Chapter 68: 68 The Latest Information

Bokuboy

Harry ended his training and went back to the Griffindor Tower common room. Hermione was there reading and Neville sat next to her with a huge smile on his face.

“I guess you found another one?” Harry whispered the question when he sat down with them.

“Two.” Neville responded and was very pleased with himself. “We stumbled across the ghosts when we came back from the library.”

“I went looking for anything referencing the red crystal that the headmaster is looking for.” Hermione added.

“Oh? Are you hunting for that hundred galleons?” Harry asked and she laughed.

“No, it was just idle curiosity.” Hermione said. “Although, it would be nice to have a hundred galleons.”

“Yeah.” Neville said and had a wistful look on his face.

Harry nodded in agreement.

“I've got a list if you want to look at it.” Hermione took a piece of parchment out of the book she had.

“Thanks.” Harry said and accepted it. “I assume you only looked for important things?”

“I ignored the every day things like red quarts crystals used for divination, if that's what you meant.” Hermione said. “Dumbledore is supposed to be the most powerful wizard of our time. I doubt he would associate himself with common items.”

“You really are great at looking things up.” Harry complimented her as he looked down and read the list, which meant that he missed her slight blush. “Fawley's Star Ruby, Flamel's Philosopher's Stone, Gambol's Dragon Heart diamond, the McPhail Fire Opal, and Percevoy's Almandine Garnet.” He read the descriptions and the rumors for them, too. “These are definitely all worth more than a hundred galleons.”

Hermione nodded. “I found pictures as well; but, they are... less than reliable.”

“Let me guess. They're all drawings.” Harry said and she nodded again. “Any luck copying them?”

“Yes and no.” Hermione said and nodded at Neville. He took out several sheets and handed them over. The drawings were only basic shapes with a few details, as if they had been hastily drawn.

“I asked the librarian Madam Pince how they made copies for reference and she said I was a first year student and wouldn't understand how to do it and wouldn't be able to cast the spell.” Neville said. “I asked her about the spell anyway and she said it was called the Geminio spell.”

Harry's eyes lit up and he stared at Hermione. “Please, please, please tell me you have it!”

Hermione gave him a huge smile before she could stop herself. “Nope! I don't have it!”

Harry knew she was teasing him and felt a strong urge to tickle her. He hopped from his chair and onto hers, then dug his fingers into her armpits and tickled her. Hermione burst out laughing and tried to hug her arms together to stop him as she closed her book. All she managed to do was dig his fingers in and he tickled her more.

“All... all right!” Hermione said between laughs and Harry stopped. It took her a couple of minutes to calm down and Harry didn't move away, to her surprise. He had sat down right beside her and waited for her to recover. She could see the eagerness on his face and she wasn't sure why she was happy that he hadn't gone back to his own chair. She picked up the book on her lap and opened it to the page she had been reading.

“Is this... wow, it's...” Harry stared at the page with intricate wording and several wand movements.

“It's extremely difficult and requires a lot of practice and concentration before you can cast the spell.” Hermione said. “You are essentially creating an exact copy and that requires a lot of preparation.”

“What year do they normally teach it?” Harry asked.

“It's not on the official school syllabus of spells.” Hermione said and once again, she couldn't hide her smile, which told him that she had more information for him.

“Now you're just teasing me with what you know.” Harry said.

Hermione nodded. “I have a list; but, Neville and I ran out of time to find them.”

Harry took a breath and let it out as he relaxed, which just so happened to let him sink a little deeper into the chair and closer to her. “I've got my visit with Sirius and Amelia tomorrow.”

“You don't have to worry about that.” Hermione said and wondered why her heart was beating a little faster than it normally did. “It's going to take us hours to track the spells down.”

“We would have taken the books out of the library if we didn't have a bunch out already.” Neville said.

Harry looked at Neville and then at Hermione. “You guys are really great for doing this.”

“We're your friends.” Hermione said as she looked deep into his bright green eyes. “Of course we're going to help you.”

“Friends.” Harry whispered and he let a smile grow on his face. “Thank you.” He said and looked deep into her brown eyes. “Thank you very much.”

Hermione's heart sped up and she opened her mouth to speak, only nothing came out. All she could do was nod and Harry looked down at the book.

“I'll look over the duplicate spell tomorrow when I come back to the castle.” Harry said. “I don't have the time to write it all out right now.”

“Yeah, we should get up to bed.” Neville said and stood up. “You've got an early day tomorrow.”

“Oh! Thanks for reminding me.” Harry said and dug into his robes for his timepiece. His hand rubbed along Hermione's thigh as he pulled it out. “I need to change my alarm.” He tucked it back into his robes when he was done and inadvertently rubbed her thigh again. He pushed himself up out of the chair and looked at Hermione. “Goodnight.”

“G-goodnight.” Hermione said, then she pretended to yawn to cover her slightly shaking speech. “See you tomorrow.”

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Harry and Neville left her beside the fire and the two of them went up to their room. As soon as Harry closed the curtains on his bed, he cast the silence spell and opened his trunk. He went down inside and took the bundle off of the shelf. He had put it there after the first day and hadn't looked at it once since then. He laughed as he remembered finding it in Hagrid's coat with the motorcycle keys.

Why would you put such an expensive item in with keys that would scratch it all up? Harry asked himself as he opened up the bundle. He didn't touch it, in case it was something dangerous, and read the list of stones and the rumors, then he examined the drawn pictures. The opal, the dragon diamond, and the star ruby were tossed aside, since the shapes were wrong.

That narrowed it down to two possibilities, the garnet and the philosopher's stone. The garnet was pretty close, until Harry turned the stone he had in his hand and the last two pictures upside down. The garnet didn't match, which meant his brain was trying too hard to make them match. He put the picture aside and stared at the last one.

It's the philosopher's stone. Harry thought and looked at the stone in his hand. Hermione's notes say it can change any metal into gold, is the ultimate healing cure, and can create the elixir of life. He stared at the small stone and he let a smile grow on his face again. He bundled it up and put it back on the shelf, climbed out of his trunk with his night clothes, then changed and closed the trunk.

Harry climbed into his nest of blankets and pushed all other thoughts out of his mind as he imagined what Hermione and Neville were going to do with the hundred galleons he was going to give them tomorrow. That reminded him that he should probably send a letter to Gringotts Bank and his account manager to ask for two more enchanted money bags for them, too. He settled down under the blanket and fell asleep with those happy thoughts filling his head.

*

Albus sat in his office chair and lamented that his initial ploy hadn't worked. He would have to try again at breakfast and catch the other students. Word about his outrageous reward would have spread all over the school by now. He was sure that if anyone had seen it, he would catch their thoughts about it. He went to his sleeping area and transfigured his clothing for bed, laid down, and cast the sleep spell on himself.

*

Hermione couldn't get to sleep. All she could remember was Harry tickling her and then his closeness as she told him they were friends. She hadn't really been sure up until that point that they were, then his whispered 'friends' and his passionate thank you had made her heart flutter. She closed her eyes and his bright green eyes floated in her mind. She didn't know why she liked them so much. They were just eyes.

She hugged herself and her fingers touched her armpits where Harry had tickled her. It had made her feel warm inside and a little tingly afterwards. She was also grateful that she had taken a bath earlier. The last thing she wanted was to smell if he ever did something like that again, so she promised herself to use the freshening spell that he had taught her whenever she could, just in case.

Hermione suppressed her giggle at the thought of him tickling her again. She hadn't laughed like that since... ever. She had let everything out and hadn't tried to fight him off or push his hands away, which she easily could have done. It was confusing and funny and enjoyable and a little scary, because she hadn't let anyone do that to her before, not even her parents.

*

Sirius Black couldn't sleep. He was eagerly awaiting a visit from his godson the next day and all week the healer had told him that it wasn't a delusion. He looked around the hospital room that was eerily similar to his prison cell with nothing in it. He was in a bed, though. That was one clue that he wasn't still in Azkaban. Another clue was that he was being allowed to eat actual food. Oh, and the potions. The god-awful potions.

He shivered as he remembered the bloated feeling he had after every one he drank. It was almost torture as he was forced to drink the whole thing, because otherwise it wouldn't be as effective. On the plus side, his skin was starting to lose the bright whiteness it had gained from being in the dark for ten years. He was sure that was a potion and not access to the sun he had been given for an hour each day, under the healer's orders.

Sirius sighed at the overbearing and caring woman. He knew she meant well; but, sometimes he just wanted to be left alone. He was sure she knew that and bothered him anyway. It was almost as if she wanted to make sure he wasn't going to off himself.

Sirius laughed at that stupid idea. I would have offed myself after the first six months in prison if I was going to give up. He thought. No, I'm out now and I won't give up like that.

He rolled over in the bed and looked at the empty paper bag that the Dirigible Plum cauldron cake had been in and smiled. His godson cared about him, even after everything that happened. It had been his fault Harry's parents had died. His best friend was dead. Dead. All because of him.

“No no no no...” Sirius started to whisper, over and over, then he shivered as an unbearable cold seeped into his bones. He huddled in on himself and his eyes darted around the room, waiting for the light to go out and for the Dementor to appear and hug him.

Almost immediately, Healer Ela came into his room and walked over to the bed. “It's all right, Sirius.” She said in a soft voice, then she cast several spells on him to relax his tense muscles and calm him. “Harry's going to be here first thing in the morning.”

“H-H-Harry.” Sirius whispered and looked at the paper bag. “I failed him.”

“No, you lived for him.” Healer Ela said. “Why else would you have stayed in that hellish place all these years?”

Sirius blinked his eyes at her as she rolled him onto his back.

“You knew he needed you, so you waited for him.” Healer Ela said and tucked the blanket around her patient. “That boy has gone through a lot, in some respects even more than you have.”

“Wh-what... do I...”

Healer Ela gave him a warm smile. “For now, all you need to do is get better. After that, you have to be the godfather that boy needs in his life.”

Sirius nodded in agreement and she pat his chest.

“I can cast a sleep spell on you if you want.” Healer Ela said.

Sirius thought about it and nodded again.

“Sleep well. When you wake up, Harry should be here.”

Sirius smiled at the thought and then he felt very tired and closed his eyes.

Healer Ela fought her instincts to kiss the poor man's cheek. He was fighting through a lot of horrible things that happened to him, just so he could help his godson fight through some horrible things that happened to him. Her heart went out to the both of them, their lives so tragic and filled with strife.

She couldn't let herself become even more invested in them, though. She knew that they only saw her as a healer. If she didn't try to keep her distance, only she would end up heartbroken when Sirius left the hospital, possibly for good, which would leave her with a void in her life.

Little did she realize that she was already much more emotionally invested than she thought she was. Ela's mind was already focused on both of their welfare too much and it distracted her as she tried to work on other patients, which was why the Head Healer had assigned her as a personal healer for Sirius. Ela could still do her job and Sirius got the dedicated healing that he needed.

Healer Ela pet the man's hair for a moment and let out a soft sigh, then she leaned down and kissed his cheek. She left the room and didn't turn off the light, even though Sirius wouldn't wake from the spell until morning. She went across the hall to room 302 that was hidden behind a protective barrier and she took off her uniform as she let her brown hair down out of the tight bun she always kept it in.

Ela slipped on her nightgown and climbed into bed, set her alarm for very early, then snuggled down under the blanket. It was tiring to care for someone like Sirius and pretending to be happy all the time was exhausting. She wouldn't let his experiences get her down, though. She would help him work through them until he was better. Not only was it her job, she enjoyed it.

Helping people had been her calling since she was a little girl. Now that she was an accomplished Healer, she had the most challenging case she had ever had and she was enthusiastic about it. It would boost her emotional state, her professional standing, and help one of the most hopeless cases she had ever had to deal with.

Ela closed her eyes with those warm feelings filling her and she drifted off to sleep. She wouldn't admit that she wanted to see Harry just as much as Sirius did.

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