Dark Clouds
Chapter 5
By Kinsfire
Harry made it to New York City the next day and began to search the city for Hermione and the others. He knew he was lucky to find them so quickly when he spotted them in an outdoor café in Greenwich Village. Once he got a good look at them an eyebrow came up. Luna was dressed in an interesting manner, one guaranteed to cause interesting blood flow problems for people. It appeared that she had taken a lesson from William Ware Theiss when designing her dress, because it was short, stopping about halfway between knee and groin; it appeared to be diaphanous, although he wasn't going to draw attention to himself by staring hard enough at her to find out; and it looked as if it left her entire back bare, with cloth covering her breasts and criss-crossing just below them, leaving her navel free. Ron was apparently having trouble keeping his eyes off of her, and Harry could understand that completely. Whether or not I can trust them, I have to admit that she looks damned hot in that thing. Ron looked uncomfortable in cargo shorts and a polo shirt, while Hermione and Ginny, wearing something similar to Ron looked … well, with the way all three women looked, he was expecting an accident at any moment.
Harry was wearing a simple short sleeved light blue button-down shirt with summer-weight tan trousers, a leather fedora that seemed to have had better days, and a new pair of glasses he had bought in just the last few days that darkened when the sunlight hit them. He sat down at the table next to them and pulled out a book. Before he could be waited on, he thought of something and carefully cast a spell on his throat. When next he spoke, he sounded like the actor from a show he'd caught the other day, the one who was playing some British guy named Giles. He settled in to listen to the other table, while not being obvious about it.
Hermione's resigned exasperation was the first thing he heard. "I am not having this argument with you again, Ron. I'm going to send him a warning about it, in fact. I promised him that I would not talk about anything except the hunt. I signed that letter in blood, Ron. You know what that means. If you try to talk about it, it makes me a liar, and I won't have that. His friendship is worth losing my magic over, but that will not get his friendship back."
"She's right, Ronald," Luna said softly. "I understand why you wish this, but doing only what we came for is the best route."
"I want my best mate back!" Ron said angrily before taking a breath and calming. "Sorry. I'm not mad at any of you. I'm mad at that bastard we have as Minister for doing this to him. If it weren't for what it would do to Mum and you guys, I'd gladly earn a spot in that place by making sure Scrotum-gripper can never do that to another person."
Ginny snorted her laughter. "I love how the Order seems to keep coming up with new names for our oh-so-loved Minister." She sobered quickly. "How do you think I feel though, Ron? We broke up amicably at the end of fifth year - sixth for you, and he disappeared. Neville came into my life then, and … how do I tell Harry that I fell in love with Neville?" Harry could nearly hear the tears in her voice. "Isn't that just another betrayal to him, though? As far as he knows, we just chose not to visit him, rather than not knowing where he was. Now his ex-girlfriend has taken up with one of his other former friends."
"Do you still love him?" Luna asked.
Ginny thought for a long moment. "Can I see spending the rest of my life with him? No, unfortunately. I've learned that I'm too passionate and quick to anger, and he was too willing to accept it from me. Can I see quick passionate flings where clothing ends up in non-connecting rooms? Definitely. What do you think got me through the nights when the hunt started? I had very tired fingers," she finished with a patented Weasley blush.
"So you'd want him as a fuck-buddy," Luna stated simply.
"He means more to me than that, Luna. I love him, but I could never be married to him. I … if I could find a way to have him as a lover and not hurt my Neville in the process . . . Or you, for that matter," she said, leaning over and kissing Luna lightly on the lips. "Bed warmer, maybe," she chuckled. "But nothing but sex? Never."
Luna laughed. "If it wouldn't hurt my Ronald, I'd willingly bear a child for Harry. I feel the same way as you about him. I love him but not as a life partner." She kissed Ginny in return. "And I used ‘fuck-buddy’ to make you think about it." Ginny nodded her understanding.
"To be honest, Luna," Hermione said, "can any of us say that we wouldn't give him a child if he asked?"
Harry started violently enough that he knocked his water glass over which stopped the conversation at the other table for a moment. Harry cursed himself inaudibly as he quickly cleaned up the spill.
Luna, who was seated such that Harry was afforded a brilliant view of her cleavage, asked, "Are we bothering you, sir?"
"My apologies," he replied. "I will admit to being somewhat distracted by your attire. It is quite attractive, although I would recommend care in rising to your feet, unless flashing New York City is your intention."
"Thank you for noticing!" she replied brightly. "I did design it to attract attention, but I doubt I'll actually 'flash' anyone, if by that you mean show off what some call 'naughty bits'." Her eyes sparkled with mirth.
"You sound familiar," Hermione said.
"Are you a fan of 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer'? I've been mistaken for that man when people hear my voice. Some actor whose name I forget."
"Never saw the programme," she admitted. "That's likely who I'm thinking of, though." She shook her head.
"It is nice to hear someone from home. What brings you to the States?" he asked, since he seemed to have become involved with their conversation by accidentally drawing attention to himself.
"We have to meet a friend in a few days," Ginny answered. "Some … um, bad things happened and he disappeared for a while. Now, through no fault of his, he thinks we abandoned him." She sniffed once, obviously trying to hold back some tears.
"So you're here to work out the problem with him?"
"As much as we'd like to, no," Hermione answered. "For reasons that seem good to him, he doesn't trust us. We have information that we know he needs, and he asked us for it. So we'll meet, tell him what he needs to know, and go back to England."
"Forgive the question, but you're not going to try to make him listen to your side?"
"I promised him that we wouldn't. I won't break that promise to him. I'll mourn the lost friendship and deal with life from there." Hermione answered quietly.
Ginny growled. "Let's not forget making the bastard who made him hate us pay."
"Sounds like one of these American … what do they call them … oh yes, 'soap operas'. I have no idea why they're called that, however. Maybe because you need some to clean the bad writing out of your brain after watching one," he hypothesised with a grin.
Hermione chuckled slightly, if a little sadly. "I supposed it would read like a penny dreadful if someone wrote it down, now that I think on it."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" he asked, amused by her comment.
"If it ended with us being his friends again, then it would be a wonderful thing," Hermione said. "But that move will have to be his, no matter how much we want to tell him."
"Make him come to you?" he asked, arching an eyebrow.
Ron scowled. "No. The promise was made that we'd talk about one topic, and one topic only. If we try to talk about what happened, we prove that we can't be trusted, which is what he already thinks because -" Ron stopped, sneering, but it was obvious that he was not sneering at the person he was speaking to but at the entire situation.
"Forgive my brother," Ginny said. "He used to be Harry's best friend, before everything went for six. We were all his friends, but the real crime is that the friendship between Ron, Hermione, and Harry is gone. They were thick as thieves, at each other's backs, and that was all destroyed by one man."
Harry stood as the waitress arrived with his order, and he quickly asked for it to go, citing something coming up. He turned back to the group and touched his hat as if to tip it and said, "Well, good luck with your meeting on the first. Definitely be punctual, though. Goblins hate people being late." He was gone before they could realise what he had said.
—-
Well, that was interesting, he thought a couple hours later as he settled onto the porch of the Pennsylvania home, giggling slightly to himself at the little ender he had thrown at them. Hell of a reaction from everyone. His musings stopped as he saw a falcon swooping down toward him. It landed on the railing and held out a foot. The letter within was a barely readable scrawl.
Mr. Potter,
DO NOT ATTEMPT THE MEETING ON THE FIRST!
This is Hermione Granger. Ron, Ginny, Luna, and I are in New York City early, and we were at an outdoor cafe. I admit that we were talking amongst ourselves in regards to you but were not saying anything that could give evidence as to who we were talking about. (It was a mixed Muggle/Wizard cafe, so we were careful in our language. Although the occasional reference to wizarding England may have slipped in.)
A man sitting at the next table became part of our conversation, and as he left, he told us not to be late for our meeting on the first, because the goblins prefer punctuality.
Scrimgeour must have realised we are here to meet you and sent an Auror team. The man had a British accent.
The goblins have stated that they will wait for your response, and we are waiting for your answer as well.
I will repeat the previous message, however.
PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMPT THE MEETING ON THE FIRST!
Hermione Granger
Hmm, that wasn't what I intended to cause with that little quip at the end. So much for being funny. He looked up at the falcon. "I appreciate the delivery. I will be heading to the bank directly to talk to them, so you don't need to hang around. Feel free to hunt, if you would like." The falcon bobbed its head and took to the air.
He Apparated near the bank and walked in, noticing the four seated near the wall. He ignored them for a moment, but he did peripherally see them sit up straighter. He was met by a goblin. "I see you received the message," the bank employee said without preamble.
"Yes. Is it possible to change the date of the meeting, since I'm here now, and they're sitting over there against the wall? I am willing to pay the extra fee for changing the scheduling."
"We always have a conference room free. There will be no extra charge, Mr. Potter." Harry nodded and bowed slightly to the goblin, who grinned back, showing no teeth.
"I thank you for the honorific," Harry responded as the goblin motioned to the four against the wall. At the goblin's look, he said, "A very smart woman once taught me a lot about the goblins. She tried very hard not to trust purely wizarding sources."
"Ah yes, you are from England. Forgive me, but your attitudes over … no, that is rudeness to a customer."
"Would it be safe to assume that the American goblins might think that the English wizards are suffering from … oh, what did that author call it once … ah, yes - recto-cranial inversion?"
The goblin snorted twice in an attempt to hold back his laughter. "I would never presume to correct a customer's statement," he said in a tone that told Harry everything he needed to know.
The group was led to a small conference room and they all took seats. Harry opened the conversation. "I appreciate the warning, Miss Granger. This allows you to talk about the situation, if you desire, since your oath would prevent you even greeting me. I will also allow reasonable greetings."
"I thank you, Mr. Potter," she replied, a look of pain on her face. "You received the warning and were able to change the meeting date, so I don't think anything else needs to be said on that front, other than my apology for talking about it and not considering that an Auror might be near at hand."
"I won't verbally tear anyone a new one if you choose to call me Harry, alright?" he replied with a small smile. "And I appreciate the apology, even though it isn't necessary. The oath didn't forbid you from talking about it whatsoever."
"Thank you - Harry," Hermione said, a little shyly at the last word. "As for our stated purpose here, Kingsley was incorrect. We have not destroyed all the Horcruxes that Voldemort created, but we have verified that he is unaware of the destruction of the ones we have found. So far, we are aware of the destruction or dissolution of the following Horcruxes: Tom Riddle's diary, but you know all about that one; you also know about the destruction of the ring; the locket was located at 12 Grimmauld Place, since R.A.B. turned out to be Regulus Black; the Hufflepuff cup was found and cleaned of the taint; and the long bow that Ravenclaw once owned was found to be one as well. It too has been cleaned of its taint without destroying it. We have been able to verify that the snake that Voldemort keeps with himself is the final Horcrux, and that is the one that we have not destroyed yet."
He relaxed openly. "That was my worry. I wouldn't put it past the little freak to create more if he knew the old ones were gone. At least now I know that I need to return to deal with only one."
"Might I be permitted to add something extremely peripheral to the previous statement?" Hermione asked. "It doesn't apply to the hunt, but it does refer to your return to England. Well, in a way it applies to the … oh, bother! Never mind," she said, tears in her eyes. "I will not break my oath to you." She pushed her chair back and stood.
"Where are you heading, Hermione?" he asked. "We've got the conference room for an hour. Sit down and tell me what you were about to."
She sat back down with a small smile. "Scrimgeour really screwed you over, but we've got contacts in the Muggle government. If you return and let Kingsley Shacklebolt guide you, we can clear up your Muggle legal problems. Right now, the only thing they can get you on is escape, and since the wizarding government was involved in that, the charges will be completely dropped." She blinked and pulled her wand. "I swear by my magic and my life that what I have said to you is true - that I am not attempting to trick you back to England." A gentle pulse of silver surrounded her for a moment, and she smiled.
"I trusted you," he said with a smile. "You were willing to sign a blood oath before." He sat back for a moment before sitting up straighter. "How long do you have your hotel room for?"
She blushed. "We're borrowing a flat that my parents have here in New York City. They end up coming over here so often, especially since we have relatives here in the States, that they actually found it easier to buy a place here."
"You four have any problems with vacationing in Pennsylvania for a few days?" he asked impishly.
All four sat forward with shock and hope in their eyes. "Are you inviting us somewhere in that state? Luna asked.
"Yes," he said. "We all need to talk, and the Pennsylvania home that Mum and Dad left me is perfect. A huge amount of land where we can do whatever we want, and scream as much as we want, and do magic if we so choose." He paused. "You could even walk around naked if you so desired, Luna," he added with a comically lecherous grin.
"Do you desire it, Harry?" she asked, completely seriously.
"The decision is always the lady's," he said. "I certainly imagine that Ginny would enjoy it. Come to think of it, so would Neville and Ron."
At their stunned looks, he said, "Look, even if I'm working through a lot of conflicted emotions, you guys showed me a lot, first by talking the way you did without knowing that it was me, and when I pulled my little joke, the speed with which you contacted me told me more than I ever thought I'd find out. Yeah, the guy you thought was an Auror was me. That’s how I knew about the meeting." He paused. "I am stating that you are free to talk to me about anything that you choose to, as long as I have the right not to answer." He paused again. "I never meant to have you freak out over that. I didn't realise until I got the frantic letter that you could take it some way that I didn't intend, and for that I apologise."
Ginny shot to her feet and ran closer to him, obviously planning to hug him, but she skidded to a stop suddenly. "I have a confession, Harry," she said, starting to cry.
"I was at the table next to you, remember. It was Hermione's comment that made me spill my water. Does he treat you well?" She blushed furiously. "Hmm, that may be Too Much Information territory there," he added with a laugh. "While I'm in a good mood, I'll tell you that I am glad that you're happy. I want to warn you, however, that I will quite likely backslide and get extremely angry at times and rail at you and call you names. Knowing that I was betrayed only by Scrumgeezer makes it easier, though."
He looked to Ginny. "In a way, it makes it easier that you're with Neville now. The old relationships are never going to be the same. I have close to a year of hating you for something that you never did, and I have to work through that. I can't see romance happening with any of you ladies for the time being. Earth-shaking sex would be a nice idea, but that's probably simply because I've been a year without anything female around."
Luna looked at Ron, who smiled and nodded. "I'm certainly agreeable to the Earth-shaking sex, if it will help relieve some of your tension. I love Ron, but I was not jesting when I stated that I would gladly bear you a child, if you so desired, as long as Ron would not be hurt."
"And I'd raise it as my own, if you decided not to raise it yourself," Ron said seriously. "I will never knowingly betray you again, Harry, even if it costs me my life. If having a child with my fi … girlfriend is what you need to prove that I will never betray you, then you two have my blessing."
"We're getting a little ahead of ourselves, aren't we?" Harry laughed in response. "For God's sake, we just met again! Let's look around the place before we try to figure who's sleeping in whose bed!"
They left the bank and headed for the Granger apartment. "Mum and Dad both have relatives enough that we don't have any real worries about the place," Hermione said. "It doesn't spend more than a month without someone visiting New York." They packed quickly and were soon standing on the lawn of Harry's Pennsylvania property.
"The land here is clothing optional - my decision. There've been a couple days already I just didn't feel like getting dressed, and I doubt I'm going to change that. A few miles in one direction is a nice little town called Wellsboro, and another called Mansfield off that way," he said, waving generally in an easterly direction. "No one visits here, from what I can tell, and we're far enough back from the highways that if any of you walk around here in any state of undress, no one but us will see it."
Luna nodded, and a moment later proved to Harry that she was a natural blonde. "It's quite warm out, and I feel comfortable this way."
"It just got a lot warmer," Ron murmured with a smile as he pulled on his collar.
"I'd say downright hot," Ginny replied with a grin.
"Yes, yes she is," Ron said with a small laugh as he gave Luna a quick kiss.
"What am I, chopped liver?" Ginny asked in mock annoyance.
"No, you're my sister. I think we'd all be disturbed if I started thinking of you that way." He paused. "Besides, you're a Weasley. How could you be anything else but drop dead sexy?" he asked, finishing with a wide grin.
Harry looked at Ron for a long moment before saying, "I think it best that I not respond to that," with a wry grin. He looked to Ginny. "I will say that I think Neville is a lucky man. At least he got to count your freckles."
She smiled sadly. "If it hadn't been for Doofus Scumgrazer, you'd be the one who knows intimately how many I have."
Harry chuckled. "If Neville is a smart man, he keeps forgetting, or likes to make sure that none have disappeared, or new ones haven't appeared." She blushed furiously once more in answer. "Yup, definitely Too Much Information territory."
"You started it," she murmured. "Do you mind if Neville shows up at some point?"
"I'd like to see him, actually. Was he covering for the four of you, or just in the middle of something he couldn't escape?"
"Family business," Hermione said. "He's through with school, so it was time to take over as official Head of Clan Longbottom." She shook her head. "He's managed to put the fear of God into some of the darker elements on the Wizengamot, I'll tell you."
"He must have taken scary lessons from his grandmother," Ron said. "That woman can terrify you if she puts her mind to it."
Harry laughed for a second. "Okay. As much fun as this is, we should likely do some planning for my eventual return to England while I'm still in a good enough mood to discuss it. How does that sound to everyone?"
Hermione nodded and looked to the others. "If no one minds, I think I'm going to follow Luna's lead," she said and peeled her shirt over her head, then quickly undid her bra, sighing happily as it unfastened. "Damn, that feels good to do that."
"Looks pretty good, too," Harry strangled out as he turned away.
"You can look, Harry," she said simply.
"I think I should take a cold shower first. Offering the nudity was one thing, but I forgot that all three of you are pretty with your clothes on, and I'm learning that you're ... oh Merlin do I want to fuck you and Luna right now, Hermione," he said.
"I can join you in that shower then," she said simply. "No commitments from it, just a release of tensions." She smiled impishly. "Besides, that would fulfil one of my fantasies."
"That makes it sound so cheap, though," he said, not having heard her last sentence. "As much as I want to not give a damn about it, you guys have been better than I thought you would be. When I really thought about what happened — being given some help in escaping Azkaban — it made me realise that you guys didn't know a fucking thing about what had happened to me."
He sighed. "I spent a year hating you guys, and you were my best friends. So if I were to take you up on your offer, Hermione, there would be an aspect of rape to it, since there would be some anger to the act. You were always there for me back then, so -"
He stopped speaking, his entire demeanour saying that he'd just had an epiphany. He punctuated it by slapping his forehead. "Harry, you are a fucking idiot. Stupid, stupid, stupid!" He answered their unasked question when he looked up by saying, "Here I was bitching that none of you had given me the benefit of the doubt about my innocence, and I wasn't giving you the benefit of the doubt, either. I relied on Scrimgeour's word in it all. I trusted it completely." He scowled. "Here I was demanding that you should have trusted me, and I was using a double standard."
Hermione walked over to him first and hugged him. "It's all right, Harry. Did you feel that way from the beginning, or only after we'd not visited after a few months?"
"Months," he admitted.
"So you began to hate us after all the evidence that you had available told you that we'd abandoned you?" He nodded. "This is like in fifth year, Harry. You did everything you could to verify. It wasn't until later that you learned that Kreacher could lie to you."
"I should have known better," he growled. "All I had was the word of the Minister, who had already shown that he’d do anything to control the way the fight against Voldemort was happening, and the word of the Aurors who were beating me. Nothing really convincing."
Ron looked at him. "Are you gonna make me smack you for doing another post-fifth year on us? Getting all depressed over stuff you had no way of knowing?" He sighed. "Harry, he pulled a perfect bit of standard prisoner breaking crap on you. Isolate you and make himself - and those he trusts - your only sources of information. You don't hit the prisoner over the head with it, either. You tell him slowly, maybe mix it with some beatings, maybe even allow some Auror or another - preferably a good looking one - to be nice. After a year, you were angry with us. I’ll bet that within another six to eight months that you’d have sworn to be Scrimgeour’s man. Any man or woman will break after enough psychological torture."
He took in Harry’s astounded look. "Yeah, I didn’t study much before, until Hermione figured out what my problem was. Once she helped me figure out how to look at my classes in a strategic sense — how to attack my studying, if you will — it became a lot easier for me to learn things. Last year I was in the library as much as she was. That’s where we finally realised that she and I weren’t going to work as a couple. But to get back to where I was, I started reading Muggle resources as well, and I found references to torture and the like. I’ve a suspicion that Lestrange is the way she is because Voldemort broke her and rebuilt her the way he wanted her to be. She was probably always going to be a Death Eater, but she likely wouldn’t have been as psychotic as she is."
Harry laughed. "Okay, this is a lot to take in. Somehow a Luna comfortable enough with her body to be naked in front of another man doesn’t surprise me —"
"Nude," she interrupted. "I’m nude, not naked. I’m only unclothed."
After gaping for a moment and shaking his head, he bulled on. "Luna doesn’t surprise me, but finding a Hermione willing to be topless in front of Ron and me, and a Ron who can talk psychology in a manner that does not get him corrected by that same Hermione is a bit much to take in. It’s as if I stepped out into another universe."
"It is a different world for you," Hermione agreed. "Things can change a lot in a year, and we’re proof of that."
"Let me go get that cold shower," he finally said. "I think it will help me concentrate." He turned and headed into the house.
He was startled to find Hermione behind him when he turned around, stepping out of her underwear. "I wasn’t joking about fucking you in the shower, Harry. No commitment, like I already said."
He took a deep breath. "It’s likely that had things worked differently … no, that’s not true, because I wouldn’t have invited you here. You are obviously still the woman who was my friend in Hogwarts, so I have to act properly toward you. I would not have cheapened you by accepting a meaningless screw when we were at Hogwarts, so I will not do it now. God knows that all three of you are going to be causing this reaction in me, but I’m kicking you out of the room while I still have my principles." He carefully handed her knickers and shorts to her and gently pushed her from the room.
What’s changed? He asked as he began to strip for his shower. It was just a few days ago that I’d have gladly ... hell, if I hadn’t been trying to escape the Weasleys, I’d probably have copped a rough feel. Why am I worrying about her feelings just a day or two later? I’ve been royally narked at them for a while, and suddenly I’m back to buddy-buddy with them? I’d have gladly fucked her blind a couple days ago! What the hell is going on? He shrugged and stepped into the shower.
He then spent the next fifteen minutes under a stream of water that could have been classified as an extremely localised ice storm.