Chapter Two
Before he saw Ron, he saw her. As he turned and removed his cloak, he saw her. Even with her hair plastered against her face from the sweat of battle, she was beautiful. Harry loved her. There was no doubt about that.
Harry knew that she loved him. Of that, he had little doubt.
But that didn't mean that they were destined to be together. Harry knew that as well. He hadn't been a good partner over the last few years. Harry had been serious when he told her that if she found someone else that made her happy, she should pursue it. He knew that he was going to be unavailable.
That didn't make his leaving any easier and it certainly didn't make it easier to see the look of disappointment on her face when her eyes met Harry's. While that look hurt him, he had to ignore it. Hopefully sometime soon, there will be time to talk. Hell, hopefully, if everything went right, in a few months, they could have a lifetime to talk.
They just had to get there.
At the mention of his brother, Ron's face dropped.
"You want to go see Percy?" Ron asked. "Now?"
"He's still the Minister of Magic, correct?"
"Yes, but...you know….the two of you…"
Ron was alluding to Harry's strained relationship with his brother. While their brief fistfight at The Burrow had not necessarily endeared either of them to the other, they had long had a sort of understanding that they would stay out of each other's way for the sake of the Weasleys.
That truce ended one week after Harry had left to train with Dumbledore when Percy Weasley very loudly condemned the actions of The Coalition's leadership in the leadup to Godric's Hollow. Even in the isolation of his training, Harry heard about Percy's statement, a coward's way of appealing to the public. While everyone was glad that Voldemort was removed from power, there was a not-so-insignificant portion of their society that had condemned the Ministry for losing control in the first place with most of that blame pointed at Amelia Bones. Additionally, those same people were greatly concerned with the massive losses that the Coalition had taken.
Harry couldn't say that he didn't necessarily agree with those people, but he also felt that there was a better way to do it than to drag a dead man through the mud as Percy had specifically laid the blame at Kingsley's feet. At that point, Harry made his feelings about Percy known to the public the moment he returned from training. A year later, while on the hunt for Voldemort, he even made a special trip back to London to do an interview with The Daily Prophet when Percy's name was first floated for Minister of Magic.
When he was appointed to the position, Harry had refused to attend any of his confirmation events and again spoke out loudly against Percy.
Now, Harry needed resources and Percy was the only person who could authorize them.
"We'll be fine."
"Like fine fine or fine like the last time the two of you were in the same room fine?"
"Assuming Percy doesn't act like an idiot, we'll be fine."
"Great," Ron said, clearly unconvinced. "We both know that Percy's kind of prone to being an idiot."
Over Ron's shoulder, Harry saw that in only the few moments that he had spoken to Ron, Parvati had walked back up the hill towards the garrison. He knew that she was mad. She had been mad when he left and he shouldn't have assumed that would change with distance. In fact, she was likely even angrier, but he couldn't deal with that right now.
That would come later.
Instead, once Ron had secured the garrison and finished his duties with the SAF, he, Ron, and Dumbledore Apparated to the Ministry of Magic, The Atrium more specifically. As Ron expected, word had already traveled that Harry was back. At this time of night, The Atrium would normally be empty.
Tonight, there were at least two dozen reporters from around the world, all of them looking for a quote from the prodigal son. Thankfully, Harry had been expecting this as well and rather than engage with any of them, he simply marched towards the Minister of Magic's office, flanked by Ron and Dumbledore. While they were slowed down by the crush of people for a moment, eventually, they were able to force their way through the crowd.
Once they reached the far end of The Atrium, they entered the Executive Chambers of the Ministry. This was where the Minister of Magic and their support staff had their offices. It was blocked to the general public by a series of doors, each of them guarded by two Hit Wizards. Thankfully, Ron was an influential Auror (and the Minister of Magic's brother) while Harry and Dumbledore were Harry and Dumbledore, which meant that they were all waved through the first checkpoint while the reporters were forced to wait outside.
However, Harry did not expect Percy to simply allow him in. Ever since Harry's very public campaign against Percy's character and suitability for the Minister's job, Percy had done everything he could to put obstacles between him and Harry. Sometimes, they were legal red tape. In other instances, they were scheduling conflicts.
This time, it appeared that it was going to be a person. Specifically, Penelope Clearwater, the Assistant Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement, who stood at the end of the hallway. Beyond her was a circular antechamber that led to the offices of the Senior and Junior Undersecretary as well as the Head of the Wizengamot. Further beyond that was another hallway that led back to the Office of the Minister of Magic, a hallway that Penelope now blocked.
"Mr. Potter," Penelope said with a smile. "I regret to inform you that the Minister will not be able to see you this evening."
"Too busy hiding in his office?" Harry growled.
"Too busy running the country, I'm afraid."
"He told you not to let me in?"
For her part, Penelope was quite skilled at this part of her job. Most people would have let Harry pass the moment he challenged them. Instead, Penelope smiled at him coyly.
"He is simply too busy to see you at the moment."
"We can wait."
"I'm afraid that the Minister may be occupied all night. We did just suffer a Death Eater attack."
"I'm aware. In fact, if you ask anyone who was there, they'll tell you that I was the one who turned the tide of the battle. Without me, you're probably looking at a dozen more dead Aurors and who knows how many murdered civilians."
"And, as always, Mr. Potter, we appreciate your efforts to protect us all."
The smile on Penelope's face infuriated Harry. There was a moment of silence between the four of them as Harry glared at Penelope. Most people would immediately be cowed by the look that Harry gave her. Instead, she simply stood and smiled.
"You're really not going to let me in there?"
"I'm not," Penelope said, the smile dropping from her face for the first time.
Harry turned and started to march out of the room, surprising everyone else.
"Mate, where are you going?" Ron asked.
"I'll talk to Percy some other time," Harry replied before he turned back and again walked towards The Atrium. The Atrium where there were two dozen people just waiting to talk to him.
Just before Harry reached The Atrium doors, Penelope called out.
"Are you sure that you don't wish to Apparate? We have a space just here where you can Apparate out."
Harry turned back to Penelope, a wicked smile on his face.
"No, thanks. I think I'll walk," Harry said pointedly as he reached out for the door handle in front of him.
"Wait!" Penelope shouted, almost jumping in place. Harry smiled. He knew that Penelope probably did have orders to keep him away from Percy, but there was no question that she would rather Harry speak to Percy than Harry speak to reporters. More than once, Harry had done his best to ruin Percy through the media and if Percy wasn't going to talk to him now, Harry had no qualms about doing it again.
That would be the worst case scenario for Percy. So rather than let Harry talk to the reporters, Penelope reluctantly led Harry down the hallway to another circular antechamber. This one had two doors on either side of the room. The one to the left led to a conference room where the Minister of Magic hosted meetings. The one on the right was the Minister of Magic's office.
Harry was not at all surprised when Penelope opened the door on the left. The room was long and ornate with a massive cherry oak table in the middle and a small crystal chandelier hanging in the middle of the room. At the far end of the table sat Percy flanked by Amelia Bones (the Head of the DMLE), John Dawlish (Senior Undersecretary to the Minister of Magic), and Amos Diggory (Head of the Wizengamot).
Harry ignored the others in the room, his eyes fixed on the other Weasley in the room. Percy glared at Harry, clearly wondering just how he was going to fire Penelope for allowing Harry to enter.
Harry simply waited for Percy to speak, a level of patience that surely frustrated Percy. Finally, Percy broke.
"Would you all excuse us for a moment?" Percy said cooly, his eyes never leaving Harry.
Harry smirked. Then, he turned to Ron and Dumbledore.
"We'll be fine."
Although neither Ron nor Dumbledore seemed to believe Harry, they each gave him a short nod before leaving the room, following the rest of Percy's advisors. Once they were gone, Harry turned and closed the door, leaving Percy and Harry alone.
"Harry, welcome home," Percy said. He made no motion to get up or to invite Harry to get closer to him. He didn't even bother to fake a smile.
"Percy."
"What can I do for you?" Percy asked.
"Percy, let's not pretend we're friends."
"Who said we're not friends?"
"I did."
"That's unfortunate," Percy replied. Harry knew that Percy was trying to get under his skin and unfortunately, it was working.
"Shove it, Percy."
Instantly, Percy's faked camaraderie fell.
"I'm sorry?"
"I said shove it. I need Ministry resources and you're going to give them to me."
"Excuse me?" Percy snapped as he slammed his hands on the table. "You disappear for six months and you have the audacity-"
"I disappeared because I told you exactly what Voldemort was doing and you didn't listen to me!" Harry roared. "I told you seven months ago that I knew exactly where he was and you did nothing!"
"You had circumstantial evidence. I'm not investing my Aurors in a journey across Europe because of your hunches."
"You know that I had more than circumstantial evidence, you coward. I had every person who was just in the room in favor of going to Hungary and you shut them down."
"I shut them down because I decide when we send Aurors across the continent, not you."
Harry chuckled, although it hardly sounded like a laugh.
"This isn't about Voldemort."
"It is always about He Who Must-"
"You can't even say his name!" Harry shouted. "Voldemort. His name is Voldemort."
"I will call him whatever I please," Percy snapped. "In case you are forgetting, this is my domain, Harry, not yours. I know that you think that you wield some titanic power around here, but the people elected me Minister of Magic."
"No, the Wizengamot appointed you Minister of Magic. If the people got a say, you wouldn't set foot in this room again."
"Get out," Percy growled.
"No."
"No? You understand that all I have to do is raise my voice and you're gone. You do understand that, don't you?"
"You have that power, yes. But if you do that, you're throwing away your job."
"That's not a threat you can make."
"Isn't it?" Harry challenged. "If I go out there and tell everyone that I know that Voldemort has come back to England and I came here to help but the Minister threw me out of his office because he's a petty child, who do you think that's going to affect more: me or you?"
Finally, Percy paused. They both knew that any public relations battle fought between the two of them was always going to come down on Harry's side. It wasn't necessarily fair, but it was true. If Percy had been a stronger leader and less of a coward, Harry wouldn't have bothered to use this influence, but if Percy was going to prevent him from getting Voldemort, then he would use whatever he could to his advantage.
"What do you want?" Percy growled.
"Voldemort is searching for some kind of artefact. I caught up to him a few months back and ever since then, he's been bouncing around the world. Then, about a month ago, he disappeared. At the same time, Death Eater activity in Britain began to rise again."
"You think he's found this artefact?"
"I'm not certain. There are some things that need more time spent researching, but I can't do it myself."
Percy sighed. "What do you need?"
"I need the SAF."
"No."
"Percy-"
"In what world did you think that I would ever turn over an entire division of the Auror Office, the best division, I might add, to you?"
"I'm an authorized agent of the Ministry. You know that you have the ability to do it."
"Of course I have the ability," Percy scoffed. "That's not the question. I have the ability but I do not have the desire to hand you a group of my best Aurors."
Harry expected this. He knew that even if Harry had been able to tell Percy exactly where Voldemort was, he would never give Harry the resources that he needed willingly. In the end, if Percy's Ministry brought down Voldemort, he wanted to be able to say that he did it without Harry's help, despite the fact that no one would believe him and no one believed that he could do it.
That's why Harry pressed on that same button again.
"Then I'll leak it to the press. I've been away for six months. I'm certain my return will be on the front page tomorrow."
"I'm very happy for you."
"You honestly think that I care?" Harry said with a laugh. "I could care less if my name was ever printed again, which is less than I can say for you. I care about one thing: ending Voldemort. If I have to burn down the Ministry to do it, I will. If it means dragging you and me through the mud, I will do it. I don't care what people think of me and I don't care if they approve of me or not. I'm not a politician and if killing Voldemort ends with me being a social pariah, then so be it, but so help me, if you stand in my way, I'll bury you right next to Voldemort."
Percy sat at the far end of the table, a look of terror on his face. He knew that Harry wasn't bluffing and he knew that if he didn't agree to what Harry was asking, Harry would figure out a way to get it and considering Harry's popularity, it would probably ruin Percy in the process.
Harry waited as Percy rested his chin on his hands, lost in thought. Harry honestly didn't know what there was to think about, but he was willing to be patient. Finally, Percy sighed and leaned back in his chair.
"I will name you the new special advisor to the SAF. You will not be in charge of the unit. That responsibility will remain with Tonks. However, if Tonks allows you to run the team, I will not stand in her way."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. Despite his threats, Harry's relationship with the Weasley family meant that the last thing he actually wanted to do was burn Percy publicly. Molly still looked at him differently after their last public spat and he didn't want to go through all of that again.
"Thank you."
"Keep your thanks," Percy snapped. "It's not like you left me any choice."
"A fact that no one else needs to know. If I end Voldemort while you're Minister, you can take all the credit you want."
"Thank you for allowing that, Your Majesty," Percy replied with a fake bow. "You'll report to the SAF Monday morning. Until then, get the hell out of here."
"Go to hell, Percy," Harry growled. "Tell your mother I said hello."
Percy grumbled something in response, but Harry didn't hear it as the door closed behind him. Harry wasn't surprised that everyone had remained in the room outside the door, clearly listening in to the conversation. Harry would be willing to bet the rapidly dwindling contents of his Gringotts vault that the general contents of his conversation with Percy would make the Prophet tomorrow morning.
Harry, Ron, and Dumbledore ignored the others and walked to the first antechamber. There, Dumbledore bid Harry and Ron a good night before Disapparating, leaving Ron and Harry alone.
"You up for a coffee?" Ron asked.
"Ron, it's almost two in the morning."
"That's nice. You were going to go right home and go to bed, right?"
Ron had a point. "Not exactly, no."
"Come on," Ron said. "There's an all-night cafe around the corner."
Ron led the way, pushing through the reporters as they made their way to the guest entrance. From there, they walked about two blocks to Twilight Cafe, the all-night coffee shop that Ron had mentioned. Ron went to the counter and picked up two small, black coffees for the two of them before leading Harry to a booth in the far corner of the shop where they could talk without being overheard.
For a few minutes, they simply sat in silence, enjoying their coffee. Harry knew that Ron wanted to ask a thousand questions. He had every right to ask them, but he was still thankful that Ron didn't immediately berate him for leaving.
"So...how are you?" Harry finally asked. He hoped that if Ron kept talking about himself, they would avoid questions about where he's been and what he's been doing.
"Good, good, good," Ron replied. "Hermione and I are finally really talking again, which was nice since...you know."
"Last I heard she was dating Nathaniel."
"Where did you hear that?"
"Ginny sent me a letter."
"And it found you?"
Harry smirked. "Trust me, I was just as surprised as you."
"I'll have to figure out how she did that," Ron said. "No, they broke up. Recently, actually. He told her that she would never break up with him because she wouldn't become Minister of Magic without him."
Harry was mid-gulp when Ron said that, causing him to snort a hot stream of coffee out his nose. As Harry coughed and reacted to the burning sensation in his nose, Ron couldn't help but laugh.
"Yeah, that was about our reaction," Ron said as he grabbed a napkin from the table next to theirs and wiped off the table.
"Sorry about that."
"Don't be. I'm selling that story to The Prophet," Ron remarked. "Potter Snorts Coffee Out of His Nose! The Prophet digs into the five funniest things Harry Potter has ever heard."
"Merlin, if that isn't the truth," Harry said. While he knew how to leverage the media, he ultimately despised their presence in his life. "So, what else is new?"
"Well, Ginny got signed by Lyon in November. She and Katie are getting married in March."
"In Lyon?"
Ron laughed. "You think there's a chance that Mom would let Ginny get married in France?"
"Fair point," Harry replied. "Why did she leave Holyhead?"
"No playing time. Apparently, Gwenog Jones believed that Ginny was signed since she knew you. Promotional material via tangential Harry Potter connections."
"Merlin."
"Yeah, she was not happy about it either. Fought with ownership about her role on the team until they cut her in October. She had a couple offers from British teams, but the Lyon contract was better than all of those. Now, she'll get to prove her worth. Conveniently, Lyon plays Holyhead in the European Championship Cup in a couple of weeks."
"I doubt that had anything to do with her choice," Harry chuckled.
"I think she told Jones that she was going to shove the Quaffle so far up her ass, she'd earn ten points for Lyon."
"Wow."
"Yeah. Let's see...what else? Lyra turned three in December."
Lyra was Bill and Tonks' daughter. While she didn't possess her mother's Metamorphmagus abilities, she did inherit her mother's gift for gab and pranks. It was like a mad twist between Tonks and The Twins. Meanwhile, Bill just had to sit there and know that Lyra was probably going to cause him to prematurely turn grey.
That is assuming his wife didn't do that first.
"Three...that's…"
"It's crazy, right?" Ron said. "Well, it's crazy to me and I've been here the whole time."
There it was. While Ron had been the most accepting of his friends when it came to his repeated disappearances, that didn't mean that Ron let Harry completely off the hook. With the first barb, Ron had officially broached the subject. He wouldn't immediately bring it up, but with another few comments, he'd be ready to start asking the hard questions.
"Bill also got promoted to Master Curse Breaker, first human in four hundred years to hold that role," Ron added. "Percy is...well, you saw Percy. Fred and George finally got the shop in Diagon Alley open, so now they're looking at two branches. Amazingly, it seems like business at both locations has increased. They're working like seventy hours a week right now until they get some staff trained, but they're also bringing in buckets of gold each week."
"Well, maybe I can borrow some."
Over the last few years, Harry hadn't made a single Galleon working. At the same time, he and Dumbledore had been traveling the world in their hunt for Voldemort. Between that and the thousands of Galleons that Harry had put into influencing some of the new policies coming out of the Ministry, his accounts were starting to dry up. He wasn't poor by any stretch of the imagination, but if he didn't find actual work soon, Potter Manor would likely end up for sale.
Thankfully, he would always have Grimmauld Place as a backup.
"Considering you gave them the money to start it, I doubt they would have any problem with that."
"I was kidding."
"I know, but you know that they would help if you asked. We all would."
That was the second remark, although this one was more subtle. Over the years, both Ron and Hermione had begged Harry to let them help him. He had pushed back every time. He honestly believed that their presence in Britain was better for the world than being on the run with him.
"I know," Harry replied. "How are your parents?"
"Good, same as always."
"That's good."
"Yeah."
"...yeah," Harry sighed. He didn't want to ask, but he knew that he needed to. He needed to know. "How is she?"
Ron looked away. "My partner?"
"Yes."
"She's…"
Harry could see the debate playing in Ron's mind. Ron knew that if he told Harry the truth, that Harry would blame himself for Parvati's situation. It wasn't his fault. Not entirely, anyway. But that wouldn't stop him from doing exactly what Harry was best at: blaming himself for things that were out of his control.
Ron decided to go with the truth albeit a more polished version of it.
"She's struggling," Ron admitted. "I don't honestly think that she's ever really processed what happened to her parents. She works constantly, more than any other Auror I know and that includes Tonks."
"Is she talking with Padma again?"
"Not really? She's living with Padma, but according to both of them, they don't really talk. Parvati is so focused, so single-mindedly driven to catch Dolohov that pretty much everything else has fallen away."
Harry's heart sank. He knew that she had been struggling when he left six months earlier. Of course, that had been the source of the spat they had just before Harry left. Harry had told her that she needed to talk to someone about her grief.
Parvati had replied that she thought that she had someone, but he kept disappearing on her. Harry had left that night, not particularly surprised to see that Parvati had gone before him. They were in a bad place before he left and with six months of silence between the two of them, he doubted things were going to get better any time soon.
He desperately wanted them to. He did love Parvati. But he also knew that they were drifting apart, each of them aimed towards their own target without the ability to focus on anything else.
Maybe, just maybe, if they managed to make it through this whole thing in one piece, they would be able to fix things.
"Harry…"
This was it. Harry recognized that tone. He knew that Ron was about to ask.
"Where did you go?"
Harry wanted nothing more than to tell Ron. He hated hiding things from people, but especially Ron and Hermione. But there were some secrets that he needed to keep. He told himself that it was to protect them, but he knew better.
He was only protecting himself. He knew if they knew what he had been doing, they would think about him differently and that wasn't something he wanted. Honestly, he hoped that he could take this secret to his grave, although he doubted that he would be that lucky.
"You know...I was here and there...wherever Voldemort was."
"Which was where?"
"Lots of places," Harry said as he suddenly looked at his watch. "Listen, this coffee is not doing the trick. I'm exhausted. I'll see you Monday, right?"
Ron knew that Harry was lying. He knew that Harry was deflecting the question. There was no doubt about that. But rather than press him, he nodded and, internally, Harry thanked Merlin for that. He was tired, although it had little to do with sleep.
Harry bid Ron a good night and then Apparated to Potter Manor, the first time he had been home in months. Of course, Harry hadn't spent more than a few days here at a time since he had bought it. In fact, he had slowly come to realize that the attack on Potter Manor only a few days after he purchased it had likely left a foul taste in his mouth, especially since that event was tied so closely to the murder of Parvati's parents. As a result of Harry's indifference (some might say resentment) towards his own home, he hadn't spent more than five minutes on repairing the home since the attack, which meant that there were at least two hallways that were completely out of use and much of the ballroom was covered in rubble.
Thankfully, the house was large and Harry only used a small portion of it. The only real changes he had made in the years that he had lived there was adding a second, smaller kitchen to the top floor so that he didn't have to use as much of the house. Now, he could use the master bedroom and the kitchen right next door. Harry ignored the rest of the house and it showed.
Dobby had come to Potter Manor once after Harry's initial six month training trip with Dumbledore, Fleur, and Viktor. Needless to say, the excitable little house elf had practically begged Harry to fix the house, a request that Harry had rejected. If the house got fixed, he was going to be the one to do it.
But until Voldemort was captured, the rubble that collected in the hallways and the broken windows were a reminder of what Voldemort could do if he got to you.
Harry thought about showering but the moment he laid eyes on his bed, he collapsed on top of it and fell asleep. His sleep, as always, was restless, filled with dreams of the dead and the occasional images of his mother and father's reanimated corpses stumbling towards him. He woke up only a few hours later before the sun had even managed to reach the horizon.
Rather than lay in bed all day, Harry, as usual, elected to get out of bed the moment his eyes snapped open. He began his day with his standard workout, a routine that he had started while training with Viktor. While Dumbledore and Fleur had made sure that he was magically fit, it had been Viktor's primary goal to make sure that Harry could physically outlast Voldemort.
He was a seventy-year-old man, after all. Once his workout was over, Harry headed for the bathroom where he would grab a quick shower and then start his day. The master bedroom had an attached bathroom with a massive bathtub and a shower, which meant that the moment he was done with his workout, he began shedding layers of clothes, tossing them in a bin in the corner of the room that he had enchanted to clean whatever clothes were in it at the end of each day.
By the time Harry got to the bathroom and started up the shower, all that was left on the upper half of his body was his shirt, which he removed with some difficulty as the sweat caused the material to cling to his skin. He tossed the shirt back towards his bedroom and headed towards the shower, only to catch a glimpse of himself in the mirror.
There were certainly advantages to training non-stop for over four years. Harry had always been thin as a rail, even after five years of Quidditch. While no one was going to mistake him for a Muggle bodybuilder, there was a definition to his body that hadn't been there before. Now, it was clear where each muscle began and ended, each of them flexing with each torque of his body. Additionally, four years in the wilderness had meant a scenario where a good razor had been hard to find. Where before he had always been clean shaven, he now had a thick beard that, much like the hair on the top of his head, was mostly black with hints of silver and gray.
He was only twenty-one but Harry simply assumed that the stress of his life was the likely reason for the ever-growing patches of grey in his hair.
However, his training had also left its mark on him. Quite literally, in fact. Harry's torso was covered with scars: marks, scratches, tears, and burns that hadn't been healed quickly enough. These were the marks that would never go away. These were the marks that would always remind him of Voldemort's influence on his life. On one hand, Harry liked his scars. Each scar was progress, a lesson learned. Now, with Dumbldore's body rapidly deteriorating, there was no question that Harry was the second most powerful wizard in all of Britain.
But those scars were also a reminder of everything that he had given up. Each scar was Hermione or Parvati or Ron, Ginny, Fred and George. But they were also Charlie, Kingsley, Moody, and any number of others who had died in the war with Voldemort.
For the first time in two weeks, Harry got an honest to goodness shower rather than a rinse with his wand. He remained under the water for nearly an hour, letting the scalding hot water burn away all of the aches and pains that he dealt with on a daily basis. Even though he knew that it didn't actually help, there was something therapeutic about the water.
Once Harry was out of the shower, he threw on his boxers before walking back into his room. He was intending to get dressed. That was until Harry saw that someone was standing in front of the large windows that overlooked the forest beyond the Manor.
"Hermione?"
Her hair had changed. That was the first thing he noticed as she turned towards him. In the past, she had always let it go long. It was probably easier to deal with then, considering just how wild her hair was. Now, it was short, much shorter than ever before. The bulk of her hair only barely covered her ears, the rest of it falling to the side. It was a decidedly different look and, while it was shocking at first, Harry decided that he liked it.
"Hi, Harry," Hermione said. She was smiling at him, but it was sad, as if she didn't really mean it.
"It's like six-thirty in the morning...on a Saturday. What are you doing here?"
"You're home. I came to see you."
The way Hermione said that was strange, almost as if it was obvious that she would show up at his house this early in the morning.
"I mean...I'm glad you're here, but that doesn't explain why you decided that you needed to come over now."
"Well, I was already up. Just like you, I should probably still be in bed."
"What do you mean?."
"Well, I couldn't sleep after I saw you at the Ministry last night."
"That was pretty late...wait...you saw me? At the Ministry? When?"
"I did. Last night," Hermione smiled. "I watched you and Ron pushed your way through The Atrium."
"Why were you at the Ministry?"
Hermione smiled proudly. "Two weeks ago, I was promoted. I'm now Amelia's senior advisor. Once we got word that New Hogsmade had been attacked, she called me in to go over her remarks to the public."
"That's great!" Harry said and he meant it. Ron was a great Auror and Harry knew that if he survived the war, he would likely have a place in shaping the world that came after, but there was little doubt in Harry's mind that Hermione was the best of them all. More than any of them, she was the one who would change their future and getting the opportunity to work closely with Amelia Bones was a great step towards becoming that person that Harry always believed she would be.
"It is," said Hermione. "I was going to send an owl. But after a few hours of staring at the ceiling, I couldn't help myself."
"You were that excited for me to come home?"
"You're my best friend," Hermione stated plainly.
"Yes, but you've never visited me this early in the morning before."
"Yes...well, you've never gone silent for six months before."
Harry knew that this was going to come up. The last six months had been the hardest of his entire time away. Most of his time away had been for training. He would spend hours working with Dumbledore, Fleur, and Viktor so that he was the best the wizarding world had to offer. However, the last six months had been spent hunting Voldemort down.
Six months ago, Dumbledore had located Voldemort. Unfortunately, he managed to slip through their fingers and Harry had spent the last six months racing around the world, following the signs of Voldemort's travels around the world. More than once, they had come close to catching the Dark wizard, only for him to slip away at the last minute.
Because they had been so close to Voldemort, Harry had made them undetectable to owls. The last thing he wanted was to make it easier for Voldemort to know where they were. That also made it easier to avoid some topics of conversation that Harry wasn't particularly interested in addressing while hunting Voldemort.
Now that he was back, he was certain that they would come up, but the longer he could delay those conversations, the better.
"Sorry about that," Harry muttered.
"Where were you?"
"Hunting Voldemort," Harry replied. "He's...Honestly, I'm not exactly sure what he's doing. He's looking for something or someone. That's why I went to the Ministry last night."
"You needed access to the SAF."
"How did you know that?"
"I work for Amelia Bones."
"Right," Harry said. It was obvious that Percy would share that information with Amelia who would then share it with Hermione. Harry had been out of the political world for a while. It would take him some time to get back into the routine that came with playing the game that was the Ministry of Magic.
"Yes, I needed access to the SAF. I could go through all of the information that I have, but it would take me weeks."
Hermione looked at Harry cautiously.
"You wouldn't trust this to someone else if you thought that we had that kind of time."
"You're not wrong," Harry replied. "I can't guarantee anything, but I don't think it's a coincidence that he came back here."
Hermione finally took a seat in one of the chairs that flanked the large window, dropping into it heavily, as if her feet could no longer hold her up. Harry knew that there was something going on in that brilliant brain of hers. He took the chair opposite of her and waited as her brain worked.
"We've seen a slight increase in the amount of Death Eaters attacks, but nothing particularly egregious. At least not outside of last night."
Harry didn't know what to say to that. So, he changed the subject.
"I was going to come see you, you know. I had planned to stop by your office on Monday morning."
Hermione's eyes narrowed. "You were going to wait until Monday, three whole days from when you got back, to come and see me?"
"I just wanted to take some time to get settled back in."
"Harry, you were only gone six months. I didn't lose the ability to tell when you were lying in that time."
"I'm not lying," Harry said, knowing full well that Hermione could tell that that was also a lie. He hadn't intended to see anyone initially. The only reason he had gone with Ron the night before was because Ron had been at the attack. If he hadn't been there, Harry wouldn't have seen Ron or Hermione for at least a couple weeks, not outside of the Ministry anyway.
"What changed?" Hermione asked.
"Nothing changed."
"Something changed. Every other time you disappeared, you would come back and you would see Parvati. Then, you would come visit Ron and I for the sole purpose of letting us know that you were back. Have you even seen Parvati yet?"
Harry paused for a moment. "Not intentionally, no."
"Intentionally?"
"She was working with Ron last night. I saw her, but I didn't speak to her."
"What changed?"
Harry wasn't going to tell her exactly what had changed. He wasn't going to tell her how different he was. But he knew that she wouldn't accept another lie as an answer.
So Harry told her some of the truth.
"Everything changed. But I'm not ready to talk about it yet."
Hermione leaned forward and gently placed a hand on Harry's knee.
"When you're ready-"
"When I'm ready, you'll be the first to know," Harry said. Harry wasn't certain that he would ever be ready and he desperately hoped that he didn't have to tell her exactly what had happened. Until then, he'd appease her with the knowledge that she was still the first person he would talk to.
"I'm glad, although you should probably talk to Parvati."
"Parvati and I are...going through a bit of a rough patch."
"Could that have something to do with you disappearing in the middle of the night with a very brief note as your only explanation?"
"It could, although we fought a few times before I left."
"Fought? About what?"
"What I was doing," Harry said, his eyes turning towards the window where the sun was just beginning to come up. "What I had done. The things I wouldn't tell her."
"You're keeping secrets from her?"
"I'm keeping secrets from everyone, Hermione," Harry said. "We don't know how many spies Voldemort still has in the Ministry. I know things. If word got to Voldemort that I knew them, he would disappear and any chance that I have of stopping him would disappear."
"Does she understand that?"
"She does," Harry said. "That doesn't make it easier to live with. Plus, it makes her naturally suspicious of me."
"She thought that you were cheating on her?"
"She thought a lot of things. Unfortunately, because I can't tell her everything, I can't counter her suspicions with any real facts."
"Not necessarily the foundation for a healthy relationship."
"No," Harry replied sadly. He desperately wanted to fix things with Parvati, but he knew that until he had taken Voldemort down, it wasn't safe for her to know that all that he knew. It honestly wasn't safe for her to even be around him, but he knew that telling her to walk away wasn't going to work.
Harry just hoped that he was able to stop Voldemort before Parvati gave up on him.
"Hey, I know what might help. Well, it won't help your relationship, but it might just be a nice thing to get your mind off things."
"What's that?" Harry asked.
"Molly and Arthur are hosting dinner at The Burrow tonight. You should come."
Socializing was not high on Harry's list of things to do upon his return. While he loved The Weasleys dearly, he didn't really want to be bombarded by the thousands of questions they would certainly lob his direction the moment he arrived. Still, he knew that if he said no, Hermione would likely tell Molly or Ron that he had been invited and they would show up and drag him there against his will anyway.
"Sure," Harry said, doing his best to sound excited. "Sounds fun."
"You should bring Parvati."
"I don't think that's a good idea."
"You're going to have to talk to her eventually," Hermione replied. "Why not today?"
"Because...I...don't know what to say. Not yet."
That was the truth. He knew that he still loved Parvati and that he wanted to be with her. But he also knew that Voldemort came first. Until Voldemort was gone, he couldn't really commit to being with Parvati, not in the way that she wanted or deserved.
"Figure that out soon."
"I'll do my best," Harry replied. Hermione stood and closed the distance between the two of them, leaning down and kissing him softly on the cheek.
"I hope so," Hermione said. "I've got to go into the office for a few hours today. I'll see you tonight?"
"What time?"
"Dinner is served at seven."
"I'll see you there," Harry replied.
"Good."
Harry remained seated in that chair for the better part of an hour. This was why Harry hadn't wanted to return to his public life as Harry Potter, The Boy Who Lived. Hell, it was why he hadn't even wanted to be Harry. It had been Dumbledore who had suggested that he should make his presence known to his friends. If Harry had had his way, he would have saved New Hogsmeade and then disappeared into the night, continuing the fight against Voldemort on his own.
But he knew that no matter how much he might have wanted that, it wasn't possible. There was no way to defeat Voldemort alone. In the end, they might have to stand across from one another, but to get there, he was going to need help.
And despite Harry's wishes, getting to Voldemort was the only important thing in his life right now. Everything and everyone else could wait.