Chapter seven
When tea, coffee and lunch arrived, Harry pulled Hermione away from the group so they could talk in private.
'Why didn't you tell me?'
'Because I wasn't going to let you die even if you were one. You said it, I have to die, well, I would stop you if I had to even if it meant he lived forever, I would save you. But I really wasn't sure Harry, it was just a suspicion.'
'You would really let him live forever to save me?'
'Yes, I would, in a heartbeat, you mean the world to me Harry.'
Harry wrapped his arms around Hermione, 'You mean the world to me as well…Mione, more than you know,' he whispered.
Hermione's heart fluttered, she hoped he meant he did love her. She moved back just a little so she could look into his eyes.
'Harry, I need to tell you something.'
Harry wasn't sure if he should hope or not, but hearing what Hermione said made him believe he had a chance. Now though, it was the look in her eyes that told him what he wanted to know. So not for the first time in his life he was going to be rash, he moved closer then brushed his lips softly against Hermione's. Her lips parted slightly so he did it again but this time deepened the kiss.
Hermione and Harry pulled apart when they heard a cough, both blushed before facing the people in the room, the people they forgot about when they started snogging.
'Let's start with removing your memories, we would like to see all your memories of when you interacted with Albus Dumbledore, Snape, you-know-who, and any death eaters.'
'After our fourth year I began to lose my respect for Dumbledore, but I knew Harry was still in danger so I would watch Dumbledore, especially when he watched Harry.'
'Then we will watch yours as well. If Mr Potter was distracted then you may have witnessed something he didn't.'
Harry saw the pensieve sitting on the table, he walked over, took his wand from his sleeve.
'Oh, my wand and Voldy's wand are brothers, they share cores. Fawkes the phoenix who belonged to Dumbledore, he gave only two feathers and they went into ours. When we fought in the graveyard when I was fourteen, they connected and I still have no idea how I did it but I forced his wand to recall the last spells it did, in reverse order. The people he killed came out of his wand, sort of like ghosts. Five people came out before I allowed the connection to break.'
'Who came out?' Hermione asked in a whisper.
'Um, Cedric first as it was the last kill, this muggle man, the caretaker for the old Riddle house. A woman who worked at the ministry, she gave him the information about the triwizard tournament,' Harry looked down at his wand, 'My mother and my father, they are the reason I was able to escape.'
'That's why you broke down that night, in the hospital, you saw your parents?' Hermione wrapped her arms around Harry, 'They spoke to you?'
Harry nodded, 'Said they were proud of me then told me they would surround Voldy so I could get back to the port key, Cedric asked me to take his body back,' Harry shook his head then took a couple of deep breaths, 'Let's get these memories.'
Harry closed his eyes, he first thought of the night he went with Dumbledore to get the locket. He would explain a bit about each memory as he placed it on the pensieve. The next were his memories of watching the memories Dumbledore collected. He decided to add the memory of the graveyard then he started on times at Hogwarts, with Dumbledore and with Snape. He also included a few memories of when Snape was supposed to teach him occlumency. He added his memories of the room with Quirrell and the mirror, he added his memory of the Chamber of Secrets. The auror was taking each memory out and placing it in a vial before Harry added another one, an unspeakable would write down what each memory contained. By the time he was done there were more than thirty vials of Harry's memories sitting on the table.
Hermione went next, she added all the memories of when she would watch Dumbledore or saw him watching Harry. She added the memory of when the champions were selected, of their times at Grimmauld place. She also added her memories of Snape and how he treated Harry.
'That's a lot of memories,' Harry stared down at the table.
'Yes it is, let's hope they can help, which I'm sure they will. I know this has not be easy on you so why don't you head home for today, come back tomorrow so we can work on making sure your mind is protected also so you won't suffer pain anymore.'
'I think that's a good idea Harry, how about we go home and relax for a while? I'll cook dinner tonight.'
Harry nodded, 'We'll see you tomorrow, the same time.'
The group inside the room watched the-boy-who-lived and his girlfriend leave, all of them heard a little more about their lives. Now they would watch their memories and they all knew they were going to get some very important information, more than they believed.
Even though Harry and Hermione were together, they hadn't move on to more than just a few simple kisses and neither of them said anything about how they felt. Now they were both feeling a little awkward since the kiss they shared was a lot more passionate.
Harry showered while Hermione cooked dinner, they were mainly quick frozen type meals. They didn't want to buy too much at once until they knew if they could settle in. Now they had spoken with the Australia ministry they were confidence they had a new home.
'So…um, our feelings are more than we let on,' Harry said nervously.
'Yes, and I believe we would have been together years ago but they noticed. At first I thought it was just because of Cho and Viktor, now I believe they saw something with us.'
'Um…I…um, I love you,' Harry blushed brightly.
Hermione sucked in a sharp breath, those were the words she had been hoping to hear from Harry. She took Harry's hand in hers as she stared into his eyes.
'I love you too,' she whispered. Seconds later they had their arms wrapped around the other, kissing passionately.
'Even though I would love to keep kissing you, we'll talk about us and our future after we eat.'
'I like that, us and the future,' Harry smiled then sat across from Hermione, 'So do you think should keep the connection if they can stop the pain?'
'It is your choice but logically, it could help, you may see something that we or the Australian's need to know.'
'Yeah, I might, like how he's leaving the country. It could be to find more supporters or it could be to find out how hard it will be to take over another country,' Harry forked some food into his mouth, 'Um, when we were in the tent we had trouble finding food, we had no things to make what food we found taste better. It's not like we could have carried around sacks of flour, jars of spices and we couldn't take the time to find fresh herbs.'
'No, it would have been impractical,' Hermione had no idea why Harry mentioned the food, especially now.
'Well, the Dursley's made me cook, at first, when I was really young it was just breakfast. Then petunia started to make me learn all types of cooking. I happen to be a very good cook, if I have the stuff I need.'
'Oh, I was wondering why you brought it up. Then you can teach me and we can share the cooking. But when you say young, how young were you?'
'Five when they first started to make me cook the bacon and tomato, I was punished a lot those first few weeks because I kept burning everything. I was nine when she started to make me cook dinners and deserts, I can pretty much follow any recipe.'
'Then one day if this war is ever over I am going to curse them so that anything they eat will taste like dirk or something else disgusting.'
Harry chuckled, 'You're wonderful Hermione, and you thought of a great way that's not painful or violent, which means you would not get into trouble.'
'You've thought of hurting them?'
Harry shrugged, 'Sometimes, especially when they locked me and Hedwig up that time.'
'One day you will tell me everything, for now we have other problems. Let's concentrate on helping the Australian ministry.'
'You're right, we have to concentrate on the here and now, not the past. I'll keep a notebook next to me of a night, my visions usually appear of a night, unless he's really angry.'
'Good idea, but it might be wise to keep a notebook shrunk on you at all times, with a pen as well. If you get any feelings or visions you can keep a record of it. Now let's finish eating and start thinking about what we might do now we're allowed to stay and the Australian ministry seemed to progress, not stagnate.'
'Yeah, that's a good idea. I wanted to ask though, here, Australia, it's a long way from England. Do you really think he might try to take over countries this far if he wins at home?'
'Yes, I do, he wants to rule the world. But ''m more worried about us, magical people.'
'What do you mean?'
'Well, it's like what Sirius told you, how so many old families were killed during the first war. The McKinnon's, the Prewett's, the Bones', the Potters,' Hermione gave Harry's hand a squeeze, 'You're young enough that there will be more Potters. Susan survived so she could have a family but it won't be known as Bones as she will take her husband's name. So her family will continue but not the name. That nasty aunt of Ron's is the last Prewett and Sirius was the last Black, well, Malfoy and Lestrange are alive but they aren't known as Blacks anymore. If people fight him they could die which means old family names could die. But we also know he wants to get rid of all muggleborns. There is no guarantee that muggles like my parents could produce another magical child. Look at your mother and her sister, one is a witch, one isn't. Harry, the magical population in England is only about twenty thousand at most, there are billions of muggles but not that many witches and wizards. If this doesn't stop soon so many more families will die out until there aren't any of us left.'
Harry stared at Hermione in shock, she was right, he never thought of that before but now it all seemed to make sense. If this war wasn't stopped quickly then they could lose half their population, if not more, a lot more. So even though losing anyone is a tragedy, a lot of old family names will die out as well.
Chapter eight
Harry had a restless night and for the first time it wasn't caused by visions of what Voldemort was doing. He kept seeing Sirius fall through the veil, he would hear Sirius telling him about the families he knew before he was sent Azkaban, ones that weren't around anymore. So many were killed during the first war and it was happening again right now. Whole families were killed, some like Harry and Susan Bones had one member of the family left.
Hermione was drinking a cup of tea when Harry walked out, 'Did you sleep at all Harry?'
'A bit, I kept waking,' Harry smiled as Hermione poured him a cup of tea, she even added the milk and sugar, just as he liked it, 'Thanks.'
'Will you tell me why?'
'What we were talking about last night,' Harry sipped his tea, 'He wants all of us or most of us gone. If we were dead then he would rule the world, the muggle world yeah but he would still rule using his magic and he would have no one who could stop him. He may keep a few of his most faithful, like Snape and Bellatrix, he'd probably keep a handful of them to help him keep everyone in line. He would have no resistance at all and I think that's his plan, not just to kill off muggleborns, anyone that resists him but all magicals as well.'
'I thought the same thing which means all countries will have to help in the end or they could be slaughtered. Do you think the Australian ministry would work that out?'
'I think they will, but we'll mention our theory. It's taken us this long to work it out and they are only just now getting all the information that Dumbledore has had for years. He really is a bastard Hermione, he must have known, how could he expect me to do this, not just the horcruxes but to save the entire world. Everyone is just lucky I didn't turn dark like Voldy. We both had shitty childhoods and were sent back to them every summer. The place he lived in looked terrible and they seemed really strict, but I read up a bit on orphanages when I found out about him. The kids back then weren't treated that great, a lot like I was. He hates muggles, thinks of them as animals, slaves, not much else. I admit I hate that lot and a few others but I know not all are that bad, like your parents. I only met them once but they were nice and didn't think all of us were freaks.'
'I admit my parents were a little scared at first, but I explained then McGonagall spoke at lengths with them. You are right about Dumbledore though, he must have known what we suspect.'
'He knew, I'm sure of it. A lot of what he would tell me, or tell anyone were half-truths. He could make his arguments strong by adding some truth, just enough for everyone to listen. But he kept a lot to himself, his plans, Voldy's plans and how we're all in more danger than we thought. I don't get that Hermione, why would he risk our world, why would he not tell people like McGonagall?'
'I don't know, but hearing some of the things you've found out or seen, he's someone that I just can't figure out. I'm like you, confused as to why he would allow Voldy to get so powerful where we face annihilation. Anyway, we need breakfast before we head to the ministry.'
'Then let's get cooking,' Harry kissed Hermione's cheek before they started to gather up their ingredients. They hadn't kissed again mainly because they have been busy trying to get all the information they needed. They were starting to feel more comfortable with each other. It was just the wrong time to really allow themselves to give into their feelings, there were more important things that they needed to think about, the safety of the entire magical world.
Hphghphghphghphg
It was a couple of months later that kingsley shacklebolt and minerva mcgonagall was able to call a meeting of the order of the phoenix. They had made sure all members had port keys that would bring them straight into the house. They planned to redo the fidelius charm on number 12 grimmauld place, but they needed everyone to have their new permission notes before that could happen or no one would be able to enter. They had been talking a lot since receiving the information from Harry, they have also been doing a lot of research, they knew how important that information was and how dangerous. Now it was time to include others in on the meetings, to fill them in on exactly what was going on.
Everyone at grimmauld place had sworn a magical oath that they would never betray the order of the phoenix or give out any information that had been discussed by its members. Kingsley had secretly brought in another member who had sworn the oath but she would not be introduced to anyone and would not be seen as one of dumbledore's supporters. He may be dead but voldemort and his followers all knew that the ones against them were all dumbledore's people. So amelia bones worked in secret and in the background, she met up with kingsley once every few days and they would pass on information without anyone finding out.
Minerva and kingsley heard the first sounds of people arriving in the drawing room, they knew all would head directly to the kitchen. They were thankful that Harry said to keep using the old black home as their secret safe house, especially now hogwarts was being controlled by voldemort.
'thank you all for coming and even though we know molly does not like the idea of her younger children being involved, the information we need to explain has to be known by all,' kingsley said.
'three months ago we received a letter from Harry potter, a very disturbing letter. Kingsley and I have been working on a few things before we brought you all in to explain,' minerva said.
'is Harry alright, do you know where he is?' molly asked anxiously.
'no, but we do know he's fine, he has left though, we're not sure where to or if he will return. More will be explained soon and we will also tell you why he felt the need to leave. We are just fortunate that he trusted us with the information. Now mr. Weasley, we know you were with Harry and Hermione, we received your mother's letter explaining why you are no longer with them.'
'yeah, we had a fight and I needed to go for a walk, I needed to get away. We were so stressed and kept arguing all the time. I planned to take an hour or so then head back. When I apparated away I arrived in the midst of snatchers, it took me three days but I was lucky to escape. I went back to where we were staying but there were snatches around so I had to leave, quickly. I waited until that night but they were still there, by the time they were gone so were Harry and Hermione. I keep going back to the different places we stayed at but I could never find them. We used so many enchantments that kept us safe and hidden, now they were hidden from me. I've been checking every few days trying to find them, but now you said they left.'
'yes, they have, they information that only you three knew is what Harry wrote about. Albus should not have put all that on Harry then on you and Hermione, it was irresponsible and dangerous. All of us here swore an oath, an oath on our magic, like with arthur, as head of the weasley family he swore that oath for his entire family which he was able to do. So albus knew all of you could be trusted, yet he kept silent, apart from telling Harry.'
'what is this information that he told Harry?' remus asked.
'is to do with how you-know-who survived that night in godric's hollow, even if it was in spirit form, and how he was able to return. Yes, the killing curse hit Harry and rebounded onto him, but only his body was destroyed, not his soul,' kingsley said.
'oh fuck,' bill gasped, 'he did, didn't he?'
'I had a feeling you would know bill, being a curse breaker you have seen many dark curses in your short career. We should get everyone up to speed so they know what we're up against,' minerva said who nodded to kingsley.
'you-know-who made himself immortal by splitting his soul and hiding those pieces into enchanted items, which he hid. He made his first when he was a teenager still at hogwarts. Albus had been collection memories of him from the time he first visited tom riddle as a boy in the orphanage right up to when he first changed his name. Minerva was able to sneak all those memories out of albus's office right after she received Harry's letter. They are here, hidden to keep them safe. What we know is that he made six horcruxes, two are destroyed, one by Harry and one by albus. Harry and Hermione have a third and I'm sure by now that has been destroyed but we have yet to receive comfirmation.'
'so until we find these items he can't die?' arthur asked.
'correct, we know what the items are, apart from one, yet we are not sure where they are. Ron, did you three work out anything while you were away?' kingsley asked.
'Hermione kept thinking about his old orphanage, Harry disagreed with that, he said vodly hated it. But Harry kept saying one would be at hogwarts, Hermione never agreed with that. We would keep throwing out suggestions but we could never come up with any information as we couldn't get seen. The locket we got used to be here, regulus black found out what he did and stole the real one, substituted it with a fake. Harry got the whole story out of kreacher, gave him the fake one then we found the real one, with umbridge at the ministry. She had no idea what it was, she just tried to pass it off as a family heirloom, to make it look like she was a pureblood. But the locket belonged to salazar slytherin.'
'yes, we believe he used items that belonged to the four founders. Now Harry explained in his letter that albus didn't believe an item of godric gryffindor was used as the sword is the only known item left and that always hung in albus' office, until recently.'
'Hermione told Harry we needed the sword as it would destroy a horcrux. Harry used a basilisk fang to destroy the diary and dumbledore used the sword to destroy the ring. The sword was used to kill the basilisk so it's embued with it's venom. Now it's missing.'
Everyone around the large table realised just how impossible it was going to be to rid the world of voldemort. They needed to destroy the horcruxes first which could take them years to find them, if they ever found them. Only then could voldemort die.
Chapter nine
Everyone at Grimmauld Place were thinking and writing down jobs, places to search to find these items that contained a part of Voldemort soul. They had watch the main memories of what Albus believed the items were so they would know how Voldemort picked his items.
Their second meeting was like the first. As they were talking about what they saw in the memories an owl flew down, dropped a letter in front of Minerva then flew off.
Minerva cast a few spells over it before she opened it, "Dear Professor McGonagall, the locket is destroyed, I had some help from these people, I just can't explain who they are. I can tell you they are trustworthy and are now working on ways to find the others. They want to help as they realised what old snake face will do if he wins completely in Britain. They also realised how difficult it would be for all of you to work on this, also how dangerous. They have been going through my memories of when I had my meetings with Dumbledore. They all believed it was dangerous and irresponsible of Dumbledore to keep this information so secret. Yes, it's dangerous if old snake face found out, but like Hermione and I said, you and others in the Order are trustworthy, you should have been told. How he expected me to work all this out is insane.
"But another reason I wrote apart from telling you the locket is destroyed is we, Hermione and I talked for hours about something, we told these people and they realised things are worse than we all thought. We've been meeting regularly with these people to work out if what we believe is true. Okay, he split his soul which makes him immortal, that will take time to find them all. But we worked out something else about daddy death eater.
"Sirius and Mad-eye explained about the deaths of all the families during the first war. Dumbledore told me about how many were killed during Grindelwald's time. Those two wars wiped out a quarter of magical population in those two countries. War is on again and Voldy kills anyone, sometimes for no reason. We know he wants to rule the world, but we all believe is that he wants to destroy all magical people, not just muggleborns. He will keep a handful of his supporters, then he will rule the muggles if there is no resistance from all of us.
"I know this isn't as bad as people being killed, but Hermione pointed out that so many old families are now gone. But ones that may have surviving members, like Susan bones, her family name of Bones will eventually die out when she marries. When Sirius died, he had no kids, which means the name Black has died out. It's not just the name though, it's our magical heritage that is being killed off, along with power and any type of magical gifts. If I am lucky to survive then the name Potter will continue, Hermione and I spoke about having kids when we're older, I just hope they have her brains. Anyway, off track, the Prewett's are all but gone because there is only Molly Weasley's aunt left in that line so no more. Though there are six Weasley boys and one girl, so the Weasley family will go on, and I hate to say this, unless he wipes all of them out. The meeting we just came from was mainly about how many magicals are left. I explained about the large Weasley family, these people believe they will be targeted by snaky people because they could have many kids, many, many kids. I hope they will be safe but it's better to be warned of the possibility then you can take the necessary precautions.
"He is slowly wiping us out and that is his plan, he wants to be the only magical person left, apart from the few servants he will keep on a tight leash. They would probably be weak with their magical abilities, so people like Snape and Malfoy would eventually be killed off, that's the theory by everyone here. There are so many families like mine, Neville's, Susan that have only one surviving member. If we die then our lines are gone which means no magical children being born, but there's also a chance we could die before having families. People like parents of muggleborns may not produce another magical child, like what happened with my mother and her sister, one witch, one muggle.
"We all feel that once he is done with England, France, all of Europe, he will start to move towards other countries, larger countries, like America and china. If you think of the population of the world, muggles, we are minute compared to them. The ministry has ways of knowing when a magical child is born, either to magicals or muggles, which means he will know. The ones right now that are born to muggles will be easy targets. If Kingsley can get someone to check those records and find those muggles I would say they are already dead or the child is. If you find any alive it might be a good idea to hide them away. If we don't start protecting the younger ones then there will be no more witches and wizards left. I know that some couples want kids now but they are thinking of the danger, but if they could be hidden, maybe have their magic mask so no one could detect their magical cores then it just might help our falling numbers. The children could be given a magical suppressant potion so they don't do any magic until they are old enough to understand the dangers if they were discovered. We need to keep…sorry about this, breeding or we'll die out.
"The people I've been talking to are speaking with other countries. They have been keeping an eye on old snake face, they just didn't have all the information, until now. Don't worry though, they all swore oaths so only those who are trustworthy know the full truth of what we're up against. They are going to work on keeping all magical children hidden by use of the potion and they are going to find all muggleborns then place them in hiding, again the child will have the potion so that snake face won't pick up any magic, they will be thought of as muggles until the danger is past. A lot of these countries were affected by the first war with snake face, so they want to help stop him.
"I have one more bit of news, I was shocked at first, but it finally explained a lot of things, again something Dumbledore kept to himself. But Hermione being the smartest witch around worked it out and the people we're talking to is helping. Okay, going on the memories he made six, well, there's another that old Voldy doesn't know about, me. I became a horcrux that night in Godric's Hollow, he just doesn't realise it, if he did he wouldn't keep trying to kill me but capture me. It's why I speak parseltongue, it's how I saw Arthur Weasley get attacked, why I feel his emotions. I have a very small piece of his soul behind my scar. Now these people could remove it without killing me, but we've decided to keep it, for now. Since I do sometimes see through his eyes, we figured we could use my connection to find out what he's up to. They have helped me with the pain though. I had a few meetings with them over the last three months and in those meeting they were able to help by casting some weird ancient magic which will keep our connection open but I won't feel the pain. Now though the visions I will get will also be clearer but there will be no pain anymore, thank Merlin.
"They are also helping me with occlumency so I can control when and where I look into his mind. When I explained about how Snape tried to teach me they knew straight away that the bastard was actually trying to open my mind so Voldy could slip in anytime, so it was basically his fault Sirius died. But being so open made it easier to pass on information without meaning to, I couldn't close my mind, so anything Dumbledore told me, anything we spoke about, anything I might have overheard at headquarters was all seen by him. Luckily the times he looked into my mind I wasn't thinking about the horcruxes, it seems my luck hasn't ran out, yet. Well, I'm finally being taught by someone that knows what they're doing. After one lesson I was able to get a partial shield around my thoughts and dreams. This man is a powerful legilimense, so after a few weeks I am can finally close off my mind completely. He is about to begin to teach me how to enter his mind so I can see more, even plant my own fake visions. That is our long term goal at the moment, that takes longer to learn but it will benefit all of us in the long run.
"I best sign off, if I find out anything you need to know I'll write straight away. I hope you all stay safe. I will say this before I go though, I doubt any of you will ever see Hermione or me again. We've made ourselves nice and comfortable in our new home, so we've decided to stay. We may return for visits once he's gone, but as of yet we just don't know. I never had a good life there, not with the muggles and not at Hogwarts so I wanted to start fresh. Since Hermione and I are together, finally, she wants to stay with me. So we will keep you undated on anything you need to know, but again you won't be able to contact me. I will try to work on a way for us to communicate, in case you feel I need to know anything and I find out things you need to know. Stay safe and stay alive, Harry."
'Harry's a horcrux, well, that sure explains everything,' Kingsley sighed, 'I wonder who these people are that are helping him.'
'It has to be someone that knows ancient and rare spells. If Harry was here somewhere I would say it was an unspeakable, but he would never trust our ministry,' Arthur said.
'So when he said he's left, he left the country. Yes, that is something he would do then speak with someone like an auror. Harry trusted Kingsley, Tonks and Mad-eye, they are aurors,' Minerva said.
'He mentioned America and china, do you think he's in one of those countries?' Ginny asked trying to keep her anger from showing. Hearing that Harry and Hermione were together had her glaring at Ron, she blamed him for walking out which means he could no longer keep giving them the blasted love potions. It gave Harry and Hermione time to finally realised they had feelings for each other. If they didn't find Harry and Hermione soon they might end up married then Ginny and Ron would be out of luck.
'Maybe, I think he said those two names in the hope we might think he is there. I do believe they are in an English speaking country or a country that has English as a second language. For all we know they could be in France as I do know Hermione can speak French. But we don't need to focus on Harry anymore, he's safe and got others involved. I think we need to think about what Harry said, how he plans to kill us off. I know it's extreme but this is you-know-who, he does want to rule and run the world his way. It does make sense that if he was the only wizard alive, with maybe a few weak supporters than he could easily place the muggles under the imperius curse so they will have no choice but to obey him. The muggles could never fight that curse, so they would be forced to do anything he ordered no matter what,' Kingsley said, but he could see that everyone thought this is true, Voldemort could be slowly killing off the magical population so he will never have anyone powerful enough to appose him. If he did keep anyone that had power, like Snape then he would make sure that Snape would be completely loyal to him.
Chapter ten
'This could be why you-know-who told Snape to make him a very special potion. We got word from someone that wanted out, a seventeen year old that was being forced to take the dark mark. He didn't, he was able to escape and went to Minerva. Minerva was able to get him and his mother out of the country, but he gave us a lot of information before they left, and one was about this potion. If you-know-who used this potion then the muggle world wouldn't stand a chance but neither would most of us,' Kingsley said.
'What potion, one that will kill?' Charlie asked.
'No, liquid imperius, all he would have to do is place it in the water supply, eventually everyone would be under that curse,' Minerva explained, 'From our research it is like facing three people aiming the imperius curse at you at the same time, which means even someone powerful would not be able to fight it off.
Everyone was shocked at that news, if that potion could be made there would be no hope. They realised they would need to find out how far Snape had proceeded with the potion, which meant Minerva and some of the staff would be the ones to spy on Severus Snape.
Tonks had been watching everyone while she listened to Kingsley and Minerva. Kingsley had asked her to use her trained observation skills to gage everyone's reaction. They didn't believe they had a spy or even anyone that wasn't trustworthy. They just needed to know how everyone would react in case some felt like staying in the order or even in the country might not be worth it.
So far all the news they heard showed how everyone reacted, but three people stiffened when Minerva had read out Harry's letter. She gave Kingsley a minute nod to tell him she noticed something, then when everyone slowly drifted off to their homes Kingsley and Tonks went to the old office in Grimmauld place. That room had been warded for everything, including any type of listening device like the twins extendable ears. Even a house elf could not get into the room to listen.
'Do we have a spy or are some going to leave?'
'No, I don't think so, everyone's reactions were the same, nothing stood out apart from shock and worry. It was all genuine as far as I could tell. But what I did notice was when Minerva read out Harry's letter, Molly, Ginny and Ron didn't like it. Something in that letter upset them, they covered up quickly but I saw it. I just don't know what or if it's dangerous to us or even to Harry. They aren't spies, nor are they a danger to us, it's not that, it's something else, I just don't know what.'
'I do know that Ginny likes Harry and Ron liked Hermione, maybe that's all it was. Harry said that he was with Hermione now. To me they make a much better match then the others. Harry would never suit someone like Ginny, he's too quiet and likes his time alone. Plus he doesn't like to show his emotions in public, he also likes to keep anything about himself private. Ron and Hermione, they would kill each other if they ended up together, all they ever did was fight.'
'It could be Kingsley, but something is telling me it's more and I don't know what. I wish I could contact Harry and tell him to stay away, just in case.'
'They wouldn't hurt Harry Tonks, Molly likes to treat him like a child, she fusses over him.'
'I don't think they would physically hurt him. I don't know, it's just a feeling and normally when I get these feelings they're right. Do you think it would be wrong of me to use my training to spy on them?'
'No, not when our lives and Harry's life could be in danger. Minerva and I spoke about this, any suspicion then we use whatever is available to us to make sure we're all safe and protected. No one apart from me and Gawain know you are an animagus. It's just lucky that you never registered before you-know-who took over.'
'I planned to register but it was on and he had control. Okay, I'll make the random odd trip to the Burrow and the aunt's place. I might do it now as they might end up talking about what Harry wrote.'
'Then go,' Kingsley opened the window to allow Tonks to fly off in her eagle form before he closed the window, undid the wards and left Grimmauld place.
In Australia Harry and Hermione finished breakfast and decided to head to one of the beaches for a few hours. They didn't need to be at the ministry until the following day.
They were walking hand in hand along the beach watching the kids swimming and the older people surfing, some were just lying in the sun.
'Hermione, remember that two way mirror Sirius gave me?'
'I remember.'
'Do you know how the charm works and if distance would be a problem?'
'No, but I could research it, you think having one with Professor McGonagall and one with us might help?'
'Yes, we can give information instantly, they could do the same. But since we're using different names here and the ministry made it official then no owl can find us if they address them with our real names. We can't take the chance of telling anyone our new names, it's too dangerous. I hate not knowing if they got my letter, what they thought, if they know anything. I know I said we should allow them to do more since they have more experience, but I'm still connected to him and all this. I just can't let it go.'
'You don't have to explain, you and him have been connected since you were one. You would know more about him than any person alive. We might have explained to them back home about the memories but you faced him five times, spoke with him during those time. You got to see what type of person he really is. No one apart from Dumbledore knows him as much as you do. But I feel the same, I hate not knowing if they got your letter. When we want to leave here we'll head to a book store, find one on those types of charmed so we can work on the mirrors.'
'We could buy a set now, have them with us just in case we can send them one. Maybe we should speak with auror Jones, they could have a set as well.'
'Let's buy one set for now until you ask him, but I doubt he wouldn't mind having a matching one to yours. They know you have visions so the quicker they can be told they can find out more.'
'Okay, we'll ask first. Do you want to go for a swim?'
'Sure, I would like a swim.'
'We just have to make sure our wands stay disillusioned,' Harry and Hermione moved past a large group of people, they spread out their blanket, checked the spell on their wands then undressed until Harry was in shorts and Hermione was in a bikini, 'You're beautiful,' Harry blushed but he couldn't take his eyes off Hermione.
'Thank you, I like hearing that from my boyfriend,' Hermione took Harry's hand, 'Are you comfortable with your t-shirt off?'
'If you're fine with seeing my scars then I don't care what anyone else thinks. They look old so if anyone is curious then they should realise they were done a long time ago and hope they think of some type of accident like a car accident.'
'I'm sure that is the first thing they will think of, I just want you to be comfortable.'
'I am, let's get in the water, it looks great.'
'And it's hot, but I'm glad we cast a sunscreen charm on us before we left the house. We'd be roasted out here in this heat.'
Harry chuckled, 'We'd look like cooked lobsters or something.'
They walked gingerly into the water, but grinned, 'It's beautiful, not cold at all,' Hermione giggled then moved further in.
'It's nice, perfect,' Harry joined his girlfriend then both dove under the water surfacing a few feet in front of where they were.
Hermione and Harry swam for a while, splashed each other, dunked each other and just had a fun time until they decided they were hungry. They bought a picnic lunch with them which had been placed under a cooling charm to keep it from spoiling. They sat under their beach umbrella so they could eat in the shade and enjoy each other's company in such a beautiful place.
'Even though it's been a few months I've been thinking about what you said when we were alone in the tent. Do you really think Ron gave us potions?'
'I'm more convinced than ever. All Ron and I did was fight, yet I felt myself being drawn to him more than you. During our third year I knew I had feelings for you then they just changed suddenly during our fourth year. I wouldn't put it past Ginny to do this to you Harry, she's obsessed with you. I used to get so jealous hearing her talk about you and how you would end up married. I wanted to hex her then yell at her you were mine.'
Harry smiled then lay on his side facing Hermione who was also lying on her side, 'I am yours and your mine. But it does make sense, how I went from thinking of Ginny as Ron's little sister to wanting to snog her. Now I can't imagine kissing her. Tell me what you think is the reason is why they went so far, apart from just having feelings for us that we didn't return?'
'You are a major part, Ginny often referred to you as the-boy-who-lived, then the chosen one. Usually she said your name, Harry, but she would occasionally slip. I have a feeling that Ginny is more obsessed with the image of who you are then who you really are. Ron has always been jealous of the attention you get, that got worse when you had to compete in the triwizard tournament, which you eventually won. I don't know with Ron but maybe he liked the idea that everyone knew who he was because you two were friends, he also hated that. It wouldn't be hard to imagine that he would take advantage of the situation.'
'Yes, he would use it if he had to. He told me when we first met that he couldn't compete with his brothers yet even if he did well or better than them, then it would be no big deal. I think Ron wants to be noticed and yes, he is taking advantage that we're friends, so everyone knows he's name because of me.'
Harry fell back so he was staring up at the umbrella, thinking about his first friend and would Ron really use him like that. Harry wasn't sure about Ron anymore, in fact he didn't think he knew Ron at all, but he also realised that he didn't actually like Ron, not the way he thought he did. Ron was a bit of a bully and he had often bullied Hermione. Anyone that really knew Harry knew he hated bullies, almost as much as he hated Voldemort.
Chapter eleven
Hermione figured out that making a pair of mirrors to communicate with each other wasn't that hard at all. So after practicing the spell, she placed the mirrors on the table then enchanted them. Harry apparated to one of the designated apparition zones while Hermione stayed in the house.
'Harry Potter.'
Harry grinned, 'Hermione Granger, they work.'
'They do, so let's get one sent to them.'
Harry disapparated, he walked back inside the house, 'So who do we send it to?'
'To Grimmauld place, but I want to charm the package so only Kingsley or McGonagall can open it. If they are discussing everything with trustworthy Order members then Ron and Ginny might be there even if they aren't involved in the meetings. I would rather not talk to them right now, or at all.'
'Ron is our age now and the twins did join the order when they became of age. It's not too hard to imagine that Ron and probably Ginny will be sitting in on meetings. Do you know the charm so it can't be opened by others?'
'Yes, it's simple.'
'Hermione,' Harry sat on the floor, leaning against the sofa, he kept staring at the floor, 'I know I taught the DA, you researched the spells we needed, that was all defence. But I don't really know much else.'
'Then how about I teach you, you taught me so much in the DA, it's my turn now. Again I blame Dumbledore for that, the decline of the school curriculum started when he became headmaster.'
'Something else you researched,' Harry smiled, 'Thanks, so maybe we could do a few hours a day.'
'Sounds good, we can start with charms then move onto transfiguration.'
'Ancient runes as well, I could get work warding homes but I would need ancient runes. It's something that sounds interesting.'
'Even though it is a very difficult subject, I don't believe you will have any trouble. That is another thing I've noticed since we've been here and away from Ron. We can hold an intelligent conversation and you actually surprised me. Then I realised that most of the time the three of us were together Ron would badger you constantly. I also noticed that when you were studying he would talk to you or do something to disturb you. But I also think it's more than him making it difficult for you to concentrate.'
'That he gave me something else to hinder my learning, I had the same thought.'
'Yes, but not Ron, Dumbledore. Think about it Harry, he knows magic that neither of us would think of then add the fact he studied under an alchemist. How hard would it have been to give you some type of potion or cast a spell on you to limit your learning, to sort of block you, in a way. There are potions for this, but there is also charms, like the ones we found, to stop children doing accidental magic which could place them in danger.'
'Okay, if it's a potion then it's wearing off, if it was a spell then I would still have trouble and I'm not. Reading some of the books over the last few weeks seemed so easy than it used to be.'
'Then it was a potion, which means Ron and Ginny were involved with Dumbledore and his plans for you. You spent more time around Ron than anyone else, so it would be easy for him to dose your water or juice.'
'Okay, we know they dosed us, we know Dumbledore manipulated me, but to what end?'
'That is what I can't work out unless it was just the fact he knew you had to die, but then Ron and Ginny doesn't make sense. If those three were involved then why would Ginny want to be with you if you are going to end up dead?'
'Do you think…and I hate thinking this, but maybe they wanted me dead for my money, and to use my name?'
'It's a possibility, it's hard to believe but then I didn't think they would ever use love potions on us. All the other Weasley's seem fine with the way their lives are, Ron and Ginny aren't.'
'Ron often said he hates being poor.'
'Ginny said the same to me, she went on about playing professional quidditch which would make her rich and famous. Okay, if she was married to you, who is the-boy-who-lived and the chosen one then she would be noticed, being Mrs Potter. You have the Potter fortune which you only just found out about, but now have the Black fortune. She would have ended up with all that if you were married and you died, unless you made out a will.'
'No, I did ask Dumbledore after Sirius died, he said he was my legal guardian in the magical world so he would take care of my wishes if anything happened to me.'
'So he would have split the money between Ron and Ginny, maybe even himself. He's not anymore, even if he was alive, once you reached seventeen then as an adult you would not need a guardian. Apart from the soul inside you, what is his reasons though, why would Albus Dumbledore do this, want you dead, want them to have your money?'
'Money can buy influence, we've seen that for ourselves, it could be that.'
'Yes, that is how Lucius Malfoy got away with so much, everyone believed he was bribing Fudge.'
'I saw Malfoy hand Fudge a bag of something and I heard what sounded like coins.'
'When was this?'
'After my trial for underage magic, me and Mr Weasley were leaving when we saw Fudge and Malfoy talking. He had just handed over the bag to Fudge. Mr Weasley kept me moving, he knew what was going on and if they decided to try something we were in a very deserted part of the ministry so he wanted us out of there quickly.'
'Well you did say Lucius Malfoy tried to kill you when you were twelve and if Fudge is somehow connected to the death eaters and not just stupid and ignorant than yes, they could have tried to kill both of you.'
'When we go see everyone tomorrow I want to ask about these potions. They might be gone or going, but I would like to find out for sure.'
'Then we have them check our blood. There is something else about this that is bugging me though.'
'Tell me.'
'Okay, we used to spend all our time with Ron, we would go to the Burrow during holidays. I get why you did, you needed to get away from those muggles, but I always enjoyed my holidays with my parent's. Since I found out I was a witch we did drift apart, we would use the holidays to stay close. So even though they could never be part of my magical life, they did want to remain close, which I get, I'm there only daughter. I used to believe Albus Dumbledore was wise and knew what he was doing, that we should always listen to him. You began to have doubts about him before me but that came down to your grief over Sirius.'
'I think I see where you're going, we followed him, we liked them, and we liked the Weasley's, we were friendly with them. Is there such thing as a friendship potion or a loyalty potion?'
'I have no idea Harry and I know that doesn't sound like me considering I always read further ahead than the year we were in. Dumbledore either evented one himself or he had Snape make that type of potion, if there wasn't one.'
'Do you want to buy some potion books, I need to learn and you could probably teach me?'
'Yes, I'll teach you, I enjoyed potions, even with Snape.'
'I wanted to, when Mr. Ollivander explained about my parents wands and how my mother was good at potions, it's one class I wanted to really excel in. Snape made that impossible and again I blame Dumbledore for that. He should have kept his pet death eater on a tight leash.'
Hermione giggled, 'Pet death eater, where do you dig up these things Harry?'
'No idea, but you giggled, that's the second time today. You're not one of those giggly girls, but I admit it's nice to hear.'
'You make me happy, so even though I'm nothing like Lavender and those other girls, I like a laugh, now a giggle,' Hermione moved, pushing Harry onto his back then lent over him, 'Very soon I want to do more than giggle.'
Harry licked his lips, 'Um…um, what?' he really hoped she was going to say what he was thinking.
Hermione smiled, 'I want to groan, I want you to make me shiver with pleasure.'
'Oh fuck,' Harry blurted out then grabbed Hermione, kissed her hard as his hands moved up and down her back, occasionally brushing against her backside, which did make her shiver.
Tonks contacted Kingsley a couple of days later, they were to meet up at headquarters the following week.
Tonks walked into the kitchen to see Kingsley sitting at the table with an opened package and a mirror.
'What's that?'
'Harry sent it, its enchanted mirror, they have the other one. I did try to call him but he might be in some meeting or it's not on him. I'll try again later.'
'Okay, I heard Sirius mention the one he had that matched the one James Potter had. Anyway, I heard more than I wished. No, they are not on Voldy's side or anything like that but they had plans.'
'Tell me.'
Tonks sat down, 'They had been giving Harry and Hermione love potions, aimed at Harry with Ginny, Ron with Hermione. From what I found out Albus put the plan to Molly that Harry should marry Ginny. They knew he had to die which meant Ginny and the Weasley's would end up with the Potter fortune.'
Kingsley sighed, 'Out of all the Weasley's, only Ron and Ginny seem to want more, like what money can buy. Molly was never happy with Arthur because of his low paying job. The twins are doing really well even with a war on and Ron gets jealous of that. He also hated the fact that Harry gave the twins the money to start their business. I know Molly wasn't informed about that but Ron did know it was thanks to Harry the twins were able to begin their business. Ginny takes me as the type who would use whatever she could to get what she wanted, including taking advantage of Harry. Where any others involved?'
'No, Arthur doesn't even know the truth about the reason why Ron left. They did have a fight, a big one, Ron left and did try to go straight back but he was caught by snatchers. When he did escape he did go straight back to them, there were no other snatchers but he couldn't find Harry or Hermione. He kept looking until he finally went home and told his mother. For a month they kept that from everyone. But they are talking about trying to find Harry and Hermione before they get married. They plan on visiting different countries to find them, then dose them again.'
"Kingsley Shacklebolt."
Chapter twelve
'Harry,' Kingsley grinned as he looked into the mirror, 'It's good to see your both safe. How are you?'
'We're good Kingsley, so how did our news go over?'
'Shocking, but we all believe you're right, our numbers are dwindling, more now his back. I did get someone to check on magical babies born to muggle parents, it was already too late. The few inside the ministry have been checking, we send people out to explain then move the families. We're actually sending a lot of them overseas until we can supply them with the potion to block their magic from being detected and to suppress the magic as well, first they needs to be invented.'
'One of them already is, my magic was partially blocked, I had these people check. It was a potion, it's been slowly expelling from me since I left. But it wasn't the only potion I had in me, Hermione as well.'
'Love potions.'
'Who is there with you?' Harry's brow furrowed then smiled, 'Wotcha Tonks.'
'Wotcha Harry, Hermione.'
'Hello Tonks,' Hermione smiled.
'So you know about the love potions?' Harry asked.
'There is something no one knows about Tonks, she's an animagus.'
'I planned to register, then he took over, decided to use it for spying.'
'Good one, so what do you turn into?'
'An eagle.'
'Oh, I'm so jealous, if I can work it I want to be a bird of some kind.'
Hermione, Tonks and Kingsley laughed, 'Of course you would, you love to fly,' Kingsley said.
'Anyway, after we read your letter, I decided to do a bit of spying…on the Burrow. I got suspicious of Molly, Ron and Ginny during the meeting. They did use a love potion on both of you and it seems it was Albus Dumbledore's idea.'
'The love potion wasn't the only one, the one to block my magic and there was one more Hermione and I were given. They are almost out of our system which is what made Hermione suspicious.'
'Tell us,' Kingsley said sounding resigned.
'A loyalty potion, aimed at Dumbledore, Molly, Ron, Ginny and Arthur, even though we don't believe Arthur is involved. He just doesn't seem the type.'
'He's not involved, I found that out. But they are working on plans to find you so they can get the potion back into you before you get married. They realise now that you're together they won't have much time,' Tonks said.
'They're too late,' Hermione grinned, 'When the people helping us found the potions, Harry and I talked and decided to marry straight away, even though we've only just started dating. We realised that we began to have feelings for the other years ago, so we would have been together for years if it wasn't for them. So even though we love each other we realised that marrying now would protect both of us, in case they did find us.'
'Then you're protected, when are you going to let them know?' Kingsley asked.
'At your next meeting, I figured now you have the mirror I could interrupt you're meeting,' Harry smirked.
'Then I'll make sure it's on me when the meeting starts. I will tell you so you'll know and can listen in. Okay, we're glad you got this worked out, we have some big news that you and your lot need to know.'
'Is he dead?'
'Sorry, it's not that big. Minerva was contacted by someone your age. He was being forced to take the dark mark, he didn't want to, so she helped him and his family escape, well, his mother and him escaped. He had already worked on money and a fake name. He explained that his godfather, a death eater was ordered to make a very special potion.'
'Snape and Malfoy.'
'Yes, how did you know Snape was Draco's godfather?'
'I overheard them once, using my cloak. So what is this potion?'
'Liquid imperius, it will work like three powerful people putting you under the curse at once so even people like us, aurors, won't be able to fight it off. We've begun training, trying to fight it, but it's not happening anytime soon.'
'Damn, do you think Snape could do it?'
'If he was the one that gave Albus the loyalty potion for you, along with the one to block your magic, yes, he can, we just don't know how long it will take him. Minerva has the ones she trusts at Hogwarts spying on him, she is even using her animagus to spy.'
'He knows she becomes a cat, he would ward against animals, I'm sure of it.'
'Probably, but Minerva is the only animagus with access to the castle.'
'What about the tunnels?'
'All five have been sealed.'
'Kingsley, there's seven tunnels, five are inaccessible so I'm not sure which two out of the seven might still be able to be used. Hang on, talk to Hermione, I need to get something,' he thrust the mirror into Hermione's hand then ran off.
'Where did he go?' Tonks asked.
'To get his map of Hogwarts.'
'What map?' Kingsley and Tonks asked together.
'The Marauder's map,' Harry said as he reappeared, 'Sirius, my dad, Remus and Pettigrew invented it when they were students, but the twins found it and gave it to me when I was thirteen,' Harry activated the map, 'Okay, seven tunnels, I can see the difference, they are faded. But there is one that can be used, it's still open, we just have no idea if Snape knows and has put some type of alert charm on it.'
'Where?'
'Fourth floor, behind the statue of the one eyed witch, you say dissendium which opens a small passage. The other we used was the one leading from the whomping willow to the Shrieking shack. There is a knot on the tree, you touch it by levitating a stick, it stops the branches moving. It's where Remus used to transform when he was a student, it's why Sirius and my dad had the map, to change into their animagus forms and join him on his wolf nights. Snape knew about that Kingsley, he snuck in there when we had Pettigrew, when I found out Sirius was innocent. That's why it's now sealed but he mustn't have ever found out about the one on the fourth floor.'
'Where does the one behind the statue open up?'
'The cellar in Honeydukes, Fred, George, Ron and us know about it, but I don't know if any of the other Weasley's know. I would say the twins told Lee Jordon but I doubt they told others.'
'I might get Minerva to work on a plan to go in then have a good story if he has charmed it. If we can get inside then Tonks or even one of our other animagi could spy on Snape, find out how the potion is going. We could find out if the death eaters have any weaknesses we can use against them.'
'What about using it to sneak the students out?' Hermione asked.
'They would know if that many began to disappear. We'll work on it though, now we have a way to get them out of there, we can't leave them. So many are being hurt, ones that didn't get away. We did find out that Neville Longbottom rallied the old DA, they have been rescuing the younger students who had been taken down to the dungeons…for punishment. I wish we could talk to him though. Minerva can't or they would get suspicious, the most she can do is sneak him some potions during his classes.'
'Could she sneak him a mirror?'
'Ah, you have a quick mind Harry, yes, I can charm a couple, now I just have to work on who should have the second one. It would need to be someone inside Hogwarts so they can help if it's needed.'
'Apart from McGonagall, are they suspicious of any of the teachers?'
'No, they all know Minerva was loyal to Albus, the others were just staff.'
'Then I think it should be Flitwick, he's a great teacher, he never discriminated against anyone and he's powerful.'
'Yes, Filius might be the one, he is loyal to Minerva and was to Albus even though he disagreed with Albus a lot. Yes, I will work on getting that to him, we will have to sneak it to him though. I have an idea, but you would need to be willing?'
'You want the map?'
'Yes, unless we can make another.'
'I asked Sirius and Remus, they all did they bit, but Sirius said he had no idea what my dad did. You could ask Remus, but you can have this one, it's not like I need it. You can see where every person is and every room, apart from the room of requirement. It shows up the real names if someone is using polyjuice, if they are an animagus, it even shows up the ghosts.'
'The kids are hiding in the room of requirement, some went missing but when we checked with their families they aren't there.'
'The trouble with the room is that it will supply everything, except food.'
'Maybe they got one of the house elves. Hey, wasn't Crouch's house elf at Hogwarts?' Tonks asked.
'Yeah, Dumbledore gave Winky a job, but Dobby is there and he's loyal to me since I helped free him. Now Ron and Ginny know about Dobby, I doubt any of the others do.'
'The only time he popped into Gryffindor tower was when you were alone so Neville or the others wouldn't know to call him,' Hermione said.
'I will get Minerva to speak with Dobby and Winky, she can send them to Neville and to the people in the room of requirement.'
'Not Winky, she spends all her time getting drunk. Dobby helps her but she never got over being freed by Crouch.'
'Then I'll make sure it's just Dobby. Is there anything you can tell us so he will know we're friends with you?'
'Give him socks, I usually give him socks. The black one that he wears is the one I used to help free him, my old school sock. He has a lot now, from me, Ron, even some from Hermione. Oh he likes hats as well, Hermione kept knitting them in the hope to free house elves, Dobby did all the work in the tower when the house elves refused.'
'Hermione,' Kingsley shook his head, 'Only the headmaster can free a Hogwarts house elf. As noble as you are and what you tried to do, it would not have worked.'
'I found out a year later, I was so disappointed. I even spoke with Dumbledore, I asked if he would free them but keep them on like Dobby and Winky.'
'It would cost too much even though they would only take minimum wages, which means the money would have to be taken away from something else at Hogwarts. Anyway, so you don't mind us having the map?'
'No, it will help, I will send it off straight away with the instructions on how to activate it and deactivate it. Now one more thing, Snape saw me with it but it wasn't open at the time. He tried to find out what it was and the parchment insulted him using the names Moony, Padfoot, Prongs and Wormtail. So make sure he doesn't see it even if it's not open or he will know it was a map, he found out before Pettigrew escaped that night.'
'Will do, we best break this connection. I will call a meeting for five nights from now that should give us and you plenty of time.'
'We'll be ready.'
'Oh congratulations Mr and Mrs Potter,' Kingsley smiled, Tonks laughed when both Harry and Hermione blushed which told them this marriage might have been quick but they were taking advantage of it, like most teenagers would.