Chapter 11
Everyone was gone.
How?
That was exactly what Harry wanted to know as he rested on the grass, head between his knees.
Tony was standing next to him, also trying to keep from panicking. “How could everyone just disappear like that? We were just outside the entire time! Shouldn’t we have heard something?”
Was everyone okay?
“We had to have heard something.”
Ron and Hermione?
“Where did everyone go? Did Vince and Neville run after us or did they go with the others?”
AJ?
Harry suddenly sat up, a sickening feeling flooding him. “Tony,” he stared up at him with wide eyes. “That person we were chasing. What if that wasn’t AJ? Maybe she – maybe she was the threat and she was waiting for us to come out so she could lure me away from the others!”
“Okay, now, let’s not get ahead of ourselves,” Tony tried to calm them both down. “So, maybe whoever that was – or whoever wanted us to believe we were chasing after a little girl – set the alarms off, but that wouldn’t explain how only the two of us saw her. And if that really was AJ… well, there’s no way of truly knowing anything at this point now, is there? So, let – let’s just breathe and think about this. As far as the both of us are aware, we are now the only two people left on the grounds. Right? So, maybe the alarms have shut off and the Floo is back up and running. My suggestion is we go back to the school and head to Number Twelve or the Burrow and find someone who actually knows what the hell is going on around here.”
“But what about Hogsmeade?”
“For all we know, that whole village could be locked down, too! Both the village and the school were created fairly close together, so maybe alarms were set off there, too.”
That did make sense.
“Plus,” Tony looked around again, “we still don’t know what set those alarms off. Maybe there’s someone waiting to jump us on the way to the Village.”
Harry finally nodded, but what else could he do? Tony seemed to be the one in charge here – especially since he had enough experience to have some idea of their next step. Harry wasn’t more glad of having the older Wizard with him than at that moment.
“Back to the school, then?” he looked around, suddenly uneasy about being out on the field and not behind any coverings.
“Yeah. Come on,” Tony reached a hand down and Harry grasped it, feeling his friend dig in his heels to counter his weight as he stood up.
He felt the back of his neck prickle and tensed, gripping Tony’s hand as he looked around.
The Pitch was never empty like this.
There was always someone around, even when Harry wanted to fly by himself.
“Kind of creepy, isn’t it?” Tony squeezed back, his own attention wandering around the stands.
“You’re telling me,” Harry’s breathing went shallow as an uneasy shiver went down his spine. “You feel that?”
“Like I’m being watched? Yeah. Let’s get some cover,” Tony pulled him from his uneasy perusal before he could finish his surveillance and soon they’d taken refuge to the one side of the field entrance furthest away from the Pitch entrance. “Someone’s in the furthest guest tower.”
“What?” Harry felt his heart almost stop.
“Well, my gut says someone’s up there, but I couldn’t get a visual. Come on. We’ll see if we can’t sneak up there and find them.”
Outside of Quidditch matches, there was only one field entrance and one Pitch entrance.
The Pitch entrance didn’t change when matches were on, but field entrances did for various reasons that Harry could never actually remember aside from potential medical emergency uses. While the Pitch only had one entrance in the structure, there was a corridor that wrapped around the inside of its walls that led to different parts of the stands or the towers.
Harry rarely moved within the Pitch’s walls, but he fell in behind Tony as they ventured away from the entrances and toward the furthest guest tower.
Along the way, they passed the staircases that led audience members to the stands between each tower. It hadn’t been like the Quidditch World Cup, but Harry felt more at home here within the smaller structure.
They found the entrance to the guest tower in question and made their slow and careful ascent, tension and anticipation mounting until they reached the boxed area and found no one there.
“Well, whatever you thought was up here,” Harry told Tony as they swept around the spectator box, “it’s gone now.”
“Yeah. I’m getting that,” Tony sighed, frowning and absently ruffling his short hair. “It’s so strange, though. It honestly felt like we were being watched from this tower, but…” he was careful to keep out of sight as he looked out over the deserted Pitch. “That being watched feeling’s gone, too. Notice that?”
“I do, now that you said something. I mean, it still feels kind of like eyes are on you, but not like before.”
“All empty places bring that out. Remind me to tell you about the time a few Probies accidently shot each other at a crime scene. Not one of mine, but one of the others at NCIS couldn’t stop laughing at the whole thing.”
Harry sidled next to Tony and glimpsed out over the empty Pitch, the view gaining a spark of interest since he was usually either in the student stands or in the air actually playing. “So, now what?”
“We might’ve scared whoever it was into leaving the other way,” Tony shrugged, both of them exchanging glances. “For now, we head back to the school. Maybe the Friar or the portraits can tell us what to do next.”
Plan of action decided, they still crept down from the box and were halfway back to the corridor when Tony suddenly stopped, head tilting to the side as he reached out a hand to stop him. He connected their gazes and mouthed, ‘Listen.’
Harry strained his hearing for a movement before he heard a faint footstep on one of the lower landings.
Someone was coming up.
Harry locked eyes with Tony again, who put a finger to his own lips.
Both made sure their wands were ready and waited.
They tracked the footsteps slowly getting closer and eventually identified a second set of footsteps softly following the first.
Tony waited a moment, before glancing at Harry and silently moving down the steps.
Harry just as quietly followed and they stood on the next landing down as the first was about to reach it.
Sharing another look, Harry and Tony both moved around the corner and their would-be assailant leapt back with a yelp as they rushed toward him.
“Deeks?” Harry almost collapsed in relief as he recognized the blond leaning against the support beam beside him.
“Damn it, Tony!” the blond scowled, hand over his no doubt racing heart as Harry’s own adrenaline began to wane from the scare. “What’s the big idea, skulking around already creepy as hell places, scaring the crap out of innocent people?”
“Us?” Tony sputtered. “What the hell are you doing here, doing the exact same thing?!”
“Tony? Harry?” Harry smiled widely when Sarah ‘Mac’ Mackenzie appeared behind Deeks. “Thank goodness you’re both alright,” she smiled back. Still dressed in a vaguely familiar green uniform, she looked faintly exhausted.
“We were looking for you,” Deeks calmed, rubbing his blond curls.
“Well, ya found us,” Tony breathed, leaning against bent knees.
“When you and the students weren’t with the Headmaster and the others about two hours ago,” Mac explained, “one of the Portraits got in touch with one of Dumbledore’s people, who then got in touch with Donners, who dragged Palmer and myself out of the office.”
“Yeah, and me out of a dead sleep,” the blond added. “Hetty is already scary in daylight. Almost hit the ceiling seeing her standing next to my bed like that.”
“Donners also got Agent Burke involved,” Mac went on, “so that Tony could have people he trusts looking for him. We got word before we left the school to explore the Pitch that you and Harry were the only ones unaccounted for, but we weren’t sure if Harry was with you or not.”
“Palmer and Peter are here?” Tony breathed deeply.
“Back at the school,” Deeks told him. "We didn’t know why you two weren’t with everyone else and Neville and Vince said you two had run off after someone you thought was AJ. She’s with everyone else, by the way.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Tony and Harry exchanged relieved smiles. “Do you know where they are?”
“Can you get a straight answer out of Dumbledore?” Deeks deadpanned, a smile crossing his face.
“What we can tell you,” Mac smiled at the three of them, “is that we need to meet up with the teachers at the Broomsticks. When they couldn’t get back into the school through the Headmaster’s fireplace, they weren’t sure what was happening until one of the portraits showed up. The alarms had gone off and that led to one thing or another.”
“What did set them?” Harry wanted to know.
“We can’t be sure until you two leave the grounds,” she answered. “We’re only able to get in because we’re authorized as allies to get you out. After everyone is deemed as safe, the alarms and accompanying wards will turn off. Then Aurors can sweep the grounds and make sure everything’s in order for the students to return.”
“We don’t know anything beyond that,” Deeks shrugged. “You’d have to ask someone else.”
“But what about… I don’t know,” Harry frowned and shook his head. “It really looked like AJ to me. We followed her into the trees and lost her.”
“Well, Hermione’s birthday is today, after all,” Mac pointed out. “Remember before the wedding, Tony kept thinking that he was seeing things that weren’t there? It’s probably going to take some time to shake it off.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” Tony rolled his eyes. “I’ll more than likely be locked up in the looney bin long before then.”
“Let’s just get out of here,” Deeks looked around uneasily. “It’s kind of creepy in this place.”
They agreed and headed back down from the tower and into the Pitch corridor.
“I’m just glad to get some answers,” Tony huffed a sigh, all of them still on alert as they moved through the Pitch.
“But how did everyone get to where the Friar wanted them if the Pitch is still here?” Harry couldn’t figure it out.
“It’s magic,” Deeks lifted a shoulder.
“But how did it happen, I mean. What…”
“What activated the magic?” Mac supplied as they got out of the Pitch and headed back to the school. “I don’t know. Did either of you see anything else besides the AJ lookalike? Or notice something odd?”
“Define ‘odd’,” Tony smiled slightly. “It’s Hogwarts.”
Neither Harry or Tony could say for sure if anything caught their attention.
In the end, though, it didn’t matter.
Peter Burke and Jimmy Palmer were waiting for them in front of the school doors, both happy to see the returning group safe and sound with the missing pair. Peter almost tackled his cousin to the ground in a giant hug once they got close enough.
“Aww, that’s sweet,” Deeks cooed. “Brotherly love.”
“Cousinly, you mean,” Palmer corrected. “How are you, Harry?”
“I’m alright, now,” he smiled back at the American. He hadn’t seen either Mac or Palmer since a few days after his birthday at the end of July. It hadn’t been that long ago that Peter had come by to visit.
“Anything happen around here?” Deeks asked Palmer, who responded in the negative, as Peter turned his attention to Harry.
“You had us a little worried,” Peter squeezed his shoulder with a warm smile.
“I could say the same,” Harry smiled back, feeling better and a little more prepared for potential ambush with a greater number around him.
“Yeah,” Tony breathed in a similar relief. “Especially when we found ourselves the only ones still around.”
“Let’s get to Hogsmeade and debrief,” Mac suggested, much to everyone’s agreement.
The group left the eerily empty grounds and gladly made for the Village where Dumbledore, McGonagall and a group of various Order members waited for them in the Three Broomsticks.
“Harry!” Mrs. Weasley wrapped him in a hug as Remus Lupin and Tonks stood nearby. “Oh, you poor boy.”
“Hi, Mrs. Weasley,” he smiled thinly, the past – give or take – seven hours just now starting to creep into him.
“Well, the both of you have had quite the eventful morning,” Dumbledore smiled at them.
“And just where in Merlin’s name have you been?” Tony scowled at him from under Peter’s arm.
“The Headmaster has been conducting very important business,” Mrs. Weasley bristled at the Italian’s unprovoked jab at the Headmaster. “From what I understand, it was you who had been entrusted to watch the students!”
“Yeah? Well, it’s kind of hard to watch things when I have no idea what’s going on. And why didn’t I or the Muggle Studies Professor – what is her name, by the way? – know about the alarm system?”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she sniffed. “It was clearly laid out for you when you took the position. If you forgot something as crucial as the instructions on what to do in these types of emergencies, clearly you need more training.”
“Mrs. Weasley,” Mac stepped in, lawyer that she was. “I understand that we were all worried, but everything is more than alright now. They are both fine and the alarms will soon realize that everyone is safe.”
“What do you mean, ‘clearly laid out’?” Tony frowned as if Mac never spoke. “And the actual teacher isn’t scheduled to show up until January! I’m just the stand-in that Dumbledore himself brought in. No one said anything to me about alarm systems.”
“Remus does,” Mrs. Weasley pointed out a bit smugly. “He’s taught before, so he surely knows about it. Remus?”
Their expectant looks were met with a blank stare.
“… we have an alarm system?”
“Thank you!” Tony threw his arms out. “See? We don’t know anything! And he’s the one that stayed the year!”
McGonagall sighed. “I apologize, Mr. Potter. And to you as well, Professor DiNozzo. And you, Remus. To be truthful, there is something that we should have told you, but Remus hadn’t stayed long enough and we didn’t quite anticipate this occurring now, of all times.
Dumbledore looked very apologetic. “It completely slipped my thoughts, I’m afraid. No ill intentions, just… a wandering mind.”
They all looked at Tony’s unreadable expression, though Harry was almost certain that his friend wouldn’t let anyone forget about this.
“As to the question of how the both of you ended up separated from the rest of the school,” Flitwick squeaked, “I believe that I have the answer.”
As it turned out, Tony and the MSP – whose name they would find out – had been left on the grounds while the other teachers were transported off to locations unknown. This was because the important teachers – the five Heads of the staff – were all safe and accounted for. And because Tony and MSP were the latest additions to the staff, they had been left in charge and one or both had needed to circle the Pitch three times whilst staying within the Pitch’s outside boundaries.
Boundaries which did not extend to the tree line.
“So,” Deeks raised a hand. “Besides alerting everyone to their stations elsewhere, it was also some kind of loyalty test?”
That’s what it sounded like to Harry, too.
“Well, it’s not that unusual,” Mac mused aloud. “The newest teachers usually have to go through some rite of initiation type of event.”
“Yeah, but usually they know what’s going on,” Tony groused back.
“We do, now,” Tonks beamed cheerfully. “Now, let’s go see if the wards failed by themselves or if there was a reason for this excitement.”
The Order departed while Harry sat down to lunch and the Americans had breakfast.
“Hetty said I could come in late,” Deeks told them.
“I was actually just wrapping up some paperwork before falling into a coma,” Mac added. “Three whole days, all to myself.”
“Yeah, me, too,” Palmer nodded.
Peter just sipped his coffee with a thoughtful frown. “Harry? Now, you can say it’s just me, but… I get the impression that Ron’s mother doesn’t much like Tony.”
“Caught that, did you?” Tony answered wryly. “It didn’t help that I found out she was using Gabby as a spy.”
“Spy? Gabby?” he frowned. “Why in Merlin’s name would she do that?”
“Need to know. Don’t look at me like that. I’m not the one who decided you didn’t need to know.”
Oh, that’s right. Peter hadn’t been there when Tony let out that Gabby had been spying on them for Mrs. Weasley so that she could keep them occupied and away from anything Order related that they might come across.
Not like they could have, anyway, considering that half the group even now didn’t know the Order existed.
Harry was sad to see Deeks, Mac and Palmer go back to America, but they promised to visit Halloween and stay the weekend.
Peter was left and Harry returned from the loo to find Tony frowning at their cousin.
“I notice,” Tony drawled, “that you didn’t say anything.”
“What was there to say?” he shrugged. “I was sent out of town to assist another office complete a sensitive assignment. Hughes understands and let me have the morning off.”
“We’re sorry about worrying you,” Harry ducked his head.
“It’s not your fault,” Peter assured. “You thought something was off and you went to persue it. That’s what anyone would have done in your place and that’s what Tony did.”
“Yeah,” Tony agreed. “Besides, if you didn’t have a head start, I would have made you stay near the Pitch, too. Then I would’ve been all by myself and panicking over you.”
That, more than anything else, made him feel a lot better.
“I have to ask, though,” Tony turned back to Peter. “What does everyone else think about you disappearing?”
“El is still out of town,” Peter told him. “Neal, Jones and Diana bought the cover.”
“You mean those three still don’t know? Peter, they’re going to find out sooner or later. Especially Caffrey.”
“I know, believe me.”
Tony tilted his head. “This is about showing him that you can keep secrets, isn’t it?”
“…maybe.”
Peter stayed until the teachers came back with the all clear.
“I guess it was Displacement,” Harry mused when it was established that there had been no threat to begin with.
They bid a fond farewell to Peter – who promised a longer visit soon – and trekked back to the castle with Sprout and Flitwick as the other teachers and Order members awaited the return of the rest of the students in the Headmaster’s office.
It was to no small amount of relief when Harry caught sight of Ron and Hermione standing at the school doors and the four of them spent a moment to make sure the other pair was safe.
“It had been an absolute panic when we couldn’t find either of you,” Hermione attached herself to them for a little longer than usual while Ron shook Harry’s hand and endured Tony’s almost rib crushing hug. “Thank Merlin, you’re both okay.”
“You might want to track Vince and Neville down when they get back,” Ron advised. “They came running into that room we found ourselves in, yelling that the pair of you were still here.”
Both sides explained what happened on their end and the redhead huffed.
“Is there anything else Dumbledore hasn’t told you?” he frowned at Tony.
“Probably,” he sighed. “He’ll more than likely remember after the fact.”
It was kind of sad that the three agreed.
* **
Needless to say, classes were cancelled as a precaution and all the teachers made up a schedule for each subject and the classes they would have.
“Saturday classes!” Ron scowled as he flopped into an armchair near Harry.
“Well, of course,” Hermione was on Harry’s other side. “The teachers wouldn’t have any other time.”
And because of conflicting scheduling, all the Years would have alternating weekends starting next Saturday. Potions, Herbology and Charms for the Third and Fourth Years and so on until everyone was on the same page.
Harry and the others would be doing their own make up days when the subjects were scheduled a bit later.
Hermione took the rest of the day to do homework as the boys lazed around until dinner.
They followed their Housemates and were just about to enter the Great Hall when Tony stopped them.
“I don’t know if I would go in there if I were you,” he herded them away and back down the corridor. “Snape’s on the warpath.”
“What?” Harry frowned. “Why?”
“Well, when he got back to the dungeons, he apparently noticed that a few highly volatile ingredients were missing from his private stores.”
“We didn’t take them,” Ron denied.
“I know, but Snape’s not sure who to go after, yet. I told Dumbledore that you’re going to be doing me a favor, so no one’s going to think again at the fact that the three of you aren’t at dinner.”
“Where are we eating, then?”
“With me,” he smiled innocently before leading them.
After walking down corridors and up various stairs for a good number of minutes, Tony stopped in front of a door that appeared at his approach.
“Are these your quarters?” Hermione’s eyes went wide.
Harry understood her disbelief.
Teachers didn’t invite students into their private places.
Well, except for Snape, maybe, and his favorite Snakes.
“Yup,” he shrugged. “Just thought I would let you know where it is in case we needed a private word.”
In case they had things to talk about.
“So,” he smiled, rubbing his hands together. “Mi, ladies first!”
She hesitated, glancing at first Harry, then Ron, before shrugging and reaching for the doorknob. It was unlocked and she opened the door to reveal –
“Tony?” she looked back in confusion.
The space beyond was pitch dark, little light coming from the corridor.
“Hm? Well, go on,” he made a shooing motion with his hands. “Step in.”
Giving them another look, she carefully made her way in and Tony herded the boys after her until the four were closed behind the door.
“Well, now what?” Ron had to ask.
“What, indeed.”
Harry took a moment to realize just who had spoken and turned to where he thought the voice had come from, when the fire suddenly flared to life along with the free floating candles overhead.
“SURPRISE! HAPPY BIRTHDAY, HERMIONE!”
The Trio stared as their unexpected visitors cheered and made noise.
Palmer and Mac were there, waving pom-poms full of flashy strings of material, next to Deeks wearing two party hats as Peter blew on his noisemaker.
Beside them, AJ and the Benson triplets were there as well as Deeks’ Muggle supervisor Hetty Lange, who had spoken before.
The crowd was rounded out by –
“Fred? Susie?”
‘Fred’ Stevens – who told Harry that ‘Fred’ wasn’t actually his name, but never did tell him what it was – also tooted his noisemaker, waving a pom-pom in his other hand and wearing a couple party hats for himself. He worked at the DC MNP office, with Tony, Palmer and Mac, and met Harry and Hermione during the Spring holidays last year.
Susan – or Susie – was a Diagon Alley flower seller, who also worked at a café down the street from Tony’s flat.
“We got you good!” Deeks crowed, plopping a glittery hat on Ron’s head.
“You jumped, too,” G Benson smirked.
“It’s really good to see you,” Fred greeted them, his Mohawk lying flat under his hats in grey and red sections.
“How are you?” Harry asked politely.
“Ah, can’t complain.”
“Tony,” Hermione suddenly beamed. “Did you plan all this?”
“Well, I thought that you needed a party for your 17th birthday and circumstances just rolled in my favor.”
“We twisted his arm until he told us when your birthday was,” Fred deadpanned. “Yours and Ron’s.”
“Yup,” Susie cheerfully agreed. “And I wanted to celebrate your birthday after having to see you at work.”
He and Hermione also met Susie before their American trip, of course, but they saw her fairly regularly during it.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Hetty commented beside Harry. “It’s been quite a number of years since I’ve had the opportunity to celebrate a Magical birthday.”
“It looked like she wanted to come along,” Deeks shrugged.
“Oh, no, not at all, Ms. Lange,” Hermione assured. “I didn’t even know this was going to happen.”
“Hetty, please, my dear. Everyone else calls me ‘Hetty’, so it’s of no concern to me.”
“Well,” Tony smile at them all. “I think it’s safe to roll out some food.”
Hermione ended up at one end of a long table that looked borrowed from the school and across from Peter, everyone having earned a hat with strands of shiny material coming from the ends.
“I know it’s technically Hermione’s birthday,” Mac told them, “but Tony having cooked is like making it my birthday, too.”
Harry glanced over to see Palmer and Peter getting themselves ready.
“Well, I can’t claim to know much,” Fred mused, “but he can’t outdo himself for lunch. His chicken salad is just incredible.”
“You’re in for a treat,” Palmer assured.
The others watched curiously as their plates floated over to them.
“It looks good,” R Benson sniffed appreciatively.
“Mm, it is,” Susie took a bite.
The others started eating and Harry found himself getting another helping.
“You don’t need to rush,” Tony watched in amusement. “No one’s going to steal any of it.”
“They would if they had your cooking,” Mac assured, sauce lining her mouth. The others looked a bit similar and Harry knew he did, too.
“Well, just don’t eat it all. There’s still the cake left.”
“Are we going to do it like we had at Vince’s?” AJ looked up.
“No, just the usual way.”
‘The usual way’ turned out to consist of chocolate cake and vanilla ice cream on tom, both smothered in chocolate sauce.
“A finer meal, I have yet to eat,” Hetty sipped her tea when all was said and done. “Though, believe me, there are some worthy rivals over the years.”
“Some of the best cake we’ve ever had,” H Benson enthused, her sisters nodding in agreement. “And that includes Aunt Martha’s special triple edition.”
Aware of the time, Tony told them to get a spot for presents and Hermione startled.
“Oh, no, this is present enough,” she shook her head.
“But we already bought it,” Deeks told her.
“Yeah,” Stevens agreed. “So, sit down, shut your trap and suck it up, Gryffindor.”
A fun time was had by all and Harry wondered if something like this was going to be repeated for Ron’s birthday.
Hermione looked a bit teary when the others left for America.
Mac had given her ‘A Beginner’s Guide to Naval Craft’, Tony laughing at the lawyer’s shrug. Harry couldn’t help thinking there was a story there.
Deeks had gotten her a guide to America’s National Forests and Hetty gave her a small picture book for any favorite pictures she came across.
“It’s been my experience,” she’d explained, “that favorite memories seldom have a photo attached to them. This was given to me some years ago by someone who told me that pictures jogged memories we perhaps forget to keep track of and I have since come across quite a number of them. This book is not big enough to keep track of all of mine, but it should serve you well until you have enough of your own memories to fill it. And when you do, I would be more than happy to supply another.”
Susie had shyly stuffed a bag of tea in Hermione’s lap with the explanation, “I dabble in tea blending as a hobby and I’ve gotten positive reviews about this blend, so I hope you like it.”
Harry and Ron gave her sweets, Tony having written them a note about giving her presents for her birthday – though, at the time, none of them had realized there would be a party with Tony in actual attendance – and Stevens gave her some Muggle candy.
“They’re all American,” he told her. “I figure that you didn’t have a lot while you were visiting, so I decided to fix that.”
Palmer gave her a small planting tray that she only had to water once a month and Harry figured that Neville would probably see more use of it before Hermione did, but she smiled anyway.
AJ and the triplets gave her a stationary set that they’d chipped in on over the summer, but Tony came up empty handed.
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that,” Peter had eyed his cousin.
The Trio wasn’t fooled, either.
Tony had something planned, but it wouldn’t be anything tonight.
Peter had revealed a small painting that had a butterfly resting on a small stack of books and it hadn’t been something that Harry knew anything about, but it looked professionally done.
A small signature was cleverly hidden in the butterfly’s markings and Harry wondered how Peter knew this Neal Caffrey. He thought it sounded familiar.
Now, the hour grew late and Tony let Hermione stash her things in his quarters before the group set off for Hufflepuff.
“So, where did you and Harry go, Professor?” AJ looked up at him.
“We thought you were running around,” Tony told her. “But then we found out that it was a continuation of something that started over the summer.”
Because what else could it have been?
No one had found anyone running around near the Pitch or Hagrid’s or the Owlry or anywhere else on the grounds. Certainly not someone that looked like AJ, but Harry could honestly have sworn – sworn – he and Tony had been chasing AJ.
It had to have been the ‘feedback loop’ connected to the marriage bond.
No other explanation made sense.
They got to H and AJ’s Common Room entrance and the sisters did that thing they did before they went to different areas, while AJ, Tony and the Trio hovered nearby.
“No, I don’t think it did,” AJ suddenly spoke.
“Don’t think what did, AJ?” Hermione asked.
“It didn’t start over the summer,” she shook her head. “It started long before that.”
“I didn’t really run into these three until their First Year,” Tony told her their agreed story. Harry had really met him in Third Year, but that was a different tale for another time.
AJ looked at him like they were having two different conversations and he wasn’t making sense in either one. “No,” she patiently corrected. “That’s a different part.”
Tony stared at her for a long moment before raising a finger. “This is part of some kind of strange Hufflepuff ritual that I’m just now finding out about, isn’t it?”
“…”
“I hate to tell you, Professor,” Ron commented as they headed to Gryffindor Tower some moments later, “but I think she’s convinced you’re mental.”
“I hate to say this,” Tony told him, “but the look on her face convinced me I’m mental.”
They were snuck up on by Snape as he suddenly appeared, ready to give out Detentions to the five students still out in the halls, but Tony managed to convince him that Dumbledore had given them the all clear to still be out a little later and to take it up with Dumbledore if there was a problem.
“What if he does?” R Benson wanted to know as the Potions Master slunk off to find someone else to harass.
“Dumbledore’ll back me up,” Tony assured. “He will if he wants cake.”
“I don’t think we left any.”
“No, I meant for his birthday.”
“I can’t believe you’re blackmailing the Headmaster with cake,” Hermione tsked.
“Well, he should’ve though of that before withholding the Honeyduke’s until I put on the Sorting Hat.”
They reached the Fat Lady and the four Lions bid Tony and R goodnight.
“And after I drop this one off, I’m heading up to make sure Dumbledore stays on the grounds so we don’t have a repeat of this morning.”
The Trio wasn’t sure they wanted to know how Tony planned to do that, so they just waved and got ready for a – hopefully – full night’s sleep.
“Hermione!” Ginny called from across the Common Room before they went up to their rooms. “Happy Birthday!”
“Yeah,” Neville agreed, waving a frosting covered fork.
“It’s your birthday?” Vince blinked, looking up from his Transfiguration homework. “I didn’t get you anything.”
“We did,” Ginny waved a small box in the air, wrapped with a bow.
“It’s okay, Vince,” Hermione smiled slightly as Neville gave her a hastily wrapped box. “Professor DiNozzo didn’t get me anything, yet, either.”
“He probably did,” Ron frowned, “but he’s not saying anything.”
Harry eventually fell into bed and melted into the mattress, completely gone between one heartbeat and the next.
* **