Chapter Twelve: Passwords and Privacy

Upon arriving at the Gryffindor Common Room entrance, Harry was still trying to figure out what Dumbledore had been after while questioning him about Draco. Obviously there had been something more to it than idle curiosity, but Harry was stumped.

And the words of the prophecy he had been given floated about in his head. What did it mean?

"Password?" the Fat Lady asked.

"Damn!" Harry said, realizing that he had left the Great Hall without getting the password from his house prefects.

"I'm afraid that's not it, dear..."

"Come on, you know me! I've been living here for six years!"

"But I require a password. After that unfortunate incident in your third year, Harry dear, Dumbledore insists..."

"You know who I am! Damn it, I had to go to a meeting with Dumbledore after the feast, and I wasn't around when the Prefects gave out the new password. Come on, let me in!"

"I'm afraid not, dearie..."

"Please?"

"No."

"Damn it!" Harry cursed. He had to get in. He had to speak to the others.

"Harry?" Ron and Hermione came walking down the hall. "Why are you standing out here?"

"The damned painting..."

"Language, dearie!" the painting interjected.

"... won't let me in!"

"Did you give it the password?"

"No, he did not," the Fat Lady answered smartly. "Which is why he isn't getting in. I know my job, I do."

"I didn't give you the password because I didn't have the password..."

"Well, you can hardly expect to get in without the password," Hermione said. "Merlin, Harry..."

"I've been living here for six years. You'd think she'd know me by now!"

Hermione sighed, turned to the Fat Lady and said, "Open Sesame."

Harry stood for a moment, stunned, then began to laugh. Ron looked at him strangely.

"What?"

"Sorry," Harry got control of himself. "Muggle thing. Come on, we've got to find Ginny and Neville."

"Why? What happened with Dumbledore?"

"You'd never guess," Harry said. "We need to get Luna, too, and head to the Room of Requirement."

"Why?"

"Privacy."

"Then it would probably be much better to go to the Head's private lounge, wouldn't it?"

"The what?"

Ron grinned. "One of the benefits of being a Head Boy or Girl... you get a private lounge to share."

"And bloody Percy never mentioned this?"

"Percy always kept the Head's benefits rather to himself," Ron said. "Hey, Neville!"

Neville looked up from where he was looking over Dean Thomas' shoulder at something.

"Yes, Ron?"

"You're needed. Where's Ginny?"

"Oh, she was just here..." Neville said, glancing around.

But not before Harry spied her. She was standing in a corner, leaning against the wall, her hand on...

Colin Creevey's chest?

"Oi, Creevey!" Ron's raised voice boomed through the room, as Harry's face reddened. "Get your mitts off my sister! Ginny, you're needed over here!"

Ginny huffed impatiently, then patted Colin's cheek as she passed and walked over to where the threesome stood. Harry watched her for a moment, then turned away, fighting the urge to go over and pound Colin Creevey into a painful lump.

Hermione caught his eye and shook her head, but he didn't understand what she meant. He broke eye contact, swallowed, took a deep breath, and turned back.

"What is it, Ron?" Ginny asked.

"First of all, could you cool it in the Common Room, please? I don't want to have to beat them off with a stick."

"Who asked you to?" Ginny asked.

"Secondly, Harry needs us all to meet somewhere private..."

"Oh?" Ginny turned to Harry, noting the coolness in his eyes as he looked at her, and quickly looked away. "What's up?"

"You'll see soon enough," Harry said. "We need to get Luna."

"I'll get her," Neville said.

"Meet us by the suit of armor on the third floor outside the Arithmancy classroom, Neville," Hermione said. Neville nodded and headed out of the portrait hole.

"I'm going to get my cloak," Harry said over the lump in his throat. He didn't really expect to need it, but he needed an excuse to get away for a minute. Seeing Ginny with Colin...

This was really becoming too much.

The corridor outside the Arithmancy classroom was deserted. It was in a portion of the castle that housed only classrooms, no offices or private quarters, and it was strangely silent. Harry stuck his hands in his pockets and hunched his shoulders. It was cold.

They had only been waiting a moment when Luna and Neville skidded around the corner at the end of the hall and slowed down.

Harry smiled, as quickly as they'd come around the corner and let go of each other, it was clear to anyone who was watching that they had been holding hands. Harry glanced at Hermione, and saw that she had noticed, as well. She grinned back at him.

Ron and Ginny, however, seemed oblivious. Ron edged closer to Hermione where they stood against he wall, her shoulder touching his bicep. As Harry watched, Ron shivered. Apparently he wasn't the only one feeling the cold.

Ginny stomped her feet, her arms around herself. "Why is it so bloody cold in this part of the castle?"

"Filch probably doesn't keep the fires going in this area," Hermione said as Neville and Luna approached. "This is mostly day use, and it faces east, so the morning sun would help warm it in time for classes on most days."

"Hi, everyone," Neville said. "It's cold up here, isn't it?"

Hermione turned to the suit of armor and tapped it with her wand, mumbling an incantation that Harry missed. They all jumped back as the armor lifted its arms and began to move to the side.

Revealing a door.

"Interesting."

"So what's in here, anyhow?" Neville asked.

"Private lounge for Head boy and girl," Ron commented.

"Really?" Luna said. "What's it like?"

"Don't know yet, do I?" Ron said. "Come on, then, before someone sees us!"

One by one they filed through the door, and down the short hall into a well-lit room, Ron leading the way.

"Well, well, well!" he said. "Would you look at this?"

They entered a large room, not quite as large as the Gryffindor Common Room, but quite large, all the same. It was furnished in Gryffindor colors.

"You'd have to think that the other houses would be rather ticked with the color scheme when the school heads aren't from Gryffindor, wouldn't you?" Ron grinned.

"Ron!" Hermione sighed. "It's only decorated this way because we are from Gryffindor. Honestly, don't you read?"

"Apparently not with the dedication that you do, Hermione," Ron said, walking to the other side of the room to look at the huge fireplace. A bright fire was burning here, and the room was much warmer than the hall outside. Three small sofas were arranged facing the fire.

"Well, have a seat. Harry, you wanted to speak to us?"

"I.." Harry looked around, still in awe, and then took a breath, clearing his head. He sat down on one of the sofas, disconcerted to find that he'd somehow chosen to sit down right beside Ginny.

Merlin!

"What did Dumbledore want to see you about?" Hermione asked, having realized that Harry had lost his voice once again.

"I... well, a few things, actually," Harry said. "First of all, he wants us to continue the DA."

"Of course he does," Neville said. "It was the only way I managed to get an OWL in DADA in fifth year."

"Well..." Harry continued. "He's asked me to allow Tonks to assist."

"Tonks?"

"Yes... she's here to cover off for Remus when he can't... well. I don't know if he thinks..."

"Thinks what?"

"Thinks he's keeping an eye on us by placing Tonks there."

"Tonks wouldn't...!" Hermione seemed quite upset by this.

"I know," Harry nodded. "But I wonder if he does?"

This caused a moment of silence.

"Harry," Hermione said quietly. "You need to have some sort of reliable relationship with Dumbledore. The Order can't survive if you don't."

"I know, Hermione..." Harry looked down at the floor. "Anyhow, that wasn't all."

"It wasn't?"

"No... he wanted to talk about Malfoy on the train..."

"What?" Hermione asked. "I know about Peter Mitchell, but... what has that to do with you?"

"Harry was the seventh year student who interfered," Ginny said.

"What?" Ron turned to Harry. "You? Why didn't you say something?"

"Because I didn't want you to feel you had to be involved. It's just.. Malfoy being Malfoy."

"Well," Ron looked at him, a dark look on his face. "At the very least, you should have cursed him into next week. Telling that kid..."

"I probably would have, had I known that that was what he was doing. I didn't hear anything, just saw him bullying the kid, and told him to cut it out."

"And he did?" Hermione was shocked.

"Not... at first," Harry admitted.

"Harry stared him down," Neville said. "And Malfoy turned and ran like a gir... well... he ran."

"I don't like these confrontations you have with Malfoy, Harry," Hermione said in her best Head Girl voice. "Next time, I want you to come to us and report..."

She stopped as she realized they were all staring at her, as though she had sprouted an extra set of ears. "What?"

"Hermione," Ron said softly. "Do you really expect Harry Potter to have the Head Girl or Head Boy take care of a problem like this for him?"

"It's school rules, Ron," Hermione said, her voice faltering. "Oh, well, okay. I see your point. But Harry, try not to do anything about Malfoy without witnesses, okay? I don't trust him."

"Get in line," Ron said flippantly. "So he wanted to ask you about that? Then you came back to the Tower?"

"Well, not exactly," Harry admitted, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing the parchment.

"What's that?" Hermione asked.

"A prophecy," Harry said quietly.

"Another bloody prophecy!" Ron began to turn a rather ugly shade of puce. "What in bloody hell..."

"Ron!" Hermione stopped him with a hand on his arm.

"Another one about you, Harry?" Neville asked. Harry glanced at the other boy. Neville knew how close he'd come to being in Harry's shoes.

"Of course it's about Harry," Hermione said. "They don't give it to you unless it's about you."

"Well, we're not sure."

"You're not sure?"

"Dumbledore was a witness to this one, and he said that he can't prove that it's about me, but he believes it is."

"Two prophecies about you?" Hermione breathed. "Do you know how rare that is, Harry? I mean, most people don't even have one..."

"Hermione!" Ron closed his eyes with impatience. "Please try to focus here, okay?"

"Hermione is right," Luna commented. "Only three other people have had more than one prophecy made about them that we know of."

"Who?" Neville asked.

"If you read the Quibbler, you would know that my father did a two page spread on it last year. The only three known happen to be two of the founders of this school, and Albus Dumbledore himself."

This caused a moment's silence in the room as they all contemplated what Luna had just said.

"Well," Ginny said, laying her hand on Harry's arm. "Can we see what it says?"

"Well..." Harry swallowed nervously. "First I'd better tell you..."

"What, Harry?"

"It doesn't really mention me specifically, so the reason that Dumbledore thinks that his has to do with me..."

"Yes?" Hermione prompted. "Why, Harry?"

"Because he believes that it's talking about us. All of us. All six of us."

There was another moment of stunned silence around the room before Ginny snatched the parchment from Harry's hand and unrolled it.

After reading it, she silently handed it to Hermione, who opened it so she and Ron could read it. Ginny looked at Harry, her eyes wide.

"Does that mean...?"

"I think so," Harry said to her.

"Dear Merlin," Ginny breathed, her face white. Harry knew exactly how she felt.

My apologies, folks – I'm not responding to the comments this time because I have a rotten cold and I feel like crap. I did want to say, I do appreciate all your comments... I'm just not feeling up to writing review responses today, but I did want to get this chapter posted. I promise to do better next chapter!

I will take the time to apologise, however, for my rather brainless twit of a response to Whimsical Firefly in which I exhibited by extreme ignorance. At least I did it with style. Apparently, a miscomprehension I've been living with for years prompted me to say that JKR's original prophecy said something it didn't. "Moon", or "Month" -- you can see where my wishful thinking got me. In any case, two very observant readers have pointed out my mistake to me... and I apologise once again for my dunder-headedness.

CQ