Chapter Seven: Stand My Ground
After the two were in the Gryffindor dorm, Harry pulled off the cloak and held Ginny close. "Are you okay, Ginny?"
Ginny looked at him sadly. "Yes, I think I'm fine… just a little shocked."
"You'll be fine, Ginny. I'm so sorry I didn't leave you the cloak."
"No, you saved me in time. Thank you, Harry. I should have just been more careful. I thought he was just going to throw his insults and then leave…" Ginny said, angry at herself.
"Don't worry about it. You couldn't have expected this; even I wouldn't have thought Malfoy was capable of something like this. You're safe now, that's what matters. We will just be more careful in the future… if I don't get expelled," Harry said the last part under his breath, but Ginny picked it up.
"Don't be silly, they can't expel you!" Ginny said furiously.
"Gin, if I had put more power into that spell, he could have died. As it is, he may have lost the use of an arm… I'm so sorry, Ginny… I didn't mean to lose control like that," Harry said, tears forming in his eyes.
"What's the matter, Harry? You saved me and we both know you will not get expelled. It's something else that's bothering you," Ginny said wisely, her hand stroking his hair.
"I deserve to be expelled. Do you have any idea how close I came to launching a Killing Curse at him? Damnit, I was already picturing his death in my mind, I just barely avoided casting it. Don't you see, Ginny? Look at what I've become… Who is to say that the next time, I won't just kill all three of them?"
Ginny began to interrupt furiously, but Harry plowed on. "He enjoys causing pain also. I thought I was doing the right thing by learning these curses, but I've turned into Tom Riddle! I wanted to kill him, just like I wanted to kill Bellatrix."
"LISTEN to me! You're not like him, for the last bloody time," Ginny yelled angrily, putting a finger over Harry's mouth. "You're different because you feel horrible at the thought of killing someone who possibly deserves it! Tom feels good about killing those who don't deserve it. Okay, so you let your protective instincts take over for a second. That's completely different then letting your evil instincts run your life."
"But Ginny, I'm a murderer, that's all there is to it…" Harry said, holding her arms.
"Harry, if you were being surrounded by Death Eaters who were ready to torture and kill you, and I came along and shot a few curses at them and one of them died, would you think I was a monster?" Ginny said, hoping desperately that he would understand her point. The only other solution was to Bat-Bogey him until he stopped damning himself…
"Of course not," Harry said simply, comprehension dawning on his face.
"Good. You're not a murderer and you never will be. You may have to kill people, but I know that you will never kill someone who wasn't putting a friend in danger."
"But-
"No buts, Harry. I want you to survive this war more than anything. For that to happen, if every bloody snake-faced Death Eater has to die, than so be it."
Harry sighed, looking into Ginny's deep brown eyes. "I want that too. Before I knew you, I was happy to die to destroy Voldemort. I never believed I had a future at all. Now… I want a future more than ever. I want it so bad that it scares me."
"You're going to have your dream future, Harry. One day, I promise you that it will happen," she said seriously. And that future will have me at your side, Potter… she thought to herself as she engaged in her favorite pastime, "Harry-fantasizing".
He pulled her closer to him, gently caressing her back with his hand, while the other hand stroked her hair. Their lips brushed together gently for nearly a minute, both of them simply enjoying the sensation of holding each other. Ginny deepened this kiss, but kept the reassuring gentleness intact.
Harry marveled at his beautiful girlfriend who always knew exactly what to say to him when he was depressed or moody. It was almost as if she was a Legilimens considering the way she understood what was going on in his head. Not only that, but he felt so good when she was next to him, like he was home. He let his fears, insecurities, and dark emotions fly out of his body as he got lost in Ginny Weasley.
McGonagall burst into the Gryffindor common room, finding the two students in a deep embrace. She sighed, knowing she should reprimand them for their public displays of affection, but they looked so perfect together…
"Potter! Weasley! I'm afraid you two need to come to the Headmaster's office immediately. Dumbledore has scanned the minds of Mr. Goyle and Mr. Crabbe, and believes that both of you were involved in the incident," she said putting on a stern face.
Harry paled a little and said, "Sure, professor."
McGonagall shot him a very quick look of sympathy. "Harry, I believe you did nothing wrong, and believe me, I will see those three Slytherins punished soundly if it is the last thing I do. Unfortunately, the Board of Governors requires a proper report whenever there is an injury…"
Harry nodded, and the three walked to Dumbledore's office. Ginny squeezed his hand reassuringly, reminding Harry wordlessly, reminding him that she would be at his side, no matter what happened.
"Pixie Patches," McGonagall said as they neared the two gargoyles guarding the headmaster's office.
Inside the office stood Dumbledore and the other heads of houses, and Harry's gaze lingered on Snape, trying to figure out why he was staring at Harry in a rather peculiar fashion. He looked angry, but what stood out more than his look of anger was his look of curiosity.
"Ahh… Mr. Potter and Miss Weasley have joined us. Miss Weasley, let me describe today's events to the best of my knowledge. I wish for you to point out anything that I have misinterpreted or missed, to make sure we know all significant facts before acting," Dumbledore said, looking at Ginny rather closely. "Would you like a Lemon Drop?"
Was he using Legilimency against her? Harry really hoped not, but just be sure, he moved closer towards her to squeeze her hand. While he was doing that, he slipped his head momentarily in between Dumbledore's gaze and Ginny's eyes, checking for a mental probe. When he found no mental probe, Harry disguised the movement by giving her a quick hug and telling her that if she didn't want to relive it now she didn't have to. This seemed to have the desired effect on the heads of houses, who were now extremely curious to know exactly what Mr. Malfoy did that would be that bad.
"I was walking down the hall and Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle cornered me and disarmed me. He was about to stun me, but he said he wanted to feel me struggling. He called me all sorts of horrible names… Professor, do I have to tell you exactly what he said?" Ginny said in an almost whimper. Harry couldn't help but marvel at how well she was gaining the professors' sympathy.
"No, I believe we can guess the nature of those comments," Dumbledore replied, putting a hand up to silence the gasps that were coming from the professors.
"Well, as he was moving closer to me, he said he was going to r-rape me and if I told anyone… he said if I told my family or Harry about it they wouldn't want to be near me again. I was scared and there was no way to escape."
"I'm so very sorry, Miss Weasley. Will you be able to continue?" Dumbledore asked sounding sincerely sorry. Harry noticed that Snape shot him a rather large "I told you so" look.
"Well, then… I don't know what happened, suddenly Crabbe and Goyle decided to body slam Malfoy, and I escaped," Ginny said.
"And that is when Mr. Potter comes in?" Dumbledore prompted shrewdly.
Harry knew that he would have to come clean now. Dumbledore had probably seen the memories of Malfoy's goons and most likely seen the black mist surrounding Malfoy.
"Yes, sir. I happened to be wandering in that hall and I heard a scream. I quickly ran over, and saved Ginny," Harry supplied, drawing the attention off of Ginny and on to himself. Harry decided to come clean, but by Merlin, he was going to make Dumbledore work to get his answers.
"And am I correct in assuming that you cast a powerful spell on Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore asked, his eyes betraying his interest in the answer. The ice blue eyes had lost their normal twinkle and instead had a piercing glow.
Snape, on the other hand, wasn't moving his eyes from Harry. Harry was rather glad that his Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor wasn't a Basilisk.
"Yes," Harry said simply.
"And what spell did you use, Potter!" Snape barked angrily.
Harry did a bit of quick thinking and blurted out, "It was a spell that Wormtail hit me from behind with during the attack on Diagon Alley. You see, while I was dueling Bellatrix, I heard an incantation and saw a bunch of small things that were on the street rocket towards me. I dived out of the way, but Bellatrix used the chance to hold me under the Cruciatus."
Everyone besides Ginny, Dumbledore, and Snape let out a gasp at the mention of that Unforgivable Curse. Harry noticed that Snape looked like he was about to yell something out, so Harry promptly continued his tale.
"And when I saw Ginny being cornered, it brought a flashback of when I was cornered, so I just used the first spell that came to mind. I wasn't thinking clear enough to just use a Stunner."
Harry thought that was a pretty clever explanation, but Snape, by the look on his face, did not agree.
"Potter, there's no way Pettigrew could have managed a spell like that," he spat angrily. He looked at Dumbledore eyes, as if asking an unspoken question, but Dumbledore gave a slight shake of his head. Harry smirked at his professor, knowing he was itching to break into Harry's mind.
"I suppose that's why I wasn't hurt by it too badly during the attack," Harry said matter-of-factly.
Dumbledore came in between the angry professor and student, saying, "Harry, why were you under your invisibility cloak at that time? Was it coincidence that you and Miss Weasley were on the same floor?"
Harry froze for a second, sneaking a glance at Ginny, praying that she could think of something on the spot.
"Sir, Harry goes to the Room of Requirement to use these Muggle exercise machines. You know, there's one that you lie down on and push this heavy bar up and down… It's great Quidditch conditioning, so I accompany him there once in a while. There's also this machine, I forget what Harry said its name was. I'm talking about the one that you run on… a breadmill? What he usually does is approximately five repetitions on the bench thingy-"
"Enough Weasley! We can see through your pathetic-" Snape shouted, cutting through her babbling. Harry couldn't help but feel proud of his girlfriend for stalling for time.
"Well, that's the reason I was on the seventh floor. We've also been practicing martial arts. Wing Chun originated in ancient China…" Harry cut in, further frustrating the angry professor. Harry decided enough was enough, McGonagall had been on his side, and he was not about to ruin that by being immature. "Anything else you would like to know, sir?"
Dumbledore nodded at Harry, his eyes twinkling. "Yes, a little exercise is always a healthy practice. When I was younger, much younger, I used to enjoy swimming very much. However, it would seem you have spent more than a little time training. As a matter of fact, I believe you tried to take only four classes this year so that you could train more often?"
Harry knew that Dumbledore had used the open-ended word 'train' to manipulate Harry into divulging details about his time in the Room of Requirement. However, Harry would not play the headmaster's game.
"And it's proved rather useful… next time Malfoy tries to attack Ginny, she won't need my help to escape. But there won't be a 'next time' right? Surely Mr. Malfoy will be expelled for his crime… or should I say multiple heinous crimes?" Harry stressed the last words, seeing Dumbledore freeze in shock. Harry gave himself a mental pat on the back for taking control of the conversation.
Dumbledore frowned, a calculating look appearing on his face.
McGonagall shot Harry a look of confusion. "What other crimes has Mr. Malfoy committed? I know you two have had some childish altercations in the past, but I was under the impression that his actions today were the worst we have seen from him."
Harry looked at her and then switched his gaze towards Dumbledore, whose eyes were old and worn, instead of lively and twinkling. Harry couldn't believe that Dumbledore hadn't even informed the Gryffindor Head of House that Malfoy was on a mission to earn his Dark Mark by harming one of her students. "Ma'am, are you saying that no one told you that Malfoy has joined Voldemort? He doesn't have a mark yet; that's why he is here at Hogwarts. To get a Dark Mark and be an official Death Eater, you have to prove yourself by using the three Unforgivables. Malfoy has used the first two already. Voldemort told him that to get the snake tattoo he would need to do something at Hogwarts this year, and I'm fairly sure it has to do with me or one of my friends," Harry stated matter-of-factly and without emotion. He smirked at Dumbledore, who was now being stared at by the Heads of Houses.
"Albus! It this true?" McGonagall screamed at him, looking at him rather threateningly.
Snape entered the conversation at that point. "Potter is correct, although I know not how he got his information. The Malfoy brat is also keeping a close eye on me, no doubt relaying information back to his master. It is severely inhibiting my abilities to play the role of the spy."
Harry tapped his scar, hoping that would convince them. He didn't want Dumbledore to think Lupin or someone was relaying Order information to Harry.
Everyone was now staring at Dumbledore, demanding an explanation. Ginny smirked at him, causing him to smile a bit too. It would seem that the details of his training were no longer the important issue. Harry knew Snape wanted Malfoy expelled, mostly for selfish reasons. McGonagall would most likely be on Harry's side, although she was very loyal to Dumbledore. Perhaps now there would be enough pressure put upon Dumbledore to expel Malfoy…
"Yes, Mr. Malfoy has indeed been forced into Tom Riddle's band of servants. I do not, however, believe he would be in this position if he had a choice in the matter. That is why I chose not to simply expel him. I also do not believe he would have carried through with the act that he threatened Ms. Weasley with. He is not a spitting image of his father on the inside, this I know. I will not condemn him to a terrible life-"
"You're not condemning him! He's already chosen his side. To use the Cruciatus you have to enjoy causing pain. We know from today's events that Malfoy does indeed enjoy causing pain and suffering! It's not just Lucius who wants Draco to be Voldemort's servant; Draco wants it too. I'm pretty sure that Voldemort didn't tell Malfoy to rape her, he probably told him to kidnap her or something. Malfoy is a danger, not only to Ginny and my friends, but to all of the females at Hogwarts!" Harry snapped angrily. He hadn't witnessed Malfoy's summer activities firsthand, but he was about to rape a woman! Malfoy knew perfectly well how horrible it would be for Ginny, and he thoroughly enjoyed it. It wasn't the action of a son reluctantly obeying his father; it was the action of an evil man. How could Dumbledore not see that?
"Look sir, I grew up in a home where I was abused verbally and physically. If I ever abuse my child, then please, throw me in Azkaban, don't say that I was the unfortunate product of a bad environment who wasn't to blame because I was raised that way," Harry said seriously. Everyone around him was sitting in a stunned silence.
Finally Dumbledore spoke again, "Harry, I believe it would be best to continue this discussion at another time. We will decide upon the fate of Mr. Malfoy in the mean time. Miss Weasley, I am terribly sorry for your ordeal-"
"Being sorry isn't enough," Ginny snapped.
Harry saw that Ginny was sad and the beast in his chest flared up. "Do you have any idea of what you've done to her? You gambled with her life! You decided to put that Death Nibbler near her, knowing full well he meant to harm her. Oh, but it's all fine and dandy because you think that Malfoy is soft and innocent. You think that he's still a kid, so therefore he isn't capable of the same evil as his father! You had your chance to change Draco starting six years ago and now it's too late. I don't know what you're trying to pull, but thank you for showing us all that you care more about your ridiculous, hare-brained schemes than you do about Ginny's life."
Once again everyone was stunned. Snape opened his mouth as if to scold Harry, but instead Snape gave Harry a curt nod, letting Harry know that they were on the same side.
Harry grabbed Ginny's hand and gently led her out of the office. Harry could hear the raised voiced of the Heads of Houses all shooting statements and questions at the Headmaster. When he heard McGonagall's furious voice rising above the others, Harry almost felt sorry for his headmaster. Almost.
Harry led her to the Room of Requirement, thinking that Hermione and Ron would probably bombard them with questions if they went to the Common Room. He thought of a room in Potter Manor and collapsed on one of the comfortable sofas. Ginny sat down next to him and leaned her head onto his chest.
"Well that went… well," Harry said sarcastically, seeking a way to start a conversation.
"Yeah, best hour of my life," Ginny replied matching his sarcasm. Ginny adopted a serious face and said, "But on the positive end, it looks like Dumbledore may have no choice but to expel Malfoy and we were able to keep him from finding out too much about your training."
"Yeah, but that means Dumbledore will just ask me those same questions later," Harry mused darkly.
"Harry, you can worry about that later. We don't know what the circumstances will be then," Ginny said wisely.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, we don't know if he will punish you for your spell, punish Malfoy, suspend Malfoy, expel him, or send him to Azkaban. If Dumbledore seems to be listening to others, then you may want to tell him more than if he does something ridiculous like, I dunno, demand that you allow him to enter your mind," Ginny replied calmly.
"Gin, you're pretty smart, you know… balances out my thickness, huh?" Harry replied with an infectious grin.
"Yes, it sure does, Potter," Ginny remarked with a good-natured smirk. "But seriously, sometimes another perspective can be useful."
"Your perspective is always useful, Ginny. I don't know what I'd do without it," Harry said sincerely, leaning into Ginny and touching his cheek to her head.
Ginny lifted her head and gave him a thorough, heartfelt kiss enjoying the sensation of feeling the day's worries fly out of her mind. Finally they broke apart, but remained close to each other.
"Harry?" Ginny said gently.
"Yeah?"
"What should we tell the others?"
Harry looked at her eyes and he could tell that she was obviously concerned about telling others. Harry cursed himself for being stupid and forgetting that this was something very personal for Ginny. "Well, I was thinking of telling them that I stopped Malfoy from… assaulting you in the hallway and that I hexed him badly. I think they need to know what the professors said, but I can, err, leave out any details you feel uncomfortable talking about?"
"No, I think they need to know everything about Malfoy… Hermione and Luna need to know so that they can be careful. I'm okay telling them, especially since he didn't get to lay a hand on me," Ginny said, although her face told Harry that she was still worried about something.
"Ginny, do you want to tell me what you're thinking? Uh… another perspective could help, right?" Harry asked reassuringly.
"Well it's silly really… I just get annoyed when everyone treats me like I'm a little girl who needs to be protected, especially my family. I don't really mind when you do it, but that's because you treat me like I'm a woman. The rest of them… ever since my first year, they have been always keeping a patronizing eye on me. Just when I thought they were finally going to accept that I don't need their protection, it gets proven that I do need to be protected and not let out of their eyesight…" Ginny said gloomily.
Harry thought it over for a minute and then replied, "Just because you or I need someone to watch our back doesn't mean we need to be treated like a child."
"But they do both at the same time! They don't understand the difference. Mum will want to remove me from Hogwarts and lock me up in Headquarters if she finds out."
"One day they will understand that you have grown up, just like hopefully one day Dumbledore will understand the same about me. I know how annoying it can be; I was ready to tear my hair out. But you know what happened then?"
"What?" Ginny questioned.
"I found someone who did understand me; someone who's perspective brought color into my life," Harry said, giving Ginny a kiss on the nose and causing her to giggle.
Ginny nodded and softly said, "I found you too, Harry. I understand what you mean; sometimes I tell myself that as long as you understand, I couldn't care less about everyone else. It's wonderful to share this with you…"
"But it can't make up for your Mum thinking that you're too young to be near me and thus near to the war?" Harry said, doing his best to read her emotions.
After Ginny nodded, he continued, "I don't mean for this to sound inconsiderate, but there's nothing you can do except continue to be the woman I know. It may be frustrating as hell, but you just have to keep going forward. Hopefully your family will come to their senses soon; I think your dad already has."
"Thanks, Harry," Ginny said, giving him a squeeze. "I don't know what I'd do without you either."
The six students were very shocked by Ginny's assault and were taking their training sessions much more seriously. Harry guessed that they had simply needed proof that what he had said about the Malfoy situation was true. Three days had passed since the meeting in Dumbledore's office, but Malfoy was still in the hospital wing, so no disciplinary actions could be taken. Harry had heard that Malfoy had a broken right arm, two cracked ribs, and a dislocated left shoulder. Harry was anxious for Dumbledore to hurry up and expel Malfoy before anything unexpected happened, such as the Ministry getting involved, but Harry did feel a little bad for nearly killing the blonde boy. Not that he wouldn't shove Malfoy in Azkaban if he had the power to do that…
"All right guys, we're going to do some sparring using the Siu Nam Tao attacks, blocks, and dodges that we have learned. You guys have learned all of the moves in Siu Nam Tao, but that's only half of it. You have to learn how to use it against a moving object and learn how to stay in balance when you use the moves. You also have to be aware of you opponent's stance and constantly adjust your position accordingly. This is something that we are going to do every day, because if you can't spar using the Siu Nam Tao moves, the rest of Wing Chun will be inaccessible to you," Harry said, dividing his friends into pairs.
"Harry, how are we supposed to hit the other person without hurting them?" Hermione asked, looking a little nervous.
"I'm getting to that. First of all, no strikes to any sensitive spots. On real enemies, it's good to know where those sensitive areas are, so you can practice that on the dummies. Today what we will do is one person will do one of the hand or foot attacks, and the opponent will dodge or block the attack. Then the person who dodges will attack. With practice, you guys should eventually be able to trade attacks rapidly," Harry said firmly, but encouragingly.
Harry turned to Ron and yelled for everyone to get into fighting stance. Harry began by delivering a quick left-handed punch aimed at Ron's chest. Ron parried the blow by an elbow block, but in doing so he left nearly his whole body unguarded. Harry thought about stepping in and ramming his elbow into Ron's abdomen, but then reminded himself that they were supposed to alternate blows.
After they continued to trade blows while Harry shouted out the many things Ron was forgetting, Harry called for a break and then switched partners, allowing him to work with other people. Harry remembered how badly he had been trounced when he began to spar with Tonks, so he took it easy on the novices. He was fairly confident that they would soon be able to outfight most of the people at Hogwarts.
The one thing that concerned Harry was that he himself was only a novice. In a few months, he will have taught the five others everything Tonks had taught him over the summer. That would barely break the surface of Wing Chun, which required many years of training under an expert instructor to become an expert in. He needed to find a way to receive instruction in martial arts if he truly wanted to become good at it. Plus, having an instructor would allow Harry to concentrate on perfecting his moves rather than trying to keep an eye on everyone.
Harry decided to think about how he could get Tonks to come teach them. At the very least, it would be helpful if she could come once a week or so, so that she could help Harry teach them and point out things he was missing. Harry thought about asking Dumbledore for permission to allow Tonks to come to Hogwarts to teach them martial arts, but he was a bit unsure about how the Headmaster would react. He was obviously uncomfortable with the 'new Harry', and if he thought that Tonks was one of the people responsible for Harry's rebelliousness, Dumbledore would most likely try to siphon information from her. Harry finally decided to follow Ginny's advice; waiting and taking in the circumstances and then deciding which course of action would be best.
Another option would be for Harry to just teach them as much as he could now, and over Christmas break and summer, have Tonks teach them. The ideal solution would be to have Tonks train them year round, but if that wouldn't be possible, daily sessions over the holidays would help.
Ginny shouted something at Harry, bringing him out of his thoughts. "Hey Harry, you're keeping us overtime again," Ginny said loudly, but she lacked a serious expression. Out of all of them, Ginny was the most enthusiastic about learning how to defend herself, so Harry knew she wasn't really mad.
Ron, on the other hand, was rather concerned about consuming as much breakfast as possible. "Bloody hell, there won't be any left if we don't get a move on," Ron said, already moving towards the changing room.
"Guess we'll have to wake up earlier then," Harry said, smirking at the look of horror on his friend's face.
The sixth year Gryffindors gloomily walked down to the dungeons, muttering about greasy haired gits. Harry hoped that Defense Against the Dark Arts might be a bit better than usual because Malfoy would not be there, but with this dueling tournament coming up, Harry had a feeling Snape was going to be exceptionally nasty. Harry scratched his head in confusion, remembering that Snape couldn't be too nasty to him because they were both fighting for Malfoy's expulsion… but then again, they were supposedly both against Voldemort and that certainly didn't cause Snape to harbor any kind feelings towards Harry.
Harry sat in his customary seat far away from the Slytherins, a few of which were glaring daggers at him. Harry sighed; he had hoped that without the presence of Malfoy the Slytherins would tone down their animosity towards Gryffindor, but instead they blamed Harry for hospitalizing their star student.
Defense Against the Dark Arts class passed without any major incidents. Snape still docked Gryffindor points whenever he could, but Harry noticed that Snape never purposefully provoked him personally. Mainly he just lectured on about defensive spells, pointing out how hard they would be for certain people to use properly, but never specifically mentioning Harry. Perhaps he remembered what had happened when he questioned Harry's prowess in the area of Shield Charms…
Harry shrugged; class was a bit annoying but it certainly was a lot better than last year's travesty of a defense class. Harry constantly tried to find fault with Snape's teachings, but no matter how carefully he analyzed Snape's words, he had to admit that Snape was very knowledgeable. Harry finally gave up on trying to find evidence that Snape was incompetent and instead he kept his ears open for information that wasn't covered in the Tome of Shadows. Harry planned to win Snape's silly tournament and then defeat Snape at the end, so he tried to figure out from Snape's lectures what he should expect from Snape in the tournament.
He already knew Snape had a way of cleaving through magical shields; a way that the Half-Blood Prince didn't know about. He wished Snape had blurted out the spell so he could have learned the incantation…
Harry decided that maybe he needed to take a different approach to preparing for the duel with Snape. Instead of trying to find a spell that fit the characteristics of Snape's spell, he needed to search for a way to stop himself from being hit by it. Perhaps since it only seemed to react with the magical presence of his shield, Harry could simply lower his shield, let the crescent of light hit him, and then put his shield back in place to absorb the next spell? When the magic of Snape's spell had hit Harry's shield, the magical clash had caused Harry to be knocked back. Perhaps that could be avoided by just allowing the spell to pass through him, allowing him to keep his balance as well as not waste time and energy recasting a Shield Spell.
"Potter!" Snape spat loudly. "May I ask why you haven't been taking any notes during my class?"
"Well, I've written down everything that I don't know already. You see, sir, we had a rather good professor in our third year who-"
"Enough! You will see me after class. For the remaining five minutes of class, I expect you to make use of your quill, or I will put you in detention," Snape said icily.
Harry's face was scrunched up in confusion. Why would he be seeing Snape after class when the normal procedure would be to deduct house points or give a detention? He hoped Snape wasn't going to grill him on his use of magic against Malfoy or anything like that…
After a long five minutes, Harry told his friends he would catch up with them later and waited behind in his least favorite classroom.
"Potter, listen, Dumbledore doesn't want me to tell you this, but you need to know," Snape said uneasily.
"Um… what's it about?" Harry asked cautiously. This was not what he was expecting…
"The Dark Lord has captured the Dursleys and has ordered me to tell you that they will be killed by eight o'clock tonight at the graveyard you are so familiar with. I believe a dozen Death Eaters will be there, including Voldemort. Dumbledore plans to lead a rescue mission with eighteen Order members, but he has omitted Tonks, Remus, and the Weasleys from this mission, most likely because he doesn't want you to go. In fact, he nearly made me swear an Unbreakable Vow not to tell you."
Harry took a minute to absorb all of this information. "Why do you want me to go?" he asked suspiciously.
"Because…" Snape scrunched up his face and sighed. "Because if you remain behind, I am required to give you a Portkey that will bring you there. The Dark Lord needs you there for some reason. If you do not go, I will be killed. Wait, listen Potter! If you want to remain behind, I will make the Vow not to forcibly give you the Portkey and my status as a spy will be lost."
"Why would you do that for me?" Harry said skeptically. He was rather sure that Snape had some ulterior motive.
Snape pulled out a clear, liquid vial that Harry recognized instantly. Snape promptly tipped three drops into his mouth.
"Potter, I, Severus Snape, promise that I am on the side of the Light. I hate Voldemort and I loathe my wretched life as a spy. I am willing to die if that will mean his death," Snape said clearly and slowly. He then popped another potion into his mouth, most likely the antidote to the Veritaserum. "Listen, Potter. I believe he will bring more than a dozen Death Eaters to the graveyard. He plans on killing a few Order members and then having you arrive, outnumbered and unaware of your surroundings. That cannot happen!"
"Then what do you want me to do?" said Harry warily, wishing he could perform Legilimency on Snape and figure out if he was lying about anything.
"I've seen you fight, Potter. I hate to say this, but… you're better than most Death Eaters and most Order members. I also know that you want to fight and you want to minimize casualties on our side. If you are there, less Order members will die. The other option, which is you not attending, will result in my death. I doubt you're ready to fight him yet, but I believe that you can defeat enough Death Eaters to allow us to outnumber his forces and force him to retreat. If you do not come, I suspect Dumbledore will get locked in a duel with the Dark Lord while the Death Eaters will use their numbers against us."
"Well… why would Dumbledore even go? I mean, the Dursleys… aren't worth it. Diagon Alley is worth guarding, not the Dursleys!" Harry said heatedly.
"Because the Dursleys aren't the only captives…" Snape said slowly. "Every single family living in Privet Drive has been abducted."
Harry sat stunned, his mouth open in horror. "Wh-what? He couldn't have--"
"He did, Potter. I am still under the effect of the potion, so I am telling the truth! Thirty-one people were abducted, five are already dead. Dumbledore has no choice; if he doesn't show up, Voldemort will kill them or worse, turn them into Inferi."
"So… what the hell can we do?" Harry asked, willing himself to think rationally and put a calm face forward.
"We, Potter, have three choices. One, the Order can show up to combat the Death Eaters, and perhaps I can invent a story as to why I failed to abduct a sixteen year-old, overconfident, pest. Second, I give you the Portkey after receiving the signal, which is a flare of pain in my forearm. This is not an option, because you will be transported in between the Dark Lord and his army. The third option is that you arrive there at the graveyard along with the Order. That way, the Order can protect your back from Voldemort, while you help fight against the Death Eaters."
"You actually agree that I should be a… soldier in this war?" Harry asked incredulously.
"Potter, I doubt you even know the meaning of that word. No, as much as I hate to admit it, I do believe that you are a better fighter than the majority of the Order. I also don't believe that you are too good for getting your hands dirty and risking your life like the rest of us. That being said, I… I wouldn't be able to throw you out to the Dark Lord. There is only one course of action."
Harry thought it over, realizing that what Snape was saying did make sense. He could help the Order or he could be Dumbledore's perfect little child and stay at home. If what Snape said was true, then Harry knew what his decision would be. If Snape was lying and had somehow fooled Harry with his Veritaserum trick, then the consequences could be death. But Snape had vowed that he hated Voldemort… "I'll do it. I can Portkey in as soon as Dumbledore arrives there. This way he won't be able to send me back. It's time I get the chance to fight," Harry said firmly, looking Snape in the eye. "You're right. I'm not too good to get my hands dirty; I deserve to risk my life as much as any of you do. I've never thought that I was more important than anyone else."
"Meet me here at eight o'clock sharp. I have altered the Portkey so that you instead will arrive by Dumbledore's side. The Dark Lord will most likely have put up anti-Portkey wards. I would advise you not to tell your friends and guardians. Remus and Tonks are currently on guard duty and we need some people on the outside incase the Dark Lord has a few minor Death Eaters attack Muggles," Snape said without much emotion, but not coldly.
"Okay… this had better not be a pile of rubbish, because if it is, neither Dumbledore nor Voldemort will be able to stop me from ripping you apart limb by limb," Harry said darkly, turning at leaving with his warning hanging in the air.
"Potter, let us get something straight. I still think you are an arrogant brat, just like your father. You wouldn't last ten seconds against me in a duel. However, I have realized that you are not "good-for-nothing" like I have called you many times. You can fight. I hate to admit this, but… I believe the prophecy. Now get out and think about what I have said," Snape said, looking away from Harry.
Harry caught up with his friends at lunch, but he wasn't very good conversation. Snape's words were echoing in his ears and thoughts of battling Death Eaters filled his mind. He had been studying all summer and this was his chance to finally do something. He had to take this chance; if Voldemort wanted to route the Order, he would do so over Harry's dead body. While he knew he wasn't nearly as powerful as Voldemort was, he still had a better chance of surviving than just about any Order member. This wasn't a stupid 'saving people' thing; it was a smart 'saving people' thing. He had the opportunity to help out, so why shouldn't he? If he didn't go and someone he cared about died, would he be able to live with himself? Hell, if he could save one or two Muggles with a couple hours of his time, what kind of person would he be if he refused?
After Care of Magical Creatures, Harry was starting to get anxious. Ron and Hermione had noticed that he wasn't paying the least bit of attention, but Harry had played it off as having a headache. He didn't know whether he should tell them or not. If he did, they would insist on coming with him; something that Harry did not want to happen. It wasn't that he was trying to act like Dumbledore and treat them as kids; it was because they had not trained enough. But he had to tell them something so that he didn't lose their trust.
Harry beckoned them over to his side after class and led them to the Room of Requirement.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Ginny asked as soon as they settled.
"Tonight I have to leave on a mission with the Order," Harry said simply.
"But you can't, you're not of age!" Hermione said immediately, firing up as soon as Harry began the word "Order".
"Uh… well this one's different. I can't tell you about it yet, but I promise to tomorrow, ok?" Harry said cautiously, looking at five rebellious faces.
"We're not going to let you run off alone on some bloody Order business, Potter!" Ginny said fiercely, glaring at him angrily. "If you have to go, we're coming too. It's just like last year, we were able to help then, and we can help now."
The others nodded in agreement and Ron voiced his thoughts next. "I thought the reason we were training was so that we could watch each others back and not leave any of us behind."
Harry shuffled his feet. "Look, it's different this time. I don't want you guys to go because as it is I'm not… well, you can't go, sorry." Harry cursed mentally as he realized his slip.
"You're not supposed to go either," Ginny concluded for him. "Let me guess, there's going to be some sort of battle and you found out about it and want to help. Well, guess what! We want to help too. We are a part of the war."
"Look, it's not like that. You guys can't go because you can't get there and even if you could, I wouldn't want you there. The only reason I have to go is because I've trained for it during summer. I promise you guys can go next time, okay? After you've trained a bit more. Please, don't argue with me about this; I need you guys to stay at Hogwarts," Harry said, adopting his leader voice.
"Can you at least tell us where you're going?" Ginny asked in such a way that Harry could not refuse.
Harry sighed and began, "I'm not supposed to tell you, but here goes. The Order is raiding one of Voldemort's hideouts and I need to go with them. I'm not planning to battle him, but I do have to be there. Look, I know this sounds like one of my stupid 'saving people' things, but it's different this time." Harry didn't like the lie, but he didn't want to mention anything about Snape just yet. Also, if he used the 'I had a vision' excuse, they would no doubt think Harry was being hoodwinked.
"I think it is best that we allow Harry to solve his inner demons," Luna said serenely.
Harry interrupted Ron and Hermione's mumbling towards Luna by saying, "Thanks, Luna. She is sorta right, you know. I need to go because I believe it is the right thing to do. If I don't go, then bad stuff will happen."
"Harry, I hate this. I hate, hate, hate when you go putting yourself in danger while I sit on the sidelines and feel helpless," Ginny said emotionally, a tear forming in her eye.
"I'm sorry, Ginny, I don't know what to say. When I get back you can bat-bogey me until I no longer have a nose, ok?" Harry said, his attempt at humor failing miserably. "Seriously, I will be OK and when I get back I'll tell you guys everything. Well everything that relates to the night's events, at least."
"Harry, I don't think you should go. If Dumbledore himself is going, he will be able to control the situation. Also, if you do leave school grounds, he won't expel you, but he may force you to stay under his watch or something," Hermione said rapidly, not stopping to let Harry interrupt her attempt to change his mind.
"Hermione, please-"
"I think she's right, Harry," Ginny said forcefully. "Please don't take this the wrong way, but this whole situation seems a lot like last year. How do you know your source of information was right? How do you know it's not an ambush?"
Hermione subtly elbowed Ron in an attempt to enlist his aid in the conversation. "Well, I still think we should all just go with you. I know you don't want that, but we don't like being treated as children anymore than you do." Harry made to interrupt but Ron plowed on with, "And… if it's so dangerous that we can't go, then you shouldn't be going either."
"Harry, we did hold our own in the Ministry last year," Neville reminded.
Harry realized he wasn't going to change their minds and they weren't likely to change his. "Fine. I'll think about it, but in the end, I will have to make a decision, ok? I've been training for this type of thing like a bloody madman…"
"But Harry! You got fooled last time and I have a feeling it will happen again! It's just like last year, don't you see. You randomly decided that you had to get to the Ministry and now you're randomly deciding to go to Merlin-knows-where!" Hermione said frantically.
Harry took a few deep breaths so he wouldn't explode. "Look, I thought I would warn you lot like a good friend should, but I really wouldn't have if I had known you would try to use the Department of Mysteries against me over and over. I made a mistake last year, okay? I'm not making a similar mistake, I promise."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring that up. All I was trying to point out is that this is awfully fishy, even you have to admit that."
"I'll explain everything afterward, I promise," Harry said slowly and calmingly.
Ginny sighed, one part of her wanting to rope him to his bed and make sure he didn't go anywhere remotely dangerous. The other part of her realized that she loved Harry because of the way he always did what he believed was right. If he believed what he was doing was the right thing to do, then she should support him, not impede him. Harry hated when people told him he needed to stay safe, so she wasn't about to do that to him.
"Okay Harry," Ginny said reassuringly. Suddenly her expression changed. "But, you listen good, if you come back with one single, bloody scratch, I swear you'll be picking Bat-bogeys out of your nose for a month."
"Yes ma'am," Harry replied cheekily. "Looking forward to it."
A/N: Please review, I'd be interested to know what you think of Snape so far.
I know a few of you will be rather irked at me for not revealing what happened to Malfoy Jr. I know, we all want to kill him, but it won't be that easy.
