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Location: Order of the Phoenix Headquarters
Dumbledore entered the room and greeted the sight of the members of the Order sitting at a round table with a nod. He quickly took in the fact that Arabella, Tonks, and Kingsley hadn't been able to make it, but everyone else was in attendance.
" Meeting is now in session." He said as he took his seat.
" What's this meeting about, Dumbledore?" Mad-Eye Moody asked shrewdly. " You called it on a short notice."
" What happened?" Molly Weasley demanded worriedly. " Is it Harry? Ron? Did something happen to the kids?"
" Now, now Molly." Arthur Weasley placated his wife. " I'm sure the kids are fine. There has been no news about anything happening at Hogwarts in the past while."
Dumbledore nodded at Arthur. " As Arthur said, there has been no happenings at Hogwarts worth worrying about. What I have called this meeting about actually is on the accounts of what Kingsley and Tonks have been working on."
" Communications with the other governments?" Severus Snape piped up. " Have they finally answered our request for backup?"
Dumbledore shook his head. " Their response, actually, is the opposite. They finally got back to us two days ago, and said they couldn't spare us any troops."
" Which government was this?" Bill Weasley asked.
" North America."
" And what about the other places? Europe?" Moody demanded.
Albus shook his head again. " They said they had other things to worry about. They said they didn't have time to worry about our small disagreement." Then frowned. " In fact, France and China said the same thing."
" Small disagreement?" Severus snapped. " What the bloody hell do they think is happening?"
" Severus Snape!" Molly said appalled at his language.
The Potions master ignored her. " People are dying! Innocents are being killed! We're on the outbreak of a war!"
" Yes." Mad –Eye Moody said gravelly. " Like how it happens one time or another in every country."
" Alastor is right." Dumbledore said, ignoring the look the Potions Master shot the Ex-Auror. " If they refuse to offer us help, there is nothing we can do about it, but keep sending in requests and hope for a response."
Remus Lupin hummed in agreement but then added, " What I want to know is why, almost all of them seem to be on semi-alert themselves. It seems like there are battles happening without our knowledge."
Snape snorted. " Who cares? Let them worry about their own battles, we need to worry about ours."
" No doubt exactly what they're saying about us." Bill murmured.
Molly shot his son a look but Arthur nodded knowingly. " Not much we can do about it. So how do we plan to proceed?"
Dumbledore nodded in agreement to the oldest Weasley child and turned back to his people to make plans.
. : - : .
Location: United StatesShe gently placed the banquet of flowers on top of the grave and stepped back, staring down with soft pained eyes.
" Rest in peace." She whispered, almost a plea. " Rest in peace."
A hand came down around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She buried her face in his chest and her shoulders shook with the silent sobs.
He looked down at the grave, his eyes hard but pained as well.
" Rest in peace. Please. We need you to." He told the grave gently but then his voice became raspy and desperate. " Find peace in death, the peace neither we couldn't in life."
And they stayed like that, for a long time whilst their other companions waited at the car, having done their respects already. They stayed staring at the headstone in silence for while. Later, slowly, almost tenderly, they turned their feet around and walked back to the parking lot, and left the graveyard.
As they walked away, there were several others walking away from the stones all lined up in a row. There were many freshly dug graves that day. She choked back a sob and he wound his arms around her shoulder to support her. He lead them out of the rows of stones, leaving only the wind and earth hold its treasure dear, and the tombstones to whisper of truth no one should ever have to hear.
Around the world, many funerals were happening the same way.
. : - : .
Location: France" How's the situation?" The commander asked his officer.
The brown-eyed man ran a hand through his short hair. " No improvement. We can't seem to track down where all those...monsters are coming from."
The superior officer scanned his eyes over the papers spread out on the table. " What had we been able to find out? Anything at all?"
The younger man took a calming breath and lifted a sheet. " Soldiers came back declaring they had been fighting monsters. Abominations. Three handed, eight legged, ten-eyed, black/brown/red/green...you name it. Sharp teeth, jagged teeth, skin of...leather, slime, mud, lav..." He swallowed. " They came back praying for a God."
" Have we been able to track down where they had originated from?"
" First sighting was in the United States two months back. They lost a lot of soldiers."
The superior's lips curled. " We all have. Regular bullets don't seem to work and they plow through our troops. We can't nuke them; we'd kill our own people that way. We have been able to use freeze bullets and electric surges against them."
" Do you think..." he trailed off.
The older man looked down at him, eye sharp and he bit this lip. He gnawed a little while on the flesh, weighing the pros and cons of the thought, before hesitantly speaking. " The Weapon..."
The higher-ranking officer fisted his hands tight. " Not until we're sure. Not until we absolutely have to."
Blue eyes drifted down in guilt, shame, anger, confusion, and loathing. Memories of days not-so-long ago drifted though both their minds and the younger man waited cautiously.
" I never want to have to go through that ago." He finished hoarsely.
The younger officer couldn't agree more, and once again, they turned back to the papers. Searching for a way out.
. : - : .
Location: HogwartsDawn broke over the horizon and pale golden light seeped through the window planes of the Gryffindor Boy's Room Dorm. Dean Thomas and Seamus Finnigin slept soundly, while Ronald Weasley mumbled of cakes and twigs, and Harry Potter tossed and turned in his bed with sweat over his brows.
A fire burned down the house. Children screaming as they ran ad cried and wanted to hide. Smoke rose upward to the setting sky and people stood by and watched, watched silently as children ran passed them and the support beams crashed down.
Momma! Momma!
There is no God, child. No such mercy.
Why won't someone save us, mother? Why do we have to suffer?
Are we in pain, ma cheri? I can't tell anymore.
Don't die. Don't die. Don'tdie.Don'tdie.
Take the Risk. It's in you.
He bolted upright in the bed, gasping for air and body gleaning with sweat. Wide emerald eyes stared off in the darkness not understanding and not comprehending anything.
It's in you.
The sparkling eyes dulled to a generic green and he fell backwards in a slumber.
It's in you.
. : - : .
She sat on the couch in the common room. Red surrounded her and she stared dully into the fire. She was dressed in her white cotton pajamas, matching shirt and pants. She curled up by the arm of the sofa and breathed silently.
Flames burned brightly in her brown eyes and she felt the faint traces of recognition inside of her. She looped her arms around her knees and watched the sparks flying off the logs. It was warm in the Gryffindor common room in Hogwarts, and safe.
Hermione pondered how much longer it would remain so. Something inside of her made her pensive. She turned to look up at the stairs leading to the boys' dormitories, and wondered if Harry was sleeping soundly.
As time passed and the year went on, it would soon be clear that in the end, it would be Harry against Voldemort. Harry against Voldermort, period. No one between the two. The adults seemed to be in denial of the fact, all trying to smother him, treating him as a nuisance when they caught him sneaking about, and not preparing him at all.
Dumbledore seemed to have the clearest sight of all, having made private weekly meetings between himself and Harry – of which Harry would come back and tell her and Ron what had happened. But he was still with holding a lot of information from Harry.
Harry knew it too. Harry felt betrayed and treated Dumbledore differently since an incident last year when the Headmaster had imposed a significant piece of information to him – of which he still hadn't told Hermione and Ron.
He had brushed it off so Ron had simply let it be, but Hermione knew there was something Harry was hiding from them. He always was now, it seemed. She felt more and more stressed these days, just waiting for some kind of sign of how things were going.
Dumbledore had said things were under control but that hadn't saved Cedric Diggory in back in Fourth Year. Hermione pushed herself up and walked up to her dorm. She needed some sleep before the day started. She turned at the top of the stairs, directly across from Harry and Ron's dorm, hearing movement and a gasp.
It's in you.
It was silent again and staring into the shadows, she let her thoughts linger on the possibilities. Turning, she decided maybe they needed to call a DA meeting soon.
. : - : .
The dungeons were as dark as they always were, there were no windows, whether the sun had risen or not was told by the clocks on the walls. Blaise Zabini looked down at his feet as he came down the stairway from the dorms to the common room. His blue-green eyes were intense but far away. His thoughts as were focused on a certain someone who had become withdrawn and he felt dread at the fear that sometimes that entered her eyes these days.
He looked up as he walked off the last step and felt he was not alone. His eyes scanned the Slytherin common room and found its only other occupant this early on the couch, gazing dazedly into the far.
The shimmering ash blonde head of Draco Malfoy was not easily mistake for anyone else. His gray eyes were unfocused and his pale hands clasped in front of him, white knuckled.
" Malfoy." He said in acknowledgment, making the other boy jump.
" Zabini." The other Syltherin said coolly, trying to cover his lapse.
The black haired Sicilian lifted a brow, " You're up early."
The blonde looked away to the fire, the flames reflecting off his gray eyes. " I couldn't sleep."
" I know."
Malfoy turned his head sharply to look at him.
" You were tossing and turning."
Blaise's eyes were dark with thought as he stared at other boy. They were both the same gender and year and they shared a dorm room together, as they had through out all the years at Hogwarts. It was not unusual for light sleepers like Blaise to be awakened from the sounds of one of his dorm mates having a restless night or dream. The other boy kept his chin up and looked out haughtily, but the small blush he tried to keep down was easily found on his pale skin.
Blaise wondered if what he thought what had kept the boy up was real or not. The Sicilian nodded his head and turned to walk towards the back of the portrait to leave the Slytherin quarters. He could feel Malfoy's gaze on his back steadily, but it wasn't until he place a hand on the portrait and pushed it open did the other boy speak.
" Have you ever..." The words rushed out of Malfoy's mouth but then stopped. Then repeated as if he was pulling teeth. " Have you ever...thought maybe you were forgetting something?"
The two were dorm mates and had been in the same House for years, but they were not close friends. They did not confide in each other. Blaise turned, leaned back on the open portrait, and raised a brow.
" I mean, I mean." Draco stumbled verbally, ringing his arms. " Like you woke up and you're forgetting something important that you've just learned and you really should remember. Even if you didn't really know it before, and you should remember even though it wasn't really there."
" Like in a dream you mean?" Blaise said voice cool but eyes sharp.
Malfoy froze, opened his mouth, closed it, then slide a cold look over his face. " Never mind. It was nothing."
Blaise didn't believe it and something in his eyes flashed for a quick second. The black haired boy tilted his head, voice strangely compelling. " You have Potential, Draco. What you do with it, is up to you."
Without waiting for the other boy to respond his walked out of the entry way, leaving behind a confused Draco Malfoy staring at where he had been with his words circling in his head.
Walking down the corridor Blaise clenched his fists. His steps were quick and heavy, his eyes dropped down but flaring with inner light. He turned a left at the third open hallway and headed towards the outside grounds.
He had a lot to think about and energy he needed to expend.
. : - : .
Location: Russia" Have we made any headway?"
" No Sir. We've been able to slow the forces down, but we can't totally annihilate them. It takes too much manpower to fight them, and as soon as we take one down – another appears. There is only so many of us, and so many of them."
The superior commander scribbled away on the documents in front of him. " So we've found nothing at all."
" ..."
He looked up sharply at the younger soldier. The younger officer was avoiding his gaze and looking out the window at the snow covered land.
" Out with it soldier."
" The cold slows some of them." The soldier said in a low voice, " but it makes some of the others better. They are better in various environments."
" That tells me nothing I didn't know soldier."
The soldier swallowed. " One of the rookies..."
The commander gazed steadily. " Yes?"
" They were caught unawares, Sir, and very frightened." Here the soldier paused. " They were outside and chased back. They ran back inside the Academy using one of the more obscure entrances and were backed off to one of the older parts, pressed against locked doors. They broke the lock and used the weapons they found there."
The commander made an impatient noise in his throat, seeing no relevance.
The soldier swallowed again. " It was...they broke into PW-13."
The commander paled.
" They..." The voice dropped low again. " The monsters...they...all the ammo was used up and the monsters were driven back, screaming and screeching in pain."
The commander dropped his head. " No..." he rasped.
The soldier swallowed to try to wet the dread-dry throat. A tongue darted out to wet dry lips before continuing. " So the theory need not be tested...we have the results."
" No!" The commander jumped to his feet. " No. We will make no report of this."
" But!"
" No!" The superior's voice was sharp.
" ..."
" What about the soldiers?"
" Their shoulders are out of joint from the unexpected recoil they did not prepare for, most of them also sustained injuries in the escape – they have been put in the infirmary until they are healed."
The commander nodded. " Take them off active duty. And do not let them hand in a formal report of anything."
" But...we can't hide it forever."
The commander looked out the window silently. The gloom seemed to push down on their two shoulders heavily.
" Give it one week." He said finally, voice husky, and swallowed, the pain in his eyes clear.
The soldier looked away. It was always wrong to see a strong man weak.
" Understood." The soldier saluted and walked out the door.
The commander sat on his chair and looked out to the softly falling snow in silence. The white of the land glared back at him in the daylight.
" It would have been your birthday soon..." He murmured. " ...Jack..."
: - :
Location: Unknown (Past)
Will I ever amount to anything?
That question tormented her day and night, always there and floating around her mind, there wasn't a day she hadn't ever asked herself that.
Will I ever amount to anything worthy?
Will her parents look at what she was with pride? Will her friends approve of what she would become? Will her co-workers look upon with liking?
Will I ever amount to anything worthy to me?
That was the true question that was what she really wanted to know. Would she like what she would be when she was older? Would she respect herself and what she was doing? Would she like what she was? If she looked into the future could she honestly say that she like what she saw? This was what she truly wanted to know. She already amount to so much, as Potter's friend and otherwise, but will she like what she amounted to in the future?
But even as she wondered this question, she never let anyone tell her the answer. And so the question changed.
Will I ever amount to anything?
That question haunted her day and night...
: - :
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End Chapter Two