Chapter 21

The Plan

Classes resumed on Monday, but Hermione, Harry, Ginny, and Ron missed them to go to Charlie's funeral. The service was held in an odd-looking building on Diagon Alley that reminded Harry of a church, but only remotely. He supposed it made sense that a wizarding church, or whatever its wizarding equivalent was, wouldn't be exactly like the muggle variety. This wasn't the first time Harry had wondered about what the differences between Muggle and Wizard religion were, but he figured that, on the whole, now wasn't the correct time to ask.

There was a viewing before the service. When Ron saw the body, he cried for Charlie for what Harry was pretty sure was the first time. When he did, Hermione put her arm around him immediately, and George walked over and patted him comfortingly on the back. Fred and George might tease Ron from time to time, realized Harry, but when it really counted, they were there for him. Ginny and Harry also made their way over to Ron to try to comfort him, but by the time they got there, Ron was already trying to convince everyone that the wasn't really crying, but that something had simply gotten into his eye. From the look on Hermione's face, it was clear to Harry that she wished that Ron would just let his feelings out, but Harry reckoned that everyone had their own way of dealing with grief.

Mrs. Weasley, for instance, had been completely inconsolable for the first 24 hours, but after that she seemed able to tell amusing stories about Charlie's childhood and make sure the rest of her children were coping with the tragedy all right.

Bill had stuck around with the rest of the family for the whole time until it was clear that his mother had regained a bit of emotional composure, but then was missing in action for most of the day Saturday, taking long walks by himself, returning once in awhile just to make sure no one was worried about him.

Fleur had come too, after the first night, but seemed by Saturday to sense that Bill needed his space, so she spent most of the time doing her best to comfort Charlie's other siblings, especially Ginny, who didn't seem too thrilled with the idea of being comforted by Fleur.

Harry didn't see Mr. Weasley cry at all, but any time any of his kids got overly quiet for a long amount of time, he would ask them what they were thinking about and offer to take a walk with them to talk if they wanted to.

For a while, Percy didn't cry either, and for all of Saturday, Harry was pretty sure that he didn't look Fred, George, Ron, Ginny, or him in the eye. Then, Saturday night, when Fred, George, Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Ginny were sitting in the Gryffindor common room once all of the other students had gone to sleep, Percy came down and asked to talk to them.

Fred and George looked at him like they might just get up and walk away to prevent him from doing so, but Harry supposed they were too exhausted by the emotional turmoil of the past two days to fight with any of their brothers just then.

Percy stood in front of the rest of them, clearing his throat and starting as if he thought he was a politician giving a major speech. He said, "I know I've done a lot of stupid things since I've graduated from Hogwarts-"

"It didn't start then, you know," said Fred mercilessly, calling into question Harry's assessment that he didn't have the energy to fight with his brother. Perhaps that was exactly the reason why he had consented to hear him out.

Percy was silent for a moment. "Yeah, you're right," he admitted. "I guess I wanted power for as long as I can remember... Well, that's not true. I think it started about the summer before my Second Year. I remember Dad was working long shifts at work and he was stressed out all the time. I think that summer was when he lost most of his hair. Anyway, from what I could gather, he was trying to get some muggle-protection law passed. He was sure it was right, and that there was no reason not to pass it, but he couldn't do anything, because no one was listening to him. One night, I remember overhearing him and Mum talking as I was coming down the stairs to get a glass of water or something. Anyway, I stopped there on the steps so that I could hear what he was saying... I thought I could hear him crying a bit... And he kept saying about how no one cared, and he wished he could make them listen. I understood even then that if he were the Minister of Magic, he could get his bloody law passed, if that's what he wanted to do so bad. And then I determined that someday I'd be in a position where I could make people listen. I don't remember what I thought I was going to make people listen to, but I'd like to think that at first, I meant it to be for noble reasons, like the type of things Dad cared about. But eventually it turned out to be just for the power."

"Was that supposed to be an apology?" asked Fred incredulously.

Even Harry, who was trying to be generous to Percy, knowing that the past couple days had been just as tough on him as anyone else, had to admit to himself that he was pretty sure he had heard very similar speeches to Percy's on the muggle soaps that Aunt Petunia used to watch when he was younger.

"Well, no, the apology was what I was going to get to before you interrupted me and inspired that last tangent," said Percy somewhat irritably.

"Look, Percy, we know that you're only even acknowledging that we're your family because all of your sucking up to Scrimgeour over the past year was voided when he snuffed it. You've got no political leverage anymore, so you might as well talk to your embarrassing family because you've got no where else to fit in," said George.

"That's not true," said Percy calmly. "Scrmgeour has been talking me up to everyone in the past couple of months. I've got plenty of connections all throughout the Ministry, and no matter who turns out to be the next Minister, they'd want to use me for important things because over the past three years, I've proven that I'm committed to the Ministry above everything else in my life. There aren't too many people there who can say that, and I'm beginning to figure out why... You know, with what just happened, it gets you thinking... But, to be honest, that's not what first made me realize I was wrong."

"Wait..." said Ginny, seeming to be actively shocked. "You're actually saying you were wrong?" Had Fred, George, Percy, or Ron said it, what Ginny said would've sounded ridiculously sarcastic, but Ginny actually sounded sincerely hopeful.

"You'd better be sincere, then," said George skeptically. There was a bit of a threat in his voice as well, as if to say that no one better get his little sister's hopes up like that if they didn't intend to follow through.

"Well... Why don't you just give me a chance to finish my story, and then you can judge for yourself whether I'm sincere."

Seemingly, each member of the audience judged that the best way to signify their agreement with the plan would be to simply stay quiet, so that's what they did.

"Well, at any rate, when we at the Ministry heard that the Death-eaters were right outside Hogwarts, almost complete chaos ensued. Most people had already gone home for dinner. Of those of us who were still there, about a third were going straight to the battle field, another third started flooing to various places to find reinforcements, which was how Bill and Charlie got there. The other third were pacing around their offices trying to figure out how to deal with the political fall-out if the death-eaters did manage to get into Hogwarts again. See, people had been speculating for awhile that if Hogwarts was shut down, it would look like our side was admitting defeat, and would probably push a bunch of undecided people to the other side. Anyway, the upshot of all this was that, apparently, no one was watching the entrances. I don't know for sure, because I was running around the corridors trying to find Scrimgeour. See, I figured that if I could find Scrimgeour now, in one of his most stressful times, that would be a good political move for me... Sounds like a real Slytherin-move, I know, but I didn't realize that until a bit later. Anyway, when I entered the corridor with his office in it, I saw him duck into his office and close the door. I was heading there, but before I got there, I saw five death-eaters coming down the corridor. I froze where I was. They clearly had bigger concerns than me, because they paid me no mind except that one of them said, 'Just don't go doing anything noble.'" At this point, Harry noticed Percy's face flush slightly. "None of you will be surprised to hear that I had no problem complying with that request. So, I just waited until the death-eaters followed Scrimgeour into the room, and I pushed my ear to the door and listened, careful to be sure that they weren't going to catch me there, since I was pretty sure they wouldn't be as lenient this time as before. But I was so certain that they'd be more concerned with taking care of the Minister before trying to catch up with me that I felt safe enough to eavesdrop. Besides, I figured that, since I knew I couldn't take on five death-eaters myself, the next best thing I could do would be to be the one to bring the news of what had happened to the Minister. When I got to the door, I expected to hear Scrimgeour pleading for his life. However, I was surprised to hear a confident voice coming from the interior the room. 'I know you could use a friend in a high place. It would be excellent to have someone in such a high position to be on your side. Perhaps He-who-must-not-be-named heard of my Defense skills, and knew it would be no easy task to have someone put me under the Imperius curse. So he's sent you here to negotiate with me, yes? Well, I'll do whatever he wants. But I'm going to need a guarantee that I'll have a position of power in the new regime.'"

At this, Hermione gasped, although she was the only one. And, when thinking about it, Harry was sure that her reaction would have been more drastic a couple of years ago, if she had found out that the current Minister of Magic was completely unethical. Her gasp was mild enough to show that she had been desensitized by all she had found out about the Minister over the past year, but it still must have been easier for her to assume that he was simply incompetent rather than actually evil. Apparently, the Weasleys and Harry had no problem believing that he was evil on top of his general incompetence.

After a slight glance at Hermione, Percy continued. "Well, from what I told you guys, you won't be surprised to find out that's not what the Death-Eaters had in mind. Their answer was something to the effect of, 'Yes, but what the Dark Lord has in mind tonight is an important death. Unfortunately for you, the Dark Lord only really wants your body. Er. Your dead body, that is." I don't know why I remember that stupid little joke of theirs, but I think it might've been because I thought it was sick that they were joking with this guy while telling him he was going to die. But, the more important part was that I finally realized that Scrimgeour was a sneaky, spineless git who actually deserved to die. And that's when I realized I had chosen the wrong side, and that power was worth nothing if it was just pursued for its own ends. I know that it took me too long to figure that out, but now I have. And since I have, now I want to prove that I deserved to be in Gryffindor in the first place." And then with a look to his brothers and Ginny, he said, "And, of course, I guess I've got to prove too that I deserve to have the name 'Weasley' too. That might sound corny, but I mean it," explained Percy.

"Yeah, well..." said Fred, after he and George pursued an unusual moment of silence. "You will have to prove that you deserve that."

"But we won't stop you," added George.

"If you're good, eventually we might start talking to you again," added Fred.

"Other than now, we mean," said George.

"Of course, this doesn't count," said Fred. "We can't really be held responsible for our actions right now, considering that our brother finally basically just admitted he's been being a prat for years."

"Not that we're surprised that he is a prat, mind you, just that he's finally admitted it," clarified George, who was currently facing away from Percy, ostensibly talking to Ron.

And now, two days later, at the funeral, it seemed that Ginny, at least, had had almost enough time to forgive him. When Percy broke out crying, Ginny went over and gave him a hug. When she had finished with that, she started crying too. Harry went over and gave her a hug in turn. He had given up days ago trying to comfort Ginny with words, he knew there was nothing more for him to say. He could only be there for her, and wait until she had something to say.

"You need to take a walk?" Harry asked, quietly.

"No, I'm okay," said Ginny. "Besides, I think they're about to start letting people in to see him. Will you stand with me in the condolence-line?"

Harry nodded immediately, wasting hardly a second to wonder whether it was actually called a condolence-line. It might as well be, he reckoned.

The turnout was very good, apparently Charlie had known a lot of people, including, not surprisingly, many foreigners, with whom he had apparently worked. Some of them seemed to know only about enough English to say, "Charlie was a good and a brave man," which was convenient, as that was just about the gist of what everyone was saying anyway. During a break between people, Ginny whispered to Harry, "Do they think they're telling us anything we don't know?"

"I don't think so," said Harry. "But maybe they think it helps for you to know that they could see it too."

The prize for most unique condolence, however, Harry decided, went to Kingsley Shacklebolt, for what Harry overheard him saying to Mr. and Mrs. Weasley. "You know that all of us Aurors and faculty wish it had been one of us that had died, instead of someone so young. Your son was one of the bravest people I know, and that says something, considering the profession I'm in. And I think that I speak for all of us when I say that we'll strive to carry a bit of Charlie's bravery with us. May his life be a lesson for all of us."

Unlike at a Muggle funeral, there was no priest at the service, and there was no eulogy. Just a bunch of people stayed in the room where the body was being kept and talked to each other for a few hours. Harry and Ginny walked around and mingled with the crowd, finding that each person had a different story to tell about Charlie. Ginny really seemed to enjoy this, and to Harry, having everyone tell their own stories about Charlie to each other made more sense than someone trying to get up in front of the gathering and make a five minute eulogy on something so complex as a man's life.

In the world outside, Mad-eye Moody, as the most decorated ex-Auror still alive, was named the temporary Acting Minister of Magic. There was a slight argument about whether he was mentally competent to do the job, but it was generally recognized that with times how they were, it was best to have an Auror as the Minister. And all the other Aurors nominated Moody for the job, since he was respected most by his fellow-Aurors. Besides which, McGonagall vouched for him, and McGonagall's word was becoming more and more valuable these days, especially after she had helped the school to survive a siege safely.

Hermione, Rob, Harry, and Ginny decided that this was excellent news for there cause. It meant that the Ministry was now controlled by someone both competent and on their side. Plus, it meant that McGonagall could count on extra Auror support for important Order matters, considering that the Aurors would be ultimately answerable to Moody.

Monday night, the four students returned to Hogwarts, and the other Weasleys went back to their various homes. Neville, Seamus, and Dean returned to the dorm. One part of life was back to normal again, if only just the one.

Over the next couple of days, more things got back to normal as well. They started going to classes again, for one thing. For another, somewhat more importantly, in Harry's opinion, they began to pursue once again their usual past time of Horcrux hunting.

Hermione was somewhat disappointed to find that McGonagall had figured out where the new Horcrux was hidden only shortly after Hermione figured it out herself, so that it was old news by the time, a couple of days after Charlie's funeral, when Hermione, Harry, Ron, and Ginny went to McGonagall's office to tell her about it.

"Yes, the question is, of course, how we plan to get the Horcrux when it's obvious that, by now, Voldemort will have the place guarded," said McGonagall.

"Yes, that would tend to make things tricky, wouldn't it?" asked Ginny.

"And, we've also got to do our best not to give away that we know where the Horcrux is," said Harry. "If they know, they might up and move it."

"I think they already must know we know where it is," said Hermione, skeptically. "I mean, if you reckon they know we're the one's who've been taking all the rest, which they must, by now. After all, Voldemort may be into Dark magic, but that doesn't mean he's not bright on an intellectual level."

"This is no time for puns," contended Ron, slightly irritably.

"Wait a second," said Harry. "I think the real question is who they think is taking the Horcruxes. I mean, last time, they know we got back-up from Order Members, but they also probably know that we went in to look for the Horcrux by ourselves. Do you think that they're just trying to lure us there?" asked Harry.

"Possibly, but the Horcrux has got to be somewhere," said McGonagall. "And this is definitely our best hunch."

"I feel like the worst thing we could do at this point would be to do nothing," agreed Harry. "We might as well at least see if it is there, and then go back to the drawing board if it isn't."

"Isn't this a bit too dangerous?" asked Ginny. For a moment, it seemed that everyone was too stunned to actually answer the question. It wasn't like Ginny to ask whether something was too dangerous. But then, Harry reckoned that she must have already resigned herself to the fact that she would not be invited along on this adventure. This meant she was able to look at the question objectively and ask the strictly logical questions such as, "You realize you just conceded that you may very well be walking into a Death-Eater trap, and this doesn't seem to faze you at all."

"Well, we'd take the invisibility cloak, of course. So, if it turned out that we were outnumbered, we could go right back out the way we came," Harry pointed out.

"You know perfectly well you'd never turn around just because you were outnumbered," retorted Ginny.

"Fine, but it'd be easier to fight with an invisibility cloak than without it... Unless they've got about a dozen men down there, I bet we could hex all of them before they caught on to where the hexes were even coming from," replied Harry calmly.

Ginny seemed almost convinced.

Then Hermione spoke up, saying, "Maybe we can do something to try to lull the Death-eaters into a false sense of security. One of Voldemort's biggest downfalls to this point has been underestimating us. Maybe we can get him to do it again, and then maybe we'll be able to get the Horcrux."

Then they came up with a plan, doing their best to try to deceive the Death-eaters by playing on what they expected the Death-eaters thought of them, based mostly on what they reckoned Snape had reported to Voldemort about them.

They decided to send an owl to Lupin with the following message.

Dear Moony,

We know we shouldn't really be coming to you behind McGonagall's back, but we think it's time to take some action. We don't know how long it will be before the death-eaters attack our school again, and we need to be doing something constructive. As one of the Marauders, we know you'll recognize this even if that old bat McGonagall can't. We think we know where the new Horcrux is hidden. We're not telling McGonagall because if we tell her, she'll only try and stop us.

We're sure we're right about where it is, so we don't really need your help, but we figured that you would want to be a part of that, and well... you were enough of a friend to my father that I think you deserve it. We know that you won't tell McGonagall the contents of this letter. Let's just say we know you well enough to know that you wouldn't want to miss a shot to help bring down Voldemort.

Anyway, our plan is to go to the place in Mens where Scrimgeour was found dead. We believe that is where the Horcrux is hidden. We will go on February 15, a Saturday, so that we are not missed from class.

Signed,

Harry Potter.

The plan was that the owl would be intercepted, then the Death-eaters would assume that they were going unprotected into the Horcrux's hiding place. They were enchanting the scroll in such a way that the name of anyone else that touched the scroll after it was enchanted would be visible to the intended recipient upon receipt, so they would know if it was really intercepted along the way or whether they would have to keep sending the letter over and over again.

Lupin would, of course, be informed of the actual plan by a more secure manner, as would the other people who would take part in the plan. They would have ten Order Members to accompany Ron, Hermione, and Harry. These visible and less-expected visitors, they hoped, would distract whatever guards the Death-eaters had on duty, so that Ron, Hermione, and Harry could run in and grab the Horcrux.

"Do you think there will be an obstacle-course this time?" asked Ron somewhat nervously when they got to this part of the plan.

"There might be," said Hermione, "but maybe not, considering that they probably just put this one in its place."

"Do you think that means this one hadn't been hidden before?" asked Harry.

"It's a possibility. Or maybe it isn't there at all. Perhaps they're just trying to draw us into a battle. If so, it's probably better to do it now, with us having the possibility of ambushing them by bringing more people than they expect," said McGonagall.

"But do you really think they'll be stupid enough to believe that we'd really send such an important message through owl post?" asked Ginny.

"I think Snape would be more amazed that I haven't injured myself by pointing my wand the wrong way on a hex yet. I don't think anything I did would be too stupid for Snape to believe I would do it. And Voldemort's got to be acting mostly on his intelligence, considering he knows the most about me. Voldemort only knows that I'm brave and fairly good at spells. He doesn't know I'm not stupid," said Harry.

"He knows Hermione's not stupid," pointed out Ginny.

"Yeah, but he's never paid too much attention to me. He would still assume that you were the leader of the group, and would probably assume that if you said something, we'd go with it. That's certainly how things go over in Voldemort's camp, anyway. Maybe they're so used to that that they won't think that's not how we do it here," responded Hermione.

"And anyway, it's worth a shot," said Harry.

"Still, I think we ought to wait at least a day or two before we actually send the letter. Then, even after that, we'll still have until February 15 to think of a better plan. Otherwise, these are probably the best battle terms we'll get. And with something so important as guarding the Horcrux, or even trying to capture Harry Potter, they'll have to have some of their top wizards and witches out there," said McGonagall.

They didn't come up with a better plan over the next couple days, so they sent the letter through owl post and started recruiting people for the mission.

A/N: Okay... well... at least one reviewer described last chapter as a "backwards-looking" chapter, which was an apt characterization. To the same extent, this one is more of a forward-looking chapter. But then, it's not really possible to have a ton of action in every chapter, so hopefully you all can appreciate the set-up to the action as well. And it seems like at least some of you appreciate the times in between the action. I'm really grateful for the positive response to last chapter. I really put a lot into it, trying to bring out the emotions that I imagine the different characters might feel. I didn't like this chapter quite as much, though I kind of liked Percy's recounting of what made him come back over to the side of Harry & co. Someone criticized the year six fiction I had for having Percy see the light too easily, so I got to wondering what it might actually take for him to do so... Hopefully, I've found it. Also, I'd like feedback on whether the plan the trio (plus Ginny) and McGonagall have worked out for retrieving the Horcrux seems like the sort of thing that they'd actually try to do. Sorry for the insane length of this author's note. Oh, and... sneak preview for next chapter... It's going to include Valentine's day, so... a bit more romance. I feel this story's gone pretty far in the romance direction, but it sort of feels like a logical progression... Anyway, if you've read this far, you've spent just as much time reading the author's note as you would reviewing, so please review. Thanks!