Chapter Title: Convincing the Few

Chapter Summary: Facing three Order members, Harry must convince a few key people to trust him, at least long enough to learn they can trust the Slytherins.

Rating: M (eventually)

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or his lovable friends. I also do not own the song One of Us, where this story gets its title and the opening lyrics.

A/N: As I have not yet read Deathly Hallow, there will be nothing from that book here. This story is cannon up through book 6 and fanfiction from there.

I am sorry that this chapter took so long. Between starting a new semester, applying for graduation with my associates degree, and all the holidays…let's just say that things have been slightly chaotic. However, I am back now and will attempt to return to posting chapters once or twice a week. 

Any farther notes are found at the end.

Chapter 7:

Morning came faster than Harry wanted, and left the brunette feeling un-rested. After overhearing the conversation between Malfoy and Parkinson, Harry had not been able to fall back asleep. Instead, he has spent the rest of the night coming up with, and dismissing, plans for keeping Malfoy out of prison. Now morning was here and Harry was still no closer to knowing what to do.

With a silent yawn, Harry opened his eyes and gazed at Malfoy, who was still asleep in the sleeping bag next to Harry. The boy seemed to glow softly in the light from the window, and the words "fallen angel" came to Harry's mind, unbidden. Though the soft words were somewhat frightening, the term seemed to fit Malfoy well-enough. Malfoy had been the leader of Slytherin, the Ice Prince, with no feeling and no regard for those around him. He had been the symbol of everything that Harry stood against.

But one night changed everything.

Malfoy's father was arrested and, suddenly, Malfoy was more than a symbol. He was Marked and sent back to his life with the task of murder.

And Malfoy couldn't do it. He fell from the grace of his "lord," and came to Harry. He didn't come begging for help or protection for himself. He knew what he was. Maybe "risen demon" was a more appropriate term than "fallen angel." Whatever, he knew what he had done was enough to get him into Azkaban, and he knew he deserved punishment for his crimes.

But Azkaban is no place for even the most guilty, and Malfoy hardly ranked above pain-in-the –arse. He certainly didn't rank as evil.

Harry didn't know what he could do for this boy, or for any of the Slytherins. They had placed their lives and their futures in the palm of his hand, but he was no older or wiser than any of them. Still, he had sworn to do what he could, and he refused to fail. There had been enough failures…enough innocents who suffered…and Harry would stop it here. After all, if he couldn't save the Slytherins from the Order, how could he ever save the wizarding world from Voldemort?

Silently, Harry slid from his sleeping bag, grabbed a pair of trousers and t-shirt, and padded down the hall to the bathroom. According to the last letter from Ron, the Weasleys would be picking Harry up shortly after breakfast, which meant sometime in the next two hours.

After quickly dressing and washing his face, Harry returned to the bedroom to find the Slytherins awake and pale.

"I don't…" Harry's voice seemed far too loud for the silent room, and the others all glanced at him, "I don't know who all will be coming. Probably Mr. Weasley…but I don't know who else. I guess it depends on where they are taking us. After…" Harry glanced at Malfoy, then away, "after the end of last year I don't know if they are still using the same headquarters as before. They could be taking us somewhere else. Anyway, they don't know that you guys are here, so they probably won't be sending too much security for just me…unless they think the Death Eaters know about today and want to attempt to kill me in transport…" Zabini looked ready to faint at that and Harry was quick to reassure the boy, "but that's not likely to happen…"

"Potter, your rambling is not helping anything," Nott was glaring at him, and Harry quickly shut his mouth, " If you want to take our mind off waiting, find a way to get us food."

Harry nodded at Nott and left the room. When Harry turned to head downstairs he was stopped by the sight standing in just below the middle of the stairway. Dudley had a box of cereal stuffed under one fat arm, a gallon of milk hanging from his hand, and six bowls and spoons balanced precariously in the crook of his remaining arm.

"Dudley…"

"It's your last day here and I didn't want you to leave thinking that I'm afraid of you, because I'm not," Dudley glared.

There was a minute of silence, in which neither knew quite what to say. Finally, with a "Mum is baking a cake" Dudley set the breakfast materials on the steps and turned to leave.

Shaking his head, Harry called out a "Thank you, Dudley" before picking up the supplies.

"FOOD!" Zabini nearly knocked Harry over the second he walked through the door, and Harry couldn't help but smile. He may have been clueless as to Seamus' preferences, but now that he knew he could see that Zabini appeared a perfect match for their Irish classmate.

Less than two hours later there was a crash of dishes and breathless scream downstairs. The Slytherins tensed, but Harry smiled as he recognized the sound of Mr. Weasley trying to calm down the Dursleys.

The sound of footsteps hurrying up the stairs caused Harry to jump up.

"Wait here. I'm going to try and explain things before they find you."

Harry ran to the door and pulled it open, but he was too late. Tonks was standing in the doorway with her fist raised. A smile began to spread across her face, but stopped, halfway, as she took in the occupants of the room.

"Wotcher…Harry," The smile had completely left Tonks' face now. "What have you gotten yourself into now?"

The Auror's wand was suddenly in her hand, and Harry pulled the door halfway closed, attempting to shield the Slytherins inside.

"Er…" Harry fumbled around for an explanation, but the best he could come up with is, "I'm protecting them."

Tonks raised an eyebrow and yelled down the stairs, "I think you guys better come up here."

There was the sound of many feet rushing up the stairs, and then Mr. Weasley, and Remus came into sight. Harry thanked whatever gods may be listening that Mad-Eye wasn't with them.

"What's going on? Are you alright Harry?" From his position behind Tonks, with Harry blocking the half-opened doorway, Remus couldn't see into the room. His eyes raked over Harry, as if looking for a bleeding gash or broken bone.

"I'm fine, Professor Lupin, it's just…" Harry took a deep breath, then opened the door wide, "I'm not the only one you guys are picking up today."

There was a moment a tense silence, before the two men raised their wands. Mr. Weasley seemed confused and angry. The look on Remus' face, however, was more frightening. He was staring at Malfoy, looking betrayed and livid.

Harry was suddenly reminded that Dumbledore was probably the first man to ever treat Remus with respect. He let Remus into Hogwarts, knowing that he was a werewolf. He even gave Remus a job at the school, trusting him with the students and letting him meet Harry again after years. Remus had plenty of reasons to detest what Malfoy had done, even if Malfoy didn't hold the wand that cast the killing curse.

Harry quickly drew attention back to himself.

"They came to me for help, for protection, and I said that I would give it to them."

"Harry, are you mad, at least one of those children is a Death Eater, probably all of them."

"Malfoy has the Mark, but he's not a Death Eater. The others are neutral and want nothing to do with Voldemort."

After a collective wince, Remus softly spoke to Harry, not taking his eyes, or his wand, off of Malfoy, "Harry, I know that you have a big heart. You want to believe in people, and that is wonderful, but if Malfoy has the Mark, what makes you think he can be trusted? What makes you think that any of them can be trusted?"

Harry closed his eyes. He knew how to get Remus to trust him, at least temporarily, but he hated bringing up the subject. He especially hated using it against Remus. Standing up straight, Harry whispered, "Because you and I have both seen that a man can rise above his name, and that what house someone is in doesn't guarantee where their loyalties lie."

Remus looked away, but Mr. Weasley took over, "It's not just Malfoy's name, Harry. You said yourself that he has the Mark. That makes him a Death Eater. And you've already told us that he was there the day that Dumbledore died."

This time it was Harry that looked away. Staring at the wall, the brunette whispered, "One of the last things the Dumbledore did was offer Malfoy protection, and it wasn't Malfoy who killed him." Looking up at the three adults, Harry continued, "Malfoy did what he did last year to try and protect his family. It was wrong, and dumb, but he was doing it for them, not because he wanted to. Two days ago, Malfoy came here and offered to turn himself in if I protected his friends. He was willing to risk everything for them. And none of them has tried to hurt me since being here. I'm not dumb, I took their wands, but I do believe that they are being honest about this."

The three adults exchanged glances, and then Remus nodded.

When Harry smiled, Remus quickly added, "We are not guaranteeing anything other than to take them with us. We will set up a meeting to discuss what to do from there, and they will all need to be questioned."

Harry nodded, "Fair enough."

After much discussion between the adults, which Harry and the others were sullenly left out of, it was decided that they would all return to the Burrow.

Mr. Weasley sent an owl ahead to his family, telling them that he would meet them at home, rather than at headquarters as planned. While he was doing this, and Remus was downstairs requesting tea, Harry asked Tonks the questions he had been dying to know all summer.

"What is going on with the Order? Are we still using the same headquarters? What about Snape? Is Hogwarts going to open in September?"

Tonks smiled, "The Order has been working hard trying to predict You-Know-Who's attacks. Without Snape, though…" Harry nodded that he understood.

Without a spy in Voldemort's ranks, the Order had no idea what to expect until an attack was in progress. At that point, all they would be able to do would be assemble as quickly as possible and try to save as many lives as they could. There could be no attack prevention, and no idea what scale of attack they would face. Every battle would be entered blindly.

"Anyway, we are temporarily using Hogwarts as headquarters. The Fidelius Charm on Grimmauld faded when Dumbledore died. Since the house belongs to you know, you would have to be involved in the recasting for the charm to be set again."

Harry nodded, "If the Order still wants to use it, you're all free to, but you'll have to show me what to do."

Tonks nodded. "Anyway, there has been no word on Snape for almost a month. At the start of summer, he was at all of the attacks, then he just disappeared. Could be that You-Know-Who sent him on a mission."

Harry glanced over at the Slytherins, who where quietly talking in one corner of the room.

If Snape was on a mission, there was good chance he had been assigned to track down the Slytherins. It would make since, as it was Snape who completed Malfoy's task last year. In a way, that made Snape responsible for the boy. And Snape was Head of Slytherin, so who better to track down the missing students?

The real question was: what was Snape ordered to do when he found them?

"Who is leading the Order now?"

"McGonagall, for the time being. There's talk of electing someone else, though."

"Why?"

McGonagall seemed like a great leader to Harry. She was close to Dumbledore, knew his plans, and would be objective. She also knew Snape, and so could probably guess at where the man would go or what he would do next.

"She doesn't want it." Mr. Weasley smiled sadly, coming into the conversation at last, "Harry, it takes a lot to send people into battle, and McGonagall just doesn't have what it takes to not crumble."

Harry blinked, confused. McGonagall always seemed incredibly strong to him.

"Think about it, Harry. McGonagall knows, and even taught, most of the Order. She is connected to them. Every time they go out, on her orders, to fight, it pulls at her heart. We are all children to her."

Harry suddenly remembered McGonagall pushing a plate of cookies at him. He remembered her sticking up to Umbridge about him becoming an Auror. Mr. Weasley was right. She pretended to be gruff, and she was incredibly strict, but she really did have a softer heart then she let on.

"Come on, Harry, we have to get going." Mr. Weasley glanced at the Slytherins, "I have a feeling that there is a long night of meetings ahead for all of us."

A/N: Sorry again for being out so long. However, you will be happy to hear that the next chapter is already half written. It is midterms this week, so it probably will not be posted until Monday, but I will try and get back to posting once every week.

Thank you so much, everyone who reviewed.