FicWad

Chapter 18: Tempers Fly

Hermione wasn't sure what to do. She couldn't find Professor Dumbledore, and Professor McGonagall was in class. Since Harry had not, as far as Hermione could tell, suffered another attack from Voldemort, she thought it unlikely that interrupting McGonagall's class was a very wise idea, and she did not actually think that Harry needed Madam Pomfrey. Hermione realized that leaving Harry in the dungeon corridor had probably not been the best idea, but since she already had, she decided that she would go and find Ron in the library, and they would go down to him together.

She entered the library, which was full of sixth- and seventh-years already revising for their N.E.W.T. classes. She sighed. She really should start work on the Wolfsbane essay, but she knew she wouldn't be able to concentrate until she knew Harry was alright. She scanned the students at the study tables, and it didn't take her long to find the fiery red hair of her boyfriend, who was actually doing more staring off into space than revising. She walked quietly up to him, keeping her eyes open for Madam Pince, the librarian. "Ron," she whispered, startling him out of his reverie.

"Oi, Hermione, why'd you have to scare a guy like that?" Ron asked, moving his book bag aside so she would have room to work in the seat next to him. "How was Snape?"

"Fine," Hermione whispered. "But Ron, I need you to come down to the dungeons with me."

"Hermione! We're supposed to be studying!" Ron whispered back with a wicked grin, thinking that she wanted to find a private cupboard for some "alone time" with him.

"Honestly, Ronald, just because all you can think about is-" Hermione began hotly, but at that moment, Madam Pince shot a loud "Shh!" in their direction and brandished her feather duster at them.

"Anyway, Ron, we need to go back down there to talk to Harry. He's really upset about something."

Ron looked alarmed, but did not reply, as it appeared that Madam Pince was just barely restraining herself from coming at them with a heavy book. He silently gathered his books and followed her from the library.

"What's going on?" he asked as soon as the library door shut firmly behind them. Hermione was walking very quickly towards the dungeons. "Is Harry OK?"

"I don't know," Hermione snapped. "I tried to ask him, but he's really angry about something. Snape kept him after class, and - "

"Snape kept him after class? On the first day? What'd he do?"

"Nothing, Ron, and his potion came out perfectly, so I couldn't guess what Professor Snape wanted from him. I told him I'd wait for him in the corridor. He wasn't in there long, but when he came out, he looked as angry as I've ever seen him look, and I swear he nearly killed me when I suggested that we go find someone to help."

"You don't think it was.../You-Know-Who/...do you?" Ron asked worriedly as they continued to walk as quickly as possible.

"At first, I was worried about that, but he didn't seem anything like the way he seemed after Voldemort attacked him. It frightened me, though, Ron...I don't think I've seen Harry look that way since...well, a long time..."

They reached the dungeon corridor and found no sign of Harry or anyone else, as the eleven o'clock class period had begun a few minutes before. They turned to leave, shooting worried glances at one another, when a drawling, familiar voice sounded behind them.

"Oh, if it isn't Weasel and the Mudblood," Draco taunted from behind them. Ron's ears immediately turned red as he spun around to face Malfoy.

"Say that again, Malfoy, go on," Ron threatened, pulling his wand from his pocket, and ignoring Hermione, who had grabbed his other arm to hold him back.

"Of course, I wouldn't be caught dead with a Muggle-born," Draco continued, looking quite unafraid, although he had also taken his wand out and was twirling it lazily in his fingers. "But I suppose your family has had to lower their standards, haven't they, Weasel? There's not a pureblood in England who would marry a Weasley."

"Ron, ignore him. He's not worth it!" Hermione said furiously, tugging on Ron's arm again. "We need to go find Harry!"

"Oh, lost Potty, have you?" Draco drawled. "Maybe he's gone off with your sister, Weasel...he's been dying to -"

Ron wrenched free from Hermione's grasp, launching himself at Malfoy, who was caught off guard that Ron hadn't thought to try and hex him. Ron managed to land one punch on Malfoy's pointed chin when a door opened a short way down the corridor and Professor Snape quickly intervened.

"Well, well..." he said silkily, grabbing the back of Ron's robes and pulling him back from Malfoy. "It seems that you haven't even been able to make it the first week of term without getting yourself into trouble, Mr. Weasley. Let's see...I think twenty points from Gryffindor would make a nice start to the year, wouldn't it? And I'll have an additional ten from your house for finding two prefects so far away from where they should be, as well."

Hermione gripped Ron's shoulder in warning, and he held his temper in check, although he glared daggers at Professor Snape.

"We were looking for Harry, Professor," Hermione said before anyone else could speak. "Have you seen him?"

"Now, why would I have seen him, Miss Granger? Before you two decided to attack Mr. Malfoy right outside my classroom door, I was trying to teach a class." Malfoy smirked as Professor Snape glared at Ron and Hermione. "Now, I believe all three of you have somewhere else you need to be. Go, before I decide to take more points."

Ron looked like he was about to retort, but Hermione grabbed his arm fiercely and pulled him back up the stone staircase. When they were safely out of earshot, Ron tore his arm out of her grasp and snarled, "When I think of those two slimy little -" he called them a name that caused Hermione to blush, "I just want to hex them both into a thousand pieces and get it done with."

"Well, I'm glad to see your common sense intervened, Ronald," Hermione said sarcastically. "Your fist was a much better choice of weapon."

Ron gaped at her. "Like you're one to talk...I seem to remember a certain someone hitting Malfoy around the face third year!"

Hermione blushed, but smiled, and Ron could see that she wasn't really angry with him. "Come on, Ron, maybe Harry's gone up to the Common Room. Let's go find out what happened."

Harry was not in the common room, nor was he in the boys' dormitory, the owlery, the library, or even the Room of Requirement. By the time Hermione and Ron had finished searching all of those places, they were quite out of breath and getting increasingly worried. Hermione remained certain that Harry had not been attacked, but both knew their friend's temper and were afraid he was going to do something rash, even though they didn't know what that would be.

"Maybe we should get McGonagall or Dumbledore or someone," Hermione finally suggested, as students began pouring out of their classrooms and towards the Great Hall for lunch.

"Hermione, if you're sure Harry wasn't attacked, then getting a teacher is the last thing we should do," Ron told her. "You know Harry - he wouldn't speak to us for days if we did that, so we need to make sure it's worth it."

"But we can't find him /anywhere/!" Hermione exclaimed. "What if he's in some kind of trouble?"

"Let's go in and have some lunch. If Harry doesn't show up by the end of the hour, then we'll go get someone to help us, OK?" Ron's suggestion was sensible, so Hermione nodded worriedly and followed Ron into the Great Hall.

They met up with Ginny, who was grumbling to a complacent-looking Luna Lovegood about her Transfiguration homework. One look at Hermione's face, and she left Luna to follow the two over to the Gryffindor table. As they all helped themselves to fried chicken, Ron and Hermione filled her in on what had happened, and to Ron's great consternation, she blushed when he got to the bit about Draco Malfoy making suggestions concerning her and Harry.

"You...weren't..." Ron stammered, and Hermione and Ginny both laughed at him.

"Of course not, Ron! Harry and Ginny are only friends, and besides, she was in class while we were looking for him," Hermione giggled, momentarily forgetting her worry. Ron looked immensely relieved.

Harry did not show up during lunch, and after they had all eaten hurriedly, Hermione said, "We've got thirty minutes before classes start. I think we should go back up to the common room and look there again, and if he's not there, I'm going to get someone. Harry can be angry if he wants, but you heard what your mum said about not letting him be alone too much." Ron reluctantly agreed.

Ginny told the two that she needed to stop off at the library before heading to Care of Magical Creatures, and to let her know if they found him, but after they had left, she went out of the Great Hall alone, and headed for the front doors. She and Harry had talked quite a bit over the summer while Ron and Hermione had spent time together, and he had told her that he liked to get outside and walk when he was feeling troubled. She set off to the lake, guessing that Harry would not have gone to Hagrid's, and knowing that he could not have gone into the forest. She felt slightly guilty about not telling Ron and Hermione where she thought he was, but she wanted to make sure she was correct first. The last thing any of them needed was Hermione to become worried that Harry had actually left the grounds.

*

It only took her five minutes to reach Harry's spot by the lake, as he had not veered much from the normal path. He was sitting alone, his back up against the trunk of a tree, staring vacantly out into the water.

"Harry?" Ginny said, approaching him hesitantly. After what Hermione had said about his mood, she did not want to get too close. She had seen Harry's temper before, and while she knew he wouldn't hurt her, she thought it best not to crowd him.

"What are you doing out here, Ginny?" he asked dispassionately, the anger in his voice gone.

"What do you think I'm doing? Looking for you!" Ginny answered with a hint of annoyance in her voice. "You've got everyone in a right state, Harry. What in the world made you come out here without telling anyone where you were going?"

"I think I've got a right to take a walk if I want to, Ginny," Harry said, his temper flaring once again.

"Oh, that's what you think, is it?" Ginny answered, matching Harry's temper easily. "You think you've got a right to have Ron and Hermione looking all over the damn castle for you, worried sick that something's wrong? You think you've got a right to just stalk out when no one's looking, not bothering to tell anyone? Well, you listen to me, Harry Potter - "

"Save it, Ginny," Harry snapped. "There's nothing wrong with me. I just wanted some time to myself for once. I don't know why that seems to be so much to ask!"

"I'll tell you why, then!" Ginny shouted, losing her temper completely. "Because last time you were left on your own you almost died! You were too stupid to ask for help when you needed it! Not to mention You-Know-Who trying to get into your head at every turn! So you're just going to have to get over it, because we are going to be watching you!"

"You think I asked for that?" Harry laughed bitterly. "And just for the record, it wasn't Voldemort trying to get into my head this time, it was Snape."

In her tirade, Ginny missed Harry's comment about Snape completely. "Just because you didn't ask for it doesn't mean it's not happening! And we're not going to let you go through it alone! I can't believe how selfish you're being, by the way. You think you're the only one affected by all this? My mum barely slept all summer, worrying about you, and Hermione missed the rest of her holiday with her parents, and -"

"Alright, Ginny, I get the point," Harry interrupted, his anger draining away at last. "I'm sorry, OK?"

Ginny tried to calm herself, and when she spoke, it was in a more civil tone. "It's a start, I guess. You just can't do this, Harry. I know it's unfair, but you just can't...wait a minute," Ginny interrupted herself, Harry's comment finally piercing through her emotions and into her mind, "did you say Snape tried to break into your mind?"

"Yeah," Harry answered. "That's why he kept me after class. He didn't even give me a chance to react, he just dove right in. I got him out, but then we had quite a row, and he just made me so mad, I guess I wasn't thinking..."

"Too right you weren't," Ginny muttered, but she was having a hard time staying angry, much as she thought Harry deserved it for this stunt. "Why do you think he attacked you?"

"I'm not sure," Harry said bitterly. "He said it was his job as a member of the Order to make sure I was practicing my Occlumency, but sometimes I still wonder...his lessons last year did nothing but make things worse."

"Do you think he's on our side, Harry?" Ginny asked.

"Dumbledore thinks so, and Moony is certain of it," Harry answered. "But I still don't know why they're so sure."

Before they had any chance to discuss it further, they saw students walking towards Hagrid's cabin for Care of Magical Creatures, and they knew that they had to go. Ginny walked Harry right up to the doors of the castle, brushing off his protests that she was going to be late, as though she wanted to make sure he went this time. She told him to hurry to class so Ron and Hermione would stop worrying, and then broke into a run down to Hagrid's cabin, shouting a quick goodbye at him over her shoulder.

*

Harry had to hurry. As he was going into the castle, he suddenly remembered that he had left his book bag in Snape's dungeon. He ran down the stone steps, and slipped into the room silently, very relieved that Snape was still in his office. He did not say a word in reply to the questioning stares from the fourth-year Slytherin and Gryffindor students in the room, but shouldered his bag and hurried up to the second-floor Charms classroom.

He reached Professor Flitwick's classroom only a minute before the bell rang. He was not surprised to see Ron and Hermione waiting anxiously outside of the classroom, but was rather surprised to see Tonks standing with them, peering up and down the halls watchfully.

"Harry!" Hermione cried. "Where on earth have you been? I was so worried! We looked everywhere! We thought -"

"I'm sorry, Hermione," Harry replied. "I wasn't thinking straight. Sorry, mate," he added, looking at Ron.

"You OK, kid?" Tonks asked, looking at him closely.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Thanks, Tonks," Harry told her, embarrassed at the commotion he had caused.

"Alright, Harry," Tonks said. "I need to get to my class, then. But I want to talk to you after dinner, OK? We'll go for a walk."

Harry had a feeling he was going to find out what it was like to get a telling-off from Tonks before he had even gone to her class, but, after what Ginny had said to him, he felt he probably deserved it. He nodded at Tonks, and she left quickly.

Flitwick gave them a lecture at the beginning of class much like the one they had received at the beginning of their O.W.L. year, but, as always, his lecture was not stern, but kind, his squeaky voice congratulating all of them on passing their O.W.L.s successfully. He assigned them a relatively simple charm for the day, a review from the previous year, and Harry, Ron, and Hermione used the usual noisy cover of the class to discuss what had happened.

"So, where'd you go, Harry?" Ron asked. "We looked all over the castle for you, and no one had seen you."

"I went down to walk by the lake," Harry answered.

"Harry, you aren't supposed -" Hermione began, but Harry interrupted her.

"I know, Hermione, and I'm sorry, alright? I already got a right telling-off from Ginny, isn't that enough? I won't do it again." He sounded slightly bitter. Although Ginny had made him realize what the others went through because of him, he couldn't help but find the constant attention irritating to the extreme.

"From Ginny?" Ron asked bewilderedly. "When did you see Ginny?"

"She came and found me by the lake, why? Didn't she tell you she was going to look out there?" Harry could tell by the confused expressions on his friends' faces that she hadn't, and he wondered why.

"She said she was going to the library," Ron said indignantly. "If she knew where to find you, why didn't she tell us?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Hermione asked with an infuriatingly superior look on her face.

"No," Ron and Harry answered together, and Hermione smiled at their thickness. Her smile turned quickly into a frown, however, as she returned to the matter at hand.

"Harry, what made you so angry?" she asked, needing to know the answer, but afraid he was going to get angry again.

"Snape," Harry said simply.

"Well, no offense mate, but I think we had that one figured out already. What happened?" Ron asked.

Harry told them all about Snape's attack on his mind and the ensuing row. When he got to the part where he had blatantly accused Snape of being a Death Eater, Hermione gasped, "Harry, you didn't!"

"He's got a point, Hermione. Why else would he have done what he did if he's not reporting to You-Know-Who?" Ron said.

"I'm sure he probably wanted to see how Harry's Occlumency was going," Hermione countered. "Remember, Dumbledore trusts him, and he's a member of the Order. I can't believe he surprised you like that, though, Harry," she said, slightly more sympathetically.

"Oh, I can," Harry replied bitterly. "I'm not sure what side he's on, but whatever side it is, there's no doubting that he hates me."

"Harry, he doesn't -"

"Come off it, Hermione," Ron interrupted. "Even you can't counter that one. Snape's had it in for Harry since day one."

Hermione opened her mouth as though she were about to reply, but then closed it and nodded reluctantly. Snape's and Harry's mutual animosity had been well-known since first year.

Now that he had told his friends what had happened, Harry was more than ready for a change of subject, so he seized upon the one topic that was sure to take the conversation off him. "So, Ron," he began. "Now that Angelina and Alicia have graduated, who do you reckon will be on the house team this year?"

As usual, the diversion of Quidditch worked, and although Hermione looked as though she disapproved of the change of subject, she let Ron and Harry carry on with discussions of the Gryffindor team for the rest of the period.

*

N.E.W.T. Herbology did not prove to be much different than it had been in years past, and as they left Greenhouse Five to wash the soil off of their hands before dinner, Harry's thoughts turned to his upcoming meeting with Tonks. He didn't know why, but he felt slightly nervous. He had never really spent much time alone with her, unless you counted the few minutes they had spent last summer packing Harry's things on Privet Drive, and he didn't know what to expect from the conversation. She was usually so cheerful that it was hard to imagine her telling anybody off, but he had also seen her fight fiercely at the Department of Mysteries and knew that, as an Auror, there had to be a certain amount of toughness in her personality.

He did not have too long to wait. After he had eaten a large dinner (he had skipped lunch, and despite Mrs. Weasley's worries, his appetite was quite back to normal), he looked up at the teacher's table. He noticed for the first time how much younger she seemed than the other teachers, most of whom had been at Hogwarts for a decade or more, and she gave him a small nod, the expression on her face much more serious than usual. He bid goodbye to his classmates and headed towards the entrance hall. He had only waited a few moments before Tonks joined him.

"Let's just go out for a walk around the grounds, alright?" she asked him, leading the way out the front doors. "It's a nice night, and this way we will be able to talk without being overheard." Harry nodded.

Once they had crossed the courtyard and gone onto the grounds, Harry noticed that Tonks' normal watchfulness increased into a state of heightened alert. She didn't seem nervous, just careful, and Harry supposed that being constantly on guard was probably an occupational hazard to being an Auror.

"Harry, I need you to listen to me for a bit, kid," Tonks started the conversation once she was sure they could not be overheard. She had led him to the same path he had taken earlier in the day, the one around the lake. "I know you hate this, and I hate that you have to go through it, but you just can't go off on your own like you did today. If you had stayed in the castle, that would have been one thing, but coming out on the grounds on your own wasn't a good idea."

"I know, Tonks. I'm sorry I made everyone worry," Harry answered contritely, finding it hard to be irritated with the young professor in the crisp fall air, the giant squid keeping pace with them lazily along the shallow edges of the lake.

"That's not what I mean, Harry," Tonks answered him gently. "Anyone would have been angry after what happened this morning. We all understand that, and you already apologized to your friends. It's forgiven and forgotten."

"How do you know about this morning?" Harry asked, confused.

"I had Ginny for Defense Against the Dark Arts this afternoon. I hope you don't mind that she told me - I asked her straight out, and I am a professor now, you know," Tonks said, sticking her nose in the air, pretending to be arrogant.

Harry felt slightly put out as he reflected that everyone seemed to always know his business, but he pushed the feeling aside. Ginny had done nothing wrong in answering Tonks' questions; in fact, she probably didn't feel as though she had much of a choice, and he knew the Order would find out pretty much everything he did this year anyway.

"Listen, Harry," Tonks began again, her voice serious. "I need you to take me seriously when I tell you that I don't want you to be on your own outside anymore. In fact, I would be more comfortable if you weren't on your own any more than is needed, but I know that everyone needs some time to themselves every now and again."

"Tonks, is there something I need to know?" Harry asked her directly. "I don't want to be kept in the dark."

"Harry, as you know, Hogwarts is one of the safest places on the planet, if not the safest place, as long as Albus Dumbledore is headmaster. Having said that, however, this is a war, and for some reason, you seem to be a key player in that." She stopped, unsure for a moment how to continue, because she wasn't sure exactly why Voldemort seemed so focused on this boy's defeat. She had not heard the prophecy.

Harry nodded glumly, and Tonks continued after a moment. "Professor Dumbledore has not yet found a way to counter the kind of attack that happened at your party, the dual attack, and our biggest worry concerning you is that it will happen again, and you must not be alone when it does. That kind of powerful attack can have terrible consequences, for you and for the Order."

"If no one knows how to break it, though, what can they do?" Harry asked. "Besides teaching me Occlumency, of course, and I'm already going to be working with Professor Dumbledore on that three times a week."

"Harry, even if it cannot break the attack, having someone near you that cares for you will go a long way in helping you fight, and it is also important to have someone to take care of you after it ends. An attack of that nature leaves your physical and magical reserves very low, and that means you are extremely vulnerable to attack from the outside while you recover."

"Attack from the outside?" Harry repeated. No one had mentioned that before, although it did make some sense.

"That was going to be my next point, Harry. Hogwarts has every ward around it imaginable, but one of Voldemort's greatest strengths lies in his cunningness. We do not believe that he can come here personally just yet, but that is not to say that there are not those among his followers who could without any of us being the wiser. Many Death Eaters work as spies, and it is often impossible to tell who they are. Harry, enjoy your time with your friends, but know who you can trust, and be careful around people, especially if they seem to take an unusual interest in you."

Harry nodded again, feeling a little overwhelmed, but also slightly stupid. He had not even stopped to consider the possibility that there could be Death Eaters at Hogwarts, for he could not truly believe that Snape was one, as much as he hated the man. Yet, only a little over a year before, a professor that Harry and Dumbledore had both trusted had turned out to be a Death Eater in disguise, and had tried to kill Harry before Dumbledore had intervened.

"Don't beat yourself up, kid," Tonks said gently. "Just don't do a repeat of this morning, OK?"

"Alright, Tonks," Harry said.

"Now," Tonks said, her tone brightening back to normal. "I only just arrived yesterday, and before that, I haven't been here since I graduated. What do you say you show me around the grounds? You've got a bit before curfew, haven't you?"

Harry laughed at her sudden return to exuberance, and took her down to the Quidditch pitch, past Hagrid's cabin and the entrance to the Forbidden Forest, and around the Herbology greenhouses as the night grew darker and she kept him entertained with stories from her own school days. Harry was surprised to find that she had gone to school with the two eldest Weasley brothers, Bill and Charlie, and he thought that Charlie sounded a lot like Ron.

Tonks walked him all the way back up to Gryffindor tower, giving the Fat Lady a fond wave as Harry said the password, "/carpe diem/." When he had climbed through the portrait hole and arrived in the common room, he settled down at the usual table with Ron and Hermione and began work on the day's homework, which had been considerable in all classes. Ron and Hermione were busy having an argument over whether or not History of Magic had been a useless class ("'Those who don't know the past are doomed to repeat it,' Ronald"), and they greeted Harry cheerfully, glad that he seemed to be in a better mood.