Chapter ten

After dinner the whole family Hermione and Harry minus Ginny went into the living room, Arthur poured everyone a drink, levitating them to each of the people in the room before sitting down.

'You know how you asked about how my job was, well I've had another duty added to my job, something Kingsley asked me to do. It seems that there have been some enquiries about a certain confidential jobs, so he wanted me to investigate before he decided what he should do about it. He talked about taking it to the Obliviators as certain jobs are confidential and shouldn't be known to anyone apart from those involved. We had a lot of discussions about this trying to decide what to do, a very stressful couple of weeks, for both of us.'

'The Obliviators, does that mean the people making enquiries would have their memory's wiped?' Hermione asked and she couldn't hide how panicked she looked.

'Yes, that's basically it since they have been delving into stuff they shouldn't.'

'Um Harry,' Ron hesitated.

Harry cut in quickly, 'We decided not to involve the Obliviators, that mainly came down to the fact we always knew this couldn't be kept secret, not if the right people started to get suspicious. So even though I still can't discuss my job, it's going to be known what I do.'

'So what we found out is right, you're the one that carries out the sentence to those death eaters?' Ron asked timidly.

'Yes, I kill them when the wizengamot passes their sentence and I have to tell you, I get great satisfaction out of seeing their faces right before they die.'

'Harry, that's not very nice. Fine, it's your job, how you can do it is beyond me, but you don't have to like it,' Hermione said sounding disapproving.

'Why shouldn't I, they took pleasure in my torture or when they thought I was about to die by Voldemort that night in the forbidden forest. I like to see their faces when I tell them what I saw in the graveyard that night or in the forbidden forest, that way they know I'm extracting my own piece of revenge but legally. I believe they should suffer more, they get away with what they've done too easily, a quick and painless death, it's over so fast.'

'I can't believe you feel that way. Fine they need to die, a lot of people agree with that, including me, but to take pleasure in their deaths, that's wrong,' Charlie said.

'Have you ever felt the cruciatus curse Charlie, have you ever faced death, have you known all your life that death was coming for you. Have you seen the looks on people's faces while you suffer, saw how much pleasure they took at your pain or death, saw how excited they were that you would die and painfully, watched while the only family you had was killed right in front of you?' Harry stared at the large red head before taking a sip of his firewhiskey.

'No, but that doesn't make it right.'

'Maybe you would feel differently if you were cursed a few times, if you had the killing curse used on you twice and was just lucky to survive. That night, in the forbidden forest, they laughed, all of them laughed knowing what was going to happen, they were expectant, anxious, bloody excited, Voldemort was taking great pleasure in making me wait to die, I wanted it quick but he wasn't even going to do that one thing for me, he made me wait. If you could live through all the shit I did then you're a better man than I am for being able to handle that Charlie. Death has surrounded me since I was born, so carrying out death sentences to people that deserve it is something I was born to do and something I like to do.'

Everyone couldn't help showing their shock at Harry's words and realised that he had been traumatised by years of torture and the death he faced along with seeing the death of others. No one was sure what to say so most took a sip of their drink and tried not to stare at Harry who seemed calm and relaxed. So even though they didn't like what Harry was doing they couldn't deny that he did look content, something Harry had never been before.

Hermione ended up breaking the silence by talking about the wedding that was going to be held at the Burrow but since she did have muggle relatives they decided to make it a muggle wedding and reception which meant the men would wear a tux and not robes and there wouldn't be anything magical going on that day, so wands had to be kept hidden.

Harry joined in the discussion, listening to his friends then he would make the odd suggestion, he seemed like the Harry they always knew while they talked about the wedding, not like the man who was carrying out death sentences to those death eaters the wizengamot voted on. When it was getting late, Harry hugged his two friends before heading home.

'I can't believe the way Harry is about what he does,' Bill said.

'I can't believe what he said, like his life is all about death,' George said then looked at Hermione and Ron, 'Have you ever seen him like this before, like death is just part of his life?'

'Sort of, seeing someone die never affected him like the rest of us,' Ron said.

'He never cried after Sirius died, he looked like he was in shock but then he was sent straight back to Dumbledore's office where he heard the prophecy so he never really had time to grieve. He did cry a little after Dumbledore's death but a lot of that was adrenaline because we saw him not long after in the hospital and he acted like okay, what next. Later when we were alone he didn't seem affected at all by what happened, it's as if he was thinking about what to do next, that he had to take over what Dumbledore started.' Hermione said.

'He said that, it's my job to finish what Dumbledore started. When Snape was dying, Harry looked at him with this strange look on his face, we could never work out what he was thinking. At the time he still thought Snape killed Dumbledore, then Snape wanted to give Harry his memories and he was all business again. The only time you saw anything like sorrow was when Snape said he had his mother's eyes.'

'What did he look like after he saw that memory?'

'We never saw him until he pulled the cloak off in the great hall. But you all saw him, he was calm, like nothing out of the ordinary was going on. Maybe everything he's seen and done has made him a little cold, a little detached, especially about death.' Ron said.

'Right after the fighting, before we all left, Harry was standing near Dumbledore's tomb. You know it had been broken by Voldemort, so there he was staring down at a dead person. He was talking to Dumbledore, talking to the dead but it like he was having a conversation with anyone, like he used to talk to Dumbledore. Me, I couldn't go near it, I didn't want to see Dumbledore like that,' Hermione shuddered, 'Then you see the way he is when we we're talking about the wedding, he was just like he always is, smiling, happy,' Hermione sighed, ''I don't like the fact that the ministry is killing these prisoners, but I do understand why most people support it. I haven't lost family like parents or siblings, all of you have, even Neville whose parents will never be normal so he's all for this. But to see how much Harry enjoys his job of killing, that is something I didn't expect.'

'Neville asked if it would make us feel differently about Harry. Yeah I'm shocked at the way Harry sounded, but I am all for those death eaters dying. They don't deserve to live, they don't deserve to see friends or family when they destroyed other families. It doesn't make me feel different about Harry I just don't want to talk to him about his job, now I know why they wanted this kept secret. But Hermione, how do you feel about Harry now you know the truth? You are against the death sentence and you now know your best friend is the one that carries out those sentences. Does it make you feel differently about Harry?'

'I don't hate him or anything, fine, it's something that everyone seems to want and Harry just happens to be the one doing it. I don't really feel any differently about him, I just don't like the fact he takes pleasure in his job; that is just so cold, so heartless. He was like that when he spoke about the job, but talking about anything else he was Harry, the Harry we've always known.'

Ron squeezed Hermione's hand because he could tell this was hard on her, but he noticed his family seemed a little upset about the way Harry sounded, but he could also see that it didn't change how they felt about Harry. Ron always knew this would shock them but he also knew it wouldn't make them turn their backs on Harry. Ron and his family knew more than most what Harry's life has been like, so to hear that he was involved in death wasn't that surprising.