Votes are still at about the same levels since only a few people have added votes in their reviews. To review, that's:
A. We have a trial, either big and revealing or small. 54 votes so far
B. We do not have a trial. 9 votes so far
C. We avoid the whole issue of a trial and have Voldemort capture/kill Dumbledore and potentially out his deeds to the world. 7 votes so far
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Chapter 38"You told him? You actually told him?" Ron said incredulously, his voice bouncing wildly off of the stone walls that surrounded them.
"We knew he would sooner or later Ronald," Hermione said patiently.
"And I didn't tell him everything. I didn't tell him who I was. I just…"
"What? You just what?" Ron said angrily. This was how it always was with Ron. He had a gut reaction that was sudden and sure and then he would calm down a bit and realize that he was being an ass.
"I didn't want to keep lying to him about everything. I didn't want to lose my new friend. I've already kind of lost you two. I never get to see you anymore. I can't lose him too," Tallis whispered.
This brought Ron up short. "Gods, mate, I'm an ass. Why do you put up with me?"
"You amuse us," Hermione said, stealing the last pastry from Ron's plate.
"I'm sorry, really Tallis. I don't know what's wrong with me. I just miss you is all. This sucks. It's our last year here and we can't even really be together all that much!"
"At least Father finally got his ass down here. I don't know what exactly he was expecting to find but the look on his face when he saw it was great" he said, giggling like a little kid at the memory.
"What did he do? Merlin, we really haven't talked to you in forever!" Hermione asked in between bites of her stolen pastry.
"Eh, he gave this long winded 'I'm your Father and I know what's best for you and great magical beasts are not healthy' lecture the entire way down there, along with plenty of bitching on the side about the location of the entrance. Evidently Snapes do not go into girl's toilets, commonly used or not, according to him. But when he finally saw the main hall he was floored. He just stood there and stared at that ugly statue and the floor where I killed the basilisk for like ten minutes. Then he pulled himself together and adjusted his lecture to be 'You're completely bloody insane coming down here again when you weren't sure that creature was really dead' peppered healthily with 'I've fathered an idiot.'"
"Ah, that's the Snape we know and love," Ron said, digging through their supply cupboard for something else to eat. They had long ago brought down an old cupboard that they applied freshening and cooling charms to in order to store snacks down in their study area. They didn't want to ask the elves for food too often because it would arouse suspicion. The cupboard was stocked largely with muggle foods that Hermione brought and food that the trio bought in Hogsmeade.
"Did he explore everything?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "Of course he did. Can you imagine the man deciding suddenly to be haphazard in something he did?"
"Well, he was a bit careless with the contraception charms with your mum at least once…no offense, mate" Ron said pulling out a bag of muggle licorice.
"Too true," Tallis conceded. "Anyhow, yes, he explored every nook and cranny of the hall and the rooms and finally decided that we were not likely to get eaten by any stray magical creatures out for innocent students. He was very impressed with how well we fixed our rooms up though."
The room was impressive. They had brought in two comfortable sofas and a bunch of large pillows. Low laying tables were scattered around the room, ideal for sitting on the floor to do homework. There was a single desk for Hermione to use when she wanted to (neither of the boys liked it). In a side room that they had finished the year before there were three small cots, a small bathroom and shower and a tiny kitchen with a stock of nonperishable goods, again, largely muggle. The living area wasn't anything grand but it was serviceable.
They had gotten the idea for the apartment earlier in their fifth year when they decided that they needed a safe haven that no one could possibly find them at. Hiding at the Dursley's would be a joke, as would hiding at either the Weasley's or the Granger's houses. Grimmauld Place was no true safe haven since it was also Dumbledore's headquarters. They decided to take matters into their own hands and create a place that no one knew about but the three of them and Bill.
Severus had been blown away by their foresight. He was concerned a bit that the only entrance was through the school that Dumbledore clearly ran but Tallis assured him that they had learned how to make portkeys after a month of intensive study and they made emergency portkeys which were stored in their apartment that would take them to Heathrow airport. Tallis had converted a large portion of his vault into muggle money in preparation for an escape, should one be needed. The trio had long known that Tallis was only a pawn in this war to Dumbledore and that he needed protection from Dumbledore as much as he did from Voldemort. Hiding in the muggle world would be easier for them than trying to hide among wizards. The Boy Who Lived was entirely too well known for that to ever work, although now this his looks had changed so much it clearly wasn't as much of a concern.
"Are we all calm about Draco now?" Hermione said, wanting to return to their old topic but worried that Ron would flip out again. She wasn't sure if he had gotten it out of his system.
"Yes," Ron said, sounding only slightly sulky. "It shocks me that you want to be friends with him but if you say you can trust him then I'll have to trust you. I'm just worried he'll pitch you when he finds out who you are."
"Me too. I'll deserve it though, for keeping it a secret for so long."
"Oh Tallis, you needed to keep it a secret. You still do in my opinion until you are absolutely certain that he won't freak out and tell everyone."
"I guess. I just…things are going so well right now. Teaching is ok, my apprenticeship is going well, Father is great, Bill is fabulous, as always" he said, winking at Ron who had turned a bit green thinking about his brother like that. "You and Ron were my first two real friends…my only friends up until now. I will always love you two and no one can ever replace you but…it just felt nice having someone else, you know? Someone else who actually liked me and wanted to be friends with me, not Harry Potter. And I'm going to lose that, aren't I, when I tell him?"
Hermione bit her lip and looked over at Ron sadly. He really might lose Malfoy when he told him the truth. "Tallis, we can't tell for sure now. Don't worry about it until the time comes. Just keep being his friend and hopefully everything will work out for the best."
"I can't believe I'm defending the ferret, but I don't think he'll do that. I think he might actually be here for good, gods help us" Ron muttered.
Tallis smiled hesitantly. "You think?"
"Merlin, you're really going to rub this in, aren't you?" Tallis just smiled in return. Ron rolled his eyes. "Fine, yes, I think the ferret is going to stick around. He was terrified for you after that asshole grabbed you in class. He was genuinely worried for his friend, too much to just drop you when he finds out something he doesn't like. He may throw a little fit," Tallis and Hermione laughed at him, quietly pointing out that he was certainly knowledgeable about little fits, "but I think he'll get over it, eventually. I'm not entirely certain I want to be in the same building when you do tell him."
"That's so comforting, Ronald," Hermione said. "Tallis, honey, if you want us there when you tell him then just let us know. We'll be there for you in whatever way you need us."
"Thanks Mione." Tallis sat quietly for a moment and then smirked evilly. "So, have you two gotten together yet?" His innocent question was met with two burning faces.
"We're not…I mean…" Ron fumbled, finally giving up.
"What Ron is trying to say is that we're not dating, we're just…well…"
"Friends with benefits?" Tallis suggested.
"That sounds awful!" Hermione exclaimed.
Tallis grinned. "He's your not-boyfriend?"
Hermione and Ron laughed. "Yeah, that's pretty accurate. Where'd you get that?" Hermione inquired.
"Father used to walk around muttering about his idiotic Gryffindor son and his infuriating not-boyfriend all the time. He talks to himself a lot. I never told him I heard. It was actually one of the things that let me know I'd be ok with him."
"Hearing him call you an idiot made you feel better?" Ron asked, seriously confused.
"No…yes. I don't know. It was more that he was able to be himself around me. That I knew that he wasn't putting on a show, pretending to be nice to me and then he'd reveal himself later and he'd hurt me. I knew he was just who he was acting like and I had nothing to fear. Am I making any sense?"
"Not really" Ron said helpfully.
Hermione kicked him sharply in the shins. "Yes, Tallis, you make perfect sense. It made you feel at home knowing that he wasn't pretending around you. He wasn't using company behavior or anything else that you always saw around the Dursleys. You knew you could take him at face value."
"The Dursleys were always so unpredictable, or at least they felt like they were until I was old enough to understand everything. They would be almost nice to me when other people were around or when they thought the neighbors could hear but then they would turn on me, and it would hurt all the more for their earlier kindness. At first I was scared that my Father would be like them but when I overheard him talking to himself I knew I was safe…really safe. He wasn't going to suddenly change on me and hurt me. The kindness he was showing me wasn't an act. This was really who he was."
"How have your detentions been going with Malcus Perry?" Ron asked, curious as to what was going on with that. The rumor mill had been surprisingly quiet about the whole affair ever since that first day. The students' quiet was no doubt helped by Professor Snape's liberal stripping of points from any house, including his own, that was caught gossiping about it. The students genuinely liked Tallis though, so they quickly quieted most talk about that day, knowing it had really bothered him.
Tallis smiled. "He's still serving the detentions, albeit grudgingly. Father wanted me to pass them off to him but I didn't think that would look good." At Ron's questioning look he elaborated. "It would look to some as if I were scared to be alone with him or something. I don't particularly relish being in the same room as him but I am not scared of him, and even if I were I wouldn't let him know it."
"What do you have him doing?"
"Mainly scrubbing cauldrons. Draco is often there at the same time, learning how to make the Wolfsbane potion so we have plenty of dirty cauldrons for him to clean."
"Draco has chosen this week as the perfect time to learn such a complicated potion?" Hermione asked, clearly seeing that there was more to this than Draco simply deciding to learn an impossibly complicated potion at the same time as Perry had his detentions.
"Yes, I know. He and Father thought they were being very sneaky about this but I saw it as well when Draco showed up on that first day to ask for some additional tutelage. It does make it more fun though so I haven't turned him away. And he hasn't come every day. I think he understands that I need to do this on my own, at least a bit."
"How's the ferret doing with it?" Ron asked.
Tallis glared at his use of the old nickname but answered anyway. He knew that friendship was a bit much to ask for at this point, he was just pleased that there was no longer any hostility in the question. "Very well, actually. I think he'll only need a few more weeks of work and he'll have it down."
"Impressive" Hermione breathed. "Will you teach me, later? I wish I had known he was doing it, I would have joined him."
"Actually, it is best to learn it one on one. It would be too hard for me to watch over both of you. I suppose you can come and just observe him working though, until he's done. It might help you a bit to see some of the steps before you actually do them yourself."
"I might do that. When is he coming next?"
"Probably tonight. Show up around eight."
"Alright" she said happily. Ron rolled his eyes. Only Hermione would be that excited about doing more work.
"How have your treatments with Poppy been going?" Hermione asked, concerned for Tallis.
"Alright. I have my second one tomorrow. I've just had the one so far but my ribs and collarbone have been perfectly regrown. It wasn't terribly painful, really, it was more uncomfortable than anything. It feels very odd having your bones vanished."
"What are you having done tomorrow?" Ron asked, although he well knew what was left on the list of injuries that needed to be healed. Tallis didn't know that Ron knew though. He still didn't know that anyone beside his Father and Poppy knew. Bill's "distraction" had worked perfectly and Tallis was still none the wiser about the secret meeting.
Poppy, by prior arrangement, had a private meeting with Tallis pointing out the possibility of being uncovered by a medical scan and had discussed what work needed to be done. Tallis had been hesitant at first but had finally agreed to everything because he knew that she was right. He had a follow up meeting which he brought his Father to in order to keep him up to date and then had agreed to have the first treatment last weekend. They decided to use weekends in order to give Tallis plenty of time to recover.
"My leg and my hand are going to get a bit of work done. Nothing too bad," he said vaguely.
"That doesn't sound like it'll be much worse than last week. How many treatments are you getting?" Hermione asked. She too knew exactly what needed to be done as well as the schedule but she didn't want to reveal that. Everyone was worried because Tallis had refused to express any of his objections or concerns over the last treatment—the one repairing the damage from his uncle's repeated rape. She was certain that he was concerned about it but he simply wouldn't talk about it.
"Just one more after tomorrow's. Nothing too serious." Hermione and Ron exchanged quick looks.
"That's good. Can we visit you during your treatments?" Hermione asked.
"I guess. Poppy comes down to our rooms for them instead of using the Infirmary. You'll need to be careful sneaking down though. It will be nice to have someone to chat with while I am lying there waiting for my bones to regrow. I can't move too much or else they won't heal properly."
"That sounds good. We'll sneak down after breakfast in the invisibility cloak. Tell your Father to expect us so he won't get upset when he opens the door and doesn't see anyone." Ron said. Tallis nodded and the group was quiet for a moment.
"How has everyone been with you two since Harry Potter disappeared?" Tallis asked nervously. He had been remarkably shielded from the whole Harry Potter backlash since he didn't read the Daily Prophet anymore and the students now knew better than to ask him remotely personal questions. Many of them still feared him a bit after feeling the excess magic in the air after Malcus Perry had angered him so much. The rumor of his great strength had simply been unquenchable. The rumor had been helped along by that damn article written over the summer that boasted about his NEWT scores.
"It honestly hasn't been as bad as I expected it to be, mate. I mean the first week or so was bad, I'll admit it, but it's gotten a lot better. I think people are finally realizing that we really don't know anything. They do try to look at our "Harry Potter" letters though. Good thing you thought to charm the paper for them."
"Where did you get that charm anyway?" Hermione asked.
"I adjusted the charm that they put on that new translation parchment that they sell at the quill and parchment store down in Hogsmeade. I just made it such that it appears in an unknown language to anyone who isn't you."
"What language?"
"Parseltongue. You two are burning them after you read them, aren't you? I mean, I don't say anything too important in them but I'd rather not risk Voldemort getting his hands on them. At the very least he'd pick up on my new signature."
"Don't worry, mate. Hermione even makes me burn mine in a separate dish and then toss the ashes in the fire once I'm done."
"It is entirely possible Ronald for someone to activate the floo when you toss your letter into the fire and for them to get hold of it. Perhaps unlikely, but possible still," Hermione lectured. Ron rolled his eyes in response. She thought of the most unlikely scenarios and then stringently protected her friends against them, even when they told her that she didn't need to.
"Have you two been practicing the password to open the chamber? It would be good if you could come down here without me, if you needed to."
"Yes but it's damn hard, Tallis!" Ron whined. "Whoever made this stupid language should be cursed from here to Sunday."
"Erm…snakes made the language, Ron," Tallis said, trying not to laugh. "It's only one word. I'm sure you can manage it."
Hermione said the password that she had been working to learn for the past month. It was nearly impossible to twist her mouth to form the words properly. She smiled though when Tallis nodded at her, indicating that she had gotten it correct. They turned to Ron who sighed and tried it as well. His attempt to say "open" in Parseltongue ended up somehow coming out "chicken," making Tallis laugh.
"Well you can just give the bloody password, Mione. I'm done learning it."
"It really would be better if you could do it yourself, Ron. There may come a time that you need to give it because Hermione isn't with you or can't for some reason. Keep trying," Tallis encouraged.
"Stupid Parseltongue" Ron muttered again as he packed up his bag. "When can we meet down here again?"
"Let's try for every Wednesday night. Does that work for you two?"
"Seems fine for me. We have Quidditch every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday evening."
"How about Sunday mornings as well, right after breakfast?" Hermione put in.
"That works for me. We rarely schedule detentions on Sundays and if there are any I'm sure that Father will take them. I'll see you guys in a few days," Tallis said, giving them quick hugs goodbye.
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A/N: we'll see what's going on with Dumbledore in a few chapters. I promise I haven't forgotten him! Thanks for all of the reviews!