The Dream Trilogy Book One: To Dwell On Dreams (A Harry Potter FanFiction)

Chapter Forty One

"You will?" asked Harry. Even with everything that had happened, how different this Draco seemed to be, he couldn't believe he'd just offered to escort Hermione Granger, a Mudblood, to her house. 

Draco looked nervously between him and Hermione. "I'm assuming no vaccinations are required?" Harry couldn't tell if he was joking. 

"No," said Hermione, recovering her voice and actually touching his shoulder with her fingers. "No that's fine, of course you can come too." 

"Yes," said Remus, a smile Harry couldn't quite decipher on his face. "That would be great." 

It didn't take them long to bundle up again. Harry retrieved his coat from where it was hanging over a chair in the kitchen, then fished one from his wardrobe for Draco to borrow. As he left his room, he heard voices coming from Sarah's room on the floor above. Lily was doing her best to soothe her youngest child, but Harry could still hear her crying. 

Pushing the cold feeling of accountability to one side, he concentrated on the task at hand, which was getting Hermione home. Sarah had her mum to keep her safe now, there wasn't much else Harry could do. The sight of him would probably just upset her more, which made his stomach twist. 

Remus was waiting with the pot of Floo powder as Harry re-entered the living room, and after being told which station he wanted flung some into the grate, changing the flames green. 

"Pembury, Kent!" Remus instructed it confidently, then was gone in an instance.  

"I'll go next," offered Draco, leaving Harry and Hermione standing in the lounge, bathing in the early morning sunlight streaming through the big bay window.  

"You'll be fine," Harry reassured Hermione, throwing the glittering powder into the flames for her and calling out the station. "Just keep very still, like before." Hermione nodded, only looking a little green. She stepped into the fire, and was whisked away just like the others. Harry took a moment to look around the room, out into the kitchen and in the gardens beyond the windows. He'd been running on adrenaline for goodness only knew how many hours, he hadn't slept since yesterday afternoon and suddenly he was beyond tired, so much so he could barely keep his eyes open. He stood there with a handful of powder, some of it trickling through the cracks between his fingers and dusting the floor, wishing he could just curl up on the couch and sleep.  

He wasn't ready to leave the Potter's house yet; he'd already had to leave it twice, going for a third time illogically felt like he was pushing his luck on getting back again. But Hermione needed him, so with a resigned sigh he shook himself awake and threw the powder on the flames. 

Remus, Hermione and Draco were huddled together waiting for his entrance, which he tried to do as dignified as possible but his foot caught on a coal and he had to stumble to his feet. 

"Oh Mr Potter!" cried the familiar voice of the station's guard as he launched forward to help Harry right himself. He roughly bashed the soot from Harry's coat and gawped between him and the other three. "Is it true?" he cried, eyes lingering on the lightning bolt scar in a way Harry had known his whole life. "Is he really gone? Did you...was it you?" Harry gulped and looked at his companions. They all had a matching look of sad pride on their faces that Harry wasn't exactly pleased to see.  

"Um," he started, unsure of what to say to the old man whose eyes sparkled with tears. "Yes, he's gone." For now. 

"Bless my soul!" he whispered, pulling off his hat and clutching it to his chest. "Oh, this is, oh wait until I tell my wife." He seized Harry's wrist, sudden excitement brightening his wet face. "I must give you a present! I want to - let me give you my dish!" He turned on his heels and scooped up the battered old Muggle satellite dish Harry had spotted on his last visit off the floor and held in out for Harry to take. 

"Oh," he said, softly, completely baffled. It didn't help that Remus was trying to act like the serious adult but was struggling to conceal his laughter behind the fist stuffed into his mouth. "That's really nice of you. But..." He didn't want to hurt the man's feelings. "I've got to go somewhere now, could I collect it on the way back?" The man's smile only broadened.  

"Course, course," he said, grabbing Harry's hand and shaking it. "Give me time to put a bow on it." 

Even though the shops weren't quite open yet, there were plenty of people bustling around the high street when the four of them stepped out into the cold November air. Harry led the way on the mostly silent journey, but he quite enjoyed how much Draco's head turned this way and that, taking in all the Muggle sights. He probably hadn't been to towns like this much, if ever, and Harry couldn't help but compare it to his first visit to Diagon Ally.  

They made good time, marching past the same houses Harry had done the evening before - it seemed so long ago. The tree house was still there, pirate flag fluttering in the morning air. 

As they turned the corner into Hermione's street, there was a police car parked outside, blue and red lights flashing. "Oh that can't be good," Harry breathed as Hermione paled, hands over her mouth. 

"What's not good?" asked Draco, looking into the sky. Probably looking for a Dark Mark, Harry thought.  

"Muggle police," he replied as they began walking slowly towards Grangers' Orthodontics. "Like the Ministry law enforcement." 

"I feel a memory spell coming on," muttered Remus. 

"Not on my parents," Hermione hissed back fiercely. But she was distracted by her pocket suddenly letting out a flurry of electronic beeps that made them all jump and stare. Hermione scrambled to fish inside, and looked in horror at the screen of her mobile phone. "Forty seven missed calls," she said bleakly. 

"From your parents?" Harry asked. 

Hermione nodded and gulped. "Let's not mess around then," she said. She strode up the path and pushed the family entrance open, the one she and Harry had come out of only a few hours ago. "Mum!" she called out urgently. "Dad! It's okay, I'm okay!" Footsteps came thundering from one of the back rooms, and then Hermione's parents were in the entrance hall flinging their arms around their daughter.  

"Where have you been!" shrieked her mother. 

"Are you alright!" said her father as two police officers came running after them. 

One of them, a portly blonde woman surveyed the scene and stepped forward. "Mrs Granger, is this your daughter?" 

"Y-yes," stammered Mrs Granger between sobs.  

"And who are these people?" asked the blonde woman's partner, a younger looking Indian man. The Grangers both suddenly stood back and took in Harry, Draco and Remus. 

"YOU!" bellowed Mrs Granger, and lunged for Harry, but Remus dove between them. 

"Obliviate!" he cried, aiming at the police officers, who staggered slightly as the spell hit them. 

Hermione was pulling at her parents arms, whispering urgently that they'd explain in a minute, as Remus put his arms around the officers. "I'm so sorry about all of this," he said, smiling as he tore their report sheet from the notepad in the woman's hand. "Such a silly misunderstanding, we'll swing by later and explain everything." 

"Hang on!" cried Mrs Granger as Remus shut the door on them. "Hang on, you need to interview these people! Charge them with kidnap!" She spun on Harry again, finger jabbed into his face. "You are going to tell me exactly what you've been doing with my daughter right now!"  

"Mrs Granger," said Remus, stepping in. "Mr Granger, please, can we sit and talk? There's a lot you need to know." 

A hell of a lot, thought Harry.