SEQ CHAPTER \h \r 1Disclaimer: I don't own the concept of Harry Potter, or the characters. They belong to the talented Ms. Rowling.
Thank you to everyone who reviewed and a big thank you to my beta reader Sepia, your efforts are greatly appreciated J
CHAPTER 8
Harry lay in bed and stared at the ceiling, hands behind his head. The events of the previous evening kept replaying themselves in his mind, and had prevented him from getting much sleep.
"If I hadn't helped, Snape would have been killed – but...did I have to destroy it?"
And herein lay the heart of Harry's turmoil. He hated – absolutely loathed – having to kill. Each time he did, he could almost feel a part of himself die as well, the part of him that made him human. A deep sense of guilt and self-loathing had threatened to overwhelm him during those dark years of the war. It was only his deeply ingrained sense of duty and responsibility that had saved him from giving in to the threat of insanity. It had been foretold that he was the only person who could defeat Voldemort. Countless people were depending on him to save them from the dark wizard. He had needed to stay strong because he couldn't let them down, so he closed himself off and did his best to seal his emotions away.
The voice of logic intruded upon the young man's thoughts. It was the voice of one of Harry's instructors from so many years ago: "Sometimes it's kill or be killed. When it comes to this - and this is war, so it will – don't hesitate, and don't let the enemy see that it bothers you. I'm not suggesting that you should necessarily look like you're enjoying yourself, though."
"Don't worry, that'll never happen." Harry had told his instructor, grimly.
"I know, but if they see a weakness they'll exploit it and this might get you, or the people around you, killed. Stay calm and stay detached. You have to understand, this is war, and in war, people die."
Logic aside, yesterday evening he had utterly and completely destroyed a living being. The truth of the matter was that Harry had glimpsed a part of himself that he thought he had buried and left behind. During those terrible years he had feared, more than anything else – even more than anything that Voldemort could have done to him – that he was becoming so accustomed to death and the chaos of the war; that it was becoming a part of him and that he was beginning to thrive on it. He was scared that it wouldn't be too long before he lost the part of him that made him human and that he'd turn into someone like Voldemort. It scared Harry so much that after he defeated Voldemort, he ran from everything that could remind him of the sort of person he thought he was becoming.
Well, he thought he'd left it all behind – but he had returned to this world, and when he had seen the threat to his colleague, he didn't think twice about killing it.
He ran his hands angrily through his hair and turned his head to look at the photograph on his bedside chest of drawers. You have no idea what kind of person you were involved with Greg, he thought sadly to himself.
*****
A small group of witches and wizards entered the room, shaking with fear. They slowly dropped to one knee and averted their gazes to the ground in front of him. "M-My Lord, the c-c-reature failed."
"What?" the figure, which remained obscured behind the large screen, thundered. The room seemed to shake in response to the anger in the voice.
The shaking form on the floor tensed, sure that he was going to be punished for the failure, but unsure of what punishment he would receive. "The c-creature fai-"
The tall wizard, who stayed by his Master's side to attend to him, raised his wand in response to his Master's silent instructions and pointed it at the wizard who had delivered the news. "Avada Kedavra!" A flash of bright green light and a scream filled the room – the man died before his Master. "I have no use for incompetent people. I want one of the Hogwarts Professors. Preferably our little spy or his protégé. I want information."
"Yes, my Lord." The small group shifted nervously in their positions. They looked at one another, a little unsure whether their next piece of news would be well received in the mood their Master was in. "The Minister has told us the location of the body, my Lord," one young witch volunteered quietly.
"Excellent. When will I have it?" the form behind the screen asked impatiently.
"When the Minister tells us which spells protect it and how we can get past them, my Lord. He is a fool who allows flattery and false praise to loosen his tongue," the kneeling figure answered quickly.
"Let's not be too harsh," the undefined form behind the screen softly chastened. "Even fools have their uses."
"Of course, my Lord." The figure nodded, keeping his gaze low and waiting for his master to give him permission to leave.
*****
The next morning, as Harry met with Theresa for her tutoring session, he felt his mind drift to the conversation he'd had with Ginny this morning and smiled. Draco and Ginny had only intended to stay at the castle for a few days over the Christmas break, but they were enjoying themselves so much that they decided to stay until classes began again. Harry had formed a fast friendship with them and he would be genuinely sorry to see them both leave. I'd love to see the look on Draco's face if he knew that he got drunk and told Harry Potter about the impotence problem he had when he was 20. Harry grinned to himself as he recalled that conversation.
"Just couldn't get it up. Didn't matter what I did. Ginny was pretty unhappy about it all. I mean, she did name it –"
"Ah, I think you've had too much to drink Draco. Way too much."
"Nnnnaaaahhhh. No way. Not even close to my limit. Ron's still going, and if he can keep going, so can I. Yeah, so anyway, my tools weren't working properly, so I talked to Severus about it all and he'd read something – which I thought was a bit fishy, 'cause see, why would he be reading about something like that? But he's always reading, right? So he'd read this article and he whipped something up."
Harry had inwardly cringed. It was his personal belief that Severus and erections should never be mentioned in the same breath.
"So you're all good then? Everything works the way it should?"
"Better than it should. I can outdo Gin now. I mean, she used to –"
"Stop!" Ginny was like a little sister to him and he didn't want to know about her sex life. He definitely didn't want to know about Draco's, but he was holding Draco up and trying to walk him to his room. If he had left, Draco would have spent the night sleeping on the floor in one of the castle hallways. While that was a tempting thought, Harry couldn't do that to his new friend. Man, sometimes I'm just too nice. Thanks for nothing Draco, I'll never be able to get to sleep tonight.
Harry smiled to himself. He was able to feel alive when he was with them. He hadn't felt really alive for such a long time. He loved spending his evenings watching Draco and Ron trying to outdo one another in just about everything, chess, drinking, quidditch...and talking with Ginny and Hermione about everything and anything. Ron, Hermione, Draco and Ginny carried a large part of Harry's history with them, and this strengthened the friendship he was forming with them.
He was able to feel alive when he was with them. He hadn't felt really alive for such a long time. He loved spending his evenings watching Draco and Ron trying to outdo one another in just about everything, chess, drinking, quidditch…and talking with Ginny and Hermione about everything and anything. Ron, Hermione, Draco and Ginny carried a large part of Harry's history with them, and this strengthened the friendship he was forming with them.Um Professor, are you o.k?" Theresa inquired politely, snapping Harry out of his thoughts.
"Oh, yes. I'm fine. Sorry, I was somewhere else for a minute. Right, now, see if you can disarm me," he instructed, as he continued his lesson.
*****
"…and I think that he could be a really valuable addition to our Order, Albus. What do you think?" asked Ron.
Albus was deep in thought. He had seen little of his Defence Against The Dark Arts Professor's skills, but from what he had seen, he was sure that he would be a valuable addition to his Order. He had found no reason to doubt the professor's loyalty to himself, but he also had no reason to trust it. He had known Professor Green for six months and in that time the only thing he had been able to determine with any degree of certainty about him was that he was a young man shrouded in secrecy, as many people were in this day and age. Albus' instincts told him that he could trust this young man, but his brain told him that he shouldn't be trusted implicitly, at least not right away.
"I think that it may still be unwise," Professor Snape quietly commented.
"How can you even think that?" cried Ron. "He saved your life, Severus, when no one else could. And let's be honest about it, you haven't actually given him much reason to do that, have you?"
Professor Snape ignored the jibe directed at him and replied somewhat coolly, "That's right. No one else could help. Even the Headmaster could not destroy that creature. I am only suggesting that it seems a very strange…coincidence…that he has been here not six months and already he has saved me from a creature, with magic that only he knew how to perform."
"You'd think you'd be a little more grateful than that," muttered Ron.
"You have misunderstood me. I am not ungrateful. I gave my thanks to the professor on the evening in question."
"I'd feel better if I knew a bit more about him," piped up Professor Sinistra.
"I'm sure we all would, but he has made it very clear that his secrets are his own business and, as we have learned, no amount of questioning will induce him to tell us anything he does not wish to."
"Draco and I would offer to get him drunk and ask him about himself, but he doesn't get drunk. He drinks, but only just enough," commented Ron, thoughtfully.
"Well, it's a relief to hear that the two of you haven't corrupted him thoroughly," scolded Ginny.
"I think he's alright. I know he has secrets about his past, but I respect that because I keep my past largely a secret as well," said Draco, in support of his new friend. "But the fact that he knows these obscure pieces of magic makes me wonder where he learned it all. I mean, where would you go to learn that sort of thing? The book that the spell he used to save Severus came from is so rare that I'm having trouble putting my hands on a copy, and I've got the entire Malfoy name and fortune behind me. I mean, I can't get a copy anywhere 'over the counter' and my contacts are having trouble finding one 'under the counter,'" reported Draco with a small frown.
"I had no problems finding a copy, Draco," said Hermione.
"What?" exclaimed Draco, echoed by Ron, Severus and Albus, who all had obviously been having similar problems.
"I just asked Jason if I could borrow his copy. He was happy to lend it to me. He even gave me the names of a few more books."
Everybody just stared at her.
"I can't help it if you boys wanted to go about it the hard way. Ginny and I have been reading the book for days now," chirped Hermione, sweetly.
"Ginny," said Draco in frustration.
"You didn't ask," she tossed out, flippantly.
"So, um, what kind of book is it Hermione?" asked Ron cautiously.
Hermione looked very carefully at her husband before heaving a sigh and answering "Yes, Ron, it's one of those books – the ones that nobody will confess to owning because it's illegal to have printed. But I agree with Jason. You can't defend against the Dark Arts if you don't know anything about them."
There was a short silence in the room. "I think we should ask him to join," said Draco.
"Me too," said Hermione, supportively.
"I agree," said Albus, which shocked everybody in the room. "But, I think that he should be admitted on a low level security status to begin with. The information he has provided us has been very useful, and he obviously has skills and knowledge which will be very valuable for us, should he wish to help us. But, I would feel a little uneasy allowing him to be privy to all of the information we have at this early stage."
Albus retrieved a quill and some parchment from his drawer and drew up a short note. "If you'll excuse me, I'll just have this left at his rooms. I believe he is currently having a lesson with Miss Chan and he might be quite some time. While we wait for him to join us, I believe that there is something that needs to be discussed." Albus turned to look at Professor Snape before observing "When the creature attacked you the other evening, he said that you were being punished for your disloyalty. Might that mean what I think it might mean?" asked Albus.
Severus sighed. "I think so. It was an effort to remain discreet during the battle but I did try, fully realising the consequences of what would occur after, if I had indeed revealed myself as a traitor to the Dark Lord."
*****
Harry returned to his rooms after his lesson with Theresa to find a scroll stuck to his door. "Please attend a meeting at my office. We will be there all day. Come when you are ready. Albus."
Harry ripped the parchment off the door and crumpled it up in his hands. Bloody hell, now what? If I knew I'd have so many problems after saving Snape I'd have let the idiot die, Harry fumed. Well, they can jolly well wait until I'm good and ready. Albus, I stopped singing to your tune a long time ago, he thought coldly, after he let himself into his rooms and retrieved the book that Ron and Hermione had given him for Christmas. It was a book on defensive potions and it had given Harry some great ideas for future lessons with his students. He managed to spend several hours in peaceful study until he was interrupted by a knock at his door. The spells on his door had alerted him to the approach of a person, but he ignored it as he almost always did, because most people simply walked by his door. It was very rare that someone stopped.
"Professor, I hope I'm not interrupting you," stammered Theresa as Harry opened the door to her.
"No. What can I do for you?" he asked politely.
"Sir, the Headmaster has arranged for me to see a muggle doctor on Saturday and he said that I should take a member of staff with me. He said I could choose anyone I want, so I was wondering if you wouldn't mind coming with me to the doctor," she asked quickly. "I mean, that is, only if you don't have plans, of course.... It's just that I haven't spoken to anyone but you and Madam Pomfrey about my epilepsy and you seem to know so much about how the muggle doctors and medicines work, and I've never been to a muggle doctor before so I'm scared and I don't know what to expect…" she rattled on.
"I don't have any other plans for Saturday so, yes, I'll come along with you," replied Harry, good-naturedly.
"Um, sir, the Headmaster said that whoever I ask should notify him themselves about their decision to come along with me."
Oh, you're good, Albus. That was cunning, I'll give you that. So you got sick of waiting, did you? "Right, Miss Chan. I'll do that right now."
"Thanks Professor, I've got to run. Professor Snape said that he might quiz me in my next lesson with him, so I have to go study," she called as she took off down the hallway.
"Right. What can we expect this time?" asked Harry as he made his way to his meeting with Albus.
*****
The hooded figures knelt before their Master, keeping their gaze lowered in submission.
"Spring the trap as soon as you can. I need that information before we can continue," the form behind the screen directed the witches and wizards before him.
"My Lord, the trap is set. We are merely waiting for the one you want to come and spring it," one young witch volunteered cautiously.
"Excellent. This is a simple matter, so do not fail me," their Master hissed in warning.
"N-No, my Lord," the kneeling figures mumbled nervously.
*****
Harry knocked politely on the door and waited for permission before he entered the office. He thought he would be meeting with Albus, and perhaps Minerva and Severus. He did not expect to be meeting with about 12 people, including Ron, Hermione, Draco and Ginny. Harry noticed that an empty chair had been set aside at the very edge of the group near the door and he grinned to himself, remembering that the last time he had attended a meeting in Albus' office, he had chosen to sit by the door, ignoring everybody's expectation that he would sit in the middle of the room. He remembered. I'm touched.
"Albus, you wanted to see me," greeted Harry as he was waved into the seat by Albus.
"Yes. I want to make you an offer, but first I'd like to know a few things." Albus spoke calmly, but when he saw Harry's eyebrows crease in frustration, he immediately added, "You will not be required to answer any questions if you do not wish to. I only ask these questions to determine matters of safety."
"Albus, I enjoy working here, but I really am getting tired of being invited up here for an interrogation about my past or my actions every month or so," replied Harry, eyeing the Headmaster suspiciously. Now what do you want? He thought to himself. Albus was still looking at Harry expectantly, so Harry sighed and went on. "If these questions really are for reasons of safety, I'll do my best to answer them."
Albus pointed his wand at his office door and murmured several incantations under his breath, presumably either to ensure that nobody else would hear what was being said inside the office, though the office seemed pretty secure to Harry. He returned his wand to its place in his robes and paused before finally asking, "How much do you know about the war against Voldemort?"
You don't get a question much broader than that, do you? "Well, I guess I know enough about it to know that I wouldn't want to see one like it again." He wasn't sure what sort of answer Albus wanted, but he thought that the answer he gave was safe.
"Were you involved in the war at all?"
Where are you really going with this Albus? "Everybody was involved one way or another, weren't they? We were all either against him or in support of him, weren't we?"
"That's true."
"Were you– " started Albus. He was interrupted by Severus.
"Hearing his name does not bother you," Professor Snape noted carefully, with narrowed eyes.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Professor, but Voldemort is dead. He was defeated in the final battle eight years ago. Being afraid of his name now doesn't make sense, does it? But I don't have to tell any of you that, because none of you even blinked when Albus said his name," replied Harry.
"I have never heard you speak his name before. I have only ever heard you refer to him as 'You-Know-Who'. Why would you do that if the name doesn't bother you?" Snape asked, pushing for more information.
"It's uncommon to find people who aren't bothered by the name. Most people are uncomfortable, and even afraid, when they hear it. I use 'You-Know-Who' so no one gets excited. I didn't know that you were all comfortable with hearing his name used," replied Harry honestly. No one could fault the reasoning of Harry's answer, so the professor kept quiet.
"Were you directly involved in the war?" asked Albus.
Harry chose his words very carefully. He didn't waste time with lengthy pauses. He had been invited to 'meetings' in Albus' office often enough to know that he needed to be on his guard when he spoke, so his mind was already working very quickly. With an absolutely straight face, he replied, "There were intermittent uprisings and movements in support of the Death Eaters and of Voldemort in the area where I lived. I was often involved in the efforts to suppress those movements." That was probably the most honest answer I've ever given to Albus. He silently congratulated himself.
Many people in the room seemed pleased with his answer. He had given the impression that his involvement was similar to that of a member of the French Resistance during the muggle second world war. They had no idea that his involvement was more akin to a front line English Soldier sweeping through Europe with the rest of the allied armies beside and behind him.
"What sort of activities did this involve?" pressed Albus.
"Why do you need to know that?" Harry countered. He wasn't going to let them think that they could squeeze information out of him in exchange for the paltry promise of some sort of offer.
"I was simply curious. Of course, you needn't answer if you don't want to," replied Albus, nonplussed.
After a pause, Harry answered the question. How to phrase this. Hmm...."I was involved in gathering intelligence, sometimes I was involved in small open confrontations…that sort of thing." Harry suspected that they either wanted to know where he had learned to do the magic involved in saving Professor Snape's life and were willing to make him an offer in exchange for the information, or they wanted to ask him to join the Order of the Phoenix, and this made him very cautious.
It was Albus' turn to pause. He wanted to know a little about what this young man was like, but he knew that he would refuse to answer direct questions. He hoped that his collection of seemingly innocuous questions would throw the young man off his guard enough to hint at some information about himself. He didn't know that Harry had already guessed that Albus wanted something and was most definitely on his guard. "Do you believe the war is over?" asked Albus shrewdly.
What kind of a question is that? He silently mused while he thought about his answer. He was now almost absolutely certain that Albus was going to ask him to join the Order, and he groaned inwardly because he didn't really want to join and he had promised himself that he wasn't going to get involved in whatever was going on.
"I believe that Voldemort is dead, but I don't believe that the fight against what he stood for and what he represented will ever be over."
"Oh God, not another philosophical discussion. Hermione, you'll be right at home here. Go ahead, jump right in," groaned Ron, who was rewarded with a sharp kick from both Hermione and Ginny who were sitting on either side of him.
"Oh? Ignore my idiot husband and continue please," said Hermione, keenly interested.
"Well, as Ron said, it's all philosophy and not really very interesting, all things considered, is it?" Harry responded. These issues were ones that he had been considering since he was very young and they touched on something that bordered on the personal with him. The contemplation of these issues, among others, had helped him to understand why it was so important that he play his part in the war and had helped to push him through it.
"Please continue, Professor Green. I have had many discussions with the Headmaster about this very issue and would be interested to hear your views on the matter," Snape said quietly from his corner of the room, looking at Harry with interest.
Harry paused to collect his thoughts on the matter, a little unsure of why they were all so eager to hear his answer, but sure that it probably had something to do with trying to determine where his sympathies might lie. "Voldemort stood for prejudice, hate, and evil. He didn't invent those feelings and concepts. He just rallied a lot of people who had the same sort of ideas and beliefs together behind one banner, so to speak. I mean, I know that since he was defeated, we've all lived peacefully, but the attack on Professor Snape the other night shows us that malevolent forces are still out there."
Harry paused and looked thoughtfully out of the window in the office. "You don't necessarily need Voldemort to have a war. He was a figurehead. Granted, in this case, he was a very intelligent and powerful figurehead, but we'll never be rid of malice and evil and all of those other things that he stood for." Turning back to the Headmaster, he continued. "So, to answer your question, Albus, no. I don't believe the war is over. Because all it takes is one person, or a few people, with the right skills to start it up again."
"So you're saying that we will never really win our fight, then?" Professor Sinistra asked quietly, her shoulders slumping a little.
Harry shook his head. "I'm sorry. You misunderstood me. We're living peacefully right now, and I'd say that's a victory right there. I think that evil can be suppressed – it can be intimidated into hiding – but the war against everything that Voldemort rallied his side for will never be over," said Harry, matter-of-factly.
All eyes were on Harry. Truer words had never been spoken and they had all discovered a depth to their fellow professor which they had never guessed at. Draco broke the silence, "I'd like to ask you a question, and you don't have to answer it if you don't want to," he began in a quiet voice. "Do you think anything is ever as straight forward as 'good and evil'?" Draco had taken the Dark Mark at his father's insistence, but he had worked for Albus during the war. Consequently, Draco was constantly misunderstood, because many people couldn't understand whether he was a person you could trust, since he had married into the Weasley family and was often seen in the company of Albus, or whether he was a person to look upon with suspicion, because he took the Dark Mark.
Harry understood the question that was asked – and the question that wasn't asked – perfectly, but he had to be careful, because 'Jason' couldn't possibly have understood the implications behind the query. "No."
"Why not?" asked Draco, intensely.
"It isn't only 'bad people' who are hateful and malicious. Lots of 'good people', people who stood against Voldemort, are probably capable of being just as malicious and hateful on occasion if they were pushed to it. I mean, malice, hate, contempt – they're all natural human emotions and responses, but I guess the people who followed Voldemort seemed to have let themselves become consumed by it. The people who opposed him, knew that it was unacceptable. Evil is necessary. It's just the absence of good. We can't have one without the other, and we can't really appreciate which one we'd prefer until we've seen both."
Draco nodded, and looked thoughtful. Harry knew that he was thinking about his family, and about himself and the sacrifices he had made. Ginny was holding Draco's hand and she looked at him and gave it a supportive squeeze. Harry pretended not to see this, and continued.
"And, sometimes, good people have to do bad things." Harry saw Draco nod his head at this. "I mean, the war was bloody, and neither side was kind to each other, were they? In the end, Voldemort was killed. Murder isn't the sort of thing that good people generally advocate. But it had to be done, didn't it? To rid the world of Voldemort, Harry Potter had to kill him. Does that make him evil? Did the end ever justify the means?" Harry had to stop here. Everybody just assumed that he had no more to say on the matter, but the conversation was becoming too personal. That same question had haunted him since he was a boy and continued to haunt him today. He had done so many things during the war to sully his soul that he thought he might drown in the guilt and disgust of it all.
To all outward appearances, he had remained perfectly calm. Inwardly, he berated himself for allowing himself to be put in such a vulnerable situation. Harry looked at the other people in the room. Draco was looking at Harry with such intensity that it actually made him squirm. Bugger, what have I gotten myself into? Draco slowly let go of Ginny's hand, stood up and walked over to Harry's chair. He then offered his hand, in a profound gesture of respect and friendship. Harry rose to shake it, and the two men just looked at each other.
In the young professor, Draco saw a man who understood – really understood – something about the life he'd lead and the choices he'd had to make, that few people had ever understood. He privately wondered what this man had had to go through to reach such an understanding, but he would be proud to respect him and work alongside him. From the corner of his eye, Harry saw Professor Snape sit up a little straighter in his seat, hands clasped together against his chin, looking deep in thought and reflection.
Draco used his wand to move his chair so that he could sit by Harry, and Ginny, Ron and Hermione moved to join him. Albus looked on with interest. With that statement, Professor Green had earned the respect of Draco, Ginny, Ron and Hermione, and had rendered Professor Snape speechless – a feat in itself. Albus was an intelligent man and could read between the lines of a conversation as well as anyone else could. He knew that the young man had just candidly admitted something of his past to everybody in the room who was listening for it. He had admitted that sometimes good people – possibly like him – were forced to do terrible things and that the war was responsible for bringing that out in a lot of people.
"Jason, I would like to make you an offer, and I sincerely hope that you take me up on it. During the war I worked with a reasonable sized group of people , the Order of the Phoenix, to oppose Voldemort and his followers. I still work with the group to maintain the peace and to ensure that any dark activities are suppressed before they get out of hand. I would like to offer you a place in the Order. You are obviously skilled, intelligent and pragmatic, and I believe you would be a valuable addition to our group."
Harry heard a grunt from the other side of the room and turned to meet Professor Snape's guarded gaze.
Bugger. Harry thought to himself. I didn't want to get involved. They can handle this without me, can't they? They've been doing fine up until now.
"Headmaster, I only took the position as Professor of Defence Against the Dark Arts for a year. I haven't bound myself to anything more long term than that – "
"You may still change your mind," said Albus pleasantly.
"I may, but I also may not. It wouldn't seem right to commit myself to something that I might need to walk away from in six months time." Harry groped for an excuse.
"If you wish to walk away, then that is up to you; but we would still like to have you in the Order for as long as you wish to stay," pressed Albus.
Professor Snape looked decidedly unhappy that Albus was pushing for Harry to join. Harry noticed this and decided to reach for this in an attempt to refuse the offer. Normally he wouldn't be so confrontational, but he was getting desperate to find a plausible excuse for not being able to join the Order without creating even more suspicion about himself by simply turning the offer down flat. "Headmaster, I think I'm still too new here to be able to work effectively with an Order so well established as your own. Certain members of the Order may not be able to work with me, or trust the quality and accuracy of my efforts."
"Oh, man, here we go again." Ron groaned.
"Why? What's happening?" asked Draco, clearly puzzled.
"Jason and Severus aren't very...fond of one another. They seem to disagree. A lot. And Severus has a few…trust issues...which aren't helping the situation."
"But Jason saved Severus' life!" exclaimed Draco softly.
"I don't think that means anything to either one of them," said Ron, shaking his head.
"Professor, do you think you would be able to work with me?" Harry addressed Professor Snape.
"Albus thinks that you would be a valuable addition. I am sure I will have no issues with that," Snape replied coolly and casually.
Harry looked very carefully at him. "You don't know what to make of me, Professor. I know that. You've distrusted me from the start, but now you've been thrown off balance by what happened the other evening."
Professor Snape stared at the young man. "I did not wish to appear ungrateful, if that is what you are implying."
"That's not what I was talking about, and I don't care about gratitude. I heard you when you thanked me the first time. You've been suspicious of me since I started working here, and now that I've saved your life, you're confused. Come to think of it, who wouldn't be? I've wanted to wring your neck myself on any number of occasions." A few of the people in the room smiled a little at this. "But I did save your life and you don't know if it's because I was genuine about it, or if I was trying to lull you into a false sense of trust and set you up for something else. Am I right?"
The potions master simply looked at Harry and said "I would take no issue to working with you should you decide to join the order, Professor Green."
Bugger! He wasn't supposed to agree. If you can't rely on Snape to be disagreeable, what can you rely on? he thought forlornly. Harry couldn't think of any other excuses, so he simply said, "I'll think about it and let you know, Albus."
"Very well. Let me tell you about the sorts of things you might be doing if you decide to join…" began Albus.
*****
The members of the Order filed one by one out of Albus' offices.
class=Section2>"We've just got to duck in and give Albus something," Draco told Harry as he and Ginny headed back into the office. "Wait up for us, we'll head back to our room together. There's something we want you to see."
"Sure." Harry called out, leaning against the wall outside the office and making himself comfortable.
Professor Snape emerged from the Headmaster's office and walked past him, giving him a level gaze. Harry rolled his eyes and shook his head, which caused the older man to stop and turn to face Harry.
"You gave an impressive performance in there," he observed softly to Harry.
Harry sighed. "I'm not trying to kill you, Professor."
The older man's facial expression didn't change and he narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "Even you must admit that it looks a little…coincidental…that I had not been attacked before you arrived, but suddenly I am attacked; and, as luck would have it, you are on hand to be able to destroy a creature that nobody else in this room knew how to destroy," said the professor cautiously.
"I've already told you that if you had read the book that I'd read, you would have known what to do as well. And you're right, Professor. It does look…coincidental. But, come on, you're an intelligent man. It looks a little too coincidental, doesn't it? I mean, if I wanted to lull you into a false sense of trust, I wouldn't have set myself up so obviously. Arranging to be one of the only ones who happened to reach you in time would have been a little less obvious, wouldn't it? Setting up a situation I could have helped diffuse instead of being the only one able to diffuse it would have been more subtle as well."
The potions master had to admit to himself that Harry made a sensible point. He had been quick to assume the worst about the professor, but his overborne sense of caution and suspicion had kept him alive in his dangerous role as a spy for many years, and he wasn't one to disregard his suspicions so quickly. "Perhaps" was all the man said before he turned away and headed back to his own room.
*****
"Would you mind running that by me again? There was a little too much self pity in there for me to understand you properly the first time," said Tony as he sipped his beer. Harry had emerged from his meeting with Albus and the rest of the Order a little worse for wear. He was cranky, irritable and generally peeved. The only people he ever really spent time with at Hogwarts were Ron, Hermione, Draco and Ginny, but right now he didn't want to see anyone from the Order. He left the meeting and went back to his rooms to study or relax, but he was just too irritable and too full of "why me's?" to be able to concentrate on anything, so he headed out of the castle to see if Tony wanted to head out for a drink.
"You're just cruising for some pain, you know that don't you?" said Harry peevishly as he drank deeply from his schooner.
"Yeah, yeah. All I got was something about you being wanted for just one thing, which frankly, doesn't sound too bad to me," Tony told him, raising and eyebrow at his friend and grinning suggestively, "and you've done it before – which does sound a bit fishy – and you wanted to tell the head of the group where to shove it, but just couldn't – but I don't know how to take that, considering everything I've just heard you say."
"You're sick," Harry said as he glared fondly at his friend. He could always rely on Tony to put a whole new slant on things when his spirits were low.
"Well, yes, but I thought you already knew that. So, help me out here. What's up with you?"
Harry took a deep breath and began again. "I used to do some work for this group. Um...developing experimental drugs and doing research, that sort of thing. Some of the stuff we did, and the, um, methods we used were – " Harry struggled for an appropriate word. Appalling, illegal, horrendous, terrifying to the nth degree? He thought grimly to himself. "– unethical." To say the very least, he added silently. He paused to look at his friend, who looked straight back at him, nonplussed.
"And?" prompted Tony.
"And, well, I'm not proud of the things that we did there. Some of it might be considered illegal, I guess."
"So, why did you do it?" asked Tony, seriously.
"They seemed genuine in wanting to help people, and I really wanted to help too."
"So why did you stop doing it?"
"Because I didn't agree with the methods, I think. I mean, I guess it's that whole thing about whether the end ever really justifies the means."
"Was the group actually helping people, or were they just pretending to. What I mean is, were they developing and researching medication to help people, or was it all just a cover for some bizarre and twisted drug ring, or something like that?" asked Tony cautiously. He had been friends with Jason for quite a while now, and he knew that he was a man of good sense, but he couldn't help feeling a little worried. He just hadn't been himself since he'd lost Greg.
"No," Harry replied as he swallowed his drink. "They really were trying to help as much as they could."
"And your problem is…?" asked Tony, with a look of confusion.
How to say this… "I was assigned a special task, when I was working for them before. It was because there was something that I was particularly adept at." That's a crude way of putting it. My special skill is that I can kill Voldemort. I wonder where you'd put that on a resume, thought Harry, with a little amusement. "It was fairly nasty though. If I managed to finish the task, I'd be helping a lot of people, but if I didn't, a lot of people who could have been helped, wouldn't have been." Harry called the bartender's attention and ordered another round of drinks for Tony and himself.
"Did you do it?"
"Yeah I did, but I wasn't proud of how I did it. It grossly breached just about every rule of ethics that we learned at Uni. And I felt terrible." Their drinks arrived and Harry gripped his tightly in his hand. "And now they want me to work for them again because my 'special skill'," Harry hand gestured a set of quotation marks to emphasise those two particular words, "will be useful and valuable to them. They just want me for that."
"Your 'special skill', they just want you for that? No wonder my mind was in the gutter. All I could think about was you and brothels," Tony said in an effort to lighten the mood. Harry just snorted into his drink and let it go.
"What do you think?" asked Harry, quietly.
"So you agree with their goals, but not their methods, is that it?" asked Tony.
"I guess."
"How would you feel if you went back to work for them?"
"I'd want to help, but I'd hate myself while I was doing the work, I guess," Harry said honestly.
"O.k." said Tony slowly, giving Harry a searching look. "Was it really that bad?"
"Yeah, it really was."
"Right. How would you feel, if you didn't work for them on the project that they want you to work on?" When Harry didn't answer, Tony pressed on, "They want you because you have a particular skill, right? I can't say I blame them. You are really good at what you do. How would you feel if you didn't give them the benefit of your skill, and their project failed, and people who needed help didn't get it?" asked Tony, with an insight that he rarely displayed.
Harry stared at him. This had been at the very core of his internal struggle. He didn't want to join the Order. He had worked for them once and he still felt as though he were drowning in the self loathing he felt at what he had done and seen. On the other hand, strange things were happening around London; and Professor Snape, one of Albus' spies, had been attacked for his disloyalty. Something was happening, but he didn't know what it was. Harry knew that he had skills that the other professors didn't have, and that he could help them. He knew that he would never be able to live with himself if something happened, and he was in a position to help, but did nothing. His heart and his sense of responsibility, which had been at war with one another since he was a young boy, battled silently within Harry as he absorbed Tony's advice.
Tony looked straight ahead of him, at a spot on the wall on the other side of the room as he, too, thought about the situation. "You're not stupid, Jason. We both know that there's never been any clearly defined boundaries when it comes to ethics. It may be unethical to use unorthodox and prohibited methods in our field, but wouldn't it also be unethical not to help someone when you can? Since they're both unethical, is any one more unethical than the other?"
Harry considered what Tony said. "The lesser of two evils," he muttered.
"Afraid so. And if that doesn't work out, you know you've always got that brothel to fall back on," Tony grinned and said cheekily. Harry turned to punch him.
"I'll never know how you managed to turn this into a dirty conversation," mumbled Harry.
"It's a gift. I can pick up a dirty conversation anywhere within a five mile radius, I think. Speaking of which," he cocked his head to his left, "they're having a very dirty conversation."
"Tony," Harry said in disbelief, shaking his head.
"Seriously, listen." At this point Tony lapsed into an imitation of the voices of the two men sitting not far from them "If he and his protégé show up at the mall on Saturday, bring them both to my rooms at the inn. I have the rooms booked out for the whole day and they're going to show me a very good time. They have something that I want, and I always get what I want. " He waggled his eyebrows suggestively while he was saying the last statement "Wow, I wish I was that lucky."
"Tony, stop it! They'll hear you. Man, I can't take you anywhere," he laughed. Harry felt much better than he did when he arrived and he enjoyed catching up with Tony for the rest of the evening.
*****
The young wizard trembled as he dropped to his knee before his Master.
"What is taking so long?" his Master hissed in irritation.
"M-My Lord, the curses are difficult to break. We have lost several people already– "
"I care not!" the figure behind the screen boomed, causing the kneeling wizard to wince and brace himself. "I want the body. Hurry the efforts along. I am running out of patience!"
"Y-yes, my Lord," the young wizard stammered as he hurriedly backed out of the dark room, keeping his gaze lowered. 0
"It won't be long now," their Master said softly to the wizard standing by his side, a wicked smile on his face.
*****
Harry tried to think of a few more excuses to use to avoid joining the Order; but in the end his sense of responsibility won the war within himself and told him, in no uncertain terms, that since he knew strange things were happening, it would be selfish to avoid helping Albus when he was in a position to do so. Sighing heavily, he informed Albus of his decision to join the Order on Friday evening. Albus had been delighted and promised to introduce him to some of the other members of the Order when time permitted. Ah, only some of the other members, Albus? So you want my skills, but you're not willing to trust me. Well, it works both ways Albus. I want your information, but I'm not willing to trust you completely either. I won't mindlessly dance to your tune again. Never again, he thought grimly to himself.
And so, it was with low spirits that he accompanied Theresa to her appointment with the doctor Saturday morning, and sat with her in the doctor's office patiently waiting while she and the doctor discussed her condition. When the doctor began mentioning the appropriate medication, Harry shook himself awake and paid attention. Theresa wasn't familiar enough with muggle medication to be able to remember the details and so he would need to be able to explain it to her later on. He questioned the doctor closely on the dosages she would need to have, and then, after explaining that he was a pharmacologist himself, questioned him closely on the advantages of the medication he was prescribing over some of the other similar medications on the market. He wanted to be able to mix up the same medication for Theresa, so he wanted to know precisely why he was using certain ingredients instead of others. The doctor was very helpful and wasn't at all offended by such a line of questioning.
"You must be the professor Albus was talking about," observed the doctor as they were about to leave the office.
"Um, yes." Harry thought that was a very odd thing for the muggle to say.
"Yes, Albus is a good friend of mine. My aunt, Emmaline Vance, was a witch and she used to talk to me about Hogwarts all the time. Used to make me absolutely jealous. I'd have given anything to have lived in a real castle and be able to cast spells," he said, wistfully. "Ah well. Good luck with it all and come back and see me if you've got any problems, o.k Theresa? Oh, incidentally, if the pharmacy asks you if you'll settle for a chemist brand substitute, tell them that you won't. Actually, better yet, I'll write it on there myself." He added the short note and handed the prescription back to Theresa. "Say 'hi' to Albus for me, won't you? Bye!" he called to them as they were leaving the door.
"Yes, sir," she answered, holding the prescription tightly. This was her ticket to a relatively normal life, and she wasn't letting go of it for anyone.
When they were standing on the street outside the doctor's surgery, Theresa looked questioningly at her professor. "Professor Green, what's a pharmacy?"
"It's a shop where medications are sold. Some medications treat very specific illnesses. They're dangerous if people take them when they're not sick, so for those medicines, you need a doctor to give written permission for the pharmacy to sell them to you. That's what the prescription's for."
"Hmm. Are we going to get the medicine now?" asked Theresa.
"Yes. There's a little pharmacy in the mall. We'll go there." Harry decided, happy to be able to visit his pharmacy again. His pharmacy was friendly and orderly and it had won various awards for excellence and service since he had assumed ownership. A sense of pride, mingled with curiosity, made him want to visit it as a customer. No one would recognise him, because he was wearing his concealment. He thanked his luck that his concealment also altered the tone and sound of his voice, so he wouldn't give himself away.
"Is it the pharmacy you used to work at?" Theresa inquired, curiously.
"No, if I visited my old work place, we'd never be able to leave because we'd have to stop and chat to everyone. This one's got a good reputation though, so it'll be o.k.," assured Harry, who felt a little guilty for having to lie to Theresa.
Albus had given them the location of several portkeys that would be able to take them to various places around London. They traveled to a quiet street which was a short distance from the mall and walked the rest of the way. They were both surprised to see both Professors Weasley, Minerva and Snape, accompanied by Draco and Ginny, wandering the length of the mall. You're kidding me. Are they still patrolling this area?
*****
"You're joking!" Draco cried in soft astonishment. "Why weren't we told about this?" Draco asked, referring to Ginny and himself.
"We didn't really have much of a chance to tell you. We haven't had a meeting since before Christmas and you and Ginny have been more or less completely occupied since you got here, which is fair enough, since you don't come and visit often," said Hermione in placating tones.
"So, was it true? Did it check out?" asked Draco, seemingly satisfied
"Yes," verified Professor Snape. "Minerva and I were watching this area after we received his information and when another incident erupted, we found wizards hiding in a nearby alley. One of them even recognised Minerva."
Ginny's eyebrows were creased in thought. "But you've all been watching this area pretty closely for a while now, haven't you?"
"Yes!" shouted Ron in exasperation, "and if we have to continue watching it for much longer I think I'll resign my position." Nobody said anything, but Hermione glared at her husband.
"I'm just wondering how he managed to see these wizards when none of you did." Ginny was puzzled.
"I wondered the same thing, myself," offered Professor Snape quietly. "He said he was on the opposite side of the mall and had a larger range of vision than we did on this side of the mall, and that he saw it out of the corner of his eye."
"Severus, he really would have been able to see more if he was on the other side of the street when that assault broke out, rather than in the middle of the crowd. It really is quite lucky that he saw it, otherwise, we'd still be none the wiser," Hermione defended.
Professor Snape arched an eyebrow. "Yes, quite lucky."
"Don't turn around, just listen carefully. You're being watched." A quite voice interrupted them.
*****
Harry and Theresa left the prescription with the pharmacist – Tony was on duty today – to be filled. Theresa was fascinated by the muggle cosmetics and wandered over to have a look.
Harry was pleased to see that one of the pharmacy assistants had gone to ask if she needed a hand. He was proud that his staff were so attentive and courteous. The two girls were soon involved in a deep discussion about the products so Harry turned his attention to the five witches and wizards who were standing across street from his pharmacy. He idly wondered if he should go over and say hello to them and maybe even ask them what they were doing here? After all, it wouldn't look odd. Muggles often meet up with people in the mall. He had a few minutes to spare, so he checked that Theresa would be o.k here for a few minutes, before he left.
As he walked over, he saw Goyle Jr. walk behind the group of five and nod significantly at them as he looked at a man who, Harry thought, must have been standing a little to his left. He casually turned around to look at the people in the surrounding area. He recognized a few of the ones hiding behind newspapers and magazines as former Death Eaters from the war and people he went to school with. Some were seated at tables; others were wandering through the mall, just as he was doing, but he noticed that they were all watching the group, sending glances at them as often as they could without raising suspicion.
Harry tensed up and his instincts kicked into gear. Casually, so as not to raise suspicion, he walked toward the back of the group and dropped down under the pretense of tying up the laces on his joggers. He whispered just loudly for the five witches and wizards to hear him. "Don't turn around, just listen carefully. You're being watched."
He heard Ron inhale sharply and sensed every single person in the group tense up immediately. "Most of the men sitting across the street reading newspapers and magazines, have been watching you for a while. Those are the ones I've seen, there are probably more that I haven't," said Harry very quietly, still pretending to fumble with his shoelaces. I think it would be a good idea for you to head back to the school and let Albus know that you've been recognized." Without saying anything more, 'Jason' stood up and headed back toward the pharmacy.
*****
The group of five were prepared for just such an emergency. Before each of their missions, Albus routinely provided each of his professors (and, on this occasion, Draco and Ginny) with vials of metamorphagus potions which he would trust no one but Professor Snape to brew. The group quickly ducked into the nearby toilets and drank the vial in the privacy of their own cubicle. It didn't matter if anyone had watched them go in, because they wouldn't recognise them as the people they were looking for when they came out. Professor Snape had made this potion stronger than was strictly legal and it was able to alter not only external features, but also body shape for a specified period of time, in the same sort of way that a polyjuice potion might. It was then a simple matter to cast a spell to alter the clothing they were wearing so that it couldn't be recognised by the people who had been spying on them.
On the whole, the potion was a very effective one, but the residual cramps and other side effects were quite strong and more than just a little unpleasant – which is why they didn't routinely use these potions, but anything was better than being injured or killed. They were able to identify each other through a series of pre-arranged hand signals, and once they found each other they headed back toward the pharmacy to speak to Jason, confident that they would not be recognized.
"Now that I'm looking for it, I can see that we're being watched by some of the people sitting at the benches, but why didn't one of us notice before now? I mean, now that I think of it, it does seem a little odd that there are so many people sitting down reading newspapers," muttered Hermione.
"I only saw people sitting behind newspapers, and I was under the impression that many muggles sit and read the newspapers," observed Professor Snape.
"Well, yes they do, but it's not normal to see quite so many I think," answered Hermione, still looking cautiously around her.
"Good thing Jason warned us, but what's he doing here?" asked Ron.
"He told us yesterday, he's supposed to be taking Theresa to get her medicine today," Hermione reminded Ron with a roll of her eyes. She noticed that Draco and Ginny looked confused and so she explained Theresa's condition and 'Jason's' role in the whole situation.
"Look, there he is," Minerva discreetly pointed out. Harry was standing in front of the wall of vitamin supplements, which was, conveniently, right at the front of the pharmacy and in an ideal spot for Harry to be able to keep an eye on what was happening outside. He couldn't see Draco, Ginny and the professors anymore, but that didn't mean that they'd gone back to the school, and that's what worried Harry. The Death Eaters were clearly active again, and judging by the behaviour of the those keeping an eye on the small group, he had more than a sneaking feeling that whatever they were planning to do today involved them.
He was startled when he was approached by a group of five people he had never seen before. At first he thought they were those who had been spying on the Hogwarts group; that they'd seen him talking to them despite how careful he'd been, but they quickly convinced him of their identities by providing him with details that only Draco, Ginny, Severus, Minerva, Ron and Hermione would know. Once he was satisfied that they were who they claimed to be, he asked them why they were all together in muggle London, pretending that he was unaware of the answer. Albus had not given him that information and to all intents and purposes, he wasn't supposed to know anything about it, but he wanted to see if he could pressure a few answers out of one of them.
"Well –"
"Theresa Chan," Tony called. Theresa looked at Harry and then headed over to the pharmacist to collect her medication.
"Excuse me," said Harry as he moved off to join Theresa at the pharmacist's counter. Once Tony discovered that she had never used that particular medication before, he explained the proper dosage to her and talked about the possible side effects she might experience. Tony was a friendly person, and he put Theresa at ease immediately. Harry was pleased that he had left his pharmacy in such capable hands. He even walked Theresa to the front counter and offered to ring it up at the cash register himself
"It's not often I get such a pretty girl calling me 'sir', so I'll ring that up for you myself."
"You're a pharmacist and you can operate a cash register. You're a talented man," laughed Harry easily.
"Yes, well maybe I should get you to write that down so I can show my boss. I don't think he appreciates just how valuable I am. In fact, I think I'll remind him of just how valuable an employee I am when I next see him. And then maybe I can ask for a raise, what do you think?" Tony asked, falling into an easy banter with Harry and Theresa.
They never made it to the front counter because a group of men, all carrying automatic and semi-automatic weapons, crashed through the front door and opened fire on the pharmacy. Harry's reflexes kicked into action immediately and as soon as the men opened fire, he picked Theresa up and threw her bodily over the counter they were standing next to so that she could take cover, before leaping over the counter to join her. Without thinking he crouched down behind her, shielding her body with his own. Some people had dived for cover, and some people had stood stock-still in shock. Harry feared for those people who were simply too scared to move, but he saw that they were quickly being dragged down by the people already on the ground.
The spells that Harry had placed on his pharmacy to alert him if its occupants were in danger were going off inside his head. With the alarms ringing in his ears, Theresa screaming and crying hysterically, the other patrons of the pharmacy screaming and yelling and the sound of gunfire all around him, it was difficult for Harry to think. Looking around, he noticed that Tony was crouched between two counters not far from where he was on his left hand side, and Draco, Ginny and the four professors had taken cover a small distance away on his right hand side with a small group of women and children.
Though no one was paying any attention to him, he couldn't use his magic because the bullets ricocheting in all directions made it dangerous to look over their cover, and he needed to be able to see his targets. When Harry did dare to take a peek , it seemed that the men were generally shooting at the walls, seemingly more intent on causing damage to the property than injuring people. He quickly ducked his head back down as another spray of bullets flew in his direction, but he snapped his head back up again when he heard a startled cry from Tony, who had fallen face down on the ground in his hiding spot. Harry could see a dark crimson stain forming on his pharmacist's coat where a bullet had lodged itself in the area of his left shoulder blade. Shit!
"Theresa," Harry said, shaking his student in an effort to get her attention. She took no notice of Harry and carried on screaming. "Theresa!" Harry said a little more loudly, to no avail. Sighing in exasperation, he grabbed her chin between the thumb and forefinger of his right hand and forced her head around so that she was facing him.
"Theresa,' he said loudly, over the sound of the bullets, "somebody's hurt and I need to see if they're o.k. Stay here and stay down. Ok? Just stay down."
Theresa was crying and shaking her head, her eyes wide with fear as she heard bullets being fired off to her left somewhere.
"No, professor –"
"Theresa. You'll be fine. Just stay down. Don't look up until I come and get you, o.k? Just. Stay. Down." Harry signalled to Professor McGonagall – at least he thought it was Professor McGonagall – that he was heading to check on the injured man, and that she should stay with Theresa. There was no way that Professor McGonagall – or whoever it was – could move from where they were. They were hiding with a group of hysterical women and children themselves, who were holding on to them for dear life and couldn't move if they wanted to. She shrugged her shoulders and shook her head helplessly to indicate that she couldn't go anywhere.
Swearing to himself, Harry muttered a short but complicated spell under his breath and discreetly created a shield of sorts to protect Theresa in his absence. Harry angled his body so that his form hid the small gesture he used to release his spell. He silently berated himself. That should have been the first thing you did! You're definitely losing your edge. Satisfied that his student was safe, he hurried off to Tony's side, being careful to stay low to avoid being hit by stray bullets.
"How're you holding up?" asked Harry when he reached Tony.
"I've been better," answered Tony from between firmly clenched teeth. He was in a world of pain. "I don't understand. How did I get hit? I was down low and everything."
"One of the bullets must've ricocheted off the table behind you. I know it hurts but I want to see if the bullet's gone straight through, o.k?"
"Are you a doctor?" asked Tony as Harry lifted up his left shoulder to see if there was a wound on his chest to match the one on his back.
"No way. I've had some experience with treating minor injuries though," replied Harry, without missing a beat. "Yep, it went straight through." He lay Tony back down.
"I have to tell you, I'm a hemophiliac, so I guess I'm in a bit of trouble, huh?" said Tony, matter-of-fact, while clenching his jaw in an effort to deal with the pain.
Harry knew about Tony's condition, which was one of the reasons that he was so anxious to check on him. "Just hang in there until we can get an ambulance here, o.k?" Harry responded, while removing his long sleeved over-shirt and applying pressure to the wound in an effort to slow the bleeding. As he did this, he subtly let a standard grade pain relieving spell flow through his fingers, angry that his friend was hurt, and wishing he could give his friend more relief. He needed to get Tony out of here, fast.
"Professor!" screamed Theresa as the lights above her head shattered and shards of hot glass cascaded down around her.
Although the glass dropped onto her, it didn't actually touch her. The shards seemed to fall about a centimetre away from any part of her skin, such was the nature of the protective spell that Harry had cast upon her. She was so scared that of being cut and burnt she didn't even realise she wasn't actually hurt.
"Theresa. You're o.k. Just stay down." Harry tried to reassure her, but she couldn't hear him and she screamed another piercing scream before yelling for him again.
"Professor!!!"
Harry was about to leave Tony and move back to where Theresa was hiding when an unfamiliar voice cried out:
"STOP! STOP SHOOTING!"
The men instantly stopped firing their weapons upon hearing the command, but it took a little longer for the people in the room, including Theresa, to stop screaming. In that time, the tall blond man who had given the command cocked his ear to one side, listening to their screams and yells as they gradually ceased and started to walk over to the counter where Harry, Theresa and Tony were hiding, stopping only when he came to the section that Theresa was hiding behind.
"Someone was crying for their professor, and I believe it was you," he said ominously, reaching down behind the counter for Theresa. Theresa had seen the hand reaching for her and backed away.
He stayed where he was and looked at her menacingly. "I want to know who your professor is, little girl. Tell me." Harry didn't want to expose himself as a wizard if he didn't need to, but he definitely had to do something. He looked over to the witches and wizards to see if they were able to do anything, but the women and children who they were hiding with were still hanging on to them in fear. They weren't in a position to do anything. Harry's mind worked quickly.
"Come on little girl. Where is your professor?" Still, Theresa said nothing, her eyes wide with fright and shaking her head in a silent 'no' as she backed away from him, crawling until her back met the wall. The blond man was becoming impatient and he slowly and menacingly rounded the counter to come nearer to her, his eyes flashing and his hand outstretched. He reached out a hand to grab Theresa, but his awareness erupted in an explosion of blood and pain and he looked down in shock at the bloody mess that was his hand, before he fainted.
Everyone was momentarily stunned. Harry had acted with such speed that no one really knew what happened. Crouching next to Tony, Harry gave up caring whether or not he exposed himself as a wizard as the man attempted to grab Theresa. As he was reaching for his wand, he quickly remembered that Tony had told him that now that there was so much gang violence around London, he started carrying a small knife around in the back pocket of his pants, for his own protection.
"A knife, Tony?"
"Well, yeah. I think it's becoming necessary. Even my flower lady carries a knife with her these days. It's becoming just that bad, Jason."
"Yeah, but do you even know how to throw one of those properly?"
"How hard can it be? It's not like it's a really big knife or anything. Just aim and throw, right?"
"Yes, but, can you aim and throw? You know how you were always the last to be picked for teams in P.E. in school."
"Yeah…"
When Harry saw the man reaching for Theresa, he had grabbed the knife on Tony without a second thought, flicked the blade out and thrown it – and it had embedded itself in the palm of the hand that was reaching for his student. The man was thrown back in shock and in pain. While everybody's attention was on the blond man, Harry quickly focused his magic and threw a simple stunning spell at him, making the smallest of gestures with his hand, who collapsed to the ground as if he had fainted.
Harry took advantage of the momentary shock and confusion to run out to the armed man closest to him and snatch his weapon from him before he realised what was happening..
Harry knew that these men were more likely than not acting under the Imperius curse, and that asking them to drop their weapons would be a waste of time, so he let loose a spray of gunfire at the floor in front of them; at the same time discreetly throwing general stunning spells at them. Since everybody's attention was focused on what he was doing with his gun, no one was looking at his other hand, which he kept down low by the side of his leg while he released his magic. Harry had hoped to be able to stun them all before any of them came to their senses and shot at him, but he just wasn't fast enough. One of them managed to let loose a round of bullets before he was stunned, one of which hit Harry in his shoulder and three of which hit him in his chest.
The reasonable person wouldn't think any less of Harry for not having dodged all of the bullets, since he was trying to do quite a few things at once, but Harry couldn't excuse himself. Shit! I must be getting slow. This wouldn't have been a problem in the old days, he thought as he lay on his back. Where are the police? thought Harry to himself. He turned around and saw that it looked like a SWAT team had surrounded the pharmacy and were waiting for the opportunity to go in. Great guys, where the bloody hell were you about two minutes ago?! thought Harry, painfully.
He winced sharply as he got up and looked around the room to see if anyone else had been wounded. Seeing that no one seemed to be hurt, he headed back to check on Theresa and Tony. Theresa was only in shock, but Tony had lost a fair bit of blood. His blood hadn't begun to clot around the wound, despite Harry's best efforts to slow the bleeding down
The SWAT team outside could hear that there was no more gunfire coming from inside the pharmacy, and they took that opportunity to storm the building. They ran inside in a steady stream of pairs and moved so that they had men in all parts of the room.
In all of the confusion, Harry heard two sharp cracks. Two of the former Death Eaters who had been seated outside, keeping an eye on the professors and Draco and Ginny had apparated into a crouching position in a corner of the pharmacy. Before he could react, the room was suddenly engulfed in thick smoke. The SWAT members hadn't created it, because they were yelling instructions to one another in confusion, but Harry could hear several voices near him.
"Get him up. We can't let the muggles find him."
"Did you see Snape or Malfoy around?"
"No. I didn't see that McGonagall woman either. Hurry up with that."
"I'm trying! Portus!…Come on, drag him over here to touch this. Shit. We're in for it this time."
"Professor! Professor! Are you o.k?" Harry shifted his gaze as Theresa's voice broke into his awareness.
"Jason! We have to leave right now. We can deal with this at the school, we don't have anything on us to help you, but Poppy will be able to heal you faster than the muggles can."
"Huh? No, wait, I have to check on–"
"Professor Green, we must leave immediately. Our involvement cannot be discovered." Has to be Snape, Harry thought upon hearing the tone of voice. He felt himself being lifted into a half standing position and then supported on either side.
"I can stand on my own. I'm fine – " He started to say, but was abruptly cut off again.
"Keep low. We'll use the fog to leave. There has to be a back door in this place," one of their group said as they continued to support him on one side.
They half ran, half stumbled to the back of the pharmacy. There were so many people around that they couldn't avoid all of them, and one of their group was quietly stupefying people as they encountered them, using the fog to shroud the fact that they were holding a wand.
"Hang on a minute!" cried Harry as he struggled to break free of the people trying to support him and drag him along at the same time.
"We need to hurry!" hissed one of their group.
"No, let me grab something. We'll need it, I think," he said as he stumbled past them. They were standing in the small kitchenette at the back of the pharmacy and Harry stumbled into the pantry to grab something. His hands fell upon a kettle, so he took that back to the group.. Albus had informed Harry that there was a portkey in a small alley at the other end of the mall, but he was bleeding quite freely and he would definitely attract a little too much attention walking there. The two men who had apparated into the pharmacy had created a portkey, and Harry decided to follow their example.
"Hurry up!" one of their group whispered urgently as he felt someone take hold of one of his arms again.
"Let's get out," said Harry as the small group moved out of the back door, which faced a small alley full of bins and other disposal units.
While it was true that Harry was hurt, he had learned how to overcome and deal with pain during the war. Someone once explained to him how it was possible to endure even the most excruciating pain and it had something to do with will power, endorphins and adrenalin. He was telling the truth to the group when he said that he could walk on his own. He knew from experience that he was able to deal with pain and do what he had to do. He had to admit, though, that it was nice to have people so hell bent on coming to his aid. So Harry stopped struggling and allowed the group to help him outside the pharmacy.
"Here," said Harry as he gave the kettle to one of the group.
"What's that for, Professor?" asked Theresa, nervously.
"We need a portkey out of here," explained Harry.
"Of course," said a member of their small group as they cast the spell which would transform the object into a portkey. Harry could have done this himself, but there was a very good reason why he didn't offer to. When someone from the group mentioned that Madam Pomfrey would be taking care of his wounds, it occurred to him that once his shirt was removed, she would see the scars that decorated his torso, his back and his arms. She would inevitably tell someone about them and this would raise more questions, which he really didn't want to have to deal with right now.
While one of the professors, or Draco, or Ginny – he couldn't tell which – was casting the Portus spell, he cast a concealment spell to work with the one that he was already wearing, which would conceal his scars without affecting the appearance of the bullet wounds. In an effort to buy himself more time, he pretended to have an extended (albeit painful) coughing fit. While he was doing this, he concentrated on his image in his mind. He knew what he looked like and he concentrated on how he wanted to alter his image. He removed all but a few scars, which he left on, just for effect. While the professors were trying to help him sit comfortably on the ground, he discreetly released his magic.
He had left his long-sleeved over-shirt with Tony in the pharmacy and was only wearing a thin long-sleeved casual shirt. Even though it was January, he pretended that he was feeling quite warm and pushed his sleeves up, to check that the spell had worked. He was quite confident about his ability to manipulate his own magic, but it never hurt to check. He gave a small sigh of relief when he saw that it had worked.
"Jason, let me heal those wounds a little bit," one of the group demanded. "I'm not a healer, but I can slow the bleeding by closing the wound up a little."
"I don't know if that's such a great idea. The bullets will have to come out, and if you close the wound up Poppy will only need to re-open them again," Harry answered, breathing heavily. "Painfully, I'd imagine." He grimaced.
"I'll just close them lightly. I couldn't close them fully if I tried, as I said, I'm not a healer. You're losing too much blood, and it's still a bit of a distance from where we can safely arrive by portkey and the castle."
Harry agreed with her reasoning and two of the small group – he couldn't tell who, which was slightly unnerving – opened up his shirt and lightly closed the wounds. He felt them pucker and saw that the blood flowed far less freely now.
"Thank you," Harry said, still out of breath as his shaking hands fumbled with his buttons in an attempt to do his shirt up again to restore his modesty. The entire group was staring at his chest and his wounds, giving sympathetic winces to the pain he must be in, and of all the things that irritated Harry to no end, people staring at him was right up near the top of the list. He'd had enough of people staring at him when he was younger and he wasn't going to put up with it now. One of the group snapped themselves into action and did the buttons on Harry's shirt up for him, slapping his trembling hands away in the process.
"Right, let's go," said the mystery witch – or wizard – that had transformed the kettle into the portkey. They all reached in to touch it and felt themselves transported back to the small village just outside of Hogwarts, which was as close as they could get to the castle. It was possible to take a portkey out of Hogwarts, but impossible to take a portkey into the school.
When they arrived, Harry saw someone conjure a stretcher for him.
"Oh, hell no! No way. I can walk," he said. During his earlier years, he had never allowed himself to be carried off on a stretcher unless he was unconscious, and as such unable to protest. In this particular regard, he hadn't changed. His keen eyes spotted one of their group raising their wand to him and quick as a flash he drew his own wand. "Don't even think about stunning me, because I won't let you. It's just a matter of pride, so leave it at that. I'm sure some of you can understand that. My injuries aren't life threatening and we moved so fast that I haven't lost enough blood to be in any real trouble. In any case, you've slowed the blood loss down so it's not a real danger yet."
"We understand."
"Thank y-" Harry started to say. He couldn't finish his sentence because Theresa pulled out her wand and stunned her professor from behind, desperate to be able to help.
"Thank you Miss Chan," said one of the professors as they pointed their wand and cast the spell which would lift Harry onto the stretcher. Two of the group then used their wands to guide the stretcher to the castle.