Secrets

Chapter 25

I own nothing! J.K.Rowling owns everything! Although I do own the plot... so no takesies! It's MY PRECIOUS!

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Hermione knew that she couldn't go back to her apartment, but she also knew that she couldn't stay in Riddle Manor for long because, sooner rather than later, aurors were going to search it whilst looking for her. Therefore she acted quickly. Pretty much as soon as she'd arrived at the manor she'd sprinted to the kitchen for the antidote, without bothering to brush the ash from flooing off herself. But she didn't take the antidote. No, for her it was more useful to be undetectable in the next few hours, so she ran upstairs and packed her little bag that had the undetectable extension charm on it before having a quick shower. She felt unbelievably grimy after her stay in Azkaban and welcomed the cleanliness she felt once she was done, the only positive that came from her extended stay in prison is that she was able to go over and fine tune every detail in her plan and accommodate it to the delays. Once showered Hermione made no hesitation in apparating to her next destination. After feeling like she'd been sucked through a very twisty tube Hermione found herself on the pavement opposite Harry Potter's house.

Confident and very glad that the potion that made her invisible would also make her unnoticeable to wards, Hermione strode forwards and walked through the front door without having to lift a finger. At that moment a patronus whizzed past her, leaving a faint blue glow in its wake. Hermione followed it without thinking a second thought and silently bounded up the stairs and into Harry's study.

Harry was pacing the room in a very agitated state as he tried to think of something to say at Hermione's trial the next day that would prevent her from getting the dementor's kiss. She may be Voldemort's daughter and she may have done some bad things over the last few years - the extent of which nobody was sure of because Hermione didn't talk much about it and none of the Death-Eaters claimed to know anything - but she had still been his best friend since he was 11 and he felt like he had do something that could help her in some way. His frantic wracking of his brain, however, was interrupted when the patronus raced into his room ready to deliver its message. The invisible Hermione came in almost immediately afterwards waiting to hear what it had so say.

"Harry," Kingsley's voice sounded urgent and worried, Harry frowned at the voice - his thoughts of the man not as high as they once had been knowing that Kingsley knew what terrible things the Order had done, "I have some very distressing and troubling news that needs your attention immediately. Hermione Riddle has escaped from Azkaban. We don't know how she did it, there is no signs of a break out and no alarms went off. She seems to have vanished. You, along with the rest of the aurors, have been tasked with finding her. It is now your top priority." With that the patronus disappeared. Hermione smiled, the aurors were now going to be busy looking in all the wrong places.

"Ugh!" Harry pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration. "There's no helping her now, not if she's caught." Harry mumbled. "Hermione, you've never been an idiot before, why'd you have to start now?" He glanced up at the clock which read 19:24 and sighed, he and Ginny were supposed go to the Burrow at half past seven for Sunday dinner with the others, looks like he wasn't going to be able to make it. "Ginny!" He called out for his wife.

"Yeah?" She called back.

"Please tell your mum I'm sorry, but I won't be able to make it to dinner tonight."

Ginny's head popped round the door. "What?" She asked as she walked into the room. "Why not?"

Harry sighed again. "Hermione has escaped from Azkaban, and all aurors have been ordered to go out and find her. I don't know what time I'll be back and I have a feeling I'll miss dinner..." He trailed off before he suddenly had the urge to scratch his eyes out. "The stupid girl!" He exclaimed. "She had a chance before this - a slim one, but it was still a chance."

Ginny ran forward to give her husband a hug. "I know, and I know your upset, Harry, but you can't control what she does. No one has ever been able to control Hermione, she's one of the most stubborn people we've ever met - and that includes my family." A ghost of a smile fell upon Harry's face. "I don't know the things she's done exactly, but she got herself into this mess, and you can only help her so much, Harry. But given the things you told me about the interrogation, I don't know if she wants to be helped." They stood there in silence for a bit, Ginny trying to comfort Harry. "I'll tell Mum you can't make it, and I'll also bring home some leftovers which I'll leave in the kitchen for you when you come back." She gave him a light peck. "Be safe."

"When am I ever not?"

Ginny raised an eyebrow at him. "Do you honestly want me to answer that?"

Harry kissed her on the forehead. "I love you, Ginny Potter."

"I love you too." Ginny responded, kissing his lips before she headed back to their room to continue getting ready for dinner at her parents' house.

Hermione watched as Harry took his time going around the room and preparing to go out and hunt one of his oldest friends, she smiled sadly as she took in that he didn't look very happy about the fact. Once he'd gone and the house was empty - save for Hermione - she then started to snoop around his office, looking for any Order documents. Harry was one of the leading roles in the Order now and therefore would have information and reports about past, present and future missions. Although now remembering the look on his face when he found out his father had killed her mother, she doubted Kingsley let him read or have any of the reports from his father's time.

After spending a fair bit of time combing his rather messy desk for reports - she'd found some rather dull and rookie ones - Hermione started to look through the room. The bookshelves rendered themselves useless (something she never thought she'd think) as it wasn't hiding any Order secrets, the same thing was to be said for the floorboards, the chairs, the portraits and paintings, the random umbrella stand and the safe. Hermione had almost given up when she started to search the grandfather clock in the corner of the room. First she checked behind it, not surprised when there was nothing there, before she started to look inside the belly of the wooden object. Careful not jog any of the cogs, Hermione worked slowly looking for nooks and crannies. But she couldn't find anything behind the pendulum, and it was only as she was closing the little door that she finally sighed in a bit of relief. The little door that opened up to the machinery of the clock was not built from a particularly thick piece of wood but it was thick enough that a small slit was made in the side that allowed a person to store a few important documents. You wouldn't have noticed it at first because it was not a compartment at the back of the door, as you would expect, it was basically a thin crack, and Hermione only noticed it because a tiny part of one of the papers hidden inside had given her a paper cut. After gently pulling the documents out of the hiding space, Hermione scanned the documents and her eyes widened at what she had found.

"Harry Potter and I need to have a little chat."

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I'm so sorry this chapter was late! Like really really late... I wrote it a couple of times but didn't like the way they flowed so I then scraped it and wrote it again.

I have a question for you all... and its rather important because it involves the end of the story (which is probably going to happen quite soon). Do you want sunshine, rainbows, unicorns and lollipops for an ending or do you want a twist? I'm not going to say what this twist is... it could be equally as good and bright and wonderful or it could be slightly darker. Which do you want? I'm stuck between the two scenarios (that I'm trying not dropping any hints about) that I love so much because I feel they both work perfectly and finish the story either way so I need your help! Please comment and let me know! (or send me a private message... either works)

Hope you enjoyed it!

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