A/N Uhhhhh. Hi. So here's the next chapter obviously. And I'm really really sorry that I grossed you guys out! And I added a violence warning cuz why not. And I'm sorry! Phew. There won't be any more nastiness don't worry. Okay so this chapter. We're back at Hogwarts! Yay! Uhmmm and what else. OMG we passed 21,000 views! That's a lot. Like a lot a lot a lot. Thank you guys so much :) Let's see...pumpkin coffee is the most amazing thing ever, deliciousness. And I literally cannot wait to wear a sweater, and this really has nothing to do with fanfiction so I'm gonna shut up. Okay. And once again I'm really really really REALLY sorry for the gore. So I hope you like this chapter, no gore to be seen anywhere. Please please please lemme know what you think and if there's anything you want to see in the future! Thanks for reading!

Oh my goodness and I almost forgot. This chapter is titled FINE, I just didn't want to name it the regular way because it's the only chapter that has a title XD.

Lots of thanks to my loyal reviewers KK and PearlM21!

Onward

Chapter 25

Hermione

She should probably be concerned about how quickly she came up with the plan. It was easy enough to understand, and no one questioned it. She should probably be worried about that too come to think of it. After a few hours of sitting by themselves in the hospital wing, all four of them had decided that no one seemed intent on telling them anything so they would need to find out themselves.

"I think Harry and I should stand guard." said Ginny, twisting strands of hair around her fingers.

"Right." said Hermione. "Draco you'll go to the outside of Dumbledore's office and wait for me while I…" What was she doing again? Maybe this plan was complicated, as she was making it up while she went along.

"Aren't you like giving one of some sort of distraction signal to get one of them out of the office?" Ginny asked. Oh right.

"Yes. And uh, then Draco will hold the door open and we'll slip in."

"Under the invisibility cloak." Harry said, voice flat. He hadn't contributed much to any of their conversations. Neither had Draco actually...She needed to ask one of them what was wrong...which was stupid because everything was wrong! Lyra was dead, Snape was Harry's dad...and there was something else she was sure. Everything was going wrong this year. Everything! Hermione shook herself. Everyone was staring at her, waiting for her to answer Harry's question.

"Yes, under the cloak. Then Harry and Ginny will make a barking noise if someone comes from either direction." Hermione nodded at all of them. "Sound like a plan?"

"Uh huh…" said Ginny, giving a glance to both of the boys. Draco gave a weak thumbs up, and Harry nodded without saying a word. Hermione and Ginny shared a look of concern. Both of them were well aware that this was not normal.

Madam Pomfrey checked on them again and they waited. Hoping that she would leave them alone long enough for them to leave. Hermione realized her plan had a great deal of holes. Dumbledore could be alone in his office and they could be stuck waiting for hours. Or he could've left Hogwarts. Maybe he would come here and ask them questions but refuse to answer any of theirs...Who knew. But right now this was all they had. A very choppy plan that might've already gone wrong.

Snape

Snape told Dumbledore what happened. And he didn't spare any gory details, he watched as his face got paler and paler as he continued to talk. When he finished he wanted to know what the hell Dumbledore had come here to tell him. Surely he didn't just want to know what happened? There were a variety of others who knew what happened. He didn't need to hear it from him. After a few seconds of unbearable silence he asked,

"So what did you come here to tell me?"

Dumbledore stared at him, looking over the rims of his glasses. Snape waited impatiently.

"Harry's Aunt and Uncle are dead." Good riddance. He thought to himself bitterly. He desperately wanted to say "So?", but he refrained himself. Dumbledore seemed to think Snape was going to say something because he didn't say a thing for a solid thirty seconds.

"I'm going to make you his guardian." Snape felt his heart drop.

"Me?!" he sputtered. That was a terrible idea, such a horrible horrible-

"You're all he has left." Uh…

"How did they die anyway?" Snape asked.

"Voldemort had some Death Eaters kill them when you all escaped." Dumbledore's eyes were heavy and sober.

"But...why?" Dumbledore looked taken aback.

"Because he knew it was the best way to hurt Harry because he couldn't." Oh right. Dumbledore was not aware of what shitty guardians Harry's Aunt and Uncle were. He should probably tell him, although Harry would probably get pissed off about that. Well to hell with that. Harry already hated him. So it wasn't like he had anything to lose.

"They were horrid people." Dumbledore blinked.

"I know Harry didn't have the best relationship with them-"

"Damn right he didn't have the best relationship with them! They shouldn't be guardians to a piece of toast! That fat blob they call a son-"

"Severus-"

"Don't try and Severus me! They were abusive assholes who deserved what they got-"

"Abusive?" Dumbledore's face drained of all color, and he seemed to age ten years within a matter of seconds.

"Yes! And you let him stay there!" Snape searched for some more words to throw at Dumbledore but found he'd run out of all of them. So he settled for staring at him venomously.
"What are we going to do?" Dumbledore asked quietly.

"It's too late to do anything! The damage is already done!" Snape spat, and threw another glare his way. Dumbledore winced.

"At least now he has-"

"Don't say it. I can't be anything for him and you know it."

"That's not true!" Dumbledore's voice rose. "You don't give yourself enough credit, you are a good person."

"Me? An ex-death eater? I'm just a bitter man who doesn't know how to love." He swallowed aggressively, daring Dumbledore to contradict him.

"You loved Lily."

"And look where she is now."

"This isn't you." Dumbledore shook his head.

"Maybe you just never wanted to see this side of me." he replied blankly. Neither of them said anything for a while. Just sat in silence, recalling the words that had just been spoken.

"You're still Harry's guardian." Dumbledore broke the silence. Damn old man was too stubborn for his own good.

"Fine." Fine. Fine! Everything was fine. Everything was going to be fine. Hopefully. Actually probably not.

Ginny

She was getting very very worried. Harry had barely spoken a word all day, and neither had Draco for that matter. Hermione and Ginny exchanged frequent looks of concern every few minutes. This wasn't normal. And there was absolutely nothing they could do. However both of them had still agreed to go ahead with Hermione's "plan" to find out what exactly was going on. Honestly Ginny didn't really care at the moment, she was too worried about Harry to think about much else. She had a feeling Hermione didn't care either, she was just trying to make the boys do something other than stare at the wall.

"She's gone!" Hermione suddenly yelped. Ginny startled and nearly fell off the bed she was sitting on with Harry. She looked around and sure enough Madam Pomfrey was nowhere to be seen.

"Ginny go get Harry's cloak!" Hermione wildly waved her arms around, nearly hitting Draco in the face. This was a part of the plan that they'd come with only a few minutes ago. It seemed Hermione's plan had more than a few holes. But this really wasn't about the plan anyway. Ginny hurriedly jumped off the bed and out of the and bolted out the door. Where was Madam Pomfrey anyway? Had she gone out this door? Taken the floo? Was she in her office? Ginny stopped in the middle of the hall. Where was she going again? The boys dormitory. Right. Two girl's voices floated down the hall, and Ginny stumbled. Should she hide? The girls rounded the corner and Ginny took one look at a suit of armor and positioned herself behind it. She was now well aware of the fact that she was wearing cotton shorts and an old sweater with numerous holes in it.

"Did you hear where they were snogging?" That was Pavarti.

"In the bathroom, I was there." Lavender giggled, "I could hear them talking." Ginny wondered who they were talking about. It felt nice to be listening to school gossip instead of death threats.

"Oh Merlin! I wonder where they are right now, Dumbledore said that they were spending some time with their parents but I don't buy it. And who would Harry be visiting!"

"His aunt and uncle?"

"Damn I forgot about them." Parvati laughed, and rested an arm on the suit of armor what Ginny was hiding behind. She prayed they didn't notice her crouching behind it.

"Yeah, come on. We need to get to class."

"Shit, you're right. I think the bell already rung." Parvati removed her arm, then turned back. Ginny's heart stopped beating momentarily. Had Pavarti seen her?

"We better run, it's Snape."

"My goodness I certainly didn't miss him." Lavender snorted, and motioned for Pavarti to follow her. Ginny's relief was short-lived, if Snape was right there...She peaked her head from behind the suit of armor to see if he was coming. He walked down the hall towards her and her heart once again picked up pace. She should make a run for it. Just sprint from behind here and barrel right past him. Maybe he'd think she was a ghost. Then Snape strode down another hallway without a glance back.

Ginny made a split second decision to forget the cloak, and just follow Snape. The rest of them were supposed to be following soon after her, and it wasn't like they really needed the cloak. It was fine. Perfectly fine. This was a spectacular addition to the plan. Brilliant. She took off from behind the suit of armor and followed Snape as soundlessly as she could. Her bare feet padded on the cold castle floor as she hurried along. Why hadn't she worn socks? She really ought to start wearing them.

Harry

"Ginny was supposed to be here!" Hermione whisper shouted at him.
"So...what do we do?" asked Draco quietly. He'd been quiet all day, but then again, so had Harry.

"Well, I guess maybe she forgot she was supposed to wait for us and went ahead to Dumbledore's office." Wait a second. They were going to Dumbledore's office? Honestly Harry hadn't been paying attention to half of the things Hermione had been saying in the last 24 hours.

Or anyone. He really was tired, he was too scared to close his eyes in fear that Voldemort would come back to visit him. Or worse. Lyra. He didn't want to see her lifeless body lying on the ground, eyes unseeing but someone still staring right into him. As if she still could see everything inside him.

"Harry?"

"What?" he asked, blinking back at Hermione.

"Are you...alright?"

"Uh, yeah. Fine." Fine. That was bloody ridiculous and he was sure Hermione knew that. But what else was he supposed to say?

"We're going to Dumbledore's office." she said after a moment.

"Uhm, right. Let's go then." he said, shrugging his shoulders. Hermione stared at him for a moment before nodding jerkily and motioning for him and Draco to follow her down the hall.

The three of them made sure to watch out for anyone, less they point them out and run and get Madam Pomfrey. Or just bombarde them with a bunch of questions with where they'd been the last few...what? Days? Weeks? Was it still October? It'd been October when they'd left right?

"This way." Hermione pointed down the hall. He'd been here countless times, it was strange he couldn't seem to remember where Dumbledore's office was exactly. The three of them continued on. Suddenly a hand reached out, grabbed his shirt and pulled him into an alcove.

"Ginny?" He asked. At least he sure hoped it was Ginny.

"Yes. Oh my god I'm sorry I forgot your cloak. I just saw Snape and I assumed he was going to be going to Dumbledore's because where else would he go, I don't think he has friends. And I decided to follow him, because who knows how long of a conversation this will be. Right now they're sitting in silence and I never quite caught why." Ginny gushed in one big breath. He took a step back to look at her.

"Are you okay?"

"What me? Yes? Of course, Snape's almost saw me and I nearly dropped dead but now he's in there and I'm out here-"

"Merlin someone hit you with a babbling jinx!" Hermione yelped. Draco shushed her with a hand on her arm.

"Sorry." she hissed. "But Ginny, even though sometimes you do talk quite a lot, it's never this much."

"But who would've hit me. I mean I didn't feel any different or see anyone, I've been here for the past, I dunno thirty minutes!" she said with a shake of her head. Everyone looked at her.

"Okay maybe I was but, that still doesn't explain who hit me!" Ginny's eyes widened. "Do you think it was Snape?"

"Uh, no. Didn't you say he didn't see you?" Hermione asked, tilting her head.

"Sure, but maybe he did and just wanted to get back at me for following him so he cursed me to never be able to stop talking although this really isn't that bad, I'm not being annoying-"
"Dear lord." Draco muttered from behind Hermione. Harry shot him an annoyed look. Ginny was sort of cute like this. Well actually she was always cute. Hermione buried her face in her hands and said something.

"Huh? I didn't hear that? And shouldn't we really be trying to eavesdrop?" Draco made a sound in his throat and stared pointedly at the wall. Ginny shut her mouth and looked at the wall, then back at them and opened it again.

"Shhh." Hermione said before she could say a word. Ginny flushed and set her jaw. Raised voices began to float towards them.

"I told you-"

"Honestly Albus this is the craziest idea you've ever had and that's certainly saying something."

"Mcgonagall?" Hermione mouthed at them. Harry shrugged again.

"It's not your decision Minerva." came Snape's voice.

"You were just agreeing with me!" she snapped.

"Can we all calm down and talk about this, sitting?" Dumbledore asked. Harry could imagine his face. He was always infuriatingly calm in these types of situations.

"Oh you don't get to tell me to calm down! Not after all these years of lying to me, to everyone about-"

"I-" Dumbledore said something else but they were unable to hear it through the wall.

"And what are we going to tell everyone? How are we going to stop this from getting into the news?" The news? Harry's heart fluttered. They were talking about him, they had to be. He always seemed to be a topic of conversation among adults.

"We'll figure it out." Dumbledore said.

"Are they-" Ginny started but Hermione quickly moved to put a hand over her mouth.

"Figure-Severus you can't just leave!" Mcgonagall screamed.

"Shit. Oh no. This isn't good because he's coming out and we're right here-"

"Ginny shut up!" Hermione said.

"Where's the door?" Draco mouthed. Harry turned his head to the left and right to see, and was about to tell Draco he was on the left of the door, when it swung open. Draco disappeared from view and all three of them froze. Snape walked out and turned back to look at Dumbledore and Mcgonagall. Hermione glanced wildly around before shoving them behind a curtain.

"Isn't Draco still out there?" Ginny whispered. Hermione nodded, biting her lip. They peaked their heads out from behind the curtain and watched as Snape said something before dramatically leaving the room. He closed the door, and Harry waited to see him discover Draco but he was no longer there.

A/N So what did you think? Please please leave me a review! See ya next week and wash your hands!