Chapter 22: Death and Duty

"Let me first say, I am so sorry for your loss Harry." Dumbledore intoned sincerely. He and Harry were sitting in his office the day after the attack on the ministry. Harry had his left arm in a sling and burn salve on his left leg, physical reminders of last night's ordeal. Harry's face contorted in response, the memory of Ron's death fresh in his mind. The notion that he played a part in it made the experience worse. "The death of a loved one is not an experience I envy and were the circumstances not so important I would leave you to your grieving process alone."

Sitting up in his seat, Harry regarded Dumbledore. "You want to know if I heard the full prophecy? The prophecy you kept from me?" He said with a hint of anger.

"Yes I do Harry, you see—"

Harry sneered before interrupting, "The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord."

"Ah, then it is as I feared. You feel as though I have done you a disservice, lied to you perhaps?" Harry didn't reply, he simply glared. "You are right to feel this way. Whilst my intentions have always been pure, I have on occasion sacrificed the needs of the few for the needs of the many."

"And I just so happen to be the sacrifice so often?" He said, raising his voice.

"A coincidence my boy."

"No, this isn't coincidence, this isn't chance, this isn't you accidentally screwing up. You have dictated my life from the moment that damned prophecy was made and it's brought me nothing but pain."

Sighing, Dumbledore's face turned sad. "All I have done, has been with your ultimate happiness in mind."

Slamming the desk with his good hand, Harry stood up sharply and yelled. "Well you failed! You failed my parents by not protecting them! You failed Sirius by not getting him a trial! You failed Remus by not looking after him! You failed me time and time again! The Dursley's, Voldemort, The ministry and now the Prophecy. I've seen what your guiding hand is worth, I've lived in Albus Dumbledore's idea of happiness, and I've decided that it's not good enough." Seeing that Dumbledore wasn't going to respond, Harry calmed down before continuing. "Yesterday, eight students made more of an effort to oppose Voldemort than you did in a whole year. I have lost faith in you Dumbledore, wholly and completely. I will fight Voldemort, fulfil my destiny like a good little soldier, but I will do so without your meddling."

Harry turned and made for the door, having said what he wanted to say. However, he felt a pang of guilt for the old man and decided to leave on a more mature note. "I once thought that you were the greatest man in the world. I can't forget your failures, however if you ever want to actually be of service then I will listen, if only for the respect I once had for you." He said sincerely before leaving.

A tear rolled down the wrinkled cheek of the headmaster as he spoke to an empty office, "I'm sorry Harry. I truly wish I could say that the pain was over."

Ron's funeral was held at the Burrow. A procession for family and friends, well, besides Harry. The only reason he was able to attend was because of his invisibility cloak and the Twins telling him the time and place. When they had learnt that Harry wouldn't be invited because Mrs Weasley blamed him for her son's death they came to him and explained that they felt their own guilt outweighed his own.

So now Harry was standing off to the side of the ceremony, watching as the Weasley men carried Ron's casket to the front. The tears were flowing freely as family members spoke about fond memories and how much they miss him already. Arthur spoke of how proud he was that his son took a stand for what he believed in. Molly spoke of a caring and lovable boy. Bill and Charlie recounted tales of baby sitting Ron. The twins joked together about times they tested their new ideas on Ron and Ginny mournfully talked about her favourite brother.

Once everyone had said they're piece, Ron's casket was closed and magically lowered into the ground. The guests left the funeral at this point, the Weasley family surrounded the descending coffin and stood there in silence for a time before trickling away back into the house. Only Hermione remained, crouched at the headstone with tears streaming down her face. Harry walked forward under his cloak to stand close to the grave and read the inscription.

Ronald Billius Weasley

March 1st, 1980 - June 18th, 1997

Died as a hero, protecting his fellow man from the forces of evil.

He will be missed.

Harry smiled at the inscription, happy with the way he was being honoured as a hero and not just a casualty. Worried about his remaining best friend, he walked up behind Hermione and hesitantly put a hand on her shoulder. She jumped slightly, startled by the unexpected contact. Finding only a hand, she rapidly recognised that it was Harry and rested her own hand on his.

"I don't blame you Harry, no one really does. They're just in pain." She whispered tearily.

Harry's eyes never left the tombstone as he spoke. "I'm grateful, I don't think I could've lost another best friend."

Hermione managed a small smile, "Ginny told us what happened, he was a hero, brave to a fault." She said before breaking down again "I only wish I was there when he called out to me." Harry enveloped her in a hug under the cloak as she cried on his shoulder, they stayed like this for a few moments before she pulled away. "You should go. Even though no one really blames you, emotions are high right now and you'll just aggravate them."

Ignoring the indignation that he felt he agreed, "Yeah I know, it just felt wrong to not be here and to not check up on you."

This time Hermione's smile was grateful, "thank you Harry, truly. Where will you go now?"

Harry sighed, "Voldemort is on the loose, I've got to start preparing for all out warfare as soon as I can. I can't tell you where I'm going but if you ever need me just shift the coins you gave to the D.A to a location and I'll have someone retrieve you."

"But Harry, you can't possibly be thinking of hunting him down?"

Harry's eyes hardened and he stared off into the St Ottery Chapel hillside as he replied, "in a sense." Before activating a portkey, leaving no trace of being there in the first place.

Reappearing in a crouch at the intended destination, Harry looked up at his new base of operations for the first time. He had appeared at the front of a very large overlook which was at the top of a very steep cliff. Turning around, Harry found that he could see the Irish Sea and the mainland of England. Turning back to the manor that reminded him of how Daphne described her own home. A west and east wing, three stories tall and with towers at either end. The front door was brilliantly crafted with what looked like vines embossed on the doors themselves.

Opening the front doors, he was greeted with a beautiful entrance hall with hanging chandeliers and classical art adorning the walls. Three doors, similar in style to the front door, leading to the wings and the central component made for the decision of where to go a more difficult venture

"Harry! You made it here safe." Called out Sirius from the door on the right, the door swinging open as he walked over to greet his godson with a tentative hug.

Welcoming the comfort Harry allowed Sirius to hold him for a moment before pulling back. "Is everyone here?" He asked.

Looking concerned, Sirius hesitated before replying. "Well, yes but first I think-"

"Great lets go." Harry said, walking towards where Sirius came from.

"Harry, wait." Sirius said, standing firmly where he was and fixing him with a hard stare. "You have suffered a tremendous loss, if you're not up to this then no one will blame you if you sit this one out."

Shaking his head angrily Harry replied, "I am the only person in the world besides Voldemort who will never be able to sit this out. No matter who we lose or what we lose it's going to be me and him until one of us wins. As much as I'd love to cry about Ron, I know that this needs to be done to stop it from happening again."

Sirius didn't cease his hard stare throughout Harry's tirade, only stopping to nod his ascent afterwards and he motion towards the door he came from. "I'm sorry this is the life you lead Harry but you're right. The others are waiting through here."

Sirius led Harry through the door into the west wing of the manor which consisted mainly of the repurposed dining hall to hold large meetings with a few empty rooms above it which could be used for housing. As Sirius said, the others were waiting for them in the hall already. Tonks was sitting the closest to the door with her head bandaged up, whereas Remus was next to her looking entirely unscathed. Damien and Daphne Greengrass sat opposite them, whispering quietly to each other. The newcomer was one Alastor Moody, invited by Sirius and Remus to join their merry band of fighters. He agreed fairly quickly, impressed with the steps Harry made to both expose and thwart Voldemort in the recent battle.

Harry walked down the long length of the table and to his seat at the head. Standing, he eyed everyone in the room individually before speaking. "I take it everyone is up to speed on recent events?" At everyone's confirmation Harry nodded and intoned seriously, "good, then let's begin."

Hello and congrats on making it this far! I want to say thanks for spending your time reading my first fanfic and I hope you enjoyed :) It's been really fun writing this and I do see myself completing the entire series within the year.

The sequel is currently in the works and I will start posting by mid-May on a two chapter per week schedule. Those of you who are anticipating the sequel, let me know in the reviews if you'd prefer the full thing or in increments like I'm planning.

(SPOILER WARNING)

For those of you who like… that particular redhead, I'm super sorry. I felt like the stakes would be too low if no one died and the only person who I felt could replace Sirius in a way that kept the same emotional significance to Harry was him.

The Harry/Daphne romantic pairing will be more explored in the sequel because frankly I've got to do more research on romance writing. Also the story will become a little more political in the next instalment so anyone hoping for that will hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

(END SPOILING WARNING)

Anyway, thanks everyone for reading and I hope you all enjoyed it at least half as much as I enjoyed making it.

Cya