Angelica's Sorrow

A/N I want to thank you all for your patience (even you Jonelin - I still love ya even if you do think I\'m evil). I\'ve had some major thoughts about cutting this short because of some issues but I\'ve decided to heck with it, I\'m gonna finish it the way I want, even if someone else uses my ideas. I know where they came from in the first place. Angelica\'s fate (as it is) has also been decided but it will be a little while yet before we know. Harry gave me a little difficulty but I think I have him straighted out now.


CHAPTER THIRTY ONE

Dumbledore\'s owl found Harry at the Burrow. He was spending part of the weekend with the Weasleys. They had been his adoptive family all along, but the ties had only increased after Ron and Charlie\'s deaths. They were really the only family he had left, other than Hermione. The last time he had seen the Dursleys was just before his seventh year at Hogwarts. Uncle Vernon had been especially vicious while telling Harry he no longer had a home with them since he was now of age. His aunt hadn\'t even accompanied them to the station. She had stayed home cleaning out Harry\'s room so Dudley could have his second bedroom back as soon as possible. Dudley had tried to give Harry a going away kick at the last moment, but misjudged the distance and knocked his father over instead. Harry had laughed and slipped through the magical gate, glad to be done with the lot of them.

\"What\'s that, Harry dear?\" Molly asked as she prepared dinner.

\"It\'s a note from Professor Dumbledore asking if it would be convenient for me to visit Hogwarts this weekend,\" Harry replied, putting the note in his pocket.

\"Does he say what for?\"

\"No, he doesn\'t go into detail. Probably just wants to talk over Auror training with me or some such. I\'ve heard Hogwarts is finally back in shape.\"

Harry wasn\'t about to tell her that Dumbledore also mentioned it was a very confidential matter and that he would appreciate discretion. He grabbed the plates and began setting the table hoping she would start talking about Hogwarts.

\"Oh, yes. We got an owl from Ginny and she says you can\'t tell the difference. It\'s just wonderful. She did mention that Peeves hasn\'t shown up yet. Even the Bloody Baron is missing him.\"

Harry had to laugh, \"That would be a change, people missing Peeves instead of cursing at him. Do they have any idea where he is?\"

\"I don\'t know. There are theories of course. Mrs. Hargraves said she saw a curse thrown his way by one of the Death Eaters because he was lobbing stones at them. It may have been enough to send him on.\"

\"With all that was going on that day you wouldn\'t think a few stones would have hurt all that much.\"

\"Oh, they were large stones, from the walls they had knocked down. Big enough to smash a leg or head. I hear he took out three of them on his own.\"

\"That\'s amazing. How come no one\'s told me this before?\"

\"I only heard about it last week from Mrs. Hargraves. Does Dumbledore say when he\'d like you to go?\"

Molly hadn\'t given up on the note yet.

\"Around ten or so in the morning. If Peeves did get sent on, I hope he\'s happy. Did Ginny say if she\'s seen Hermione?\"

\"Yes, she sees her now and then, but not often since Hermione only teaches the first few years. I hear she spends what free time she has with Severus.\"

\"Well, since she is apprenticed to him that would make sense.\"

Molly paused in her stirring and looked over at him, asking, \"You don\'t know, do you?\"

\"Know what?\"

\"About Hermione and Severus.\"

\"What about them?\"

\"I don\'t think I\'m supposed to know, but I heard Arthur and Albus discussing them earlier today. Albus came to - well, give us the full details on Ron and Charlie.\" She stopped to gather herself for a few moments. \"I know that\'s why you came this weekend and I\'m very grateful you did.\"

Harry put down the silver, walked over and hugged her while kissing her on the cheek.

\"I know I can\'t take their places, but I want you to know I\'ll always be around if you need me.\"

\"You are a good friend, Mr. Potter. Too bad you\'re of age, we could adopt you.\"

\"I would have given anything for that a few years ago. Now, what about Hermione and Professor Snape?\" he asked, picking the silver back up.

\"I don\'t like to gossip and I don\'t know for sure, but I heard Arthur say they were an item.\"

\"What!\"

\"I know, strange to think about it, isn\'t it?\"

\"I don\'t believe it,\" Harry stated, aghast.

\"Well, after Albus left I tackled Arthur about it. Ginny apparently told him that Hermione has been in love with him for at least a year. I think that\'s why she and Ron broke up the summer after your sixth year.\"

\"Ron said it was mutual and Hermione didn\'t disagree. It seemed like they got on alright during our seventh year.\"

\"I don\'t doubt they did, Harry. I think Ron realized he loved Hermione enough to let her go. I know I heard him crying in his room a lot that summer.\"

\"He never said a word. He even dated a few other girls at school. Although come to think of it, Hermione didn\'t do any dating at all.\"

\"Well, if you\'re in love with someone who\'s forbidden it doesn\'t leave a lot of room for casual dating, I guess. What did Ron say exactly about their breakup?\"

\"Only that they decided to remain friends. He told me they didn\'t love each other that way.\"

\"What about you, Harry? Found anyone to romance yet?\"

\"No, not really. I have a few friends at school and we hang around together, but nobody special yet.\"

\"You know Ginny\'s seeing Malfoy don\'t you?\"

\"Yeah, she sent me an owl. He\'s not so bad.\"

\"A lot better than his father, I\'ll grant you. I don\'t know that he has my complete trust, but the way he fought on our side has earned him a fair chance. There, I think dinner\'s ready. Doesn\'t take long when there\'s so few to cook for. Fred and George should be coming by tomorrow, so that will fill out the table a little more.\"

\"What about Percy? How has he been since - well, how has he been?\"

\"He doesn\'t visit as often as I\'d like and still a bit of a snob, but it\'s gotten better.\"

\"I\'m glad.\"

\"It\'s really strange Albus didn\'t say anything about asking you to come to Hogwarts while he was here. He knew you were coming.\"

\"Maybe he didn\'t think about it until later.\"

\"That could be it. Now, where has Arthur gone? Dinner will be getting cold.\"

\"I\'ll find him for you,\" Harry said, grabbing the opportunity to leave for a bit.

\"Thank you, dear.\"

Harry left the kitchen and wandered around the house looking for Arthur and thinking about the bomb shell Molly had dropped on his unsuspecting head. \'Hermione and Snape!\' He shuddered. \'Ginny\'s gotten it wrong somehow. It can\'t be true.\'

Harry found Arthur in his little workshop off the garage. He was tinkering with what looked like had been an automatic coffee maker of some kind.

\"What are you trying to do with that?\" Harry asked as he walked in the door.

\"Nothing much. Just trying to figure out how they hooked the clock part up. Did you know that these things can start by themselves?\"

\"There are a lot of things muggles have that can do that. Lawn sprinklers, ovens, clothes dryers, and dish washers to name a few. I\'m supposed to tell you that dinner is ready and it will be getting cold if we don\'t go in.\"

\"Better not keep her waiting then. I did want to finish this,\" Arthur said with a pained expression.

\"You always have tonight and tomorrow,\" Harry stated as they made their way out of the workshop and into the kitchen.

\"True.\"

\"There you are,\" Molly stated as she sat down. \"Dinner\'s going to be stone cold if you don\'t hurry and wash up.\"

\"Yes, .\" .\" Arthur said, turning to the sink.

\"Have a seat, Harry. I know you washed before setting the table. Help yourself,\" Molly urged.

\"Looks wonderful as always, my dear,\" Arthur said as he seated himself.

\"It does look great,\" Harry agreed.

\"Well, don\'t just look at it, eat!\"


Harry wandered back out to the workshop after helping Molly clean up after dinner. She always protested, but he didn\'t mind, always insisted and usually won. After all the years of drudgery in the Dursley household, it was a pleasure to help someone who actually appreciated him.

\"Arthur, may I talk to you about something I\'ve been considering?\"

\"Of course.\" Arthur said as he put the coffee maker down. \"I think I\'m about done messing with for for tonight. My eyes are tired. Do you want to go back in the house?\"

\"No. I - don\'t take this wrong, but it\'s not something I want brandied about until I\'m sure and - well - \"

\"I know. I won\'t say anything to her until you say it\'s time,\" Arthur assured him.

\"I would appreciate it.\"

\"Well, these chairs aren\'t the prettiest, but they are comfortable. Have a seat,\" Arthur said, as he flopped down in an old ratty looking easy chair and put his feet up on an equally scruffy looking coffee table. \"What\'s on your mind?\"

\"Well, I\'ve been thinking about how unprepared most of the wizarding world was for Voldemort,\" Harry said as he sat down in the other chair.

\"Mostly due to Fudge\'s ability to deny the obvious.\"

\"Maybe.\"

\"What do you mean?\"

\"Well, as I said, I\'ve been thinking about this a lot. Most people don\'t have any further training in DADA after they leave Hogwarts, do they?\" Harry asked.

\"Not unless they go through Auror training.\"

\"I wanted to talk with you about setting up a school in DADA for adults. Maybe make it mandatory for them to take a basic course and offer more for those who don\'t want to go for the full Auror course. That way if any more dark wizards show up everyone as a whole would be better prepared.\"

\"That would be very expensive, Harry. I don\'t know that I could get the funding for something like that. Especially now that Voldemort is dead.\"

\"I\'ve considered that as well. I have enough money from my parents to last ten lifetimes. It would be sort of a memorial to them and anyone else that died during the war. If I can stop some even just one other child from becoming an orphan it would be worth every galleon I have.\"

\"That\'s an admirable sentiment, but is it practical?\"

\"I think so. After I finish my Auror training I want to take private lessons from the best DADA people out there. I hope to get them to teach in my school. I guess I\'ve pretty much made up my mind to open one, I just need your help in getting people to take a basic course that goes beyond what Hogwarts teaches.\"

\"It certainly worth submitting a proposal. It can\'t be any worse than some of the ones Fudge pushed through. I\'ll talk it over with Amelia on Monday. Since it will be another year and a half before you get through Auror training I think we have time to work on it. We can start looking around for somewhere to house it as well. Would this be a day class or would there be a need for dormitories?\"

\"I don\'t know. That would be something we need to determine. People would still need to go to their jobs, take care of their families and things like that, so I\'m sure night classes would need to be offered.\"

\"Good point. The more I think about this idea of yours, the more I like it. Haven\'t been talking to Moody have you?\"

\"No, but I get your point,\" Harry laughed.

\"I thought you might. Keep thinking about what you want to do with it and how you want to set it up.\"

\"There is something else I\'d like to ask you about if that\'s OK.\"

\"Go right ahead.\"

\"Molly told me something right before dinner that I have a hard time believing,\" Harry said.

\"About Hermione and Severus? I wondered how long she would hold out.\"

\"So it\'s true?\"

\"Yes, it\'s true. Do you have a problem with it?\" Arthur asked, concern showing on his face.

\"Yes and no. I just don\'t understand how anyone could be in love with him. He\'s - I really hate to say anything bad about him because I know how hard he worked during the war, but he\'s just plain mean.\"

\"Is he really?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"I think you\'re still looking at him from a student perspective, not an adult one.\"

\"But Molly said she\'s been in love with him for a year or so. She was still a student a year ago.\"

\"What else was she doing a year ago?\"

\"I don\'t know what you mean.\"

\"Besides taking her regular classes, what else was she doing?\" Arthur asked.

\"Oh, you mean her tutoring sessions for the students that were falling behind?\"

\"Exactly.\"

\"But she was still a student,\" Harry stated.

\"Yes, but she was almost a teacher in a way, wasn\'t she?\"

\"I guess.\"

\"Don\'t you think she had a lot more contact with Severus as a - call it a student teacher - than she did as an actual student?\"

\"I see where you\'re going. She got to know him outside the classroom - more like teacher to teacher than student to teacher,\" Harry said, slumping down in the chair.

\"I always knew you were a bright young man.\"

\"Why didn\'t she ever say anything?\"

\"To him or to you?\"

\"Either.\"

\"That\'s something you\'re going to have to ask her yourself. You know how hard he worked to find an answer to the curse Molly and the others were under, right?\"

\"Yes.\"

\"Think how hard that would be to do if the woman you loved was one of them.\"

\"I do love Hermione.\"

\"As a sister or a lover?\"

\"I - as long and she and Ron were together I never let myself think of her in any other way than as a friend,\" Harry admitted softly, dropping his head. \"After they broke up I let myself hope that there might be something in the future.\"

\"Harry, I\'m sorry. I didn\'t realize - I wouldn\'t have put it so bluntly if I\'d known.\"

\"How could you know. I\'ve never told anyone before,\" Harry said, raising his head and meeting Arthur\'s eyes. \"I was going to approach her at Christmas break about dating me, but I guess I waited too long.\"

\"I may be playing devil\'s advocate here, but I know there\'s nothing formal between them.\"

\"What do you mean formal?\" Harry asked.

\"They aren\'t engaged or anything like that,\" Arthur stated.

\"Are you encouraging me to ask her out?\"

\"No, not exactly. I don\'t know anymore what I would advise you to do. There have been so many changes and deaths in the last year that nothing is permanent anymore. My daughter is dating a Malfoy, for Merlin\'s sake and I\'m not saying I\'m unhappy about it, but it\'s taken a little time to get used to. He seems to be a decent enough young man and he did fight on our side. I guess I would say, don\'t give up yet. They may decide they can\'t stand each other or they could get married tomorrow.\"

\"I\'m supposed to meet with Dumbledore tomorrow morning so maybe I can talk to her a little then.\"

\"What does Dumbledore want?\"

\"I don\'t really know. He just asked me to come around ten for a confidential matter.\"

\"You might want to consider going a little early, maybe have breakfast with her. Check out the competition so to speak.\"

\"I think I\'ll do that. Probably wouldn\'t hurt to send her an owl asking, would it?\" Harry asked.

\"That\'s the idea.\" Arthur chuckled. \"Give old Severus a run for his money. Since the war is over can\'t have him getting all fat and lazy.\"