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Chapter Forty-Five: Not Killing Him
Mundungus stared at a place just over Albus' shoulder. He didn't look nervous, or even anxious.
"Mundungus, why?" Remus asked.
"Why what?"
"Why did you betray us?" shouted Minerva. It was no secret that the trio were her favorites. The fact that Mundungus did something to hurt Hermione made Minerva angry enough to curse him on the spot.
"It wasn't like that. Not really."
"Then do tell us what it was like." sneered Severus. He wasn't fond of Hermione, but he couldn't stand the fact that someone had betrayed Albus' trust.
"I needed the money those goblins owed."
"Killing them isn't going to get it for you." Fred said savagely.
"No, but-"
"But nothing." Molly shrieked. "That poor girl is an orphan now and it is entirely your fault."
"I didn't know that's what You-Know-Who wanted the information for. A Death Eater who knew about my goblin problems offered to take care of the problem for me. In exchange, they just wanted an address. I gave it to them, yes. I never dreamed they would kill the Grangers." Mundungus said.
"Okay, let me get this straight." Minerva snapped. "You gave a Death Eater the Grangers address. Never mind the fact that Hermione battles You-Know-Who and his supporters on a regular basis. Also, disregard the fact that she is Harry Potter's best friend. You still gave a Death Eater her parents' location and you have the audacity to claim you didn't think he would have her parents killed." Her voice had become louder as her rant continued until she was screaming.
"I know it sounds bad in retrospect-"
"In retrospect?" Molly yelled. "Are you crazy? Are you honestly saying it didn't sound bad when you were doing it?"
"What do you intend to do, Albus?" Arthur asked while trying to calm his wife.
"I think we should vote on it." Charlie said.
"I vote we kill him." George said.
"Yes, that is a fair punishment for treason." Fred added.
"No one is killing anyone." Bill said.
"Unless Mundungus needs another favor." George muttered.
"Yeah, one of us could be next." Fred added cynically.
"Boys, enough." Arthur said.
Through the entire exchange, Mad-Eye remained silent. He finally spoke as Arthur finished reprimanding the twins.
"Don't be too hard on them, Arthur. They're right."
As the other order members turned to look at him, he continued.
"Have we all forgotten about the other victim that night? Emmeline was a member of the order and had been ever since You-Know-Who's first reign. Fletcher is responsible for her death as well."
"Kill him." Minerva said.
"Minerva!" Albus looked truly shocked at his deputy. She was normally the first to want to follow rules.
"You have to do something drastic." She whispered as talk broke out throughout the room regarding Mundungus' fate.
"I am not sanctioning the killing of an order member. No, Minerva. Not even a disgraced order member."
Minerva looked down the table. All the members were discussing Mundungus. "Moody, watch Fletcher." she snapped before standing. She motioned for Albus to follow her to a corner where they would not be overheard.
"Albus, you have to do something other than discharging him from the order. Emmeline was too faithful to us for years to allow her murderer to go unpunished. You, however, have another thing to consider."
"What?"
"Your ward. Harry will find out that Mundungus is responsible for the Grangers' deaths. Do you want to tell him it's okay because Mundungus is no longer in the order, or do you want to be able to tell him that Mundungus is going to be held accountable for his actions?"
"I can't let anyone kill Mundungus simply to appease Harry either.
"I'm not suggesting you do." She had calmed slighly and could think rationally again. "You must do something though. This is not one of those times when you can extend infinite patience to deal with a problem and offer second chances. You must act now."
"My first inclination is to turn Mundungus over to the aurors for holding. I can give them the majority of the evidence I have collected against him."
"Then do it." Minerva urged.
They joined the others back at the table and Albus announced his decision. No one had a problem with it, except the twins who seemed slighly disappointed. Severus also looked a little put out about the fact that Mundungus would not be executed.
"I must ask you, Mundungus, who the Death Eater was that you made this deal with?"
"I can't say."
"Why not?" Minerva demanded.
"All I know is-" Mundungus trailed off.
"Is what?" Bill urged.
"They were young." he whispered. "I think it was a student."
"What?" yelled most of the order members. Albus looked shocked, as did Minerva. Both of them turned to look at Remus who also looked surprised. Severus looked grave. He would never admit it to anyone, but he knew all too well that most of his house was headed to the Dark Lord upon leaving school.
Mad-Eye and Remus escorted Mundungus to the temperary prison that was being used until the new Azkaban was finished. He had gone willingly and seemed resigned to his fate. He felt it was a little harsh, considering that he had not meant to get anyone killed, but he did not argue.
Albus returned to the castle late that night. He would inform Harry, Ron and Hermione about Mundungus after classes the next day. He had decided it would be wise not to mention any student Death Eater theories to them. That would only lead to fights and injuries. All the teachers would be informed so they could be watchful.
The trio walked to breakfast in silence. They had all been aware of the meeting that was taking place the night before. All wondered what had been discussed. It wasn't anything that they talked about anymore, but all of them feared how much worse the war was going to get.
As they ate, Errol flew down with the rest of the post owls. Ron took the note, wondering what his mother could possibly be writing for. It was a general worry amongst all the students that any mail would bring bad news. Ron sighed with relief when he saw not his mother's writing, but one of the twins. Even he couldn't be sure if it was Fred's or George's. It didn't really matter, though. If one of the twins did something, the other one was typically not far behind.
"It's addressed to all of us." Ron said.
Hermione and Harry leaned in to read the note with him.
"Mundungus." shrieked Hermione. She looked on the verge of tears as she jumped up and ran out of the hall. Harry and Ron followed her quickly. Harry paused momentarily as he stood and looked at the headmaster with an expression Albus could not read.
"Oh dear Merlin." Minerva said, as she sat next to Albus at the staff table. Hermione's voice had carried, so that everyone in the hall had heard her.
"Filius?" Albus asked.
"Yes?" squeaked the tiny professor.
"I'll need you to send Harry, Ron and Hermione to me when you get to class. I believe you have them first today."
"Not a problem, Albus." Filius answered.
As promised, the Charms professor sent the three to the headmaster's office immediately. They trudged into the office and took seats in front of Albus' desk.
"I take it you three are aware of the situation with Mundungus."
"Yes." they all answered.
"I had planned on informing you today after classes. May I ask who sent the note?" Albus asked, though he thought he already knew.
"Are they in trouble?" Ron asked.
"Not this time."
"It was Fred and George." said Ron.
"I must ask you not to repeat what you have been told. It could interfere with the Ministry's investigation of him." Albus said.
"We won't tell." Hermione promised. "He will be punished, won't he?"
"Yes, he will." Albus answered seriously.
Harry, Ron and Hermione stood to leave. They were almost to the door when Albus called Harry back. He told Hermione and Ron to go without him and he would see them in their next class.
"What is it?" Harry asked.
"You aren't angry with me for not telling you sooner, are you?"
"If I was, you would know about it. The charm, remember?"
"If you do will for the rest of March, I am considering removing the charm." Albus informed him.
"Really?"
"Really. You must continue to show improvement over the next month, or I will reassess my decision. You have done very well. May I ask what you have done differently to keep from becoming too emotional or harming yourself?"
"I don't know. I've just been busy, and Hermione was already so upset. I didn't want to make things worse on her, I guess."
Albus regarded Harry carefully. He had a suspicion that the teen was not telling the whole truth, but he had nothing to prove it. He would know if Harry hurt himself and that was going to have to be enough for now.
Harry left his guardian's office and went to the tower. He had missed so much of Charms that there really was no purpose in going. He sat in front of the fire and thought about the conversation he and Albus had just had. He wondered if Albus had known he was being lied to when words from last year came back to him; Albus would, of course, know. He always knew when he was being lied to, even without eye contact. Harry debated with himself over whether to return and be truthful or not. In the end, he decided to leave it alone until Albus brought it up. He didn't have a way to explain how he really felt anyway. The truth was that cutting no longer worked. Harry felt numb regarding almost everything.
A/N: Yeah, pretty boring chapter. I needed to tie up some things, though. I can't believe this story will be done in a little over a week! There should be around 10-15 more chapters. For those that can do math, that means I will be posting more than 1 chapter on some days. My dream is to have over 300 reviews by the time it is finished. Thanks to everyone who had reviewed so far. Please keep it up:)
