FOUR

Harry Potter entered the Slytherin Chamber feeling like he weighed a ton; the last school year been a complete disaster. He appeared two beautiful recliners and sat down to wait for Hermione.

He checked his watch: there were three hours left. He didn't want to keep going around in the castle, so he decided to stay there. The last thing he needed at that moment was to see Cedric and Hermione kissing again.

He felt his stomach churn.

Now it seemed so obvious that during fourth grade, while Krum was trying to talk to Hermione, Cedric was falling in love with her. That's why he broke up with Cho! Harry couldn't blame Cedric. Hermione was brilliant. Yes, very annoying at times, but always with good intention. The best friend anyone could wish for. And her lips were so cute.

He thought he should be more focused on the mission, not on who Hermione Granger was kissing. Especially if that "who" wasn't him!

The last year was full of complications and plans to overthrow the Ministry. Umbridge arrived at Hogwarts, ready to take revenge after the lawsuit Harry made against Ludo Bagman. The hateful pink witch took the claim personal, as if Harry had tried to humiliate the government with that.

When Sirius learned of the injustices that Umbridge was doing in Hogwarts, he decided it was time for the impunity of the Ministry to end. He gathered the Diggorys, the Tonks, Amelia Bones and Madam Longbottom to make plans. After all, Sirius was still quite angry that he had lived in Azkaban for a decade. It was time to settle accounts.

It was when Harry finally heard, officially, about the Order of the Phoenix. Hermione had already told him, of course, and he was glad that his godfather decided to trust him with that secret. However, continuing to work with Order was ruled out because of its high fidelity to Dumbledore, who did not wish to meddle in matters of the Ministry.

While his godfather and the rest of the adults lived a confrontation with the government, Harry began his own revolution within Hogwarts: the Army of the Founders. The name was decided in honor of the school they would now defend, and also to make clear the message that the students of the four Houses were welcome.

Hermione was in charge of the security. She created a much more complex system than her original idea of fake galleons and the list of members that in the other timeline was the bane of them. Harry had to talk to her several times, casually and without revealing that he had knowledge of the future, so that she understood the risk of her plan. Hermione changed her strategy, and demonstrated how scary and powerful she can be when she proposes it.

With each year, Harry discovered in Hermione a little more of her future self. The idealization that he generated for the adult woman, was soaking in reality by living with her teenager version. He didn't take long to comprehend that he was in love with her.

Not that that was relevant right now. She was kissing Cedric, after all.

Among the few satisfactions he had that year was that the Army of the Founders was enrolled students of all grades and Houses. The minority was Slytherin, but each of them was worth its weight in gold for Harry: they put him closer to accomplish the main mission.

In retrospect, it was clear that that was what caused Cedric and Hermione to get so close. During fourth grade and the subsequent summer, Harry didn't separate from his best friend, except when it was absolutely necessary. He loved being with her. It wasn't boring because they had a lot in common: getting perfect grades, studying and training as much as possible, always being honest, worrying about the future.

Yeah, he knew that adult Hermione influenced those changes, but it didn't make them less real.

Then, unlike fourth grade, he left Hermione alone to chase Draco Malfoy at every opportunity. It was a real drama trying to get his trust. Why did that have to be the main mission? Harry would have preferred to be sent to the Forbidden Forest without a wand.

Malfoy at least wasn't as… offensive as before. Maybe that was good. But Cedric took advantage of that time to get closer to Hermione. Each visit to Hogsmeade, Cedric was there with her, telling her about his new job at the Ministry, inviting her to lunch, giving her candy and flowers.

This was different from what happened with Krum. Cedric was his best friend, an incredible, popular, nice and loyal wizard. There was no reason to doubt that Hermione would fall in love with him. Much less when Harry ignored her blatantly that year.

He ruffled his hair, holding a grunt. How did he let that happen? His obsession with Malfoy ruined everything.

Harry let out a sigh, missing Hermione. He remembered last summer, when he went to visit her at Crawley. They did muggle things like going to the movies, touring the city and playing board games. It was perfect. And the Grangers seemed happy to meet a friend of their daughter. Would he see them again this summer? Or will it be Cedric who laughs at Dan Granger's bad jokes?

"What a fucking picture."

"Harry, language!"

He looked up, surprised. Hermione was already in her own seat, exactly the same as a year ago: beautiful, wild, seriously injured, and with that bright sunset in her gaze.

Harry felt his heart racing. Every time he was with his best friend, the same thing happened.

"How are you?"

Hermione burst out laughing. "Do you really ask me that?"

He was sure he blushed. "I'm sorry. Uh, hello."

She tilted her head. "What's going on?"

"Nothing," he cleared his throat nervously. If it was difficult to be near the 16-year-old Hermione, it was a real challenge with the 21-year-old. It was literally playing with time to know how the woman he loves will be in five years. Besides, his sexual fantasies woke up thanks to her, now that they mixed with the crush he felt...

"Harry? Did something bad happen? The mission—"

"No, everything's fine." He forced himself to concentrate. He straightened on the couch, taking a breath, "Malfoy trusts me a little. He knows he has the option of looking for me if he needs it. It cost me all year, you know? He really is an ass. Why is he so important, Hermione?"

He watched her pale. Again, she stroked her faded tattoo.

"I know that Malfoy is not easy. However, you must trust me when I tell you that he is not a bad person. He was just an petulant boy in a ignorant family. He deserves a second chance."

"Why?"

Hermione changed the subject, "I see you can conjure up better quality furniture. Well done. Tell me a little about your life. I need to know the changes to give you adequate information and continue with the mission."

Harry wanted to keep asking her about Malfoy, but knew to better drop it when she used that tone.

"Professor Dumbledore wants to talk to me about Tom Riddle. He has no idea that I know about the Horcruxes and that I have destroyed three of them. He already has the ring in his possession, so we can discard it too. We only need to find Helga Hufflepuff's cup and know where is Nagini."

"It's time for you to explain to Dumbledore that you know about the prophecy. Tell him that you discovered it through your connection with Tom."

"Should I listen to Dumbledore's advice? Will he help me train to fulfill my destiny?"

"I understand that he only gave you information about Tom Riddle, in my timeline. He didn't do anything else to prepare you."

"Why? Tom is a very powerful wizard, who has decades of experience. Waiting for me to have a way of defeating him by my own means is the same as throwing me into the slaughterhouse."

"I think the same as you."

"Did that happen? Tom Riddle killed me?"

Hermione shifted, suddenly uncomfortable under his gaze, "Partly."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you sure you want to know?"

"I'm not twelve anymore. I can understand anything you tell me."

"You're still very young. You'll barely turn sixteen."

"I need you to be honest, please. You broke all the laws of space and time to talk to me. Now is not the moment for you to hide anything. We should both take advantage of this situation, as much as we can."

Hermione bit her lower lip. Harry knew he had already convinced her, even though she didn't know it yet. It was a gesture that his best friend made when she ran out of cunning answers.

"Alright."

"Tell me how I died, please."

She took a deep breath. Her gaze darkened while her voice make an effort to be steady.

"It happened one afternoon in Knockturn Alley. We went to buy some ingredients for a potion that we urgently needed. I insisted on accompanying you because you've never been good at selecting fresh herbs. It was very risky to get out of our hiding place, but it was a life or death situation. I think you were happy that I—"

Silence.

Harry leaned down, looking at her with curiosity and fear, "You ...?"

"That I wanted to get up of bed."

What the hell did that mean?

Hermione kept talking, "We had already bought everything. We were about to come back when you saw something in another store. Despite my warning, you went in. They killed you there."

"What? How?"

"They recognized us when you wanted to buy the white rose you saw."

"A rose? Is that why I risked our lives? I don't understand. How did that give away our identities?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair. He wanted to think that, just as this Hermione was no different from her sixteen-year-old version, he wouldn't be different from his own adult version. What would motivate him to take risks like that?

He looked at Hermione. She was holding back tears, clenching her left wrist.

That was it. "I wanted to buy that rose for you."

She nodded. A tear spilled on her right cheek.

"Why a rose?"

"I guess you thought that would cheer me up."

"I would have bought you a book. I wouldn't have put your life in danger. What does the rose mean?"

"I don't want to talk about that."

"You said you would be honest."

"Not yet. Please."

"Do you think I'm too immature to understand? Do you think I wouldn't do everything to comfort you? Let me help you."

Hermione seemed to freeze. "You sound like my Harry."

"I am your Harry. You are my Hermione."

She blushed!

"Can we change the subject?" The witch pleaded.

Harry relaxed in his chair, "Fine. Tell me what I should do this year."

"I think we can take advantage that Dumbledore finally wants to help you. Tom Riddle is very weak, this time, because he failed to use you to get a physical body after the Triwizard Tournament. The real danger is Nagini. You must get rid of her. I know the right spell for you to invoke her. I'll feel calmer knowing that Dumbledore will be with you for this step. The last time I fight Nagini was a horrible, bloody mess".

Her gaze unfocused.

Harry tried to use a soft tone of voice to get her attention, "And the cup?"

Hermione blinked, leaving the memories for another time. "It's in the Lestrange vault, in Gringotts. Talk to me to figure out how to get the cup out of there. Last time, I came up with a pretty risky plan. I don't want to do it again, without knowing every detail of this new universe. I trust that I will know how to get the cup again."

"Sounds good."

"Uh, I wanted to ask you something about your interaction with my younger version. I don't suspect anything about your encounters with me?"

"No, but you know about the Horcruxes. I told you last summer. Actually, you say something curious about that."

"What did I say?"

"That it was strange that Tom Riddle had created six Horcruxes. You explained to me that six is a number of low magical relevance."

Hermione rolled her eyes, "Should I must always be a know–it–all?"

Harry clenched his fists, "What you mean? How many Horcruxes really exist?"

"Just one more."

"Why didn't you tell me before?"

"Because it is the last one you will destroy. It makes no sense to know this in advance. On my next visit, if you managed to kill Nagini and retrieve the cup, we will take care of that seventh Horcrux. Trust—"

"Of course I trust you. It's just awful to not knowing everything beforehand."

She smiled shyly, "Keep communicating with Malfoy. Don't fall for Dumbledore's manipulations. If you doubt yourself, the only person you can trust is me. I beg you. I know you'll be busy with Ginny, but you must be careful."

"Ginny?" he thought of the redhead who has been on the legs of all the Gryffindor boys and half of Ravenclaw, "Do you mean Ron's little sister?"

"Yes." Her face seemed to indicate that it was very obvious.

"What does she have to do with all this? We're not even friends."

"That will change."

There was an awkward silence. Then Harry understood what she meant, and couldn't help laughing, "How absurd!"

"Excuse me?"

"Ginny is unbearable. I didn't understand why I didn't like something about her before, but then I talked to Sirius and he explained to me. She uses her beauty to get what she wants. I guess it's valid, but it seems ridiculous to me. I wouldn't spend my time on her."

"Are you sure we're talking about the same Ginny Weasley?"

Harry raised an eyebrow. "Did something happen between her and me on your timeline?"

"Quite."

"Oh, maybe your Ginny is nicer than mine."

"I couldn't say that."

He smiled at her. "You don't like her either!"

She flushed, "I didn't mean that, I know she's special to you—"

"No. It's what I just told you. Did you always answer that or what? Really, she don't mean anything to me."

Hermione started laughing nervously. "I fear I have modified more than I thought in the past."

"For the better, I assure you."

"How could you know?"

"Well, I'm not sharing saliva with all my friends by kissing Ginny, for starters."

That made her laugh again. Harry felt his chest jump when he saw her so cheerful. That honest smile was the same one he loved. Knowing that would not change in his best friend, despite the passage of time, made him feel safe and happy.

"You're dating Cedric Diggory, by the way."

He knew it was the right thing to say when she almost choke for the laugh and shock.

"What? Me? With Cedric? How did it happen?"

Harry let out an exaggerated sigh, "I wonder the same. I saw you kissing him a couple of hours ago. I don't even know what Cedric is doing at the castle. He graduated last year."

Hermione settled better in the armchair "It's nice to know he's alive. Although it's a little weird that he and I have something romantic."

"I want to ask a question about the future."

"I suppose it is more acceptable now. We have resolved enough so that history does not repeat itself. As long as it is not about the last Horcrux or the rose, I will answer you."

Harry nodded solemnly. He didn't want to make her feel bad, so he wouldn't push her.

"Did something happen between you and me? In a romantic way, I mean."

Hermione straightened in the chair, as if she had received an electric shock. She moved her lips, but no sound was pronounced. Her gaze swept him from head to toe, absorbing every detail of him.

"I'm not sure."

"Of what, exactly?"

"Well, you were with Ginny. Although I think I remember that you broke your relationship. A few months went by. After what happened at Malfoy Manor, I wasn't in the mood, you know? A couple of years passed. It is true that you and I shared a bedroom in Grimmauld Place, when the situation became so terrible that nightmares would not let us sleep. That did us good: being together. But when you died, Harry, I thought there was a very high probability that I misunderstood that last stage of our relationship. Sometimes I thought you felt more than friendship for me, but we never clarified it."

Harry tried to focus on all the details she revealed, not just that they shared a bedroom. Was it a euphemism for not explicitly saying that they had sex? Or did they really just sleep together?

Hermione clenched her hands in her pants, looking at some point in the Chamber, "Since your death, I have repeated to myself that you would never have felt that kind of love for me. So you don't need to be sorry for me now. You don't owe me anything."

"I understand that I died trying to buy you a rose."

"Regrettably, yes."

"Do you doubt, seriously, despite that, that I didn't love you?"

"Oh, you're still very young. That's not what... I mean, you didn't try to give me a show of affection, or do a flirtatious act. The rose was something else."

"But it was important to you, right?"

"Yes."

"You were sad, and I wanted to make you feel better, risking my life. Hermione, it's obvious that I died loving you."

She pursed her lips for a couple of seconds, then replied, annoyed, "You can't declare something like that."

"Of course I can do it. It's me. I know myself. Besides, it makes sense that if I love you now, I also did it in the original timeline."

"What did you say?" That almost makes her jump off the couch. She frowned, changing her entire stance from a distressed to a defensive.

"That I'm in love with you."

"Harry, that makes no sense. I know you too. I know I'm not your type."

That bothered him, "You've been my type for years."

She got up, "This is wrong!"

He followed her, "Seriously, why don't you believe me?"

They looked into each other's eyes. They were the same height.

"I didn't come for this. The mission is the priority."

"The mission is almost complete. I think you can afford to hear this. It's real, Hermione. I love you. When I saw you kissing Cedric... I'll sound cheesy, but hell, you broke my heart."

Hermione looked alarmed for a few seconds, then narrowed her eyes, thinking.

"I guess it's feasible," she commented in a whisper, "If I changed the past, anything could happen. Even that you love me. Or that I love Cedric. Although the latter seems unbelievable."

Harry smiled, "Now you're being nice to me."

"And Ronald?"

"What does he have to do with this?"

"Just answer me."

"We are not friends since fourth grade. He has become very close to Dean and Seamus. They are Gryffindor's Golden Trio. They do everything together. Anyway, was Ronald important?"

Hermione snorted, "Sometimes very much. At other times, not at all."

Harry took advantage that she seemed willing to talk more, "Did you ask me to save Cedric because you liked him?"

"What? Do not be ridiculous, Harry. I asked you because he did not deserve to die. Moreover, his death weighed on your conscience for the rest of your life. I wanted to spare you that."

"And did you ever like me?"

"I don't know. I had little time to think about that. I'm sorry."

Harry tried not to imagine what kind of horrors his best friend had to survive.

"I see." He said as neutral as he could.

She seemed to think a little more about her answer, "But I think, if the world hadn't been so cruel, I probably would have fallen in love with you. Honestly, after everything that happened, I think something inside me broke so deep that I'm no longer able to love. However, in the situation that I find myself, that is the best. I'm alone. I'm the last one left."

"You are not alone." He said automatically.

"Tom Riddle killed a lot of people, Harry. Anyone who was not a pureblood or absolute faithful to his regime was annihilated. There is no one left of the Order of the Phoenix. I am alone."

"You. Are. Not. Alone."

He kissed her. He put his hands on that waist that drove him crazy years ago, stuck the rest of his body to hers, and felt his best friend's lips on his. He heard her moan.

Harry thought his body would burst. His hands were shaking. Actually, he was very nervous. This version of Hermione was older than him by five years, she was an adult. What would she think of him? That he was a simple and horny teenager? Despite that, he put all the love he felt for her in that kiss. Somehow, he wanted her to understand that he would never leave her. Suddenly, Hermione hugged him, abandoning her will to the incredible act of love they were sharing. Their breaths echoed in the silent Chamber.

Harry raised his hands, until the tips of his fingers brushed Hermione's top. He brushed his body even more in hers. Both groaned again. It was a dream come true. Each had longed for this moment, in different ways and in other circumstances, but always with the other.

Hermione seemed about to faint. Her body, fragile and wounded, trembled under the caresses of the teenager. When she needed air, she turned her face at the same time as she pressed her hips more against Harry's.

He took the hint. Using more force, he lifted the female thighs and slipped between them, placing the witch against the wall. She crossed her ankles, trapping him. He continued kissing her neck, recognizing the aroma that accompanied him since his first grade at Hogwarts.

"Please, go on. I miss you so much," Hermione said in a broken voice.

And though he would have preferred to obey her eternally, he stopped.

She was crying.

"Don't stop! Don't leave me! Not again, Harry! Harry―Harry―"

"I'm here. I won't go anywhere."

He moved with her in his arms to one of the recliners. Carefully, he sat down, worried about the lack of weight in Hermione and the obvious crying attack that wasn't going to stop soon. She hid her face under her hands, asking for forgiveness.

"There is nothing to forgive. It was my fault. I kissed you out of nowhere."

"So you did the first time. Exactly so."

Harry believed her. He kept stroking Hermione's back for a while, until she began to breathe more normally.

"Don't go," Harry pleaded. "Don't go back to your timeline. Stay with me. With us. I know Hermione will understand. I can love you both. I can protect you. I won't let you suffer again."

She raised her flushed face. Her lips were swollen.

"Would you really receive me?"

"I would do everything for you."

Hermione turned her right wrist, showing the tattoo, "Even if I'm broken?"

Harry realized that the tattoo was not discolored, as he originally thought, but that the ink was pale and the strokes very thin: a white rose.

"I will help you repair yourself."

That made her smile.

"You are very young. With the passage of time, you'll not think the same."

"Why?"

"Because you'll discover that suffering is inevitable. Sometimes, even, it is the only thing left of a good memory. With or without war, Harry, life is cruel."

"What happened? What does the rose mean?"

"I have to go. I can't spend time like this. There are still three jumps left."

"Stay with me, please!"

Hermione slipped away from him, leaving a cold hollow in Harry's body.

"I'll be back when you finish your sixth year at Hogwarts. Please destroy the cup."

"It's not fair. It's just a blink for you. But I have to wait a year and—" He shut up when he saw Hermione's wand, "That's not your wand." He repeated what he said the day he met her.

"I'll be back."

She disappeared.

Harry sat there, incredulous. After a year of chasing Draco Malfoy, he would recognize his wand without hesitation.