WARNINGS: Cursing
Hermione and Ginny arrived only just before Harry was starting to doze off. He couldn't help it, even though he knew Voldemort would try and contact him through their link.
(He won't find us anyways, Fidelius charm would still block the information in my mind…I hope…)
Sunshine flickered through the dirty window, pouring warmth onto his face. It was too easy to just let his body loosen up in relaxation, his air coming in and out easily of his lungs. That tranquility bubble was promptly burst by the sound of the door slamming against the adjacent wall as it was thrown open. The hinges squealed. The clock fell off of the wall. Harry's eyes flew open. His wand was out in an instant, pointing at the intruders. Ginny grinned sheepishly at him and gingerly, as if trying to make up for the fact that she had done such damage, took the doorknob in her hand and closed it slowly. Hermione slipped through the narrowing space and tutted at the younger redhead.
"Ginny…" she started.
"I know! It was an accident! Sorry, Harry. Were you sleeping?"
"Almost," he muttered, putting his wand away.
"Sorry," she said, before coming over and bouncing down onto the bed. Hermione followed at a much more sedated pace. She regarded Ginny, and then regarded Harry. The redhead gave an almost imperceptible nod, and leaned over and smacked Harry upside the head.
"Ah!" came Harry's cry of surprise. He scrambled away from her. "What was that for?"
"For abandoning us for Malfoy!" said Ginny, giving him a glare.
"Well, I actually abandoned you for Voldemort, but okay…"
This time was subjected to both of the girls' glares.
"Harry," said Hermione angrily. "What were you thinking going over there?"
Harry rubbed at his face wearily, not in the mood to have this conversation. He repeated this sentiment aloud, and was rewarded by two smacks on the head.
"Ow! Get away!"
"Harry," Hermione said sternly.
"Hermione, will you just let up? I won't be going back over there, alright?"
She gave him a glare that clearly said I don't believe you and you'd better start talking.
Harry sighed and shook his head. "Where's Ron?"
"Don't try and change the subject, Harry," Ginny admonished crossly.
"Well I don't feel like having to tell the tale a third time. Where is he?" Harry demanded.
The two girls looked at each other for a moment. Hermione pursed her lips and said quietly, "He thinks you've joined the Death Eaters."
"What?" Harry cried, brows shooting into his hairline. "Is he mad?"
"Angry mad?" muttered Ginny. "Sure. Mad mad? He's always been."
"I have no reason to join the Death Eaters
(Of course, since you're actually Voldemort's pet, joining the Death Eaters would be like a demotion, wouldn't it?)
. Does he know that?" he demanded, hands balling into fists.
"I don't know what's going through his head, Harry," said Hermione, sounding tired. "But think about it, if Ron disappeared in the middle of the night and the papers announce that he's gone off and joined the Death Eaters and is now You-Know-Who's…lover," she forced the word out of her mouth. "What would you think?"
"I'd honestly day that he'd gone barmy, especially since they're camping out at Malfoy Manor. But he'd wouldn't get far enough to actually join the Death Eaters, since he'd be ranked underneath Malfoy," said Harry bluntly.
"They're at Malfoy Manor?" asked Ginny and Hermione at the same time.
"Yeah, that's where I went." He gave a chuckle. "It's like… a palace. Especially compared to here," he said, as he caught sight of a spider inching up the opposite wall.
Hermione and Ginny shared a frown. Harry stared at the spider for a few more moments, before turning back to the two girls. "Could one of you get Ron for me?"
They shared another look, prompting Harry into a quick eye roll. Hermione nodded once, before pushing herself up off of the bed and heading towards the door. She opened it, stepped out, gave Ginny one last look, and pulled it closed.
"What's with all these looks you're giving each other?" asked Harry, unable to decide whether he should be amused or irritated.
"It's nothing," said Ginny, tossing her long hair over her shoulder casually. "So…what did You-Know-Who do when he saw you? We're all surprised you're still alive," she said, grinning.
"Well, Harry Potter's not," Harry said sarcastically. "I'm a clone made from Polyjuice and the remains of his mangled body. I…" He didn't get much further, seeing Ginny's horrified face. He stared at her. "You know I'm only joking, right?"
Ginny looked away and shook her head, sighing. "Oh Harry," she said. "I…" she took a deep breath and shook her head again. "We're all a little on edge since you…went off. You know that Ron won't be reasonable, right?"
"Yeah, sure," Harry started, shrugging.
"And for once, I don't blame him! Going to You-Know-Who…you know what someone like Rita Skeeter would do, don't you?" Harry opened his mouth, but she cut him off. "And you know that everyone will believe what the Prophet writes!"
"But..! Hermione! And Skeeter!"
"I said someone like! And the fact that they've been hailing you as the Chosen One just last week doesn't help!"
"It's not my fault!" Harry finally shouted. "I don't tell the Prophet to write all this crap about me! The Chosen One! The Chosen One! Voldemort's lover!" he mimicked the headlines in a high-pitched voice. "Who CARES what everyone thinks? Do I have to be completely devoted to Dumbledore and follow everything he says blindly to defeat Voldemort? THAT'S NOT HOW THAT WORKS!"
Ginny just stared at him. She swallowed and looked at her feet. "Harry… it's just…don't you remember how hard it was during the Triwizard Tournament?"
"Oh no, I had completely forgotten, because it wasn't at all frustrating," he snapped.
She gave him a glare for his outburst. "The papers can make your life so much harder Harry," she said angrily, returning her gaze to her shoes. She took several deep breaths. "When you finally do kill You-Know-Who, people will remember these articles. It's stupid, but people just aren't willing to take chances nowadays! It's war, Harry," she whispered glumly, lifting her eyes to look at him again. "And I don't want you to have to deal with that later."
Harry stayed silent. He did not know what to say.
They regarded each other for a long while. Harry could almost feel the worry rolling off of her in waves. Slowly, he leaned forward and clasped her hand in his own clammy one. "It'll be fine, Gin. I'm not going back over to him unless I absolutely have to."
She stared at him, troubled. "That won't be good enough, Harry." And that simple sentence sent his mind back to the First War, the one his parents had fought and died in, the one the Aurors were permitted to use Unforgivables in, the one where people were sent to Azkaban without trials and stayed there for years of their life. He was suddenly hit by a vision of himself back in the courtroom, with Umbridge as the judge.
(Hem hem Mr. Potter. You are hereby sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban for fraternizing with the enemy. Hem hem, take him away)
Or better still Umbridge would show up at Malfoy Manor and arrest him in front of the Death Eaters and Voldemort himself.
(Hem hem Mr. Potter. You are hearby arrested for fraternizing with the enemy. Hmm, who's that strange disfigured gentleman over there? Oh! Half-breed, of course… Perhaps we could arrest him as well?
Sorry Madame Undersecretary, not for being a half-breed.
Pity. Take Potter away, boys.)
"Harry?" came Ginny's voice. She looked at him curiously.
The door creaked open. Hermione stood in the doorway and peered in, a stony faced Ron behind her. She gestured to Ginny wordlessly, and the redhead nodded to her. She gave Harry's hand a squeeze and a small smile before getting up and following Hermione out, giving Ron a passing glare.
"Go Ron," said Hermione firmly, her voice pinched.
If possible Ron's expression soured even more as he stepped inside the small room. As soon as the door closed, he was on Harry.
"So you've joined the Death Eaters and you're coming onto my sister, huh, Harry?" Ron demanded.
"I haven't joined the Death Eaters, and I'm not coming onto your sister either," said Harry almost irritably.
"You think I believe that?" the redhead growled. "Running off in the middle of the night? And I'll bet Snape brought you over there too. Having fun learning how to cast Unforgivables?" he mocked coldly.
"I didn't go over there to learn the Dark Arts, Ron. And if you say anything about us being—"
"Don't say it, Harry. I don't want to have to Oblivate myself and relearn this bloody mess a second time."
"Ron, you can't believe everything the papers say—"
"When did I say anything about the papers? I haven't said one word about the papers, or what they've written!"
"Harry! You've joined the Death Eaters!"
"Well…other than that! And that's just common sense! Do you know how many spells Dumbledore took off of you? All sorts of Dark tracking spells, even an eavesdropping charm! You were trying to lead them here!"
"What? No, Ron, I'd never—"
"Never what, Harry? Never put us in danger? Never risk our lives? WHAT, HARRY?"
"I'D NEVER LEAD THEM HERE! NEVER ON PURPOSE!"
"YOU LEFT, AND THEN YOU CAME BACK, WHAT DID YOU EXPECT? You think You-Know-Who would just let you go off freely?"
"I came back, doesn't that count for anything?"
"NOT WHEN YOU LEFT IN THE FIRST PLACE, IT DOESN'T!"
They were both heaving and red in the face, standing inches apart from each other.
"What do you want me to say, Ron?" Harry finally asked, wanting to pull out his hair in frustration. "I'm sorry, alright? I'M SORRY I WENT OVER TO VOLDEMORT, ALRIGHT RON?"
"THAT'S NOT GOOD ENOUGH, HARRY!" Ron bellowed. "WHY THE HELL WOULD YOU GO OVER TO HIM? YOU'VE NO REASON, EVERYONE YOU KNOW IS ON THIS SIDE—"
"I WAS ANGRY! I WAS BLOODY ANGRY! I WAS KEPT IN THE DARK FOR YEARS ABOUT EVERYTHING, ABOUT THE WIZARDING WORLD, ABOUT THIS STUPID WAR, AND SUDDENLY," he switched over to a sarcastic tone. "With the magic appearance of a prophecy, suddenly everyone's hailing me as the Chosen One
(who the hell comes up with these fucking titles)
and I've got to kill Voldemort or everyone's doomed and if he does manage to take over the world and I'm still living I've no doubt whatsoever that the Prophet and Rita Skeeter and all of those people will have a bloody field day with me as their ever faithful scapegoat. And the bloody adults here can't even handle us children," he shouted, flinging a hand in the door's direction. "The Ministry's bloody incompetent, thinking Dumbledore was bloody training an army to take over the Ministry when he could easily take it over through his influence, he wouldn't even have to resort to violence, he'd just say SILENCE in that weird way he does and Fudge would probably fall over and wet himself and I—"he stopped abruptly, catching sight of Ron was staring at him bewilderedly. They stared at each other.
Ron blinked slowly and shook his head, as if to clear his thoughts. "What were we talking about again?"
"We were arguing, Ron."
"Ok, well, what were we arguing about?"
"Me apparently joining the Death Eaters," Harry said dryly.
"Oh…" Ron's eyes suddenly narrowed. "You've got some explaining to do, Harry."
Harry sighed, but resisted the urge to smack his hand against his forehead.
Ron looked towards the door. "You think they're listening?" he whispered, so quietly that Harry almost didn't hear him. Harry's eyes widened, then narrowed. In two long steps he had crossed the room, over to the door and wrenched it open. There, huddled around the door, were Ginny, Hermione, Fred, George, and even Tonks. They all had the decency to look sheepish as Harry and Ron gave them angry looks.
"Er…you should really learn Silencing Charms, Harry," Tonks said, eyes darting all over the place.
"Don't have a job to go to, Tonks," Harry snapped irritably, pushing past them. Ron glowered at them and followed Harry down the hall.
Crack. Fred and George materialized in front of them. "Harry…" one of them said. "You and Ronnikins sure can shout, mate."
"We didn't even need the Extendable Ears," the other one said matter-of-factly to his twin.
"Can't you two go and bother someone else?" Ron asked. "Or better yet, go and run your stupid shop?"
"Stupid, Ickle Ronnikins?" said the second one, catching Ron by his shoulder, his other hand over his heart.
"Our shop isn't stupid at all…" said the first, grabbing Ron's other shoulder, and pulling a wand out of his pocket. "Just watch what this trick wand can do…"
And then the wand started widening, the topmost part stopping before the bottom, and four legs sprouting out from either side. The wand became darker, becoming black, and sprouting short hairs all over itself…
Ron's eyes became saucers. Giving an almighty shriek, he twisted out of the twins' grip and fled, leaving his brothers cackling behind him.
"You two shouldn't capitalize on his fears, you know," Harry said, unable to stop the smile from breaking out on his face.
"Why ever not, Harry?" the twins said simultaneously, and Harry suddenly saw Voldemort's head on both of their bodies. "And by the way Harry, what did you go over to You-Know-Who for? It just doesn't make sense!"
"I thought you two were eavesdropping," Harry said dryly.
"Well of course we were. But you didn't say anything very clearly."
This time, Harry went ahead and smacked his forehead.
A/N: Don't know about you guys, but I feel like this chapter is mostly filler... and plus it was hell to write. Not an extraordinary combination, is it? And no Voldemort action either, I know some people wanted that, but I did put in some of the other HP characters...
Don't forget to review! ^_^
