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The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Chapter twenty two: Final Normality.
Harry stood on a small hill a short way away, overlooking the training of the Guardians. His robe was opened and billowed out behind him as the wind blew around him. He closed his eyes and smiled slightly, enjoying the cool air blowing around him.
He felt Dumbledore approach him but didn't open his eyes, unwilling to rise from the peacefulness he was feeling. They stood together in companionable silence, enjoying each others company, the rift between them virtually healed. Eventually, however, Harry roused himself from his reverie. He continued to watch the Guardians.
"You seem proud." Dumbledore noted. Harry smiled and looked sideways at him.
"Should I not be?"
"Oh no, you definitely should be. They have become very good, and under the DA's tutoring and your supervision they will become even better. But they're very good." Harry laughed and looked sideways at his professor.
"Better than the Order." He teased. Dumbledore smiled.
"But don't forget, Harry, that the Order does a completely different job. Espionage rather than actual fighting. Although we do fight when we have to."
"Ah touché." Said Harry, turning back to watch the Guardians. The friendship between Harry and Dumbledore had become stronger since their rift, the sort of friendship where they know that, no matter what, they would remain friends. As a result their relationship had become much more informal. They watched the Guardians train for a while.
"What are you going to do with them when this is all over?" Harry smiled slightly, sensing a double edged question.
"I won't become another Voldemort." Dumbledore chuckled at having been found out.
"I should have known that you would know what I was really asking."
"Yes."
"What are you going to do then? Give them back to the ministry?" Harry frowned slightly. Fudge's appalling administration had provided Harry with a deep mistrust of the government.
"No." He said slowly. Dumbledore raised his eyebrows, looking curious. "I'll keep them as a private army." Now Dumbledore definitely looked interested and more than slightly worried. A private army that size would provide Harry with immense power.
"You do know that's technically against the law?" Harry laughed.
"I don't like the government. I don't trust the government and I won't trust them with the lives of my men. Besides, there is the possibility that there will be another Dark Lord. It would be useful to have an army on hand to deal with any threat right away, rather than wait for the ministry to blunder along, making mistakes and allowing any Dark Lord to gain power. If the ministry does decide that I am breaking the law, then they are quite welcome to try and arrest me. I suspect my men might have something to say about it, though." Dumbledore nodded slowly. If anyone was going to be allowed a private army then it would be Harry. After all, Harry would be the saviour of the Wizarding world, a hero, and it is fitting that a hero should have his own army.
Dumbledore turned to Harry and looked him straight in the eye.
"Just promise me, my boy, that you will never stray from the light." Harry returned the gaze just as intensely.
"I promise you, sir, I promise you faithfully." It was an indication of how serious the matter was. When on their own Harry didn't call Dumbledore 'sir' or 'professor', they were too good as friends, only when it was a really serious topic of conversation.
"Besides," Harry said, slipping back into the teasing, friendly manner. "I don't think Ron, Hermione, Ginny or Cho would let me."
"No," Dumbledore mused, "I'm sure Miss Chang would have a lot to say about that." He suddenly stopped, slightly stunned. "Did you see that? Miss Patil hit that target! That must be at least…" Harry looked over casually,
"Four hundred paces."
"Yes!"
"She's good." Harry said mildly. Dumbledore looked surprised at Harry's mildness, as if putting a slashing curse right through the bullseye of a target at four hundred paces was an everyday occurrence. Harry laughed at Dumbledore's expression. It wasn't easy to shock the Headmaster.
"What's your range, Harry?" He asked curiously. If Parvati Patil could do that…
Harry shrugged nonchalantly.
"About four fifty." Dumbledore looked impressed.
"Very impressive."
"What's yours?" Harry asked him.
"Five hundred. More on a good day." Harry laughed.
"Then again, you've had many more years of practise than me."
"True." They stopped and watched the Guardians again. Parvati Patil was demonstrating how to hold the wand to improve accuracy, Cho was explaining advanced techniques in shield charms and how to maximise effects. Ron was animatedly going over tactics with the Guardian Lieutenants on a large piece of parchment that he had conjured. Hermione was getting the rest of them to practise firing volleys so that the spells flew perfectly in time.
"Efficient." Dumbledore said quietly. Harry shrugged.
"Shall we take a walk down?" He asked the professor.
"I'd be delighted."
They walked down and towards Parvati training the marksmen. Dumbledore noticed, with silent humour, that they stood up that little bit straighter and tried that little bit harder when Harry approached. Several of them offered salutes to Harry as he approached. Harry returned them and offered a few words of encouragement. Again, with silent humour, Dumbledore noticed that these few words seemed to have a dramatic effect on their enthusiasm, always seeming to encourage them to go for that extra fifty paces.
Parvati smiled at Harry as he approached and then nodded to the Headmaster.
"How's it going, Parvati?" Harry asked as he stood next to her, watching the Guardians fire spells of at targets up to four hundred paces away.
"Really good. I've showed them how to maximise their accuracy and they're getting really good."
"Excellent." Harry said and then added in an undertone, "What's the best?" Parvati laughed.
"None of them have reached four fifty, so you're still top." Harry shook his head sadly.
"The professor can hit five hundred plus."
"Yeah but he's Professor Dumbledore, he doesn't count." It was Harry's turn to laugh.
"Excellent. So what is the best?"
"Reaching four hundred. None are consistent, though."
"Alright. Good work, Parvati, keep it up."
Harry and Dumbledore wandered round the Guardians, Harry would offer encouragement and praise and advice where needed. Dumbledore was suitably impressed by the end of it.
Harry walked over to where Ron and the Guardian lieutenants were still avidly discussing tactics. They looked up when he approached. Ron nodded at him while the five lieutenants saluted.
"Listen. I'm extremely pleased with how things have gone today. There has been a vast improvement. I'm proud of you all. I'm off now. I want you to keep training for another hour then you can go." They nodded at him.
"Yes, sir." Said Danny Arias. Harry nodded at them and turned to leave.
As he walked off, Dumbledore turned to him.
"Are you sure that's wise? It is always inspiring if the leader is present." Harry nodded.
"Precisely. I want to see how they do without me. Whether they take the opportunity to relax and not put as much effort into it." Dumbledore laughed at Harry's cunning.
"A fine idea, Harry. How are you going to remain hidden?" Harry cast a sideways glance at him.
"You should know, you passed it on to me." Dumbledore chuckled.
"Very cunning, Harry. I'll leave you to it, then."
"Fair enough. See you later." Dumbledore nodded at him and walked off. Harry sprinted up the stairs and into Gryffindor Tower. He shouted the password to the Fat Lady ignoring her shout of, "Someone's in a hurry!" He ran up into the boy's dormitory and grabbed his invisibility cloak and ran back down.
Five minutes later he was crouched on the hill overlooking the training under his invisibility cloak. He watched it all carefully, trying to spot any relaxation and laziness now that he wasn't there. He was pleased to find that wasn't the case, and that they tried just as hard and were just as efficient without him.
He watched with pride. These were his men. They were loyal to him alone and he was making them the best. Even with him not there they still worked hard and trained for him. He smiled and settled himself into a more comfortable position to watch a bit longer.
…………
Harry was waiting in the common room when the other three returned. They smiled at him wearily. They were all breathing heavily and sweating.
"Hey." He greeted. Ron grinned at him. Of the three of them he was the least tired.
"Hey, mate. Good training session, that."
"I know. I was pleased to see that you didn't stop working even after I had gone." Hermione looked surprised.
"You were watching?"
"Useful things invisibility cloaks."
"You sly bastard!" Ron laughed.
"RON!"
"Sorry, Hermione." He didn't look it.
"We won't have another session that intense, will we?" Ginny asked anxiously.
"Why? Tired?" Ginny considered it.
"Yes." She admitted.
"Good."
"Good? Good? You sadist! That nearly killed me!"
"Yep. Good. Means you've been training hard."
"Git. Well, will there?"
"Yep." Ginny groaned at that.
"Ginny, I don't know if you've noticed, but there is a war on. We have to be prepared." Ginny rolled her eyes.
"Idiot."
"Why thank you." Ginny gave him a hard shove. He laughed and walked over to one of the couches, lying down on it. Hermione and Ron shared one opposite him and Ginny perched on the arm of Harry's, next to his head. Ron looked at him.
"How long have we got?" Harry knew what he was asking. He kept his tone light.
"Couple of weeks." Ron nodded, and recognising the need for a light hearted tone, he copied Harry.
"That long, huh? Maybe we should fight left handed. Need to give the poor buggers a chance." He shook his head in mock sadness. "Poor bastards don't know what they're getting themselves into." Harry laughed loudly.
"We'll just have to show them." Ron nodded, a predatory gleam in his eye. Ginny and Hermione shook their heads, simultaneously muttering, "Boys." Ron and Harry glared at them.
"When the fight starts, you'll be glad for us 'Boys'." Hermione looked at them.
"If it wasn't for the male species, none of this would have ever happened." Harry and Ron opened their mouths to argue, cocked their heads to the side, and then closed them again when they realised she had a point. Ginny burst out laughing at their unsure faces. Harry glared at her and shoved her off the couch.
She hit the floor and shot him a furious look as she got back to her feet. It was Harry's turn to start laughing.
"Very clever, Ginny, falling off the couch like that." She gave him a vicious punch the numbed his arm.
"Ow!" He exclaimed. She looked at him mockingly.
"Aw, can beat Voldemort but can't handle a girl." Harry rubbed his arm.
"Alright, you win. Truce." He grumbled. Ginny looked extraordinarily pleased with herself. Ron was looking at Harry gleefully.
"Harry, mate, you have just been had!" Harry glared at him.
"Thank you for reminding me."
"No problem, any time." Harry rolled his eyes.
They sat there in silence for a few minutes. Harry closed his eyes and slipped back into reverie again. He was just beginning to fall asleep when Hermione spoke. He opened his eyes.
"What shall we do, then?" She asked brightly. Harry closed his eyes again.
"Do we have to do anything? I was bloody enjoying the peacefulness." He growled at her. She looked unperturbed.
"Of course we have to do something!" Harry threw a cushion at her.
"Annoying, interfering woman! Why can't you let sleeping dogs lie?" Hermione looked at him like he was stupid.
"Because sleeping dogs are absolutely no fun whatsoever." Harry groaned but sat up anyway.
"Well this is quite a turn around, Little Miss 'I'm so perfectly moral and will always do what is right and will always obey the rules-'"
"Except when with Harry and Ron" She interrupted.
"-campaigner of rights for House Elves' won't even let her best friend sleep for a bit!"
"Strange, isn't it?" She asked happily, "Now, come on, let's go for a walk." She practically dragged them out of the common room. Harry shook his head and looked over at Ron.
"Bloody mental, that one." Ron laughed and mouthed back,
"Isn't that my line?" Harry grinned and shook his head again, resigning himself to it. After all, an hour of peacefulness and normality was rare in these times.
…………
Dumbledore sat in his office staring in horror at the parchment in his hands. He read it through again just to be sure. After reading through it for the fifth time he realised that there was no denying it.
Heavily he put the parchment down on his desk and walked over to the window. He shook his head, wondering how it could have happened without him knowing about it. He should have known! He should have been told! It just didn't make sense. But then again, he reasoned, a lot didn't make sense right now.
He walked over to his desk and picked up the parchment again. He read it through. Two days. They had two days. Why had his spies not warned him? He wondered how he was going to tell Harry. He shook his head sadly at the thought. He put the parchment down and returned to the window.
He saw Harry and his friends walking around the lake, laughing and joking. Not right now, he decided, he would let them have this one last moment of normality.
For after it all hell would be unleashed.
A/N I am really, really sorry that I have taken so long to update this. Life has been especially difficult for me this past two weeks. First of all with my GCSEs leaving me with no time to revise and then me twisting my ankle extremely badly (two hours before a history exam), badly enough to put me on crutches and send me home for five days to recover. So I'm really sorry.
I hope you enjoyed this chapter. This next week is my last full week of exams, then I only have the second Latin paper on Monday week. So the next chapter should be out Monday week. Forgive me if it isn't but I will keep you posted in my bio.
Finally thank you for your patience.
Anata oka-san – Thanks for the review. The fighting in Dumbledore's office was necessary. Because this fic is ending I am bringing everything to it's peak.
Aizan19 - Thanks for the review. Thanks, good luck with your exams as well. What exams are they? I'm a strong Harry/Ginny fan. Look forward to seeing you there.
Hockeyman - Thanks for the review. Don't be sorry, it's good to know what people want, helps to make the story better. Besides, all the things that you dislike, I dislike. Thanks, good luck with your exams as well. What exams are they? Look forward to seeing you in my next fic.
FSI - Thanks for the review. Very faithful reviewer!
Colm - Thanks for the review. Thanks. I'm glad you liked the chapter and thanks for wishing me luck!
Dragon Swords Master - Thanks for the review. We're looking at about six more chapters.
Dark Phoenix Mortal - Thanks for the review. Blood and guts in about two chapters time!
Goddess Usagi - Thanks for the review. Thanks, so far my exams have gone well, apart from chemistry shudders but even that went alright! Fair enough, I guess, being a guy, I find it easier to write the fighting. I love reading romance but I cannot write it! Must be a guy thing…
The Phoenix King - Thanks for the review. Don't worry, mate, I know just how you feel. School's been hell for me as well. All your questions will be answered in the final battle! If I were to answer them now it would kind of spoil it! Don't worry, I will answer them. Thanks, my exams have gone well. Sorry for not making the H/G thing clear. Are you not an H/G fan then? I'm a strong one and all my next fics will be H/G.
Gangster-Potter - Thanks for the review. Glad you like it.
Keep reading and reviewing 'cos I'll keep writing.
Fireboy.