Chapter 11: Loose Ends
Two and a half tea kettles later, Harry and Luna sat impatiently at the dining table, eyes not leaving the small line on the far wall which indicated the entrance to the tent. It had been well over an hour since Hermione had grudgingly disappeared behind the veil, following an equally glum Ron.
"It's awfully quiet," Harry said, the first words spoken between the two of them in quite a bit of time.
Luna nodded her head as she took a sip of tea, more out of habit than out of thirst. "It must be a good sign, I haven't heard an explosion in over twenty minutes."
Harry had been tempted to run out and save his two best friends from themselves, but deep down he knew that they had to get it out of their systems. If they kept any of their regrets inside of them, it would destroy their team dynamic. Even with Luna, if neither of them had their minds completely focused on the hunt for the Horcruxes, Voldemort would have an unnecessary, but powerful advantage against them. Their teamwork was legendary when they all worked together, but any sort of reluctance to help one another would be enough to jeopardize their entire mission.
Besides, a part of Harry was afraid of getting caught in the crossfire. Ron wouldn't be using any magic against Hermione, but judging from the noises they were hearing coming from their location it seemed as if her already powerful spellcasting had reached ludicrous proportions. Harry prayed that the secrecy charms Hermione had cast would hold up despite the onslaught.
"And," Harry added to himself, suppressing an evil laugh, "Ron deserves it."
Harry scratched the back of his neck, yawning slightly. "Still…"
"The silence is more frightening than the noise?" said Luna, smirking as she continued to stare at the door.
"Exactly."
There was another stint of inactivity and ominous silence as Harry refilled their glasses. It was torture waiting for them to finish their talk. Images of Hermione reverting back to the broken state she was in the first few days Ron had left floated at the front of his mind. A sudden anger flared within him, making him wish that he was the one outside jinxing Ron to death, but it was quickly suppressed by his own will power. As much as he hated leaving her so vulnerable, this was Hermione's battle to fight. He would be there after to help clean the wounds (literally, in Ron's case), but until that moment there was nothing he could do for her.
Wanting to distract himself, Harry decided to attempt a conversation with Luna. He realized that despite sitting across from her for such a long time, their words had been nothing more than talk about Ron and Hermione.
"So Luna…er…how is everyone at Hogwarts?"
Luna seemed surprised that Harry was addressing her. It suddenly occurred to him that despite being one of the best members in the DA, nobody outside them, Neville, and Ginny ever really talked to her. The thought that such a unique individual was shunned by so many of her peers made Harry frown. They were so much alike, two individuals whose reputations determined everyone's view towards them rather than who they actually were.
"Well, Professor…Headmaster Snape has made it a pretty horrible place to be. Pretty much anything that involves groups of students outside of classes has been disbanded forcefully. But he isn't the worst problem: It's the Carrows. They are his enforcers…violent, horrible people they are. Thankfully I have been able to avoid any of their detentions, but Neville…"
"Neville?!" Harry burst out, shocked. "Bloody hell, first everyone picks on him for being odd and now Death Eaters are punishing him for no reason…"
"Oh, he deserves it," Luna said sympathetically, causing Harry to look at her oddly. "Not to say what they did was right, but he did come into their path. Many times, actually…I've never seen him so determined to fight authority…"
Harry was shocked. Of all people he could have thought of to fight Snape's regime, Neville would not have been on the top of his list. Sure, out of all the Hogwart's students left he probably had the best reason for seeking revenge on the Death Eaters, but he had never really struck Harry as a person who would develop into a rebellious leader. Apparently Ron wasn't the only person who had matured this year.
"Wow…Neville…Who would have guessed! So how has he been fighting back?"
Luna smiled. "Well, it was mostly secretive things…making the environment as hectic as possible, secretly rallying a resistance force, saving those who were being tortured and hunted by the Carrows and hid them in the Room of Requirement…but I think the thing that made Headmaster Snape most angry was that he continued the DA."
Harry suppressed a cringe at Luna's decision to give Snape such a respected title, instead choosing to smile as he leaned back into his chair, hands behind his head. Neville was continuing what he had started. It was good to know that somewhere there was a group of people just like him doing all they could to fight Voldemort's control.
"That's absolutely brilliant! Best news I've heard in awhile."
"Yes, he is quite an amazing person, Neville. But they can only do so much. Last I heard, he had to go into hiding since the Headmaster had decreed it alright for the Carrows to have absolute, unquestionable power over the discipline system. Basically, they tortured dozens of random people in an attempt to get us to stop intervening with their plans. Neville said that he did not want more innocent people hurt, so we had to stop our sabotage," Luna finished, frowning. "It's much worse than it was with Professor Umbridge, Harry. Especially with you not there."
"What do you mean?" asked Harry, taken aback.
"Although lots of people distrusted you or thought you were a fraud, ever since You-Know-Who came back into the public eye, everyone felt…I suppose safe with you around. I mean, you are the Chosen One, after all."
Harry pondered over what Luna had said. He left Hogwarts to protect everyone there, but it seems as if things had become much worse indeed. However, they would need to learn to persevere without him being there. If Neville and Luna were any indication, the kids back at school would be able to survive, albeit scarred, until they had destroyed all the Horcruxes and eventually Voldemort himself.
"But I digress…I assume you are waiting for me to talk about Ginny?" inquired Luna with a grin expectantly. To her surprise, Harry did not smile at the mention of his former girlfriend's name. Rather, he seemed to fall into a deep internal struggle, his face showing nothing but confusion.
"Err…" he managed to utter in response. Harry had been trying to avoid all thoughts about Ginny lately. He glanced at the doorway. Just like Ron and Hermione were doing at the moment, he too would have to have a break-up talk with the youngest Weasley. But it was going to be different: For all Harry knew she was still in love with him, and she had no idea that he had lost all romantic feelings for her. A part of him was apprehensive of that inevitable conversation, but a larger part of his heart was filled with guilt. He felt almost as if he had led her on…made her think that she and him were destined to be together forever. In all honesty, he had almost led himself to believe that their relationship was destiny.
It was yet another situation where the voice inside his head had been wiser than his own instincts. The fact that that particular voice was Hermione's, Harry insisted, was a mere coincidence.
Luna frowned. She didn't realize how much Harry missed her, why else would he be so upset at the mentioning of her name? Choosing not to cause any further damage, she instead chose to sip from her teacup. He probably did not want to hear about how Ginny had become the second in command of the DA and was starting to get suspiciously close to Neville, anyway. That would probably just upset him even more.
Their silent contemplations were interrupted by the swift ruffle of canvas and a sudden burst of cold wind and snow. Hermione dragged her boots across the floor, snow and sweat littered across her brow. She hung her coat on the rack beside the entrance and quickly proceeded toward the kitchen, choosing not to acknowledge Harry and Luna's questioning looks.
"I'm going to make some tea," grumbled Hermione through gritted teeth as she continued her brisk walk towards the opposite end of the room.
"Actually we have some right…" started Luna hopefully.
"FRESH tea!" shouted Hermione over her shoulder as her bushy hair disappeared from their sight.
Harry turned to face Luna. She was staring back at him, blinking confusedly. He had no idea whether to take Hermione's reentrance as a good sign or a bad one.
One thing was for sure: The fact that Ron had not returned with could not be a good thing.
As they both got up to run outside, expecting to find the bloody corpse of their male companion, a scruffy figure slowly limped into the tent. His clothing was rough and tattered, so much so that it seemed Lupin had found them but dyed his hair red.
"Ronald, are you alright?" asked Luna, covering her mouth.
"Oh yeah, just peachy, thanks Luna," said Ron as he used a nearby side-table as a makeshift crutch. When he finally was able to stand up to his full height, Harry took a step back in horror; Ron reminded him of a zombie. There were several holes in his robes, the outsides charred black as if he had been the target of hail of fireballs. Snow covered him in several spots, the non-white areas darkened with wetness. Across his freckled face were larger red spots, the battle wounds he had suffered at the claws of Hermione's army of conjured canaries. From where Harry was standing, it also seemed as if a good portion of the hair on top of his head had suddenly disappeared, making it look like an out-of-place bald spot.
"Mate, you look like hell…" Harry said as he helped Ron to the empty seat beside Luna. When he sat down, she started to dust the snow off his clothing, pieces of linen also falling off during her sweeping.
"Feel like it too," Ron said as he poured himself a cup of tea.
"So I assume you guys…err…got everything out in the open?" asked Harry, hoping that it wasn't too soon to be intruding in on their private conversation. He couldn't help it though: he had to know whether or not everything was going to be ok.
"Well, after the ambush of canaries, the dodging of various curses I've never even heard about, and me finally being able to disarm her and tie her down…"
"You tied her down?!" Luna and Harry shouted at him, both of them glaring.
"I had too! If I didn't she would have eventually got the attention of the Death Eaters, what with her fireworks display. That and it was the only way I could get her to listen to me!" Ron defended himself fiercely, rubbing a gash they had failed to notice before on his right elbow. "But don't worry, she got plenty of shots in before I was able to subdue the violent side of her…"
Harry was getting impatient. "But did you talk it out? Are you guys going to be alright or will I have to get used to being stuck in the middle of another one of your guys' arguments again?"
Ron cringed as he accidently poked a particularly large bruise on his left arm, the wound nothing more than a large mound of brown skin. "She didn't really say much; I told her everything I told you before I let her go. So I guess it's all up to her now…"
The room fell silent as they heard Hermione's heavy footsteps reenter the area. Unlike Ron, she seemed exactly the same as she had been when she had left the tent, although a little bit more flustered. Contrary to what she had said earlier, she had emerged from the kitchen without any type of beverage, and the sound of boiling water could not be heard.
"Err…I thought you said you were going to get tea," Harry said softly, afraid that he might trigger her off (his ribs were still sore from the punch she had given him earlier).
"I've decided that I didn't want tea, rather I would prefer a good night's rest. I'm exhausted. So if you will all excuse me," Hermione started marching toward her bedroom, feigning tiredness, "Good night Harry, night Luna."
The three watched as she walked with hurried steps across the table and towards a corner of the room. When she got there, however, she quickly turned around, which caused them all to jump back. Harry got out of his chair, afraid of Hermione's sudden excitement. However, no one was prepared for what happened next:
She sprinted across the room and flung her arms around Harry, laughing hysterically.
"Err…Hermione?" questioned Harry as she continued her guffaw, the sound muffled by his shoulder.
"Oh, Merlin…in all the excitement I totally forgot!"
Confused, Harry looked through the mess of hair in front of him, spinning Hermione just enough so he could come into eye contact with Ron. He shot him an angry look. In response, Harry threw up his hands in a gesture that was supposed to be a shrug.
"What have you done to her?!" Harry mouthed silently to him.
Ron shook his head while shrugging his shoulders. He had not done a single thing to her during their whole conversation (besides tying her down, of course). Ron jabbed his finger towards Hermione's back, his right hand spinning around the side of his head as he mouthed back the word 'mental' to his black haired friend.
Harry broke their hug and held her in such a way that he could stare into her eyes. She was positively beaming, letting go of his sides in order to grab the front of his robes and pull him closer. He felt his clothes pull slightly up and down as she giddily jumped in place.
"Hermione, mind explaining why you're so happy all of a sudden?" asked Harry after placing his hands firmly on her shoulder, keeping her grounded.
"Harry, look around the room."
He did as he was told. Ron and Luna watched on as Harry scanned the area, his eyes darting from object to object in hopes that he would find anything that would prove that Hermione wasn't delusional.
Eventually Harry's eyes led him back to Hermione's face. She was staring at him, anticipating a burst of joy when he realized what had happened. It reminded him of a child who was about to reveal her secret in an explosion of excitement.
Harry glared at her with a raised eyebrow. "Hermione, I give up. What is it?"
"The rooms Harry! The rooms!" she squealed as she began hopping again.
"What about them?" asked Ron, his head spinning as he tried to understand what was so special about their sleeping quarters. However, a light bulb went off in Harry's head, and he quickly reciprocated Hermione's bone-crushing embrace, cheering loudly and spinning her around, her feet inches away from knocking over the chair he had been sitting in.
"Is this another one of your guys' inside jokes?" Luna asked Ron as she stared at the two friends in their jubilation.
"Not any I know of," mumbled Ron truthfully out of the side of his mouth.
"It must have happened---" started Harry.
"---Yes! When we were in the field, there was no one here so---"
"---So that's why there are four rooms now---"
"---everything is back to normal---"
"---Oh wow! That must mean---"
"---We no longer have to---"
"I hate it when they do this," whispered Ron, shaking his head but not moving his gaze. Luna giggled.
"---Oh, Harry, this is such good news!"
"Yes, it is!"
Harry picked Hermione up and started to spin her around again, her face buried into his shoulder, muffling her laughter.
"EXCUSE ME!"
Ron's sudden outburst caused the spinning duo to cease their celebration. Blushing furiously, Harry set Hermione back down on her feet and took a large sidestep away from her. He had totally forgotten in his excitement that there were other people in the room.
"Now what the bloody hell are you two on about?" Ron asked, limping towards the room Hermione was previously approaching but failing to make it all the way there, opting to half-sit on a counter in order to prevent himself from outright falling down. He peered back towards his original destination before looking back at Harry and Hermione. "What happened to the rooms?"
Hermione took a seat next to Luna. "Luna, have you ever been in a magical tent like this one before?"
The younger witch was alarmed by her sudden inclusion in the conversation of the room. "Well, actually…"
"Yes yes, you are right," interrupted Hermione, getting up from her seat and exploring another one of the new curtained spaces which had literally spawned from thin air. "They are adaptive, and as such, we have changed to a more comfortable four person arrangement after having a one…err…two-person arrangement for so long. Sorry if we scared you with that outburst and such Luna…"
"Actually, I was…"
Hermione giggled and ran to investigate the outside of another room, grabbing the zipper and running up and down along its track. "It's just…we are happy that things are back to…the way they should be!"
Ron sighed and smiled. "That's good, I'm glad that you…"
"I wasn't talking about you," Hermione mumbled angrily, a yellow feather shooting inadvertently out of her wand and landing on Ron's left shoulder, which elicited a shiver of fear from deep within him. "Oh no, things will definitely not be normal between us for quite some time, Ronald Bilius Weasley, if ever."
Hermione, her bipolarity of the moment seeming to settle in favor of anger, stomped out of the room without saying another word, her damp robes sliding slowly like a slug behind her as she disappeared into one of the new sleeping quarters in the farthest corner of the room.
"Blimey, make a joke and she explodes," Ron muttered to himself as Harry approached him.
Consolingly, Harry gave Ron a pat on the shoulder. "She'll come around mate, just give her time."
He smiled weakly back at his bespectacled best friend and let out a fierce yawn. "I hope for my sake that she does. I don't think I can stand another furious barrage from her…I wouldn't be surprised if there are swarms of Death Eaters coming our way with the ruckus she was making."
The smile fell off Harry's face as soon as the words left his mouth. Reflexively, he flicked his wand and dimmed the lights in the room to the point that he could barely make out the dark shapes of the furniture in the area. With another swipe and incantation, the walls briefly shined a bright green, a slight rush of wind indicating that the protective charms of the tent had been reinforced.
"Paranoid much, mate? It was only a joke," whispered Ron as he tried to make his way back to the center of the room, instead banging his knee against the table clumsily. The noise caused Luna to yelp in surprise, her statuesque trance temporarily disrupted.
"When it comes to Voldemort," Harry whispered back, no hint of humor in his voice, "there is no joking around."
As Harry sat down across from Luna and Ron silently, he turned his attention to the weapon residing on the counter nearby. The bit of illumination emitted from the low, rustling flame that heated the tent seemed to all be magnified in the swords polished blade. The reflections, Harry thought, made it seem as if the sword were ablaze.
Silence filled the air as the trio of friends stared at the ancient artifact. Ron was the first to speak.
"Now that we have that, what do we do next?"
Harry could not answer Ron. It had been a miracle that led Harry to the sword and consequently, the destruction of the locket, but now they were once again out of clues. Sure, they now knew what another one of the Horcrux's was, but that information was useless without knowing where Ravenclaw's diadem was. He closed his eyes and rubbed his temple slowly, trying to replay the events of the day in his mind.
In the span of twenty-four hours, he had almost killed himself swimming in ice cold water, been reunited with and saved by the friend that betrayed him, gained a new ally because he was responsible (although not directly) for her being put on a death list, found an ancient sword by following a stranger's patronus which could have led him straight into a trap set by Voldemort, destroyed a portion of the soul of the most vile wizard who ever lived, and managed to remain neutral in the pseudo-break-off of his two closest classmates. Not to mention the always present stress of having the fate of the world rest solely on him, the notion that death faced him around every corner, and that the longer he took to finish his quest, the more people would lose their lives.
But none of that could compare to the idea that he had almost lost Hermione. Harry felt unexpected tears well up behind his closed eyelids as the image of her lying limp and helpless in the snow came back to him. If he had lost her…
Harry took a deep breath. He did not want to think about it. For now, he was just thankful that the light's were too dim to see the single tear that escaped his bloodshot eyes as he repressed the notion out of his conscience.
"Harry?"
Retaining his composure, Harry's head slowly turned towards the feminine voice that called his name from across the table. Even through the darkness, it seemed as if Ron and Luna's gaze had shifted towards him, although Harry could not read their expressions to see if they realized his mental turmoil.
"Yes, Luna?"
"If there is anything I can do to help, anything at all, I am here for you," said Luna, her lackadaisical voice and lack of a corporeal figure in the black of the room making it seem as if a disembodied angel was talking to him.
"Same here mate, I'm right behind you from here on out," added Ron, his voice filled with uncharacteristic seriousness.
The words from his companions seemed to temporarily push back Harry's fears, replacing them with hope. Although the odds were stacked against them, he knew that they would not go down without a fight. They now had the tools to finish the quest to destroy the Horcruxes, and with his fellowship together once again he found no words to express the gratitude he felt towards each and every one of them.
He hoped that despite the darkness, they could see the grateful smile that was plastered onto his face.
"Thanks you two, that means a lot to me. I promise that if we ever…"
But Harry never had a chance to finish his sentence. A high pitched shriek echoed in the tent, the source of the noise seeming to be from behind the tan, canvas curtains of a small bedroom in the corner furthest away from the dining room table.
A/N: Ok, saying that a new chapter is overdue is kind of the understatement of the century, but to all my readers (who I hope are still out there) I am not dead. Just finished my first semester of college and it REALLY sucks up your time, but hopefully I can write a little bit more this time around. Now this chapter was half-written before my hiatus, so the quality is quite possibly horrid compared to my old stuff, but I hope it is still enjoyable to someone out there. Also, it has been several months since I have touched DH, so any inconsistencies (besides the Voldemort taboo…that one I have explained before :P) let me know please so I can adjust the story accordingly!
-Wilkes-