Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling deserves all credit
When Nightmares Are A Good Thing
Chapter 14: Plotline Deciphering
Since last night's exercises had proved to be more painful than normal, he had the forethought to take a couple of the muggle aspirins that the Twins had sent him before commencing his routine.
Harry dressed quickly in another pair of baggy blue jeans, his black dragon hide boots, a charcoal gray button-up shirt over one the too tight black tee shirts. Harry ran a comb through his hair despite the fact that it was useless. His hair always seemed to look as if he'd traveled form the moon on his broom.
He altered his appearance, namely the purple bags that he's become accustomed to seeing underneath his green eyes, and took another look in the mirror to make sure he had his new scar cover by clothing in case his metamorphagi skills failed him.
He went downstairs to the kitchen and was very surprised to find it empty. It was normal for Mrs. Weasley to be cooking up a storm no matter what time of day it was. Then again, it was a Saturday.
'Oh, well. Maybe if I cook dinner I can say I've already eaten without it looking suspicious.' Harry thought.
The kitchen had a few muggle appliances scattered about it. Upon inspection, Harry discovered that a refrigerator, toaster, stove, and a coffee maker had been installed. It made sense. Headquarters was sort of a neutral territory for all Order members therefore it needed to be supplied with all the things that Order members would need. Harry was sure Tonks, for one, preferred the muggle coffee to magic made and Harry most certainly did not disagree.
He was in the middle of cooking the sausage and bacon when Mrs. Weasley entered the kitchen.
"What in Merlin's name do you think you are doing?" came her confused and shocked voice.
Harry started and turned around to face her, after flipping the pan's contents.
"I was already up and so I thought I'd give you a break by cooking breakfast today," Harry replied calmly.
A smile graced Mrs. Weasley face. "You don't have to do that, Harry dear. Here why don't you let me-"?
"Actually I was rather intent on cooking this morning if you don't mind. You could help by preparing the juice, if you'd like," Harry offered firmly. He wasn't quite sure how Mrs. Weasley would react to not being allowed to cook dinner by herself.
It seemed that she was rather upset at Harry wanting to cook instead of letting her, but it was clear that she wasn't going to let him do it all. By the time Harry had the sausages, bacon, and waffles, and coffee Mrs. Weasley had the juice and toast prepared, and the table set.
Mr. Weasley with Remus walked into the kitchen just in time to see Harry flick his wrist to make the last two waffles in the pan spin in the air and land spectacularly on the top of the pile that was resting on the platter next to the stove.
Clapping came from the three occupants of the room as Harry turned around with the platter to set on the table.
"Harry where did you learn that?" Remus asked in awe.
The boy in question shrugged his shoulders knowing very well that he'd picked it up from cooking for the Dursleys since he was old enough to reach the stove. Harry stifled a snort as he could verify that he'd even cooked before he could reach the stove. He had a small burn scar from an incident still.
Chairs were moved away from the table and the three adults were seated. Harry turned back around for the coffee pot but not before he glimpsed the three of them sharing confused looks and shrugging their shoulders.
Ten minuets later brought in Hermione Ginny, and Ron. Ron did not look any happier this morning than Harry had seen him last night though it took him only a moment to notice that his waffle was fixed exactly the way he liked it.
"Fwanksmhumwahdido?" came from Ron's mouth, which was filled with chocolate chunk waffle and sausage.
"Ronald Weasley!" "Ron!"
It seemed Mrs. Weasley, Hermione, and Ginny all reprimanded Ron and the same time.
Harry gave a small smile and decided to play translator. "He said 'Thanks, Mum. What did I do?''".
Mrs. Weasley shook her head at the idea that Harry could understand Ron perfectly well with his mouth full.
"What you did other than make a spectacle at dinner last night, I don't know but you will NOT behave that way ever again!" Ron shank in his seat. "However, I did not cook breakfast this morning.
Ron gave her an incredulous look. "Of course you did, Mum! There's food on the table!"
"Just because there is food on the table does not mean that cooked. There are other people in this house who can cook."
Hermione began eliminating the possibilities with a scientific look on her face. It was obviously going to bother her until she figured it out. Ron, on the other hand, dug back into his breakfast while making muffled noises that indicated his enjoyment of the different style of cooking.
Harry smirked. Hermione still hadn't deduced who had cooked the wonderful breakfast that everyone was enjoying. He sat down unnoticed and watched their faces carefully, waiting to see how long it took for Hermione to figure it out and for Ron to finally ask.
The biggest surprise was when Professors McGonagall, Snape, and Dumbledore walked into the room and sat down after having flooed in from wherever it was that they stayed at during most nights.
It didn't take a genius to notice that the atmosphere this morning at breakfast was different. McGonagall took one look at the faces of the ones enjoying their breakfast before sitting down at one of the empty places and serving herself. Dumbledore and Snape soon followed, curious as to why everyone was concentrating on their food avidly.
Harry smiled widely as he saw McGonagall's eyebrow shoot upward following the first bite.
"Molly, I don't know what you've done differently but this is even more delicious than your normal cooking!" his Head of House praised.
"I didn't cook this morning, Minerva," Mrs. Weasley answered. Harry sensed a little regret in her voice and vowed to do something about it later.
Once again, everyone's face contorted as the continued eating while trying to figure out just who had out cooked Mrs. Weasley, Remus and Mr. Weasley not included.
Ron was on his fifth waffle when Hermione noticed that Harry was not eating and questioned him about it.
"I already ate," he replied quickly.
Harry held his hand under the table and counted out with his fingers. 5. 4. 3. 2. -...
"Harry! YOU cooked this meal? I assumed you were about as useful in the kitchen as Ron."
Ron didn't even notice his insult as he stuffed another bite into his mouth.
"Well, Mione you thought wrong," Harry smiled.
Ron's head shot up as soon as he heard that.
"Ehmnfewhsfrng?!"
"Ron!" "Ronald!"
Harry smiled and said, "Yeah, mate. I can't believe it either. She must be losing her touch. She's usually much more perceptive than this!"
"You can't honestly understand a word that Mr. Weasley just said," Snape sneered across the table. It seemed that after hearing that Harry had cooked the breakfast he was enjoying, he lost his appetite. His plate was pushed away from him.
Once again, Harry shrugged his shoulders and said, "He said 'Hermione was wrong!'" The boy looked over at his best friend and shook his head. "I can't believe that you didn't figure it out Ron. I am the only one who knows that you like Chocolate Frogs in your waffles. I left you clues so that you could beat her to the conclusion." Harry said in false disappointment.
Ron grinned at him having swallowed and temporarily forgotten that he was still mad at him for last night. He hung is head in feigned shame and said "Sorry, I'll tried harder next time I swear."
That was it for Ron. He laughed so hard he almost fell out of his chair. Harry chuckled while Ginny giggled. Hermione looked downright murderous. She did not bode well with being told she was wrong about something.
Harry gulped and turned to Ron, who now appeared to be done with his breakfast.
"Erm...Thanks for the help this morning Mrs. Weasley. Ron, can I have a word?"
Ron looked from Hermione to Harry. He nodded his head and followed Harry out of the kitchen and into the library.
Harry sat down as Ron did the same. Neither spoke for a moment before Harry sighed and began his speech.
"Look, Ron, about last night-"
"Where do you get off talking to Hermione like that?" Ron roared, having remembered that he was angry with Harry.
"To make you realize your feelings," Harry said simply.
Ron's ears became slightly less red as he considered Harry.
"So you aren't interested in her like that?"
"Depends, are you going to revert back to pretending that you DON'T like her like that if I say no? 'Cos that's the case then I won't give you an answer"
Ron thought about it before he surprised Harry by getting down on his knees in a begging stance.
"Look, I DO like Hermione. After last night...well Ginny made sense. I thought you liked her too. I suppose you have the right to like but I dunno. I just thought that she would kinda be my own thing that I wouldn't have to compete with you for." Ron stated.
Shocked at the seriousness and depth behind his best friend, Harry found his voice.
"I like as a best friend, like a sister. You, however, like her as a girlfriend candidate. I've known this for a long time. You just didn't seem to realize your own feelings so Ginny and I thought we'd help you along. Now that I've got you to realize why and how you get jealous, I think we should work on getting you to do something about it."
Ron stood up and paced. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "Do you really think I should tell her?"
Harry waited till he was looking him in the eye and said in a sorrowful voice, "I did that once. Didn't tell someone how I felt. Its too late now and all I can think about is how I wish I had said how I felt."
The red-haired boy said nothing. What could you say to something like that? Deciding to give Ron a moment to himself Harry stood up and walked to the door.
"Look, Ron, I won't tell her how you feel. That's your job. It's your decision. Do what you think is right when you thinks it's right, but for now I need both your help. Wait her while I go get her."
Harry walked out of the room before Ron could protest. He made his way back to the kitchen and pushed to door open. Most of everyone was still sitting at the table conversing with one another.
Ginny looked up at him, as did most of the others. Harry gave her a Potter lopsided grin and winked at her to let her know that things were good again. She giggled knowing that their plan worked. Harry even saw the others, who had been at dinner last night, hiding smiles.
Harry walked over to her and squatted next to her chair. "Hermione, your presence is requested in the library by me and Ron," he whispered in her ear, "You have a chance to redeem your wrong doings this morning by helping to decipher a problem with a book's plotline that I'm having."
Hermione's eyes went wide and she almost scrambled out of her chair to get to the library. He followed her out of the room at a slower pace. Before he stepped through the door he gave Ginny another lopsided grin and took note of the shiver that seemed to pass through her. He made a motion with his finger to silently beckon her to follow him. She too scrambled out or her seat and fell in step behind him.
When Harry and Ginny entered the library he noticed that Ron had finally sat down and was glancing nervously from Hermione to Harry who snorted as he saw that Hermione had already picked up her place in the book that she had been reading yesterday.
He cleared his throat and when Hermione didn't look up Ron said, "Look Malfoy wears Gryffindor colored underwear!"
Her head snapped up to see the three of them laughing at her.
"Ha ha, very funny. What's the problem you needed help with, Harry?"
Harry had no problem staving off his laughter, as his stomach didn't seem to agree with it. "Well, last night Dumbledore and I had some words...Anyway, we were...discussing a certain problem. He asked if I had questions about it. I asked one and he went Dumbledore on me. He asked me if I had ever read Macbeth."
Before Hermione could go ballistic trying to off all of her knowledge on the book, Harry held a hand up to silence her before continuing.
"I told him I had but I was eleven at the time and hadn't quite understood the entire plotline." Harry pulled his copy of the book out his back pocket and tossed it to Hermione. "He conjured this and suggested I read it. There's something in that book that I missed; a main conflict that I overlooked. Whatever it is, it's the answer to the question that I asked."
"What was the question?" Ron asked, "Maybe it could be answer without the book, Masbeck did you call it?"
"Macbeth, Ron, and if Harry were able or willing to tell us about his question he wouldn't have skated around it so many times already. Besides, if he thought we'd know how to answer it he would have asked instead of trying to figure out the book." Ginny replied for him.
Harry nodded his head in agreement. He was thankful when nobody questioned him about why he couldn't or wouldn't tell them the topic of his question.
"So I was hoping that Hermione here could tell me the conflicting topic in the plot so that I can make sure I didn't over look anything."
Ron stood up and went to sit on the arm of Hermione's chair so that he could read over her shoulder. Her face flushed as she looked up at Harry.
"Why don't you start by explain the main plot to the three of us and I'll fill in the holes," Hermione suggested.
Harry sighed before sitting down across from Ron and Hermione. Ginny took a few tentative steps toward Harry and sat on the arm of his chair. Ron and Hermione's minds were elsewhere, otherwise Harry was sure Ron one of them would have pointed out that there were other chairs in the room, not that Harry was complaining.
"Well, basically it starts with the main character, Macbeth, and his best friend Banquo. It seems there's been a war in which Macbeth fought valiantly. He and his mate run into these three witches who tell them that Macbeth will become thane of another country and King. Banquo is told that he will father many Kings in the future and-"
"Maybe you're going to be King, Harry! That means I get to have children who will be King someday!" Ron exclaimed.
"Maybe," Hermione said politely.
Ron seemed to realize that his idea was wrong from the silence in the room.
Harry continued, "Well, Macbeth does get the title of Thane which makes him wonder about being King because it happed that there was already a good King that was in perfect health. He told his wife of what the witches said and they come to the conclusion that Macbeth needs to murder the King in order to gain the throne. So they do. The sons of Macbeth flee to separate countries thinking that whomever murdered their father will be after them next. With them out of the country Macbeth is made King. Things go well except Macbeth starts to realize that since his part of the witches prophecy came true that Banquo's will too. He hires a couple of people to murder Banquo and his son but the son escapes. MacDuff, another character, gets suspicious of Macbeth and starts to talk to other people around him. Macbeth has his family murdered, and his wife goes insane. The head witch or whatever, Hecate, is angry with the three witches for telling Macbeth the prophecy. To correct their mistake the three witches tell Macbeth three more things. After hearing them he becomes very sure that he cannot be defeated. MacDuff, meanwhile, has contacted the old King, Duncan's eldest son and has gotten him to agree to fight and reclaim his throne that is rightfully his. The army that MacDuff gathers shows up at Macbeth's castle to kill him. Macbeth is too arrogant to believe he can be killed and goes into the fight like that. He is killed by MacDuff and Malcolm, Duncan's son, is crowned King."
Ron was leaning forward on the arm of the chair, listening intently to the plot. Hermione was smiling at Harry in pride at having understood the Old English play while Ginny had her face scrunched up in thought.
"Harry, you don't think that he's trying to tell you that you'll end up like Macbeth, do you?" Ron asked in a small fearful voice.
Hermione sighed. "No, Ron, because Harry's not that arrogant. Besides, this is Dumbledore. The answer to Harry's question wouldn't be in plain sight."
"Well, Hermione, what do you think the whole point of the play is?" Ginny asked thoughtfully.
"I read it when I was twelve so I'm not quite sure but I think the point was whether or not prophecies are real. I mean, they could be but Macbeth took what he was told would happen into his own hands. Was he meant to murder his way into the throne or was the prophecy supposed to happen on its own account?" Hermione said.
Harry held back a gasp. In a matter of seconds it clicked. Yesterday he had been questioning the Headmaster why he hadn't told Harry of his fate so that he could prepare for it. If he was thinking right, Dumbledore was saying that he didn't need to prepare for it. If it was to actually happen, then it would but he didn't need to go and try to force it to happen by studying and dueling excessively. It would take place naturally.
The boy with messy jet-black hair down played his emotions to that of one who was confused.
"I dunno. Maybe Ron was onto something. Maybe he meant Voldemort was like Macbeth. I guess I'll figure it out later." Harry said slowly as he stood.
The other three stood up as well. Ginny took a look at her watch and gave a pointed look to Ron and Hermione who seemed to understand what it meant because they suddenly started babbling suggestions at getting a Butterbeer in the kitchen.
Giving them mystified looks of uncertainty; Harry followed them out of the library. He jumped when Hermione laced her hand through his right arm while Ginny linked arms with his left. Ron pushed the door open and held it for Harry and the girls. The lights were off and it seemed to be deadly silent. He was about to voice his thoughts when suddenly the lights flared and the entire house's occupants jumped out of hiding spots yelling, "SURPRIZE!!!"