Turning his head to the left, he could just make out Boris' moving form. Ah. That's where he was. That was nice of them, depositing him in his own bed instead of making him stay in the hospital wing. He closed his eyes again, sighing softly. It had been the best sleep he'd gotten in ages. It did beg the question of how long he had been asleep, though.
"Boris?" Harry asked, coughing as he realized how dry his throat was.
"Yes?" Replied the taipan.
"How long?"
"Two months."
"Shit."
"How do you feel?"
Harry groaned. He didn't want to move. He didn't want to think. He just wanted to sleep. But he moved his limbs a little just to humor his friend. "Not dead."
"Always a plus, I suppose." Said Boris.
"Indeed." Harry said. "What time is it?"
"Past your dinnertime." Boris said. "There are people waiting for you to awaken. Do you feel up to facing them?"
"No. I take it the story has been told." Harry said.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."
"Do not worry." Boris said. "I have had a lot of time to think about it. I will not lie, I was disturbed and upset to find out that you had used the Laniatus. But the more I thought, the less those feelings were. You just had the one family member you actually liked killed. I cannot begin to understand human emotions properly, but..."
"It was justified? Yeah. I don't feel bad for killing her. I'm not sorry I did that. I was apologizing for the Laniatus." Harry said, sitting up and reaching for his glasses. He got out of bed a moment later and went to change out of the pajamas someone had stuck him in.
"I know." Boris said.
"What's happened at Hogwarts since I left and became unhinged?"
"Too much. I believe that is a question you need to ask your friends." Boris said.
"Yeah, so... here I go." Harry said, pausing a moment to put up his Occlumency barriers. It came easily and the barriers felt much stronger than Harry remembered them being. Odd, but very comforting. He could remain in control of himself again.
He opened the door to find the Pit filled with almost everyone who knew of it. And everyone was on their feet the moment he emerged. He brought a hand up and instantly the commotion died down. Offering a faint smile, he closed the bedroom door and leaned back against it. Pansy, Malfoy, and Ginny had been sitting on the couch. The twins were mulling about near the back of the room. Hermione and Luna had been in the corners, reading.
Taking a deep breath, Harry paused for a moment before saying simply, "Hi."
Pansy rushed over and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face against her neck. "Oh god, I thought you'd never wake up."
"Careful." Harry said, his voice quiet. "I'm damaged goods."
"Idiot." Pansy murmured.
Looking around, Harry blew out a quick sigh through his nose. "I need catching up. Again. I don't like this part."
"Well." Malfoy began, stretching his arms along the back of the couch. "Umbridge is dead, Dumbledore is back in control of the school, and Fudge is missing and presumed to be dead as well."
Harry blinked. "Okay, I'm going to need you to go over these one at a time."
"Fair enough." Said Malfoy.
"Umbridge is dead." Harry said.
"That's right." Malfoy replied.
"How?"
"Got herself killed." Malfoy said.
"By who?"
"Me."
"What?"
"She attacked me first."
"What?!"
"It was self defense. Had to."
"WHAT? ...Okay, I need more explanation that than. Tell me what happened, Draco." Harry said.
Malfoy smirked. "Well, Potter, she knew you'd gotten out of Hogwarts that night. Before you ask, Dumbledore told us what happened. She'd set up some kind of intensely sensitive wards around the school to detect anything coming in or going out by way of means magical or otherwise. Dobby counted as 'otherwise,' apparently."
"She collected all of us." Said Hermione quietly. "Rounded us all into a room. She said she knew it was you. She thought we knew where you went."
"What did she do?" Harry asked.
"Well, she initially tried doing things the nice way. When it became clear we weren't going to spill it, she got nasty." Fred said.
"Started hitting us with spells." George continued. "Well, we're tougher than the basic stuff she was using. Malfoy saw that she was going to ramp up to meaner stuff, so he started to taunt her."
"She didn't like that." Malfoy said. "See, she knew who got Marked at Christmas. She knew I wasn't there. So she wasn't exactly happy with me anyway. I started to taunt her and she outright attacked me. Trouble there is, she was fat and slow. And I'm not."
"Malfoy got loose--" Fred said.
"She had us all tied up, see." George added.
"Yeah. So Malfoy got loose when one of her wild cutting hexes hit his ropes. He summoned his wand from across the room and just laid into her." Fred said.
"She had it coming." Malfoy said.
"He didn't kill her." Ginny said in a stage whisper, earning herself a glare from the Slytherin.
"You said you did, though." Harry said.
"Technicality." Said the twins.
"After he knocked her unconscious, he floated her out to the Forbidden Forest and left her there. They found her a couple days later. Something had been munching on her." Ginny said.
"That's pleasant." Harry said, making a face.
"So with Umbridge gone, Fudge's little plan to keep control over Hogwarts had failed. So he ran off. In addition, Voldemort is uh... well, he's kind of done some things..." Hermione said, making a vague gesture.
"What do you mean?" Asked Harry.
"Azkaban is gone." Said Malfoy.
"...Gone?" Harry repeated.
"Gone." Malfoy said. "No idea where it is. It just isn't where it was anymore. There's a Dark Mark in the air over where it was. No one can get it to go away."
"With Fudge missing, the Prophet has no orders coming down to hide Voldemort's return. The minute Umbridge was found dead, which was a day after Fudge vanished, for the record, the school returned to being under Dumbledore's power. First thing he did was give an exclusive interview to the Prophet. The knowledge that Voldemort is back is out there now and, as it was Dumbledore who said it, people believe." Ginny said.
"Took long enough." Harry said.
"It was awesome." Ginny said, grinning now. "Dumbledore outed Umbridge as a Death Eater. Which means that everyone also knows that Fudge hired a Death Eater to take control away from Dumbledore, who everyone had seen as being the leader of the 'good' side during the last war with Voldemort."
"Fudge escaped before the inevitable happened. So he's missing and presumed dead, huh?" Harry said.
"Yup." Fred said. "Not been heard from since. No one has a clue where he is, if he is still alive."
"Oh yeah - we've dropped out, by the way." George added.
"Quit the night Umbridge tried forcing info out of us." Fred said, nodding. "Stupid toad had our brooms locked up. Can you believe that?"
"So we had to go get 'em back." George said. "And then, in honor of Umbridge being gone, we turned Hogwarts on its nose."
"Flitwick's got a section of the second floor corridor roped off. He said our portable swamp was a stroke of brilliance." Fred said, grinning.
"Why drop out then?" Asked Harry. "And wasn't it a bit of an odd time to do that considering I'd up and vanished?"
"Well, we didn't figure you were at the bloody Ministry with dad fighting Voldemort." Fred said.
"Woulda been a pretty good guess if either of us had thought that up, though." George added.
"I'm sorry." Harry said.
"Sorry? For what?" Asked Fred.
"Getting everyone into a trap." Harry said.
"You hadn't slept well in weeks, Harry." George said, walking over and patting Harry on the shoulder.
Fred followed his twin and did likewise for the other shoulder. "You went after the only family you had worth a damn."
"It's no excuse." Harry said.
"Don't beat yourself up over it, Potter." Malfoy said. "Those that died have been remembered as heroes. Dumbledore also talked about what happened down there with the Prophet. Leaving out the gorier details, I assure you."
"Good to know." Harry said, looking off.
"Did you really kill Bellatrix?" Asked Malfoy.
"I did." Harry replied.
"Good. I barely knew her and I wanted her dead. You did the world a service." Malfoy stated.
"The fewer Death Eaters in the world, the better." Harry said, smiling crookedly. Then, looking over at Luna, he asked, "Where are they?"
"I'm not sure." Luna responded. "Solieyu is probably in the Nest. I think Nymphadora is in the Tower... They've been worried, you know."
"Fine time for that to occur. Has Leon decided his powers are acting up?" Asked Harry.
"Not at all." Luna said, looking sour for the first time since Harry had known her. "But they've been worried."
"Good." Harry said, biting out the word with enough bitterness to make everyone cast him an odd look. "...What? I've moved on. I'm just mad that Luna has to suffer because of this damn mess."
"I'll be fine, Harry. Thank you, though." Luna said, offering Harry a genuine smile. "I'm perfectly capable of waiting until he has his head on straight."
"Still. If you feel like coming by and griping about how stupid people can be, I'm always up for a session of it." Harry said, causing Luna to chuckle quietly.
"So what do you plan to do now?" Asked Hermione.
"Well," Harry said, looking up at the ceiling. "I plan to go and eat - don't worry, I know I need to pace myself for a few days until my stomach's used to real food again - and then I plan to go the hell back to bed. Two months I've been asleep and I'm still tired."
"A bit late for dinner tonight. So what say we all stop in for breakfast tomorrow?" Fred suggested.
"Sounds like a plan. If I'm not up, someone come in and douse me with ice water." Harry said. "Alright, you lot. I'm up and coherent. Go to bed. All of you. Most of you look like you haven't gotten a lot of sleep lately. Trust me - not good for you. Makes you cranky and stupid."
"I'm surprised you're in such relatively high spirits." Ginny said. "All things considered."
"I can't change it." Harry said, shrugging. "I can't change what's happened. Sirius wouldn't want me to sit around moping for months on end. He'd want me to push myself forward, get stronger, and beat the living hell out of every last Death Eater before taking Voldemort himself down."
"Speaking of." Hermione said. "Dumbledore talked about him, too."
"Oh? What did he say?" Asked Harry.
"The truth." Hermione said, smiling sadly. "That he was falsely convicted, that Pettigrew is still alive and was the real culprit, and that Sirius died a hero."
"Sounds about right." Harry murmured, eyes downcast. "...How's Moony doing? Anyone know?"
"We asked Dumbledore, but he wouldn't say a whole lot. He's probably doing loads better by now, though." Ginny said.
"I'll have to check on him tomorrow." Harry said. "Scatter, kids. I want food and sleep."
"Aye aye, King Raven." Replied the twins. "Off to our home we go!"
"Shame, really." Harry said. "Who will prank people now?"
"A tragic loss. But you know..." Fred began.
"A new generation of tricksters will emerge sooner or later." George continued.
"And when they do..."
"We'll be ready."
"We're opening our joke shop this summer!" They finished in unison.
"Brilliant! I'll have to stop in, then." Harry said, offering the twins a smile. "Got a name picked out?"
"We were thinking of 'Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes' - what do you think?" Asked George.
"Always a fan of alliteration." Harry answered, grinning.
"Well then, we're off. We'll spread the word that you're up and about, Harry." Fred said.
"Enjoy the food, enjoy the sleep, enjoy the insanity you'll walk out to tomorrow!" George added.
"Yes, yes, my life is a three-ring circus. Get out of here, dammit!" Harry said, glaring at the twins as they left the room.
"It's been a lot quieter in Gryffindor Tower without them around." Ginny said, smiling wistfully as they left. "Ron's been lonely."
"He should be glad he isn't their target anymore." Hermione said, getting to her feet. "Well, if you'll excuse me, I really should be off, too."
"No need for excusing yourselves. I know you've all been worried. Nice to know people still do..." Harry said.
"We could never hate you." Luna said, standing as well.
"She's right." Said Ginny. "No matter what you do, we'll be able to forgive you."
"Are the lot of you going to drag Potter into the bedroom and just keep him up all night or something?" Malfoy asked, scowling. "Enough with the sap. I'm going to vomit if this goes on much longer."
Ginny smacked him in the back of the head.
"Dammit, woman!" Malfoy growled, standing up and glaring at Ginny. "What was that for?"
"Being a jackass." Ginny stated, raising an eyebrow.
"You can't hit him!" Pansy protested. "Only I may hit Draco."
"I'll duel you for the right." Ginny said.
"We'll see." Pansy said.
With a prompt, overacted 'hmph!' Ginny turned and walked out of the Pit, popping her head back in to wish everyone a good night. Hermione and Luna followed shortly after.
When Malfoy got up, Harry asked, "How're things in Slytherin?"
"They got better when Dumbledore returned. I think he's managed to pull all of the Death Eater children aside at some point or another by now. Dunno what he's said to them. I have a few ideas, though." Malfoy said.
"Probably warning them what will happen if they keep down the path they're on." Harry said.
"Probably. Well, I need to get back. Can't have Blaise holding down the fort on his own. He's about ready to strangle me as is." Malfoy stated, heading for the door. "Good to have you back, Potter."
Harry snorted as Malfoy left. "Dear Merlin. If someone had told me he would say that to me at any point in my life, I would've said they were crazy."
"It took him awhile to get his head around it, but once he did..." Pansy trailed off.
"Big change, yeah." Harry agreed.
"Well..." Pansy began. "I should probably head back now, too."
"No."
"No?"
"No."
Pansy blinked. "Gonna need a little more than 'no,' Harry. 'No' what?"
"No, you shouldn't head back to Slytherin." Harry said. "I want you here. With me."
"You mean... sleeping?" Pansy asked.
"Yeah. If I had gotten over my own issues earlier and accepted your offer, Sirius might have never been killed." Harry said, shutting his eyes. "I need to sleep, Pansy. I need you here to help me."
Pansy grinned, wrapping her arms around Harry and kissing him quickly. "I thought you'd never ask. Still want to get that food?"
"I think," Harry began slowly, tilting his head up. "That sleep... should be higher on the list from now on. And if everyone's stopping by for breakfast in the morning, I might as well wait. Two months without solids, another twelve hours won't hurt."
"It begs a question, though." Pansy said.
"Oh? What?" Asked Harry.
"What, precisely, am I going to sleep in?"
"Oh. Um. ...Huh. Okay, hadn't thought of that." Harry said, brow creased. "I suppose, if you wouldn't mind the draft, you could always enlarge one of my shirts and sleep in that."
"Enlarge it? What, you don't want to see my legs?" Pansy asked, prodding Harry's shoulder.
"No! I mean yes! I mean... wait. Dammit, Pansy, I just woke up. Don't make me think!" Harry whined.
"Awww. I'm sorry." Pansy said, laughing. "Okay, I'll blow up a shirt and use it. I can bring some of my stuff down tomorrow."
"That'll work." Harry said, pushing himself off of the bedroom door so he could open it. "Shall we?"
"Let's!" Said Pansy, stepping into the bedroom.
Closing the door behind them, Harry headed back over to the bed and flopped down on it. He stretched out and sighed. "How can I still be tired? How badly was my body deprived?"
"More than you thought. Which drawer are your shirts in?" Pansy asked.
"Second one down on the left." Harry stated, staring up.
"Finally decided to get a good night's sleep, I see." Commented Boris.
"Quiet, you." Harry hissed lazily. "Could you hear us talking?"
"More or less." Boris said. "How're you feeling now?"
"...Alright, strangely enough. I feel alright." Harry said, closing his eyes.
"That's never going to not sound weird." Pansy said. "Don't look, I'm going to change in here."
"I won't look." Harry said.
"Aww, really? Not even a peek?" Pansy asked.
"Parkinson..." Harry said.
"Okay, okay. I'll stop teasing you." Pansy said. A minute later and she was crawling into bed next to Harry. "So how do you usually sleep? On your back? Stomach? Side?"
"On my back, usually." Harry said, looking over at Pansy. "...Wow."
Pansy grinned. "My legs are epic."
Harry snorted.
"What?! They are!" Pansy said.
"Just come here." Harry said, opening his arms.
Pansy smiled and stretched out on her left side, scooting over so she could rest her head against Harry's shoulder. "...I've been waiting a long time for this."
"I'm sorry for making you wait." Harry murmured, wrapping his arms around her.
"It's alright." Pansy said. "I'm just glad you're letting me. For whatever reasons."
"Not too many people would be able to do what you're doing, you know. Offering to be here for me, knowing full well what might happen." Harry said, leaning his head lightly against hers.
"I just want you to be happy, Harry." Pansy said, sighing softly. "Optimally, yes, it would be me who makes you happiest. But... yeah..."
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to make you think about it." Harry said. "I should just shut up and try going back to sleep."
"It's alright." Pansy murmured, curling up against him. "I just want to enjoy this as long as I can, just in case it doesn't last."
"It would take a lot to make me let them back into my life at this point." Harry whispered, lightly stroking Pansy's hair. "So let's not think about it and just live for the moment now that things around this place have calmed down."
"Sounds like a plan." Pansy said.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
Harry woke up some time before dawn the following morning. It felt good to be drowsy. Drowsy was good. Drowsy was normal. Drowsy meant getting to sleep more if one wanted. Having the option was wonderful to have back. His eyes glanced at the girl still asleep in his arms. He wasn't sure how he came to deserve having a girl like Pansy being in love with him, but he was glad she was. She knew and she still wanted to be closer.
It was going to be hard on them both if Solieyu and Tonks snapped out of it.
Tonks would just have to deal with it, Harry decided. After all, she wasn't there for him when he needed her most. Pansy was. And yet... Harry couldn't bring himself to hate either of them. He still loved them both. But he just couldn't get through to them. It led him down another path he didn't want to think about. What would happen that summer?
Obviously, he would be going back to Privet Drive. Then what?
He had no godfather anyone. His only legal guardians were the blasted Dursleys. So he was stuck there all summer? It would be awkward if he went to Tonks' house. Unless she made the first move, it would seem like he was desperate. It wasn't far from the truth, but it didn't make it any easier to think about. Would they even be able to salvage their relationship when and if she and Solieyu snapped out of it?
Harry forced his Occlumency barriers up and closed down that part of his brain. He didn't want to think about the future. He wrapped his arms tighter around Pansy, who mumbled something incoherently and pressed against him further. He just smiled at her, kissing the top of her head.
"Life is never easy." Came a soft hiss from nearby.
"Mine seems harder than most." Harry replied, his voice equally soft.
"Do you love Pansy?" Asked the snake.
"Not like I love Tonks. I love Pansy like I love Leon. Or the twins. Or Luna. They're my friends. I love all of them. I wish I could love Pansy like I love Nymmy. But I don't think I can. And I hate that, because she's done so much for me in such a short time. Even after what I did at the Ministry..."
"True friends stand by one another, no matter the circumstances."
Harry smiled at that. "Guess so. Wonder what today's going to be like. ...Man, I don't even know what date it is. O.W.L.s should be soon, if they haven't already started. Gonna need to read myself into a coma to catch up."
"No skipping sleep for it." Boris stated, his voice drier than normal.
"Yeah, definitely no skipping sleep for it." Harry agreed.
"Too noisy. Sh'up..." Pansy mumbled, tilting her head and cracking her eyes slightly. "Wha's goin' on?"
"Nothing." Harry murmured. "Didn't mean to wake you."
S'okay..." Pansy said, rubbing at her eyes. "W'time izzit?"
"Too early." Harry said. "Guess I didn't need quite as much sleep as I thought. You wanna go back to sleep or get up?"
"Might as well get up." Pansy said. "Slept really deeply. Very unusual for me..."
"Too much worrying." Harry said, grinning.
"And whose fault is that?" Pansy asked, grinning back.
"It's like I always used to say - I'm the hero. I'm always fine!" Harry declared, patting himself on the chest.
Pansy snorted as she sat up and stretched. "Mmmmmph. Yes, well, Mr. Hero, you've got a long day ahead of you and an hour or two before anyone shows up for breakfast. What do you wanna do?"
"I... really want a bath." Harry said, sitting up as well. "I guess Madam Pomfrey dropped in regularly to check up on me. Magical cleansing isn't the same as real bathing, though. I feel like I have a year's worth of funk clinging to me."
"Can I join you?" Asked Pansy.
"Parkinson." Harry said, trying not to smile as he gave Pansy the evil eye. "Don't make me roll you out of this bed."
"Roll me out of this bed? And how, exactly, would you do that?" Asked Pansy.
"I'd wrap you in the blanket and give a push, of course." Harry said.
"Try it and you get ice down your pants next time we're sleeping." Pansy said, raising an eyebrow.
"Ooh. Ice bad. Ice very bad. Ice down the pants amazingly bad. Okay, no rolling you out of bed. As for me..." Harry said, pushing the covers back and slipping out. He stretched, his back popping in a few places. "Gah..."
"Gonna take awhile to work out the kinks?" Asked Pansy, slipping out of bed as well.
"Probably." Harry said, nodding. "I'm gonna go hop in the tub. If I see you peeking, I'll make you sleep on the couch."
"Liar." Pansy said, walking over and kissing Harry on the cheek. "I'm too lovable to punish."
"I need some coffee." Harry said, shaking his head as he gathered some fresh clothes from his dresser. "You're too energetic when you wake up."
"Yes, well, I try." Pansy said. "Enjoy your bath. Just don't fall asleep in there, yeah?"
"If I've survived this long only to drown in the tub, I'd be a pretty lousy hero." Harry said, opening the bedroom door.
Pansy watched him from the doorway, stretching again as she turned and headed back towards the bed. Throwing herself back on it, she looked over to the night stand where Boris was watching her. "So? Did I pass the test? Am I good for him?"
Boris stared at the girl for awhile before nodding his head.
"Good to know. Would hate for you to bite me in my sleep or something. Wonder what he talks about with you..." Pansy said, rolling onto her back and sprawling out in the empty bed. "Ah well. Think I'll get a bit more sleep while our glorious hero scrubs away. Oh, hey.
do me a favor?"
Boris blinked at the girl.
"If he comes back in here to change for any reason, wake me up somehow." Pansy murmured, grinning.
Boris rolled his eyes.
oOoOoOoOoOoOo
"Ready?"
"As ready as I'll ever be. Let's go."
Harry stepped out of the Pit, Pansy following behind him and closing its door. Reaching the top of the stairs and performing the usual detection charms, they stepped out into the hall. Breakfast had been wonderful, though Harry wished he could have eaten more. His body was telling him to eat, but his brain knew better. He had taken it as easily as he could, though he was feeling slightly ill now. Whether that was from the food in his system or how the school would react to him being up and about, he wasn't sure.
His Occlumency barriers were fully in place by the time he and Pansy reached the Great Hall. People had pressed up against the walls as he had passed by. Evidently, they had heard the story or still thought he was psychotic. Either or.
The Great Hall was still filling up when they arrived. He was only coming to let the school know that he was, in fact, back. He really didn't need any more food in him, though he was still parched. Two large goblets of pumpkin juice during breakfast and his throat still felt dry.
The noise died down as he and Pansy entered. Cocking an eyebrow, he scanned the four House tables before raising his eyebrows and shrugging at Dumbledore, who had long since returned to his position at the staff table. The headmaster hid a smile, though his eyes were twinkling.
"Yes, yes, I'm a sight to behold. Don't let my dazzling presence stop you all from eating, though!" Harry declared. When all he got was a smattering of nervous laughter, he rolled his eyes and headed for the Ravenclaw table. As Pansy passed by him, he asked, "Was there something in my teeth?"
She rolled her eyes as she headed to the Slytherin table.
Quickly enough, normalcy returned to the Great Hall. Harry nursed a fresh goblet of pumpkin juice, happy to listen in on the conversations taking place around him. He closed his eyes and smiled. It was good to feel like himself again. At least, that's what he wanted to tell himself. In reality, he had been locking his emotions down since waking up the previous night. All the pain, all the depression, it was all being forced down and chained up. It was because of irrational thought that he had gone and gotten all those people killed.
Never again.
His eyes opened and he got to his feet, taking his goblet with him as he headed up the table. Tapping one of his former dormmates on the shoulder, he asked the boy to move. Geoff made a face, but got up anyway. Harry thanked him, taking his spot and looking across the table, where Solieyu and Tonks were.
"Mornin'." He said, lazily swirling the pumpkin juice in his goblet.
"Good morning." Solieyu said, also nursing a goblet. It looked to Harry as though he had just gotten over another long period of no potion-taking.
"Morning." Tonks murmured, concentrating on her breakfast.
"Things haven't changed." Harry said. "I still want you two back in my life. And I still want you two to admit something's wrong. I can understand if you're mad at me. At least for now, considering what I did. I'm sorry, Nym. He wouldn't be dead if I had acted like myself."
"It's fine." Tonks whispered, closing her eyes.
"No. It isn't. And you don't have to act like it is." Harry said.
"You are." Tonks pointed out, looking at him.
"Occlumency!" Harry said, smiling pleasantly. "I've got those feelings locked away. I don't need to be mourning. I don't have time to be mourning. Above all else, what happened taught me one thing. I need to stop sitting around and doing nothing. Voldemort has to be stopped."
"And what do you plan to do?" Solieyu asked. "Fight him from the confines of the Pit?"
"I have my plans. Unfortunately, with Voldemort commandeering Azkaban, I've run into a bit of a roadblock. Gonna have to wait until it shows up again. Then it's a 'simple' rescue mission." Harry said.
"Rescue? Rescue who?" Tonks asked.
"Balthazar." Harry said.
"Who's Balthazar?" Solieyu asked.
"The jewelcrafter who transferred his own soul into the Gauntlet's conduit gem." Harry said. "The gem is in the prison, which just had to up and vanish on me."
"You're thinking of putting it back together?" Tonks asked. "But, didn't it kill the guy who originally tried?"
"Yup."
"You can't." Tonks stated.
"Oh? Why?" Asked Harry.
"You'll die too." Solieyu said. "Too much power."
"The fight at the Ministry showed me just what kind of power I really have. It's a matter of focusing it." Harry said. "I can survive the forging process. And I'll use it to kill Voldemort."
"Pretty strong words, considering what happened." Solieyu said.
"Indeed. Which is why I need the Gauntlet. Balthazar could help control the flow of power. No more going out of control. No more instances of my wild magic going haywire. All I'd need to do then is figure out a spell to actually kill Voldemort." Harry said. "Haven't worked that part out yet..."
"Why are you telling us this?" Solieyu asked. "Do the others know?"
"No. I figured you two deserved to know first." Harry said.
"Why?" Asked Tonks.
"Because as pigheaded as you two are both being, you're still my friends. And I'll be damned if I'm going to give up on either of you. I'll wait. But I'll keep myself busy. I can't keep thinking about it. It's too distracting. Either you'll overcome this on your own or I'll find a way to put a damper on Leon's powers. Whatever works." Harry said, getting up again. "Well, kids, I have things to do. Lot of schoolwork to catch up on, for one thing."
Setting his goblet down, he gave Pansy a wave as he headed for the doors. Leaving the Great Hall, he let himself smile again. That had gone better than expected. Neither had tried to attack him, anyway, and they had had a mostly civilized conversation. Solieyu had looked like he wanted to punch Harry, but that was to be expected.
'Vampire plus hormones equals bad!' He had thought, heading up the main stairway. It was a beautiful day out. He needed some fresh air. He had been stuck inside for a long time, after all.
Making his way up to the Nest, which he hadn't visited in what seemed like forever, he gazed out over Hogwarts' grounds. There were students loitering out by the lake, watching the giant squid. Hagrid was in the garden behind his house, tending to oversized vegetables. Parts of the Forbidden Forest seemed to shift about every now and then. And, overhead, a swarm of owls was descending for the school to bring the morning post.
"It's good to be back." Harry said, leaning against the railing and gazing up. There wasn't a cloud in the sky and there was a pleasantly cool wind blowing in. Voldemort wanted to take to the air, huh?
Harry would get the conduit gem back. He had to. It was the only thing that he could think of that would allow Voldemort to lift the island out of the sea. And if the prison was missing, the thought occurred to him that the search parties just weren't looking in the right place. They needed to stop searching the water and start searching the skies. Harry had no doubt in his mind that if the island wasn't airborn already, it would be before long.
For the sake of everyone in the country, he had to think of a plan. Brooms would obviously be needed to reach a floating island. But what about the possibility of altered Dementors roaming about? And where, exactly, was Balthazar and his gem located? Harry didn't know the prison's layout. He would have to look into finding a map. Or maybe...
He blew out a sigh, pushing himself up. Maybe he didn't need to try doing it all on his own this time. He would tell Dumbledore what he knew. That way, the Order would be able to begin a better search. And the earlier they found Azkaban, the better. Optimally, they would put a halt to Voldemort's plans before the Dark Lord got a chance to raise the island. But Harry had a feeling that wouldn't happen. He wasn't quite that lucky.
"Well, that's that, I guess." He said, turning and headed back towards the trapdoor. "I'll go down and start catching up on my work, then see if I can't catch Dumbledore in his office after lunch. Gonna be busy, that's for sure. But at least I'll be able to concentrate on the remainder of the school year once I know that the Order's got information about Voldemort's plans."
Before he left, he glanced around the small, open room that he and his friends had once used as their base of operations. It seemed like such a long time ago. Had the three of them (plus Luna) really been able to squeeze into the relatively small space?
"Things change." Harry murmured, drawing his wand and transfiguring the furniture in the room. The couch and chair had been so rickety-looking. He was better at the art now, so he figured it was only right to fix them up a bit. "There. That's better."
He smiled as he left the room. Things did change, but they could always be fixed.
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Author's Notes: Thanks for the generally positive feedback. Gonna get into answers. Kaerion had the most questions. In regards to why people didn't believe Tom was back... well, most people just didn't want to believe. Not that it matters now, as you can see. Everyone's fully aware of what really happened. As for why no one helped me - same reason no one helped him in the canon. Drama. Simple as that, really. XD I wish I had a less retarded answer for ya. As for Harry's angst... well, as you can see, that's already faded.
And, as you can see, no one's distancing themselves from Harry any more than normal.
We're almost done with Order, kids, if you can believe it. I'd LIKE to make this 20 chapters long, but I dunno if I can. So next chapter MIGHT just be the end of the book! I hope no one minds my glancing over Umbridge's fate. Really, with Malfoy and Pansy on the good side, my original plans (Pansy obviously good, but originally only Harry knew about Malfoy's face turn.) went to crap. They would be the ones to dispatch her and leave her in the forest anyway, though. Umbridge was a crap villain in the canon and here. There were more important things than her going on in book 5.
Anyway. I'll see you lot next time. I dunno, we'll see how long it winds up being. I still don't think we're gonna surpass books 1 or 4, but we're gonna be up there. Not bad, given the lower chapter count, eh? Longer chapters ftw, I suppose, even though they can sometimes hold me up for ages.