Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Why do we even have to write these disclaimers? Is there anyone out there who is really going to think that a fanfic author really owns the subject they're writing about? Anyway, it belongs to the Great and Magnificent Rowling, not me.

A/N: With the exception of Trelawney, this is going to be another "write as I go" chapter. Hopefully my brain will command my fingers to type a small amount of Sirius angst, maybe a little yelling at Dumbledore, and the start of a H/G romance (never mind, I'm adding this parenthesis after writing some. Harry actually gets pissed at Gin in this chapter. Hopefully next chapter for the start of the fluff)(New update, they make up, but still no fluff in this chapt.). Don't see any action coming in this chapter. Enjoy!

Chapter 3

Revealing the Secret

Harry was surrounded by darkness. His body still ached from the prolonged exposure to the cruciatus curse. Wait, the darkness was starting to fade. Harry scanned the room, still unable to move his head. His vision was very blurry. He could just make out a red head looking at him. Harry started to wonder whether he was alive or dead. "Mum?" he croaked, wondering if he was in heaven with his parents. His watcher gave a squeak and ran away. 'Figures,' Harry thought, 'I failed them, all of them, and they probably want nothing to do with me.' The door in the room opened, and in walked a group of 3 people, 2 with red hair, and one with silver hair on his head and a beard tucked into his belt. "Harry," the old man said while handing the raven haired teenager his glasses, "put these on."

Harry put on his glasses, and his sight cleared to show Albus Dumbledore and the two adult Weasleys. Mrs. Weasley was the first to speak. "Harry! We're so glad you're alright. You've been unconscious all day. You gave Ginny quite a scare when you spoke."

Harry ignored her and spoke to his headmaster, "What happened? I just remember Professor Dumbledore taking out the last Death Eater, and then I passed out from the pain. That bastard held me under the cruciatus for so damn long." Mrs. Weasley's admonition of "Language, Harry" was cut off by the ancient wizard.

"I apparated you here with me, while Remus and the others I brought with me collected some of your things and secured the Death Eaters until some Aurors arrived from the ministry. Their surveillance on the area picked up the use of Unforgivables. Nice work with the first three, by the way," Dumbledore answered

"Thanks," Harry started, "I got the first with a stunner after I flew down and threw off the invisibility cloak. I got the second in the body bind, after dodging a killing curse, and propelled the third into the air to let fall."

"Ah, so that's why one of them suffered multiple broken bones," Dumbledore smiled.

"Well, it was either him or me, professor," Harry began. "But what took you and the ministry so long? Mrs. Figg alerted Remus to get you before the fight, and the very first spell cast by one of the Death Eaters was 'avada kedavra' so the ministry's unforgivable alarm should have gone of then. And where am I?"

"Concerning the ministry," Dumbledore answered his student, "they've always been a little slow compared to us, and Remus had to first contact me, and then I had to round up some order members to come with me. I'm sorry it took so long, Harry, but you fared quite well before we arrived. As to where you are," Dumbledore sighed, "you're at headquarters, Harry."

Harry stiffened a little at the mention of Sirius's house, but then caught sight of Ginny and reminded himself that it was not his fault that his godfather died. "It's okay, I'm alright here. Am I going to stay here for the rest of the summer?"

"No, I'm sorry Harry, but you need to return to Privet Drive. You have not been there long enough to absorb the protection of your mother's blood."

At this, Harry once again lost his short temper with the headmaster. "PROTECTION!? WHAT BLOODY PROTECTION? SURE HELPED A LOT TODAY! I WON'T GO BACK THERE! WHY DID YOU HAVE SOMEONE GET MY STUFF IF I WASN'T GOING BACK? I'M STAYING HERE, AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!"

"Harry!" Mrs. Weasley shouted like when she yelled at Fred and George about the Ton-Tongue Toffees, "do not raise your voice like that to the headmaster!"

"No, Molly." Dumbledore looked more tired than ever. "He's right. Grimmauld Place is safer than Privet Drive. I'll send Remus to collect the rest of your things. We just brought some clothes for you to change into. Now, I believe that three of your friends wish to see you. Come Arthur, Molly; let them have some time with Harry."

The three grownups left the room, and two blurs of red and brown rushed in and gave Harry hugs that would have made Mrs. Weasley proud. "Hermione, Ginny, I need air!" cried Harry, and the two girls let go. Showing how fast they had made their entry, Ron was just coming through the door.

Hermione started, "Harry, are you alright? You've been out cold for hours, we didn't know when you would wake up."

"Give him some room, 'Mione, he's recovering. How ya been mate?" Ron joined the mix of questions.

"Been better," Harry grinned. "Until I was nearly strangled to death by these two. Come on guys, it's Voldemort's job to try and kill me, not yours."

The two girls looked shocked, while Ron showed that he can be less than thick occasionally by knowing that his best friend was trying to put some humor into a bad situation. "Harry," Hermione scolded, "don't joke about that!"

Harry retorted, "How do you want me to treat the situation, then? They say laughter's the best medicine, and I need all I can get right now. That cruciatus hurts like a bitch. What's wrong, Ginny? You haven't said anything yet."

"When you first woke, I didn't realize it, and then, you asked if I was your mum. I didn't know what to do, so I just ran to get Professor Dumbledore." Ginny looked down, avoiding his gaze.

"I thought I was dead," Harry explained. "I could only make out the red hair, so I thought it was my mother. When you ran, I thought she was ashamed of me, because I had made their sacrifice worth nothing."

Ron heaved a sigh. "Harry," he began, "even if you had died then, your parents would be far from ashamed of you. You survived V-V-Voldemort three times against a human, once against a memory, and once against his spirit possessing a teacher. I'd say that's something to be pretty proud of."

Harry closed his eyes. His friends did not know the prophecy. He had to tell them. Now seemed a good time as any. "Well Ron, it seems that your emotional range has expanded to the size of a soup spoon. Hermione, I hope your proud of him. The reason that my parents and anyone else would be ashamed to see me is that I didn't kill Voldemort."

"Harry! Why would anyone think less of you for not defeating the most evil wizard since Morgan LeFay when you're just a teenager? I think that's asking a bit much," scolded Ginny.

"I have to defeat him, Gin, because I'm the only one who can. That's what the prophecy—"

"Prophecy?" interrupted Hermione, "But Neville told us that it smashed."

Harry was starting to reconsider telling his friends. "What was smashed was the Department of Mysteries' recording. Dumbledore heard the prophecy from Telawney—" Hermione gave a snort. "Yeah, I know she's a fraud, but she was right about Pettigrew escaping, right? Anyway, she gave it when she was with Dumbledore at her job interview. Here it is. 'The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies. And the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not. And either must die at the hands of the other, for neither can live while the other survives. The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies.' It means that only I can beat him. And only he can kill me. So that's it. I either become a murderer or a murder victim."

All three of Harry's friends, yes, even Ron, were speechless. "You've had to deal with this by yourself for the whole vacation so far?" questioned Hermione.

"Yeah."

The four sat in silence until Ginny decided to venture forth a comment. "Harry, you really can't think of destroying Voldemort as murder. You were able to get rid of him while he looked like a 16 year old, so it should be easier to destroy the horrible thing he has become. At least there's a bright side to this."

"Really, Ginny? Would you care to enlighten me?" Harry snapped.

"Well you, Mister Potter, are guaranteed to receive an Order of Merlin, First Class."

"Oh? Care to enlighten me further?"

"Well, due to the natural laws of good versus evil, Voldemort will not win. So you destroy him. Or, somehow the prophecy means that both of you have to die, and you take him with you. Either way, the ministry will have to make all Third Class members Fourth Class, Second Class-ers into Thirds, and demote all of the illustrious First Class holders to the lowly Second Class, and give you the new Order of Merlin, First Class, all by yourself."

It took all of Harry's willpower not to lose it at Ginny, considering that her older brother was there, and would protect her even against the great Harry Potter. However, the icy tone he used would have made even Snape bow his head in respect. "First off, Ginevra, there are no rules of good versus evil. This is real life, not some fairy tale, dammit. Secondly, I do not want to be rewarded for killing anyone."

Ron joined Harry in glaring at his sister. "Well Harry, I agree that that was not the best thing to say or way to put the situation." Ron seemed to have been taking 'looks of death' lessons from Hermione during the break from school, and was using his newfound skills on Ginny. "But she was right at first; defeating V-Voldemort wouldn't be murder. It would be a service to the world. Don't explode at me for saying this, but you know firsthand what he, no, it has done to countless families and lives. Whether you like it or not, eliminating that thing will make you a hero."

"Wow, Ron, you've reached ladle sized." A small smile graced Harry's face. "Sorry, Gin. I didn't mean to go off on you like that."

"No, I'm sorry, Harry, that was an insensitive thing to say."

"So Harry," Ron said to move the conversation into hopefully happier territory, "I see that you have to yell at someone every time you come to this house…"

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Sybil Trelawney lived at Hogwarts in her tower year-round. At this moment, she was finishing a cup of tea, and preparing to gaze into the Orb. When she put her cup down, he body went rigid, her jaw slack, her eyes rolling, and her voice became harsh tones that she had spoken in only twice before in her lifetime.

"THE OTHER CHILD OF THE PROPHECY WILL FULFILL THE TERMS...HE WILL HELP THE BOY-WHO-LIVED BRING ABOUT THE DEFEAT OF THE DARK LORDBUT THIS VICTORY WILL COME AT GREAT COST AND SACRIFICEBEFORE THIS SACRIFICE, THE TWO CHILDREN OF THE PROPHECY WILL ASSISST ONE ANOTHERWHILE THEIR POWERSSTART TO TRULYGROW"

Sybil Trelawney returned to normal. She had no recollection of what she had just said. In fact the only thing that knew was the Prophecy Recorder in the Department of Mysteries, as it placed the new prophecy into its glass sphere.

A/N: Shit! I just realized that I left out the most important line of the prophecy in chapter one. I'll fix that as soon as possible, but I have to find my chapter one file first. By the way, this is my first fic, so please be honest in your reviews. I take flames, but not ones like "ur a dumass u suk." Give me something intelligent, so I can fix the problem. R & R, thanks! By the way, what Ginny said about the OM, FC is what I think exactly.