Chapter 12

Sacrifice

The trio hurried out of the Leaky Cauldron and into the snowy street, hurriedly throwing their cloaks over their shoulders to block out the chilling wind. Hermione was still extremely flustered. "You'll never guess what those…"—she used a term that made even Ron gawk at her, impressed—"…are trying to do!" Harry hadn't seen her in such a huff since when she punched Malfoy because of Buckbeak in their third year. "They're going to…they're going to try and…and attack Neville again!" Her frustration was combined with tears at this point. "And then they said something about meeting the Death Eaters here at Hogwarts."

"That's impossible!" Ron burst out. "Someone would be bound to see a bunch of robed evil-doers all with hoods over their heads."

"Ron, Sirius got into the castle when we were in third year, remember?" Harry said hollowly. His body felt numb. This couldn't be happening!

"But Sirius was an Animagus!" He paused. "Wait, what if all the Death Eaters are Animagi?" Ron looked around fearfully.

"Don't be stupid, Ron," Hermione said. "What I want to know is how Lucius and Draco Malfoy are both managing to stay out of trouble. Isn't the Ministry supposed to be keeping an eye on them?"

"Slippery little blood-sucking…" Ron kept on mumbling as they bowed into Honeydukes.

"Listen, if there's anything we should do, it's try and keep a close eye," Harry told his two colleagues amidst the jumble of students in the sweet shop. "What we don't want to do is get into trouble with the Malfoys."

"But Neville—" Hermione started.

"Yeah, mate, your life is in danger too, you know."

"Listen, we've faced this situation before, right? At this point I'm not exactly afraid of these life threats." He looked down at the tub overflowing with Bertie Botts' Every Flavor Beans, not seeing all the different colors and flavors, but rather, thinking about Sirius, his parents, and what it would mean if he died and Voldemort didn't.

Hermione and Ron looked at him in shock. "Harry, this is serious. Neville's involved now and…well the prophecy lies in your hands," Hermione said slowly.

Harry breathed in deeply. He turned from the barrel and looked at his two friends with sincerity. They both had fear in their eyes, a fear that Harry knew well. "I'm not afraid to die as long as Voldemort dies with me," he said quietly. The other two remained silent.

"Harry, your life..."

"Your parents and Sirius wouldn't want you to sacrifice your own life, mate…"

Harry's face lost all emotion. He began talking, the evenness of his tone surprising even him, "Do you know what life would be like if Voldemort lived? Do you know how the world would change? Well do you?" Hermione and Ron's faces showed a clear misunderstanding. "Anguish, despair, murders in the street, even Muggles running for their lives. Dumbledore wouldn't have control anymore, oh no…Hogwarts would be a school of the Dark Arts which produced Death Eaters every year at an increasingly alarming rate. We wouldn't be learning how to counter the Dark Arts, we'd be learning how to conduct them. The Ministry of Magic becomes corrupted where people who try to revolt are tortured to the death. We wouldn't worry about Quidditch anymore; it will all seem so trivial compared to the magnitude of power Voldemort will hold throughout the world. If that means I have to sacrifice myself so that he'll die too…so be it. My parents would want me to give my life for that. I don't have anything to live for after this anyway." There was a long awkward pause as Harry wandered over to look at the new fudge in the glass cabinet. Ron and Hermione looked at each other uneasily. They walked over to their friend.

"Harry, we care about you," Hermione choked out, putting her hand on his shoulder comfortingly. "That should merit something." Ron just stood aside awkwardly.

Stiffly, Harry still stared at the fudge, tears of frustration filling his brilliant green eyes. He wiped them away angrily. Fortunately the shop was still full of bustling students so no one noticed. "I know you guys care about me, but it isn't the same without Sirius. I could have lived without my parents because I had never known what it was like to have them there with me. But Sirius…he was the only father I've ever known."

"What about Lupin?" Ron burst out from Harry's left side.

Still staring, Harry didn't know what to say. True, Lupin had taken up Sirius' position of Harry's guardian, but there was no way to replace James Potter's best friend. He shook his head. "It's not the same. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some Potions homework to finish." With that, Harry shuffled out of the sweet shop and trudged up the hill towards Hogwarts again, leaving his confused friends behind standing at the fudge counter.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hmmm…I'm sensing some Hamlet-like references in this piece… Another short one, but as always, please leave a review!