Finally she wound down and glared at him. "Well? Are you going to answer my questions?"
"Are you going to give me time to, or are you just going to ask one question after the other without a pause between, just as you used to do before the First Task?"
That was when Daphne walked in, much more calmly. She didn't look happy.
"Hermione Jean Granger," she firmly said. "I know you were anxious to return to see Harry, but that does not excuse you running through the corridors of the school like a small child loaded up on sugar!"
Hermione immediately blushed.
"Your conduct was completely unbecoming of a future Lady of a Noble and Most Ancient House," Daphne continued. "Have you not been told your behaviour reflects on Harry?"
Harry looked to her and asked, "Is this true?"
"Yes," she quietly replied, looking down and ashamed.
Harry sighed and dropped his head into his hands, "Hermione..." he whined, before lifting his head again. "Look. I understand. But this... impetuousness, you must get control of. Alright?"
Still not looking up she sadly nodded.
With a sigh he patted the seat on the sofa next to him and said, "Come here."
As Hermione moved to obey, he turned to Daphne, patted to cushion on the other side and said, "You, too."
And Daphne moved to obey.
When he turned back he was just in time to wrap Hermione in a hug as the girl sniffled in sorrow. "I don't expect miracles," he said. "I just expect effort."
Releasing her, he sat back and said, "Now. I expect both of you are very interested in what my meeting in the Headmistress's office was all about, right?"
"Yes," both replied. But Daphne added, "If you're willing to inform us, of course."
He replied, "I can't give you specific details because the person who I met with, not Lady Marchbanks, has locked it all within a modified Fidelius charm acting as a secrecy charm. Think about it, I cannot speak about them."
When he saw both understood he continued, "However, in general terms, what we spoke about had to do with the prophecy I was told about, my part in it, Dumbledore and his part in it and even Tom Riddle's part in it. Yes, he's involved.
"Issues like this are almost always handled by... those people. It's one of their mandates. However, Dumbledore got in the way of that and interfered. If Dumbledore had done the right thing from the get-go, there's a decent chance my parents would never have been killed and Neville's parents would never have ended up in Saint Mungo's."
As Harry explained what he could, Hermione settled again. By the time he was finished, she was almost back to being her usual self, just a tad bit less chipper.
"Oooohh... when I get my hands on that old man..." she grumped.
"Errr... I want you to forget all about the old man, Love," he said. "I do not believe we'll ever have to worry about him again."
When she gave him a very direct, demanding look, he sighed and said, "I... cannot tell you why I know that. I just do."
"Then," she said. "We can tell Madam Bones that."
"No, we really can't," he said. "For two reasons. One: we have no proof he'll never be seen or heard from again. And, two: supposedly, Dumbledore is the only wizard Riddle has ever feared. Just knowing Dumbledore could turn up at any moment to deal with him has, in the past, been enough to send Riddle and his lickspittles running away as soon as people start showing up to fight him."
"Ah!" said Daphne. "Of course. And, if it is learned Dumbledore is gone for good, then, if Riddle does come back as it appears he may, he won't have to worry about Dumbledore showing up."
He nodded and said, "Which will lead to even more people dying and, possibly, the Statute of Secrecy being broken."
Once he finished, he suggested both girls go and change before dinner. "I'll be doing the same," he said, rising.
And they did precisely that.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Late that evening, Pettigrew was in a grungy pub in Knockturn Alley called the Warlock's Curse and was under a rune-based glamour. He was sitting in a 'discussion' stall at the back. It was the place where dodgy deals were made. On his lapel he wore a small gold pin of a snake wrapped around and through a skull. It was not the same as the dark mark, but it held the same components.
He'd been sitting there for almost an hour when Lucius Malfoy walked in, looked for him and walked over.
Barely acknowledging the once politically powerful man, Pettigrew quietly said, "Lucius, take a seat." And indicated the seat opposite.
Malfoy sneered and said, "I'll take your seat. Switch to the other side."
Pettigrew gave a snort of amusement and moved to take the seat he'd directed Malfoy to take.
Then, before he sat down, Malfoy cast detection charms across the whole area.
Once both were seated, Pettigrew said, "I'll allow you to erect the privacy charms."
Malfoy merely cocked an eyebrow, but still cast the charms.
"Good," said Pettigrew. "Now we can speak freely."
With his wand still drawn, Malfoy turned it on Pettigrew. "Who are you, to know that phrase?"
Knowing which phrase Malfoy referred to, the one Voldemort told him to include in a letter he'd sent to the man opposite, Pettigrew smirked and said, "The one who gave it to you in the first place. He's back and he wants to see you."
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