully. Two pairs of ethereal eyes, one pair of amethyst, the other of amber, watched silently from above them. The third pair of pearly, translucent eyes belonging to the Gryffindor Ghost, Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington, was staring at the group from within a shadowed niche in the hallway.
"Before we leave, we have to visit Hagrid," said Harry as he drew the hood of the cloak up once again and the trio continued down the hall, oblivious to the presence of the observers.
Eventually, they reached the stairs leading to the front door and discovered that Benjamin Bones, along with another auror, were quietly standing guard. Hermione recognized the petit, strawberry blonde auror as the one that was insisting that Harry was an impostor. The three stood at the top of the stairs just out of sight.
"I'm sure Ben would let us out," whispered Hermione, "but that other auror is a bit high-strung… she may be a problem."
"Leave it to me," said Ron confidently as he started down the stairs.
When Ron reached the two aurors, Harry and Hermione heard him say, "Excuse me, Mr. Bones, can I speak with you a minute? I… I need some advice." The other auror, Christiana Coddington, moved a bit closer to Ben. Ron turned to her, but was still speaking to Ben, "It's about my girlfriend, and I need a male point of view…"
When Christiana made no motion to give them any privacy, he turned back to Ben, flashed a brief smile, and said, a bit more loudly than necessary, "You see, whenever we get together, she always wants me to perform oral sex on her before we actually make love…"
Ben just stood there, wondering why the Weasley boy was even confiding in him, of all people, while Coddington moved in even closer with a curious smile on her face, apparently anxious to play 'relationship doctor,' and the young woman didn't mind listening to a randy tale in the least.
"Well, this afternoon, she started her period," continued Ron with a serious expression, "She told me she doesn't want to have regular sex while she's on her period, so she told me to stick it up her bum!"
At the mention of that, Coddington's face paled and she took an instinctive step back.
"I don't mind it so much, it's kinda fun actually… quite a bit tighter than the other way, you know, but that's not what my problem is… you see, she still wants me to perform oral sex on her… but it tastes bloody awful, and the little clots get stuck in my teeth… although they do make a funny little 'pop' when I bite them… but that's not the worst of it! I don't know what got in her head, but as she was sitting on my face, she dropped a crapper on me! It scraped along my chin and landed with a 'plop' right on my chest!"
In the course of a few heartbeats, Coddington's face went from white to green. She took another stumbling step backwards and said through her hand that was covering her mouth, "Got to… loo… Oh, God!"
With a loud, gurgling belch, Coddington disappeared down the hallway towards the nearest loo.
"Alright," said Ben, who was having a hard time keeping his laughter in check, "Now that you got rid of her, what's this really about?"
"We need to get out of the castle," said Harry as he removed the hood from over his and Hermione's face, "and we didn't think she'd be too keen on letting us waltz out of here."
The shock was evident on Ben's face as he looked at Harry while drawing his wand, "What? How? Dammit, Potter, the moment I think I have you figured out, you go and surprise me again. Take that damned cloak off!" He saw Harry eyeing the wand in his hand and gruffly sighed, "I'm only going to examine you… you were on death's doormat just a few hours ago, and McGonagall would have my yarbles in a wringer if I let you stroll out of here without at least finding out if you're going to make it more than twenty yards from the door.
When Harry emerged from under the cloak, Ben immediately noticed that his formerly injured, now un-bandaged arm was fully exposed from the sleeve of his brown tee shirt. He grabbed Harry's wrist and examined his left bicep. There was no trace of any injury, not even a scar, not counting the one on his forearm from Pettigrew's dagger in the graveyard years before. Harry lifted the hem of the tee shirt up to his chest, revealing the area that had been sliced open by the side fin of the charging hippocampus, but just like his arm, there was no sign of any injury at all. Ben deftly cast a diagnostic charm on him, but could fine nothing wrong with him whatsoever.
Ben sighed again, then turned and opened the door, "Out with you, then, before Coddington gets back… and Harry?"
Harry had just covered Hermione and himself with the cloak, but pulled the hood open to reveal his face.
"Make sure you're outside of the wards before you Disapparate… and be careful. I know you can't say what you're up to, but if you ever need my help… well, don't hesitate to call on me if the need arises."
Harry smiled appreciatively and pulled the hood back over his face. A moment later, Ben closed the door just in time to see Coddington returning from the ladies' loo, looking sickly pale and sweaty. She glanced around nervously, apparently looking for the crude redhead with exceedingly disgusting romantic problems.
"Christiana, you don't look so good. Why don't you go and have a lie-down? Billings should be up by now, so you can send him down to cover for you."
Coddington nodded absently as she unsteadily made her way to the staircase. Ben just grumbled about 'green recruits' again, and then turned worriedly towards the door that the trio had just left through.
Harry and Hermione were following behind Ron as they made their way across the grounds towards Hagrid's cabin.
"Ron!" whispered Hermione, "How could you think up such an unbelievable story like that? I mean, it did work, but don't you think you took it a bit far?"
"Unbelievable story?" asked Ron perplexedly, "but I didn't make it… oh, yes, a story… well… quick thinking on my part, and all that… I had to make her leave, you know?" In the darkness, neither Harry nor Hermione could see the burning blush colour Ron's face, but the way he stammered out his reply caused the colour to slightly drain away from theirs. The rest of the journey to Hagrid's hut was made in uncomfortable silence.
As they were approaching, they heard Fang growling and barking at the cabin door. A moment after Ron rapped loudly on the door, it opened to show Hagrid standing there with his crossbow pointed out through the opening. It only took him a second to realize who was knocking on his door at four in the morning.
"Ron! What're ya doin' 'ere at this time o' the mornin'? Is anything wrong up at… what the... Harry?" Hagrid paused as he watched the faces of Harry and Hermione emerge from beneath the cloak's hood. He craned his head through the doorway to see if anyone else was around, and then held the door open and stood aside, saying, "Get in 'ere before yer seen!"
After Hagrid closed the door, he turned to see Harry and Hermione appear from under the cloak.
A curious look came over Hagrid's face as he asked, "Where's our Miss Oota?"
"It's 'Miss Potter' now," said Hermione quickly, "Harry adopted her yesterday, but she's… not with us at the moment."
Hagrid's eyes widened as he said disbelievingly, "Adopted 'er? You actually took an 'alf-breed into yer family's line?"
Harry felt a twinge of annoyance at Hagrid's incredulous tone, and was about to go off on him but paused when he saw the half-giant wipe his eyes on the sleeve of his nightshirt.
"I can't believe you'd do summut like that for 'er!" said Hagrid with a bit of a waver in his voice, "I knew you was a thumpin' good wizard, Harry… never doubted it for an instant!"
Hagrid wiped his leaking eyes again, and them pulled a huge hanky out of the pocket of his nightshirt and blew his nose loudly before saying, "Well, since it's your birthday, I have somethin' for you."
Hagrid walked towards the fireplace and took a box down from the mantle. He walked back over to Harry and placed the box in his hands. Harry opened the lid on the box and almost laughed when he saw the cake inside that looked just like the one he was given to him when they had first met.
"I made it myself," said Hagrid proudly, although that fact was obvious to Harry by the way 'Happy Birthday, Harry' was scrawled across the icing.
"How did you know I was going to be here?" asked Harry as he stared down at the cake.
"Well, I didn' know… I make a cake for you every year, but I usually end up eatin' it meself…" said Hagrid solemnly, "It's the least I can do for James an' Lily, to remember their son's birthday…"
Harry was touched. He felt a small lump rise in his throat, and had to swallow it painfully down so that he could say, "Thanks a lot, Hagrid… that means a lot to me. Actually, we're here to ask you about Godric's Hollow. We need to know how to get there."
Hagrid's face fell as he said, "You know I'd like to, Harry, but I can't tell yeh…"
"We know about the Fidelis on the house," said Harry, "Pettigrew sent a note telling us the secret, so it won't be invisible to us. We just need the general area so we'll know where to look for it."
Hagrid spent some time explaining how Godric's Hollow was a short way to the north from the town of Cheriton in the Exmoor Forest. They talked for a short while longer and once they were confident that they could locate the house, they excused themselves and prepared to leave.
Hagrid showed them to the door as he said, "its great seein' ya again, Harry… you too, Hermione. Make sure you stop in for a visit the next time you're… What're you lot doin' here?"
Hagrid was looking out through the door that he had just opened for the trio. Harry turned and looked out through the open doorway, and was instantly shocked into silence as he saw the vast congregation gathered in front of Hagrid's hut.
"What are they doing here?" whispered Hermione.
A figure emerged from the vast multitude and glided slowly up to the hut, stopping just before the trio, but looking directly into Hermione's eyes.
"Miss Granger," greeted Sir Nicholas, "we were wondering if you could spare a few moments. We have something we'd like to discuss with you."
Hermione's eyes drifted across the throng of specters spread across the Hogwarts grounds. She saw the members of the Headless Hunt, all mounted on their ghostly steeds, standing silently behind Nearly Headless Nick. She saw the Grey Lady, The Fat Friar and even the Bloody Baron milling around in a large group with the other Hogwarts ghosts. Groups of ghosts that she didn't recognize whispered anxiously to themselves, all fidgeting nervously, and all had their pearly eyes trained on Hermione, making the uneasiness within her grow each passing second. It was almost as if every ghost in England was gathered on the Hogwarts green.
Suddenly, Hermione's eyes widened and fear gripped her heart as the realization struck her. She looked into Nick's anxious eyes, and she immediately knew what they all wanted…
Hermione quickly turned away from the gathered multitude and buried her face in her hands. Tears came to her eyes as she thought, 'They want to pass on… and they want me to do it for them!'
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