Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything except my ideas.
The Secret Keeper V
A New Hope
"Come on, Harry. It's two in the afternoon. You're getting up!"
Harry grunted and turned over in his bed to face the wall. Need more sleep. Exasperated, Ron stormed out of the room for the third time that day and joined the twins outside. Fred and George were hovering on their broomsticks about a meter off the ground, tossing a quaffle back and forth. On seeing Ron's approach, George called out to to him.
"Hey, where's Harry?"
" 'Usual place."
"Oh".
Fred looked around cautiously before exclaiming, " Geez! 'Talk about favouritism. Mum practically dragged us out of bed at ten-"
"-And Mum will continue to drag you out of your warm comfy beds everyday at ten until you get that hideous stain completely off the kitchen ceiling."
The three boys jumped, startled at their mother's sudden appearance in the garden.
"Aw, come off it, Mum, it's barely noticeable", George pleaded.
"It's bright red!" she interjected.
"Look at it this way, Mum: It's a status symbol. Now everybody who enters the house will know that we're serious inventors-"
"'Just get rid of it! Professor Dumbledore and the others will be here this afternoon. The place looks bad enough as it is. It better be gone in an hour".
"Right, Mum", chorused the twins resignedly.
The three boys watched as their mother returned to the house before resuming their conversation.
"Hey, I bet he'd get up for Ginny…" Fred began.
"Who?" George asked.
"Harry, of course. Geez, no wonder you only got four owls".
"Em, so did you, Fred".
"Ah, touché, Mr. Weasley! Nice comeback.. What d'you say, Ron? Harry and Ginny, eh?"
"No way. Cho Chang is the only girl for Harry."
"Ah, but not anymore. She won't want anything to do with him after what happened to Cedric Diggory-"
" Shhh! What if he heard you saying that?"
"Well, its true. I reckon the kindest thing to do is to set him up with Ginny. It'll take his mind off her, won't it?"
"No. Just leave him alone! Besides, Ginny grew out of her Harry-worship ages ago. Find someone else to annoy."
Ron returned to the house, an uneasy feeling in his stomach.
Somehow, he didn't think he'd convinced the twins to leave Harry alone. Maybe
I should warn him. The last thing he needs right now is more trouble in his life. But what
do I know? Maybe he does like Ginny. 'But I always thought that him and
Hermione-no, silly idea, really. Hermione's not his type anyway, she's more my
type. I wouldn't want to see her end up with Harry. She'd be miserable with him
almost getting himself killed every week. Yes, they're right. He'd be much
better off with Ginny or Cho. 'But I'll warn him, just in case.
***
Harry tossed and turned in his bed, stupidly trying to straighten the blankets that were now half on the floor. His feet felt cold and he knew that if he wanted to retrieve the covers he'd have to get up. Finally resigned to his fate, Harry sat up quickly, wincing at the sudden pain in his head, and surveyed the mess of his bed. He weakly tugged on the blankets and restored them but was too lazy to bother tucking them in against the wall. He lay back down, luxuriating in the warmth, and tried to go back to sleep. His head was still aching constantly and he was starting to worry that it would never go away. Sirius had left the Burrow the night after his dream and gone to Hogwarts to help Madam Pomfrey in her study of the curse Malfoy had hit Harry with. He knew practically nothing about medicine, but was a self-confessed curse-expert due to his years of practice with the Marauders. Almost a week had passed, however, and Sirius still hadn't been able to report any progress. The potions Madam Pomfrey sent to the Burrow helped somewhat, but their effects diminished quickly and it was dangerous to take them more than twice a day. He hadn't been sleeping very well, despite not having anymore dreams about Voldemort. Even his nightmares about the Triwizard Tournament seemed to have vanished, although Harry suspected that was because he was unable to sleep for more than two or three hours at a time.
He desperately hoped that Madam Pomfrey would discover something to cure the curse soon but it was difficult to be hopeful after the events of the last fortnight. He still hadn't seen Mrs. Figg since the night of his fight with Sirius and was tired of not knowing whether or not they were supposed to be friends now. He longed to reach some kind of agreement with her so he could stop worrying about it, but she hadn't paid a single visit to the Burrow. Mrs. Weasley had assured him that she was not staying away because she was angry with him. She was apparently a member of some new anti-Voldemort organisation called The Order of the Phoenix and was busy trying to track down Death Eaters. Harry knew nothing about this organisation and was hoping to ask Sirius about it whenever he returned.
The sound of heavy footfalls echoed on the wooden stairs. Here he comes again. Maybe it's time I was getting up… Ron entered the room and glared angrily at Harry.
"Well, are you getting up now?"
"I dunno. 'Still a bit early. I kinda fancied a lie-in this morning.."
"Haha, very funny. Come on, Snuffles will be here soon."
"What are you talking about?"
"You'd know if you'd gotten up like the rest of us! Sirius is coming, with Dumbledore and some other people. "
"Why?"
"I don't know. Something to do with you, obviously. It'd probably help if you were actually there, you know?".
"Oh. Right, you can stop your whinging, I'm getting up."
"'Bout ruddy time-"
"Ron, please don't make me defy the decree for underage wizardry again. I'd really prefer not to hex you, but if you're gonna be a grumpy little Slytherin-"
"Right, Potty. That sounds like a challenge to me".
Ron seized a pillow and lurched at Harry, who quickly rolled off the bottom of his bed, taking his own pillow with him. Harry rushed at Ron, ready to bombard him with a series of well-aimed blows, but the larger Weasley quickly gained the upper hand and successfully disarmed his opponent. He had his pillow in the air ready to strike when Ginny suddenly ran in. She laughed at Harry, who's hair was even more messed than usual and sticking up off his head at a ninety degree angle, before recollecting herself.
"Mum says you're both to come down now. They'll be here in five minutes."
"Damn. I nearly defeated the Great Harry Potter. Maybe You-Know-Who would have more luck if he used pillows instead of a wand. I'll get you next time, Potty-"
"Not if I get you first, you Slytherin slime-"
"NOW!" screamed Mrs. Weasley from downstairs.
"Fine, it'll have to wait. Get dressed, Harry. I'll see you downstairs."
***
As Harry made his way downstairs, attempting to smooth down his unruly hair, he could hear the voices of several people coming from the living room. He entered uncertainly to see Professor Dumbledore, Professor McGonagall, Sirius, Remus Lupin, all the Weasleys (except Bill and Charlie), and another man he didn't recognise all sitting around the room engaged in an animated discussion. Dumbledore smiled at Harry as he entered, before turning back to Lupin. Harry sat down on the floor next to Fred and glanced around the unusually crowded living room.
"What happened to the stain?"
"Mum made us remove it."
"Oh, sorry."
"Thanks. You know, Harry, sometimes I think you're the only one who understands."
Harry laughed and turned around to Sirius, who was sitting on the sofa behind him. Sirius smiled at him, giving Harry the impression that he had good news. At least he's ditched the robes. Before Harry could ask what had happened, Dumbledore stood up and addressed the room.
"First of all allow me to introduce Mundungus Fletcher".
Dumbledore nodded to a chubby and slightly balding man sitting next to Mr. Weasley. Harry recognised the name from when Dumbledore had asked Sirius to contact the "Old Crowd" after the Triwizard Tournament. Fletcher seemed to be about the same age as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, with intelligent-looking eyes and rather demure dark grey robes. Dumbledore was introducing everyone in turn to him, and it appeared that most of the adults already knew him. Harry was astonished, however, at the look of pure hatred Sirius shot at Mundungus when it was his turn to be introduced. Dumbledore seemed uncomfortable.
"And you know Sirius, of course-".
Mundungus simply nodded and, with a closed expression on his face, motioned for Dumbledore to introduce him to Harry.
"This, of course, is Harry Potter. Harry, Mundungus worked alongside your parents as an auror."
"Oh, emm, pleased to meet you.." Harry began, trying to smile politely, but aware of Sirius glaring at him. Confused, Harry sat back down and looked at Dumbledore, who was looking anxiously at Sirius. I wonder what this is all about. Mundungus sat back down next to Mr. Weasley, carefully avoiding Sirius' eyes. Dumbledore continued speaking:
"Now, as you all know, Harry was hit by an unusual curse a week ago. Sirius has been helping Madam Pomfrey to try to work out exactly how the curse works. We knew it was a variation on the Cruciatus curse, however its effects have been much more severe and long-lasting, as I'm sure Harry will testify."
Harry nodded and Dumbledore continued.
"Sirius, I'll let you explain the particulars of the curse-"
"Well, it seems to concentrate all the power of the Cruciatus curse on one part of the body, in this case, the brain. However, it does not stop at that. The curse seems to perpetuate indefinitely until it has completely destroyed the organ it attacks. This makes it much more powerful and detrimental, I'm afraid, as it directly attacks the seat of a wizard's magical abilities. I believe You-Know-Who is trying to destroy Harry's powers so that killing him will be somewhat easier".
Mrs. Weasley voiced an appalled shriek at this news, but Harry was surprised to find that he didn't feel very worried. He seemed numb, as if after everything that had happened this wasn't very surprising. He simply accepted what Sirius had to say, and wondered why he looked so happy about it.
"How long does it take?" asked Remus Lupin.
Sirius grinned mischievously,
"About a day. Harry, it didn't work, at least not properly. You were able to resist it, but I don't know how long the pain will last. Poppy is working on a better potion to control the pain, but she's pretty sure it will stop soon.".
"'But why didn't it work?" Mundungus asked.
Dumbledore gave him an annoyed glance that seemed to convey some hidden message. Mundungus looked down at his feet, and Dumbledore began to speak again.
"What else did you discover, Sirius?"
"The adaptation they made to the Cruciatus curse can be applied to other curses, although with great difficulty. It may even be applicable to the Killing Curse, which would render it much more powerful, perhaps even powerful enough to kill You-Know-Who…"
"Is there any proof of that?" asked McGonagall sharply.
"No", stated Dumbledore, "However, I believe it will work. The adaptation they made to the Cruciatus Curse would have killed Harry, had it not been for a very fortunate event in his childhood that protected him. Voldemort should have realised that, and I'm sure he will now. He'll find a way around it, so we have to work quickly."
"Has this something to do with my mother's protection?"
"Not exactly, Harry. It goes much deeper than that, down to the entire reason that Voldemort had for wanting to kill your parents. Are you ready to know the truth, Harry?"
Harry swallowed nervously, awed that he was about to discover the answers to all his questions. He could feel the eyes of the entire room resting on him. In a quiet, unsteady voice, he replied.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait for this part, but I wanted to wait until some of the uproar surrounding the new chaptering system died down a bit before posting.
Thanks to all my reviewers, especially the more manic of you, i.e. Firecross:Review-Writer Exraordinaire.
Pleiades
