Saving your life

She sighed in relief as she opened the door to what seemed to be a sleeping house. It was still early, but she had been afraid she would find someone already up; she didn’t feel like explaining where she had been.

She tiptoed through the hallway, trying to get to her bedroom, but as she walked by the kitchen, someone whispered her name. She froze on the spot, her heart beating wildly and her mind working hard, trying to come up with a good excuse in just seconds. Taking a deep breath and forcing a smile she turned around and walked into the kitchen to find a smug looking Charlie Weasley sitting at the table, holding a cup of tea and smiling knowingly at her as she sat down too.

“Caught you,” he said.

“You scared me half to death; I thought no one was up yet.”

“No such luck. So, what have you been up to, coming home this early? Or late actually…”

“I just woke up about an hour ago, and felt like taking a walk,” she said, trying to sound convincing. “I thought you were spending the night at St. Mungo’s.”

“I was feeling much better, and they let me come back. But don’t change the subject, and don’t lie to me, I’ve been up for hours now, and I certainly didn’t see you leave,” he said, but he was still smiling.

She sat in silence for a few moments, trying to come up with something new, but apparently her brain was as tired as the rest of her body.

“I went to see my parents, I missed them.”

“And you did that in the middle of the night?” He narrowed his eyes at that, looking at her intently.

“Well, actually, I thought, I…” she babbled. She couldn’t come up with something good enough and she knew it.

“Yes?” he said, waiting for her to talk again. With a sigh she continued.

“Alright, I’ll tell you, but you have to promise you won’t tell anyone. Anyone.”

“I promise,” he finally said, after a few moments.

“After what happened last night I was afraid that Voldemort would be upset enough to attack us again. My parents are too vulnerable, and I can’t take care of them, I have to be here. I had been thinking about it for some time now, and I decided it was a good time, so I sent them somewhere else, somewhere safe.”

“Is there something else to it?” he asked, and she tried her best to keep her expression cool, as she said “No.”

“You should have told the Order about it, we would have helped. We have places were they could stay some time.”

“I don’t want anyone to know. I know it’s probably silly, but I just feel better that way”

“Why would you…?” he started asking, but another voice interrupted.

“Hermione? What are you doing up so early?” she heard Mrs. Weasley ask from the hallway.

“I just couldn’t sleep,” she answered as the woman stepped into the kitchen.

“Oh, Charlie, what are you doing here, are you feeling better?” she asked her son worriedly, completely forgetting about Hermione. She took the chance and got up, she felt she really needed a hot shower and to finally change her clothes, but before leaving the kitchen she looked back at Charlie and their eyes locked for a moment. She moved a finger to her lips, reminding him to keep his promise and then turned around and left.


She wanted to talk to her parents, or at least write to them, but she didn’t know where they were, and wasn’t sure they would get her letter if she simply addressed it to them; they were in hiding after all.

She rarely stopped to think about the last month. So much had happened it was still confusing. She had done things she never thought she would. She had lied to her friends, hid the truth from them, and deep inside she knew she would do it again if he asked her to. She trusted him more than she probably should, but she couldn’t help it.

The order had a meeting that afternoon, and Kingsley approached her when it was over. He wanted to know if the Death Eaters were planning a new attack, but she didn’t know yet, she hadn’t talked to Snape much that night, and most of it had been about her parents. The Auror was a bit disappointed she didn’t have news and asked her to let him know right away if she had any new information. He asked her again who the Death Eater she was working with was, and again she refused to answer.

She had been thinking about him all day, trying to decide if she should contact him or wait for him to take the first step. She was already in bed when she got his message; he wanted her to meet him the next morning. Knowing she would see him again soon, she fell asleep faster than she had in a long time.


He was acting strange, and she noticed the moment she walked through the door. He avoided looking at her as much as he could and stood further away from her than necessary. He seemed uncomfortable to have her around, but she had no idea why.

“Do you have any news from my parents? Where are they?” she asked after a few seconds of silence.

“They are safe, as I said they would be. They are in a house in Budapest.”

“And if I want to talk to them?”

“You can’t visit them, I told you so in the letter I left. You can write to them. They will receive it as long as it is from you. If anyone else tries to send them something it won’t reach them.”

“You said Voldemort wouldn’t go after them again.”

“Yes, but he could change his mind.” Silence filled the room for a few more moments before he finally spoke again.

“Sit down,” he said, and then turned around and walked to a small table by the door, opened a drawer and pulled a small black bottle out.

“What’s that?” she asked as he closed the drawer and walked back to where she was sitting.

“It’s the potion I have been working on.”

He stretched his arm to hand it to her, and the moment she took it their fingers touched. He looked at her then, something strange in his eyes, and hastily withdrew his hand, taking a step away from her at the same time.

“What’s wrong?” she asked, frowning.

“You have to give this to Potter. It can help him find the Horcruxes, if he can control his mind enough,” he said, ignoring her question, his face expressionless once again.

“You know about the Horcruxes?” she asked, surprised.

“Of course I know about them, but I don’t know where they are.”

“But, how will the potion help Harry find them?” He took a deep breath then, considering the best way to explain.

“You know what the Mirror of Erised is?”

“The one Dumbledore used to hide the Philosopher’s Stone?” she asked after a moment. He simply nodded.

“It is a mirror that shows you the deepest desire of your heart. But what does that have to do with the potion?”

“Well, this potion works like that mirror. The drinker will fall unconscious and see its deepest desires come true, like in a dream.” She thought about it for a moment, remembering what had happened then.

“But when Harry looked at the mirror he only saw his family, why would he see something different now?”

“Because the potion doesn’t work exactly like the mirror, if someone concentrated on something hard enough before taking it, they would see their desires, but connected to that subject.” She looked at him in silence for a few moments, trying to understand.

“If you think about Quidditch, for instance,” he continued, “you would see your favourite team winning the league, or yourself as part of it.”

“So if Harry focused on the Horcruxes before taking the potion…”

“He should see himself finding them, or perhaps destroying them,” he finished.

“It would take a lot of control to focus before taking the potion, but he is the only one that can find them,” he said then, sitting down on a chair across from her.

“Why is that? Shouldn’t anyone be able to see them?”

“The potion works with things that are already on our mind, it doesn’t really create them. If someone who didn’t know where they were tried to see them it simply wouldn’t work.”

“But Harry doesn’t know where the Horcruxes are hidden,” she said, confused again.

“But the Dark Lord does, and Potter’s mind is connected to his, so there is a chance this information is buried somewhere in his subconscious already. The potion would simply bring it forward.”

She looked at the bottle in her hand for a moment, amazed at what he said it could do.

“I never heard of this potion.”

“Because it is the first time it has been made. It took months of research to create it, and weeks to brew it, not to mention some extremely rare ingredients, so you had better make sure Potter realizes just how important this is. There is a limited supply.”

“Are you sure it works?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“Of course, I tried it myself.”

He seemed even more uncomfortable then, and he got up again and started pacing around the room. She couldn’t help but wonder what he had seen.

“That bottle should be enough for two attempts; if it works I will give you more of it. I have to make sure he can concentrate enough before wasting it.”

He paced nervously for a few more seconds before stopping by the door.

“I should go now; I have important things to do. And you should go too, before your friends start looking for you.”

“Are you alright?” she asked, walking to him as he reached for the doorknob. He looked at her for a moment, considering his answer.

“Yes,” he said, and then fell silent again.

“You don’t seem alright. Has something happened?”

“Of course not,” he answered nervously. She had never seen him act like that. “I have to go now. Please let me know how the potion works as soon as you can,” and before she could say anything else he was gone.

Well, that had certainly been strange, but his behaviour hardly surprised her anymore. She put the bottle in her pocket and walked out of the apartment too. There were too many people on the streets, so she decided she shouldn’t Apparate there. She walked all the way back to the Leaky Cauldron, thinking about what he had said and trying to understand, but knew it was probably a lost battle.

She finally reached Diagon Alley, and after buying some new quills and parchment, she Apparated at headquarters.

Harry and Ron were outside flying but she wanted to try the potion right away, so instead of waiting for them to come back to the house she walked over to where they were and waved her hand, waiting for them to land before telling them they needed to talk and heading back inside. She needed somewhere quiet, but the twins were in the library, so she finally decided they should go up to her bedroom.

“I have something for you,” she said as they sat down. She closed the door and locked it, and then she took the bottle out of her pocket and handed it to Harry.

“What is it?” both boys asked.

“It’s a potion”

“I meant what is it for?”

“I think it can help you find the Horcruxes.”

“How?”

“Well, you have to concentrate on them before taking it, and then you should see where they are hidden.”

“Where did you get this?” She wasn’t sure how much she wanted to tell him.

“I found it in an old book back at Grimmauld Place. The potion will show you your deepest desire”

“Like that mirror back in first year?” Ron interrupted.

“Yes, but only if you don’t focus on anything in particular before drinking it, but if you concentrate on something, like the Horcruxes, you will see that.”

“And you made this?” Harry asked, looking at the bottle in his hand.

“Yes.” She couldn’t tell them the truth.

“Have you tried it?”

“Yes.”

“And what did you…?”

“It works,” she interrupted. “You should drink half of it and see what happens.”

“You want me to try it now?” Harry asked her surprised.

“Well, yes.” She got up then and opened the door. “We will wait outside. Don’t forget to focus on the Horcruxes before taking it.”

“Oh, alright,” Harry said hesitantly.

The moment Ron stepped out of the room she closed the door again and sat on the floor.

“How long does it take?” Ron asked.

“I don’t know.”

“But you said you had taken it before.”

“I have, I just don’t know how long it will take for Harry.”

They sat in silence first, and then started talking. Her legs already hurt, so she soot up and paced around the hallway. There were no sounds coming from the room. There were voices downstairs and she hoped no one would see them or ask what they were doing, she wanted to be around when Harry came back out.

After what seemed like hours, they finally heard the door open and the boy stepped out. He looked confused and had dried tears on his face. She was about to ask him what he had seen when they heard footsteps behind them. They turned around to see Ginny walking in their direction, and the moment Harry saw her, his face lit up and he ran to her, taking her in his arms and kissing her deeply.

Well, he clearly didn’t concentrate enough, she thought to herself, smiling as she dragged Ron down the stairs to give the couple some privacy.