Hermione
2.
"Where's Harry?" Ron asked, he hadn't even fully entered the room.
Not everyone was there. Ron had just got out of work, Luna and Rolf were on another continent, probably searching for an unheard-of creature. Astoria was on a trip with her sister, but Draco was there, looking hopelessly at his half-empty glass of whiskey. Neville and Hannah were on the same couch, and next to them, Ginny and Hermione played cards on the living room's fluffy rug.
It was 9 PM on a Wednesday, and they had no logical reason to be gathered, but that's the way they did things. They took advantage of their irregular work schedules. Ginny's training with the Holyhead Harpies depended on the weather. Ron, Neville, Draco, Hannah, and Harry worked as Aurors and were on call duty at any time without warning. Hermione and Astoria, in the law department, were allowed to work from home on two chosen days of the week and could change them as they pleased.
So, yeah, it was Wednesday, but it could have been Sunday or New Year's Eve; it didn't really matter.
"That," Hermione answered him without even looking up from her cards, "is a great question."
"You haven't been able to reach him?" Neville wanted to know. Hermione shook her head, and Ginny did the same when they looked at her with the same question.
"What about you?" Ginny asked Draco, who looked up at everyone in the room before shaking his head as well.
"Sorry, voicemail. Why don't you try?" He told Ron.
Ron did. He called Harry once, then twice, and then three times before deciding it was a waste of time. He felt a rush of irritation. Why did he bother Ron so much about having a phone if he wasn't even going to answer it?
"When was the last time any of you saw him?"
"Yesterday, I believe," Ginny said. "Yes, last night. He seemed a little anxious; he probably just went for a walk or something."
She was unperturbed by the fact. Harry was an adult, and one who didn't like being controlled. so it was not weird at all for him to leave without saying. Ginny had no problem with that. She did not hope to understand, she had six brothers, she always stated where she was going out loud before leaving any room, but she didn't have a problem with him doing it.
If she had a problem with anything was with him coming back late at night. Harry was someone with a special gift for getting into trouble, she awaited awake for him to return from work, and out of worry she always asked him to call if something was going to delay him. And he always did so.
If she had a problem with anything, it was with him coming back late at night. Harry had a special gift for getting into trouble. She waited awake for him to return from work, out of worry always asking him to call if something would delay him, and he always did so.
She didn't worry about this; she didn't even notice Ron and Hermione exchanging meaningful looks. No matter how much Ginny trusted Harry, how much she knew him, there were things you only learned from years and years of sharing a room with him, of seeing him every day. Ron and Hermione were worried about something else but didn't say anything at the moment.
At the end of that day, Ginny wasn't worried. The next day, however, she began to feel short of breath. Harry hadn't come back at all the previous night. She waited awake until she fell asleep on the couch, and the next day, the house was as empty as it was the day before.
"Can't find him anywhere," she whispered quickly to Hermione. "Draco told me he didn't show up for work, and nobody knows anything. I'm just..."
"Ron is still calling him; no one will stop until we get in contact with him, okay?" Hermione reassured her, sounding less concerned than Ginny felt.
By the third day, Ginny was starting to get desperate.
"I should file a missing person report."
"Don't be silly," Draco half laughed, then turned it into a cough when Ginny glared at him. "If Harry was in any kind of danger, he would've called already. Besides, the phone is on, meaning that he just doesn't want to answer you."
'Ouch' Hermione thought.
Ginny looked genuinely scared, which wasn't something Hermione was expecting. It was still terrifying for her, but if she could handle it, she figured Ginny, who always seemed to be the braver one, would not even show that she cared.
She felt Ron tense up next to her. She knew what he was feeling: a conflict between understanding what Harry was doing and being angry at him for making his sister scared.
Hermione grabbed her phone and went into the kitchen. The Potter Manor had multiple floors but was mostly open, with divisions marked by the floors and furniture changing. The walls often didn't have closing doors, but an arch that divided the rooms. It was still big enough that when she stepped into the kitchen, she was completely out of sight and hearing of the others gathering in the living room.
She called Harry. One last time, she told herself.
"You have reached Harry Potter's cellphone..." fucking voicemail again.
She waited patiently for his friend's recording to get to the part where the beep sounded and she could actually talk. When the time came, she knew what she was going to say, but in the second she opened her mouth, something betrayed her.
"This is the deal," she said firmly because she knew Harry was listening. She knew he had listened to their other voicemails as well, so he didn't need any context to understand exactly what Hermione was going to say. "You call me, answer me, or tell me where you are... or I'll release to the press that you might be missing. And when you come back (because you have to, eventually), you'll have to give explanations. And don't even think of ignoring me because you know I hate empty threats. I'm going to count to three as if you were a little kid. One... Two..."
She heard the line being picked up. So easy, she thought.
"Where are you?" she asked immediately.
"Yeah, sure," came the voice back, but there wasn't real intention in it; he just sounded exhausted.
"Fine," she conceded. She hated that she was treating a call with his friend like a ransom negotiation. She was afraid that at the most insignificant thing she said, Harry would hang up, and she'd have to wait weeks before she could threaten him again. "Just tell me that you are safe."
"I am okay," he said quietly.
"Are you alone?"
"I'm with... people"
"Are you too far from here?" The line stayed silent. "Alright," she said, already knowing that he was not dumb and wouldn't give up his location just because she rephrased the question.
"Is Ginny okay?"
She could lie. She could tell him that she was fine, that she thought that he simply went to visit a friend in another town and forgot to tell her. She could lie and tell her that she was extremely worried, which wasn't true either. Ginny was also kind of getting used to it, it just happens that it still scared her, unlike Ron and Hermione, who had been handling it for years now.
She could lie. She could tell him that Ginny was fine, that she thought he simply went to visit a friend in another town and forgot to tell her. She could lie and tell him that she was extremely worried, which wasn't true either. Ginny was also kind of getting used to it, but it still scared her. Unlike Ron and Hermione, who had been handling it for years, Ginny was still afraid.
But she didn't lie.
"She's scared, but she's fine. Although she did mention filling a missing person report..."
"Do not let her do that" he said immediately "don't ever let her do that."
"If you don't come back soon, I'm not sure if I'll be able to stop her..."
"I just..." his voice was shaking now, and it broke Hermione's heart because Harry didn't let his voice shake. He gives speeches at the ministry almost every day; he knows how to control his voice, to not let it shake. But still, here he was. "I'll go back, alright?"
"Alright"
"Alright"
They stood in silence for almost a minute. Hermione had the feeling Harry didn't want to be the one to hang up, but she sure wasn't going to do it either.
"You know," she said, in a reassuring voice she hoped would come across, "I could pick you up. You don't have to tell me where you are or anything. Just tell me where to meet you, and it'll be neutral ground, okay?"
That was something she had learned. The places where he went were extremely sacred. It was as if the moment someone knew his location, the place became unsafe. Hermione still wished she knew where he was. She knew of some places. The cemetery in Godric's Hollow seemed to be one. There was a cafe in Italy that Harry frequented whenever he was in the country.
There was the Hog's Head, a peculiar choice for comfort, if you asked Hermione, but she accepted that Aberforth could be good company when he wasn't trying to make you leave. And finally, Bill had once told her that he'd spotted Harry near Dobby's grave, but she had instructed him to pretend he hadn't seen him and not to mention it again. Confused, Bill complied, and they didn't talk about it ever again.
Hermione suspected Harry knew she knew, but neither of them said anything, and things stayed the way they were. But she had already checked those places, and this time she could not find him. It was obvious that he had more places and not only the ones she knew, but it still worried her.
Hermione suspected Harry knew she knew, but neither of them said anything, and things stayed the way they were. However, she had already checked those places, and this time she could not find him. It was obvious that he had more places and not only the ones she knew, but it still worried her.
And he said he was with people. So that was another good clue. However, she didn't have the energy nor the need to pay too much attention to it at the moment. She'll go back to it later, when she was alone not sleeping at night and she wanted something to encourage her insomnia even more.
"What do you say I don't pick you up then?" she tried again. If the silence was anything to go by, he wasn't too fond of the idea. "I'll make sure the house is empty tomorrow, just me, and you can come back, and we'll talk..."
He hung up.
"Were you able to get a hold of him?" Ron asked her the next day in the car on their way to work. She debated the truth; Ron deserved to know, but Harry deserved privacy. It wasn't fair for her to be asked to choose between her baby brother and the love of her life. She had stayed silent long enough, though; she didn't need to betray any of them.
"I see," Ronald said knowingly, and he didn't ask anything else. God bless him.
So Hermione got to work, breathing a little more lightly now than she had in a while. She managed to dodge Kingsley's questions about when Harry was coming back. And then, as the day wore on, she returned to Harry's home instead of her own. She didn't say anything to Ron, but he didn't comment on it; he knew.
It was 3 am when the door opened. She was awake and ready, not looking at him, her eyes fixed on the TV, where a movie was playing—a musical of some kind. She wasn't paying much attention.
"I am sorry" he said. She didn't respond. After a beat, he took a deep breath, and on the corner of her eye, she could see him smiling a little. He sat next to her.