CHAPTER 5 – SLIP OF THE CENTURY

Knowing that Harry went to bed late Mrs. Weasley had let him sleep in and it was just after breakfast when he came down the stairs. She was in the kitchen cleaning up when she noticed he came down.

"Morning dear, did you get any sleep last night?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"A bit," Harry replied. He saw that the Weasley children were outside playing Quiditch while Hermione sat by a tree reading a book and glancing up at the game.

"Why don't you go outside and fly a little Harry. It might do you some good," Mrs. Weasley said. Harry had to agree with her, it sounded like an excellent idea. He went outside, grabbed his broom and exploded into the air. He almost forgot how wonderful it felt to fly and wished that he'd gotten more opportunities to do it lately. The others greeted him enthusiastically as he approached. They spent a couple hours flying about and having a good time when lunch was called.

They came inside quickly as they worked up quite an appetite in the yard. Ginny took a seat across the room from Harry in a place where she would probably be the farthest away from him. Harry felt horrible. Does she hate me that much? he asked himself. Hermione, who had just sat down next to him, seemed to read right into his head.

"Give it time," she whispered into his ear. This did not make him feel any less bad about the situation, but he was able to shift it out of his mind.

"Kids," Mrs. Weasley started, "since you can't go back to school this year you will be home-schooled." Ron groaned at this but Hermione seemed excited for the opportunity to learn. Fred and George, who had stayed for the wedding, simply laughed and pointed fingers at their siblings. "Professor McGonagall has sent us an outline of what your classes would have covered and I'm going to help you with some of it. The rest you'll have to learn from your books. Which reminds me, we'll have to go to Diagon Alley to pick up the books." She continued talking to herself as the others stopped paying attention. "Well… maybe Fred and George… we don't really have to leave the house… especially with you lot."

"So, you still getting a lot of business?" Harry asked the twins.

"It has died down a bit," replied Fred.

"But we still make loads off the Ministry," George added.

"And we got something for you we'll show you later," Fred said with a mischievous grin on his face.

"Well," Harry responded, "I could use a good laugh I guess."

"Oh Harry, have you found any of the… you know," Hermione asked him, moving her hands in a gesture to indicate that she didn't want to say it in front of present company.

"I'll tell you guys later," whispered Harry. At this point Ron came up for air for the first time since lunch was served and he talked with a bit of it still in his mouth.

"You mean about the horcruxes?" he blurted out in a not so subtle way. Mrs. Weasley let out a gasp and dropped a plate at this comment, which shattered all over the floor. Hermione hung her head in her hands and Harry just stared at him with an open mouthed look of shock on his face. The room had grown deathly quiet as no one dared speak after what just happened.

"WHAT HAVE YOU LOT GOTTEN YOURSELVES INTO?" cried Mrs. Weasley who was now in pure panic. Ron had finally figured out his mistake and tried to talk his way out of it.

"What Mum? I asked him about crutches. You know Dad told me about 'em and they're very interesting," Ron said quickly.

"YOU SAID NOTHING ABOUT CRUTCHES RONALD WEASLEY! I HEARD EXACTLY WHAT YOU SAID AND YOU WILL ANSWER ME AT THIS MOMENT!"

"No," Harry said, which was met with gasps from everyone at the table. Fred and George had begun to inch away from the table and Ron was so paralyzed with fear that he could not move. Mrs. Weasley's eyes were as big as dinner plates and her face was redder than Harry thought possible. "Now that it has been brought up," at this point he turned to stare at Ron before he continued, "it will be finished at the meeting tonight. Is that okay Mrs. Weasley?"

It took a minute before Mrs. Weasley composed herself to speak. "Yes, I suppose it would be better if the issue was addressed then," she hissed through clenched teeth.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley," Harry said kindly, hoping that he didn't upset her.

The rest of the day was filled with quiet through out the house though there was a lot of tension. Harry had berated Ron in their room after lunch and Hermione put her share in after that. Harry knew that the information about the horcruxes was vital but he could trust the Order with it. He didn't really know what he was going to say at the meeting but he would have to say something. Hermione suggested that he stray from details and just give them an overview of the situation. Harry thought that it would probably be a good idea. He also thought that he could downplay the importance of it.

It was about an hour after dinner when the Order gathered at the Burrow, Professor McGonagall being the only surprise attendee. They were assembled in the living room and about to begin when Mad-Eye Moody spoke up.

"What's the reason for this Remus, we all got stuff to do and don't have time for another pointless meeting," he growled, his magical eye whizzing around inside his head.

"Trust me Moody, this will be a very informative meeting," Lupin replied. "So… how about we get started."

"Not with this lot here," said Mrs. Weasley and began to usher the kids out of the room.

"Actually Molly," Remus said, "Harry has to be here for this one."

"Fine, the rest of you get up the stairs," she said.

"No," this time it was Harry who spoke up. "I'm sorry to keep doing this to you Mrs. Weasley but they should stay this time." She started to object but he stopped her. "Fred and George are of age and Ron and Hermione know it all anyway."

"Fine, Ginny, upstairs," snapped Mrs. Weasley. Again Harry stopped her.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley, but I seem to remember Ginny being there at the Department of Ministry and at Hogwart's last year. Both times she fought Death Eaters and fought well." Ginny seemed surprised that he said this and her face turned a darker shade of pink. "She has as much right as anybody to be here. I know you're worried about your family but with the way your kids are, they're going to do it anyway." Everyone in the room knew he was right but Mrs. Weasley looked at him as she never had before.

Mr. Weasley broke the tension after a moment of dreadful silence. "Molly, perhaps you should leave it up to them. He is right, our kids would do it anyway."
Mrs. Weasley threw her hands in the air, admitting defeat. When it was clear that no one was leaving the room Harry started.

"Okay…well…There are two reasons you're here tonight. The first one would have remained a mystery had Ron not blurted it out this morning." Ron's ears reddened and he tried to hide behind the pillow he was holding. Harry went on to explain Dumbledore's theory about the horcruxes but did not tell them what they were or how many were left. He designed the speech so they got the basic principle but didn't grasp the full meaning of it. The topic was met with much shock at first but, much to Harry's surprise, did not cause panic or many questions. I bet it's because they fully trust Dumbledore Harry thought. Even in death he's respected more than anyone else. Seeing that no more explanation was needed Harry continued even though some side conversations had sprung up.

"The second reason you are all here tonight is so I can tell you about the prophecy." Harry scanned the room noticing that he had everyone's attention now. He continued with the story and the room seemed to darken the further into it he got. There were some confused looks when he stated, word for word, the prophecy. When he finished he looked straight at Ginny.

"It means that I have to kill Voldemort or he has to kill me. That's the way it ends. There will be a final battle in which one of us will die." There were gasps in the room and Ginny's eyes grew wide. Harry could see a tear forming in the corner of it. He chose not to look at her, but the ground as he explained the next part.

"The power that 'the Dark Lord knows not' is love. I have the ability to love and he doesn't." There was silence in the room. Nobody dared speak. Harry gazed at Ginny who looked more scared than he had ever seen her, even when she was fighting Death Eaters. Harry let them think for a minute and then he spoke.

"Professor Lupin said that you had figured most of it out already. And Voldemort knows now so he'll have nothing to talk about when we meet so I reckon he'll just go about trying to kill me then." Moody looked slightly amused at Harry's matter-of-factness when discussing his probable death. His one good eye looked at him up and down seeming to size him up. There was a small smirk on his face as Harry continued.

"I don't know how long I'll stay here, it might be a couple days, I dunno. But I want to spend time with everybody and then I'm going to leave again. I'm sorry but I don't see any other way." After he looked into everyone's eyes, Ginny's twice, he turned and walked out of the house. He left behind him a quiet Weasley household which he was sure was the first time that's happened in years.