Chapter Seventeen: Changing Gears

"Where?" Harry stared into the fire.

"About three miles from the school. Aurors came across him while doing a security sweep. They were looking for Death Eaters, but..." Ron shrugged. "We didn't expect this."

"They're sure it's him?" Harry asked, still not looking at Ron.

"Yes," Ron nodded. "Bill did an identification of his magical signature. It's him, Harry."

"Well, then," Harry turned towards Ron, meeting his eyes, a firm set to his shoulders. "Let's go."

The wooded area they apparated in was teeming with aurors. Harry glanced around, recognizing a few of them. It was obvious that most of them recognized him, as several greeted him, and the rest cast glances in his direction.

"Harry!" Kingsley shouted. "Over here!"

Harry and Ron made their way over to where Kingsley and Bill were squatting next to a shallow pit. Dead leaves covered the majority of it, but it was obvious what lay in the depression was a body. A body with white-blond hair.

"Is that...?" Harry glanced at Bill.

"Draco Malfoy," Bill confirmed, watching his brother in law closely. He was unsure how Harry would deal with this death.

"How long?" Harry asked quietly. It was obvious from the state of the body that it had been there for some time.

"I'd say... a year? At least," Kingsley replied. "Probably longer, but we won't be able to tell until..."

"Suicide?" Harry asked shortly.

"Nope," Shack pointed to burn marks on the clothing that was exposed. "Several separate wands, I think..."

"Shack?" Harry looked at him, his question obvious. Kingsley returned his level look and sighed.

"Harry... if I had to make an educated guess, and until it's thoroughly checked out, that is all it is... I'd say that he was used as target practice, back when Mahood said he'd taught him a lesson."

Harry was silent for a moment, then took a very deep breath.

"Then who the hell have we been dealing with?"

An emergency meeting of the Order was called that night. Harry sat silently at the head of the long table, listening to the others.

"I think it's obvious," said Charlie. "We need to go in and clear them out. We know the school is the base of operations..."

"If we go into a school, muggles are going to end up dead, Charlie," Hermione said quietly.

"Muggles are already ending up dead, Mione," Charlie turned to his new sister in law. "This way, we might at least be able to control the situation."

"Muggle children," Hermione's eyes snapped.

"Do you mean to tell us that children don't die in muggle wars, Hermione?" Snape asked. "It's a fact of war. An unfortunate fact, but a fact nonetheless."

"I cannot condone..." Hermione stood angrily.

"Mione," Harry spoke. "Relax."

Hermione took a breath, looked at Harry and then sat down again next to Ron, who placed a hand on her back.

"Do we know, for sure, that the school is the site we're looking for?" Harry asked.

"There are wards to keep the Ministry sensors from seeing what's going on..." Kingsley said. "Telling us that there is something going on there. We found Malfoy's body three miles away, and there are no other indications of magical activity within twenty miles.

"In addition," he continued, "we've seen three suspected Death Eaters in the area. Our aurors have gone unobserved."

"You're sure?" Harry asked.

Kingsley just shot him a look.

"Okay," Harry nodded. "So, unless they know that we've found Draco, they have no idea we're even focussed on that area?"

"Not that we can tell," Kingsley confirmed.

Harry stood and began to pace. "The school is due to go back in on the sixth..."

"Four days," Remus said.

"So whatever we do," Harry turned back to the group, "needs to be done before then."

"There are still children..." Hermione began.

"I know, Mione," Harry said quietly, but firmly. "But this is... If they find out we know, imagine what they might do with a schoolful of them! At most, there might be half a dozen students there over the holidays."

Hermione set her jaw stubbornly, and looked away.

"They could take out that many children in one night with their raids," Charlie said. "We might be able to control it if..."

"Harry..." Hermione turned pleading eyes on him.

"Mione, I know," he said, his eyes full of pain. "I have children of my own. I know. But it's... it's got to be done. We'll do it in such a way that, hopefully, any children remaining at the school will be well out of the way. "

"How?" she demanded. "Harry, do you remember when we were in school? We were always where we weren't supposed to be when we weren't supposed to be there! Just how are you going to ensure that they aren't in danger?"

"I can't, Hermione," he said honestly. "But we can do it at such a time when we're pretty certain that the students are safely away from the main areas of the school, and not in the presence of those we're looking for."

"At night," Kingsley said. "When they should be in bed in their dorms. But early enough that the ones we're looking for are still up and about."

"Yes," Harry confirmed.

"So, within the next four days, at night, we go on the offensive?"

"We have to," Harry said. "We take them out, fulfill the prophecy, and if we're lucky, that will be the end of it."

"Their time is now as the masses gather,

They will love, and a new generation will be born,

And in that, their motivations will become clear.

Those in denial of our world will most need it

when the skies erupt and fire scorches the earth.

The western world will hold their own,

but victory is unassured.

Only with a return to true belief in all things magical

will our world be balanced.

Good and evil, black and white, East and West.

The power no longer hidden

will be the only defense.

But first, those who knew each other of old shall find their hatred anew.

He who now reaches for the seat of power,

a thorn in the side of those of bravery and courage,

would seek to dispel all of impure blood.

He has power of heritage, of blood, of name.

And those who dismiss him shall be the first to fall.

And fall they will, for this man, this serpent of green, shall rule,

unless one who has gone before, sacrifices all to defeat him.

And if this new power rising is defeated, with student joining master in death,

Only then will the world rejoice in peace and prosperity.

Only then will there be acceptance between the worlds of muggle and magic."

Harry sat behind his desk, reading the script which lay on the desktop in front of him in the candlelight. Next to it lay a newspaper, a muggle newspaper. The headlines were unbelievable, after all this time. Apparently, people were beginning to listen to Stephen Lewis and his tabloid.

Fires and Explosions: Death by gas leak, or magic?

"Harry?" Ginny stuck her head around the edge of the door. "Harry? Are you okay?"

Harry managed to paste a smile on his face as he looked up at her. The room was dark except for the flickering of the fire and the single candle lit on his desk, and the flames reflected off her hair, making it glow.

His beautiful wife.

"Yes, love," he said. "Just thinking."

"Harry..." she stepped into the room and closed the door behind her.

"What is it, Gin?"

"We need to tell David and Susan..."

"Yes. I know." Harry sighed. "I guess I've just been hoping..."

"I'm absolutely certain that if Malcolm and Marion wereable to..." she paused. "They would have been in touch by now, Harry. You know that."

"I know."

"We also have to decide..."

"Decide?" he prompted her at her pause.

"Harry... Malcolm entrusted us with them until they got here, but... I doubt very much that we're their legal guardians. We need to decide what we're going to do with them."

"Do with them?" Harry hadn't considered this. His home was always full of people, he hadn't thought about permanency for Malcolm's children.

"Harry... they're not just objects that we've acquired. Someone needs to take the responsibility of raising them."

"I know, Gin..." Harry nodded, rubbing his hands over his face, trying to clear his mind. "I just hadn't considered... I'm sorry, love. I've been..."

"Oh, Harry!" she came forward to put her arms around him. "I know. You've had a lot on your mind... I know. But these are children. Questions will be asked if they..."

"Okay," Harry nodded. "I don't know how to deal with this, though. Who would we contact?"

"I think the first thing that needs to be done is to talk to David and Susan. They'll be able to tell us if they have any other family... Did Marion have siblings?"

"I don't know," Harry confessed. "I really know nothing about her."

"Well, the children will be able to tell us that. Then we need to contact the authorities... they already know that you're Malcolm's next of kin... I'm sure that they'll be relieved to find out that they're looking for two less bodies..."

Harry flinched.

"I'm sorry, love..." Ginny sighed. "I didn't mean that the way it sounded."

"I know," he took a deep breath. "Ginny..."

"What, love?"

"I need to ask you something."

"Okay?"

"Are you up for..." he swallowed. "If Malcolm and Marion are... if it comes down to it, are you willing for us to raise them?"

Ginny looked at him for a moment before responding.

"Don't you think that they would be better off with family they know better, if they have someone?"

"Perhaps," Harry agreed. "I wouldn't fight for them to stay with us, so long as they had another... more appropriate... situation to go to. However... if they don't..."

"Harry, if they have no one else," Ginny said gently, "or if they choose to stay here, of course I would be willing to have them here."

"Ginny..." Harry looked directly into her eyes. "Would that change if... if something happened to me?"

"Harry...?" Ginny looked at him suspiciously. "What are you talking about?"

"I don't exactly lead a safe life, Gin. We know that, and have accepted it. I know that you're a wonderful mother to our children, and would be with or without me. But... David and Susan aren't our children... and they're not of our world. If I weren't here, would you still..."

"Harry," Ginny smiled, "If we were to take on that responsibility, I wouldn't be doing it for you. I'd be doing it for them. Do you understand?"

"Yes," he said after a moment. "Yes, I do."

"Okay then. Enough of this doom and gloom. We agree that we need to talk to them, and we also need to make some decisions. I don't think that David will be returning to his school, so we have to decide where he will be going..."

"None of them are going anywhere until this situation is taken care of," Harry said.

"What?"

"The children are not returning to school until I've dealt with this, Ginny. None of them."

"None...?"

"Well, the girls are returning to Hogwarts, of course... but the rest of them, those not of age yet, need to be kept here, where it's safe. Hogwarts is safe. I can't vouch for the community schools that the others have been attending. I need to talk to Fred and George about that."

"But Harry..."

"I know. I know it's crowded... I know that we're all wishing we could have our homes back... but it's almost over, Gin. I can feel it. We're almost there, and I don't want to be worried about our family while I should have my mind on getting rid of this... problem."

"It's not all on you, love."

"I know," he agreed. "But I still have to..."

Ginny sighed, "I think it's time for a family meeting."

Harry looked at her oddly. "Family meeting?"

"Yes... family meeting. You know?"

"Umm... no?"

"Harry!" Ginny looked at him oddly. "I know we haven't had one in years, but..."

Harry was looking at her curiously.

"You really don't know what a family meeting is?"

"Well..."

"Harry... a family meeting is where an entire family sits down together and works out a situation, together. If we're going to make a decision about the schooling of this family's children, we need the input from those children's parents."

"Oh..." Harry turned a bit pink. "I didn't think..."

"I know, love. But do you really think it would be appropriate for you to simply tell the others that you weren't allowing their children to return to school? It has to be their decision. It's their responsibility."

Harry sighed. "Am I too... bossy?"

"You've been responsible for so much for so long, Harry," she said. "You're not bossy, or pushy... you just see how things need to be, and put things in action to make them so. But you need to understand that the responsibility isn't always yours to keep us safe. The others are all capable of safeguarding their own, love. You offer them options, but you aren't responsible for anything more than that."

Harry sighed. "Have I done that to you?"

"What?"

"Told you what to do, rather than ask your opinion?"

"Yes," she said honestly.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be," she grinned. "Do you really think if I had a problem with it, I wouldn't say something? I thought you knew me better than that, Harry Potter!"

He smiled at her. "Keep it up, Mrs Potter. I like it when you talk back to me."

"I know," she said. "Now, I think we need to talk to David and Susan, and then we need to call that family meeting. Right?"

"Right."

"And Harry?"

"Yes, love?"

"The patriarch of the family normally takes charge, love."

Harry smiled, "I'll talk to your Dad, Gin."

"Thanks," she grinned as she left the room.

Harry sighed. Now he had a democracy to deal with. He'd just gotten used to telling people what to do, and now he couldn't... in this situation, at least.

Great. Just great.

"Sir?"

Harry looked up to see David standing in the doorway, Susan standing next to him, clutching his sleeve, the fingers of her other hand stuck in her mouth.

They're just babies, really, Harry thought.

"Come in, David. Susan." He stood and moved towards the sofa in front of the fire. "Come, sit down. We need to talk."

The two silently came forward, Susan staying behind David.

She's frightened of me, Harry thought. Wonderful.

"Susan?"

"Yeth, thir?"

"Take your fingers out of your mouth, love," Harry said gently.

"Yeth, thir."

Harry watched as the two came to sit across from him, sharing the large armchair.

"Sir? Mrs...Ginny... said you wanted to see us?"

"Yes, David," Harry nodded. "I'm afraid..."

"I know, sir!" David said quickly, glancing down at his sister, then back to Harry. "I know...but.."

Harry understood. David knew what he was about to say, and didn't want it said in front of his sister. Harry felt his heart tug.

"David..." Harry sighed. "We need to talk about... the future."

"Yes, sir."

"Now, do you know... have you any family on your mother's side? Aunts or uncles, maybe a cousin, grandparents?"

"No, sir," David shook his head. "Mum was... she had her Aunt, but she didn't... she died when Mum was at school. Mum told me once that we were lucky because Suze and I have each other... but she didn't have anyone but us and Dad."

Harry nodded. "You never went to visit with friends, or family..."

"Just at home... Mum and Dad had a couple of friends in town, but..."

"But no one you would... miss?"

"No, sir. I have my friends at school, but..."

"I see. David, we need to make some decisions about where you and Susan are going to go."

"But..." David's eyes watered, but he controlled it well. Harry's heart tugged again.

"But, what, David?"

"I was kind of..." David swallowed, then looked up at Harry. "Can't we stay here, sir?"

"Do you want to stay here?"

"It's..." David looked down at his hand clasped in Susan's. "It's safe here... and we like it here. And Mum and Dad know that this is where..."

"I know, David. But they're not..."

"I know... but if they are okay, they'll know where to find us, right?"

"David," Harry leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his hands clasped. "You need to understand that they probably won't be coming back. The village was pretty much gone. I couldn't find any trace of them. Do you understand this?"

"Yes, sir," David agreed. "But Susan needs to..."

"I know, David. I do know," Harry took a breath. "There is more. You can't return to your school this year."

David was silent.

"There are some... some bad people there, David, and I'm going to try to make them go away but, I don't know if I'll be able to. If you and Susan decide to stay here, with us, then you need to understand that you'll be living here, and learning here, and... your world can't ever go back to what it was. Do you understand that?"

"I think so," David said. "I knew about the bad men."

"Yes, Hermione told me that you'd seen one."

"No... I knew about Mrs Goyle, too."

"Your father said that your friends talked about her..."

"Not just talked," David said. "Dad wouldn't believe me. Zack Taggart's dad wouldn't believe him, either. But she is..."

"I know what she is, David. I went to school with her. You and Zack Taggart are right, she is a witch, but that's not what makes her bad. All witches aren't bad. Ginny is a witch, and she's not bad. It's those who follow the Dark that..."

"Like in the books," David said.

"Yes," Harry smiled. "Like in the books."

"But the others were there, too."

"Others?"

"The other Death Eaters. They're down in the cellars, too. They come in from the pathways..."

"Pathways?"

"Yes, sir. From the forest."

Harry looked at the boy. Was it possible?

"What pathways from the forest, David?"

"That's how we found out about Mrs Goyle. Zack Taggart and I found three different pathways in the forest, and they all go to tunnels, and the tunnels go into the cellar at the school. We thought it was really cool, and we snuck out one night, and then when we were sneaking back in, we came into the cellars, and that's when we saw them."

"Saw who?"

"The Death Eaters. They live down there."

Harry leaned back in his seat, breathing deeply and trying to take it all in.

David may have just solved one of their problems.

I'm BAAAACK! Ah, what a weekend! Hope you all enjoyed yours as much as I enjoyed mine! I've had some questions as to how long this story is going to be – if it will be comparable in length to Power of Truth, and the answer is that I'm not sure, but I think it's only going to be another four or five chapters, so word-wise, it will probably be shorter than Power of Truth.

The good news is, I'm tentatively planning a prequel. So many people have asked for information on the Final Battle, Voldemort's death, and Hermione's exile, that I think I'm going to do that, but it will be very short (probably only a few chapters) and will not be a real "stand alone" story, as the answers to all the questions raised then are in Power of Truth.

Thanks to all of you who have been so supportive. It really makes a difference for me when I write. My muse must have a needy ego!

CQ

Merlindamage: Snape and Harry are very much alike, I think, underneath it all. It's like Dumbledore told Harry – it's the choices that we make that make us who we are.

SaerrySnape: Oh, come ON! You guys read the Power of Truth and didn't expect SOME kind of a twist?

Larna Mandrea: You really do give great reviews, you know. I'm hoping to have a few updates this week, but we'll see. My muse is angry at me for fighting with her last week. In case you're wondering – she won.

Shotgunn: "Sprog"? Okay, I know that I am... for a Canadian... well versed in Britishisms.... but this one escapes me.... sprog??? Relax, Potter Manor may be about to pop at the seams, but it will all come right in a while... after all, family is family, right?

Pdlegirl: Cliffhanger's are fun to write! But you guys had this figured out – I can't believe anyone read Power of Truth and didn't realize there would be a twist!

Lalaluu: Thanks! I wonder at times if I write clearly enough. I mean, I see it in my head – and I can't always be sure that what I see is what you guys see when you read what I've written... it's good to know that it's coming through!

James Milamber: Okay, I take it you don't like my Snape history lesson, then, huh? Ah well, you can't please all of the people all of the time.... Actually, I wasn't sure about that scene, but my muse insisted. It just didn't work any other way. The only emotions Snape really understood when he was younger (and even now, really) were the negative ones... pain, anger, jealousy. In all honesty, I don't see him responding to Harry as he did for any other reason than one of these. We know he hated James... but JKR is never REALLY clear on his feelings towards Lily (just his prideful response to her interference), and we know Snape was prideful as a student – his response to Lily's actions (as seen in the pensieve) COULD have been because of his jealousy. I prefer to think of it that way, considering the role he appears to have come to play in Harry and Ginny's children's lives. That bit (his doting on Lily Mione) just happened, and didn't feel right when it was removed, so it was put back in, and this was the only way I could comfortably reconcile the "two" Snapes. So, my friend, my apologies. I know how I feel when people include, say, "uber-Harry" details... things that even within the fantasy context of the story are out of place... but they are part of a story, and we can't dictate to our muses.

Gorman99: Thanks! That is, in part, what I was trying to get across – I'm glad it came through, and didn't just confuse everyone!

GigiFanfic: Here you go, Jeanne... hope you enjoy it!

Elise: I think part of what was trying to come through with that scene was who Snape really was. Granted, he's a git. Always has been, no argument there. But there had to be a REASON for him to abandon Voldemort's cause and turn to Dumbledore and the Order... The part with "decadence" just happened, I swear! I don't know where it came from!

Wren Truesong: Wow, you read them both straight through? You've been in front of your computer for a while, haven't you? I have LOVED writing these characters. I've never been much for OC's, as I find that they tend to be simply a vehicle for the author to put themselves in the story... but they fit here, I guess, considering that it's twenty years later, and obviously others would have come and gone in their lives. As to the homeschooling thing, the biggest support I have is my boys' Dad. I couldn't do it without him. When I first realized that what I wanted to do (homeschool) was something that others were doing already, I thought the same thing – why couldn't MY mom have done that with ME? But different lives, right? Besides, as much as I hated school, it made me who I am – and I'm okay with that! And we NEVER stop learning, so if you feel the need, HOMESCHOOL YOURSELF! It's called autodidactism... lifelong learning, and it's a wonderful thing!

Review, review, review!!

CQ