A few hours later Harry and Hermione woke more or less simultaneously. The look of apprehension in Harry's eyes cut Hermione like a knife. She clung to him a little tighter afraid that she had already lost him with the way she had treated him.
"Harry, I'm so, so sorry about what I did and said. I didn't mean a word of it and you know I would never want to go out with Weasley. Please believe me, I wasn't in my right mind, please." She trailed off just repeating the word 'please' over and over softly.
"Of course I believe you. I gave you a Purging Potion, Hermione. I know what was affecting you." Hermione looked up at Harry unable to believe that he was going to let her off that easily. He was smiling at her but she could still see the hurt in his eyes.
"I swear, Harry, I will do anything to make it up to you." she promised.
"Just give it some time, Hermione. I won't say it didn't hurt to see you with that weasel or to hear you..." Harry took a deep breath, "to hear you say that the Dursleys were right, but like I said: I know what potions were in your system to make you act that way. Just give my heart a chance to catch up to my head, okay?" Hermione was about to keep going when Harry cut her off.
"I'm much more concerned with how you're doing. You are the one who was drugged." Harry was practically radiating concern. Hermione hadn't realized just how much she had missed the feeling of being in his arms; the feeling of being cared for.
"I…I'm not happy about it, Harry. I feel violated and used and…dirty, I suppose." Hermione shuddered as memories of the past weeks came back to her and felt Harry's arms tighten.
"Hermione? Did he…um, did you…" He was having trouble finding the right words to ask the question.
"Would it matter to you if we did?" Hermione asked him, almost afraid to hear the answer.
"Of course it would!" Hermione looked up in shock to see Harry looking absolutely outraged. "That's rape, Hermione. If that sick little piece of Bundimun puke so much as laid a hand on you I'm feeding him to the Acromantula; piece by piece!" Rage and magic were flowing off of Harry in waves as he was obviously coming to his own conclusions as to why she had asked that question.
"We…we never had…intercourse." Hermione reassured Harry with a beet-red blush. "I was asking if you would still want me if…if I was…not a virgin." Harry's face gained a look of comprehension but the anger didn't entirely disappear.
"I…I think that this may have been the wrong scenario to be asking that in." Harry said looking very serious. "But, yes, I would still want to be your boyfriend, if you're still interested."
"Yes!" Hermione reinforced her exclamation by pressing her lips to Harry's in their first mutual kiss since King's Cross Station. She was relieved, almost ecstatic, when Harry returned the kiss. A disappointed mewl escaped her when he drew back.
"Hermione, you said that you hadn't had intercourse. Do I need to be planning revenge on the bastard for anything else?" Hermione bit her bottom lip. She really didn't want to share what Weasley had done to her with her boyfriend. It made her feel dirty like she had said and she was still worried he would feel like she was dirty too. A finger under her chin lifted her face until she was looking into those emerald depths. "Like I told you: if he did anything it's sexual assault. I will not let that stand without some sort of action being taken. You are too important for that. I'll understand if you tell me to back off though." She could see that he was serious in his eyes.
"No. It's…I let him grope my breasts once to keep him off my back about going further. That's it. I swear." Hermione was almost begging by the end even as Harry drew her into his chest. She started sobbing as she remembered that horrid evening. As the tears spilled out Harry just rocked her and whispered calming phrases in her ear. When Hermione's jagged cries finally subsided to sniffles the front of Harry's shirt was soaked through. She had to admit that it had been cleansing to confess what had happened, even if she wasn't eager to repeat the experience. Pulling back she wiped her eyes.
"Sorry about that, Harry. I ruined your shirt." she said. Harry snorted.
"I can wash it. The important thing is that you're okay." Harry gained a determined look. "I'm going to have to teach you how to check for potions in your food from now on. I'm not letting you go through something like this if I can help it." Hermione was torn between the joy learning something new and a question that wouldn't leave her alone."
"Why didn't you teach me before, Harry?" she asked. Harry could feel tears of shame burning at the back of his eyes.
"Because I didn't seriously think that you would be threatened, that you could be in danger like this." And that makes this my fault. I knew that potions were a possibility, but between my tunnel-vision regarding my training to beat Riddle and my self-centered conviction that attacks would be directed at me I let Hermione get hurt. Hermione could hear the regret in Harry's voice, but she wasn't sure how to deal with it. It was clear that he blamed himself for what had happened to her. To be honest a small part of her blamed him too, for not teaching her how to avoid this before her rational side took over again.
"It wouldn't have helped, Harry. I wouldn't be able to check everything at my house without breaking the Reasonable Restriction on Underage Sorcery. It's my fault that I was so naive that I ate something sent to me in the post."
"No! Hermione, whatever this is, it is not your fault." His arms tightened around her as a spoke as if he was trying to squeeze her self-recriminations out of her. Hermione took a shuddering breath, her emotions were still running rampant through her body. She clutched tightly to Harry to keep herself grounded in that storm. For several minutes neither teen moved or made a sound, until Harry cleared his throat. He looked uncomfortable for a moment. "Hermione, I think that we need to talk to Sirius about this. He knows the wizarding world better than we do and can help us find an appropriate response. He knows what the Weasleys were doing to you and wants to throw them out of the house, so I think we will be safe enough talking to him." Harry was looking at her worriedly and Hermione took a moment to think about what he had said.
"I agree. Some help would not be unwelcome and Sirius is actually the one who helped me find you. Apparently the owner of the house can feel when wards or static charms go up." Hermione told him only to be met with a slightly forced grin.
"I'll admit that I was curious about exactly how you managed to find me, but that explains it." he told her.
"Harry? Do we have to find Sirius right now?" Hermione asked Harry.
"Not right this instant, no. Not if you don't want to." He answered her gently.
"Can we just stay here a while then?" she asked, hating how small her voice sounded. Harry just held her tighter and settled back against the Cushioning Charm.
:-:-:-:-:
It took the two teens the better part of two hours to work up the will to face the world outside of Harry's spells. When they did Harry brought them crashing down but didn't move.
"That should have alerted Sirius to the fact that we're done here. The old dog is so curious that it'll probably be quicker to wait for him to come sniffing around." he told Hermione who was looking at him shrewdly.
"Let me guess: it also saves us having to talk to anyone else as we run around the house, willy nilly?" she asked him with a slight smile on her face. Harry grinned back at her, truly hopeful for the first time that they would both be able to heal and grow from this ordeal.
"Well, I can't help it if my genius is simply staggering." Hermione fluttered her eyelashes at him before giving him a shove. The banter continued, however brittle the underlying feelings might be, until the library door opened. Just as Harry had predicted, Sirius had come to take a look around. He seemed surprised to find the couple still sitting on the floor.
"What are you two still doing here?" He asked in honest confusion before a suggestive grin spread on his face. "Was this supposed to be some sort of kink? You know, getting caught while doing it in the library?" He waggled his eyebrows like mad.
"Hermione, do you happen to know any old, single women? I think the mutt is getting a little frustrated." Harry asked looking at Hermione with mock seriousness. Hermione responded by tapping a finger against her lips in supposed thought.
"Why don't we set him up with Professor Trelawney? She's going to need something to do this year now that she can't predict your death every class." she said with a rather wicked smile. They looked up at Sirius who was looking absolutely horrified at the direction his teasing had taken the conversation in.
"Actually, Padfoot, we were waiting for you. You're getting a little predictable in your old age and we need to talk to an adult who understands the wizarding world." Harry told his godfather, serious for the first time in the conversation.
"Is this the kind of conversation that could use some privacy?" Sirius asked, surprising the teens with how seriously he was taking this. They both nodded and Sirius continued "Well follow me then. We'll use the study; it has so many privacy enchantments on it you could happily discuss state secrets behind those doors." As Sirius turned around and started walking Harry and Hermione scrambled up to follow him.
On the way to the study Hermione leaned in and asked Harry "Did you know there was a study?" Harry just shook his head. He hadn't heard of this in either timeline. Hell, he hadn't known about it when he owned the house.
It was a surprisingly short walk to the study. A little way down the hall from the library was an empty stretch of wall that suddenly contained a door when Sirius put his hand on the doorknob. The effect reminded Harry unpleasantly of his experience in the afterlife except that this door didn't disappear after it had been revealed. The study itself was luxuriously appointed with a large desk and several bookshelves holding what must be the Black family equivalent of the Restricted Section. Sirius took one look at the large chair behind the desk and grimaced before sitting on the desk itself and looking at Harry and Hermione.
"So, what did you want to talk to me about?" he asked his favourite teenagers. Harry and Hermione shared a look and it was Harry who started talking.
"I think you are pretty much up to date on the potions and that Hermione is free again, right?" Sirius' face lit up at the question.
"This means I finally get to throw them out right?" He asked excitedly drawing a raised eyebrow from Hermione.
"May I ask why you left them here in the first place if you knew what they were doing?" her tone was icy at best. Sirius knew just how to deal with this though.
"Harry wouldn't let me! Get mad at him!" he said pointing at his godson. Hermione turned to look at her boyfriend. Harry just shrugged at her.
"Under the potions, how would you have reacted if we threw the Weasleys out?" he asked her. Hermione winced as the honest answer came to her. "You would have gone with them; and how would I give you the Purging Potion then?" Hermione nodded her understanding.
"Sorry about that. But you are throwing them out, right?" Hermione just had to be sure that Ronald Weasley would be nowhere near her for a while. Sirius' happy nodding could put Dobby to shame. "Although if you want to prank them first, I suppose I could condone it this one time." Hermione allowed. Sirius looked like he had fallen in love.
"Harry, I want you to marry her. Do you know how rare it is to find a girl who can appreciate a good prank?" He said very seriously. Harry just shook his head in disbelief.
"Down, boy. We're a bit young for that, don't you think?" Sirius was not about to be diverted though.
"Why? You're already sleeping together." The grin rather gave away that he was asking the question more for the sake of the resulting blushes on the couple's faces than anything else. Harry kept on going through his blush though.
"Stow the dirty old man act, fleabag, or I'll feed you the next thing Molly puts in front of me and watch you moon over Ginny." he threatened. Sirius looked disgusted but it was Hermione who just picked up on something that had eluded her until now.
"Molly?! Ginny?! You mean the whole family has been feeding us potions?! I thought it was just Ronald." She looked close to tears as she felt the betrayal of the family as keenly as Harry had. Harry looked at her in some surprise.
"Why did you think we were talking about throwing out the Weasleys rather than just Ron?" Sirius asked her in a bemused voice.
"Because they would never let Ronald live alone on the streets like he deserves?" came Hermione's hesitant answer. Harry slipped his arms around her and pulled her close as he explained.
"As far as we can tell Molly's been feeding us the potions, or trying to, and Ron and Ginny are aware of it and taking advantage. I'm not sure about the rest. Bill and Charlie don't strike me as the type to use potions, but I don't really know them. As far as I know Percy isn't speaking to his family and hasn't been for over a month. Fred and George, well to be honest they are the type to use potions, but I think those potions would have worn off by now and we would have heard a 'gotcha' somewhere. This has passed far beyond funny and I don't think they would have let it go that far. I have no idea if Mr. Weasley knows but I certainly remember the letter he sent to apologize for Molly's howler. I don't think it would matter if he did know." Hermione was still processing the information she had just been given so Harry addressed his godfather.
"Sirius, is there some way to go after the ones who did this? Press charges, maybe?" Sirius shook his head sadly.
"I'm afraid that any case of a muggle-born accusing a pureblood of using love potions would be laughed out of the Wizengamot. They might be disappointed in Ron for 'lowering himself' but that's about it. You, on the other hand, have to be careful that you don't do anything that could be classed as assault though, or if you do: don't get caught whatever you do. I can promise you that Azkaban is no fun this time of year, or any other for that matter." Sirius hated having to tell them that as he could see the way the news impacted on Hermione and the grim look on Harry's face. He couldn't know that Harry was also evaluating how having to face a trial would affect the war and whether or not it might be worth it. He was forced to come to the conclusion that if he was sent to Azkaban, Riddle would be laughing while he took over the sheep of the wizarding world within a week. If that happened Hermione would probably be subjected to the fate she had just escaped anyway.
"You're telling me that our options are throw them out and let them get away with it or do nothing and let them get away with it?" Harry asked bitterly while a trembling Hermione tried to burrow into his side.
"I'm afraid the best we could do would be to prank them mercilessly, possibly going a little further than good taste allows." Sirius agreed morosely. Harry mulled this over for a moment before deciding that some punishment was better than none.
"Very well, Mr. Padfoot. I think we should defer to your expertise in this area. How would you go about giving them a pointed reminder to not do this again?" Sirius looked a little proud at the use of his Marauder name by his godson.
"Switch out your meals so the potions go to someone else." he proclaimed proudly.
"I'm not sure I could do that to someone else though, Padfoot. I mean how would you feel if we fed you something to make you fall in love with Ron Weasley?" Sirius turned a little green at the image Harry provided.
"Actually I was thinking of giving them each other's potions." This time Harry turned a little green.
"That's disgusting, Sirius. I mean, that's honestly nauseating." Harry said.
"I vote we do it." Both men looked surprised at the vicious tone Hermione used in voicing her support of the plan. "Those disgusting, inbred cretins tried to rape us and if Harry hadn't given me the Purging Potion when he did, I'm afraid they might have succeeded. They deserve everything we do to them and more."
"Excellent! I'll say it again, Harry: marry her." Sirius crowed. Harry was searching Hermione's face to see if she was serious about this and couldn't detect a trace of doubt.
"Alright. I suppose since you are the one they wronged we'll do it the way you want." Harry finally gave in. "Kreacher!" The old elf popped in and bowed to Harry before looking disgusted at the other two who were present. "Kreacher, we're going to get some revenge on the redheads. I want you to switch out any food given to me with food given to Ronald. Any food given to Hermione is to be switched with Ginevra's food. Make sure no one notices you. We'll let them eat their own potions and wallow in their own filth." Kreacher had a disturbingly happy smile on his face as he bowed.
"It will be Kreacher's honour, Young Master." he croaked. "Would Young Master like to have breakfast in the study or will he be joining the traitors for breakfast?" Harry looked around at the other two who nodded at him.
"I don't see any reason to delay their punishment, Kreacher, do you? We'll eat in the kitchen. Good luck with your task." Kreacher bowed with that disturbing smile only growing wider before he popped out. The three humans stood up and headed out of the study and towards the kitchen. When they got there, they noticed that a large number of Order members were also there having breakfast. Ginny was already seated at the table though there was no sign of Ron. Ginny's face lit up when she saw that Harry had come down to breakfast for a change, though it settled into confusion when she saw who he came in with. Harry took care to make sure that Hermione was seated between Sirius and himself. Mrs. Weasley bustled over holding two plates and trying to hide the frown on her face as she saw the seating arrangements.
"Harry. Good to see you, dear. It's not healthy to sit in your room all day. Here, eat up. You're skin and bones. You really shouldn't trust that house elf you know. The filthy little thing is not right in the head." She ended her admonition by firmly setting the plates down in front of the two teens before heading back into the kitchen. Harry saw a movement in a corner and saw that Kreacher had popped in and was giving him a bow and a knowing smile. With a grin Harry started eating. Seeing Harry get started Hermione joined him.
They were about halfway through their plates when Ron walked in. Harry felt Hermione stiffen next to him and placed a hand on her leg under the table and gave it a reassuring squeeze. She shot him a quick look from the corner of her eye before relaxing just enough to finish her breakfast. By the time they were done Sirius was wearing a wide smirk and Hermione was having trouble concealing her satisfied look. They had all noticed that Ginny's eyes were flicking over to her brother frequently. They didn't know exactly how potent the potions were but it looked like they produced at least some effect quickly. It was impossible to tell if Ron was just as affected as he was still engrossed in his food and nothing and no one else had a chance at his attention until it was finished. When Harry and Hermione left the table to Molly's smug smiles, Ginny also got up and quickly followed them.
"Harry! Hermione! Wait up!" She jogged to catch up to the two older teens. "So, Hermione, I've been meaning to ask you: did you have a good night?" Ginny's tone was extremely suggestive and it was clear that she had her own ideas of what had happened already.
"Excuse me?" Hermione was on edge having to speak to any redhead so soon after learning what they had planned to do to her.
"You can't hide it from me, Hermione. I know you didn't come back to our room last night and this morning your bed hadn't been slept in. You spent the night somewhere else. I'm just asking how it was." Ginny's rather vicious smirk was especially horrifying to Harry. He had never seen her act like this in the last time line. Had he never noticed or had he changed things so drastically that he had caused his once-upon-a-future girlfriend to start acting like this? Or did she manage to get the potions to me last time around? A shiver ran down his spine as he considered that option.
"For your information, Ginny, I fell asleep in the library last night." Hermione sniffed. She knew she was being economical with the truth but she didn't think the little wannabe rapist needed to hear that Hermione had slept on top of Harry in the library.
"What? Seriously? Merlin, you're boring. How do you plan to hang on to my brother like that?" Hermione forced herself not to respond to that, mostly because she wasn't sure how she would. "Well, I think we had better find somewhere to hide or Mum will have us cleaning all day with no magic. Feel like sharing a hiding spot, Harry?" Ginny was leaning in suggestively as she spoke. Harry leaned away from her.
"Thanks, but I think I've been managing pretty well so far." he told her.
"Oh well, your loss, Harry. I know Hermione and Ron will probably be holed up all day again so come find me if you want some company." With that the little redhead flounced off.
"Harry?" The young wizard looked at his girlfriend who was watching the youngest Weasley walk off. "I think I desperately need to change rooms. Remind me that I need to talk to Sirius if the opportunity presents itself." Harry gave a dry chuckle.
"Alright. In the mean time we can hide in my room. I may or may not have checked out some of the more interesting books in the Black library." Hermione's eyes lit up at the idea of spending a day reading with Harry and she immediately grabbed his arm and started pulling him towards his room, urging him to get a move on. Harry laughed as he playfully resisted, offering various other things they could do along the way like counting cobwebs in the drawing room or snorkelling in the bathtub.
When they got to Harry's room he put up his usual Locking Charms but forewent the Silencing Charms. Not long after he was done Hermione was demanding to see the books he had up here.
"Not so fast, Mi. There's something you need to do first." Hermione couldn't keep her apprehension from showing on her face. "You need to write your parents. I promised them I'd pass on the message, but they're dead worried." Hermione's jaw dropped.
"Can I borrow a quill and some parchment?" Harry nodded with a smile and pointed her to his desk. The room was soon filled with the scrtch-scrtch of a quill writing on parchment. Harry, his smile still in place, found the book he had been reading yesterday before he had gone looking for Hermione and settled down to study until she was ready to join him. Time passed quietly as Hermione produced one of her novel length letters.
A knock on the door startled Harry and Hermione from their respective tasks. They looked at each other in an attempt to decide on their response.
"Harry, it's me, open up."
"Sirius." Harry drew his wand and unlocked and opened the door. A grim looking Sirius stepped into the room.
"Hermione, Ron is looking for you and he seems to be getting pretty annoyed. Don't be surprised if you walk straight into a confrontation when you leave here." Hermione's snort indicated that any confrontation that might happen might not be completely down to Ronald Weasley. "Harry, you have a bigger problem. Dumbledore's turned up and he wants to talk to you. I asked him to wait in the drawing room."
"Huh. I had expected him to show up a lot sooner considering how much effort the Order's been putting into our little game of hide and seek." Harry said shooting his godfather a look. "I don't suppose he told you why he's been so spontaneously reticent?" Sirius shook his head.
"I know he's been off for a few days on some unspecified errand but he hasn't shared what it is with the Order." He's probably started looking for the Horcruxes. I wonder if he's going after the locket or the ring? Sirius watched the thoughtful look on Harry's face and suddenly got a sinking feeling.
"You know what he's up to, don't you?" Sirius asked in a resigned voice. Harry shrugged.
"It could be any number of things, but I've got a good guess." Seeing the expectant looks on Hermione and Sirius' faces he added "It's not a guess I'm willing to discuss outside of your study." Standing up, Harry stretched to get the kinks out of his back. "I suppose I'll go see what our headmaster wants. Hermione, don't forget that you wanted to talk to Sirius." With a casual wave Harry walked out the door. Sirius and Hermione watched him leave until the door closed.
"So, you wanted to talk to me?" Sirius asked Hermione with a faux-lecherous leer. Hermione snorted in amusement.
"Down, boy." she quipped. "I wanted to ask you about any other rooms I could stay in. I don't think I can stay in a room with Ginny after what I've learnt; well not without committing a homicide." Sirius opened his mouth for a moment before closing it again and frowning thoughtfully.
"I'm sorry, kiddo, I think you're stuck. The other rooms in the house all have occupants what with so many of the Order staying here for safety. You'll have to make do or figure something out like you did yesterday." He suddenly grinned "I'm sure sleeping in either Harry's bed or the library won't be too much of a hardship for you." Hermione huffed but didn't contradict him. Sirius took that as a sign of his victory and happily left, congratulating himself on helping his godson. Hermione glared at the Marauder's back and locked the door behind him before returning to her letter; no need to invite trouble from a Weasley before she went looking for it. If her options were rooming with Ginevra, staying in the library or staying with Harry she was fairly sure what she would choose. She wasn't sure how long she had worked when she heard an agonized scream and shot out of her chair. She didn't hesitate to grab her wand and run out of the door. A scream like that was indicative of the sort of trouble Harry would be right in the middle of.
:-:-:-:-:
Harry spent the time walking to the drawing room reinforcing his Occlumency shields. So far neither the headmaster nor Snape had tried anything but Harry wasn't taking any chances with either Legillimens, not when he had an otherworldly contract hanging over his head demanding that he keep the existence of the afterlife a secret. When he arrived at the drawing room Harry schooled his expression and opened the door and walked straight in; he refused to knock in Sirius' home.
Inside the Headmaster had apparently been inspecting the various items in the display cases. He looked up when he heard the door open and twinkled at his most famous student.
"Ah, Harry, my boy. It's good to finally see you. You have been making life exceptionally difficult for a number of people." the Headmaster said in a jovial tone. Harry just cocked an eyebrow at the man and sat down in one of the armchairs.
"Why don't you take a seat, sir? This feels like it could be a long discussion and we may want to jump up theatrically at some point." Harry stated with a tinge of dry humour to his voice. Dumbledore chortled and sat.
"Quite, my boy. Since you seem to have correctly guessed the reason for my being here, let's get straight into it shall we?" Harry gave a one-shouldered shrug in reply. "As I said you have been making life exceptionally difficult for several people. Would you care to explain why?" Dumbledore steepled his fingers and looked over his half-moon glasses at Harry.
"Of course, sir. I'm rather averse to meeting Riddle and his coterie of idiots so I hid myself away. The fact that your little club couldn't find me was a bit of an unintended side-effect." Dumbledore sat there, clearly waiting for Harry to elaborate. Harry amused himself by looking for shapes in Dumbledore's beard as if it was a partially cloudy sky on a summer day.
"Harry, I'm sure you understand that that answer will not suffice. We were looking for you because we care about your safety. You need to be protected." Harry just cocked his eyebrow again.
"With all due respect, sir, I think the fact that neither you nor the Death Eaters could find me proves that I was well protected. In fact, I would go so far as to say that I was safer for the past two months than I have ever been at Hogwarts." Dumbledore was clearly displeased by this assessment.
"Harry, there are things you don't understand. I have set up protections for you that have no equal. In order for those protections to be maintained I will be delivering you to your aunt and uncle when we are done here." It would have been hard to say what Dumbledore had predicted Harry's reaction to be but it would probably be safe to say that peals of laughter were not high on his list of expectations. It took Harry a moment to get his laughter under control.
"Don't be ridiculous, Headmaster. Of course I'm not going back there." He managed before he continued chuckling. Dumbledore was actually starting to look frustrated with his student.
"Harry, I must insist. There are reasons that you do not yet understand, but-"
"And you have yet to explain a single one of them. I am currently living with my godfather under a Fidelius Charm and, while I think we both know that it is not a perfect protection, no protection can be. I would appreciate it if you would stop insulting my intelligence by arguing indefensible positions from authority." Dumbledore's face suggested he had swallowed a wasp when Harry interrupted him and rebuked him in a level tone.
"Very well, Harry. When your mother died protecting you, she infused her protection into your very blood. Based on that I have erected wards of unparalleled power at the residence of your last living blood relatives: your aunt and cousin." Dumbledore gave Harry a very significant look when he said this.
"And what do these 'wards of unparalleled power' actually do, sir?" Harry asked, completely unimpressed by the explanation so far.
"They ensure that Voldemort will not be able to touch you while you call that place home." Harry shook his head in dismay.
"That implies that I have been unprotected since the end of my first year, sir." Harry said in a tone of disappointment.
"What?!" Harry found that he really enjoyed watching the normally unflappable wizard's face pale.
"Once I was introduced to Hogwarts I started seeing the castle as my home. I even told Hermione and Weasley as much on the train ride back to London that year. Add to that the fact that Riddle did touch me during his little resurrection party and I think we can dismiss your protections 'that have no equal' as obsolete and unreliable." A paling Albus Dumbledore was a wonderful sight, but in Harry's opinion a Dumbledore with his jaw swinging open was even better. "If that was all, sir, I would like to get back to my studies and my girlfriend." Dumbledore seemed to gather himself with a herculean effort.
"We can return to that topic later. If you're going to insist on hiding yourself away like that I must ask you to share your protections with me so that I can evaluate if they suffice." Dumbledore said.
"No." Harry was a little disappointed that his blunt reaction didn't make the headmaster so much as twitch. Apparently the politician's mask was back in place.
"Harry, surely you don't believe that a fifteen year-old can devise a perfect protection. If nothing else my years of experience can be of tremendous benefit to you." Dumbledore sounded eminently reasonable in his argument.
"I think I just told you that there is no such thing as perfect protection. Telling the leader of a group with such terrible operational security seems like a poor first step to any kind of protection though." Dumbledore took the opening and jumped on his next topic of conversation.
"Ah yes, I believe you mentioned something along those lines when you first arrived here. Would you care to tell me how you learned things that we have taken great pains to keep secret?" Dumbledore asked, some of his eagerness to know coming through in his voice.
"Your lot are terrible at keeping secrets or even basic, analytical thinking." Harry deadpanned. Dumbledore heaved an aggrieved sigh that Harry was fairly sure was entirely theatrical.
"Harry, we cannot work together if you keep fighting me every step of the way." he said sounding disappointed in his student's reticence.
"Actually, Headmaster, as I understand it my age also forms a barrier to us working together. Only of age wizards may join your Order, isn't that right? My explanation of your deficiencies was merely a friendly service, provided in the hope that you don't kill a large number of people, some of whom I even like."
"Are you going to demand that we make an exception and allow you to join the Order then?" Dumbledore asked Harry.
"Not at all, sir. I have no desire to join your order. Which brings us rather neatly back to the point I was making. I am not one of your underlings, sir. You are merely guests in my godfather's house." Harry's posture while he spoke was deliberately insolent. He was hanging back with his chin resting on the knuckles of his left hand. While he didn't think Dumbledore was his enemy, he was certainly proving to be an obstacle. Harry's instincts were screaming at him to be on alert. He hoped that presenting his headmaster with the look of a typical moody teenager would distract the man from the fact that he already had his wand in his right hand.
"Harry, we can only stand against Voldemort if we stand united. Can't you understand that?" Dumbledore tried.
"Not running around doing objectively daft things you are entirely unqualified for also helps, sir." Dumbledore's eyes narrowed.
"You are, I believe referring to our vigil over the Department of Mysteries. In fact, I am told that you said you removed the very reason we assigned a guard there." Harry's instincts were absolutely howling now.
"You mean that prophecy Professor Trelawney gave you? Yeah, it's gone." Harry told Dumbledore with forced casualness. Harry didn't like the look of calculation in Dumbledore's eyes. Shit. His eyes. The moment Harry made eye-contact he felt a probe slam into his Occlumency shields. Harry knew that Dumbledore was vastly more experienced at Mind Magics than he was and that he was unlikely to be able to hold out for very long. Acting purely on instinct Harry threw his magic at the intruder, tearing into the probe as viciously as he could in an attempt to make it withdraw. The effects were a lot more drastic than he had expected. Dumbledore fell out of his chair and onto the ground screaming like he was under the Cruciatus. By the time the door of the drawing room slammed open less than a minute later he had already stopped. Unfortunately for Harry the first person through the door was Mad-Eye Moody.
The result of an auror, even a retired auror, facing off against against a fifteen year-old should never have been in question. That the auror in question was the legendary Alistor 'Mad-Eye' Moody should have further solidified that result. The difference was that this fifteen year-old had had more combat experience than the average auror before he had gone through a war and killed the most feared Dark Lord in history. This fifteen year-old had come back through time and found himself with a well of power he had not had before and spent a year training himself to use that power against the same Dark Lord he had killed before in a Room that catered to his every need. This fifteen year-old had just had someone try to rape his mind and was eager for a victim to take his fury and frustration out on. Moody got of the first spell not realising that he was poking a raging dragon in the eye.
With a quick twist Harry turned out of the way of the stunner that the old auror had thrown at him, his own already heading towards the man. Mad-Eye threw himself to the side, his peg leg collapsing under the momentum, and responded with a series of vicious jinxes designed to take out an opponent hard. Harry used his wand to levitate his armchair in the path of the barrage before Banishing it towards the former auror. He followed that up with another banishing charm. As Harry had predicted, Moody blasted the chair to smithereens; smithereens that shot at him at high speed when they were hit by Harry's second Banisher. The chair had been too close when it was demolished and even Mad-Eye couldn't get a spell off fast enough to block any of it. He instinctively threw his hands up in front of his face to protect it which meant that his wand was out of position to stop Harry's stunner which hit Moody right in the centre of his chest and dropped him like a sack of potatoes. The next two people into the room were Dedalus Diggle and Emmaline Vance who saw an attack on one of their own and responded by firing their own jinxes at Harry. Harry's training in the Room of Requirement allowed him to dodge the incoming barrage while returning fire with pinpoint precision. Less than half a minute later both were unconscious and Diggle was slowly rotating upside down in the air while Vance was wrapped in conjured ropes. Luckily the next head through the door was Sirius.
"Pup? Any particular reason you decided to take out the Order today?" Sirius asked sounding wary.
"Just my usual response to being attacked." Harry was still standing in a ready stance with his wand out.
"Okay, and the screaming?" Sirius asked while he was joined by Hermione, the Weasleys and Professor McGonagall who had apparently come to Grimmauld Place with the headmaster.
"Dumbledore tried to enter my mind with Legilimency. He didn't take my defence well." The snarl was still audible in his voice.
"You can't just go around accusing Dumbledore of things like that, young man. Now, what did you really do?" Molly was standing with her arms akimbo and her face growing red. Harry just shot her a disgusted glare.
"Sirius, I'm going back to my room. Let me know when the rubbish leaves." With that Harry swept from the room just as Molly was sputtering her way into a rant, managing to snag Hermione along while he was leaving. The two beat a hasty retreat and were soon ensconced in Harry's room. They didn't speak for a long while each just taking comfort from the other's presence. Eventually they let go long enough for Hermione to quickly finish her letter and Harry to play with Hedwig before they attached the letter to her leg and sent her off to the Granger house. After that the two sat together and talked softly. Harry told Hermione what had happened with the headmaster and Hermione told him of her conversation with Sirius.
"Have you decided what you will do yet?" Harry asked her after hearing her tell him about the options Sirius had listed.
"If you don't mind I…I'd like to stay here with you?" Hermione asked tentatively.
"I have a feeling you'd be able to convince me." Harry grinned at her. "Kreacher!" The old elf popped in and bowed deeply. "Kreacher, would you please get all of Hermione's things and bring them here. She'll be staying with me for the remainder of our time here." Kreacher just bowed again and left. Soon Hermione's things started appearing in Harry's room. When Crookshanks appeared it was with a loud offended yowl. The large ginger cat jumped onto Hermione's lap and promptly spread out so he was also covering Harry's.
"Harry, could you put up the same spells you used last night when we go to sleep?" Hermione asked. "It's just...it would,um-"
"I understand, Mi." Harry reassured her. "I'll put them up, I promise." Hermione could feel relief sweeping through her body and allowed herself to sag against Harry as a massive amount of tension bled out of her.
"So, did you tell your parents that you were planning on talking your way into my bed?" Harry asked Hermione with an overly innocent look on his face while they scratched behind her familiar's ears in an effort to mollify him. She just swatted his shoulder with a grin.