The Truth Shall Set Them Free

Author Note: I know it's been a while since I did one of these, but this scene has been bugging me for the past couple of days, and I figured I might as well write it down before it drove me completely insane. Its (my version, obviously) of the scene where Harry confesses the contents of the Prophecy to Ron and Hermione. Oh, the drama! (Thank you to Maegmel, Mio Granger, and Rocky 235 for reviewing!)

The haze of the dreamless sleep potion was wearing off, and Harry felt a strange sensation running up and down his body. It tingled; as if all of his limbs had fallen asleep. Everything felt leaden and extremely hard to move, and considering the situation, he wasn't quite sure if he wanted out of this potion induced stupor.

Memories were coming back to him in brief flashes and spurts, like a broken movie projector running on a loop and faded around the edges. Sounds from the memory came delayed and sounded far off, as if he was listening from another room.

"Get down, would you!" Ron shouted desperately to Ginny, pulling her down just in time to miss a well aimed Cruciatus Curse. Neville scrambled and darted around various tables and chairs that had been overturned earlier in the fight. He ducked behind a bookshelf and yelped in surprise when the entire thing burst into flames.

Harry was watching the scene from his well positioned place on an outcropping of a window that was well above all the bookshelves. Hermione was hunkered down behind him and hissing in his ear,

"We can't stay here, we have no cover! They're bound to see us sooner or later!" Harry agreed and the both of them, with much trepidation, jumped down to the top of the nearest shelf, dislodging several large old books in the process.

They ran quickly along the top of the shelf and jumped again, landing on top of the table that Ron and Ginny were under. The entire time they had been using chairs for cover and shooting curses and hexes from behind them. A well aimed cutting hex from Ginny had permanently blinded Lucius Malfoy.

It faded again and Harry tried to home in on what was making him feel so awful. Why couldn't he remember properly? Slowly but surely it came back to him, and with a sickening jolt he realized why he felt such a tightness of dread in his chest. The scene played out before him as if he was there again.

"Leave! Get out!" Lupin yelled as the Order stormed in and took over the fight. Harry was throwing curses, hexes, and jinxes over his should left and right and he scrambled to get to the exit. Ron and Neville were the first out of the room, and they held up and incapacitated Luna, who'd been hit early on in the fight. Harry ducked a stray curse or two and one (presumably a disarming spell) came so close that it singed his hair.

He was almost to the exit when an earth-shattering shriek filled the air, freezing Harry in his tracks. He knew that scream: it was Hermione.

"GINNY!" There was a loud crash followed by a loud rushing noise. Harry spun around just in time to see Lucius Malfoy's Killing Curse (which he'd cast on the off chance it would actually hit one of them) strike Ginny in the chest.

Hermione rushed toward her, and slid to the ground as Ginny fell with a strange grace. She caught her before she hit the ground. Harry stood there, knowing that they needed to get out fast. Tonks came rushing towards them.

She lifted Ginny up in her arms and grabbed at Harry's sleeve. "Let's go!" Hermione, tears rolling down her cheeks, followed Harry and Tonks out of the room as fast as they could…Ron's screams could be heard echoing off the walls of the large breezeway…

Ginny's dead. Harry trembled before slowly opening his eyes, still not quite believing what he knew to be true. Hermione and Ron's faces came into view, staring at him with mixed emotions. Harry heard a god awful moan come from somewhere, and it took him several seconds to realize he was the one making the noise.

"It's a nightmare, right?" He choked out, and the look on Ron's face said very much otherwise. Tears were on the surface, and it obviously taking all of his best friend's self control to hold them back. He wasn't that successful.

Hermione trembled and then threw her arms around Harry. She sobbed desperately into his chest, shoulders shaking in grief. Ron gazed at her absently, as if he wasn't really seeing her.

"After you went down….seeing Ginny right before that…I thought….my god, Harry! I thought you were lost…" Hermione's speech was broken and squeaking as she hiccupped from all the tears.

Harry patted her on the head as soothingly as he could manage and murmured reassurances. He wasn't quite sure what to make of all this, until he looked at Ron's face. He was looking at Harry with an oddly shrewd expression.

"Why?" He hissed softly. Hermione jerked up and wiped her tears away; sniffling all the while. She looked at Ron questioningly, but he never looked away from Harry. He sat up in the bed and gazed back at Ron.

"What do you mean, why?" Hermione wondered desperately, but Ron held up his hand to silence her. Harry knew exactly what Ron wanted to know.

"Hermione, he wants to know why Voldemort keeps coming after me in the first place. He wants to know what type of reason he has for continuing to come after me, and why he finds it necessary to kill people that are close to me. One of those people was his sister." As Harry spoke he never looked away from Ron's eyes, making sure to keep him in his sights.

Hermione's sharp intake of breath didn't distract Ron in the slightest, he simply nodded his confirmation. Indeed, that was exactly what he wanted to know. For what cause did his little sister die so unfairly?

"It all has to do with the contents of the prophecy." Harry told Ron heavily. They both looked at him with a question in their eyes, but also with obvious curiosity. Hermione was hesitant despite this.

"I thought…but the prophecy was destroyed in the Department of Mysteries last year, wasn't it?" Hermione wondered, gazing at Harry intently. He scoffed in response and replied, deadpan.

"Really Hermione, I would think a smart witch like you could figure out that they keep more than just one record of a prophecy, especially one as important as the one made about me and Voldemort." Harry slumped over and held his head in his hands sadly.

The awkwardness soon passed and he pulled his glasses off distractedly, before rubbing his eyes and folding the glasses neatly in his lap. He turned and looked at the blurred figures of his friends; he felt so heavy all of the sudden, it was almost unbearable.

"I…I'm sorry, Hermione, for using that tone of voice. It's just; this prophecy is highly top secret. I'm the only person besides Dumbledore and Voldemort who know any of it at all." He put his glasses back on to gage their reactions. Ron was listening intently, looking more curious than anything else. Hermione's eyes were filled with concern and sympathy.

Harry tilted his head back and continued, looking up at the arches in the ceiling of the hospital wing.

"Actually…Voldemort only knows part of the prophecy, not all of it. That's why he planted the false vision in my head last year. He wanted me to get the prophecy so he could learn its contents." He turned and looked back at them once again.

Ron, looking utterly baffled, replied, "Well why didn't he go get it for himself if he wanted it so badly, then? Why'd you have to do it for him?" Harry gazed absently at his hands as he replied,

"The only way anyone could touch those prophecies on the shelf is if they were made specifically about you, too you or you were the one making the prophecy. Professor Trelawney made the prophecy to Dumbledore almost 17 years ago when he was interviewing her for the position of Divination teacher. She doesn't even recall making it."

A look dawned on Hermione's face and she nodded absently, muttering something under her breath about staying hidden. Ron still looked confused, so she explained it to him.

"Voldemort had the perfect cover. Fudge refused to believe that he'd returned to power, so as long as Voldemort stayed low key, Fudge could keep on convincing the public that Harry and Dumbledore were nutters. He'd blow that cover if he tried to go and get the prophecy himself, which is why he needed Harry to do it."

"Ah, right then." Ron nodded and looked at Harry expectantly, waiting for him continue with his explanation. Harry did just that.

"Well, in the middle of the prophecy, one of Voldemort's spies was caught listening into the conversation and kicked out. They were in the Hog's Head, by the way, so that's why Voldemort only knew part of the prophecy." Hermione moved to sit closer to Harry, as if to comfort him. He smiled uncertainly, and with a sigh, continued – he never took his eyes off of Ron.

"I memorized the prophecy word for word, and you have to promise never to repeat it aloud in your life. If Voldemort ever found out…" Harry let his sentence die off and both of his friends glanced at each other before turning their attention back to Harry.

"I swear I'll never mention it aloud. I'll never speak it." Hermione said firmly, looking to Ron to say something similar. He nodded and said, "I would never give it away, Harry. You can trust me." Harry leaned back against his pillows and recited the prophecy in an indifferent sounding voice.

"Here goes nothing, I guess. The prophecy was this: 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 the power that the Dark Lord knows not…and either must die at the hand of the other, for neither can live while the other survives…..the one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches, born as the seventh month dies…."

Harry's voice faded out as he continued to try and discern his friends' reactions. Hermione trembled as she listened, and let out a gasp as he recited the last two lines. Ron sat there, looking at Harry as though he was seeing him for who he was for the very first time.

"You mean…you have some kind of power he doesn't know about, and that's supposed to kill him?" Ron sounded very nervous and quivery when he spoke, and Harry nodded. He lifted his hair and pointed at his scar.

"He's already marked me as his equal, so now all that's left is finding out what this power is, and then one of will have to die by killing the other. It's murder, or be murdered. I never had a choice in the matter." Harry said grimly, and Ron pressed his lips together and sat back in his chair.

"You've known this since the end of last year? That's why you seemed even more distant that expected all this year?" Ron wondered quietly and Harry simply nodded. Hermione threw herself at him once again, in a bone crushing hug.

"Oh Harry... if I'd have known! You should have told us sooner, we could have tried to help you with this!" Harry gazed at Ron as Hermione cried into his chest.

"If my sister had to die, I'm glad that at least she died for something worthwhile." Ron choked out. Harry reached out and patted him on the back. It would take a while for them to get over the shock of Ginny's death, but Harry was glad that such a burden was off his chest. For the first time in almost three years, he finally felt free. At least, for now.