Just short of the black door, they turned left and walked down the staircase to the tenth level. Fudge looked around in frustration as the seats of the Wizengamot filled. As his eyes fell upon Harry, Flitwick and Snape all sitting next to Madam Bones, his shoulders slumped in resignation. He stood up and said. "Since it is a member of my department who stands accused, I must recuse myself from these proceedings. I turn the matter over the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement Amelia Bones," The look on Umbridge's face at those words was priceless to Harry. She looked like a toad who had just swallowed a very rotten fly.
When Amelia took the spot vacated by the Minister, her first act was to require Umbridge to sit in the chair of the accused. Harry remembered the feeling quite well of sitting in that chair.
"Dolores Umbridge," Bones started. "You stand accused of several violations of the law. Today you have been brought before the Wizengamot..."
"YOU CAN'T DO THIS! I'M THE SENIOR..."
"BE QUIET!" Bones interjected with a voice that commanded authority and Umbridge shrunk back in the seat. "You have been brought before the Wizengamot to determine if, under Veritaserum questioning, there is enough evidence to remove you from office. The violations are attempted murder of a juven..."
"I HAVE DONE NOTHING WRONG!" Umbridge cried out again.
Bones lifted her wand and a silencing charm was sent toward Umbridge. "You will have your chance to respond, but I cannot permit you to keep interrupting these proceedings," She said. "As I was saying, you are accused of attempted murder of a juvenile, one Harry James Potter by use of Dementors on August second of last year."
Harry was watching Dolores Umbridge and he could see her eyes widen in fear.
"..you are also accused of excessive abuse to a juvenile that would equate to torture. Again that juvenile is Harry James Potter," She lifted her wand again and reversed the silencing hex. "What do you have to say in response before we administer the serum?"
"Lies," Umbridge replied in her girlish voice. "Nothing but lies from a self-serving brat. Everyone here has read his delusional accounts about He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. It's just another one of his attention-seeking attempts," She smiled as she noticed a lot of murmuring start among the Wizengamot.
Amelia quickly regained silence as she spoke. "I personally witnessed the testimony given by Mr. Potter under Veritaserum as did Professor Flitwick, Professor Snape and several of my Aurors."
"Dumbledore probably gave him an antidote," Someone shouted from the crowd.
"I will admit we did not check him for counter-veritaserum, I had no reason to suspect it," Bones replied.
The people started once again to murmur until Harry got to his feet. "Ma'am," He started. "I am willing to be tested for any counter-serums and to reaffirm my testimony once again under truth serum if that is what is required."
Hermione got to her feet as well. "Ma'am, I was present when we found out about her attempt and I am also willing to be questioned."
Severus Snape sighed. He couldn't believe he was actually going to help Harry Potter but he knew he had to. Getting Umbridge out of Hogwarts was necessary if he were to continue to be useful to both Dumbledore and Voldemort. He stood as well. "Members of the Wizengamot," He said, turning to make eye contact with as many of the Wizengamot members as he could. "I am the Potions Master of Hogwarts. Most of you are familiar with my abilities. I can and will attest that when a counter-serum is active in a person's system and they are given veritaserum, there are certain indications that can be observed by a trained eye. I can verify that Mr. Potter showed no signs of those indications. He did answer those questions truthfully."
Amelia looked at the Wizengamot as well. "Members of the Wizengamot, do you concur there is enough evidence as it stands to administer Veritaserum to Dolores Umbridge or do you need further testimony? May I see wands in favor of going forward with Umbridge's questioning?"
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and could feel Hermione do the same when a solid majority of the wands lit up. Again he looked at Umbridge who now looked like a toad getting ready to be run over by a hippogriff. Her wide panicking eyes were looking over at Cornelius Fudge who was looking anywhere but at his Senior Undersecretary. Her looked changed to terror when Bones ordered the administering of the serum.
"NO!" Umbridge shouted and tried to run when the Auror who had the Veritaserum was next to her. A leg locking hex sent her sprawling as she smashed her face on the stone floor. Two Aurors forced the struggling toad back into the chair and the drops of clear liquid were put in her mouth. She struggled for several more seconds, then ceased as her look of terror gave way to an unfocused stare.
"Is your name Dolores Jane Umbridge," Amelia started the questioning.
"Yes."
"Are you the current Senior Undersecretary of the Minister of Magic."
"Yes."
"Were you the one who sent Dementors to Little Whinging Surrey, a muggle neighborhood on August second of last year?"
"Yes," Came the response and an uproar started around the room as everyone started speaking at once.
"QUIET!" Madam Bones bellowed and again the room sunk into silence. She again turned to Umbridge. "Why did you send the Dementors?"
"Harry Potter had to go away," She replied. "His lies were becoming too distracting to the Ministry."
"Did you intend for the Dementors to kill Harry Potter?"
"Of course," Umbridge replied.
"You almost killed another person there as well," Bones said. "Was that your intention as well?"
"The Muggle? Who cares about muggles? They can all die for all I care."
As the uproar started up again, Harry noticed the panicked look on the face of the Minister of Magic. He remembered what Sirius had suggested and Harry knew he had to act or the Minister would face the backlash. He stood up and addressed Amelia Bones. "Ma'am, when I found out about what she had done, I also found out that the Minister knew nothing about it. Could you pose that as a question?" He turned and looked at Cornelius Fudge who had turned his gaze toward him with a questioning look.
"Of course Mr. Potter," Bones said and then speaking to Umbridge. "Dolores Umbridge, did the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, know about this attempt on Mr. Potter's life?"
"No. He was busy trying to find other ways to discredit Mr. Potter."
Harry glanced at the Minister and noticed the long breath he let out in relief. "Fudge owes us one so far," Harry said to his wife.
"Have you killed or attempted to kill anyone else?" Madam Bones asked Umbridge.
"Yes," Came the reply.
Over the next half hour, Dolores Umbridge confessed to the murder of two people including Matthew Corrigan and attempting the murder of another three people who had refused to support Fudge in one method or another. She cleared Fudge of any knowledge of the attempts. She also admitted to the abuse and torture of students at Hogwarts. Further questions gave the names of four people throughout the Ministry who had helped her including one of the sitting members of the Wizengamot who had been in courtroom three but had not come down to courtroom ten.
When the questioning had ended, Amelia Bones looked around the room at stunned faces of the Wizengamot. "Members, I call upon you now to vote on whether Senior Undersecretary Umbridge should be removed from office. Those of you who believe she should be removed, please vote."
The wands were almost entirely lit.
Amelia turned back to the toad like lady. "Senior Undersecretary Umbridge, you are hereby removed from your office and will be placed under arrest for the crimes you have committed," She looked over at the Minister of Magic. "Minister, do you wish to say anything at this time?'
Cornelius looked around as he swallowed hard. "Only that my office supports the removal of the Senior Undersecretary and I wish to point out that...that I had no knowledge of the...the things she did."
"Thank you Minister," Madam Bones replied and then re-addressed the Wizengamot. "Based on this testimony I would like to immediately take Oswald Baddock into custody. Since he is a member of the Wizengamot, I need a clear majority to allow me to do that. May I ask for a vote to allow the arrest?"
Again almost every wand lit in the vote.
"Thank you," Bones said. She motioned for the Aurors nearest Umbridge to take her into custody. They confiscated her wand and led her away.
...
It was a very happy Harry and Hermione who exited the fireplace into the Headmaster's office. Once Flitwick and Snape had departed the office, Professor McGonagall asked them to take a seat.
"I presume by the happy expressions, there is good news?" McGonagall asked.
"I think we can safely say she will not be back here any time soon," Hermione replied.
"She confessed to..." Harry turned to Hermione, "three murders..."
"Two," Hermione corrected. "And attempted murder of three...four if you include Harry last year."
"She also implicated a Wizengamot member and a couple of Ministry workers who were helping her."
"Well it seems Amelia will have her hands full for the next few days."
"Wait for another week and she won't know what hit her," Harry thought to his wife.
"I just hope she doesn't die this time," Hermione replied.
"Maybe Voldemort will kill Fudge instead."
McGonagall shifted through some parchments on her desk. "I took the liberty of asking the Ministry for an updated list of muggleborn students currently attending Hogwarts," she said as she handed one of the parchments to Hermione. "I thought you would be interested in it Miss...Hermione."
Hermione looked puzzled at the Headmistress, and then started to read the names on the list. At first a puzzled look came over her face and then her eyes lifted to look at the Headmistress.
"If it is in order, I will offer my congratulations Mr and Mrs. Potter," McGonagall said with a smile. "It seems I was wrong last week."
"Th..thanks," Hermione replied. She looked again at the official list from the Ministry of Magic. She had first been confused and very concerned when she had not seen Hermione Granger on the list. Her first thoughts had been that Umbridge had in fact expelled her before she'd been taken away. She'd understood though, when she'd seen her name further down, in the P's. Hermione Potter. She showed the list to Harry and pointed at her name.
"I thought it would be safer to ask for a large list where a name is buried and out of context to what I was looking for," McGonagall explained on her method of delivery. "Of course you are more than welcome to ask for a Marriage certificate and they will provide one. If you do that, I doubt it would be a secret for very long," She looked over her glasses at the two of them. "I am to presume you do still want it to be a secret?"
"Yes professor. We...we aren't ready for that yet," Hermione replied.
"Besides I'm not ready for her father to kill me," Harry said.
"And Dumbledore?"
"No.. we don't want him to know either."
McGonagall studied the two students in front of her for a few seconds before finally asking. "May I ask about the sudden hostility toward the Headmaster? As it is, I will be in a bind when he returns to the school."
Harry looked at Hermione and the two of them discussed it silently for a few seconds until finally Harry responded. "Professor, what do you know of my childhood? My relatives?"
"What I know or what I can deduce?" McGonagall asked. She turned and stared out the window for several seconds and then turned back to her students. "I was there the night Albus left you with your relatives," She put up a hand to stall Harry's reply so she could complete her thoughts. "I spent the whole day there after your parents died. When Albus showed up later that evening, I told him they were the worst people I could imagine," She went on to explain the letter and Hagrid showing up and finally leaving him on the doorstep.
Hermione had been listening to the story and she became more and more confused. "Professor, that doesn't make sense," she said finally.
"What do you mean?" McGonagall asked. "I was there and I know what I did."
"But...WHY were you there to start with?" Hermione asked. "If you didn't know the Potters had died, I mean you just said it was only rumors and you also said you were surprised to learn that they were Harry's only relatives. So WHY were you there all day watching them?"
McGonagall was lost in her own confusion as she tried to think what made her go to Privet Drive to start with.
"Also as I understand it, the reason Harry is safe there is because of the wards surrounding the house are based on his Aunt's blood?" Hermione continued.
"Yes, that's right," McGonagall replied. "Albus explained that to me later when I started asking about protecting Harry."
"So when did Dumbledore put up those wards?" Hermione asked. "According to your story, he showed up that night and then proceeded to leave Harry on the doorstep and then left. I would have presumed putting up the wards would have been the biggest priority to protecting Harry."
McGonagall stared at the young witch in front of her but could not find an argument.
"Didn't the Potters live in Godric Hollow?" Hermione asked. She of course knew the answer since she and Harry had been almost killed there their last Christmas. But that was two years in the future.
"Yes.."
"But you said Hagrid took Harry from the Potters' house before the muggles showed up. If something happened that destroyed the house, they would have arrived fairly quickly. Why did it take Hagrid almost a whole day to travel a very short distance on a flying motorcycle?" She also knew that Hagrid and Harry had flown from Surrey to the Tonks' house which was even further away in just a short time the night they had 'escaped' from Privet Drive.
"I…I don't know," McGonagall answered truthfully.
Harry had never known exactly what had happened that night he had been left at the Dursleys. Now it seemed like someone else didn't either. "Professor, there has been a lot of things that do not make sense," As he cast around looking for a good excuse, he realized the perfect one had just happened. "Hermione has been going over some of the things I've described and finding problems with them as well. Everything seems to go back to the Headmaster."
"Albus…but..." McGonagall again was trying to figure out that night as well. "I remember that day and night very clearly."
"I..." Hermione had started to reply but then stopped as she looked sharply at the Transfiguration Professor. "Clearly...like it just happened?"
"Yes...exactly."
A paragraph from a book came floating into the memory of Hermione. It was the book she studied before modifying her parents' memories. "Professor...isn't one of the first things you learn when it comes to memory modification spells is that the new memory being implanted must be more defined because..."
"It needs to override any possible echo of the memory being modified," McGonagall finished. "Albus changed my memory of that day? Why?" She asked mostly to herself.
"I don't know what the Headmaster is doing, but a lot of things don't add up," Harry said. "Until he is willing to give me answers that make sense, I will not trust him," Harry could see the confusion on the Headmistress's face. "You said you didn't like my relatives, did you ever wonder what my life has been like with them?"
"I've often wondered," She admitted. "You see, I remember your father exceptionally well. He...he how can I say this.."
"Professor, I know my father was a bully for most of his time here."
"That might be a little harsh, but he definitely had some moments, especially when it came to a few students, one in particular."
"Snape," Harry muttered.
McGonagall lifted an eyebrow. "You are exceptionally well informed."
Harry shrugged. "It came up and Sirius verified it."
McGonagall nodded her understanding. "Well your father did like to strut, shall we say, but he was always dressed very well."
"And I'm dressed not so well?"
"That would be an overstatement sometimes. Where do you get your clothing?"
"Hand-me-downs from my cousin," Harry replied. "The Dursleys have never bought me a single item of clothing," Harry looked again toward his wife and after a couple of seconds she nodded. Harry got up from his seat and pulled off his robe. Then he pulled off his shirt, revealing the various scars that crossed his body. "This is what life with the Dursleys has been like," He said as he put his shirt and robe back on. "So as you can see, I have very little reason to trust the Headmaster right now. Next week he will once again insist I need to go live with the Dursleys. Now I will admit they haven't dared touch me since I told them that Sirius, who they believe is a mass murderer, is my Godfather, but the hatred is there still."
"Does that answer your question to why we don't trust the Headmaster?" Hermione asked.
"Yes. I guess it does," McGonagall sighed.
As Hermione and Harry rose from their chairs to depart, they both saw something that made their blood freeze. The portraits. All were awake and staring attentively at them.
"Shit," Harry mentally exclaimed.
Turning back to McGonagall Hermione asked. "Professor, are the portraits going to tell Dumbledore what we just told you?"
McGonagall looked up at the portraits and realized it was something she should have thought of them. "Portraits, as the official acting Headmistress, I order you to not discuss anything said in this office in the last twenty minutes with anyone, including Albus Dumbledore or myself. That also includes anyone where you have other portrait frames."
"Will that work?" Hermione asked.
"I hope so."
A little while later Harry and Hermione met up with Neville and Luna in the Room of Requirements. They quickly brought them up to date on what had happened in the last few hours with Umbridge and McGonagall.
"How'd your Defense practicals go Neville?" Hermione asked.
"I...I think I did okay," He replied. "I had a couple of problems with the counter jinxes but I think I passed."
"Excellent," Harry said. He turned to Hermione. "Let's tell Sirius what happened today and see how he's coming with the plan," He pulled out the mirror and was staring at Sirius a few seconds later.
"How's it going Pup?" Sirius asked.
"Well we think it was a great day," Harry quickly explained what happened at the Ministry and in the courtroom. "So Umbridge is going to be facing some very serious charges."
"Sounds like it. So McGonagall is in charge now?"
"Yeah and she knows we are married, but she isn't going to tell Dumbledore."
"Still want to be there when Albus finds out and Ginny and Ron...heck I'll take Molly."
"By the way, the night my parents died...what happened?" Harry asked.
"Why do you want to know?"
Harry and Hermione explained what McGonagall remembered.
"Hagrid and I were at your parents' house very soon after it all happened. He left on my motorcycle not long afterwards, while I went searching for Peter," Sirius said. "And McGonagall said he didn't get to the Dursleys until the next day?"
"That's what she remembers."
"I don't know," Sirius replied. "Something happened. That trip is only a couple of hours at the most."
"Maybe he spent the day there putting the wards up and making the deal with the Dursleys," Hermione said. "And then he modified McGonagall's memories for some reason."
"Wait," Harry said as the conversation he had had with Dumbledore two years previous came back to him. "He said he put the spell on me and she sealed it by taking me in."
"But Professor McGonagall didn't mention Dumbledore casting any spell on you, so when did he do it?" Hermione asked. "Supposedly you came via Hagrid directly to Privet Drive and those few moments were the only time Dumbledore saw you."
"Another Dumbledore lie?" Harry asked.
"Looks that way."
"If he survives this war, I am going to kill him," Sirius snarled. "Lies and memory charms. What is that old fart playing at?"
"We know he made a deal with the Dursleys. Miranda told us that," Harry said. "So he didn't want anyone to remember that deal or whatever else happened that day," Harry felt more anger rise in him at the Headmaster. He remembered how Dumbledore had played his anger and sorrow over losing Sirius perfectly to keep him blindly following his directions leading toward Harry's death.
"Let's figure that out later Harry," Sirius said. "Want to know how we're going to kill all of the Death Eaters next week. Personally I think it's brilliant in its simplicity," He started telling them what he thought needed to happen. "So what do you think?"
"Brilliant Sirius," Hermione said. "That is brilliant."
"What about Dumbledore," Harry asked. "I just wished we could do this without him, but with Voldemort..."
"We can," Hermione said. "As long as...yes it will work."
Sirius and Harry both were looking at the witch with questioning glances.
"Remember what you just told Ollivander? Voldemort still doesn't know what happened between your wands," Hermione explained. "He has no reason to expect it to happen again. Lock his wand up dueling him again. You can keep him like that until the Minister and half the Ministry is there; not only will their opinion of you rise if you can out duel Voldemort right in front of them, but it will crush snakeface's ego to lose to you instead of Dumbledore, especially in front of people."
"Brilliant Hermione," Harry said. "And if he does get lucky and hits me with the killing curse again, I can rise from it a second time and still cause problems for him."
"It looks like we have a plan."
"Where are we going to sleep tonight?" Harry asked as he looked up at Hermione. They had remained in the Room of Requirements when Luna and Neville had left after another dinner together. Currently, Hermione was sitting on the sofa, studying Arthimancy. Her book was magically propped on the arm of the sofa, while Harry had his head in her lap. As she read the text of her book, she absent mindedly was running her fingers gently through the unruly locks of Harry's hair.
"What...oh?" She replied as she looked down into Harry's emerald eyes. She sighed. "As much as I want to sleep with you, I think we need to be in the dorms. Even with Neville covering for you, we can't keep staying in here every evening," She smiled as Harry attempted his best puppy dog eyes. "But I still have a bit of studying to do."
"True," Harry agreed. The fell back into silence again for a few minutes until Harry saw the time on Hermione's watch as her wrist made a another path across his face as her fingers worked their magic through his hair. "One week from right now and it will be almost time to go to the Ministry."
That caused Hermione to look at her watch also. She closed her book and looked back down at Harry. "Nervous?" She asked though she knew he was.
"I keep seeing you getting hit by Dolohov last time," Harry admitted. "If anything were to happen to you..."
Hermione could see the concern in his eyes. "Not this time love. I'm not the same girl who was there last time," She smiled. "They'll never know what hit them. Dolohov, Lestrange...all of them. We'll never have to fight them again."
The two of them stared into each other's eyes for a several seconds, both thinking of that night two years ago. "I should have listened to you," Harry admitted finally. "We should never have been there..."
"And I should have listened to you earlier in the year about Snape. I believed in Dumbledore too much I guess," Hermione replied. "If only we'd had this then," They both knew she meant their soul bond.
They both started thinking of the years that had gone by, of all the things that might have been different, finally Harry shook his head. "Let's not regret it now, let's just make it right. I just want to kick the Death Eaters' butts next week and then spend time with you."
"I want that too," Hermione replied. "But when are we going to be together this summer?" She asked. "Are you going to go to the Dursleys?"
"The Dursley's can rot in hell for all I care," Harry grumbled. "But I'll wait to see what Dumbledore says."
"If he tries to force you to go?"
"What do you think he'd do if every time I get put back there, I end right back up at Grimmauld place again within a day?" Harry asked. "I know how to apparate. Only Mad-Eye can see through my cloak, so just have to wait until he isn't there…"
"I might enjoy the show," Hermione replied with a smile as she thought of Dumbledore's reaction to Harry walking through the front door of Twelve Grimmauld again and again. "As long as they don't realize we can talk in our minds, we can really have fun with him. If he tries to force you stay there magically I'll take it to the Ministry especially if we have Fudge on our side then."
Harry smiled at his wife. "I want you to spend time with your parents," He said. "It's been almost two years since you spent any real time there and even then it wasn't a lot," Harry frowned. That had been this summer, the summer right after his fifth year. Hermione had made it to the Burrow before he had and it had been his shortest time ever at Privet Drive. "Whose idea was it for you to come to the Burrow?"
Hermione thought back two years. "I was invited by Ginny," She finally said. "She sent me an Owl and said you were coming and..." She stopped. "That's when it started last time wasn't it? I wonder when though. I wasn't jealous of Ron's attitude toward Fleur. I thought it was stupid."
"And I wasn't jealous of Ginny when she mentioned to Fred that she had started dating Dean at Diagon Alley, but I did feel something on the train when she said she was going to meet him."
"And Lavender's giggle when Ron took that kid's Frisbee annoyed the heck out of me."
"So last time it happened between Diagon Alley and the train," Harry replied. "Looking back it is pretty obvious though, I mean how did she go from Corner to Dean? She dumped Corner after the Quidditch match less than three weeks before the end of the school year and was already dating someone else before the next year even begins? Especially since Dean was studying for his OWLs all the time after the match. After the OWLs we were all dealing with the Ministry battle."
"Do you think she dosed him with a love potion?"
"Possibly," Harry replied.
"At least they'll be no Burrow this year," Hermione said.
"You'll come to Grimmauld sometimes right? You can take the Knight Bus," Harry asked. "Or apparate."
"Maybe you can come to my house and formally meet my parents," Hermione suggested with a hopeful look in her eyes.
Harry took his wife's left hand and ran his finger over the ring on her finger. He looked into Hermione's eyes. "Is your father going to kill me because of this?"
Hermione laughed. "You're going to battle Voldemort next week and my father is the one you're concerned about?"
"I can't fight back against your parents," Harry replied truthfully. "I don't ever want to put you in a position to choose between us."
"I've already chosen Harry," Hermione replied. "I chose you even before our soul bond. Through jealousy potions and everything else, I've always chosen you," Her eyes were dampening. "I want my parents to love you Harry and I am sure they will, but always know that there will never be a choice to make if it were to come to that."
Their lips met softly, tenderly. A kiss that showed the love they shared with one another. Harry pulled Hermione into his arms and they slipped into another silent gaze as Hermione felt herself wanting to fall into Harry's eyes. It lasted until another thought caught up to Hermione. "Harry…your link to Voldemort. How are you going to let him show you Sirius?"
Harry eyes widened. "I...I don't know. I need to figure out how to loosen my Occlumency don't I?"
"True, but are you going to fall asleep in the History OWL again?" Hermione asked. "Voldemort could only make you see things when you were sleeping….." Hermione remembered Harry screaming out in their OWL two years previous. Then a strange thought appeared; questions that wouldn't quite settle into something that could be answered. "But… but how could Voldemort expect you to find a way to London in the middle of the school year from a school that was locked down by the Ministry? Wouldn't he expect you to go tell someone?"
"I tried remember? I tried to tell McGonagall."
"Exactly!" Hermione exclaimed as the pieces started to come together in her mind. "But Voldemort still had his Death Eaters there waiting and…and…" She stopped and caught her breath, "Voldemort has been sending you images since Christmas trying to get you into the Department of Mysteries."
"Yes…"
"So this time he changed tactics and added Sirius," Hermione explained. "But how could he know you fell for it and you didn't tell someone? Or that you didn't make contact with Sirius. I know he had Kreacher make up a lie, but he had no way to know if it had worked. Sirius might have been near the fireplace getting food or something, or Sirius might have heard the floo and ordered Kreacher to tell him who it had been. If you had told someone or found Sirius, his Death Eaters could have walked into a reverse trap."
"So he knew that I hadn't told anyone or…." Harry stopped as the answer came to him. "He must have been reading my mind."
"I…I don't think so," Hermione replied. "Well maybe…" Hermione's lip disappeared under her teeth as she concentrated, "but if he had been reading your mind, wouldn't he have known Dumbledore was at the Department of Mysteries? Your memory clearly showed Bellatrix had to tell him he was there. Besides wouldn't Voldemort have shown up as soon as you had the Prophecy instead of waiting for us to battle with the Death Eaters? If we'd known how the doors work, we could have escaped fairly easily," Then thoughts of that night came back vividly. She remembered what Lucius Malfoy had said that night. 'the Dark Lord wondered why you didn't come running when he showed you the place where it was hidden in your dreams.' "No if he could read your mind that easily he'd have known you didn't know about the Prophecy. Remember Lucius said Voldemort didn't know."
"He...he knew I didn't have the prophecy when he arrived though. He said he could see it in my mind."
"Oh..." Hermione replied, as her mind getting ready to dismiss her idea then until she remembered. "Were you looking him in the eyes at that time?"
"Yea...of course, Legilimency," Harry realized. "When I was looking at him he could read my mind."
Hermione nodded.
"So what are you suggesting…someone told him?"
"I think so," Hermione said. "And I can think of only one person who knew we were concerned about Sirius at the Department of Mysteries and who knew we hadn't been able to tell anyone."
Harry sat up and stared at Hermione. "Snape?"
"When did your scar start hurting more that night?"
Harry thought back to two years previous. "It was like it was on fire when I first woke up from the vision," Harry said as he winced and his fingers went to his scar as he mentally felt that pain again. "But then it settled into a low ache until..." He looked at Hermione, "until after we were with Umbridge."
"More importantly, after you told Snape. It would have taken him some time to communicate with Voldemort."
"But…but he told the Order."
"You pointed out the other day that it is most likely he was really working with both sides. He probably covered his tracks by contacting Sirius…but then he had that window of time. Harry we were on those bloody thestrals for hours.*"
"Next week's sunrise is supposed to be around four-thirty," Hermione continued, "but with the mountains around us, it's closer to five. I checked because the timing was important. Now you said you got back to Dumbledore's office right at sunrise correct?"
"Yes, a little before but not much."
"How long did the battle between Dumbledore and Voldemort last? Ten minutes or so? twenty at the most?"
"Definitely not twenty," Harry replied as he remembered the epic battle.
"How long before that did the Order show up?"
"Not very long, but it could have been thirty minutes."
"So we know the Order came immediately when Snape told them, so they must have been told around two or three am? Definitely not earlier than that," Hermione explained. "Can you imagine Snape waiting up until two am to see if you were fine after going into the Forbidden Forest? FIVE hours after we disappeared with Umbridge? And then it is the Forbidden Forest and it is the middle of the night…do you remember our first year? If we didn't come back would your first thought be 'Oh Harry Potter must have found some way to get out of the clutches of Dolores Umbridge and flew off to London' or would it have been 'The Forbidden Forest is really dangerous. More than likely Potter has got himself in some kind of trouble in there?' "
"But Snape did notify the Order and possibly Voldemort so he must have had a reason to believe we did go."
"Like he followed us? Or at least maybe followed Neville and the rest when they caught up to us?" Hermione asked. "Either Snape is a damn good Seer or he had reason to believe we had left Hogwarts on a relatively slow transportation system," Her eyes widened. "Didn't you tell me that Dumbledore said Snape suggested that Sirius stay at Grimmauld place?"
"Yes, so he could tell Dumbledore."
"I don't think that was the real reason," Hermione replied darkly. "If the Order had found us before we got to the Ministry and Sirius hadn't been with them, would you have believed them that Sirius was fine? Or would you have insisted on going into the Ministry, especially wanting to know about the orbs you kept seeing in your dreams."
"I... probably," Harry admitted reluctantly. "But why would Snape do that? What would he gain?"
"The more Death Eaters that died or captured, the better his position is with Voldemort." Hermione suggested. "Look what happened last time. Lucius lost his place as Voldemort's most trusted person. If Order members died, then Dumbledore would need Snape even more."
Harry contemplated that night and it made sense. His eyes made contact with his wife's again. "I'm going to gut the bastard," Harry said dangerously.
"We know he's not to be trusted but we might be able to use him as well. It's possible we can use him to get information to Voldemort and Dumbledore," Hermione replied. "But he is a slimy git and I do think it's safe to assume we won't be naming any of our children after him."
The last statement caught Harry off guard and he looked to find Hermione smiling. It wasn't long before they found themselves laughing at the thought. Finally they caught their breath only to have Harry start them back up by saying:
"Maybe we should name one Albus Severus."
It was one of those laughs that just looking at the other person set the laughing going again. It was ten minutes before the laughing ended that time. Finally Hermione returned to the serious discussion. "It does mean we are probably going to have to let him know that we are going. If he is the one who relayed it to Voldemort he'll need to again," She said.
"One more thing to do next week," Harry sighed.
*** June 12-14th ***
The next day and the weekend passed rapidly. Hermione completed her Arithmancy OWL with no troubles while they both started working with Luna and Neville on the spells they were going to need in the battle. They decided that they had to keep the spells to typical fifth year spells to prevent any suspicions if their wands were checked after the battle. Harry had remembered something else that had happened in the previous timeline that allowed them better use of their spells.
"Last time Umbridge tried to capture Hagrid and McGonagall went to defend him. She was hit with four stunners at once. That required her to spend several days in St. Mungos and Pomfrey was surprised it didn't kill her," Harry explained. "So if we are going to stun anyone, we're all going to hit the same person at once. That should keep them from just being revived again. If we get a chance we can also follow up stunning with a nice 'Reducto' to their ribs or arms. Remember if you are in danger, don't hold back," They all knew the plan and knew most of what they were going to be doing was shield work unless their lives were in danger.
"Sirius suggested we need a couple of them alive to prove we were tricked there," Hermione added. "I agree, but there are some of those Death Eaters that are going to die," Harry and she had discussed it. All of the Lestranges, Dolohov, Rookwood and McNair were on that list. They were still in disagreement over Malfoy. Harry wanted the man dead for all of the things he had done, while Hermione argued that with him being very senior to Voldemort, he would have the most information to give.
"It didn't happen last time Hermione," Harry reminded her. "They had all twelve of them and it did no good."
"True," Hermione finally agreed.
Harry had also worked on his Occlumency and it came as no surprise the knowledge of how to allow thoughts in was there waiting. "Thank you Miranda," He silently said into his mind.
"You're welcome Harry," The Goddess replied. "Be careful and take care of your soul mate next week."
"Next week and every week for all time," Harry replied.
*** June 15th ****
On Monday morning they were preparing for their potions OWL. Though Neville was doing very well making the potions in the Room of Requirements, he still had a hint of green in his facial color.
"You'll be fine Neville," Hermione said in encouragement. "You've been making the potions near perfection in practice."
"I...I know but this will be for real and I…I keep thinking of Snape," Neville admitted nervously.
Luna leaned over and whispered something in Neville's ear. The young man immediately blushed and his eyes went wide as he turned to stare at the blonde-haired witch, but he slowly nodded and a determined look appeared on his face along with a far away look and grin.
As they were leaving the Great Hall Hermione whispered to Luna, "What did you tell Neville?"
"I noticed how Harry seems fascinated with your breasts, so I told Neville I'd show him mine if he did well on his OWL," Luna said casually. "Though I'd show him anyway if he asked."
"Oh..." Hermione replied surprised.
"Yes, Neville is very smart and he very well might get an O with the right encouragement," Luna stated. "If showing him a part of my body helps him do well. Then it would be silly of me not to."
Hermione looked at the younger girl. "Do you like Neville?" She asked. "I mean as more than a friend type like? I don't mean to be rude but I don't want you to think Harry and I are pushing you two…The last time you two didn't…"
"Neville is very nice and yes I do like him," Luna replied truthfully and then smiled. "He and I might be becoming closer because of your friendship and trust, but not because of you. Were we with other people the last time?"
"No…no you weren't."
"So maybe we were going to be together and now it's happening earlier, or maybe it's not going to happen at all," Luna said matter-of-factly. "I've never been close to a boy or been on a date so..." Luna shrugged.
Hermione smiled at her friend. "You know, you went on a date with Harry next year. Well as friends anyway."
"Oh really," Luna asked as she took Hermione's arm. "Tell me all about my date with your husband."
"Next year there was a new Potions Master named…" Hermione began and the rest of the story unfolded. It wasn't much of a story, but Luna couldn't help but tease Harry when they caught up to him and Neville.
"So I understand we were an item next year Harry," Luna said taking his arm. "You took me on dates and everything. Peeves was even telling everyone how much you loved me."
"WHAT?" Harry exclaimed and looked at Hermione who was giggling.
"I told her about you taking her to Slughorn's party," Hermione said still trying to control her laugh.
"Oh," He looked at Luna and gave his saddest eyes. "I'm sorry Luna but this time I'm a married man, we'll just have to let it stay in our memories."
"Well if we must, we must," Luna replied. "Though since I don't have that memory, you're going to have to give it to me."
"Of course, though it's not much. I was busy doing other things," Harry admitted.
"Yes, you left me to go follow Draco," Luna said. "You could have just asked him to go with you. I know we both have blond hair..."
Three teenagers were laughing at a sputtering Harry for a few minutes.
The written portion of the Potion's exam wasn't nearly as brutal as it had been two years ago after Hermione precise studying preparations. The practical was even easier. Half way through the brewing Hermione said. "Look at Neville."
Harry looked over to the next table where Neville was wearing a look of intense concentration as he carefully worked through each ingredient.
"Luna promised him a reward if he does well in this exam," Hermione explained.
"What kind of reward?"
Hermione told her husband the agreement and he almost spilled his vial of liquefied tubeworms he was holding as he had to contain his laugh.
"So what do I get if I do well?" Harry asked.
"Well if you do poorly, I doubt I'll share my bed with you for a while," Hermione replied.
Harry's own eyes widen but for the rest of the exam it would have been interesting to see who was concentrating more, Harry or Neville.
**** June 16th ****
"Missuss…Missuss." Winky said quietly to Hermione the next morning.
Again Hermione was awake instantly but stopped herself before rolling off her bed. "Winky?"
"Yes Missus, it's Winky," The little elf had blood shot eyes and was weaving on the spot. But she was holding out a sheet of parchment. "Winky got this for you. Winky's not slept until she could fix what Winky did wrong."
"You didn't do anything wrong Winky," Hermione said quickly as she took the parchment. She instantly realized it was in Ginny's handwriting. It was a list of various potions and the steps to making them. She looked down at the little elf. She was about to chastise the little elf and explain that she didn't need to do what she did but then reconsidered. It had actually been her own fault for not explaining things properly. She carefully gathered her thoughts. "Winky, this is wonderful. You did a great job. Let me jot these down and you can return this to where you got it so she doesn't know," She quickly pulled out parchment and wrote the names down. She could get the books later and look up the rest of the information.
"Now you return this and then go to sleep. Sleep until you are no longer sleepy," Hermione said. "Do you understand?"
"Winky understands missus. Winky is happy Winky could fix her mistake," And she popped out.
Hermione shook her head as she stared at the spot where the elf had been and gave a sigh. "It really is going to take time understanding house-elves," She looked down at the list and shook her head again. "Ginny is really getting annoying," She thought. "Dangerous too. I wonder if we should tell someone."
"What should we do about Ginny?" Hermione asked Harry. It was Tuesday evening and she had looked up the potions and what they did.
Harry closed his eyes as he thought of the youngest Weasley. "Does she really think she can get away with using a love potion again this year? I mean after the last time..."
"It's Ginny," Hermione replied in answer. "She has a singular focus and that focus happens to be you."
"I know," Harry muttered. "Can she have any of them done by Friday?"
"No, they all take over a week and that's if she can find the ingredients already prepared."
"Then let's concentrate on the Ministry until then," Harry declared. "One issue at a time. Dobby and Winky can keep watching out for her. We'll want to know where she's brewing them."
"Thinking of doing something?"
"Maybe we can have someone catch her or at least find the potions brewing before they are finished."
"If she is caught, she could face criminal charges," Hermione said. "I don't care so much about her, but it'd look bad on Mr. Weasley and he got a promotion this summer last time."
"We have to do something," Harry replied. "We can't just wait for her to hex or poison you."
"I know, but let's wait until the summer and deal with her away from school."
Harry sighed. "We'll discuss it again next week."
Hermione nodded and both of them turned back to the star charts they were studying. At least this time the Astronomy practicals shouldn't be interrupted. They studied in silence for several minutes before Harry's thoughts turned to the battle that was coming up and Voldemort in general.
"Have any thoughts about the Horcruxes," He asked his wife.
Hermione put down her quill and she looked up. "Not really," She admitted. "The diadem is easy enough, though not sure how to find it for Dumbledore if he tells us about them," She said. "I wonder why Riddle hid it amongst all of that garbage and not somewhere like the Cham..." Hermione stopped as an idea came to her. "Let's get the Diadem and put it in the Chamber," She said. "Then if and when Dumbledore tells us about them, we can suggest we search the Chamber and it can be found easily by him."
"Does that really gain us anything?" Harry asked.
"Don't you see? If we were to stumble across the Horcrux in that huge room filled with junk a couple of days after him telling us about them, it could seem very suspicious," Hermione explained. "But for it to be in the Chamber of Secrets...in fact the Chamber is exactly where I'd expect the Horcrux to be if I was Dumbledore, why hasn't he gone to look?"
"Maybe he did," Harry suggested. "I mean you and Ron got in."
"But only because Ron was able to mimic you," Hermione said.
Harry remembered that night. The search for the diadem and then Hermione and Ron showing up with the fangs. He remembered Hermione saying what Ron did and then it struck him. "No," Harry said. "That's wrong."
"What is?" Hermione asked.
"I didn't think of it then, but when Ron tried to show me what he had done, I only heard him making a horrible hissing sound."
"So? That's what it sounds like."
"Don't you see? I should have heard him speak Parseltongue," Harry explained. "I should have heard him say open. I've never been able to tell when something is speaking Parseltongue since I hear the words."
Hermione was also remembering that night. The smug look of triumph on Ron's face when he finally had done something equal to Harry. "You're right," she finally said. "What does that mean?"
"I think it means Dumbledore has already returned to the Chamber," Harry replied.
"But he couldn't..."
"Once he knew exactly where it was, he could easily have removed that whole sink." Harry explained. "And for some reason only his logic would ever understand, he probably tried to hide he'd ever been there. When he replaced the sink, he probably had to make it open to any hissing type of sound since he can't speak Parseltongue. Same thing with the Chamber itself, he could have easily removed the locking mechanism or blasted through the rock itself," Harry shrugged as he thought about the Headmaster. "As fixated as Dumbledore has been on Tom Riddle, could you imagine him not going into the Chamber? Especially once I laid a horcrux down in front of him? I mean he tracked down and took memories from house elves looking for clues."
"Very true," Hermione agreed. She smiled at her husband. "You should have seen the smug look on Ron's face when he made it open. He'd thought he had done something spectacular."
"He still had that look when you two showed up," Harry replied trying not to remember the two of them kissing.
Hermione knew what Harry was thinking of. "Like I said, it was a pretty horrible kiss. Nothing like the kisses you and I share," she then proceeded to remind him how well their kisses worked.
"So back to the Horcruxes, I do like the idea of maybe putting the horcruxes in places easier to find," Harry said after a few minutes of enjoying Hermione's lips. "We can't go near the ring. I don't think we are strong enough to get around the protections on it."
"I agree," Hermione concurred. "Hopefully Dumbledore has told us about the Horcruxes and we can help him, otherwise I'm not sure what we can do. We should try to think of a plan if he doesn't."
"Bellatrix's vault?" Harry asked. "Any ideas?"
"Go to the goblins?" Hermione suggested. "Maybe offer the Sword of Gryffindor to them?"
"That might work," Harry said. "We need some more guidance before doing that. Maybe we can ask Bill in a manner not to raise suspicion."
"Maybe Bill can do it for us?" Hermione suggested. "Maybe we can let him on the secret."
Harry stopped and considered a few moments. "Maybe, but I'm not ready to go there yet. I'd prefer to wait until the summer and talk to him."
They named the horcruxes again, ring, cup, diadem, Nagini, locket and Harry.
"I wonder if we can get to Nagini earlier this time?" Hermione asked.
"Do you know where Voldemort is right now?"
"Malfoy Manor?" Hermione suggested.
"Maybe. I wished there was a way..." Harry started before his eyes went wide. "There is and I think I know what we can do."
"What?"
"Dobby," Harry said. "On Thursday a lot of the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself will be at the Ministry," He explained. "We can see if Dobby will pop over there and see if there is any evidence of Voldemort."
"But Harry..." Hermione exclaimed with a shocked look on her face. "The last time Dobby went there..."
"I know Hermione, but I think this is important," Harry explained. "But it will be his choice."
"It doesn't matter Harry. Dobby will do it just because you think it's important whether he wants to or not. Winky stayed awake for days trying to fix a mistake she only thought she had made."
Harry sighed. "I know, but I'm also thinking about Wormtail. If we knew he was there we might be able to do something about Sirius in case Fudge doesn't agree to help."
"Let's think about that some more," Hermione said and again they lapsed into silence. Each of them started thinking of the small grave near Shell Cottage. From the death of Dobby the deaths of so many of their other friends came to mind. "Not this time. This time Malfoy and Bellatrix will die Thursday. Bellatrix will die..." She mentally repeated. "Harry... it's going to change. We have to figure something out."
"What?" Harry asked confused.
"Bellatrix's vault. Hopefully she's going to die in two days. When she does, what will happen to her vault?"
Harry thought about the question before answering. "Sirius' gold was put in my vault," He said. "So it seems whoever inherits her vault will have the cup moved to their vault."
"So who would inherit from her if her husband and his brother die at the same time?"
"Narcissa and Andromeda are her sisters," Harry offered.
Hermione eyes widened as she remembered something that had happened almost a year ago to them. "It's not important Harry. I just remembered that the Ministry can waylay items considered dark by the Decree of Justifiable Confiscation when being passed on in an inheritance. Remember Scrimgeour used it to look at the stuff Dumbledore left us."
"That's right," Harry exclaimed excitedly. "No breaking into Gringotts this time."
"If Dumbledore is back as head of the Wizengamot, he should be suspicious enough to look...or maybe we need an excuse for him too," Hermione said.
"Have anything in mind."
"Yes, that is if we can get him to tell us about Horcruxes," Hermione replied.
.....
With his Occlumency lowered, Harry could feel the attempts by Voldemort to send him images. The familiar burning of his scar occurred when he did. It took a lot of willpower to overrule the Occlumency and allow it to happen. Harry ended up waking from a sound sleep twice to scenes of the Ministry of Magic and of Blue orbs.
Thursday finally rolled around and the four friends gathered for breakfast in the Room of Requirements. Very little was said, but eyes glancing around the table said a lot. It was made even worse because Winky had told them the previous morning that Ginny had started brewing four different potions after receiving ingredients from owls. Harry and Hermione agreed to figure out what to do about her after the Battle that night.
"I think we have to see if Dobby will try Hermione," Harry said finally. "We might not get another chance with so few people guarding the place. Draco will be home in a week."
"I agree Harry," Hermione replied. "But his first order is to be careful."
When Dobby next appeared to serve breakfast, Harry asked him to sit with them.
"Dobby," Harry began. "You know what we are going to do tonight right?"
"Dobby knows," The elf replied. "Doby has Harry Potter's pepper up potions ready to go."
"We want to ask if you would do something," Harry said and before the elf could speak up he continued. "This falls under your order of if you don't want to do it, you must tell us. Do you understand?"
"Dobby understands," The elf replied. "What can Dobby do to help?"
"We want to know if, while your old Master and Voldemort," Dobby winced at the name, but he had been getting better at hearing it, "are fighting us, if you could go to Malfoy Manor and see if you can tell if that's where Voldemort is hiding. If it is, can you find out if Nagini, Voldemort's snake and Peter Pettigrew are there?"
"Dobby can do that," The elf replied nervously.
"You are to be careful Dobby. That is an order. If you are in danger, you have to leave no matter what," Hermione added. "You remember what we told you about what happened in the future."
"Dobby will do what needs to be done."
"Then you'll go with us to the Ministry and as soon as you see Voldemort, you go to Malfoy Manor," Harry instructed.
"Dobby nodded that he understood.
They had realized there was no way Voldemort could have expected Harry to fall asleep during the History exam. He just took advantage of it when it had happened. So they were going to finish the History OWL and then Harry would lie down shortly after dinner. A trip to Madam Pomfrey had supplied them with a simple sleeping potion. The Pepper-up potion would counter-act the effects when Harry awoke from Voldemort's influenced vision.
It was shortly after dinner when Harry took the potion and laid down. Hermione, Neville and Luna were all gathered around him. As he drifted off to sleep, the visions came almost instantly. It was a vision he had replayed in his mind many times after the last Battle of the Ministry and Sirius had died. Nothing changed in what Voldemort sent. An image of Sirius racked in pain but still defiant as he told Voldemort to kill him. Voldemort suggesting it would be hours before he would get around to killing Sirius.
Harry woke up with his scar on fire and looked around wildly. He felt his heart rate lessen as he saw the concern on Hermione's face looking at him. He concentrated and brought the occlumency barriers back up, hoping that Voldemort would not get too suspicious of that. They were certain though that Snape had told Voldemort of the Occlumency skills Harry now had, but the lack of focus could have easily been explained to weariness due to OWLs.
"Did it work?" Hermione asked when Harry opened his eyes again.
"Yeah…exact same vision as before," Harry answered. He pulled out the mirror and said. "Sirius Black."
"Yeah pup," The answer came almost immediately.
"I presume you are not currently being tortured by Voldemort in the Hall of Prophecies?"
"Nope, definitely not," Sirius replied. "I presume everything is working so far?"
"Yeah and we hope it still does," Harry replied. "There was one thing we thought of," Harry quickly relayed their suspicions on what Snape might be doing.
"So we'll see when he thinks to tell us," Sirius said. "It will tell us a lot though."
"I shut my mind back down to Voldemort," Harry said. "If the Death Eaters are there, it will mean that either Snape told Voldemort or Voldemort is a real idiot. If he does contact you earlier, call us on the mirror, but make sure the Order doesn't get there too fast."
"Good Luck Harry!" Sirius said. He knew they had a good plan that should keep the risk down after the initial confrontation but he still had a look of concern.
"See you soon," Harry replied. He put away the mirror and looked at Hermione, Neville and Luna. "Everyone ready for this?" He asked. As everyone nodded he continued. "Then let's make this happen."