One Tin Soldier
Chapter 2:
Disclaimer: I own zip. All that, and a bag of chips!
Summery: After the events of OotP (That's a warning, folks!) the path laid for Harry is one he must walk alone. But what he does not realize is the falsity of the statement. Some shippy goodness may be in store. The rating, too, may go up.
SillyGillie: Thank you! I'll keep it up. I don't know if this is a H/Hr story. Right now Harry is just upset due to what he saw and an underlying sense of guilt for the deaths of those close to him, so his concern can be taken either way.
~~~~~
Harry looked blankly at Moodey from his place on his bed. Nothing the man was saying seemed to make any sense, with the exception of two words.
"She's alright--"
Relief seemed to wash over him for a few moments, and gradually, the rest of the details managed to work themselves into his senses as the effects of his encounter wore away.
"Potter?" Moodey asked sharply, "Are you listening to me?"
He snapped up again, looking into the one rolling eyeball. He licked his lips slowly, and nodded.
~Let's go through this again...~
"You were brought here because your last encounter with Voldemort nearly killed you, do you understand? You slipped out of reality, scared us all witless. Merlin's beard, we thought you'd gone mad, or daft! For the first day or so..."
Lupin's eyes locked with his suddenly. " If you do not focus over these next weeks upon your Occlumency, Harry..." For the first time Harry noticed how deep the lines of his young face had become. For some reason, it had never occurred to him, and yet now he began to realize how difficult losing Sirius must have been for him. He found himself focusing more intently, despite the quiet pounding that still continued in his skull.
"--We may have to withhold you from school."
Harry gawked for a moment at Moodey's interruption. It was still a little much to take in, his senses were too muddled to ask many questions. Before he could even word his protest, though, Harry realized that there must be quite a bit of merit in what they had said. If it had been serious enough for a fairish portion of the Order to burst into his home, take him away, and keep him under scrutiny- since he had apparently been near death for a bloody dream- then of course he wouldn't be allowed back in school. He would miss more days than Lupin.
Quite suddenly, his spinning mind asked perhaps the most obvious question. He felt a bit ridiculous, not asking sooner, really.
He stared at them. "What happened to begin with?"
"You don't... err.... remember?" Lupin quirked a brow at him.
Harry felt a bit foolish, but aside from the face of that man who looked like Hermione, he really remembered very little.
Lupin took a deep breath, however Moodey interrupted gruffly. "Voldemort attacked a Muggle village. Openly. From what we can gather, you observed as the adults were killed. When we were alerted, by, erm... our informant...."
Harry noticed the flicker of their eyes between each other.
"What is it?"
"Harry, we can't exactly tell you that much... seeing as he could be listening in from his end, if you catch me.."
His face burned, but he tucked in and waited for more. He was outraged and miserable, but this would just mean he would have to concentrate on his Occlumency twofold.
"Er, well, either way, Harry, it was a rather rich area... perhaps the reason for this was Voldemort's disdain of Muggles who actually hold wealth and power." Lupin lowered his eyes "Either way, Harry, something happened... of which you must be aware.."
His eyes quirked and, as his mind was clearing, he leapt upon it at once. "I thought you said she was alright?"
Lupin held up a hand, holding his gaze. "In a word, yes. In the same right, though, she is terribly ill." he looked away "You see her family was killed in that raid."
Something in the room seemed to falter. The silence that followed the statement carried a rather odd, final tone. Moodey continued in a gruff sort of tone as Lupin looked a bit awkward for the explanation.
"When our informant gave us the news that the assault was in her village, there was little we could do but tell her. We allowed her to come with us, only because it was her right to.." Lupin looked venomous at this "..and so many of us joined the assault, while Albus had the foresight to send several of the Order to check on you.
"When we arrived," something unbelievably akin to guilt flickered for a moment on his features, "it was too late. Her mother and father were already before Voldemort. Before any of us could stop her, Granger was on top of the Death Eaters. As soon as she managed to gather her emotions, she stepped back a bit, and fought quite well. We managed to drive out the bastards, but many of us were injured in the process, and several died. Sons of bitches use the killing curse without flinching...
"Granger was caught off guard and hexed before she could get to her parents, but as near as we can tell, she saw their deaths, which were unpleasant ones. We withdrew after their retreat, and most of us came back here. For the past three days, we've been recovering, and waiting for his next move."
Harry was quiet for a few minuets after this. He weighed the shock of everything with his own sense of guilt. He couldn't help but wonder if Voldemort had chosen that area, as his friend lived there. The idea was ridiculous, but in the same right equally haunting. The image of Hermione on the bed, eyes closed tight, made his stomach clench.
"When can I talk to her?"
Again, the adults looked for a moment at each other.
Moodey shook his head. "Her choice. She hasn't said anything since we returned."
Harry flinched at this. He groped for something to say.
"How about Ron? Can I see him?"
Lupin nodded, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. At least there was someone he could talk to about this without feeling as though he was being denied information. He sat back in his fresh robes, waiting quietly as Moodey and Lupin left the room. Fidgeting, he looked fixedly at the door.
Soon enough, a fiery red head peered around the corner, as if checking for some sort of infestation. When Ron spotted Harry, he stepped in.
Harry paused for a moment. It was not at how Ron had grown even more in the month he had been missed, but his expression. He had only seen him so pale and strained when his leg had been broken by the Whomping Willow. He paused for a moment before breaking into an uneasy sort of smile.
"Hey Ron.."
"Harry..."
Ron sat on the chair beside him looking awkward. He fidgeted silently and stared at Harry as if expecting something rather odd to happen. Harry was beginning to get sick of being stared at, and was very annoyed that his best friend was doing it now.
"Why are you looking at me like I'm going to bite you?"
"Er...well.." Ron looked a bit taken aback "Mum told me that I ought to be careful what I say around you... Please, Harry, you have to understand, I wouldn't choose to be like this, it's just that we can't let Vol... demort.. find out anything.. I mean, if he were listening...-"
"Bloody hell, I'm inviting him here or anything, dammit!"
Ron stared for a moment at his outburst. Harry's head had begun to spin slightly with his anger. He took a breath.
"I swear, Ron, I'm sure he isn't listening in... And don't look at me like that, I'm not going to pass out or anything." Ron threw him a look of uncertainty " I'm fine, he was just... it was too... It was awful.... oh, damn it Ron, stop gaping at me like that!"
Ron shut his mouth a bit, and scrutinized him silently. He finally spoke, although strangely quietly. "You scared us all to hell, Harry, but for you to go like that, it must have been bad."
Harry suddenly felt a bit better. At least he didn't see him as helpless. But something else bothered him. Many things, in fact.
"Ron, have you seen Hermione?"
The redhead paused, then cast his eyes down. "She's pretty bad, Harry." The two looked for a bit at each other, not really wanting to consider the cause for the sudden turn of events in the past week.
"She'll be fine though... you think?"
"What can we do anyways?" Ron shrugged "All I can think of is keeping an eye on her. Mum already ordered us to, anyways. She's really worried about both of you. We're going to the Burrow as soon as you can be moved either way, so make sure all of your stuff is with you, and not back with your... um... relatives..."
Obviously Ron remembered Harry warning him that his Aunt and Uncle were the only people who kept him from being flame-broiled by Voldemort in the Summers. Or any other time for that matter.
~Not that that will be much help when I go after the 'dark lord'~ He thought wryly.
"So are we staying at your place the rest of the Summer?"
"Yeah, mom thinks it would be better for us to be together right now... She wants us all to be in one place that's a little safer. Bill and Charlie are here too. Moodey is going to come with us to train you, so it'll be a bit crowded, but I think we'll manage... Especially with Percy gone and everything."
Harry nodded in assent. Nothing needed to be said about Percy, as far as he was concerned. The two began to slip back into their rhythm as they talked about their summers, a bit awkwardly at first. Soon enough, things had fallen back to a bit of a more relaxed atmosphere as Ron pulled out his wizard chess board, and they played a few somewhat lively games. Soon enough, Ron was glowing with triumph, an evil grin on his face.
"Well Harry, I must say you still play like rubbish."
Harry glared daggers at Ron, an opened his mouth as if to reply with a sharp retort, when his voice was replaced by a quiet, feminine sound. He froze.
" Harry, I know you lost, but you don't have to be a girl about it.."
"..Ron?... Harry?"
Ron turned around, and if it hadn't been such a serious situation, Harry would have laughed at his expression.
Hermione stood in the doorway, eyes full of tears. Ron began to stand, as if to speak, when suddenly she ran at them and threw herself around both of them, crying silently.
Harry stared at Ron over her head. He looked back, and wordlessly, they put their arms around her.
~~~~~
A/N: please keep up the news! I thank anyone who is reading this, but please, please review.. I really do like and appreciate the feedback. Thanks again SillyGillie!
Chapter 2:
Disclaimer: I own zip. All that, and a bag of chips!
Summery: After the events of OotP (That's a warning, folks!) the path laid for Harry is one he must walk alone. But what he does not realize is the falsity of the statement. Some shippy goodness may be in store. The rating, too, may go up.
SillyGillie: Thank you! I'll keep it up. I don't know if this is a H/Hr story. Right now Harry is just upset due to what he saw and an underlying sense of guilt for the deaths of those close to him, so his concern can be taken either way.
~~~~~
Harry looked blankly at Moodey from his place on his bed. Nothing the man was saying seemed to make any sense, with the exception of two words.
"She's alright--"
Relief seemed to wash over him for a few moments, and gradually, the rest of the details managed to work themselves into his senses as the effects of his encounter wore away.
"Potter?" Moodey asked sharply, "Are you listening to me?"
He snapped up again, looking into the one rolling eyeball. He licked his lips slowly, and nodded.
~Let's go through this again...~
"You were brought here because your last encounter with Voldemort nearly killed you, do you understand? You slipped out of reality, scared us all witless. Merlin's beard, we thought you'd gone mad, or daft! For the first day or so..."
Lupin's eyes locked with his suddenly. " If you do not focus over these next weeks upon your Occlumency, Harry..." For the first time Harry noticed how deep the lines of his young face had become. For some reason, it had never occurred to him, and yet now he began to realize how difficult losing Sirius must have been for him. He found himself focusing more intently, despite the quiet pounding that still continued in his skull.
"--We may have to withhold you from school."
Harry gawked for a moment at Moodey's interruption. It was still a little much to take in, his senses were too muddled to ask many questions. Before he could even word his protest, though, Harry realized that there must be quite a bit of merit in what they had said. If it had been serious enough for a fairish portion of the Order to burst into his home, take him away, and keep him under scrutiny- since he had apparently been near death for a bloody dream- then of course he wouldn't be allowed back in school. He would miss more days than Lupin.
Quite suddenly, his spinning mind asked perhaps the most obvious question. He felt a bit ridiculous, not asking sooner, really.
He stared at them. "What happened to begin with?"
"You don't... err.... remember?" Lupin quirked a brow at him.
Harry felt a bit foolish, but aside from the face of that man who looked like Hermione, he really remembered very little.
Lupin took a deep breath, however Moodey interrupted gruffly. "Voldemort attacked a Muggle village. Openly. From what we can gather, you observed as the adults were killed. When we were alerted, by, erm... our informant...."
Harry noticed the flicker of their eyes between each other.
"What is it?"
"Harry, we can't exactly tell you that much... seeing as he could be listening in from his end, if you catch me.."
His face burned, but he tucked in and waited for more. He was outraged and miserable, but this would just mean he would have to concentrate on his Occlumency twofold.
"Er, well, either way, Harry, it was a rather rich area... perhaps the reason for this was Voldemort's disdain of Muggles who actually hold wealth and power." Lupin lowered his eyes "Either way, Harry, something happened... of which you must be aware.."
His eyes quirked and, as his mind was clearing, he leapt upon it at once. "I thought you said she was alright?"
Lupin held up a hand, holding his gaze. "In a word, yes. In the same right, though, she is terribly ill." he looked away "You see her family was killed in that raid."
Something in the room seemed to falter. The silence that followed the statement carried a rather odd, final tone. Moodey continued in a gruff sort of tone as Lupin looked a bit awkward for the explanation.
"When our informant gave us the news that the assault was in her village, there was little we could do but tell her. We allowed her to come with us, only because it was her right to.." Lupin looked venomous at this "..and so many of us joined the assault, while Albus had the foresight to send several of the Order to check on you.
"When we arrived," something unbelievably akin to guilt flickered for a moment on his features, "it was too late. Her mother and father were already before Voldemort. Before any of us could stop her, Granger was on top of the Death Eaters. As soon as she managed to gather her emotions, she stepped back a bit, and fought quite well. We managed to drive out the bastards, but many of us were injured in the process, and several died. Sons of bitches use the killing curse without flinching...
"Granger was caught off guard and hexed before she could get to her parents, but as near as we can tell, she saw their deaths, which were unpleasant ones. We withdrew after their retreat, and most of us came back here. For the past three days, we've been recovering, and waiting for his next move."
Harry was quiet for a few minuets after this. He weighed the shock of everything with his own sense of guilt. He couldn't help but wonder if Voldemort had chosen that area, as his friend lived there. The idea was ridiculous, but in the same right equally haunting. The image of Hermione on the bed, eyes closed tight, made his stomach clench.
"When can I talk to her?"
Again, the adults looked for a moment at each other.
Moodey shook his head. "Her choice. She hasn't said anything since we returned."
Harry flinched at this. He groped for something to say.
"How about Ron? Can I see him?"
Lupin nodded, and Harry breathed a sigh of relief. At least there was someone he could talk to about this without feeling as though he was being denied information. He sat back in his fresh robes, waiting quietly as Moodey and Lupin left the room. Fidgeting, he looked fixedly at the door.
Soon enough, a fiery red head peered around the corner, as if checking for some sort of infestation. When Ron spotted Harry, he stepped in.
Harry paused for a moment. It was not at how Ron had grown even more in the month he had been missed, but his expression. He had only seen him so pale and strained when his leg had been broken by the Whomping Willow. He paused for a moment before breaking into an uneasy sort of smile.
"Hey Ron.."
"Harry..."
Ron sat on the chair beside him looking awkward. He fidgeted silently and stared at Harry as if expecting something rather odd to happen. Harry was beginning to get sick of being stared at, and was very annoyed that his best friend was doing it now.
"Why are you looking at me like I'm going to bite you?"
"Er...well.." Ron looked a bit taken aback "Mum told me that I ought to be careful what I say around you... Please, Harry, you have to understand, I wouldn't choose to be like this, it's just that we can't let Vol... demort.. find out anything.. I mean, if he were listening...-"
"Bloody hell, I'm inviting him here or anything, dammit!"
Ron stared for a moment at his outburst. Harry's head had begun to spin slightly with his anger. He took a breath.
"I swear, Ron, I'm sure he isn't listening in... And don't look at me like that, I'm not going to pass out or anything." Ron threw him a look of uncertainty " I'm fine, he was just... it was too... It was awful.... oh, damn it Ron, stop gaping at me like that!"
Ron shut his mouth a bit, and scrutinized him silently. He finally spoke, although strangely quietly. "You scared us all to hell, Harry, but for you to go like that, it must have been bad."
Harry suddenly felt a bit better. At least he didn't see him as helpless. But something else bothered him. Many things, in fact.
"Ron, have you seen Hermione?"
The redhead paused, then cast his eyes down. "She's pretty bad, Harry." The two looked for a bit at each other, not really wanting to consider the cause for the sudden turn of events in the past week.
"She'll be fine though... you think?"
"What can we do anyways?" Ron shrugged "All I can think of is keeping an eye on her. Mum already ordered us to, anyways. She's really worried about both of you. We're going to the Burrow as soon as you can be moved either way, so make sure all of your stuff is with you, and not back with your... um... relatives..."
Obviously Ron remembered Harry warning him that his Aunt and Uncle were the only people who kept him from being flame-broiled by Voldemort in the Summers. Or any other time for that matter.
~Not that that will be much help when I go after the 'dark lord'~ He thought wryly.
"So are we staying at your place the rest of the Summer?"
"Yeah, mom thinks it would be better for us to be together right now... She wants us all to be in one place that's a little safer. Bill and Charlie are here too. Moodey is going to come with us to train you, so it'll be a bit crowded, but I think we'll manage... Especially with Percy gone and everything."
Harry nodded in assent. Nothing needed to be said about Percy, as far as he was concerned. The two began to slip back into their rhythm as they talked about their summers, a bit awkwardly at first. Soon enough, things had fallen back to a bit of a more relaxed atmosphere as Ron pulled out his wizard chess board, and they played a few somewhat lively games. Soon enough, Ron was glowing with triumph, an evil grin on his face.
"Well Harry, I must say you still play like rubbish."
Harry glared daggers at Ron, an opened his mouth as if to reply with a sharp retort, when his voice was replaced by a quiet, feminine sound. He froze.
" Harry, I know you lost, but you don't have to be a girl about it.."
"..Ron?... Harry?"
Ron turned around, and if it hadn't been such a serious situation, Harry would have laughed at his expression.
Hermione stood in the doorway, eyes full of tears. Ron began to stand, as if to speak, when suddenly she ran at them and threw herself around both of them, crying silently.
Harry stared at Ron over her head. He looked back, and wordlessly, they put their arms around her.
~~~~~
A/N: please keep up the news! I thank anyone who is reading this, but please, please review.. I really do like and appreciate the feedback. Thanks again SillyGillie!