A/N: If you're gonna leave a review, at least give me a way to respond. That anonymous review was just silly. The information he challenged me on was absolutely wrong. If you're going to try and correct me, at least make sure you're right in the first place. As to the whole "talking to a brit to get the language and slang down", I guess I forgot to mention that while I currently live in Cleveland Ohio, I was born and raised in Rotherham, England. If I'm going to talk to a brit about language, who better than myself?
Chapter XII: Planning
Harry woke up, still feeling the aches and pains of his months-long torture. At last it was finally over. Ron, Hermione, and Ginny came walking in.
"Hey mate...how you feeling?" asked Ron.
"Like its easier to list where it doesn't hurt." answered Harry.
Ginny gave him a hug. "Its so great to have you back. If you had really..."
Harry stopped Ginny right there, he really wasn't ready to deal with any emotion.
"I can only imagine. Its just so great to finally be back."
"It's so good to have you back. Professor Snape really proved us wrong about him." chimed in Hermione.
"Yeah, I owe the greasy git a lot. While they weren't going to kill me, with what they were doing, I wish they'd have done me a favor and just finished the job."
"Don't say that, Harry. If you were to die, it would only be a matter of time before everyone follows. There's no one else that can defeat Voldemort." Hermione reprimanded.
"Don't get on his case, Hermione. We couldn't possibly begin to understand everything Harry's been through. Lets give him some peace and quiet so he can get some rest. We'll be back to see you in the morning." Ginny said. She kissed Harry on the cheek, then ushered the others out of the room. Harry closed his eyes and fell into a fitful slumber.
'You're lucky we don't get to kill you, Boy.' Lucius sneered at him. 'The Dark Lord believes you can be swayed to his side. Voldemort and Potter, ruling the world. Well, until that day comes, I'm going to enjoy this.'
He felt the knife ripping into his flesh, could do nothing but scream in pain.
'Aw...poor ickle baby Potter. Where's your Mommy to protect you now?...CRUCIO!' Bellatrix repeatedly used her curse of choice, giving Harry the feelings of knives piercing him from the inside out.
MacNair was just as bad, only not as vocal. The club would swing and a sick thud could be heard as it made contact with Harry's flesh.
Voldemort's voice rang through his head.
'Join me. Together we can rule the world. No one will stand against us, the two most powerful wizards to ever live! Join me!'
Harry jolted awake choking back a scream. The memories of what he'd been through were invading his dreams, keeping him from sleeping for any significant length of time. Through it all, he was just glad that he was the one captured. It would kill him to know any of his family or friends would have had to go through what he did. Despite the torture, he knew that he'd go through it all over again if it meant sparing those he cared about from a similar fate.
Harry lay there staring at the ceiling. He couldn't stop having the events replay in his head
"Stop feeling sorry for yourself, you mardy sod . So things didn't go according to plan. Pick yourself up, and lets figure out how to end this.."
Harry was so out of it he forgot that Sirius was always in his head.
"Oh, so sorry Sirius. You're right. I guess I just missed the part of you jumping in front of the Dursleys with me, and maybe I was just too distracted by Voldemort's hospitality to notice you there beside me. Prick ."
'Relax, I'm almost there. I came to Hogwarts as soon as I heard you were back, but Dumbledore made me wait until you were fully awake.'
Sirius bounded into the room, and quickly reverted back into human form. The two physically beaten down men stared at each other for a moment, then Sirius pulled Harry into a massive bear hug.
"Since you've been gone, I've been trying to hold the line, but without you, there really is no hope Squirt. We need a new plan."
"When it comes to plans we need Ron. No one things strategy like him. We'll let him sleep though. Come to think of it you should get some shut-eye too. You look like hell."
"And who do you think you look like, the Queen of bloody England? Heed your own advice."
"It's so nice to be back."
Sirius laid down in the bed next to Harry in the hospital wing and fell asleep. Harry continued to lay in his bed. He couldn't get a good nights sleep, but managed to doze in and out. Having a comforting presence next to him helped him feel at least a little calmer.
The next few days were sort of a blur for Harry. He had visitors frequently coming in and out and all of his attempts at escape from the Hospital Wing were foiled by the ever-fussy Madam Pomfrey. Though he was touched by the plaque she had placed above his bed.
This bed reserved for:
HARRY POTTER
All of the people visiting him served as a reminder. He knew he had to keep up the fight against Voldemort, not for himself but for all of them. Once he was finally able to stand and walk under his own power Dumbledore suggested Harry going back to the dorms. The Headmaster thought having being back in such familiar surroundings be more comfortable than the dreary hospital wing. That night, Harry settled in to his old bed and strangely felt a little better.
"Thanks for coming back mate. It just wasn't the same without you." Ron called out from his bed as they laid down for the night.
"It's not like I left on purpose. So, do you know if the Dursleys are ok? It's weird, I spent my whole life hating them. Even in that moment and I found myself taking that curse for them, part of me thought that I should let them get what they deserve. I couldn't do it though."
"They're doing alright, I guess. Dudley went off the deep end after they took your body. Turns out, he didn't really hate you. Your uncle was his usual self, my mum tried to go over there and talk to him, but he refused. The Grangers helped out a lot though. Since they were muggles, your uncle would at least have a conversation with them. In a way, I think he learned more about magic from them then from us."
"Dudley doesn't hate me? Never woulda guessed it. Anyway, we have to meet with Sirius to figure out where to go from here. Being a leader of the Guardians, you have as much a say as anyone else."
"Get Sirius to come meet with us."
'First thing tomorrow, Room of Requirements' Harry thought to Sirius as he tried drifting off to sleep.
Harry laid there, listening to the other blokes as they slept. There were three other guys in their and Ron still managed to drown out everyone else with his snoring. Several minutes had passed, when Harry thought he could hear footsteps. Looking through his bed's hangings, he was pretty sure. He was surprised when Ginny appeared right in front of him.
"Ginny, what are you doing here? And why do you have my cloak?" Harry asked as she handed it back to him
"I kind of "borrowed" it while you were gone, I tended to go for long walks at night and needed the benefit of not getting caught. I think Dumbledore knew though, smart man he is. Anyways, I wanted to see you alone, well as alone as we can be." She answered.
"Why what's going on?"
"I just needed to do this."
Ginny sat on Harry's bed. Reaching over, she caressed his cheek for a moment, then slowly she began to kiss him. He tried resisting her, but her body felt too warm, her lips felt too soft. Time seemed to stop and the passion of the kiss kept growing. It took Harry a moment to realize he had lost control of his hands, Ginny's shirt was halfway off. He pulled back.
"Ginny are you sure about this?"
"No, well yes." She looked away hiding a blush, then turned back to him once her face had settled down. " I want you Harry, I want all of you, but not like this. I know you will be my first, last and only, but not with my brother in the next bed and other boys over there. I didn't even really expect to kiss you when I came here. I just wanted you to hold me. I don't remember the last time I felt safe, but I know it was with you. I know I can't be your girlfriend right now and I'm not going to ask to be. When I saw what you did for the Dursleys, I mean they treated you like shit, I could only imagine if it was me. I mean, you fought a Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets for me and that's before we ever really knew each other as people. If what I feel for you is at all how you feel for me I get it…"
"It is." He interrupted. " Trust me. You have no idea what it's like to be away from you. More importantly, you have no idea what it means to me that you understand why I have to be. It's like there could not be another woman more perfect for me than you. I could conjure her up my idea of a perfect woman, she wouldn't even come close to you. I'm not as eloquent in my words as you are, but I love you too."
"Oh Harry, I would never want you to be anything you're not because I already love you as you are - eloquent or not. I just want to lay here in your arms. The world isn't safe anymore, but here, just for tonight, I want to feel it."
Harry snuggled down into bed with Ginny in his arms. He watched her as she fell asleep. The weird part was, as much as he was comforting her, he was also feeling safe and peaceful. AS if for the first time in very long time, there was right in the world. He felt his eyes falling, and for the first time since before his capture, he truly fell asleep.
"Ginny Weasley! Mum would bloody kill you if she saw you in here. What are you doing?"
"Well good thing she's not here then, Ron!" Ginny answered as she blinked herself back to consciousness.
"Harry, did you just shag my sister while I'm in the same bleedin' room? I can ignore you snogging my sister, but this?"
"Ron, we didn't do anything. I wouldn't do that to your sister, I mean with you right there. It wouldn't be right. Plus, like I need to be thinking about that all the time. You know where my focus is."
The door opened and Hermione came in followed by several more girls, all looking to see what the commotion was. Hermione looked at Ginny.
"Ginny, what are you doing? You are going to get into big trouble."
"Seriously, Lord Voldemort is out there, Hogwarts probably isn't even safe anymore, and you're worried about me sneaking into Harry's room and not shagging his brains out. I think your priorities are a bit out of whack. Everyone can mind their own bloody business and bugger off. And as for you Ronald, grow up. I am not a baby anymore and I can make my own decisions. Not having you present when I lose my virginity is one of those decisions."
Ron turned bright red and threw the covers over his head. Ginny turned to Harry and pulled him into a very deep kiss. With one last glare for everyone, she stalked out of the room. The other girls slowly followed suit.
"Mate, I'm sorry I just saw and I thought and I didn't want to think but it was there and…"
"Ron, how about we just don't talk about it, ever."
"Right. Let's go meet Sirius in the Room of Requirement."
Quickly changing, once they made sure there were no more girls lurking, they made to leave the room. They were stopped at the door by.
"Where you guys going?"
They had to think fast, they weren't ready to include the others yet.
"We just have to go finish talking this out in private. My sister and me are close, and Harry and my sister are close and I have to make the lines clear."
"Oh, ok. Well, let me know when there's something I can do." Neville replied before turning back to catch some more sleep.
"Yeah." They both mumbled as they walked out.
They made the walk in an awkward silence. Harry stopped Ron at the entrance to the RoR.
"Ron, I thought we weren't going to mention that ever again?"
"It was the first thing I could think of, I don't really want to talk about it."
"Good." Harry sighed with relief.
Walking into the Room of Requirement, they saw Sirius already inside waiting.
"I'm still amazed at how this place eels exactly the same as when I was a student here. Well, lets get straight to it. Any ideas of where we go from here? I mean obviously fighting Voldemort in a muggles front yard was not the best idea, even if they are magically related."
"Well being tortured by some of the meanest bitches in the world helped me realize something: they don't fuck around. I mean, it's a lesson I've had to learn over and over again, but it feels more real now. Before, I didn't have every one of them coming at me with me being defenseless. The end is going to be between Voldemort and I, but getting to that point has been a nightmare."
"I know that Harry, we all know that. Hermione and I have been with you since the beginning. Sirius has been fighting for this since before we were born. We aren't afraid of that."
"You don't understand it Ron. They don't care. They will kill you in a second with no regret. They would even kill every member of your family with you watching just for shits and giggles. Voldemort wants me to join him. Wants me to help him rule the world with dark magic. How do you think that makes his followers feel? Those who waited for his return, and those that went to Azkaban?"
"Wait Harry, stop right there." Sirius interrupted with a shocked look on his face.
"What?" asked Harry.
"Voldemort wants you to rule with him?"
"I'm getting to that. That's why they couldn't kill me. Voldemort knows the prophecy. He's starting to become afraid of me, but also can't resist it. Partnering himself with someone who's power rivals his is like his wet dream. I mean really if you think about it, if we came together, no one could defeat us since we are the only ones who can defeat the other. He sees it as an insurance policy."
"Then why don't you?"
"What?" It was Harry's turn to give Sirius the shocked look.
"Join him. Get in nice and close, stand by his side, right before you stick a knife into it." answered Sirius.
"You can't be serious.
"I am..."
Your Sirius, we know" Ron cut him off. "Let me get this straight. You want Harry to turn from the light, join the epitome of evil, and just go along for the ride?"
"No Ron, that's not what he's saying. I'm pretty sure he's saying Voldemort has given me the opening I need to get to him. There's no better way to defeat the Dark Lord then for him to think I'm his friend, his equal. Think about it, with Snape rescuing me, we've lost our inside source. We need another one, why not me?"
"He'd be watching you better than he watched Snape, how would you get information back to us?" Ron asked, thinking he had found a flaw in their logic.
"How quickly you forget. Sirius and I can still communicate. You're the only other person to know about it, so there's no way for anyone else to know. The tighter I get in with Voldemort, the more I learn his weaknesses, what makes him tick."
"Why would you need to know that?" Ron asked.
"Because if you know how a person works, its easier to figure out how to stop them. Sirius is right, this is what I need to do." Harry finished up.
"Ron, Harry, this is important. We can't tell anyone our plan. The girls would be too worried and try to make you stay. Others would want to try to go with you. Everyone here has their own duties and we don't want to throw anyone off their game. And heaven forbid, but if we have a traitor among us, Harry's a goner. The less that know that better."
"Agreed. I don't like keeping things from Neville, Hermione or anyone else, Ginny especially, but the more people that know, the bigger risk of this fucking up. Nothing is going to happen until I'm back to full strength, I'll need to be able to stand a chance against him when it comes to that. But at least now we have a direction." Harry stood.
"Sirius, go gather the outside Guardians. Have them training non-stop. Once Harry's in close, they'll need to be ready to go at a moment's notice. We'll only have one shot at this." Ron ordered. "Harry, do what you need to do to be ready. I'll figure out how we're going to make this happen."
Ron was interrupted by his stomach growling.
"After breakfast of course."
A/N: I owe this entire chapter to Karpie. Without her, this chapter probably would have never happened. At least until I finally got off my lazy ass, and who knows when that would have been.
