Disclaimer : Harry Potter - JK Rowling's. Thanks for making such inspiring characters. And thanks to all those who were kind enough to submit reviews. They keep me writing.
Chapter 22 - A Pleasant Distraction From A Busy Schedule
It was seven in the morning and Harry did not get much sleep. Last night, he debated and then decided against calling Hermione to tell her about Miguel Gomez. There was no point making her lose sleep over it too. They would talk about him the morning.
Though Harry's gut feeling said Gomez was involved, he was innocent until proven otherwise. The most logical next step was to talk to Gomez and ask him about the Muggle murder victims. They would also have to ask him about the other two foster care kids and whether he knew them. The problem was that if Gomez was half as good an Unspeakable as Hermione was, it would be unlikely for him to have any trouble hiding information.
Obtaining Ministry information about such a high-ranking official was also going to be challenging. Such records required a certain level of access, probably only the Minister himself would have clearance. And if Gomez was indeed involved, one could only guess who else in the Ministry was.
He showered and dressed. Picking up the mobile phone Ritchie gave him where he left it last night, he hesitated, wondering if this was too early to be calling her. When did that ever matter? You can call on her anytime you need to. Also, he knew she was typically up at five in the morning.
His thoughts last night as he tossed and turned in bed naturally progressed from Gomez to Hermione. He tried to remember all the things they had said to each other since his return and recognized that there was still a lot to be said. He resolved that he was not going to let the day end without telling her in no uncertain words how he felt about her. It would take no more than a minute, maybe two. Surely, he could steal her away for two minutes of privacy and have an uninterrupted and meaningful conversation. And though it was beyond his control, he wished she would at least let him know where he stood.
Harry assumed she cared about him the same way he cared about her, but at the moment his confidence in that belief was wavering. He thought, Hermione never gave up anything for him; she gave up magic for Ritchie. Hermione spent one night with him; she and Ritchie spent so many nights with each other it sickened him just thinking about it. Maybe he was just too optimistic about the whole thing. She did choose not to stay with him last night.
Phone in hand and staring intently at all the various buttons, he thought it shouldn't be that complicated to call her. Without doing anything, Hermione's name came up on the display, indicating where she was, and the phone started dialing her number. Ritchie's voice answered before he could think about why it did that on its own. The familiar hot sensation overcame him in addition to the sharp stabbing pain in his chest.
Before he could squash it, the ugly green monster spoke for him, "Maybe you should tap her phone, too."
Harry should have been more prepared that Ritchie would answer. After all, the phone display did say she was at his house.
"Oh, it's you," his response was dry, "Hang on, I'll get her."
Harry listened as he heard him walk some distance and open a door. He could hear splattering water in the background, the sound resonating within the restrained space. The shower shut off just as the door opened.
"I'm sorry, I thought you were done," he heard Ritchie say, the words echoing in the confines of the bathroom.
"I am. Could you pass me the towel, please?" There was a pause. "Are you heading off?"
"Early team meeting. I'll put a few men to tag Gray but I can't promise we won't pick him up. I'll see you later," Harry heard a kiss, "By the way, Harry's on the phone for you."
"Thanks," then her voice came over the phone, Harry thought somewhat perky, "Harry."
He was still smarting from hearing her conversation with Ritchie and though not consciously meaning to, Harry heard his voice say with a hint of disparagement, "You must have had a good night."
It still annoyed Harry how there were some things he was inept at, foremost being his inability to control his temper. He was insanely envious of Ritchie and spiteful that Hermione just couldn't leave him. Why did it seem so difficult for her to do that? His hope that Hermione did not recognize his sarcasm was quickly quashed.
"A good morning to you, too," she replied, the cheer in her voice gone and then she was all business, "Listen, something's come up. We have to meet this morning. St Mungo's, in half an hour?"
He agreed, "One of the foster kids on the list Ritchie gave me last night is Miguel Gomez."
She already knew, "I found out this morning, too," then she said with concern, "The other one is Dean, Ginny's Dean."
Harry could not believe it, "Dean Gray is Dean Thomas? It can't be."
"I read the file but I can't believe he's involved in all this. We'll talk more when we meet. Ginny should be at St. Mungo's. See you in half an hour."
And she said goodbye.
As he put the phone in his pocket, there was a knock on his door. He almost forgot that after he saw Miguel Gomez' name, he sent Hedwig out last night with notes to Tonks and Remus, and Kingsley. He figured, having this conversation at the Ministry could be challenging and might not go unnoticed.
Only Remus and Kingsley could come. Tonks, Harry heard, was at the site of the Cardinal's latest murder. It happened late last night and the victim was someone familiar. Severus Snape was dead. It seemed surreal. Somehow he thought Snape would live forever.
Kingsley said solemnly, "Hermione was seen leaving his house the other day. Have you seen her? She should turn herself in."
"It's not her, Kingsley."
"At this point, all the evidence points to her," Kingsley explained, "Unless you have proof someone else is doing this, you can tell everyone she's innocent but the courts will still send her to Azkaban."
"I don't blame her for not wanting to go to Azkaban. We need her so we catch the real murderer," he said to Kingsley, "A few weeks ago, Ron and Hermione asked for help to investigate the Muggle serial murders. They approached you and Tonks about it."
Kingsley denied it, "I don't remember that at all."
Remus replied, "Dora did not mention anything about that. It's odd but a few weeks ago, I swear something was not quite right with her."
"How do you mean?" Harry asked.
"She was so forgetful, and I remember because we had quite a few arguments about it."
"Now that you mention that, I felt the same way. Like I was missing minutes of my day," Kingsley paused and frowned in thought, finally suggesting, "If they did tell us, our memories were likely altered. Dorner was an expert in memory alteration charms. Was he involved in this? Was this why he was murdered?"
Remus added, "Dora was quite upset about the frequent meetings he was calling. Called them a colossal waste of time."
"What is this about, Harry?" Kingsley finally asked; more open to what Harry had to say and to the possibility of Hermione's innocence.
Harry proceeded to talk to them about Project Lumos, the Muggle murders, Lowes and Dorner. He showed them the last part of Ron's memory from their encounter with the Cardinal two weeks ago. The sight of Ron's spells bouncing off the Cardinal was their main concern. Harry told them about how Gomez and Dean were linked to the Muggle murders.
Harry suggested resurrecting the Order, "We need to at least arm as many wizards and witches with the counter curses."
Remus spoke, "You might want to proceed with caution. Hermione is a fugitive and it will be prudent to limit the number of individuals who know what this is all about and that it involves her."
Kingsley agreed, "We can meet with her tonight and discuss how to proceed. McGonagall will want to come, Moody, Tonks, maybe a few of the newer Aurors. What about the Weasleys? With Dean possibly involved that might be a risk."
"They're family," Harry said firmly, "I can't imagine not involving them. And they have a lot at stake to get to the bottom of this."
"Have a talk with Ginny and Dean. I suggest, separately at first. She may not know," Kingsley suggested, "Then you can decide."
"What about Gomez?" Remus asked.
"I want to talk with him," Harry said.
"I'll see what I can dig up, first," Kingsley answered, "He knows the right people. He may not be involved, but if he is, he's well connected, resourceful and smart. I suspect it will be difficult to implicate him in anything. But, you're right. We should talk to him. I'll set up a meeting for sometime this afternoon."
They agreed to meet at Harry's house ten o'clock that night. Just before they left, Kingsley mentioned he had not heard of the existence of the confidentiality spell Harry was asking him about. It was supposed to guard the Lumos report; it obviously failed because Dorner decided to share what he read with Lowes. Though it did not matter that much, he still wanted to find out why Hermione needed Ron's help to perform this seemingly fictitious spell. Or maybe it wasn't fictitious at all. Harry would have to ask Hermione about that.
Harry looked at his watch and realized he was late. He was supposed to meet Hermione five minutes ago.
At St. Mungo's, Hermione was in Ron's room and had just finished his therapy. She kept her eyes closed for a bit longer, trying to process the events of the evening. Healer Frances was just outside, keeping watch to ensure her freedom as St. Mungo's was crawling with Ministry law enforcement that morning. There had been two high profile incidents the night before; an assault-robbery and a murder. It was eerie that she knew both victims.
One of the two victims was the occupant of the private room across the hallway. The fact that it was Draco Malfoy troubled her. He was brought into St. Mungo's late last night. From what Healer Frances overheard from the Aurors, it was suspected that robbers attacked Malfoy. They found his house ransacked and a few valuable items were found missing.
Hermione had a feeling this was not a robbery. It was just too much of a coincidence. She wanted to ask Malfoy herself what happened, particularly after she found out that Professor Snape was dead.
From Healer Frances' description of the Professor's state, the Cardinal killed him with the envy curse. Most curious was the fact that the skull and snake figure on the Professor's left arm had been carved out, somehow telling Hermione that the Cardinal thought him undeserving of the Voldemort mark. But was the Professor murdered because of his status on her enabled list or was it because of his past? Again, they had to find out if the Professor and Lyle had connections with their three suspects, which Hermione now realized included one of their friends.
There was also the note in Hermione's handwriting saying that the next victim was going to be family. It was common knowledge to anyone who was close to Hermione, or anyone who read the Unauthorized Biography of Hermione Granger, that she no longer had any living relatives. The Cardinal must mean one of the Weasleys. She shuddered at the thought, hoping she was mistaken. Or did the Cardinal mean one of his?
Healer Frances said that Ginny had called in sick today. Whatever it was that she and Dean argued about last night must have been serious and the fact that Hermione had been out of touch with Ginny and the Weasleys now haunted her. As far as she knew, Dean and Ginny were happy, and it was unthinkable that Dean could be the Cardinal or an accomplice. The loyal Gryffindor in her insisted that there had to be a logical explanation to explain his innocence.
The only other circumstantial evidence that was troubling her aside from Dean having some connection with the Muggle victims was the Cardinal's notes, which were written in her own handwriting. Someone who was proficient at forgery wrote them. She remembered that years ago in Hogwarts, Ron, Harry and herself spent an afternoon in the Gryffindor common room watching in awe at how easily Dean could imitate anyone's handwriting to perfection, including hers. Right about now was when she needed that logical explanation.
She had to tell Ginny everything about the Cardinal and she had to talk to Dean before Ritchie's men could pick him up. She did not tell Ritchie but Hermione suspected the only reason Dean's file wound up with Ritchie was to implicate him in the Muggle murders. Dean's capture was imminent; it would appease the Muggle public that someone had been arrested. What she wasn't clear about was what Dean's connection was to the murders and how the Cardinal planned to link her to Dean.
Then there was Miguel Gomez. Gomez was known throughout the Ministry as someone who wanted Dorner's job on his way to Scrimgeour's job. He ran the social circles and, in a way, just like her, got what he wanted all the time. She knew he was raised a Muggle and got the impression from how he dressed and lived that he was wealthy. He certainly had a taste for the finer things in life.
But aside from that, Hermione realized that she did not really know him that well. They were never involved in the same projects and the few times she attended their departmental meetings, they never spoke. The first time he talked to her was after her arrest while she was at St.Mungo's when it was clear to her that Gomez had already decided her guilt.
Today, was going to be a busy day. She had to talk to Ginny and Dean. She was to meet with Neville at Hogwarts to see if they could track down T.M.Didler. There were Ron's sessions, the meeting with Remus, Tonks and Kingsley, what to do about Gomez, and Harry's first lesson on how to perform the curses. She also had to be at the University Bookstore between three and nine tonight. And sometime between all of that and eluding Ministry officials, she probably should plan to have a few uninterrupted minutes to talk with Harry.
Her eyes were still shut when she felt Harry come into the room and stand a couple of feet beside her. Healer Frances knew she was expecting him. She smiled to herself as she suddenly felt the air supply in her vicinity dwindle. It was weird how that once annoying and undesirable feeling was now a welcome one.
She opened her eyes and turned to greet him.
"Hi."
"Healer Frances just left to attend to another patient. How's Ron?" he asked her, barely making eye contact as he spoke.
'Somebody woke up on the wrong side of the bed,' she thought, disappointed that not only was he grumpy, he made no attempt to come closer to her. A hug would have been nice.
"He seems the same. How was your night?"
"You should know the answer to that," he said with a smidgen of sarcasm.
Hermione suspected Harry probably was still sore about what he overheard on the phone. Last night, Ritchie had taken home a lot more of Ginny's vomit that he thought he did, stinking up the shower as he used it. Ritchie wanted to leave it for the help but the words 'house elf' and 'rights' just kept popping up in her mind she had to do something about it. She was cleaning the shower to remove the stench when Ritchie handed her the phone. By the time she realized how that exchange might have sounded to Harry, it was too late to explain. Not that there was a need to explain if it did happen the way it sounded. No wonder Ritchie had this satisfied smile on his face on his way out.
She chose not to respond, not wanting to get into an argument and instead just looked him in the eye and waited, half expecting a rant but hoping he would choose a more peaceful resolution. Having another spat with him was not only undesirable, it was definitely not on her tight schedule.
Harry backed down and apologized.
"I'm sorry. The past couple of days, it's just been difficult," he explained. "I couldn't sleep last night. I kept thinking about Gomez."
"Oh?" Hermione didn't quite expect him to have a sleepless night about Gomez, "Really?"
"Yes, really," he replied, then recanted, "Well, actually, no. At first I was thinking about Gomez. That led me to thinking about you and then thinking about us. I tossed and turned thinking about you with Ritchie last night, feeling equally green with envy and red with rage."
"The Cardinal will have no qualms about using any emotion against you. You really should stop feeling that way," she said, showing concern.
"I can't help what I feel," he said calmly, moving closer to her until their bodies were almost touching, "Particularly not when it involves you. We need to talk, Hermione. We need to talk about us."
Being that close to Harry made Hermione become so much more aware of their breathing and it was difficult to think of anything else but to consciously will her lungs to breath in and breath out. She was drowning in the sea of green that now held her eyes captive. She saw his lips moving, something about needing to talk. A fleeting thought came and went and she nodded slightly in agreement, not sure if Harry detected her answer at all and not sure what her answer was about. Her heart was pounding in her chest so hard she could hear it in her ears and the butterflies in her stomach were having a wild party.
'You can't help what you feel about him, either. Try stopping that,' she thought to herself.Maybe Harry could, but she definitely would not be able to carry a coherent conversation with him being that close. She took a step back, hoping he did not notice.
"I kept thinking about what happened in your apartment, two years ago and then again last night. How it was so clear to me that you wanted to…"
As Harry struggled to find the right term, Hermione went through it herself, 'Shag? Be intimate? Copulate? Have sex?'
"Make love?" she finally offered, quite content with her choice.
"Yes, thanks. When we got to Ritchie's house, I was surprised that you followed all these rules to please him…" Hermione tried to interrupt but he wouldn't let her, "No, let me finish. Then after thoroughly kissing me goodnight, you did not hesitate declining when I begged you to come with me. Instead, you chose to spend the night with him. I thought, why shouldn't you choose him? All we had was that one night and with Ritchie you have a relationship. And then this morning, when I called, I hated it that Ritchie answered and I hated it that I could picture him walking in and seeing you naked in the shower, probably not for the first time. Hermione, I haven't even seen you naked in the shower!"
Hermione didn't know whether to laugh or be sorry, "Harry, I wasn't naked and I certainly hope this is about something more than wanting to see me naked in the shower more times than Ritchie has."
Harry sighed, "The thing is, I have absolutely no right to feel that way. You don't have a commitment with me; you have one with Ritchie. You've spent months with him; we had one night. I know how I feel about you but I may have just assumed you felt the same way about me. And I understand why you would choose him over me. You said it yourself. It's not a contest; I can't compete with him."
'How could he not know it's the other way around?'
Harry paused and looked at her with sadness in his green eyes, "I love you, Hermione. I've felt this way since our last year at Hogwarts and I will always feel this way. I tried so hard but I can't not love you. It just hurts to realize over and over again that I can't be with the woman I love. And it hurts even more every time she chooses to be with someone else."
Hermione answered with tears in her eyes, "You really should stop jumping to conclusions."
"What do you mean?"
"You should stick around long enough so I don't chose to be with someone else."
"Tell me how you feel about me. I want to hear you say it."
"Harry, words are not going to be nearly enough to describe how I feel about you," then she watched him look at her.
His fingers lightly touched her face as he tucked some stray brown curls behind her ear, sending a shockwave of electricity throughout her body. Was he aware that he was driving her crazy? Hermione moved closer, slowly taking her mouth closer to his, noticing gladly that Harry was having a bit of trouble breathing, too.
"Are we done talking about us?" Harry asked her, dreamily.
"I don't know, are we?" then she thought, 'Please say, yes.'
"I guess we could do this first and talk again later," she heard him say just before her lips touched his.
Hermione closed her eyes, pictured Harry's face and savoured each and every minute detail of their soft tender kiss, different from anything they had shared before. For the first time it felt totally right. There was no urgency and no other ultimate reason for it. It was just what it was; a kiss between two people who loved each other just wanting to show the other how they felt.
Hermione noticed she was less aware of her pounding heart and her breathing difficulties. The butterflies in her stomach were still there but seemingly appeased by what they were doing. Had she known kissing Harry this way would help, she would have stopped avoiding him and done it sooner. A wave of euphoria caused a smile to involuntarily form on Hermione's mouth and Harry's did the same, ending their kiss.
Harry spoke first, they were still in each other's arms and beaming, "If you don't mind, I'd really like to do this more often."
"I don't mind at all but I do have one rule about kissing," she replied, quite seriously.
"Just one?" Harry feigned disappointment and chuckled.
"I don't kiss in public."
"Not even in front of family or friends?"
She followed his gaze towards Ron and answered, "With some exceptions."
"I think I can live with that," he pulled her close and they kissed again.
It took a few minutes before Hermione could convince herself, and then Harry, to end the unexpected but very pleasant diversion from her tight schedule. There was a lot to do, foremost was finding out what really happened to Malfoy.
"Malfoy is in the room across," she said.
"What happened to him?" Harry asked.
She told him.
"You think it was the Cardinal and that Malfoy fought the curse," Harry read her mind, "Is his condition like Ron's?"
"On the contrary," Hermione answered, "He's awake and giving all his Healers hell. Apparently, save for some minor bruising and not remembering what happened yesterday, he's fine."
Harry told her about his conversation with Remus and Kingsley.
"Ten tonight should be fine," she said thinking she should have time to come back and see Ron after the bookstore closed tonight, "We have to talk with Ginny and Dean this morning. I'm meeting Neville and Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts about our missing enabled in a couple of hours and I may not have time to see them before tonight."
"So, what do you want to do with Malfoy?"
"Let's talk to him."
Hermione implanted some diversionary spells to get rid of the other occupants in Malfoy's room. They watched as healers emptied and when the coast was clear, walked across the hallway. They sealed his room and closed all the blinds.
"Potter and Granger. For a moment there I thought I died and went straight to hell," Malfoy said as he turned and saw who his visitors were. As Hermione said, save for a bruise under his right eye, he looked well.
Harry's temper flared before Hermione could stop him, "Who did this to you Malfoy? I'll make sure to thank them and maybe suggest that next time, they should just send you there."
Malfoy came back, "Not even back a week and already aiding and abetting fugitives? Still above the law are you?"
Hermione had to put an end to it, "Boys, stop! Draco, we need your help. We need to find out who attacked you."
Malfoy folded his arms across his chest, "I don't remember. The Aurors said they were robbers."
"We don't think they were robbers," she said to him, "What's the last thing you remember?"
"Opening the door and seeing you," he said to Hermione, then added quickly, "Don't worry, I did not tell anyone."
"Why didn't you?" she asked, surprised.
"Because I know it isn't you," Malfoy said impatiently, "I remember the note you sent me that we were to meet and I have brief bits and pieces of reading your theory on the Cardinal curses. We met yesterday, didn't we?"
Hermione nodded, then Harry spoke, "It seems like whoever did this obliviated you and did not do a good job of it."
"The healers have tried to bring yesterday back without success," then he turned to Hermione, "Can you do it Granger? Can you bring the memory back?"
Hermione shook her head, "I can't. Once a memory is erased you can't have it back. But if you will let me, I can look for vestiges, ghosts of the memory and try to see what it was. We have to do it before you acquire new memories which may overwrite them."
Malfoy laughed, "Nice try. I'm not letting you into my head."
Hermione said, less nicely, "Do you think I'm really interested in anything else in that pathetic mind of yours?"
Malfoy was still having doubts, "If this is about getting back at me for your humiliation during interrogation…"
This time it was Harry's turn, "From what I saw, she humiliated you."
After some thought and a lot more attitude, Malfoy agreed. On her instruction, Malfoy concentrated on his last memory, the memory of her at his doorstep. She performed Legilimency on him.
Hermione looked into his mind and saw her come into his house. They talked and she left. Then she started seeing the snippets of memory Malfoy had reading about the curses and counter curses. There was knocking at his door but Malfoy wasn't answering it.
"Get up, Draco! Open the door!" she said to Malfoy, looking into him more intently. Still there was no response. She spoke to him in his head, "Let him in!"
And Hermione saw it, the remnant of the memory that had been erased; Dean at Malfoy's doorstep followed by total darkness; fleeting moments of the faceless Cardinal throwing curses at him. She would not have believed it had she not seen it herself. She broke eye contact.
"Well? Did you see it?" Malfoy asked.
"It was definitely the Cardinal," she said softly and as she looked at Harry, he knew there was something else.
What is it?
Dean was at his door.
Are you sure?
We spent seven years at Hogwarts with Dean. I think I would know if it wasn't him because I wish it wasn't him.
Hermione told Malfoy to get in touch with Harry once he was well enough to test the curses and they went back into Ron's room.
"We need to talk to Ginny sooner," Hermione said, "She and the twins could be in danger."
Harry still could not believe it, "It's Dean. He wouldn't harm Ginny or the twins."
"I know. But it's not Dean I'm concerned about," Hermione took out her phone, stared at the numbers and it connected to Ritchie's phone, "Hi, it's me. We just spoke with Malfoy. Dean was at his house after I left yesterday. We need to talk to him, can you arrange it?" She paused, and Harry could hear Ritchie's voice, then Hermione started shaking her head and said heatedly, "I thought you were going to wait! … Fine!"
She hung up on Ritchie.
"What?" Harry asked.
"It's Dean. Ritchie's men picked him up a few minutes ago on direct orders from his Chief. They have him in a local Muggle prison."
Harry was worried, "The Ministry is always informed once a wizard gets booked at a Muggle prison. It doesn't make sense. I'm guessing he needed Dean to be your connection to the Muggles who were murdered. But doing this now will force the Muggle Minister to have Muggle authorities look for you too. Why isn't the Cardinal waiting until he finishes the seven?"
And Hermione admitted to Harry, "I don't know."
They had to find Ginny and decided to go to the Burrow first. Mrs. Weasley greeted them just outside her kitchen door and she gave Hermione a big hug that brought both women to tears.
"Mrs. Weasley," Harry interrupted, "We're looking for Ginny."
Mrs. Weasley began sobbing hysterically. Hermione tried to comfort her and after she calmed down, she finally answered Harry's question.
"She left the twins with me early this morning. She and Dean are breaking up and she needed time alone to sort things out," she was visibly worried
"Did she say where she was going?" Hermione asked.
"She wouldn't say. She said she would be back tomorrow."
"How would you get in touch with her in case of an emergency?" Harry asked.
"She has her own version of my clock, with the twins and Dean. She will know to come back if the twins are in any danger," Mrs. Weasley tried to explain, "Though, I've been telling her the clock may be broken."
Hermione was curious.
"Why is that?"
Mrs. Weasley replied, "Because for the last three months, the hand for Dean has been stuck at mortal peril."