Chapter ten: every good deed…

Harry followed McGonagall and Flitwick down to the landing where the boats with the first years traditionally arrived. They were floating calmly in the water, surrounded by blue shield spells that prevented the inexperienced children from getting out or raising the alarm. Snape was unconscious and face down on the landing, one hand dangling down into the water. It looked as if his 'colleagues' had stunned him to prevent casting suspicion on 'their' spy. Harry let Flitwick tend to the potions master, choosing instead to cast finite incantatem on the nearest boat, cancelling the shield spell and letting the first years out. He directed them to go no further than the staircase and shoved their boat out of the way to let the students McGonagall had just freed disembark as well. Snape groaned his way to consciousness behind them and Flitwick joined Harry and his teacher in freeing the unsorted students.

There was more than one child in tears and Harry found himself administering hugs and pats as needed to get them out of the boat. One girl was so terrified she had to be lifted out by Professor McGonagall, and eventually carried by her into the school proper. Dumbledore was standing over the captive Death Eaters in the foyer and directed them to the Room of Requirement, which had relocated itself opposite the school kitchens.

Inside the room were two long soft platforms, covered in pillows and blankets. There was a long table in the middle of the room with benches either side and part of the Sorting Feast laid out on it. There were two doors at the far end that Harry discovered led to bathrooms for boys and girls - baths and showers were laid out in a style similar to the Gryffindor bathrooms, and quite a few first years made immediate use of the loos.

"I'll leave you in charge, Harry," Professor McGonagall handed over the sobbing student, "I need to see to our House. Bring the students to the Great Hall at nine tomorrow morning, and we'll Sort them then. No one is to leave this room in the meantime."

"Yes Professor," Harry nodded, and she patted his shoulder gently before heading out. The door changed into a wall the moment she stepped through it, and Harry sat on the end of the bench, pouring a glass of pumpkin juice and tempting the crying girl out with it. The rest of the first years slowly sat around the table and dished up, looking around anxiously.

"You're safe in here," Harry spoke up so everyone could hear, "This is the room of requirement. No one can enter it unless we want them to, and right now no one can leave it either."

"Does this happen every year?" a red head spoke up, "Because none of my cousins mentioned this. Those Death Eaters came out of nowhere!"

"Who?" a blonde asked, "What's a Death Eater?"

Harry let the purebloods explain the current state of the Wizarding world to the muggleborns, only speaking up if someone got too carried away and strayed from the truth. In very short order, Death Eaters, Voldemort and the Boy Who Lived were discussed, though Harry didn't identify himself by that name, calling himself only Harry as Professor McGonagall had. By the time they'd finished unknowingly taking apart his history, the girl on his lap had calmed down enough to eat her own dinner and let him eat his. Pudding followed and Harry helped himself to ice cream as the talk turned to the Sorting ceremony.

"My cousins said you have to wrestle a troll," the redhead looked a little nervous and Harry laughed. Those words had identified the young man more thoroughly than the faint air of familiarity that his face suggested.

"Fred or George?" the apparent non-sequitor made sense only to the redhead, who grinned and shrugged.

"Ron actually," was the response, and Harry shook his head. The twins had told Ron that they were expected to wrestle a troll and it seemed that Ron was passing that misinformation on. Yet another Weasley family tradition in the making, and Harry counted himself privileged to see it in action.

"I'm Tim," the redhead introduced himself, "You know my cousins?"

"They're good friends of mine," Harry sat back as the depleted platters and empty bowls vanished, leaving the table completely bare, "Ok everyone, I suggest you have a bath or shower or whatever you normally do before bed and then get some sleep. Lights out in an hour."

"My pyjamas aren't here," someone realised and Harry waved a hand at the pillows.

"There's a set of pyjamas under each pillow. They'll be the right size. This is the room of requirement, it won't have forgotten," he got up and showed them, handing the pyjamas to the girl who had been so upset. Several of the other students rushed to look for their own, some coming up with very bright and ugly sleepwear. What with one thing and another the hour passed quickly and soon they were all bunked down, sleeping in friendship or family groups. Harry resigned himself to catnaps at the table, not wanting to risk having a nightmare tonight and scaring the students he'd finally calmed down.

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By 9 am Harry was more than ready to enter the Great Hall. He was worrying about Ron. Even though Madam Pomfrey could mend cuts like that in a heartbeat, Harry knew the Hospital Wing would have been very busy last night and he was worried that Ron hadn't been treated until late. He hated that his friends were hurt, and knowing one of them was in pain or worse always made him more than a little tense. He was very happy to hand his charges over to his Head of House and slip into the Great Hall, making a bee line for the Gryffindor table and the empty seat beside Ron. His friend had chosen to sit in the seat that was second nearest to the door, which was unusual as they usually sat halfway down the table.

"Are you ok?" he asked in a low voice, ignoring the buzz of students around him. Ron nodded, his eyes clear and complexion normal. Harry looked at his friend's arms anyway and caught a glimpse of the bandage poking out of Ron's sleeve. He couldn't help the little noise of dismay that he made, and reached out to touch the edge of the bandage lightly.

"It's just a precaution," Ron waved it off, "Harry, there's trouble brewing. People are blaming you for the Death Eater attack. They think the Death Eaters would never have come here if you weren't here."

"What?" Harry felt like a lump had suddenly formed in his throat, "But…"

"We both know its bollocks, Harry," Ron reassured him, "I thought you should know."

Hermione was sitting further up the table, radiating disapproval, and Ginny was chewing on her hair. Before Harry could pursue this, and he had a nasty feeling that the girls were supporting this view, the doors opened and the First Years stepped in cautiously. A couple of them waved to him when they spotted him, and most of them smiled hello. He smiled back and watched them throng up the centre aisle and gather in front of the Sorting Hat. Ron asked where he'd been last night and Harry explained in a whisper all that had occurred after Ron had been left in the Hospital Wing. By the time he was finished the Hat had finished its song and he clapped politely with the rest of them before propping his head in his hand and watching the Sorting.

Breakfast appeared in short order and he and Ron tucked in, both starving after the excitement of last night. Presiding over such a large table of upset children was not conducive to an appetite for evening meals, and the worry he'd felt about Ron and his other friends was now alleviated. When the last plate had been cleared Dumbledore stood up and Harry and Ron leaned together, happily digesting while they waited for the usual start of term notices.

"You will be pleased to know," Dumbledore launched without preamble into his speech, "That our attackers of last night were all apprehended thanks to the efforts of your housemates and teachers. While we sustained a few injuries, no one was seriously hurt, and as you can see we are all here together this morning for the Welcome Feast. Unfortunately word has gotten out about the attack and all owl deliveries were diverted this morning as a rather large number of reporters were trying to send inappropriate letters. Your parents have also been informed by owl as of last night, and quite a few of them have come to check on you. Classes today have been cancelled, and you will be issued with your timetables after dinner this evening. Now, I believe your visitors are waiting."

The doors to the foyer swung open and a large crowd of parents burst in, hurrying to look at their children. Mr and Mrs Creevey were relieved to find all three of their Gryffindor's in good health, their daughter protectively bracketed by their sons. The family resemblance was unmistakable, and Harry chuckled, pointing them out to Ron. Ginny had spotted her mother the moment she stepped through the doors and had run into her arms, where she was now whispering urgently. Mrs Weasley didn't look too impressed with whatever was being said, but hugged her daughter one more time before heading towards her son.

"Hi mum," Ron got up and hugged his mother straight away, letting her fuss over his arm, and generally straighten his robes. Harry reflected wistfully that it would have been nice to have Sirius and Remus, or Lily and James come to check if he was ok, though he understood why they couldn't. The Great Hall was extremely noisy and he looked around at all the anxious faces, relief and worry mixing equally with the emotions he was seeing. There was also a worryingly sharp edge to the noise, and he felt that there was something wrong, but before he could try to pin that notion down Molly was turning from her son and daughter and reaching out for him.

"Harry dear," Molly tugged on his shoulder and he got up, falling gratefully into her hug. She squeezed him breathless and fussed over him for a moment before Ron rescued him, pulling Harry to sit down again and then staying close, an arm casually around his friend. Harry liked this a lot and leaned into the contact innocently. It was almost as good as sharing Ron's bed at night.

"Your father and I were so worried, and your brothers have all made me promise that I'll owl them the minute I get home," Molly had her arm around Ginny, who was leaning into her side comfortably, but not meeting anyone's eye. The tone that had worried Harry before was now more pronounced, and he sat up out of Ron's embrace a little, looking around to see if he could pinpoint it.

A lot of parents and students were directing nasty looks at him, and he looked down at the table again. It wasn't hard to imagine that a lot of people resented the attack that had been engineered to capture Harry, and when the shouting started minutes later he wasn't really surprised.

Ron and Mrs Weasley were too stunned to counter the calls for his exclusion from the school, though the teachers did their best to defend the Boy Who Lived. Ginny even made one or two low comments to her mother that earned her a very dirty look and Harry had to grab Ron's knee to prevent him from shouting at his sister. It was with an air of inevitability that he stood and offered to exclude himself when the Headmaster was threatened with the sack. He would remember the look on Mrs Weasley's face for the rest of his life when Ron stood up and included himself in that statement, though Harry wasn't happy to see his friend throw his schooling away. They'd only just got their OWL scores, and Ron would need good NEWT scores to become an Auror.

Ron refused to hear any of Harry's low voiced objections, and Harry resigned himself to the fact that Ron had made a very clear decision about where their future lay. That it was together made the uncertainty bearable, and they walked from the Great Hall for the last time with their heads held high.

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