HARRY POTTER AND THE GREEN FLAME SWORD
Disclaimer: Well, plots mine...so is anything you don't recognize. The rest of it belongs to a certain Miss Rowling.
Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up. Come on People, REVIEW, I love reviews
CHAPTER 6
THE MEETING...AND CONFRONTATIONS
Harry knew that, eventually, the fact that he had been allowed into the Order would leak out to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. He wasn't sure of how they would react, not to mention Fred and George. The previous day's row between Remus Lupin and Mrs. Weasley was sure to escalate the tension and he was sure that this time around, Mrs. Weasley was less than pleased with his attitude. Well, there was nothing anyone could do about it this time...since Voldemort was likely to kill him or vice versa, which was not something anyone else could say they were faced with. He knew that he would like to keep this information to himself; he didn't want anyone looking shocked at the revelation or trying to fuss about him as though he was a kid or something.
'Oh, come on. They are scared out of their wits anytime someone even says Voldemort's name. But the moment they here the prophecy...they'll start having kittens: "oh, Harry's too young for this stuff" and all that' Harry thought grimly. Well, he had always had the feeling that it would eventually come down to either him or Voldemort.
He tried to look as though he was enjoying the stories that Ron was telling them about Fred and George. It looked as though he was failing miserably; he noticed Hermione and Ginny shoot one another a small glance. Luna was staring out of the window and he could trust Ron would fail to notice anything anyway.
As soon as Ron had finished his story, Harry gave another forced laugh... he hadn't heard a word in the previous hour.
"Er- Ron, what time is it?" he asked, before Ron could get started again.
"It's nearly seven," said Hermione, frowning at Ron as he fumbled around wondering where his watch was.
"Why don't we go down then?" said Ginny, she was clearly suspicious that Harry was trying to sneak away by himself.
"No" said Harry hastily, "I mean, I'll be back soon, ok?" He got up and without looking back at any of them, walked out of the room and down the stairs.
"Why do I get the feeling he's hiding something" he heard Ron's voice drifting downstairs.
Whatever Hermione had said was drowned out in a chorus of cracks as members of the Order, including Severus Snape apparated in the front room and walked towards the conference room.
Lupin put a hand on Harry's shoulder as they walked through the door. Harry kept his eyes away from Snape, but that did nothing to quiet the intense hate building up inside him.
Mrs. Weasley was looking at Harry despairingly. He simply looked away; he didn't need additional feelings of guilt.
Soon, Dumbledore had called the meeting to order and started off.
"I'd like to introduce the newest member to the Order, Harry Potter. I'd like to tell you beforehand that I know most of your objections to this beforehand and that it will do nothing to change this decision. So, without wasting any further time..." he sat down.
Most of the Order members were shaking their heads disappointedly. Others simply looked stunned at the fact that Dumbledore had given in to Harry's 'whim' so easily. However, they didn't say anything about it. Harry distinctly heard Mrs. Weasley beside him give a small sniff.
"Mrs. Weasley, please, I HAVE to do this" he said to her, whispering very gently and in a soothing voice...he knew suddenly how upset she was.
She gave him a watery smile, a small one, but a smile nonetheless. She felt proud of Harry; though she still was very upset; Arthur had talked to her for a long time yesterday and tried to explain to her why Harry felt the way he did. She wondered how it was possible to take so much as Harry had and still keep going on.
"I'll always love you, Harry, no matter what decisions you make" she whispered back.
He grinned and gave her hand a comforting pat, the look on his face changed considerably when he looked at Snape.
Meanwhile, Moody had stood up.
"This is not common knowledge, and the Ministry has agreed to keep this secret from the public. An attack aimed at releasing the Death Eaters in Azkaban took place yesterday night. 40 to 50 Dementors attacked the place. However, thanks to Snape's warning, we were able to evacuate the place completely with the help of our – erm – new guards. The new location is going to be kept secret from the Order also, the only people knowing about this place are Dumbledore and myself and the guards. So, if you want anything to do with the captured Death Eaters...you'll have to get the approval from both of us. This is a purely precautionary measure, of course. Any questions" he waited in case anyone did have a question.
"What new guards?" asked Tonks?
"Can't tell you that, Tonks, anyone else?" he finished.
No one else had any questions, even if they did, they knew they weren't about to get any more information from Moody.
"What's your job, Snape" Harry spat at Snape suddenly.
Snape was decidedly avoiding his eyes, unlike the Snape Harry knew and this had angered him even further.
"It's Professor Snape to you, Harry; let us just say that he is helping us by informing us of any movement by the Death Eaters." answered Dumbledore, neutrally.
"Are you sure Professor...I hope you realize that someone among us has been passing information to Voldemort" said Harry coldly, glaring accusingly at Snape, whose black eyes were now narrowed unfathomably.
"I don't believe for a moment that anyone in this room is passing information over to Voldemort, Harry" said Dumbledore quietly.
The rest of the room had been staring at this unexpected confrontation, though they all still managed to flinch when they heard the name.
"How then did Voldemort know about the Burrow incident, Dumbledore?" asked Shacklebolt.
"I have many theories, Kingsley, but none of them seem likely" said Dumbledore. His voice was calm and purposeful. "Trusting each other is the only to victory...and blaming one another is not going to help, meeting dismissed" he announced.
As they all moved out of the room, Dumbledore came over to Harry and said slowly, "I think it's time for you to put aside your differences with Professor Snape, Harry" and disapparated.
As soon as most of the Order had left, Mrs. Weasley gave him a hug and went into the kitchen to get dinner ready. He moved to the front room and saw Ron sitting there with his mouth open. Hermione and Ginny had left Luna upstairs and all three of them had been waiting to ambush him.
"Brilliant, mate. How did you manage it?" asked Ron, Hermione was looking rather uneasy, she had an idea that whatever was coming wasn't all that welcome.
"Sorry I didn't tell you guys that I had joined, I can't tell you the why and how of it either" said Harry.
"Whatdya mean, come on, Harry, what happened in there" questioned Ron, his grin was slipping of his face. "Hermione here has this stupid feeling that you won't be telling us anything," he smirked, but the doubt was clear in his voice.
"Sorry Ron, I can't tell any of you what happens in there" said Harry, causing Ron to glare at him.
"Oh, Harry, you must not join the Order because you are feeling guilty about – I mean, don't do anything stupid, don't risk your life just because..." said Hermione rather quickly. She seemed to have been holding this in for some time.
"Did you say JUST, Hermione?" asked Harry, his voice was colder than ever before, and it held a note of bitterness ...Hermione had never heard this kind of tone and it sent a slight shiver down her spine.
"Come on, Harry, why can't you tell us this stuff, we are fighting You-Know- Who just as much as you are" said Ron, taken aback by Harry's tone too.
Harry laughed bitterly. Ginny froze on hearing that laugh, it was harsh and cold, it was a laugh she had heard another person laugh, down in the Chamber of Secrets. It sent a chill down her spine and she realized that Harry was breaking down...though he was carefully avoiding any emotion with them around; he was breaking down and pushing them away, slowly but surely.
"Ron, the day you get around to saying VOLDEMORT, I'll take your words seriously" she heard Harry saying wearily. He seemed to have pulled himself together.
"Let's talk about something else, ok," he said, "let's not kill the fun that we can have because of Voldemort". He elbowed Ron in the ribs, who grinned back awkwardly...
As they began walking up the stairs, Harry noticed that Ginny was looking rather pale. He went to her and put his hand round her shoulders. He himself was surprised at his action...Ginny didn't know where to look and stared determinedly at the ground.
They could both feel the heat rising up their faces.
"Erm – bad idea – are you ok, Ginny?" asked Harry, quietly pulling his hand away, looking worriedly at her.
Ginny had worked so hard for the past two years to get Harry out of her mind, but suddenly, gazing into his startlingly green eyes, she knew she had lost. She could not help falling for someone like Harry, not because he was 'The Boy Who Lived', but because he was this guy who was gentle and kind and brave and caring and – she didn't have enough words.
"I'm ok now, Harry" she smiled at him as they walked upstairs, walking just behind Ron and Hermione, who seemed to have been listening quietly to both of them.
Hope you liked this chapter; it's going to be a bit of H/G from now on, with R/Hr in b/w.... But, I'm not really good at fluff, so I'll stick to the plot more or less....
Disclaimer: Well, plots mine...so is anything you don't recognize. The rest of it belongs to a certain Miss Rowling.
Sorry for taking so long to get this chapter up. Come on People, REVIEW, I love reviews
CHAPTER 6
THE MEETING...AND CONFRONTATIONS
Harry knew that, eventually, the fact that he had been allowed into the Order would leak out to Ron, Hermione, and Ginny. He wasn't sure of how they would react, not to mention Fred and George. The previous day's row between Remus Lupin and Mrs. Weasley was sure to escalate the tension and he was sure that this time around, Mrs. Weasley was less than pleased with his attitude. Well, there was nothing anyone could do about it this time...since Voldemort was likely to kill him or vice versa, which was not something anyone else could say they were faced with. He knew that he would like to keep this information to himself; he didn't want anyone looking shocked at the revelation or trying to fuss about him as though he was a kid or something.
'Oh, come on. They are scared out of their wits anytime someone even says Voldemort's name. But the moment they here the prophecy...they'll start having kittens: "oh, Harry's too young for this stuff" and all that' Harry thought grimly. Well, he had always had the feeling that it would eventually come down to either him or Voldemort.
He tried to look as though he was enjoying the stories that Ron was telling them about Fred and George. It looked as though he was failing miserably; he noticed Hermione and Ginny shoot one another a small glance. Luna was staring out of the window and he could trust Ron would fail to notice anything anyway.
As soon as Ron had finished his story, Harry gave another forced laugh... he hadn't heard a word in the previous hour.
"Er- Ron, what time is it?" he asked, before Ron could get started again.
"It's nearly seven," said Hermione, frowning at Ron as he fumbled around wondering where his watch was.
"Why don't we go down then?" said Ginny, she was clearly suspicious that Harry was trying to sneak away by himself.
"No" said Harry hastily, "I mean, I'll be back soon, ok?" He got up and without looking back at any of them, walked out of the room and down the stairs.
"Why do I get the feeling he's hiding something" he heard Ron's voice drifting downstairs.
Whatever Hermione had said was drowned out in a chorus of cracks as members of the Order, including Severus Snape apparated in the front room and walked towards the conference room.
Lupin put a hand on Harry's shoulder as they walked through the door. Harry kept his eyes away from Snape, but that did nothing to quiet the intense hate building up inside him.
Mrs. Weasley was looking at Harry despairingly. He simply looked away; he didn't need additional feelings of guilt.
Soon, Dumbledore had called the meeting to order and started off.
"I'd like to introduce the newest member to the Order, Harry Potter. I'd like to tell you beforehand that I know most of your objections to this beforehand and that it will do nothing to change this decision. So, without wasting any further time..." he sat down.
Most of the Order members were shaking their heads disappointedly. Others simply looked stunned at the fact that Dumbledore had given in to Harry's 'whim' so easily. However, they didn't say anything about it. Harry distinctly heard Mrs. Weasley beside him give a small sniff.
"Mrs. Weasley, please, I HAVE to do this" he said to her, whispering very gently and in a soothing voice...he knew suddenly how upset she was.
She gave him a watery smile, a small one, but a smile nonetheless. She felt proud of Harry; though she still was very upset; Arthur had talked to her for a long time yesterday and tried to explain to her why Harry felt the way he did. She wondered how it was possible to take so much as Harry had and still keep going on.
"I'll always love you, Harry, no matter what decisions you make" she whispered back.
He grinned and gave her hand a comforting pat, the look on his face changed considerably when he looked at Snape.
Meanwhile, Moody had stood up.
"This is not common knowledge, and the Ministry has agreed to keep this secret from the public. An attack aimed at releasing the Death Eaters in Azkaban took place yesterday night. 40 to 50 Dementors attacked the place. However, thanks to Snape's warning, we were able to evacuate the place completely with the help of our – erm – new guards. The new location is going to be kept secret from the Order also, the only people knowing about this place are Dumbledore and myself and the guards. So, if you want anything to do with the captured Death Eaters...you'll have to get the approval from both of us. This is a purely precautionary measure, of course. Any questions" he waited in case anyone did have a question.
"What new guards?" asked Tonks?
"Can't tell you that, Tonks, anyone else?" he finished.
No one else had any questions, even if they did, they knew they weren't about to get any more information from Moody.
"What's your job, Snape" Harry spat at Snape suddenly.
Snape was decidedly avoiding his eyes, unlike the Snape Harry knew and this had angered him even further.
"It's Professor Snape to you, Harry; let us just say that he is helping us by informing us of any movement by the Death Eaters." answered Dumbledore, neutrally.
"Are you sure Professor...I hope you realize that someone among us has been passing information to Voldemort" said Harry coldly, glaring accusingly at Snape, whose black eyes were now narrowed unfathomably.
"I don't believe for a moment that anyone in this room is passing information over to Voldemort, Harry" said Dumbledore quietly.
The rest of the room had been staring at this unexpected confrontation, though they all still managed to flinch when they heard the name.
"How then did Voldemort know about the Burrow incident, Dumbledore?" asked Shacklebolt.
"I have many theories, Kingsley, but none of them seem likely" said Dumbledore. His voice was calm and purposeful. "Trusting each other is the only to victory...and blaming one another is not going to help, meeting dismissed" he announced.
As they all moved out of the room, Dumbledore came over to Harry and said slowly, "I think it's time for you to put aside your differences with Professor Snape, Harry" and disapparated.
As soon as most of the Order had left, Mrs. Weasley gave him a hug and went into the kitchen to get dinner ready. He moved to the front room and saw Ron sitting there with his mouth open. Hermione and Ginny had left Luna upstairs and all three of them had been waiting to ambush him.
"Brilliant, mate. How did you manage it?" asked Ron, Hermione was looking rather uneasy, she had an idea that whatever was coming wasn't all that welcome.
"Sorry I didn't tell you guys that I had joined, I can't tell you the why and how of it either" said Harry.
"Whatdya mean, come on, Harry, what happened in there" questioned Ron, his grin was slipping of his face. "Hermione here has this stupid feeling that you won't be telling us anything," he smirked, but the doubt was clear in his voice.
"Sorry Ron, I can't tell any of you what happens in there" said Harry, causing Ron to glare at him.
"Oh, Harry, you must not join the Order because you are feeling guilty about – I mean, don't do anything stupid, don't risk your life just because..." said Hermione rather quickly. She seemed to have been holding this in for some time.
"Did you say JUST, Hermione?" asked Harry, his voice was colder than ever before, and it held a note of bitterness ...Hermione had never heard this kind of tone and it sent a slight shiver down her spine.
"Come on, Harry, why can't you tell us this stuff, we are fighting You-Know- Who just as much as you are" said Ron, taken aback by Harry's tone too.
Harry laughed bitterly. Ginny froze on hearing that laugh, it was harsh and cold, it was a laugh she had heard another person laugh, down in the Chamber of Secrets. It sent a chill down her spine and she realized that Harry was breaking down...though he was carefully avoiding any emotion with them around; he was breaking down and pushing them away, slowly but surely.
"Ron, the day you get around to saying VOLDEMORT, I'll take your words seriously" she heard Harry saying wearily. He seemed to have pulled himself together.
"Let's talk about something else, ok," he said, "let's not kill the fun that we can have because of Voldemort". He elbowed Ron in the ribs, who grinned back awkwardly...
As they began walking up the stairs, Harry noticed that Ginny was looking rather pale. He went to her and put his hand round her shoulders. He himself was surprised at his action...Ginny didn't know where to look and stared determinedly at the ground.
They could both feel the heat rising up their faces.
"Erm – bad idea – are you ok, Ginny?" asked Harry, quietly pulling his hand away, looking worriedly at her.
Ginny had worked so hard for the past two years to get Harry out of her mind, but suddenly, gazing into his startlingly green eyes, she knew she had lost. She could not help falling for someone like Harry, not because he was 'The Boy Who Lived', but because he was this guy who was gentle and kind and brave and caring and – she didn't have enough words.
"I'm ok now, Harry" she smiled at him as they walked upstairs, walking just behind Ron and Hermione, who seemed to have been listening quietly to both of them.
Hope you liked this chapter; it's going to be a bit of H/G from now on, with R/Hr in b/w.... But, I'm not really good at fluff, so I'll stick to the plot more or less....