Chapter 10

When he woke up, Harry was alone in the hospital wing. He opened the letter that was on the nightstand and looked at it carefully.

Dear Harry,

With your permission, we would like to join the Order of the Phoenix, which we believe that you are now leading. We have different skills than some, and may not be the best fighters in Britain, but we would like to help as we can, and believe that you can make use of us.

Respectfully submitted,

Susan Bones

Ernie McMillian

Lavender Brown

Justin Finch-Fletchley

Roger Davies

Lee Jordan

Padma Patil

Parvati Patil

Ernie Prang

Rolanda Hooch

Pomona Sprout

Cynthia Vector

Harry couldn't believe his eyes. He had completely failed the girl that he loved, allowed scores of people to get killed, and for some unfathomable reason, twelve people had just signed up to follow him into danger. Why?

Harry put the letter back in the envelope and sat up. Poppy had laid out some clean clothing for him. She walked back and noticed him sitting up. "Good morning, Mr. Potter. You look much better today."

Harry asked his usual question upon waking up in the hospital wing. "How long have I been here?"

Poppy smiled at him and gave his shoulder a small squeeze. She replied, "About thirty-seven hours. Do you remember how you got here?"

Harry nodded his head and looked down pensively. One of the last things that he remembered at the wedding was staring at Ginny's vacant eyes.

Poppy gave him a sad smile and said, "I'm so sorry that you lost your friend, Harry and I'm eternally grateful that you were able to help so many others. Everyone who survived owes their life to you. I know those words won't bring Ginny back, but everyone knows that you did everything that you possibly could have. She was a lovely young woman."

With tears welling in his eyes, Harry nodded. He couldn't find the words to say anything.

Poppy said, "You're welcome to stay as long as you like. Some of the others are down having an early lunch now. You're probably hungry. Would you like to go down, or would you prefer to eat here?"

"I'll go down, I guess."

"OK. I'll join you. Get dressed and let me know when you're ready. Miss Granger and her parents left the hospital wing a few hours ago. They're probably somewhere out on the grounds."

Harry looked around for a moment and asked, "Where are my…"

Poppy smiled and replied, "Your Dobby stopped by and took your armor, a pistol and your sword back to your home. He left you these to wear." She looked at Harry, smiled again, and said, "He certainly is a devoted little creature."

Harry cracked a faint smile and nodded. He was hungry, but didn't really want to talk at the moment. After he showered, he put on the black jeans, dragonhide boots and a grey shirt. Harry noticed that the little elf had made him two new sox to wear.

They walked down the hallways toward the great hall in companionable silence. Neither felt the need to chitchat just for the noise. They reached the Great Hall and found Susan Bones sitting alone at one of the tables. She was the only person there. They sat down beside her and more food immediately appeared by them.

Harry took a sandwich and a handful of crisps and began eating. She smiled and said, "Hi, Harry."

Harry, assuming that she'd been badly hurt during the wedding replied, "Hi Susan. Were you hurt?"

Susan replied, "Not badly. I broke my leg but Madame Pomfrey made it right as soon as I got here. After Hannah, I really don't have anywhere…" Her voice trailed off. She didn't want to add to Harry's burdens. Changing the subject she said, "I saw a phoenix this morning."

Harry, a master a redirecting a conversation himself, saw her maneuver and asked, "Do you need a place to live? I have plenty of extra rooms if you like. Hermione and her parents are there as well. I really wouldn't mind."

Susan studied his face for a moment, and concluded that his offer was genuine and without any strings. She replied, "Thanks Harry. I'd like that. I don't have anything else to bring. The Death Eaters torched Hannah's home last night. Everything that I had…"

Harry could feel her loss and replied, "I'm sorry about Hannah. I should have... I should have done… more."

There were tears in Susan's eyes, but her voice was steady. "There was nothing else to do Harry. You did more than anyone could have asked. I'm sorry about Ginny. I know that…"

Both of their throats had lumps in them from the pain. She gave Harry a consoling hug, and for a few moments the pain seemed less.

After a moment, Harry told her, "There's plenty of everything that you might need at the house. Don't worry." He took out a slip of paper from his wallet and showed it to her, saying, "This is my address. I'll be ready to go in about an hour."

Poppy was watching Harry's generosity at work as the Grangers came back from their walk and found them finishing their lunch. Susan saw them and got up to hug Hermione as the others came over. She had a smile on her face as she said, "I've a place to stay at now. Harry told me that he has some extra rooms at his house."

Dan winked at Harry and quipped, "As refugee shelters go, it's the best I've ever seen."

Harry asked, "When's the…" He felt like he was chocking on the words.

Susan took mercy and replied, "The services are tomorrow. It was in the morning paper. The actual burials were yesterday."

Harry nodded and asked, "What about Ron?"

Hermione replied, "It didn't say in the paper that he's been charged with anything. His spell…"

"Hit Director Hammer. I saw it too."

Dan said, "It was chaos. In the nonmagical world, it would be called friendly fire. Unfortunately it happens all too frequently."

"What will happen to him?"

This time it was Poppy who replied, "Unfortunately the wizarding world sometimes holds itself to unrealistically high standards. At a minimum, his wand will be snapped and he'll have to leave the country."

Susan nodded, and replied, "Auntie had to prosecute several cases like that. They all ended up in Azkaban."

"I'm not letting Ron go to Azkaban," replied Harry with steel in his eyes.

They finished their lunch, and took the portkey that Tonks had left them back to Grimmauld Place.

… --- …

Molly and Arthur had the task that no parent would want – selecting burial clothing for two of their children. Molly decided on the bridesmaid dress that Ginny had worn… had worn that… that night. For Percy, they had selected a set of his grey dress robes.

The services of the British witches and wizards was held Tuesday July 22. Services were held at Silbury hill within the Avebury stone circle. Unlike the more well known stone circle at Stonehenge which had been overrun with muggle tourists, the Avebury stone circle north of Salisbury had been used for group wizarding gathering for forty-five centuries. The collection of nearly a hundred of the giant rocks had been placed there to provide a quiet place of reflection and beauty.

The bodies had been buried or cremated according to the individual families' wishes Sunday evening as wizarding tradition dictated that the body be taken care of within twenty-four hours.

Most of the witches and wizards in Britain other than those who were responsible for the deaths had come, though not necessarily to pay their respects to Scrimgeour, or Hammer. The Quidditch teams of Britain all came to pay their respects to Oliver Wood. Wilkie Tycross at one time or another had been the apparation instructor to hundreds of witches and wizards. Croaker and Augusta Longbottom and Perkins had been very popular among the more experienced purebloods. Hannah, Katie, Angelina and of course Ginny had each made many friends at school. All would be missed.

Natasha Abraxan looked out at the massive wizarding crowd and began speaking.

"Good evening. The law abiding wizarding world was badly insulted last Saturday. The wizard who calls himself Voldemort ordered the murder of three hundred and twenty good witches and wizards in an effort to crush the spirit of Britain's wizarding population." The crowd had become silent at her engaging words.

She continued. "We are gathered today to honor those who fell trying to protect themselves, their friends and their loved ones. They tried to resist rather than simply flee. They tried to carry on rather than bow under, and I am proud to know them. I hope that each of you are proud to know them. They were our parents, our children, our sisters, brothers, friends, co-workers, neighbors or lovers." At his point, most everyone had tears in their eyes. Unlike Fudge, or Scrimgeour, High Priestess Abraxan could captivate an audience.

A few minutes later she concluded, saying, "Let them serve as a reminder that fighting back is the right thing to do. We will continue to fight back, and ultimately, we will prevail."

"Please stand as I read the names."

Hannah Abbott - Student

Katie Bell – St. Mungo's Training Program

Michelle Edgecombe – Floo Network Administrator

Connie Hammer – Director Magical Law Enforcement

Angelina Johnson - Merchant

Augusta Longbottom – Department of Mysteries

Algie Longbottom – Department of Mysteries

Michael Perkins – Misuse of Muggle Artifacts

Cameron Scott – Dragon Master

Louise Scrimgeour - Healer

Rufus Scrimgeour – Minister of Magic

Andromeda Tonks - Merchant

Ted Tonks - Accountant

Wilkie Twycross - Apparation Instructor

Ginny Weasley - Student

Percy Weasley – Ministry of Magic

Michael Wood – Senior Auror

Oliver Wood – Quidditch player

Harry was silent through the entire service. He barely heard a word that High Priestess Abraxan said, other than the names. His thoughts drifted momentarily to the statistics. Of the one hundred and one people that were murdered, eighteen were British. Ginny had mentioned that about a hundred of the guests were friends or relatives of Fleur. Bill had said that their service had been the previous day.

"… Others who did their best to defend themselves and will also be remembered." Minister Abraxan's concluding remarks were lost on Harry as he briefly glanced at Arthur, whose thoughts were currently focused on his youngest son.

… --- …

Remus felt terrible for Tonks losing her mother and father, but was profoundly grateful that the spirited young witch that he counted as a lover was among the survivors. His thoughts drifted back to the service that had been held for Lilly and James. As was the case then, there were no words that the High Priestess turned Minister of Magic could eloquently say that would adequately comfort those who were here.

The unspoken thoughts on most people's minds were drifting around the edges of the miracle that Harry, The Chosen One, had somehow been able to perform, which had kept the two hundred and nineteen survivors from joining their friends in a horrible death.

Dan and Emma Granger stood on either side of their daughter. They knew that Hermione had lost her best girlfriend, and nothing could bring her back. They had also lost their home, yet at the same time, were grateful that they were alive and healthy. At that moment, Dan counted himself a lucky man, and gave Hermione a squeeze on her shoulder.

… --- …

After the service, Harry went up to Molly and they gave each other a bone-crushing hug. Out of habit, Molly reached up to flatten down Harry's hair. "She loved you so much, Harry. You made her so happy these last months."

"Thanks Mrs. Weasley. I'm sorry I wasn't able to attend…" Harry decided not to relate the vision that he'd had two nights earlier. He felt a piece of his broken heart tearing away.

Still hugging him, Molly replied, "Don't give it a thought, dear." For another minute they held each other in silence, each lost in their own thoughts.

Finally Harry looked down at the woman who had been so very kind to him and asked, "What can I do to help Ron?"

Not wanting to add to Harry's burdens Molly replied, "I don't know if anyone can help him."

Harry looked her in the eye and said, "I'll think of something." He was the head of the Order of the Phoenix. Harry realized that it was time for him to act like it. He went to look for Minister Abraxan.

… --- …

There were a lot of people searching and being sought out after the service. Minerva wanted to talk with Harry, who wanted to talk with Abraxan, who wanted to talk with Straighthand, who wanted to talk with Moody, who didn't give a rat's arse what the former supply clerk had to say.

Professor Cynthia Vector and Susan caught up with Harry. Harry, realizing that the two witches hadn't come to talk with him regarding Ginny, was surprised when they both gave him a hug. Vector, a thin woman with shag cut black hair said, "Harry, I know we haven't had much of a chance to speak together before, but like the others I want to do what I can to help."

Harry nodded and replied, "We'll be meeting tomorrow evening at seven at the castle. Please plan on attending."

Vector nodded and said, "Thank you for your faith. I'll do my best."

Susan said, "I'll tell the others." They walked off.

A moment later Harry was approached by the Knight Bus driver, Ernie Prang. The short man with impossibly thick glasses said, "G'day, Mr. Potter. I appreciate everything that you were able ter do fer Stan. He's a good lad."

Embarrassed, Harry said, "No worries, Ernie. It was the right thing to do. I didn't do very much."

'You did enough, Mr. Potter. Stan starts a new position on Monday with them Weasley brothers, Fred and George."

Harry was happy to hear that and said, "Say hi if you see him Ernie. I think Susan Bones is looking for you. I'll see you again soon. Cheers."

Harry saw Minister Abraxan and made eye contact. He was surprised when she came over and greeted him. "Hello, Mr. Potter. I wish the circumstances were better, but I'm always glad to see you."

Harry replied, "Thank you. I feel the same. Congratulations on your new position. I wish you nothing but success."

Sensing his sincerity, she replied, "Thank you. Perhaps the ministry will become your calling at some time."

"Harry didn't know what to say, and smiled. He said, "Minister, "I wanted to ask you about Ron Weasley."

The smile left Abraxan's face for a moment, and then she realized that Potter was making a genuine inquiry, not trying to force a back door deal. She asked, "What is your interest in the case, Mr. Potter? Ron Weasley hasn't been charged with anything yet."

Harry looked puzzled and the Minister continued, "That's not to say that he won't in the near future. The Aurors are still interviewing witnesses."

Harry nodded and asked, "What's likely to happen?"

"Depending on the findings, He'll be charged appropriately ranging from reckless use of deadly force to capital murder. There are mandatory sentences in the case of death of an Auror. In the less severe situation, if found guilty his wand would be snapped, memory modified and he'd be sent out of the country to live as a muggle. Based on what I've seen so far, most likely he will receive a twenty to thirty year sentence in Azkaban. If there had been any evidence of malicious intent, he would have been sent through the veil last Sunday morning."

Harry didn't know what to say. He asked, "When will the trial be held?"

Abraxan was aware that they were starting to gather a crowd, and concluded saying, "He's being held at the Queen's pleasure. I would expect that the trial will be scheduled to begin by the end of July. Director Straighthand will be responsible for bringing the case to trial. It was nice to see you again, Mr. Potter. Perhaps we can have lunch together sometime." She handed him her business card. It had a cellular telephone number.

Harry looked at it and nodded. He still had the cellular telephone that the Grangers had given him. He wrote his number on a piece of parchment and gave it to her. She smiled at him and said, "I expect that a lot of young witches would love to have this information, Mr. Potter. I shall take good care of it."

Harry realized that there were the spoken and unspoken words, smiled and replied, "Thank you Minister. Me too." She had just invited him to a private lunch to further discuss the case.

… --- …

While Harry and Minister Abraxan were conversing, Arthur was standing nearby watching, marveling that Harry had such easy access to power and silently hoping that somehow Harry might be able save his son from a horrible death or life imprisonment.

Arthur went back to his best friend and helped her home. When they got back to the Burrow, Molly asked where Harry was.

Arthur replied, "He's doing everything that he possibly can, Molly."

She looked at her rock and asked, "Are you sure? Maybe we can draft a petition…"

Arthur shook his head, and calmly replied, "Molly, he was talking with the new Minister when we left. He's trying to help us."

Molly was sobbing as the balding redhead patted her on the back. Finally she said, "He's probably hungry. I'll bake Harry a pie."

Arthur nodded, relieved that she had momentarily distracted herself.

… --- …

At Voldemort's headquarters, there was no offer to bake a pie. Several of the leaders of the dementors had been killed, and the others were less interested in following the dark wizard. They had feasted well at the wedding, but lost twenty-two of their number, the first killed within the time of their memories. It was within their legends that they could be killed with a fabled sword. For hundreds of years they believed it to be lost, and as a band survived, slowly increasing their number. Two days ago, their very existence had been threatened, and they knew that they had attacked the one who could end their existence. While they could not see Harry, several of the survivors had sensed him, though the two who had been closest to him had not survived.

Riddle could not afford to lose such deadly allies. He appeased them by arranging to launch a joint attack on Hogsmede the next evening, assuring them that there would be no one in their way this time.

… --- …

After the service, Harry, the Grangers and Susan went back to his home. He had invited Remus and Tonks to come. After helping Susan pick out a room and making certain that she had things to wear they sat down to a light dinner then went to one of the sitting rooms.

Remus could see the guilt inked all over Harry and asked the question that many had asked themselves. He opened several butterbeers and a bottle of Napoleon brandy for the older people. After everyone had had some he asked, "Harry, if you had to do it over again, what would you have done differently?"

Harry wasn't certain that he knew the answer. The first few seconds were chaos, but they might have needed a dozen guards rather than the four assigned to provide a sufficient warning. He replied, "Based on how I was positioned, I reached for everyone that I could before the first killing curse hit." Harry glanced at Susan, guilty that he hadn't been able to help Hannah too.

Remus said, "So in the first two seconds you saved Ginny, Hammer, Doctor and Doctor Granger and Hermione. Six people in two seconds is quite admirable. Then what?"

Harry replied, "I started hitting the Death Eaters. I think I got three before Dan hit Bellatrix. It was chaos until the dementors came."

Remus pushed at the subject and asked, "OK, then what?"

Setting his empty bottle down, Harry replied, "I felt them and called for people to cast a Patronus charm."

Thoughtful of Harry's answer, Remus replied, "But aside from the one that you had cast, hardly anyone else could. There must have been thirty people there who knew the charm, but aside from you, only a few were strong enough to get anything more than a wisp of vapor. They just swooped in on us all at once. Then what?"

Thinking for only a moment, Harry responded, saying, "I had helped someone a few tables away. Someone knocked my wand out of my hand, and I hadn't thought to bring my spare. Several of the dementors grabbed me and somehow I stabbed one before it could get me. I was pretty shaken up."

Realizing what her lover was trying to accomplish, Tonks said, "Harry, stop there for a second. Your Patronus was able to move some of the dementors to the other side of the garden. Good for us, bad for the Delacours. There were so many dementors there at that point most people had passed out. The dementors were in the process of kissing everyone there, and would have succeeded within another two or three minutes. Somehow you were able to kill some of them which made them move away a bit. Then Cadet Alyx and some others were able to cast a Patronus. It turned the tide."

Remus asked, "What happened next?"

Harry said, "I heard the pistol shots and ran to help Dr. Granger. I stabbed a few more dementors, saw the other Patronus, and then they left."

Tonks said, "Susan, what do you remember?"

The somewhat soused Hufflepuff replied, "We were talking at the table. The curses started firing. Professor Lupin knocked me out of my chair. Somehow I broke my leg and all I could see was Hanna slumped over her chair. I saw Director Hammer get hit with a spell and there was blood everywhere. I thought I'd been hit too until I realized that it wasn't mine. I passed out when the dementors came. The next thing I knew, I was in the hospital wing."

Remus passed out more beverages and commented, "I was only able to hit one Death Eater before the dementors came. I'm sorry that I wasn't able to do more, but I did the best that I could."

Hermione said, "I only stunned one and I couldn't cast my Patronus to save Mum or Ginny.

Before Harry could say anything, Tonks said, "I wasn't able to save Connie … or my parents." At this, she slumped down in her chair and dropped her head into her hands.

Not willing to let her fall on her own sword, Remus hugged her and said, "You saved me and did what you could for Director Hammer. You're my hero." Setting his empty glass down he said, "Harry, you did everything that you could have and then some. Mourn Ginny's loss. We all will, but don't let yourself feel guilty because you couldn't save everyone. We could have just as easily all been killed. No one brought a second wand Harry. It was supposed to be a wedding, not a war zone."

Remus stopped and took several deep breaths. After a minute he repeated his original question. "So aside from the original security detail what would you have done differently?"

"Paired up, I suppose."

Tonks said, "That's a great idea Harry, but it wasn't a set piece battle. It was an overgrown ambush. I was there in my party dress, not battle robes. Cor, how did you think to be wearing your armor? I didn't even have my knickers."

Somewhat embarrassed by her last comment, Harry replied, "Dunno."

Dan excused himself and came back with the scorched vest that Harry had loaned him. He said, "Harry, look at this." Harry took the vest that Dan handed him and felt the groove etched deeply into the thick dragon hide. "Harry, you might call it luck, but I'd call it exceptional contingency planning. I'd be in the ground right now if you hadn't loaned me that armor vest. I was able to stop some lunatic from hurting anyone else using the pistol that you loaned me. I'm not proud of having taken a life, but I'd do it again in a blink to stop those people from hurting anyone of us."

Tonks gasped, "Cor Blimey, Dr. Granger. That was you? You stopped Bellatrix Lestrange!"

Harry reflected for a moment. Sirius and Ginny had both been avenged, but it didn't bring them back. He excused himself and went up to bed. The framed photo that Colin had taken of Ginny and him during the last month of school was on his dresser. He was hugging Ginny as she leaned up and kissed his cheek. Harry felt a huge lump in his throat as he shut off the lights.

… --- …

A/Ns

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